A/N. Guess this is my last chance to thank you all for all the fantastic support while I've been writing this story. This is the final chapter, in which we find out whether Mary O'Connell really will kill Gibbs and Tony and get away scot free ;-D. The epilogue is really short, so I'm posting it at the same time as this last chapter. I hope you all enjoyed the ride. I know I did. Now I have to go away and get on with all those things I've been neglecting to write this. Please let me know if you've enjoyed it. Hugs from Gibbs and Abby for all of you. x

---

'How did you get past the guards?' Tony was asking as Gibbs began to assess the situation. Gibbs knew what the younger man was doing – attempting to provide a distraction to allow Gibbs to act, but the senior agent knew that unless Mary O'Connell got much closer, there was nothing he could do. Damn. He had been planning to ask the director to issue the two of them with new weapons, but he had passed out before he had the chance. Talk about bad timing, again.

'It's amazing how many people hesitate before shooting a little old woman with a walking stick,' Mary O'Connell was telling him. Gibbs looked towards the door. Sure enough, a walking stick was now resting against the doorframe. Mary O'Connell stepped further into the room.

'So you just shot them?' Tony was asking.

'Well you know what they say,' she replied. 'If you want a job doing properly…' she tailed off.

Gibbs saw DiNozzo shoot him a questioning glance, and shook his head almost imperceptibly. Neither of them were in any kind of position to do anything. Even under normal circumstances, there would have been enough time for the elderly woman to shoot at least one of them before they reached her. With DiNozzo suffering from a concussion and Gibbs still under the effects of the anaesthetic that had been used during surgery, both of them would be dead before they could do anything. The only thing they could do was keep the woman talking and hope she closed the distance between them.

'Let the kid go, Mary,' Gibbs knew there was no chance that Mrs O'Connell would do so, but he owed it to DiNozzo to try. 'Without me, the case against Kevin will go away, but you don't need DiNozzo.'

'I kill both of you, and there are no witnesses against my men and no witnesses against me. Do I look stupid to you, special agent Gibbs?'

'No,' he was forced to admit. He knew now that there was nothing he could do or say to avoid their fate. Mary O'Connell was far too intelligent to give away her obvious advantage. He and DiNozzo were both going to die, and it would be all Gibbs' fault. The only thing he could do now was make sure the younger agent knew what a fantastic job he'd done, then accept his inevitable death. The second part wasn't hard – Gibbs had never been in any hurry to die, but the prospect had failed to hold any fear for him for many years, ever since he had lost Shannon and Kelly. He began to ignore Mary O'Connell and focused on the young man who he had come to regard as a friend.

'Tony?'

'Yeah, boss?'

'I, uh…' He what? He thought to himself. He was sorry? That was true, but at a time like this, sorry just didn't cut it. He was proud of the younger man? Also true, but again not the most helpful thing to say. He wished there was something he could do to get them out of this? Definitely, but that wasn't going to help matters either. Why was he so bad at this? Gibbs had always been better at expressing himself without words. He attempted to do so now, locking eyes with his junior agent. There was fear in the younger man's eyes, but none on his face, and Tony met his gaze with equal intensity.

'I know, boss,' he said after a while. Gibbs relaxed. Somewhere along the way, the kid had learned to read him, and right now he was incredibly grateful for that.

'Oh, please.' Mary O'Connell was sneering now. She lifted the gun and pointed it at the middle of Gibbs' forehead. He met her gaze calmly. He dropped his eyes to the barrel of the gun. 'Not going to beg for your life?' she asked, surprised.

'Nope,' he responded.

'Would you beg for his life?' she asked, gesturing towards DiNozzo.

'If I thought it would make a difference,' Gibbs answered honestly, but they both knew that nothing he could do or say would dissuade Mary O'Connell from killing the younger man. At least, though Gibbs felt ashamed for thinking it, if she killed him first, he wouldn't have to watch DiNozzo die.

'Goodbye, Special Agent Gibbs,' Mary O'Connell's hand tightened on the trigger. Gibbs kept his eyes upon her, and forced himself to remain calm.

'It's been a pleasure, Tony.'

'Likewise, Gibbs. Shame we can't stick around. Might have been interesting.' Gibbs allowed the corner of his lips to lift into a smile. He once again felt incredibly proud of the younger man. They had been quite a team.

'No regrets.' Well, Gibbs could think of a few, but now wasn't the time to voice them.

'I'll regret dying.' Gibbs smiled again. He was sure that was some kind of movie reference he just couldn't put his finger on – leave it to Tony to find humour even in a situation like this. The smile remained on his face as he awaited his death. He knew that by remaining in control, he was robbing his executioner of what little power she had over him, and he hoped DiNozzo would do the same once he was gone.

The shot never came. Focused as he had been on the elderly woman, he had failed to notice Abby return. The forensic scientist, understanding the situation, had picked up the walking stick and brought it down hard on the old woman's arms. The gun had clattered to the floor and Abby had followed up with a punch to the jaw. Mary O'Connell fell to the floor.

'Nobody does that to my boys,' she'd informed the elderly woman fiercely. She had retrieved the weapon before she had even noticed the incredulous stares coming from the two injured men. 'I forgot my purse,' she stated, as though that explained everything. 'Tony, pass it to me, there are handcuffs in there somewhere.'

Gibbs watched, bemused, as the scientist pulled the elderly woman's arms behind her back and applied the fluffy purple handcuffs. He decided he wasn't going to ask. Instead, he held out his hand for the gun. Abby handed it to him, and he pulled her into a hug.

'Thanks, Abbs.' She was squeezing him tightly, causing agonising pain to shoot through his chest, but now wasn't the time to mention it.

'Fine without us, huh?' she mocked lightly. She looked a little shaken, but was doing her best to hide it. 'I'm never leaving you two alone again.' Gibbs smiled. Abby certainly had a point.

'We owe you one, Abbs,' he acknowledged.

'You can pay me back by getting some rest,' she ordered. 'Both of you.' She looked sternly in Tony's direction. 'I'll take care of this.'

Gibbs was still grinning as he closed his eyes. The four of them really were one hell of a team, and thanks to Abby, they were now going to live long enough to find out exactly how interesting their future would turn out to be.