This his on some minor "Abby-Bashing" - So, if you absolutely love Abby and never want to see her getting hurt, then... I'm sorry, but it's really only a minor part in this chapter... You'll get over it, I promise.


The weeks preceding the trial and Luca's escape slowly went by, Tony was getting more and more withdrawn from pretty much everyone who tried to help him. The only two people Tony would talk to was McGee and Gibbs, and even when he would talk, he hardly ever raised his voice above a whisper.

Tony was sitting at his desk in the NCIS bullpen, it was nearly three in the morning, and it had been over a year since he had stayed this late at NCIS. He didn't expect anyone to be at the building except Gibbs who was sleeping on the floor underneath his desk – Gibbs refused to leave Tony's side, even though he knew the younger man would be safe inside NCIS. When Tony looked up, his brows furrowed slightly "Abby, what're you doing here so early?" Tony asked, his voice hoarse from lack of speaking for so long.

Abby pulled one of the desk chairs over to Tony's desk and sat down, "I was coming in to do some work on the camera feeds… But I saw Gibbs' car here still, so I thought I would come up and check on you… How're you feeling?" Abby asked softly, her eyes watery with unshed tears as she looked up at Tony.

Tony shrugged as he tapped his desk a few times, returning to his silence, Abby sighed as she reached over, but immediately stopped when Tony started to pull away "Would you like to go get something to eat? Maybe grab some hot chocolate?" Abby offered, smiling sadly at the man before her.

Tony shook his head slowly, keeping his eyes on his desk and his mouth shut as he continued idly tapping on his desk, a sure sign that his anger was starting to boil up and threatening to spill over. "Oh Ton-eeee! Come on, just a small bite of something to eat at that little 24-hour deli you love! You know they have the best Hero sandwiches!" Abby pleaded, setting her hand on Tony's forearm, despite Tony flinching from the contact, she kept her hand on him steadily.

Tony shot up from his desk, his chair slamming into the filing cabinets with a loud bang as he stared angrily down at the black haired woman "I SAID NO! Just… Just leave me the hell alone!" Tony shouted, quickly leaving his desk and storming off down the hall – the slamming of the conference room door echoing in the eerily silent bullpen.

Gibbs sighed as he pushed himself up from underneath his desk, "So much for a full night's sleep…" Gibbs grumbled as he stood up and grabbed his makeshift pillow-jacket from under his desk, he walked over to Abby and sighed, "You stay here." Gibbs instructed, pointing at the younger woman before quickly moving to the conference room.

When Gibbs entered the conference room, he watched as Tony angrily paced the length of the twelve-seater table, his fists clenched to the point that they were stress-white "Tony…" Gibbs said softly, standing in the way of Tony's movements.

Tony stopped and stared at his husband, the anger still vibrating through his body, not even the precsence of the man he loves more than anything was able to calm him down at this point "WHAT?!" he shouted, stepping back and turning around to continue his pacing, in the now shorter length of space given to him.

"Tony… You know she didn't mean to offend you… She… She's just… trying to help you cope with all that you're going through right now… As is everyone else at NCIS…" Gibbs said, adding the last part as an afterthought when he saw the outraged look on Tony's face.

"Really?! I mean, fucking really, Jethro?! I'm absolutely sick of this shit! Every time she does something wrong, or acts like the fucking five-year-old that she is sometimes, you rush to her side to defend her! Why?! What the hell has she done to deserve such… such loyalty from you?! Yet, when all of us – Me, the team – have literally risked our LIFES for you, you just brush us off?! You've been doing it to me for the past twelve years, until I finally found the balls to tell you how I felt about you…" Tony shouted, shaking his head as he pushed his way past Gibbs, "You know what… If you wanna be her knight in shining armor… Go the fuck ahead! I'm done with this shit – It's either her or me, Gibbs…" Tony said calmly, even as his words were cut with a razor edge, he then walked out of the conference room, the door slamming shut behind him once again.

Gibbs stared at the shut door for the longest time, trying to decipher what the hell had just happened between him and Tony – He'd seen the younger man angry before, hell even some of that anger had been directed upon himself a few times over the past thirteen years, but never had it left him feeling so empty and alone as it had now. Gibbs barely noticed when Abby walked into the conference room, tears flowing freely down her cheeks now.

"Gibbs… Hey, boss man!" Abby called, waving her hand in front of Gibbs' face to regain the man's attentions.

Gibbs shook his head, looking down at the woman he'd considered a daughter for longer than he can even remember now, rubbing furiously at his forehead "What Abby? I thought I told you to stay in the bullpen!" Gibbs questioned, his own anger starting to boil and surge forward.

Abby frowned as she looked up at Gibbs, the tears in her eyes coming down full-force "You… You did… But, but… Tony he-he took your keys… and left! And, you've been up here… for a long time… I didn't… I didn't know what happened! What happened?!" Abby asked, her words wavering slightly as she hiccupped out more tears.

Gibbs furrowed his brows, pinching the bridge of his nose tightly "You happened! You always happen, Abby! He had been doing just fine until you showed up and tried getting him to do something he didn't want to do! Damn it, now I could lose him forever, because of you!" Gibbs ground out through clenched teeth as he walked around Abby and headed to the conference room door "Why don't you just grow the hell up and act your age for once in your life?!" Gibbs shouted angrily as he walked out of the room, letting the door slam behind him as well and walked back to the bullpen, leaving Abby to shed more tears from the sting of her two favorite men rejecting her.


Tony didn't know where he was going, nor how long he'd been aimlessly driving around in Gibbs' challenger, when he finally stopped the car, he noticed that he was sitting in front of his old Condo, which he still owned outright, but occasionally rented the space out to people.

Tony shook his head as he pulled into the parking lot, he checked and double-checked his surroundings before he got out of the car and headed into the building and up to his old place – Thankfully he knew that no tenants were renting out the space this time around, so he let himself into the condo and shut the door behind him.

Tony sighed as he walked around the empty space, looking at the walls that once held a lack of memories but still held memories within the walls. He looked at the double-sided fireplace, chuckling to himself as he thought back to the time him and Gibbs sat on both sides of the fireplace, tossing marshmallows across the flames to try and get the small puffs into one another's mouths.

As he walked into the master bedroom, he sighed at the bareness and stood where his bed used to be, leaning against the wall and staring down at the cherry colored hardwood floors. Tony hadn't even heard the front door of the condo open or close, being so lost in his own thoughts, he hadn't even registered the tall figure standing in front of him.

"It's a nice place… Never should have left, huh?" the man in front of Tony asked, his voice deep and gravely sounding.

Tony slowly lifted his head, looking into the black eyes of none other than Luca, "What are you doing here?" Tony asked coldly, his fingers twitching minutely inside of his jean pockets.

Luca shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly, casually leaning against the door frame that separated the bedroom from the living room "Thought I'd check on you… See how you're holding up… Doesn't look so good though, from where I'm standing… Seems the married life was never really in the cards for you, was it Anthony?" Luca asked menacingly, swiping his thumb across the bottom of his nose.

Tony laughed humorlessly "And being your sub was? Please! You broke the rules, Luca… One Dom, One Sub that was the rule, and you broke it… Get out of here, before you really regret it." Tony said as he wrapped his fingers around the switchblade in his pocket.

"Oh? And what are you going to do, Anthony? You never did know how to stand up to me, so what makes you think you can do it now?" Luca asked as he pushed off the frame of the door, taking calculating steps towards Tony, a menacing smirk on his face.

Tony withdrew the knife, pressing the release button so that the seven inch blade popped out. The sun glinted off the knife just right, shining directly into Luca's eyes, "I don't know Luca… I think I can handle myself just well now." Tony said, keeping his voice calm and cool as he pushed away from the wall, taking a few steps and twisting the knife to recapture the sunlight.

Luca grimaced slightly, his eyes squinting from the harsh glare of the polished stainless-steel, "You think I'm afraid of that thing? Please, I've been cut by much worse and lived to tell about it!" Luca taunted, licking his lips predatorily as he continued moving towards Tony.

Tony shook his head as he side-stepped Luca as the taller man lunged forward, watching as Luca fell into the wall "Getting sloppy in your old age, Luca? Or is that just all the cocaine running through your system?" Tony jested, bouncing on weightless feet as he held the knife out and towards Luca's body.

"Why you little prick!" Luca growled out as he again lunged at Tony, this time effectively tackling the shorter man to the floor, sending the knife in Tony's hand scattering across the ground as he pinned Tony to the hardwood floors.

Tony grunted slightly as his head bounced off the hardwoods, but managed to stay conscious as he twisted his body, then thrusted his hips upward, sending Luca off his body and onto the ground. Tony quickly scrambled across the hardwoods and grabbed the knife, turning back towards Luca who was now crawling after him, his fingers grasping at Tony's shoe.

Tony jerked his foot outward, kicking Luca square in the face, which caused the man to splutter out blood from his nose and mouth, "Son of a bitch!" Luca roared as he surged up to his full height, then grabbed Tony by the collar of his hoodie, lifting the shorter man up into the air. Luca slid his other hand against the front of Tony's neck, effectively cutting off the oxygen, "Hm? How does it feel Tony? I know you like being choked, you always were a naughty boy like that!" Luca taunted, watching as the color began draining from Tony's oxygen deprived body.

Tony squirmed slightly, his fingers still clenched tightly around the knife, he sent the knife forward and up, jabbing the blade into the center of Luca's throat. Luca's hand immediately released Tony, and to the blade at his throat, he tried speaking but the only thing that came out of his mouth was a long spilling of blood. Luca gasped hoarsely, yanking the knife from his throat – and that was it – the blood splattered in an arch shape across the wall and all over Tony's face as he dropped to his knees then down to his face.

Tony breathed out shakily as he looked down at Luca's still form, his entire body frozen in place, except for his hands that were shaking viciously as the adrenaline rushed out of his body. Tony stood stock still for hours, covered in a dead man's blood, watching as the blood from Luca's body pooled on the hardwood floors and around his feet.

When he finally pulled himself out of whatever trance he'd been in, he shakily reached into his pocket and grabbed his cellphone, he wanted to desperately call Gibbs, but even after all that happened since he left NCIS, he was still pissed off with his husband, so he called the only other person he felt confident enough in talking too.


McGee jumped when his desk phone began ringing, he quickly picked up the landline before it could ring a third time "NCIS, Special Agent Timothy McGee speaking." McGee said into the phone.

Tony sighed shakily "Tim… It's… It's Tony… Are you… you busy?" Tony whispered into the phone, it was clear by the strain in his voice that he was near to breaking down into tears.

McGee looked down at the receiver, then back up "No, I'm not busy… What's going on? Are you okay?" McGee asked, keeping Tony's name out of the line, considering Gibbs was sitting directly across from him and staring at him curiously – He had heard about the fight from someone in janitorial who was walking past the conference room at the time, and knew that Tony must still be pissed off, considering Tony had called him.

Tony let out a strangled sob, biting down on his fist as he tried finding the words, but for all the trying nothing seemed relatively appropriate at a time like this "Where are you? I'll… I'll come get you…" McGee said hesitantly, he didn't like the noises he was hearing on the other end of the phone, and was now starting to get really worried about Tony.

"Old Condo… Please… Hurry Tim…" Tony whispered into the phone, hanging up before McGee had a chance to even respond. McGee stared at the phone that was now just singing the dial tone back to him, he slowly put the phone down and stood up, grabbing his backpack, gun and badge.

"We got a case?" Gibbs asked, moving to grab his own things from his desk.

McGee shook his head slowly as he walked out from behind his desk "No, not a case… I just need an hour or so – Something came up." McGee said cryptically as he walked towards the elevators without another word or a backwards glance, he wasn't at all surprised when Gibbs showed up at his side and pressed the down button on the elevator.

The two men got onto the elevator and rode down in silence, all the way to the NCIS' carpool and into the vehicle, "Is he okay?" Gibbs finally asked as he sat in the passenger seat – a weird concept to him, since he was usually always driving the Charger.

McGee shook his head and shrugged his shoulders as he started the car "I don't know, but until I find out, you need to keep out of sight." McGee said firmly as he pulled out of the parking lot at near break-neck speeds, causing Gibbs to grin slightly at the man who had once been a stuttering newbie, turn into this authoritative and strong agent.


McGee pulled up beside Gibbs' challenger and the two men quickly bounded up the stairs, foregoing the sometimes dysfunctional elevator. McGee looked at the door of Tony's old condo for a few seconds then sighed as he pushed the door open.

The smell of blood and urine was the first thing that hit both men's senses, McGee drew his SiG out of his holster, turning to look at Gibbs "Stay. I don't know what is going on in there, but if something happened to Tony, I do not want you ruining the scene." McGee said firmly, giving a patented Gibbs-Death-Glare to the man himself. Gibbs furrowed his brows angrily, but nodded his head in agreement as he stayed along the wall, drawing his own weapon just in case.

McGee slowly entered the apartment, his eyes surveying his surroundings as he stepped into the open living room, "Tony…?" McGee called out, training his weapon towards the open bedroom doors as he headed towards them.

"I… I'm in… the bedroom… Tim… It's… It's just me in here…" Tony stammered out, his voice shaking from the shock that was inevitably setting in.

McGee rounded the corner, gasping at the sight before him; Tony was still standing in the pool of blood at his feet, his hands down at his side and his head hung low against his chest "Are you hurt Tony? Do I need to call an ambulance?" McGee asked as he holstered his weapon and stepped into the doorway of the bedroom carefully, minding not to touch any surfaces.

Tony shook his head slowly "No… Not hurt…" Tony wheezed out, coughing into his blood-covered shoulder, he slowly lifted his head up and looked at McGee with pleading eyes.

McGee shook his head slowly "Its okay Tony, you can move… Just be careful not to disturb anything…" McGee said, looking at the huge pool of blood again, then back up at Tony.

Tony frowned slightly "I can't move without disturbing anything… It's… there's too much blood McGee!" Tony said, biting down onto his fist as he closed his eyes, trying to abate the tears that were unfortunately raining down his blood streaked cheeks.

McGee sighed as he looked around the bare bedroom, "Tony… I'm… I have to get Gibbs in here…" McGee said sorrowfully as he took a single step back out into the living room.

"NO! Don't… Don't… leave me McGee… please… I… I can't… please just…" Tony stammered out, his entire body shaking and his face paling considerably.

"Tony, do NOT throw up! Whatever you do, do not throw up!" McGee shouted, staring at his best friend, Tony nodded mutely, keeping his mouth pursed to hold back the bile that was quickly rising in his throat "BOSS! NEED YOU IN HERE, NOW!" McGee shouted out towards the doorway, then stepped back into the bedroom, getting as close to Tony as possible without disturbing the body or blood.

Gibbs walked into the bedroom a few seconds later, his eyes going wide at the scene before him "Tone…" he breathed out, his voice barely audible to the untrained ear, but in the still silence in the room, it sounded louder than normal.

"I'm okay Jeth… It's… It's not my blood…" Tony said softly, looking up at his husband with newly formed tears riding down his cheeks "He… only strangled me… and bounced… my head… off the floor and… the wall…" Tony said, his words slurring slightly as he swayed on his feet.

"McGee, he's gonna collapse!" Gibbs shouted as he surged forward at the same time as McGee, both men leaping over the dead body and catching Tony as he started falling towards the hardwood floors.

McGee and Gibbs carried Tony's body away from the blood, lying him on the floor in a clean part of the bedroom, "McGee… call an ambulance… I… I have to call in Fornell on this one…" Gibbs said as he sat heavily on the floor, cradling Tony's head in his lap as he pulled his cellphone out of his jacket pocket and pressed Tobias' speed dial button while McGee walked out to the living room to call an ambulance and then Vance to inform him of what happened.


When Tony woke up, he looked around the unfamiliar but familiar surroundings slowly, he sighed as his eyes locked onto the oxygen mask covering his nose and mouth. Tony reached up with a shaky hand, tugging the oxygen mask off his face as he looked around the hospital room, noticing the familiar figure standing in the corner of the room, reading through a medical chart while idly sipping on a cup of coffee.

"Brad…" Tony rasped out, staring at the doctor, and old college football rival.

Brad Pitt – No relation to actor Brad Pitt – pushed off the wall and walked over to Tony "So glad you could join us again, Tony… How're you feeling?" Brad asked, automatically pouring a cup of water and setting it into Tony's hand.

Tony shook his head as he sipped carefully at the water, then sighed as he set it against his stomach "I'm fine… Where's Gibbs?" Tony asked, looking around his hospital room, then back at Brad.

"He said he was going back to the scene… Said he didn't know if you would want him here when he woke up…" Brad informed him as he sat down in the recliner next to the bed, propping his feet up on the edge of the bed and looking inquiringly at Tony.

Tony chuckled roughly, "He's a fool… I do want him here, he just doesn't trust whoever is handling the scene to handle it by themselves…" Tony said as he took a few more sips of the water, then set it down on the nightstand "Concussion… probably a mild one, I can feel the headache… anything else I need to know about?" Tony asked as he turned onto his side, looking at Brad with the same inquiring look.

Brad shook his head "Just a bruised neck, you're really rather lucky, any tighter of a grip on your neck and you'd be breathing through a ventilator for the rest of your life… Whoever had you in a hold, came damn near close to crushing your trachea." Brad told him, crossing his arms over his chest.

Tony shrugged one shoulder as he curled up in the bed "Shit happens… Now, can you call Gibbs for me? I need to talk to him…" Tony questioned, closing his eyes briefly.

Brad nodded as he stood up, "Yeah, I'll call him… But maybe you should think about pain meds and resting, Tony… And, before you protest, I know… You don't like pain meds because they give you verbal diarrhea, but whatever you went through today…" Brad sighed, shaking his head slightly "You really should just rest, regain your strength before you start talking someone's ear off." Brad said as he tapped the door frame and walked out of Tony's room and headed towards the nurses station.


Gibbs stood in the center of the living room at Tony's old Condo, watching as Tobias' forensics team cataloged and marked evidence in Tony's old bedroom. Tobias came out of the bedroom, snapping off his pair of latex gloves and shoving them into his pocket as he shook his head.

"It's a damned mess in there, haven't you taught your boy how to make a neat and clean kill?" Tobias tried joking, hoping to lighten the mood and replace the sour look on Gibbs' face.

Gibbs shook his head, grunting slightly as he glared at Tobias, his eyebrow arching upward. Tobias rolled his eyes as he stood next to Gibbs "I was joking, Gibbs… How is he doing?" Tobias asked, watching as the FBI's medical examiner wheeled the black body bag out of the apartment.

Gibbs shrugged "Don't know… Past few weeks have been rough… Thought he was slowly getting over it, then… this happened…" Gibbs said, waving his hand helplessly in the direction of the destruction of the bedroom.

"What was he even doing here? Was he going to be showing someone the space?" Tobias asked curiously, crossing his arms over his chest as he continued watching his team.

Gibbs shook his head "Nope. We got into a fight earlier this morning, he probably came here to try and clear his mind…" Gibbs said quietly, shifting on his feet as he looked down at the floor.

Tobias shook his head as he cuffed Gibbs' shoulder, squeezing tightly "I'm sure that whatever it was that you two fought about, he will get over… There isn't much that could ever come between you guys…" Tobias said, looking over at Gibbs.

"There is one thing… person… that could come between us, and she has… more than once… He's had it up to here with Abby, and gave me the whole 'you have to choose between us' spiel, and… In the end, it's him, and it will always be him…" Gibbs whispered, sighing heavily as his cellphone began ringing. Gibbs grabbed the phone and flipped it open, "Yeah, Gibbs? – Yeah? Okay… yeah, I'll be there as soon as I can… Thanks Brad." Gibbs said into the phone, hanging up and turning to Tobias "Tony just woke up… I have to go back to the hospital… Thanks for all the help Tobias…" Gibbs said as he bolted for the door, dodging a technician and skirting around an FBI agent as he bounded down the stairs, taking them two at a time to get to the hospital as quickly as possible, his thoughts on how he would tell Tony the decision he'd made, and also how he would make it up to Tony for choosing sides, knowing he had several years to make up for with this ultimate mistake.