Before any of them could say anything else, a knock sounded on Gibbs' door and he left the room to go see to his visitors. It wasn't long before he returned to the living room with Tony and Ziva in tow and with a silent communication; he pointed Tony in the direction of his television. Tony smirked slightly and unpacked the laptop and setting on top of Gibbs' tv before hitting the play button.

As the screen filled with images that were eerily similar to the ones Gibbs had been attempting to depict earlier in their conversation, Abby found herself both horrified and drawn to what she was both seeing and hearing. There were ruthless drug runners and cartel members gunning down anyone who looked at them the wrong way or made the mistake of innocently getting lost in their territory. News clip after news clip, family after family were torn apart by this ruthless, senseless violence and every bit of it hit Abby like a ton of bricks. Abby endured the scenes for nearly ten minutes before feeling the nausea rise to the point where she ran to Gibbs' downstairs bathroom and throwing up.

"That's enough." Ducky declared forcefully after watching his young friend struggle. "Jethro, I…I'm…I'll be outside."

Tony didn't argue as he stopped the video and followed the M.E. out the door to get some air.

"Gibbs, is everything all right?" Ziva asked with concern. She'd never heard the Ducky use that tone before and it un-nerved her more than she would ever admit.

"Stay with Abby." Gibbs directed as he took himself out to his back porch. He knew Ducky was royally pissed at him for getting Tony and Ziva to put together that news footage, but damn it, there was never gonna be a repeat of what happened in Mexico if Gibbs could do anything to prevent it. If he had to upset Abby to make sure she never forgot the possible danger, then so be it. After all, Ducky had made the suggestion, hadn't he?

"Ducky, you all right?" Tony asked as the two of them stood by the cars in the driveway.

"I will be fine, Anthony. At this moment, I simply need to calm myself before I say something regrettable." The M.E.'s voice still held a tinge of anger despite him trying to stay calm in front of Tony.

"It's obvious you're really ticked at Gibbs right now. Mind if I ask why?"

"Nothing for you to be concerned about, Anthony."

"C'mon, Doc. Let me guess, you think the boss is too hard on Abby?"

"Anthony, why don't you and Ziva take Abby and enjoy the afternoon together?" Ducky deflected the question with the hope that his suggestion would make his young friend leave for a while and hopefully, calm Abby down. The last thing he wanted was for Anthony to get caught in any crossfire.

"Yeah. Okay. Good idea, but if you wanna talk Ducky…." Tony gave in, took the hint and left Ducky to cool off, as he turned to go back inside and rescue the women from the midst of what appeared to be a serious disagreement between Ducky and Gibbs.

"Thank you, Anthony. I appreciate that." Ducky shot Tony a grateful, tight smile.

"Anytime, Ducky. See you later." Tony made his way indoors leaving Ducky standing there to fume alone. As he reached the hallway that led to the living room, Tony stopped as his ears picked up a conversation already going on.

"Ziva, I never meant to put anyone in that kind of danger!" Abby's plaintive voice carried in the throes of anxiousness could be heard clearly.

"Abby, the point is that you understand now that you did and that you make sure it does not happen again." Ziva's calm but firm voice was also clearly heard, although not nearly as loud.

"I know. But, how am I supposed to fix this? Gibbs is so pissed at me! Timmy's never gonna speak to me again! Did you know he told Gibbs he'd rather go back to Cyber-crimes than be assigned to protect me again? How much worse can things be?" Abby cried discouragingly.

"Oh, it's worse." Tony said from the doorway. "But, I gotta tell ya, Probie being willing to get kicked back to the basement that he hated, is almost as bad as it can get. There is actually a bigger problem right now."

"What do you mean, Tony?" Ziva asked in concern.

"You can add Ducky being royally pissed at Gibbs for taking this hard line with you, Abby." Tony shook his head slightly and ran his hand through his hair. "I haven't seen him this pissed at Gibbs since the boss came back from his four month stint in Mexico."

"Oh, no! No! This is not happening!" Abby cried as she jumped up off the couch and stormed over to Tony. "Where is he?"

"He being…?" Tony asked.

"Ducky!"

"Out in the driveway. He asked me to leave him alone." Tony said with an air of a warning.

"And Gibbs?"

"On his back porch." Ziva jumped in knowing where the boss had gone.

"I am NOT gonna let this get any worse. This stops now! I did this and I need to fix it!" Abby declared as she marched herself out to the driveway to talk to Ducky.

Tony and Ziva looked at each other with a hint of a smirk. Sure, Abby needed to fix this but it was kinda funny to see her in this mode. It was just a crying shame that it took this to finally get her off her rear-end to do what needed to be done for other people, instead of just moping around because she didn't like the consequences that had been doled out to her for her own mis-deeds.

Peace was once again restored, Abby style, within 30 minutes and the entire group was now sitting comfortably out on the back porch reminiscing about old times with the team. Abby had risen to the occasion spectacularly and had managed to smooth out the wrinkles that she had created; restoring the harmony as best she could. Soon, the afternoon slipped away and dinner time rolled around leaving Abby with the sudden need to try to reach out to Tim. It seemed so wrong that he wasn't here with them.

"I wanna call Timmy." she told the group tentatively.

"What, No! That is seriously not a good idea." Tony exclaimed almost instantly.

"Come on, Tony. What harm can it do? I have to talk to him eventually." Abby wheedled

"Abigail, Anthony is right. Maybe you should leave it a little while, hmm?" Ducky interjected calmly. He knew that it wouldn't end well and wanted to try to stop his young friend from making a mistake that she would later regret. He was worried that her rash decision would possibly cause either herself or Timothy more pain.

"Gibbs, what do you think?" Abby turned to the boss to see him sitting there silently glaring at her. Everything in his look told her that he was against this idea but her sudden impulsion and her innate pushiness soon toppled their warnings.

"I just want to talk to him. Nothing more, come on, guys!" She pled earnestly.

"Abby. Why do you want to talk to him right now?" Ziva asked "You should let him simper down."

"Simmer. Zeevah. Simmer down" Tony drawled "But she's right, Abb's."

"No. I need to do this!" She stood up and started to make her way inside, but was stopped by Gibbs' hand as it reached out and snagged ahold of her arm, holding on just tight enough that Abby knew better than to struggle.

"If ya gonna do it, you do it out here, on speakerphone." the boss directed forcefully.

"Gibbs….!"

"NO! Your actions have already affected my entire team, Abby. You wanna talk to McGee, you do it my way or not at all!."

Abby finally conceded and pulled out her phone and dialed the number before hitting the speakerphone button. The group could hear ringing for a moment before the call was picked up. Abby's stomach fluttered with nerves.

"Agent McGee's phone, may I help you?" came a soft woman's voice that was strangely familiar, though Abby struggled to put her finger on it.

"Who is it, sweetheart?" Tim's voice was faint in the background as he called to the mysterious woman answering his phone.

Abby disconnected the call without saying a word and sat frozen in shock. Timmy has a girlfriend?

After a few moments of the kind of strained silence that spoke volumes, Abby finally caught on to the fact that everyone had known about this and knew that there was a distinct possibility that she would find out with that one phone call. The fact that they all possessed that little nugget of information hurt but what really rubbed salt into the wound was the fact that no one had told her. Their knowledge was written all over their faces.

"You all knew he has a girlfriend and you didn't tell me?" Abby asked in outrage. She could tell by the looks on their faces that they knew. Not only that, from the looks of things, they even knew who she was!

"Probie's private life is not your business, Abby." Tony's strong objection shocked her but she held her ground firmly.

"Tony, we all tell each other everything." Abby said with enough attitude to hopefully spark some reactions from the people around her.

"No, Abby, We do not. There is plenty that we do not tell each other, McGee even more so." Ziva reminded her. "We were not at liberty to tell you something that was his to tell."

"Abigail, you cannot fault us for respecting Timothy's privacy, especially with things so extremely strained between the two of you at the moment." Ducky reasoned with a soft tone that was supposed to placating. He was relieved when she backed down.

"Yeah. Okay. I guess I can't blame you guys. I kinda understand why Tim wouldn't tell me."

"Yeah, I mean, it's not like you guys have the best relationship. I mean you two have been over for years now, Abby. You've never wanted him back, remember?" Tony pushed.

"Just because I didn't want to break Rule #12, doesn't mean I don't wanna know when he's dating someone!"

"Not your decision, Abby." Gibbs broke in and reminded her with that steel laced voice that they didn't argue with. "Now, can we drop this? Ducky has something to tell all of you." He said with a smirk, as he headed back into the house.

"Pam?" Tim watched Pam looking at his phone and felt his brow furrow with concern as she stood there holding the device, looking at it sadly.

"It was Abby. She hung up without speaking." Pam worried as she looked at him with her concern shining in her eyes. She didn't want to mess up his relatiionship with his team. He'd worked too hard to find his niche with them.

"Honey, don't worry about it. She'll get over it." He moved closer to her and hoped that his gentle words would soothe her.

"You think so?" She worried some more.

"Yes, I do. And you know what? If she doesn't, then too bad for her." Tim continued on with a resolve that was rarely heard coming from the young man.

"Who are you and what have you done with Timothy McGee? That is not you talking!" Pam asked with a gentle smile. They had been together long enough for her to recognize the signs that all was not right with her boyfriend. "Something about her is still bothering you. Out with it." She pushed in a softer tone.

Tim looked away. He couldn't hide the fact that she was right but he wasn't ready to risk losing her over this.

"Tim. Everything. All of you; remember?" she whispered gently in his ear before moving in for a chaste kiss.

"Pam." Tim whispered back emotionally after she pulled away enough to look him in the eye and infuse him with the strength to open up to her.

"I promise you. I'm not walking away from you, no matter what you have to tell me."The promise was sealed by the tears that shone in her eyes. The moment was so surreal, that her emotions threatened to spill over. "Trust me, Tim, please? Let me in, honey."

Tim took a deep breath and silently searched her eyes for any sign that she might be wavering on this. Finding, none, he let his breath out slowly, nodded, took her hand and led her over to the couch so that they could sit down together.

"You're right. I didn't say anything sooner because there's only so much we can talk about in one day. To be honest, I just haven't wanted to even think about it until now." Tim admitted.

"It's okay, honey. Just tell me what's going on." Pam let him off the hook as she wrapped her arms around his waist and twisted her body to look directly into his pale green eyes. "Maybe I can help."

Tim took another deep breath, closed his eyes for a minute and exhaled slowly as he opened his eyes. With a soft sigh, he handed her the last hidden piece of himself.

"It's Jethro."

Sunday lunch loomed ahead like a beacon in the storm for Tim and after checking with Ducky, he and Pam arrived at 12:30 with an extremely eager Jethro with them. After talking things out with Pam, Tim was able to separate the pain of how he'd gotten the dog from the relationship he'd built with his faithful Alsatian since then. They'd spent the remainder of yesterday afternoon and all evening just enjoying each other's company after they'd gone and gotten Jethro from the kennel.

The whole afternoon was spent outdoors in the sunshine as they let Jethro wear himself out playing fetch with his ball. They'd devoted all of their time and attention yesterday on into last night, to reconnecting with the canine and doing it together had bonded all three of them even closer together. As the day had gone on and Pam had remained by Tim's side, almost reading his mind when he needed to stop and redirect his thoughts or needed an encouraging smile or hug to get past that stubborn wayward negative thought about the dog, and given him every bit of support he'd needed. By the end of the day,with Pam's help, that part of his life was settling back up on its' axis and once again revolving normally leaving Tim with the feeling that he didn't know what he'd have done without her and hoped and prayed that he never would have to find out.

After greeting Ducky and offering to help, Pam stayed with the M.E. while Tim was banished to the back yard to spend time with his faithful dog. No sooner had he stepped through the patio doors, he found himself on the receiving end of a head slap.

"Hey! Boss?" Tim reacted without thinking.

"Were you gonna tell me?" Gibbs asked him with a touch of anger that made his voice sound slightly steely.

"Tell you what, Boss?" Tim's confusion was genuine and he frowned whilst rubbing the back of his head.

"About your intent to quit so Pam wouldn't have to?"

"Boss, I didn't say anything to you because you already promised to help us with it." Tim's faith that it wouldn't have come down to making that choice with Gibbs' help, was written all over the young mans' face and it floored the Team Leader.

"Yeah?"

"Yes! Honest" Tim vowed.

"Okay." Gibbs nodded with a grin and a look of pride directed at his agent and headed back into the house.

Tim relaxed as he sat down on the wooden steps and sat back to think. He was actually comfortable with himself and almost everything within his life for the first time in as long as he could remember. As Jethro raced up to him carrying his beloved chew rope in his mouth, Tim laughed and played his pet's favorite game of tug-o-war with him for a minute before letting him think he'd won, and letting go. He couldn't help but laugh at Jethro's momentary loss of balance with the shift of weight and tossed the toy down the yard for his dog to fetch as soon as the dog dropped it.

"About time we hear that, Probie." Tony told him from the back gate. "I was kinda missing it."

"What are you guys doing here?" Tim stood and greeted Tony and Ziva as he watched them come into the yard through the back gate.

"Apparently, this is a team cook out, Probie" Tony said with his usua teasing tone.

"Oh." Tim's eyes widened at the revelation and he blushed furiously.

"McGee. How are you?" Ziva greeted from behind Tony before giving him a gently shove so that they both get through the gate and close it behind them.

"I'm fine, you guys?"

"We're fine, Probie. Hey, you come alone?"

"No." Tim chuckled. "Not likely anymore, Tony. I have no reason not to bring Pam, now. She's in the kitchen helping Ducky."

"Oh. Saw Gibbs' car, where's he?"

"Right here, DiNozzo. Ziva. How are you?" Gibbs replied as he came back out onto his back deck. He'd heard the cars in the driveway and wanted to watch how his team was interacting at this point.

"We are fine, Gibbs. I will go help Ducky with the preparations." Ziva answered and made her excuse to leave the guys alone to talk.

"Hey, guys." The timid greeting from the back gate had Tim turning sharply towards the voice. He was in shock and standing there in complete silence.

"Abby." Greeted Gibbs quietly as he glanced at Tim. Hopefully, keeping the kid out of the loop this time wouldn't come back to bite them in the butt. The boss was counting on his agent's impeccable manners to carry him over the rough spot he'd just been put in. It seemed like the best way to get them over this awkward phase on the road to patching this mess up.

Tim's heart stopped in his throat. He wasn't ready for this. What's more he hadn't been expecting it. Why would they just spring this on him?