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Part Twenty

It was strange that a man he'd once considered to be such a threat in life could appear so defenceless in death. The same could be said, Gibbs mused about any serial killer or murderer, any child abuser or thug.

Mikel Mawher lay on a gurney in the morgue, covered with a sheet up to his shoulders to hide the Y-shaped incision Ducky had already made and sewn up. He looked older than Gibbs remembered him being, though years in prison had no doubt helped age the once animated young man who had been unable to let Abby go.

It was the one thing Gibbs thought they might have had in common though he was certain he could never sink to the lows Mawher had in order to keep her. He couldn't imagine threatening her, scaring her, while Mawher had seen that kind of action as his only option. It still scared Gibbs how single-minded Mawher had become, how close he'd gotten to Abby before he'd been arrested.

He still saw the handwritten note Mawher had faked in his nightmares sometimes, supposedly from Abby professing her love for Mike and explaining she had killed herself rather than try and live without him. She hadn't written the note, he knew that, and after an initial moment of heart-stopping fear, he'd noticed the small differences between the note and Abby's familiar handwriting.

When Mawher had been sentenced, Gibbs had felt a huge sense of relief that was only marred by his desire to make the man pay for the fear he'd put in Abby's eyes. He'd meant what he'd said to Mawher on their first meeting, that had he known about him sooner, Mawher wouldn't have been left standing. Remembering how lost Abby had seemed in his basement the night Mawher was finally caught, Gibbs found himself wishing he'd had the opportunity for a one-on-one meeting with Mawher away from the incriminating security cameras in interrogation.

Reflecting on the past, Gibbs remembered how it was that night in his basement he'd become aware of his feelings for the forensic specialist beginning to shift for the first time. He'd told himself repeatedly, trying to convince himself, that the surge of protectiveness he'd felt was because he cared for her as a friend as well as a colleague, even as a family member. He'd been prepared for that but not for the feeling of envy that had washed through him, the fierce sense of possessiveness he'd felt after learning about the existence of her former lover.

He'd pushed it to the side, worked through the case, but standing behind her, his hand guiding hers over the sanding block as they worked together on his boat... The attraction that had always simmered between them had flared up and if she hadn't been so vulnerable, not to mention so drunk, he was sure their relationship would have changed course that night.

"Ah, Jethro. I wondered when you would join us." Ducky's voice broke through his musings and Gibbs looked up to see his friend had joined him, standing on the other side of the gurney. "While Mr. Mawher is not someone I had hoped to meet, I find myself relieved that he can no longer hurt our dear Abigail. How is she?"

"She says she's fine. She's in her lab, insisting she work this through. She ID'ed the guy who's been following her as Mawher's cellmate." Gibbs stifled a sigh. "I told her to rest but she said she can't close her eyes without seeing him."

"Unsurprisingly," Ducky sympathised. "You mustn't forget, Jethro, there was a time she once cared for this unfortunate young man. No matter what her feelings for him now, she will no doubt have some pleasant memories of him, too."

Not wanting to dwell on those thoughts, Gibbs clenched his fists and changed the subject. "How did he die, Duck? Asphyxiation?"

"I thought that, at first," Ducky answered, moving swiftly with the change in conversation. "However, the majority of bruising around the neck was done posthumously, most likely by the rope used to hang him. Cause of death didn't become apparent until I received the toxicology report. Mr. Mawher died of an overdose of Gamma-Hydroxybutyric acid. GHB."

After a momentary pause, Gibbs nodded. "Can you tell if he took it voluntarily?" He asked quietly.

"It would appear not," Ducky answered with a small shake of his head. Using his gloved hand, he lowered the sheet and stretched the skin of Mawher's chest between his fingers, making it taunt enough for Gibbs to see a tiny pinprick. "I believe this was the injection site, directly into pulmonary vein. It wouldn't have made much of a difference where his killer injected it, given how much was used, but death would have been quite quick for our friend."

"Not a friend, Ducky," Gibbs corrected sharply. "He's never been that."

Ducky contemplated the agent in front of him in silence for a few moments. "Should I ask how you're handling these developments or draw my own conclusions?" He sighed when Gibbs remained silent. "I heard there have been developments outside of this, too, between yourself and Abby?"

"Whoever you've been hearing from obviously doesn't have enough work to do," Gibbs retorted, starting to turn away.

"Jethro." Something in Ducky's voice caused the NCIS agent to stop and half-turn back. "You know that I care for you both a great deal but I feel I must say this in place of Abigail's own father. If you hurt the girl..."

"Don't worry about it, Duck," Gibbs replied, staring at the reflection of his friend in the doors in front of him. "If I hurt her, I'll be first in line to kick my ass."

"I know," Ducky murmured. "That's what I'm afraid of." He met Gibbs' gaze when the agent turned in surprise. "You are your own worst enemy at times, Jethro. I ask out of affection for both Abby and yourself that should it become necessary, and I don't believe it will, that you'll let me be first in line."

Understanding it was Ducky's way of trying to protect them both – all of them, he thought – Gibbs could only nod in reply before making his way out of the morgue, taking the first steps back to Abby's side.

Mikel's lifeless eyes haunted him. He kept remembering how his friend had fallen limp shortly after he'd injected the GHB into his system, kept seeing those sightless eyes staring up at the table, his shocked features growing slack as death set in.

Drew paced the confines of the motel room he'd reserved for his former cellmate, unable to bring himself to lie on the bed where Mikel had breathed his last.

If Mikel had tried to understand, things might have ended differently. If only his friend had listened to his reasoning, realised that it was fate's decision, not Drew's, for Abby to belong to him.

The look of betrayal that had crossed Mikel's face replayed in his mind, as did the distraught anger. He'd locked his friend in the bathroom after telling him, turning up the TV to drown out the sounds of his shouts and the pounding on the bathroom door.

It was only when Mikel had fallen silent that he'd grown suspicious, opening the door to find his supposed friend on his cell phone to the woman they both loved.

Rage had blinded him and he'd lashed out. Drew hadn't been conscious of hitting the other man, of dragging him through from the bathroom. He hadn't registered Mawher's plea for Abby to help him as he'd pinned down his former cellmate, reaching for the syringe he'd prepared for a worst case scenario.

It'd taken five minutes after he'd injected the drug into his friend's chest for him to realise that Mikel wasn't just playing dead.

He regretted that Mikel had had to die but Drew didn't regret the sense of freedom that had come with it. He no longer had to feel guilty about pursuing Abby, about going through with his plans for her. With Mikel out of the way, there was nothing standing between them in his eyes, no obstacle that their love wouldn't be able to overcome.

When the guilt started to seep in, he reminded himself of Mikel's own words when he'd first opened up about the events that had landed them together in the same cell. He remembered hearing Mikel's plan, recalled how Mikel had said he'd written a suicide note in handwriting as close to Abby's own as he could manage and felt the guilt begin to die away.

He'd done it for her, Drew told himself firmly. For Abby. Yes, Mikel had been his friend but Abby was so much more than that. She was the reason he'd done it, so she would be safe and they could be together.

No matter how many times he told himself that, however, the memory of Mikel's eyes wouldn't fade.

If the dressmaker who had agreed to step in and copy the design of Hanna's bridesmaid dress in order to replace the missing dress of Abby's found it strange the maid of honour was accompanied by two federal agents, she at least had the sense not to comment on it.

Both Hanna and Carol were at the shop to support their friend, along with Gibbs and Tony who were on security detail. Ziva had stayed at NCIS Headquarters to review the security footage from Drew's visits to Mikel in prison while McGee was doing all he could to track Abby's stalker through his financial records.

Standing in front of them as the dressmaker adjusted the length of the dress, Abby folded her arms across her chest and found herself looking every so often out of the window at the front of the shop. She kept expecting to see Drew Barton on the other side, watching her, and she jumped every time something or someone moved, causing the reflections to shift at the corner of her vision.

"Relax, Abs," Gibbs murmured, the sound of his voice drawing her gaze. "He's not coming anywhere near you."

"What if he's watching now?" Abby countered, her fingers digging into her arms. "What if he's out there, looking at us, taking pictures...?" She broke off with a shudder, her eyes suspiciously bright.

"I can go and look around if it'd make you feel better?" Tony volunteered, hating the flash of fear on her face. He looked to Gibbs for guidance. "Want me to check, Boss?"

Gibbs gave him a small nod on seeing the expression that flittered over Abby's features. "If you see him, call. Don't try to handle him on your own."

With a nod to show he understood, Tony left the shop, the bell above the door ringing merrily as he closed it behind him. The noise sounded too cheerful, too loud in the otherwise quiet shop and it made Abby sigh softly.

"Agent Gibbs?" Carol spoke up for only the second time since arriving at the shop, the bride-to-be's mood somewhat more sombre than it had been when he'd last seen her. "I was wondering if you and your team would agree to come to the wedding, since Abby's determined to be there? I'd feel better knowing you guys were looking out for her."

Gibbs looked at her, a glimmer of approval in his eyes. "If it wouldn't be a problem, we'd be happy to."

"Great." Relief lit up Carol's face. "I'll tell Harry to add you guys to the guest list. Oh, and the bachelorette party on Friday... Do you think we should cancel it?"

"No!" Abby and Hanna answered before Gibbs could. "We're not letting this spoil anything for you, Carol," Abby said firmly.

"There's no reason Agents Gibbs and DiNozzo couldn't come to the party, too!" Hanna chimed in, a mischievous glint in her eye. "They could be the entertainment... I'd even get some $5 bills to replace the $1's I was going to use..."

"Hanna Parker!" Carol tried to sound stern but a laugh broke through. "You're talking about one of your best friend's... partner? Boyfriend? What are you guys calling each other?"

Gibbs thought about objecting to the line of questioning but caught a glimpse of the slight smile on Abby's lips, accompanied by a blush he found endearing. It was the first time he'd seen her smile since finding the cameras in her apartment and he realised he'd do anything to keep it from disappearing. "I'm off the market but DiNozzo's available," he found himself saying instead. "You could probably stick with the ones, though. I've heard he's a cheap date."

As Hanna laughed and started to plan her seduction of his agent, Gibbs watched Abby and Carol watched Gibbs. He glanced at the other woman when he sensed her gaze on him, arching an eyebrow as she worried her bottom lip between her teeth.

"In all seriousness," Carol began quietly, "the bachelorette party is supposed to be tomorrow. The club gets quite crowded. If we can't cancel it, we could maybe move the location?"

"No," Abby repeated, her smile vanishing. "You wanted it at the club, we're having it at the club. Do you know how much sweet-talking and flirting I had to do to get them to give us the VIP section for the night? It's the one thing you wanted for the party and you're going to get it."

"We could place agents inside," Gibbs cut in before Carol could protest, seeing how important it was to Abby though making a mental note to ask her later about the 'sweet-talking and flirting' she'd had to do to secure the location. "Ziva could join the party, if you don't mind, Carol, and the rest of us can be in the background."

"You'd do that?" Carol wondered aloud, tilting her head to the side. "As much as Harry loves me, I don't know if he'd brave a bachelorette party for me."

Gibbs looked to Abby as he answered, holding her gaze intently. "If it keeps Abby safe, I'll be there."

Carol smiled, both relieved her party would go ahead and pleased at the blush that darkened Abby's cheeks. She leaned back in her seat as Hanna sighed a little enviously, satisfaction on her face. "It's decided then," she said as the door opened to readmit Tony. "You'll all be there."

"All be where?" The returning agent asked, not sure he wanted to know the answer when Gibbs smirked as Hanna winked at him.

Abby caught Gibbs' gaze and gave him a grateful smile, her arms dropping to her sides as the dressmaker continued to move around her silently.