A/N: Ok, this story has gotten a *lot* longer than I anticipated. I'm getting towards the end of the casefic part, and then the timeline is going to get a little...screwy. Bear with me! :)

By the time they arrived at Bethesda, Abby and Tony were nowhere to be seen. A quick query at the triage desk, assisted by Gibbs' trademark stare when they obviously didn't want to give out any information, revealed that Abby had already been called from the waiting room and was being examined. The triage nurse opened the self-locking door into the emergency ward; Ziva entered, looking at Gibbs quizzically when he didn't follow.

"Stay with her, Ziva" he ordered. She nodded, puzzled, as the door between them closed.

Gibbs headed for the elevator that would take him upstairs to Orthopaedics; he'd told McGee that they'd keep him posted.

...

After his conversation with Gibbs, McGee had reluctantly returned to his room. He did his best to appear calm, knowing his family was concerned. But as time passed with no word from Gibbs or the team, he got more and more worried. Watching the news on the TV in his room didn't help matters; information was sketchy at best, and he knew from experience that the news didn't always get things right.

He looked over as Gibbs entered the room, instantly fearful. Gibbs being at the hospital instead of at NCIS, with everything that was happening, could only mean one thing. Trying to keep his voice at a normal pitch, dreading the answer, he asked "Who?"

"Abby."

A thousand thoughts and memories swirled through his mind, the uppermost being denial- she couldn't be dead, not Abby; dimly, he heard Gibbs' voice saying "Easy, Tim. She's ok, it's only minor."

It took a moment for the words to sink in.

"She's ok?" he asked, his voice not sounding like him.

"Just a cut and maybe a mild concussion." Gibbs stressed the word mild.

"Where is she?"

"Downstairs, in Emergency. Tony and Ziva are with her."

He closed his eyes as a shudder of relief passed through him. Reopening them, he looked to his parents and sister. "Could you guys give us a minute, please?"

He half expected an argument, at least from Sarah, but they nodded in agreement and quietly left, his dad shutting the door behind them. Once he was reasonably sure they were out of earshot, he asked "How-how bad is it?"

He saw the muscles of Gibbs' jaw tighten, and knew it wasn't good news. "Hard to tell yet, McGee. I gotta check on Abby."

...

Left alone, McGee fretted. He hated being stuck in the hospital in the first place; knowing that Abby was downstairs in the Emergency room made him resent it even more. He knew that people had been killed at the Navy Yard; knew it from the moment he'd seen the news on ZNN. Adams had been after people from the beginning, and Gibbs had confirmed it. He needed to see Abby for himself, to make sure that Gibbs wasn't glossing over her injuries, but he couldn't walk that far- just making it to the nurses' station earlier had been a painful experience. And it sounded like the nurses were too busy with other patients to take him downstairs in the wheelchair. So he waited impatiently for someone to return with news, but no one did.

He was on the point of trying to make his own way down to see Abby when the door was flung open and Abby herself was wheeled into the room, followed by Gibbs, Tony and Ziva. Abby was sleeping; the bandage across one side of her head gave her an almost comical appearance. The orderly manoeuvred the second bed skilfully past Tim's and up against the wall, locking the wheels before leaving. McGee glanced at his boss; the faintest of smiles was evident on his face, and McGee knew he'd somehow managed to pull strings to get this arranged.

"They've admitted Abby overnight for observation" Gibbs explained. "She's got a mild concussion, so you're gonna have to wake her up every hour, make sure she's lucid." He went on to detail exactly what Tim would have to do when he woke her; Tim listened intently, still watching Abby.

...

After making sure McGee understood his instructions, Gibbs turned to his remaining agents. "Come on; we've got work to do."

"Boss, are you sure? Just it's getting kinda late and there's not really a lot we can do right now- "

Gibbs cut DiNozzo off. "You can get a confession out of Adams." He gestured for them to leave the room.

"I thought Ziva said you'd already gotten a confession, Boss."

"Confession was tainted, DiNozzo. Come on, let's go."

Before following Tony and Ziva down the hallway, Gibbs took one last look at Abby and McGee. At least he knew his people were safe here.