A/N: Thank you to everyone that took the time to read the previous chapter! I know it was a long time coming. This story has ended up at 45 chapters, so just a few more to go!
Thanks to Trina109, as always.
Abby had barely seen McGee since she extracted a promise to write the victim's impact statement from him. He'd drop by occasionally and leave parts of it behind for her to read, almost without comment. She knew he wasn't giving her all of it, and she wasn't sure to be pleased about that or not. As it was, the pieces he left for her were often desperately, heartrendingly sad. She wasn't often moved to tears, but she'd been in floods when she'd read his account of Sarah's reaction to his injuries, and again when he wrote of his attempts to fire his gun and his belief that he would have to leave NCIS. She'd given up reading them at work; instead she took them home and read them in private, where there was no chance of other people finding them.
She felt guilty that she hadn't seen how badly Timmy had been affected by what Adams had done. She'd known he was depressed, known he'd been having nightmares, but she hadn't seen... any more than he wanted her to see, she guessed. He could be a strange mix of the transparent and the secretive. She knew the deadline for submitting his statement was approaching, but he'd refused to give her a specific date, she guessed it was so she wouldn't pester him to make sure it was done.
She came back from lunch a few weeks before the trial to find he'd been there in her absence. As he usually did, he'd left a neat pile of paper face down on her desk. This time there was a sticky note attached the top. It read simply 'Thanks.' She pulled it off and smiled. She knew he hadn't wanted to write the statement, and she understood. She also knew he had to in order to recover. The note meant that he realised it now too.
She picked the paper up to slide it into her bag for later, and then stopped. It was only one page. She looked around. As far as she knew, the team was out in the field. If Tim had dropped by and left this one sheet, he probably wouldn't be back again today. She'd read it and put it away. No one would see it.
She sat down at her desk and flipped the page over.
'As I write this, I am in the process of going through the re-training and testing needed to regain my position as field agent. I think- I hope- I have come to terms with the fact that I am permanently disabled, and that I will forever need to make allowances for my reduced capabilities. It has taken many months, and the belief and support of my family and friends, to come to this point. It was through their friendship that I retained my arm at all, and I truly believe that they have saved my life...'
There was only one paragraph, but by the end Abby had tears in her eyes. The note he had left her meant more than she'd realised.
...
McGee whistled to himself as he walked across the parking lot to his car. He was in two minds about letting Abby see the page of his statement that alluded to the darkest days of his recovery, but he felt like he owed it to her. She had known he wouldn't adjust to the loss of an arm; he had to repay her somehow for that.
Today, however, nothing was going to bust his bubble. Last week, Ziva had finally declared him ready to face his firearms proficiency test. He had asked her not to tell anyone, wanting to be able to face the test without knowing people were waiting impatiently to hear how he'd gone. He'd asked Gibbs for the afternoon off for 'personal reasons'.
So now he was heading to the range. He wasn't as nervous as he thought he would be; nowhere near as nervous as he was the first time he'd faced this test. He'd enlisted the services of the strictest testing officer he could possibly find, calling in several favours to do so. He didn't want any possible rumours of favouritism marring the result. He felt his anxiety rise as he was passed onto the Academy grounds and found the range.
Navy Captain William Clark was waiting for him. Clark was the Commandant of the United States Naval Academy. They didn't come tougher than that.