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Ducky found Abby asleep on the floor where she remained having cried herself to sleep. Gibbs had been tempted to move her to the bed but wasn't sure if she would wake up if he picked her up.

"Jethro?" Ducky whispered to his friend and colleague, almost frightened by how worried Gibbs looked.

Gibbs motioned for Ducky to follow him into the living room, shutting the bedroom door quietly behind them.

Ducky took a seat on the couch and waited for Gibbs to begin talking.

"Abby's been having nightmares, Duck. And I don't know how to help her this time." Gibbs paced the living room, Ducky's eyes following him back and forth.

"About the past two weeks?" Ducky assumed she was dreaming of being held captive and of Gibbs needing to be rescued.

Gibbs hesitated. "Yes."

"Well that's not unusual, particularly for Abigail. She's always had problems with nightmares following traumatic events."

Shaking his head Gibbs replied, "It's different this time. It's…complicated."

"How so?"

Gibbs finally sat opposite Ducky, in Abby's recliner. He sat forward in the chair, his hands clasped with his elbows resting on his knees. "Abby was raped."

Ducky was visibly taken aback at the admission. "Oh. Oh, poor Abigail. When she was being held? How did we not know? She didn't tell Director Vance or myself about it in the debriefing."

"I don't think she wanted anyone to know, Duck. I only knew because Hendricks told me after I came to. She's been having the nightmares since we got back."

"Well, given that rape is a much more intimate and personal traumatic experience, it is very likely that the nightmares will continue for a while. I would have figured that of all people you would be able to assist her with any issues."

Gibbs swallowed the lump that rose in his throat. "I thought so too, but…" He shook his head, as if disbelieving what he was about to say. "She had shut herself off. I think the team noticed it today. I know Tony did. She didn't want to tell me what was wrong."

Ducky remained silent, aware that Gibbs only talked in long streams when it was important.

"Her nightmares started to include me."

It took the doctor a minute to realize what Gibbs meant. "You mean…Oh." Ducky glanced at the bedroom door where it was still silent.

"I don't know what that means, Duck."

Ducky considered. "Trauma is not a rational thing, Jethro. Especially given that while this occurred she was just getting past the seed of doubt that you had betrayed her, and then it was immediately followed by your rescue. There was a lot happening in a short span of time. It's very likely that the trauma has taken over and her mind is jumbling it all together. The important thing is whether she believes that it would truly happen in reality."

Gibbs remained still, thinking over Abby's outburst and confession. "She said she knew I wouldn't hurt her."

"So Abby is still there, she is merely being overwhelmed by these nightmares. How long has it been going on, do you know?"

He shook his head at Ducky. "She just told me, but given how she's been acting, I'd say at least a few days."

"She must have been holding it in, trying to protect you from the pain. It truly astounds me how alike you two can be, though so very different."

Gibbs didn't respond, instead wrapped up in thoughts about the sleeping woman in the next room. Then, he glanced back at Ducky. "How do I help her, Duck?"

"I'm afraid there's no quick fix, Jethro. Abby is going to need significant emotional support. I would suggest a professional psychiatrist or a licensed social worker. Someone distant from her with whom she can discuss the emotional trauma. The lines between reality and memory are blurred, most likely from the exhaustion of not sleeping well. Once she can begin to heal, the nightmares will slowly dwindle and she will be able to rest easily again."

"I don't think Abby will want to see a shrink."

Ducky shrugged and shook his head. "This time it may not be a choice. If this begins to negatively impact her work, Director Vance will likely require it before she can come back."

"You think that will be an issue?"

"Problems with her work? If it hasn't been an issue so far, I think it will be soon."

Gibbs thought back to the sample she had incorrectly entered that day, and realized that without significant sleep such things would become commonplace, and would ruin her career. He began to ask Ducky for a recommendation on who Abby should see when terrified screams erupted from Abby's bedroom.

Gibbs flew into the room, Ducky close behind, to find a wide-eyed Abby sitting on the floor where she had been peacefully sleeping.

"Abbs." Gibbs sat cautiously on the floor next to her, unsure of whether his presence would cause another breakdown.

"Gibbs!" Abby flung herself at him, wrapping her arms tightly around him.

Grateful that she was openly physical with him again, Gibbs returned the hug, stroking her hair softly. "It's okay, Abbs."

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

"Nothing to be sorry about."

"But the nightmares, and you… and you'd never… I mean, I just don't know how I could even dream that, because I know you would never hurt me or make me do anything I didn't want to do, and-"

"Abby. It's just a nightmare. It's not real, and you've been through so much lately."

"But you have too! And I don't understand why that's not affecting you when here I am constantly waking you up with my nightmares and I can't sleep and I'm dreaming horrible things about you! You have every right to be just as bad as me, but you're not. I don't get it."

"Abby, I've been through a lot of experiences like that. Do I dream about it? Yes. But I'm much more used to it than you. And what happened to you is completely different."

"But you were in that horrible room, and they beat you and… I would be dreaming about that for years."

"I probably will, Abbs, but there are other things that haunt me much more than being held captive and beaten."

Abby swallowed, considering. "You mean… Shannon? And Kelly?"

Gibbs nodded quietly.

"I'm sorry, did I bring up a bad subject? Should I not have said anything? Because I don't want to upset you after you were held by those people…"

"It's fine, Abby. You saying anything doesn't change how I feel. I think about them every day whether someone else mentions them or not."

"I want it to end, Gibbs."

"It will. But you need to see someone. A professional."

Abby shook her head.

"Abbs, I'm there for you all day every day, but I'm not a professional. If you don't see someone, eventually Vance will notice something's wrong."

Abby turned the thought over in her head. "Okay. I will." She paused, "but…"

Gibbs waited, his head cocked to the right.

"Can I stay with you, at your house, while I see them?"

"Of course. I want you to stay there, whether you're having problems or not."

Abby smiled up at him briefly. "Thanks, Gibbs."

"Jethro."

She looked back up, as if wondering if she'd imagined it. "Thanks…Jethro."

Gibbs pulled her back against his chest, looking over at the door and realizing that Ducky had quietly snuck out, leaving the two of them in private.