"You're crazy!" Abby was grinning as she said it, and Tony relaxed at the sight. "I love it!"

"I'm gonna need your help."

"Of course! What do you need? Do you want me to come with you? No, wait, that would be too obvious. If we disappear at the same time Senior will figure it out. I can hang back for a few months. Do you know where you'll go? How are you getting there? Do you have any money? You can't take a credit card with you. Maybe you can buy a bunch of stuff and then sell it to make your way!"

Tony was laughing as he held up a hand to stop Abby talking.

"This is kind of what I need you for," he explained. "I'm thinking Canada, but the rest of it I have no clue. Logistics are your department."

Abby's look became serious at these words. Tony and Gibbs' future depended on her.

"Alright, so you can't realistically leave with Senior's money," Abby reasoned. "But you do have your trust-fund, and you are over 18 now, so you can get it."

"Only with a supervising adult," Tony corrected. "Rosa can't do it, and it's not like I have any kindly uncles who will want to help me flee."

Abby thought for a moment before smiling. "Oh, but you do."

"What?"

"Don't you remember your sweet Uncle Donald?" Abby had an evil glint in her eye, and Tony started to shake his head.

"We can't bring Ducky into this."

"Oh please! Ducky hates your dad as much as you do, he disagrees with slavery, and he loves you. If you explain the situation, he'd be happy to help."

"There's something else…" Tony looked worried, and Abby took his hands.

"You can tell me anything."

"Gibbs… the reason he was captured… Gibbs killed someone. In Mexico."

"Oh…" Abby looked concerned for a second. "Was it… justified?"

"Yeah," Tony was quick to reassure her. "The guy was a drug lord. A murderer himself."

"Alright," Abby paused for another moment; clearly working out a plan. "You need to find out where he's marked. I know a guy who knows someone who can help cover it up. He's also going to need a passport. A citizen's one, not a slave's. I might have a guy for that too, although if I don't, Ducky definitely will."

"My god, who are you?" Tony laughed.

"You'll need to change your appearance," Abby continued, starting to get excited again. "A haircut, possibly a dye job. You'll both need to lose the £1000 suits, they give you away too easily…" Abby gasped with realisation. "This means you're not going to college!"

"It only means I'm not going to Ohio," Tony smiled. "When I get to Canada, I'll use my mother's maiden name and I'll enrol in college there. I'll need a degree if Gibbs and I are going to make it."

"But you won't be a cop," Abby said, a little sad. "You always wanted to be."

"So I'll become a PI," Tony was still smiling. "You and I can set up a business when you get your ass to Canada. It'll be great."

Abby's cautious smile returned. "I have some calls to make," she led Tony towards the door. "You'll need to go see Ducky."

(~*~)

"My boy… have you thought about this?"

"Yes," Tony replied. "I have to do this, Ducky. I can't let…" Tony took a deep breath as his emotions ran away with him. "We both deserve this chance."

"Very well," Ducky smiled fondly at Tony. "What do you need from me?"

"I have a trust fund, but I can only access it with a supervising adult until I'm 21."

"And you need me to be that adult."

"If you wouldn't mind. I need to get the money and be gone before my father figures out what I'm doing. I know they send him a letter when funds are withdrawn, but he won't get it in time because he's away for two days. You're the only person I know that can help me, and keep the secret when I'm gone."

Ducky assessed the desperate young man before him and, realising there was no changing his mind, he nodded his assent.

"Very well, I shall get my hat."

(~*~)

Tony got back to the mansion a few hours later to find Abby sitting on the doorstep. He stepped out of the nondescript car he'd rented under a false name with some of his trust fund money, and walked towards her.

"I've got good news and bad news," Abby started before Tony could even ask. "Covering the mark is doable today. A fake passport is going to take a week."

"We don't have a week," Tony sighed. "Isn't there an alternative?"

"I was thinking about that… I know you don't want to bring anyone else into this…"

"You're right, I don't. The more people who know, the more likely Senior can track us."

"But what if the people we ask have no tie to you?" Abby stood up and continued before Tony's look of confusion could be followed by a question. "Gibbs has to have had a life before all this, right? Friends? Maybe he knows someone who can help us."

"From what I know, Gibbs' only friend died. Even if he does know someone, you don't think Senior will check out Gibbs' contacts trying to find me?"

"You got all the brains in the DiNozzo family," Abby shrugged. "Even if Senior thinks of it, or hires someone to think of it for him, the odds of finding the right guy are slim. Plus, we don't need to tell the guy where you're going. We just need him to make us a passport."

Tony thought for a second before nodding. "I'll ask Gibbs."