“Enough with the ‘punch buggy,’ Abby.” Tony said rubbing his arm and trying to keep his car in the road.

Abby nodded. “Thanks for coming with me.” She resisted the urge to punch him again as another Volkswagon Bug flew past them, in the opposite lane.

“Not a problem, I was startin’ to love Lu-zianna.” Tony said in a bad accent. “I’ve never seen a gator that up close and personal before.”

Tony nodded and stepped on the gas reliving the memory of Lula Belle trying to have his foot for supper. He desperately wanted to get back to D.C. where the only ‘gators’ that existed were the mythical ones that lived in the sewers.

“I know. Cousin Ricky raised Lula Belle up from a pup. She must be 7 feet now.” Abby said, practically bouncing in her seat. “Jill Hansen was so jealous.”

Tony smiled. “I noticed.” Tony looked at her. “I loved being Mr. Scuito for a night. Your high school reunion was really fun.”

“I didn’t know you could sing like that. You have an amazing voice.”

“Yeah, well, thanks.” Tony said preening. “I can never turn down a dare when I’m as wasted as I was last night. It’s too bad I don’t remember a lot of it.”

“You were still singing after everybody had left. The janitorial staff had to clean around you.” Abby said.

“That would explain me waking up on stage.” Tony said.

Abby nodded. “Yes, I couldn’t even pry the microphone out of your hand.”

Tony laughed. “Sorry about that. But I do love to sing.”


NCIS NCIS NCIS


Tony pulled into a gas station about 100 miles from D.C. They were super low on gas and they both needed to stretch their legs. Tony was about to walk into the station when he hesitated. Something didn’t seem right. It was a gut feeling. Abby, however, didn’t have that sense and she was already out of the car and across the parking lot. Tony ran to catch up with her. He reached her just as the first shot rang out. Seconds later Tony and Abby were both flat on the ground Tony covering Abby with his body. The thief exited the store and fired two shots indiscriminately at Abby and Tony. One shot hit Abby in the left shoulder and the other hit Tony in the lower back.

“Okay, Tony.” Abby said. She had not felt Tony move, but had just figured he was waiting for the guy to leave before he got up. But now she was getting concerned. She had heard the guy drive off moments ago and Tony had not moved. “Tony?!” Abby said, trying to move under his weight. It was nearly impossible. “Tony!” Abby repeated, becoming alarmed. It was only after she tried to move her left arm that she realized what had happened to her.

Cold fear centered in her stomach when she came to the realization of the reason as to why Tony was not moving. Abby turned as best she could and slid herself out from under Tony’s body. Tony groaned when she moved but did not open his eyes. She knelt on her knees beside him. She touched his back. The blood had already seeped through his shirt and had left a large dark red circle on his back.

Tony was lying on his chest on the cold pavement. Abby then gently touched his face and he opened his eyes.

“Abs.” Tony groaned. Tony looked around for a moment before he fully grasped the situation. “Someone shot...inside.” Tony said, struggling to get to his knees. “…need to see….”

“You can’t….” Abby started.

“I have too.” Tony said, by that time Tony was standing up, pressing his hand to his lower back. Luckily the bullet had entered nowhere near his spine, so he was not causing himself any further damage that way. Now it was just the loss of blood and the fact that it hurt like hell.

Abby also stood up and had put her arm right around Tony. She caught him just as he started to sway. “We are quite a pair. The walking wounded.”

“Yeah.” Tony said looking at her. He noticed her shoulder for the first time. “You’re….”

Abby nodded. “Yeah, in the shoulder.”

“I’m sorry, Abby.” Tony said, sincerely.

“Stop it! This is NOT your fault. Besides, we needed to stop. I needed to pee, we both were starving, and we needed gas.” Abby said.

They both took in the scene in front of them as they entered the store. The floor was littered with merchandise. The clerk behind the counter was clearly dead, bullet hole in the center of his chest. The cash drawer was opened and had been picked clean. It seemed that just the area around the front of the store had been disturbed. The rest of the place looked untouched.

“Nothing we can do here.” Abby stated.

“What?” Tony said, still studying the crime scene.

“There’s nothing we can do here.” Abby repeated. “Except contaminate the crime scene.” Abby said when she noticed Tony had moved his hand from his back and was now dripped blood on the floor.

Tony swayed again and Abby managed to catch him with her good arm. “Need to check him. See if….” Tony said as he started towards the body.

“He’s dead, Tony. Even I can see that.” Abby said, trying to tear her eyes away from the look of fear on the man’s face.

“Need to call….” Abby started, looking around for a phone.

Tony knelt down beside the body and felt for a pulse. There was none. Tony left a smear of his own blood on the man’s neck. “No use, Abby.” Tony said shaking his head. “That weather report we heard was talking about this area. Remember all those trees down. I’m surprised there’s electricity.”

Abby nodded, but she checked the phone when she found it, lying almost under the man’s body. “Apparently he was trying to call or reaching for the phone when he was shot.”

Tony nodded as Abby picked up the phone and found that it was indeed dead. She put the phone back on the stand and sat it up on the counter.

Abby helped Tony to his feet and they went outside. They both sat down on the curb under the shelter provided for the gas pumps. Abby pulled her jacket up around her. “How far off the main road are we?”

“I would guess miles. No cars have passed since we got here have they?” Tony asked.

Abby shook her head. “You need to lie down, Tony. You’re losing way to much blood.”

“I’m fine.” Tony said waving away her concern.

“Don’t I’m fine me, Anthony DiNozzo. I’m not Gibbs. I won’t fall for it.” Tony studied her expression for a moment. He could tell she was not going to budge.

Tony tried to stand up. “We should at least be inside. Those dark clouds don’t look too good.” Tony replied, studying the storm clouds in the sky.

Abby was beginning to get freaked out. “The dead guy is in there, Tony.”

“The weather report was calling for heavy rain and strong winds with temperatures in the 4os. I would rather be in there with the dead guy than out here with the elements.”

Abby nodded. “You do have a point.”

They both stood up slowly and made their way back inside.

Abby found some bandages and bandage tape. Before long they were both cleaned up as well as possible, courtesy of the employee bathroom in the back. Abby then managed to bandage Tony’s wound and he did a decent job helping her on hers. The store sold camping gear also. So they borrowed a sleeping bag and some blankets. Abby managed to spread out one sleeping bag on the floor in a back corner of the store. She helped Tony onto the sleeping bag and covered him with one of the thick heavy blankets she had borrowed. She had noticed he was starting to shiver and it worried her that he was not talking.

Abby microwaved them a couple burritos and got two ice cold Pepsis out of the cooler. She somehow managed to carry it all in one trip. “You need to eat something Tony.” Abby said, shaking Tony’s shoulder, causing him to open his eyes.

“…not hungry.” Tony stated, closing his eyes again.

“You were starving when we first decided to stop.” Abby said, handing him his burrito. “Here! Eat!” She sat down beside him and leaned against the shelves behind them. She spread part of the blanket over her legs and feet.

Tony continued to lie on his side. He munched slowly on his burrito and drank his Pepsi slowly.

“Which movie does this remind you of?” Abby asked, trying to get Tony to talk.

“Night of the Living Dead?” Tony replied, smiling.

“Not even funny, DiNozzo.” Abby replied thinking out the dead guy upfront. “There’s no door back here.” Abby said, looking around. “If he comes alive again, I’m making one. You’re on your own.”

Tony laughed, but quieted down again quickly. Abby lay down beside him and scooted as close to him as her injured shoulder would allow. She covered them both with the blanket.

“How’s your shoulder?” Tony asked.

“Hurts like hell. How’s your back?” Abby asked.

Tony nodded. “The same.”

Tony had considered getting back in the car and driving. And if he had been by himself he would have. He would have gotten gas, left some money and called the police as soon as he could have. But with Abby with him, he couldn’t risk hurting her any more. He couldn’t bear the thought that if they had gotten back in the car and he had wrecked. If he had passed out behind the wheel, he could have killed her. He wouldn’t have been able to live with himself if he had done that.

Abby had wanted to leave also. But she knew she could not handle the stick shift and the steering wheel with just one good hand. She actually could do it. She had done it many times as a teen ager, but it was dangerous because she had never perfected the skill. But now, she was not willing to risk her life, and more importantly, Tony’s life on that skill. Plus, she feared she might pass out. She had not told Tony, but she was feeling weak. She had stumbled a couple of times as she made her way around the store getting the things they had needed.

They had both fallen sleep and had both woken to the feeling of extreme cold. The lights were off in the store and the coolers. And it felt as cold inside as it probably did outside. Abby was the first to wake up and notice the change. She got up and looked out the window. The storm had died down, but it was still very dark outside. The parking lot lights were on, but the inside, store lights, were not. She used the light to find and tear open a package that held a flashlight and batteries. She had a working flashlight seconds later. She then headed outside the door and to the side of the building to check the generator. As she suspected the generator was out of gas. She would need to go back inside and find the switch to turn the pumps on. Probably somewhere near the dead guy. She shuttered at the thought and then get enough gas to fill up the generator and turn the lights and heat back on.

Tony was standing at the door looking for her by the time she got back to the front of the store.

“Where…?” Tony started.

“The generator was out of gas, which is why we have no lights and no heat. I need to find the switch for the pumps so that I can put gas in the generator.” Abby explained.

Tony looked at the area around the body and found the switch just a foot from the body. He flipped it. “Hey, don’t you need electricity to pump the gas?”

“Damn.” Abby said. Maybe there was some gas in the cans she saw under the storage shed beside the generator. Abby shook the two cans and was surprised to see that one of them was completely full. She filled the tank on the generator, started it up and then filled that one up again and sat it back beside the generator.

It was a good thing she was wearing black Abby thought. She had had to prop the gas can up on her leg go get a good grip on it to fill the generator and she had still managed to spill some of it in the process.

By the time Abby had come back into the store Tony was leaning heavily against the door frame. He was sweating and seemed about ready to pass out.

Tony collapsed in the doorway of the store. Abby managed to drag him out of the way just enough to close the door. She then retrieved their blankets and sat with him, cradling his head in her lap. She covered him with one blanket and wrapped the other around herself.

Abby touched Tony’s face. He moaned and opened his eyes. He tried to sit up, but collapsed back into her lap.

“Back…hurts.” Tony said.

“I know, Tony.” Abby replied, sadly. “I know.” Abby stared out at the empty road. “What if nobody comes, Tony?”

“Somebody will.” Tony stated.

“But what if they don’t?” Abby asked.

“The robber came didn’t he?”

Abby sighed. “Only because this place is such an easy mark.” Abby said looking around. “There are no houses around here for miles and we are out in the middle of nowhere.”

“The local LEOs will come around and make a check. They just haven’t gotten to us yet.”

“Gibbs is going to kill me. He is going to kill me, revive me and kill me again.” Abby said with conviction.

“What?” Tony asked, looking up at him.

“For not taking care of you.” Abby said running her fingers through Tony’s hair. The action seemed to calm the both of them. “I am supposed to take care of you. Gibbs would expect that of me.”

“You have done a great job of taking care of me. You made me eat. You kept me warm. You bandaged me up. You’ve done a great job.” Tony tried to sit up again, but failed miserably.

“I am the one who’s a dead man.” Tony stated. “I should have just kept driving, something didn’t feel right.” Tony shook his head. “When Gibbs finds out, he will head-slap me so hard I’ll forget my own name.”

“We should have just gotten in the car and left.” Abby said voicing her thoughts from earlier. “I…We could have made it.”

Tony shook his head. “No, Abby. No we couldn’t. I don’t remember off hand. But I know Gibbs has a rule against out and out stupidity. We would be violating that rule big time. We are both severely injured and we are in no immediate danger, so there is no reason to leave.”

Abby fell silent thinking about what Tony had said.

Tony had started to feel feverish again. Abby had wrapped him up as well as she could with the blanket and had gotten ice from the freezer in case she needed to use it to cool him down. She had gotten a zip lock bag and filled it with ice. She now laid it against Tony’s cheek. She alternated moving it from his face to his back. She hoped to keep the infection down and to keep his fever at bay. She had filled another bag which she used on her own shoulder. It seemed to help, numbing the area a great deal.

“Love…you….” Tony said, looking up at Abby.

Abby shook her head vigorously as tears filled her eyes. “No, Tony! I…We are going to be fine. I love you, too. But we are going to be fine. I will NOT lose my best friend today.” Abby said, trying to pull him closer.

She looked out the front windows of the store watching the sun rise and wondering when their help would come.

Gibbs knew something was off, ‘hinky’ as Abby would say, as soon as he entered the bullpen Monday morning. The most obvious thing was that DiNozzo was not there. 99.9% of the time, Tony beat Gibbs to work on Monday mornings. Tony always seemed energized from the weekend and was usually finishing up whatever he had left over from Friday.

By the time McGee and Kate had arrived Gibbs was pacing the bullpen like a caged animal. It was bad enough Tony was not there. But there was something else that was not right, something he could not put his finger on and it was driving him insane.

“McGee,” Gibbs said, after they had exchanged greetings. “…trace Tony’s cell.” He then turned to Kate and told her to check Tony’s cell and land line.”

Tim and Kate exchanged looks and then looked at Gibbs. He read their minds. “My Gut.” Gibbs answered simply.

“Phone must be off or he’s out of range.” McGee said, sighing. He could see Gibbs was very worried, and it scared him a little.

“Messages on both.” Kate stated, putting her office phone back on its cradle.

“Damn!” Gibbs said, slamming his coffee back onto his desk, mindless of the coffee that spilled out over his hand. “Go see, Abby. Work on getting me a location.”

“On it, Boss.” Tim said standing and making his way down to the lab.

“Keep trying those phones, Kate.” Gibbs barked as he plopped down in his chair.

Kate stared at him for a moment. She felt the same worry coming from Gibbs that Tim had and it concerned her greatly.

Tim returned to the bullpen minutes later, a confused look on his face. “Boss….”

Gibbs turned and looked at him. “That was quick. You barely had time to get down there.”

Tim shook his head. His gut was churning. “No Boss, I…When I got down there…Abby’s not in the lab.” McGee finally got out.

Gibbs just looked at him for a second, not grasping what McGee was saying.

“There’s no music, light’s off, door’s locked.” Tim said trying to process what he had seen. Abby is never…not here.”

The pieces all fell into place. That was what was ‘hinky’ besides Tony’s absence. Abby was never, ever, ever late for work. She was early, even if she was going to be a few minutes late, she called Gibbs to let him know. “Tim, GPS location. Kate, check her cell and land line.”

A few moments later, they both shook their heads, same results.

“Grab your gear.” Gibbs said and started toward the elevator.

Tim and Kate just looked at Gibbs, confused.

“If DiNozzo overslept, we will be visiting a crime scene, because I’m gonna kill him.” Gibbs stated as they all got on the elevator and descended to the parking garage.

“Tony?” Abby said, touching Tony’s face. She had fallen asleep after she had watched the sun rise and how had no idea how much time had passed. But however long it had been, she now had only a bag of water on her shoulder, and the bag of ice, now water, which she had been holding on Tony’s back was now lying on the floor behind him.

Abby pressed her fingers to Tony’s neck and when she felt a pulse, she cupped her hand under his chin and raised his head to the point where she could look him in the eyes. He didn’t respond. Not even a moan as she then moved from under him to lay him, gently on the floor. She had to go and check on the generator, probably fill it up again. She had just remembered their cell phones. She knew her’s was in the car in her purse. She had no idea where Tony’s was. But she figured a quick search of the car would yield favorable results. She was mystified her as to why she or Tony had not remembered their cell phones before. But, she guessed, getting shot changed a person’s priorities somewhat. She cast a worried look back at Tony lying motionless on the floor before she opened the door and stepped outside.

Abby heard the vehicle before she show it. She was very tempted to crouch down behind the generator and wait to see what happened. But she didn’t want to leave Tony alone. She didn’t want him to be hurt, possibly shot again. The cops were here, thank God. She let out an audible sigh and came out of her hiding place. Abby meet the officer at the front door of the store.

“What happened here, ma’am?” The office asked her, taking in her gothic attire and the bright red stain on her shoulder.

Abby began her story. She was so glad to be talking to someone who could actually help them. The officer surveyed the scene as Abby talked. He checked Tony’s and the dead guy’s pulses, though it was blatantly obvious that the dead guy had died hours ago. The officer called for back-up and then called the ambulance and the coroner.

Abby, meanwhile, was talking so fast that officer had to ask her to slow down several times so that he could follow what she was saying. “Tony and I are from D.C. We work for NCIS.” Abby lowered herself back down into the floor beside Tony and began, again to stroke his hair. She saw the confused look in the officer’s face and explained. “It’s the Naval Criminal Investigative Services. Tony is a federal agent, Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo. I am Abigail Scuito, Abby. I’m a Forensic Scientist. I asked Tony to go to my class reunion with me in Louisiana.” Abby allowed herself a ramble. “One of my old friends told me I could never ‘catch a looker.’” Abby laughed. “She had to eat her words when she saw Tony. She almost choked on them, as a matter of fact.” Abby laughed again. She then quickly got back to her story. “So, anyway we needed to stop for gas, we were both hungry and I had to pee.” Abby paused. “I know you don’t need to hear that, but Tony may not have stopped here if I hadn’t had to go so bad.” Abby said, her voice full of regret. “Anyway, we were walking up to the door when the first shot was fired. Tony grabbed me and pushed me to the ground and then got on top of me. The guy then left the store, saw us lying there and shot us. That’s why Tony got hurt so much worse than I did. He was lying on top of me, trying to protect me.” Abby paused for a second and wiped her eyes. “We went inside to get out of the storm. We had to use some things. I’ll be glad to make a list of the things we used and pay for them. We tried the phone in here, it was dead. I found Tony’s and my cell phones and tried both. We were out of the service area. It would have been too dangerous for either of us to try to drive out of here. We were stuck.”

The police officer nodded. “You wouldn’t have gotten far anyway. There is a huge tree across the road a mile back and there were power lines down everywhere. It was just not safe. You did the best thing, given the situation.”

As Abby and the officer talked the ambulance arrived and assessed Tony’s condition. They pulled Abby away from the officer long enough to check her wound. She came back and finished her statement just before she and Tony were both loaded and rushed to the nearest hospital.

Gibbs was beyond angry and he was worried out of his mind. A search of Tony's and Abby's apartments had yielded nothing. It was obvious that neither had slept in their beds last night, and nothing looked to be out of place. He, Kate, and Tim were now on their way back to NCIS.

"Gibbs." Gibbs said, growling into his phone after snatching it up on the second ring.

"Agent Gibbs? Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs?" The man asked. He sounded, to Gibbs, like a policeman.

"Yes, this is Agent Gibbs." Gibbs replied. Fear of bad news, death, settled like lead in his stomach.

"Ms. Abigail Scuito told me you were the one to contact about Agent Anthony DiNozzo. My name is Officer Greg Adams. I work for the Lynchburg Police Department in Lynchburg, VA. Your people were involved in an armed robbery. Actually they walked into it. They were in the parking lot when they heard the first shot fired, which killed the store clerk. Your people dove for cover, but were shot by the perpetrator before he left the premises."

"How is To...Agent DiNozzo? Ms. Scuito?" Gibbs said, almost afraid to ask the questions.

"Agent DiNozzo suffered a gunshot wound to the back. He is in critical condition. Ms. Scuito was shot in the shoulder. She is in surgery now, so is Agent DiNozzo."

"Thank you, Officer." Gibbs said, stunned. He closed this phone and put it back into this pocket.

"Boss?" Tim asked, looking across the front seat at Gibbs, unable to read his expression.

"Abby and Tony...they've been shot. They walked in on a robbery in progress. They're both in surgery right now." Gibbs said, delivering bad news. he filled them in on the rest as they sped towards Lynchburg, VA.


By the time Gibbs, Kate and Tim arrived at the hospital, Abby was out of surgery. She had just been moved into the recovery room and Tony still had about an hour left in surgery.

Abby arrived in her ICU room about 30 minutes later. She had woken up completely and was suffering no ill effects from the anesthesia.

Abby smiled when she opened her eyes and noticed her visitor. "Bossman." Abby managed, though her throat was dry. She looked around the room. "Tony? Where's Tony?"

Gibbs gave her hand a comforting squeeze. "He's fine. They're still working on him."

"Hurt bad, Gibbs." Abby replied.

Gibbs nodded. "He's going to be fine." Gibbs had a million questions, but he knew Abby was in no shape to answer them. He had called the Lynchburg PD and had requested a copy of the police report be sent to the ward where Abby was. To have knowledge, it had not arrived yet. He was going to give it just a little bit longer before he called the police station again.

"Tried to protect me. Cover me. Don't be mad at him." Abby said.

Gibbs nodded and smiled. "I'm not mad at Tony. I know he would have done anything and everything to protect you."

Abby smiled. She closed her eyes and Gibbs resumed his position in the chair beside Abby's bed. He sat waiting for word, any word, on Tony.

Ducky arrived in Abby's room with the Lynchburg PD police report in hand. Ducky had been delayed by an autopsy he had to finish in DC, causing him to arrive about 45 minutes after Gibbs. But he had been in regular contact with Tony's doctor at Lynchburg General. He had informed Dr. Adam Harold of Tony's lung condition, but luckily the bullet did no damage to Tony's lungs.

"Jethro, the nurse's told me to deliver this to you." Ducky said, handing the paper over to Jethro. "Tony is doing well." Ducky said, reading Gibbs' mind. "He is coming out of recovery as we speak. He will be here within the hour. I requested Abby and Tony room together."

Gibbs smiled and nodded. He had just finished reading the police report as Tony's bed was wheeled in. Gibbs stood up to make room. Tony had been positioned on his right side, propped up by a mound of pillows. He was still groggy, but wakened easily when touched.

Ducky busied himself checking Abby's dressing and generally talking to her. He knew she had fallen asleep, but hoped she was still listening.

"Gibbs?" Tony said, opening his eyes and looking around. He recognized a hospital room when he saw one.

"Yeah Tony, I'm here." Gibbs said.

"Abby?" Tony asked. "Where...? Oh, hi Ducky."

"How are you feeling, dear boy?" Ducky asked as Gibbs moved out of the way so that Tony could see the occupant in the next bed.

"She...OK?" Tony paused, in obvious pain. "Shot...shoulder."

Gibbs moved his hand the press the nurse call button. Ducky moved to Tony's bedside and gingerly checked Tony's back for redness and bleeding. His bandage was clean and there was no redness.

Tony shook his head. "She...OK?" Tony repeated.

Gibbs nodded. "She just got out of surgery. Bullet was removed. She is going to be fine."

Tony breathed a sigh of relief. "Screwed up."

"Tony...."

"Was...hinky, shouldn't have stopped."

"Tony," Gibbs said, cupping Tony's shoulder. "...you did good. Abby said you took care of her. You protected her. I read the police report, Tony. You did good." Gibbs repeated.

"Police...report?" Tony asked, confused.

"The local LEOs showed up and found the three of you there at the store. He, Officer Adams, said there had been trees and power lines down in the road, in his report. That was why it took so long for them to get to you." Gibbs explained.

Tony nodded, his eyes were feeling so heavy that he had a hard time keeping them open. "Abby...hear me?"

"Abigail is asleep right now, Anthony." Ducky said. "You should rest too. You too will have plenty of time to speak with each other later.

Tony nodded and closed his eyes, letting sleep claim him.

"Abby?" Gibbs said, almost in a whisper. He didn't want to wake Tony. "Abby?"

Abby opened her eyes and smiled when she saw her visitor. She then noticed the other bed in the room. "That Tony?"

Gibbs nodded and moved out of the way so that Abby could see. Tony was lying on his side, facing her, snoring softly.

"He OK?" Abby asked studying her sleeping friend, and very glad to see he had made it through their ordeal.

Gibbs nodded again. "He is doing fine. He's just tired. His wound did get infected, but it was not too bad. They are attacking it with antibiotics. The doctors said you had a little infection. They have you on antibiotics, too."

Abby nodded. She hadn't even considered her wound becoming infected. It had just hurt like hell.

Gibbs stared at Abby for a moment, prompting her to speak.

"I know I should have told you about my weekend plans. I had asked Tony to come to my class reunion. I needed arm candy." Abby blushed as she explained. "Tony knew I wanted him to be my arm candy. He didn't have a problem with it. He was happy, I was happy to be going on a road trip, any road trip with him. We had been talking about it for a long time. When the class reunion came up, it just seemed like a good time." Abby looked sheepishly at Gibbs. "We...We had just planned on leaving Friday, right after work and then coming back sometime Monday morning. We would just catch a few hours of sleep and then be ready to go Monday for work." Abby sighed. "And all went as planned, until we stopped for gas...."

"Tony said something in my ear." Abby continued. "The next thing I know we are both down on the ground and he's on top of me." Abby paused. "I heard the car door slam and the guy pull off, I figured Tony had too. But I couldn't figure out why he wasn't moving. I didn't even know I had been shot, until I tried to move. Then I realized why Tony wasn't moving." Abby said, her voice shaky. "He didn't move until I have gotten out from under him. He..."

By this time, Kate and Tim had made their way into the room and were standing in the corner listening. They had visited with both Tony and Abby, at various times, since they had arrived from D.C. They had not stayed long, however, and had tried their best not to wake either up.

"He...I got up and that was when I saw he was bleeding. I touched his back and...when I touched his face, he woke up. We went inside. He wanted to check on whoever was inside. I said something about us being the walking wounded." Abby explained. "He was bleeding really badly. He...he got really, really quiet. I tried to get him to talk. I tried to get him to eat. He did eat a little. After that...he started to run a fever. He...He told me he loved me. I...at first I thought it was the fever talking. But then I looked into his eyes." Abby paused, unable to speak for a few moments. Then she continued. "He was lucid. It scared the hell out of me, Gibbs. He thought he was going to die. He...He was...preparing me. I could tell his fever was rising. He sort of passed out after that. He mumbled. He moaned, but he didn't open his eyes. He didn't even know the police had come and he didn't open his eyes in the ambulance, at all." Abby shook her head. "All I could do was hold him and keep him warm."

"You did a great job, Abby. Gibbs said, smiling at her, not betraying his pain at their ordeal. He took Abby's hand and held it. "You saved his life, Abby. He's here isn't me? What you did worked. It was exactly what he needed."

"Abs?" Came a whisper from the other bed.

"I'm here, Tony." Abby answered.

"You...OK?"

"I'm good, Tony. I'm a lot better now that you're here." Abby replied.

Tony looked at Gibbs. "She left out a few things. She kept the generator running. She made sure I was warm. She tried to keep my fever down with ice packs. She made sure I got something to eat and stuff to drink. She...She took very good care of me."

Tony got quiet for a moment. He was trying to remember something.

"The license plate." Tony said, trying to remember something. "Damnet!"

"It's OK, Tony." Gibbs said. He was eager to have whatever information Tony could provide. He wanted to find this guy and nail his ass to the wall for what he had done to his team members. "Relax, it'll come back."

Tony nodded. "It was a white ford pickup, older model...."

Gibbs took out his notebook and started writing.

"...Maryland plates." Tony added. "I couldn't write it down. There wasn't time. I...I tried to make an association."

Gibbs nodded and encouraged him to continue.

"Star Trek, that was the association." Tony stated.

"OK." Abby started throwing things out. "Captain Kirk, Starship Enterprise, William Shatner, Spock, Leonard Nemoy...."

Tony nodded. "William Shatner, W-S..." Tony paused. "...W-T-S. Damn!" Tony said, unable to remember the numbers that followed.

"It'll come, Tony." Gibbs encouraged. "It'll come."

Tony nodded, but he was still extremely frustrated.

Abby and Gibbs watched Tony until they thought he had fallen asleep. They were talking quietly when he spoke again.

"4-6...." Tony paused again. He looked at Gibbs. "...sorry, Boss. I just can't remember the last two numbers.

Gibbs shook his head. "Nothing to be sorry about Tony. You did great." Gibbs jotted the number down and handed it to Tim.

"On it boss." Tim said, going out into the hall to make a phone call.

Tim returned a few minutes later. "The plate belonged to a Craig Anthony Williams, Virginia native."

"Belonged?" Tony asked

Tim nodded and continued. "He owned a truck matching the description and had a list of priors a mile long, petty theft, larceny. He had recently graduated to armed robbery. He was shot and killed yesterday in commission of another armed robbery at a convenience store. The owner kept a 12-gauge behind the counter."

Tony nodded, glad the case was over. He was suddenly very tired. He closed his eyes and was snoring in minutes.

"Abby?" Tony said, he and Abby finally got a little time alone. Gibbs was on another coffee run. Tim and Kate were working on another case that the team had caught just this morning. "Abby?" Tony said a little louder.

Abby finally realized that Tony was talking to her and removed her headphones. It had been almost 5 days since they had arrived at the hospital and she was becoming very adept at doing everything with one hand. Tony's back was healing, though slowly, because of the infection he had gotten. He still had to lie mainly on his side and he was none too happy about it.

"What is it, Tony?" Abby asked, hopping out of bed and coming to his bed side.

"We need to talk."

"About what?" Abby asked, though she knew where the conversation was heading.

"About what? About what happened in the store, that's what." Tony replied.

"Tony, I did for you what you would have done for me." Abby explained.

"I know you did." Tony paused. "I just wanted you to know how much I appreciate it."

"Tony, let's not get all mushy." Abby said. "You don't do mushy and I don't have Bert to help me deal with this. Plus, I can't hug you like I want to."

"You hug me like you want to and you'll break my ribs." Tony commented.

Abby nodded and smiled. "Very true."

"So....?"

"So...what?" Abby asked, confused.

"So, when's our next Road Trip?" Tony asked smiling.

THE END