**Chapter Five -- Battlefield**
"Abby?" Tony answered groggily, trying to focus on her despite his hangover headache. "I think I made a mistake."
"Mistake? What are you talking about, T?"
He dropped his head, closing his eyes against the bright light that spilled out of the apartment. "I fucked up."
"No, baby. We...I'm sorry. Between the long hours and you being on suspension...I shouldn't have taken it out on you."
"No...no Abby, listen. I need...I need you to listen to me, 'kay?" He reached up and ran a hand through his hair. "Just...last night, I..."
She stopped him by raising her hand, narrowing her eyes as she looked at his neck. Seeing the lipstick on the collar of his shirt, she pulled it aside, noticing the bright red bite mark.
"You bastard!" She cried, standing up and running inside.
"Baby! Wait!" The Italian called, stumbling after her as best he could. "Let...let me explain, Abs."
"No! *You* don't get to explain!" Tears were stinging her eyes as she turned back to face him, pointing a finger at him accusingly. "God! One fight, and you run off to screw some bimbo you met in a bar?!"
He looked away, ashamed at himself for making her cry. Dropping to sit on the arm of the couch, he tried to protest. "Abby..."
"Six months! That's it. Six goddamn months!" She scoffed, swiping at the tears running down her cheeks. "You make me sick, Anthony DiNozzo."
"Please...let me..."
"I know you better than anyone! I should have seen it coming, should have known that you couldn't be faithful. In the eleven years I've known you, you never have been! I don't know why I expected a changed man."
"Hey!" He roared, standing up from the couch. "I *never* cheated on anyone I've been with! Ever!"
"Great. So it's just me, then? That makes it *so* much better!"
"Maybe if you didn't freak out over stupid shit like a god-damned psycho, then I wouldn't..." He stopped himself, seeing the anger flare in her eyes. If he hadn't screwed up before, he certainly had now.
"Fuck you."
The Goth turned from him and started to walk away, stopping when he grabbed her wrist. Spinning around, she felt her hand connect with his face, making her hand sting.
"Shit!" He yelled, grabbing both of her wrists and pinning her to the wall. "You don't get to walk away from me. I'm not Bradley, I'm not gonna put up with you being a bitch and ignoring me."
She struggled against him, more tears flowing down her cheeks as he held her tighter. "I hate you." She managed, keeping her voice as steady as possible.
Her words stung more than any slap she could have ever given him. He backed away suddenly, having expected something along the lines of that, but he never thought he'd hear it spoken with the strength and conviction he heard in her voice.
Abby took the opportunity of him dropping his guard to slip away from him, running toward the bedroom as she sobbed.
"Abby..." He called, his voice soft as he followed her down the hallway only to meet a closed bedroom door. "Abs, baby, I'm sorry."
Tony listened, closing his eyes against the stinging tears when he received no response. "Baby, please. We...we can work this out, sweetheart. Just...come out and we'll talk about it."
The bedroom door swung open a minute later and Abby came out, carrying a large duffel bag over her shoulder.
"Abs." The Italian tried, moving to touch her shoulder before he thought better of it. He didn't want to scare her any more than he was sure he already had. "Please, can we talk about this?"
"There's nothing to talk about, Tony. This whole thing was a big mistake."
He crossed the living room in a few long strides, passing her and blocking her path to the door. "A...a mistake? How...how can you say that?"
The Goth sighed, picking up her purse off the table. "It is what it is, Tony. We were friends, and we messed with fate. It bit us in the ass. I should have listened to Bradley, he knew. He warned me, and I didn't listen."
He stumbled backwards, the force of her words hitting him like a well placed punch to the gut. "You don't...you don't mean that."
"An hour ago? No, I wouldn't have. But in the eleven years I've known you, you've done nothing but break my heart, Tony. The only difference is this time, I don't think it can be fixed."
He could feel the tears stinging his eyes as he clenched his jaw in an effort to keep from losing it. The injustice of the entire situation was welling up in his chest, the aching almost unbearable.
He knew he should drop to his knees and beg for forgiveness but his stupid male pride wouldn't let him. Instead, despite the fact that his brain was screaming at him to stop, he decided to hurt her just as badly as she'd hurt him.
As if he hadn't already.
"Yeah, well you know what? Fuck Bradley. I never liked him anyway. And I knew I should have never chosen you over Ziva. THAT was a mistake," he spat, crossing his arms over his chest as he watched her face crumble again.
She didn't even bother to respond, focusing all her attention instead on keeping her composure as she turned away from him. Pulling the door open, she stepped out into the hallway, her entire body trembling as she closed the door behind her.
"I wish I'd never met you," she whispered to the empty hallway as she made her way to the elevator, not even bothering to glance back.
**Three Hours Later**
Abby sobbed as she taped the last box closed and carried it to the door, sighing at the small stack that made up the last eleven years of her life. She hadn't planned on this initially, but after coming back to her half-packed apartment, she realized that she would never be able to move on while she stayed there.
Pulling out her cell phone, she wiped her tears away as she dialed a familiar number, part of her hoping that the call would go to voicemail.
"Gibbs."
She cursed under her breath, trying to steady her voice before speaking. "Hey, Gibbs, it's Abby."
"What's goin' on, Abs?" He asked, hearing the tenseness of her voice. He set the sander down and leaned against the workbench, taking a sip of his coffee.
"I...um, I have a favor to ask you."
"Anything, Abs. You know that." His gut had started churning, and he was worried about what her favor might entail.
"I need some time off, you know, to go see my family."
"They were just here for Christmas, weren't they? Is everything okay with Jack?"
"Yeah, they're fine. I just thought, I have some sick leave saved, that maybe I could use it." She knew that he could hear the tears in her voice.
"That's over 4 months of leave. You know I can't be without a forensics specialist for that long."
"Oh." The Goth said simply, her tears threatening to spill over again. "Okay."
"Talk to me. Something's bothering you."
"I can't...I can't talk right now, Gibbs. I've...I'm kind of in the middle of something but we'll talk, okay? We'll talk."
"Abby," he tried again, frowning as he heard her breathing hitch just slightly. "What's goin' on?"
"I've...I've gotta go. I'm sorry I bothered you."
She snapped the phone shut between her fingers and threw it across the room, hitting the couch. She had a feeling that Gibbs wasn't going to go along with her taking four months off, which unfortunately left her considering her plan B.
Trudging across the room, she picked up the phone again and dialed the NCIS switchboard. She entered the number of the extension she wanted and waited patiently for the owner to pick up.
"Director Vance? It's Abby."
**Two Days Later**
Monday morning came too soon.
After Abby left on Saturday morning, Tony hadn't done much other than drown himself in a bottle. Multiple bottles, actually. He felt dirty after the things he had said to her, but despite wanting nothing more than to go and apologize, he sat in what used to be their apartment,
going through the things she had left behind.
He only showed up at work out of habit, not even bothering to shave that morning. His clothes were rumpled, something he didn't even notice until he felt Gibbs' eyes on him like a hawk.
"DiNozzo!" He barked, watching as the younger man jumped, clearly startled by the loud noise. "What the hell is the matter with you? This is a federal office building, not the local homeless shelter. Go shave."
Tony stared at him blankly, his hangover preventing him from understanding half the words that came out of the older man's mouth.
"Shave. Now!" Gibbs repeated, shaking his head as the brunette gathered his disposable razor and headed for the bathroom.
Ziva and McGee looked at each other curiously across the bullpen as Tony left, trying to figure out what could be wrong with him.
"Don't even think about asking, I don't know." Gibbs answered their silent question. He didn't know what the problem with his senior agent was, but he could only assume it had something to do with Abby's phone call to him.
"I do."
All three of the agents looked up to see Vance walking into the bullpen carrying a small stack of personnel files. "I'm sorry to say that Miss Sciuto has resigned from NCIS."
"She did WHAT?" McGee asked, his eyes wide.
Vance set the files down on Gibbs' desk and turned to face the young agent. "She called me on Saturday morning and told me that she was resigning. Sent her letter an hour later."
Gibbs pushed himself up from his desk, his jaw twitching angrily. Ignoring Vance's warnings, he stalked out of the bullpen, his hands clenched into fists at his sides.
It wasn't often that Gibbs completely lost control of his temper but when it happened, it almost always had to do with the Forensic Scientist he viewed as a daughter.
While Abby had never quite filled the void left after the death of his wife and daughter, having her around had made it easier to deal with the pain of losing them. He hated the thought of losing her, especially when he was almost positive that she'd still be around if not for the hungover agent currently hiding in the men's room.
"You sonofabitch!" He roared as he shoved the door open, ignoring the incredulous stares of the other agents lingering in the room. He motioned for them to leave the room, watching as they scurried out.
Turning at the sound of his boss' voice, Tony's eyes widened in surprise.
"Boss?"
Gibbs didn't answer as he closed the gap in between them, shoving the younger man back against the wall roughly, his arm pressed against his throat as he held him in place.
"What did you do to her?!" He spat, ignoring the fear in Tony's eyes.
"Gibbs...Boss..." Tony tried, his fingers clawing at Gibbs' arm as he tried to free himself.
"She's resigned! That girl loved this job more than anything except for you! What did you do to her?!"
"...Re...resigned?"
"You gonna add 'deaf' to the laundry list of things that are wrong with you? Resigned, DiNozzo! She quit! And somehow, I'd be willing to bet you had something to do with it!"
He held him place for a moment longer, taking pleasure in the way the younger man squirmed beneath his arm before he released him, glaring down at him as he sagged against the wall, gasping for air.
"I should fire your ass." He growled. "But I'm not, because that'd be letting you off easy. I want you here where I can ride your ass. And trust me, Tony. If you're not sorry now, you will be."
He turned and stalked out of the room, immediately heading for the elevator with the intention of getting coffee. He stopped the elevator halfway down and pulled out his cell phone, wondering for a moment if he should try to call her and convince her to come back.
He flipped open the little device, his fingers poised and ready to dial her number before he snapped it closed with a sigh.
In all the years he'd known Abby, she'd never been one to back down from her decisions. Whenever she set her mind to doing something, there wasn't much that could be done or said to change her mind.
**Abby's Lab**
Ziva sat at her friend's desk, sighing quietly as she packed the personal belongings away into a few cardboard boxes. They had been shocked when Director Vance came down and informed them of Abby's sudden departure, wondering why she had quit without saying anything to them.
McGee had checked his email first, logging into it as soon as Vance had headed upstairs and Gibbs took off to who knows where. He found her goodbye note, just letting him know that she would be in touch.
Ziva also had an email from the Goth, asking her to pack up her lab for her.
When she'd started at NCIS, she never imagined that she'd become as close to the Goth as she had. Abby was a total opposite of everything she was used to and while they'd gotten off to a rocky start, she found that she was geniunely saddened that her friend was gone.
She blinked against the tears that had formed in her eyes as she deposited the last of Abby's things into the box, ignoring the painful ache in her chest.
She stiffened at the sound of the automatic door opening, her hand immediately moving to the holstered weapon at her hip as she turned quickly.
"What are you doing down here?" Tony asked, swallowing hard against the lump in his throat as he looked at the box in her hands.
"I do not see how that is any of your business." Ziva snapped, moving to step around him.
He stood in front of her, blocking her path. "If you know something, I deserve to know!"
The Israeli scoffed. "Yes, *everything* is about you, isn't it?"
"What are you talking about, Ziva?"
"I cannot believe you!" She cried, sliding the box onto the prep table she was standing next to. "She told you that she was pregnant and you pushed her away! And now look at what happened. She left a job she loves and people that care about her just to get away from you!"
"Pregnant?"
"Yes! Pregnant. With your child."
She watched as Tony leaned forward on the prep table, the weight of the situation hitting him like a ton of bricks. "Pregnant." He whispered, his voice thick with unshed tears.
"You...did not know." Ziva said, her anger fading as she watched her partner trying to comprehend the news of Abby's pregnancy.
"No, Ziva. I didn't know." He snapped, not looking up at her. "You knew?"
She nodded. "I...figured it out. She did not come to me with it."
"When? When did you 'figure it out', Ziva?"
"When she was sick. The food poisoning was morning sickness, Tony."
He straightened himself and looked over at her, his eyes dark. "Why didn't she tell me? I...I should have known. She changed so much...I..."
"You are selfish."
"What?"
"Selfish." She bit out as she stared daggers at him. "You did not even take her into consideration, Tony. She said that you were good with her nephew, but that you had always told her that you did not want children of your own. That crushed her, and you did not even notice."
"I..." He ran his hand through his hair, not knowing how to explain. "She could've told me. What did she think I was gonna do? Was she..." He stopped, realizing why Abby hadn't told him about the baby. "She was scared of me. Of what I would do, how I would react."
Ziva nodded. "Yes, I think so. I offered to be with her when she told you, she insisted that she tell you on her own."
Tony dropped himself onto the stool next to Abby's computer, closing his eyes as he tried to hold the tears back. What did it say about him that his girlfriend, his *soulmate*, was afraid to come to him with something as important as a pregnancy? He couldn't bring himself to make eye contact with Ziva, knowing that she was thinking the same thing as she stared him down.
"I really fucked it up, didn't I?"
"I think that is what you would call an understatement, yes?"
Tony chuckled darkly, a tear falling down his cheek. "I...I told her it was a mistake, choosing her over you."
Ziva didn't even think before she reacted to his words, punching him in the stomach hard enough for him to double over.
"What...?!" He managed, coughing deeply.
"You are an idiot. What did you think you were going to accomplish?"
He thought about it for a moment, rubbing his stomach where she had punched him. "She hurt me. It was the only thing I could think of to do...to say something that would hurt her back. I wasn't thinking."
Ziva shook her head, disgusted with her partner. "I would have to agree! You let your ego get in the way of what could have meant happiness, Tony. And now she's gone for good."
"Yeah." He conceded solemnly, looking over at the box of Abby's voodoo dolls and personal belongings she had strewn all over the lab. "Yeah, I know."
Standing up suddenly, he took off for the door only to have Ziva grab him by the arm. "Where are you going?"
"To fix what I broke." He said, pushing past her and pressing the button on the elevator. He stepped into the car and dialed her number as soon as the doors closed, getting no answer. It didn't really surprise him, after their intense fight two days ago and her subsequent resignation, she clearly never wanted to see him again.
Chapter End Notes:
"Battlefield" by Jordin Sparks