Abby stood up and surveyed her lab; she was in the middle of picking through some evidence relating to a money-laundering scheme. It wasn't an overly important case, but there was a considerable time crunch. The pressure was on, Abby needed to find something solid that the team could use to implicate their prime suspect. Though she usually enjoyed the methodical nature of the work, today nothing could stimulate her. She was tired. Even though she blamed this feeling on physical exhaustion, deep down she knew that it was her lifestyle, not her body that had roused this feeling inside her. She inhaled deeply and tried to compose herself. The silence between music tracks had broken her concentration and she needed a break.

McGee replaced his toothbrush in its holder and filled his glass with water. He looked at himself from multiple angles in the mirror, and decided that he would put off showering until the morning. He had been staring at a computer screen all day at work, desperately trying to manipulate the tables and charts he had been assigned, and then he had played quite a few hours of video games at home. He had felt his eyes getting tired and puffy, so he resolved to go to bed a little earlier than usual. As he pulled out the shirt he would be wearing tomorrow, he sighed and wondered how he had strayed from his original intention of working on his writing this evening. His publisher was squeezing him for new material, but he was struggling to produce anything, he needed a break.

Everyone she knew had left the building several hours ago, there were only a few solitary interns working late into the night, desperate for acknowledgement and the ever-elusive pat on the back from their superior. Abby smiled, they reminded her of the way she used to be. Sure, she was still the same animated individual she was then, but something had changed and she couldn't quite put her finger on what it was. She felt content in her life, she enjoyed her work and the company of her friends, but she had to admit to herself that she had been feeling alone. The feeling had gathered weight during the last few years, she kept thinking she had found a good match, but when her lovers were put to the test, they failed her. And if they didn't fail her, then she pushed them away. Too many times she had spurned guys and regretted it at a later date. Even her brief dalliance with McGee had proved itself ill fated. She loved McGee, she couldn't deny it, but the way she loved him was…different. He accepted her, listened to her talk about nothing and most importantly; he fed her geek! But they were co-workers, which brought it's own technical complications and even more importantly, they were friends. Friendship like theirs was something Abby knew was rare and she was loathed to complicate it further than they already had. She broke into a grin and softly giggled; the permanent mark he had gotten to impress her, never failed to raise a smile.

McGee flipped on the television and flopped onto the bed. He reached for the remote and casually cycled through the stations. Nothing immediately caught his eye, so he let it rest on a news programme. He didn't concentrate fully on the television, he found his mind wandering. Thoughts of work couldn't help but enter his mind; he had been working hard for the past couple of days and was having trouble turning his brain off. He thought about the other members of the team, he wondered if they had the same problem. Tony and Ziva had years of experience on him, they probably were getting used to it by now. They at least knew how to occupy themselves with other things, so their thoughts were pushed to the side. And he knew Gibbs was a pro at such measures. But what about Abby? In some ways he was closer to her than anyone else he worked with. He knew that sometimes all the bad, corrupt people they met in their line of work bothered her. But she had her music and her friends to distract her. Sometimes McGee wished he could protect her from it all, she was so delicate and sensitive. When McGee discovered this side to her, his male protective gene had gone into overdrive, even though he didn't dare to air it in public. He couldn't bear the thought of seeing her inimitable spirit crushed. A wry smile crept across his face when he thought of the times they had been together.

Abby punched in the numbers for her usual, and the machine dispensed the candy on cue. She unwrapped the bar and sat herself down on the floor by the side of the vending machine. She sat with her legs splayed right out in front of her, just listening to the gentle hum of the building. She felt at home here, she felt at peace. This was her home, they were her friends. Eventually her mind drifted back to her work, she had to get back to it. She picked herself up from the floor and headed for the elevator.

Once she got back to her lab, she still found herself with a block. She was stuck on this case and in desperate need of new ideas. In a spark of inspiration, she logged into her instant messaging program. "Maybe he'll still be awake." She thought to herself. Typing out her message and hitting the enter key, she hoped he would be home to respond. Maybe he would be out on a date or something? Abby shuddered; the idea of Tim inflicting someone else with his 'first date' patter was not good. He was a nice guy, granted, but he hardly had a way with women. Nobody deserved to hear the same terrible, stilted conversation that she had, it was positively torturous. Thank goodness she had managed to get him talking about the data recovery work he was doing for MTAC. Hardly good first date conversation, but better than hackneyed chatter about the weather that she never saw from her lab.

His eyes were getting heavy and he was slowly drifting off to sleep, when he heard the beep from his laptop. Kneading his temples, McGee stood up. "Was it so much to ask, for one night of peace?" he muttered. Flipping open the cover of the laptop, he glanced at the screen. It was a contact from work, probably one of the team with some technical question for him, he surmised. Sighing, at the thought of turning his brain on again, he pulled up the conversation.

Abby: Still alive, McGee?

Abby? He found his face breaking into a slight smile. If he had to be bugged by one of the team, at this time of the night, at least it was Abby.

Tim: Just about, Abs. Got a problem?

Abby: No…but yes.

Tim: Well, what's your not-problem?

Abby: I'm just kinda stuck.

Tim: Stuck on the case, you mean?

Abby: Kinda, I just need to think of a new direction, I think.

McGee: Well, what have you got so far?

Abby: Ugh, stop drilling me with questions McGee!

Tim: I am the one who got up and answered your little distress call here.

Abby: I know, I know, I'm sorry. I think what I really wanted was a break from the case. Were you asleep?

Tim: Not really.

Abby: So you were then…

Abby: Sorry I woke you, you should've just ignored the msg. It's not that important.

Tim: It's ok, I'm here now. What would you like to talk about instead?

Abby: Enough with the questions already!

Tim: Sorry Abs, I'm just pretty tired right now, which does not make for good conversation.

Tim: So… What did you have for dinner?

Abby: What a very McGee question.

Abby: FYI, I had a burrito. How about you?

She looked at the empty Caf-Pow on her desk, she knew how McGee would complain that she didn't look after herself enough, if she told the truth. Just a little white lie didn't hurt anyone.

Tim: Just some pasta, nothing special.

He looked at the empty pizza box, he knew she would laugh at him for having pizza…again. But at least they were both Italian, not too far from the truth.

Abby: Did you eat out, where did you go and more importantly, who with?

Tim: Nope I ate at home. Why did you think I went out?

Abby: Just that you were never that great at cooking. I figured it had to be a restaurant, so it'd be a date or something.

Tim: Hey, I can cook! A little. No date necessary.

Abby: No date necessary? You off the ladies McGee?!

Tim: No, no.

Tim: I mean, I've been dating but you know…no one special.

He felt guilty lying to her, but he didn't want her to think he was some sort of loser. He was just going through a dry spell. One date in the last 3 months wasn't stretching the truth too much, was it? But considering that the high point of the date had been him signing a book. For her mother. Maybe it was.

Abby: Yeah, me too. Like you said, some dates but no one special.

She had no idea why she was doing this, why she felt the need to 'keep up' with him. Surely the last thing that she should feel the need to do is impress Tim. He knew her and had seen everything before, this was just ridiculous.

Tim: I've been so busy with work and my writing. It's hard to find time.

Abby: Yeah, exactly, we're just really busy people.

Tim: Really lonely busy people.

The instant he sent the message, he regretted it. Great, now she was going to think he was weird. It was probably too late now to add some sort of smiley-face to lighten the comment up.

Abby: Speak for yourself McGee!

The instant she sent that message, she regretted it. It was quite harsh and not particularly true. Sometimes Abby felt so desperately lonely, that she wanted to reach out to someone. Like she was now. Reaching out to Tim wasn't a bad thing, he was always so sweet and loyal, so understanding. Thinking back on all the times she had laid her head on his chest and unloaded all her problems, Abby smiled, she was glad to have him in her life.

Tim: I just meant, that here we are late at night talking to each other online. Hardly what 'normal' people are doing tonight…

Abby: Ok, so you have a point. But then we're hardly normal people, are we?

Tim: I suppose. Normal people don't really exist though, do they?

Abby: AHH!! Thank you McGee! I need to use different frameworks, something more irregular, not just the standard outlines.

Abby: Ok, now I have a million things to do. Gonna have to run, or I won't get any sleep tonight.

Tim: Glad to be of service.

Abby: Thank you sooo much McGee! Love you! :)

Abby has signed off.

A small sigh escaped from McGee, and he slowly typed out 'I love you too.' He stared at the words on his screen for some time, knowing that this was one thing he could never write; then pressed delete.