"Sounds like you still haven't gotten over him," Kate noted.

"I know! It sucks!"

"Has he moved on yet?"

"Well…"Abby started. "I thought he did. And I kept getting jealous whenever he'd get a new girlfriend."

Kate stared at her.

"Ok, ok, so I still do. And I might also get jealous of girls that I think he might be interested in. I was actually kind of jealous with Ziva for a while when she showed up because I thought-"

"Abby. Don't try to change the subject."

"All right, fine. But he always looks hurt every time I reject or berate him. And then there was that time with that wacko fan of his…"

"Fan? What are you talking about, Abby?" Kate asked, confused.

"Well, you remember how Tim liked to write in his spare time?" Abby asked. Kate nodded. "Well, Mr Thom E. Gemcity, as he calls himself, is now a best-selling author. But the thing is, we're all characters in his book."

"What?"

"Yeah. Like, Timmy's character is named McGregor, I'm Amy, Ziva is Lisa, Gibbs is Tibbs, and you're Karyn Tomm. Well, except your character died in the middle of the first book," Abby explained.

"Gee. I wonder why," Kate pretended to wonder, annoyed.

"Yeah, pretty much all of us except Gibbs and Ducky had that reaction. He described my room almost perfectly!"

"So, what's this about a fan?"

"Well, see, when McGee was writing the sequel, a couple of bodies turned up. The victims looked just like characters from McGee's book, and the crime scenes looked just like settings from it. But the book wasn't even done yet, so we couldn't figure out how the killer knew all this."

"Abby, the short version, please. I can hear the details later. Right now, I want to make sure I get the gist of it before Gibbs calls you away. The last thing I need is a cliffhanger to keep me company until the next time you visit."

"Sorry. Well, long story short, it was this crazy fan of McGee's who was reading his rough drafts and killing anyone he thought might kill McGee's character. He thought it was real. He came to me and put a gun to my head, calling me Amy."

"So what happened?"

"Everybody showed up just in time, and Tim convinced the guy that he didn't want to kill me, because the ending to his book was going to be Amy and McGregor getting married."

"How sweet of him," Kate remarked.

"Well, it wasn't the first time some psycho tried to kill me, I mean, it's like the universe wants me to be some kind of damsel in distress. There was that stalker ex of mine, and the robot car that tried to suffocate me, and that so-called 'assistant' of mine, and-"

"Abby," Kate told her sternly.

"Well, I kind of freaked out."

"What kind of freak-out are we talking about here?" Kate probed. "The kind that you forget about the next day, the kind that requires a long talk and apology, or what?"

"The kind where you say something you don't really mean and can never take back. I mean, you know how I am with that kind of serious stuff. I'm just not ready for the whole 'get married and have kids' thing."

"So what happened?"

"I didn't even thank him for saving my life. I just went right up to him, in front of everyone, and said 'we need to talk. Amy and McGregor can't get together in the end; they're all wrong for each other.'"

Kate winced. Abby couldn't help but follow suit.

"And did you talk?" Kate asked.

Abby squeezed her eyes shut and squeaked out a "…No…"

She cracked open one eye to spot Kate shaking her head sadly. "Abby…"

"I know, I know! He practically admitted that he loved me, and I just rejected him right off! I'm so stupid!"

"Abby, you're not stupid, you just overreacted. Everyone does it. Even me."

"But that's not the end, either! There was also that time that we were trying to find a security leak, and Gibbs had this plan where I'd pretend to be the mole, so we could flush out the real one. And Timmy was with me in interrogation. He knew I couldn't be a traitor, but he didn't know I was part of the plan, so he was trying to get me to tell him what I'd been working on so secretly all day, because that made things look bad, and-"

Abby had begun pacing as she spoke, and when she turned back towards Kate, she noticed that Kate was covering her ears. "Hey!"

Kate laughed and let her arms fall to her sides. "I was listening, Abby, just get to the point."

Scowling, Abby continued. "Well, when I finally gave in and told him about the plan, he…Kissed me. On the cheek, not the lips. But still…I had the perfect time to straighten all of this out, and I missed it! I just keep fucking this up!"

She noticed she had started pacing again, and forced herself to stand still as she looked back to her friend. "What am I supposed to do, Kate? I love him, but there's no way it could work. He wants one of those long-term, committed relationships, and I just want one of those casual 'live for the here and now' relationships."

"Abby, if he really loves you, then he won't care what kind of relationship you have," Kate told her.

"But how do I…?"

"How do you 'what', Abby?" Kate's words became a little more forceful. "There's not really much to it. You love him. He loves you. You both want a relationship. So start one. It's not complicated."

"But it is!"

"Ok, then. What is complicated about it?" Kate asked, crossing her arms.

"Well…I…Uh…" For perhaps the first time in her life, Abigail Sciuto was speechless. She didn't have a clue just what was so difficult about Kate's solution. "So…I just…Go up to him and say 'Hey, McGee, I wasn't kidding that week when I went without Caf-Pow and said I love you?'"

Kate nodded. "That's it. Well, I probably wouldn't use those exact words, but yes."

"Huh…That seems so…Easy. Why didn't I think of it?"

Kate shrugged.

"But what if he doesn't want me anymore? What if he really wants a super-serious relationship?"

Kate sighed. "Abby, ask yourself this: 'What if you don't do this?' Do you really want to live like this forever?"

Abby tilted her head a little to the side. "Hmmm…Well, I'm sure I don't want to spend the rest of my life like this. But it's not like I'm going to live forever, anyway, because someday I'm going to grow old and die like everybody else, so I guess…I guess I'd better not waste the time I do have, because life is short and I only get one of them."

And the light bulb came on. Suddenly, her eyes were opened, as if a veil that had been in front of her face for so long had finally been removed.

"Kate! You're right!"

Kate smiled. "Of course I am. The dead are always wiser than the living, for some strange reason. Now what are you waiting for? Get going! But be sure to visit! I'll want to hear about that robot car."

Abby was already halfway to her car. She stopped for just a moment to bid her friend goodbye. "I will! And thanks again, Kate!"

Abby began running again. Unfortunately, she did so without watching where she was going. As a result, she collided with one Timothy McGee.

"Ow…" he groaned as the two of them climbed to their feet.

"Oops. Sorry, Timmy," Abby giggled. Then she stopped. "Wait. What are you doing here?"

McGee held up the remnants of the now-ruined flowers that he had been carrying. "I was going to visit Kate's grave." He noticed Abby's outfit. "…I take it you're here to do the same."

"Close, McGee, but not quite! I just finished visiting Kate. We had a lot to talk about."

"Really? Like what?"

"I'll tell you all about it in the car. We'll take yours. Now let's go," Abby commanded as she took McGee's hand and led him towards the car she recognized as his. "Kate can wait a little longer. Plus, she doesn't like ruined flowers anyway."

"What? Where are you taking-Mmph!"

Abby silenced him by wrapping her arms around him and planting a kiss firmly on his lips. "You'll see. Now, unless there are any objections…"

"No, ma'am. Lead the way."

McGee had no idea what had brought on this change in Abby, but he sure wasn't going to complain. And neither was Abby. It had been even easier than she had thought it would be. As the two drove out of the cemetery, a glowing figure sitting cross-legged on a familiar gravestone smiled at them, pleased with her work.