Abby felt the telltale flush of embarrassment stain her cheeks. What had seemed so eminently reasonable last night didn't seem like such a good idea this early in the morning. What had possessed her to make her crawl into bed with her best friend while he slept?

She watched the confused expression in his eyes grow, and knew that any moment now, he was going to ask her for an explanation she didn't have. She had been and still was worried about her friend, but worry wasn't really a reasonable explanation for invading his bed the way she had.

The cuts and bruises looked worse today. It made her both angry and sad that someone had done that to her Timmy; wordlessly she reached out and traced along one of the bruises with her fingertip. Instantly his expression changed from confused to concerned. "Abby, are you ok?"

Strangely, she felt tears prick at her eyes. He'd been beaten and knocked unconscious, and he was worried about her? She shifted across the few inches of space that separated them and buried her face against his chest. Hesitantly, he wrapped his arms around her and held her close.

"I was worried about you" she admitted.

...

He held on a little tighter at her words. He knew she'd be worried when she found out their plan, but it didn't make it any easier to hear her say it. "Hey, we're ok" he reassured her. "Tony and Gibbs and Ziva-"

She cut him off. "I know they're going to be fine." She was silent a minute, then raised her head and looked at him. "I was talking about you. You really scared me, Timmy. I thought-I thought you weren't going to come back."

They were simple words that could have been said by any of his friends, but he caught the tremble in her voice and knew that this wasn't the normal worry about a friend. This was something- else. There was a look in her eyes that he hadn't seen there for a very long time. He knew that look. He knew he wore a similar one every time he saw her, though he tried to hide it. He felt his heart flip at what she didn't say, even as he tried to come up with something reassuring in reply to what she did say.

"Abby..." He knew he couldn't promise to always come back from whatever case or mission had taken them into the field; and he knew she knew it too. Being any sort of cop was a dangerous job, as Kate had proved. He reached out and stroked her hair. "I will always try and come back, Abby."

The sincerity in his words obviously got through to her, because he felt her relax the tiniest fraction. She fixed him with an intent gaze for a minute and then put her head back down on his chest. He knew that she'd seen how much he cared for her in that minute, and he knew that somehow, their relationship had changed subtly. They'd have a lot to talk about- when she was ready. But for now, he was content to lie here and hold her.