Author's note: This is my first fic, so please be gentle. Also, it has not been beta'd, so any mistakes and continuity errors are my own

Disclaimer: All characters etc are property of Belisarius Productions; I don't own a thing

Chapter 1

"Hey Abs, what have you got?" McGee greeted Abby as he entered her lab. He knew that Gibbs was waiting on some fingerprint evidence for their latest case so he'd come down to see if Abby needed anything

"Hey McGee" He handed her a Caf-Pow

"Thanks! I'm running the prints off the murder weapon through AFIS now, but I haven't gotten any hits yet"

As they stood discussing the evidence in their latest case, McGee realised there was something wrong; out of the corner of his eye he noticed that the people walking past Abby's window were suddenly running, as if to get out of the way of something. He didn't think; his agent's training came to the fore and he instinctively grabbed Abby and threw her towards the outer doorway, out of harm's way; just as the runaway car ploughed through the basement window, taking out a large chunk of the brickwork with it.

He crashed to the ground, caught under falling rubble and Abby's computer shelving.

Up in the squad room, DiNozzo and Gibbs ducked as they heard the crash and felt the building shudder from the impact; together they turned, asking "What was that?" They realised it was coming from the basement area, and bolted to the stairs leading to Abby's lab and the morgue.

Reaching Abby's floor, they could hear her calling for McGee, her voice right on the edge of panic; they ran even faster down the hallway, and skidded to a stop in the doorway.

What greeted them inside looked like a scene from a nightmare

The car had punched partway through the window and wall of the lab on an angle, sending chunks of brick and mortar flying. The impact had knocked over Abby's computer shelves, and smashed monitors and computer parts lay on the ground. What was most ominous was the sight of McGee, barely visible under the debris, and not moving

Gibbs pulled out his cell phone and dialled the emergency number "This is Agent Gibbs from NCIS; we need fire equipment and an ambulance here now!" He told the dispatcher where to find them, then hung up and went straight to Abby

"You ok?"

She nodded, a terrified look on her face as she gazed towards McGee's motionless form. He followed her stare

"He'll be ok, Abs, we'll get him out"

Then he went to join DiNozzo's frantic efforts to try and free his youngest agent

"Careful DiNozzo, you don't want to bring any more of this down on him!"

As they cleared a small area of debris, they could see that the back of McGee's head was covered in blood

"Abs, go get Ducky down here, now!" Gibbs barked over his shoulder. He knew that head wounds always bleed profusely, but he wasn't taking any chances, not with one of his agents.

The impact with the floor knocked the air out of McGee's chest, then the remains of the computer shelving fell across his back, pinning him to the floor. He could hear Abby yelling his name, and he tried to respond, to let her know he was ok, but the lack of air and the weight across his back stopped him from being able to make a sound to reassure her.

He heard DiNozzo and Gibbs arrive, felt the debris being shifted around. They were trying to get him out. He couldn't move, and he could feel something warm and sticky on the back of his head and neck; he looked straight ahead and saw one of Abby's heavy CRT monitors smashed on the floor less than inches away from his head. Boy am I glad that one missed, he thought

The pressure across his back eased as the older two agents moved more and more debris away; he could feel the compression of his chest lifting, and could finally take a deep breath; the dust in the air started him coughing

The sound of McGee coughing brought sighs of relief to both Gibbs and DiNozzo; he had looked almost dead, lying so still underneath everything.

"Good God, Jethro, what has happened here?" Ducky asked as he entered the room

Gibbs paused in his efforts to free McGee as he explained

"McGee's caught, and he's bleeding from the back of his head, Duck. We need your help"

"Well, let's get the rest of this off him so I can get to him"

The fit of coughing had passed. They could hear McGee say faintly "I'm ok, boss" and see him trying to move.

Instantly Ducky was at his side "Don't try to move just yet, Timothy. I need to make sure you're ok first"

Knowing that McGee was conscious and trying to talk to them made Gibbs and DiNozzo double their efforts to get him free. Finally, they could slide him forward, free of the wreckage. Ducky gently stopped him from trying to stand.

"I need to check your neck first, dear boy. Just a precaution"

Abby stood frozen in the doorway as they freed McGee, a mixture of panic, terror and finally, relief as she heard him speak, on her face. Tony spotted her as he straightened up from pulling McGee clear, panting from his hard work. He went over to her

"He'll be ok, Abs, really. Probie's tough"

She nodded. A small sob escaped her as she heard McGee ask

"Where's Abby, boss? Is she ok? I tried to get her clear before the car hit- "

Gibbs cut him off "She's just fine, you got her clear" He motioned to Abby to come into McGee's line of sight.

As if that was the catalyst she needed, Abby rushed to McGee's side, dropping to her knees beside him

"Oh my God, Timmy, are you ok? I was so scared!"

McGee smiled and reached for one of the Goth's rapidly flailing hands

'I'm fine, Abs, stop worrying!"

"Yes, well, I'll feel better when we can get a cervical collar on you, dear boy. Just lie still until the EMTs get to us" said Ducky, looking concerned "Can you move your feet at all, Timothy?"

McGee demonstrated that he could, bringing a look of relief to Ducky's face.

Just then one of the EMTs made it into the lab

"Sorry about the delay, we had to check on the driver of the car first"

He quickly went about the business of checking McGee and fitting a cervical collar. Then he and Ducky lifted McGee onto a gurney

McGee insisted that he was fine and didn't need to go to Bethesda. Seeing the stubborn look in his eyes, Gibbs was about to relent until Ducky pulled him aside

"He does need to go to Bethesda, Jethro. With all of that weight falling across his back like that, there is a very real risk of internal bleeding"

Nodding, Gibbs motioned to the EMT to take McGee to the waiting ambulance.

"Gibbs, I want to go with McGee"
"Abs-"

"Please, Gibbs?" she insisted

"Fine, go on" he said, seeing the concern in her eyes. He knew she'd worry less about McGee if she knew what was going on

"Take your car, Abs, then you can drop McGee home later. And I want a status report as soon as possible!"

"Thanks Gibbs!" she gave him a quick hug, then went to get her hearse out of the lot.

Satisfied that his youngest agent was in good hands, Gibbs set about finding out what had happened to send the car through the wall in the first place

Seeing him come outside, Ziva joined him

"Nothing suspicious, Gibbs. It looks as though the brakes failed. The driver will be fine."

As they watched, the driver was loaded into the back of an ambulance, and the waiting tow truck drivers started organising the removal of the wreck with the MPs.

"It was just bad luck, Gibbs"

He nodded, and made a mental note to get a copy of the police report, just in case something was hinky with this accident.

Bethesda Naval Hospital was mercifully quiet. McGee was taken straight to an exam room, where the medical staff quickly set about taking his vitals. As much as he didn't like the fuss, he knew that protesting was futile; it was easier to let them do what they did than argue about it.

Finally the doctor came to speak to him

"Ok, Agent McGee, all of your vital signs are normal and you show no signs of spinal injury, so we're going to remove that cervical collar now. However, I am concerned about the possibility of internal bleeding, so we're going to send you for a CT scan to rule that out."

McGee resisted the urge to roll his eyes.

"Fine"

"Oh, and there's a Miss Sciuto asking for you outside, should I send her in?"

Abby had followed him to the hospital?
"Yeah, let her in"

She rushed to the side of his bed

"McGee, are you alright?" she was pale from fright. He hated to see her frightened.

"I'm fine, Abs, they just want to do some tests before they send me home. Ok?"

She nodded, and then sat in the chair that was next to the bed for visitors. Moving it closer to the bed, she reached over and took his hand

Slightly startled, he turned his head to look at her. Abby was often demonstrative, but this was different. She gave him a small smile and explained

"You look like you could use a hug, but I don't want to risk hurting you"

Content, he leaned back against the pillows and waited

Soon an orderly came to collect him and take him to CT. Abby used the time to call Gibbs and let him know what was happening, then settled down to wait again

McGee came back grumpy and wearing a hospital gown. At her questioning look, he told her that they'd made him change into it for the CT scan

"I hate these things. Anyway Abs, they said there's no sign of bleeding, so they're just going to stitch up this cut on my head and then I can go."

"I'm driving you home, ok?"

"You don't have to do that, Abby"

"I know- but I want to"

"Thanks, Abs"

The doctor came back a few minutes later and put 3 stitches into the cut on the back of his head. He dressed several other minor cuts on his back that didn't require stitching.

"Ok, Agent McGee, you're good to go now. The cut on your head is superficial; we don't need to worry about concussion. You're going to develop some bruising however; that's to be expected. Take Tylenol if you need to. And keep those sutures dry; your regular physician can take them out in a week. Oh, and I'd better give you these"

He gave McGee the bag containing his clothes and left.

"Ah, Abs, do you mind? I'd kinda like to get out of this stupid gown" McGee said. She got up and pulled the curtain around his bed

"Thanks, Abs"

He slowly clambered into his pants and shirt. The doc wasn't kidding about bruising he thought. He could see Abby's platform boots moving around impatiently from under the edge of the curtain, so he pulled it back

He groaned as he shrugged the remains of his jacket back on

Immediately Abby was at his side, her eyes wide with concern

"Are you sure you're ok, Timmy?"

He smiled at her use of his first name

"Just a little sore, Abs, ok? Really" he reassured her.

"Come on, let's get you home"

"I should call Gibbs first"

He pulled out his cell and hit the speed dial

'Yeah, Gibbs"
"Hey Boss"

"McGee! You all right?"

"Yeah boss, they've just released me. Just cuts and bruises. I'll be in tomorrow"

"Good news, McGee. Go home and get some rest" the phone clicked as Gibbs broke the connection.

McGee followed Abby out to her car

She was quiet for Abby on the drive to McGee's apartment, although she kept shooting little sideways looks at him. Finally he covered one of her hands on the steering wheel with his.

"I'm ok, Abs. Just sore and very tired. Please, stop worrying" he smiled at her.

Once at his apartment she was all business, trying to hassle him into lying down to get some sleep. He let her help him as much as possible, but he drew the line at helping him to change into pyjamas.

"Thanks, Abby" he sighed as he lay down, already on the point of sleep

She smiled as she covered him with the comforter. She made sure he was asleep before she let herself out and locked the door behind her.