It took the FBI 10 Months to build a case against Soto but by the time they did, Soto himself was gone. His uncle made sure no one could find him. He probably was buried somewhere in a ditch but since no one knew for sure they recommended Abby should stay in witness protection indefinitely.

She was relocated permanently to a little town in Iowa. The first few months Mike stayed with her to make sure she settled in ok. But after a while he couldn't stand it anymore. Abby wasn't the innocent girl he once loved as a daughter.

The months on the run left their marks. She had been thin before, but now it was almost as if she tried to vanish by not eating enough. She was depressed and sad all the time. It seemed like nothing of that bubbly girl was left inside her.

She had given up completely it seemed and Franks couldn't help her and so he left after one and a half years in her company. When he hugged her goodbye he knew he had to hurry and do something before Abby was gone for good.

When Mike showed up on Gibbs doorstep a few days later he was greeted by a man who had lost everything. He worked no longer at NCIS because he couldn't take on another case except Abbys. Tony was leading the team now. He had spend the last 1 ½ years looking for a way for his Abbs to come back and it had taken it's toll.

He had lost Dr. Malard to a heart attack, his friend, pleading with him in the last seconds of his life to go find his love. But he didn't even know how to find her. He had threatened Fornell and lost his friendship in the progress.

His house was a mess. He was a mess. He was a man without hope, without anything to loose and to much to drink.

And that is when Mike knew that there was only one solution for his friends. He smacked Gibbs over the head and told him to go say goodbye to Tony and the rest of the team and get his affairs in order.

It took about a week to make Gibbs disappear. The last time he had spoken to Tony he wished his mentor good luck and made him promise to make Abby happy, because she had suffered enough and deserved so much more. He smiled for the first time in months at that, and Tony knew even if he never saw Gibbs and Abby again, they would make it, as long as they were together.

And Franks made sure they were. He located a little house on the beach in the middle of nowhere and took first Gibbs and then Abby there. And he could see the change in both of them almost immediately.

When Abby saw Gibbs for the first time in so many long months she just went to him and hugged him tight fully intending to never ever letting him go. She had insisted to stop on her way to the house to color her hair back to black. She hated being a blond and never wanted Gibbs to have that image of her in his mind ever.

It took them about two minutes to forget Mike completely. They both had waited so long to be together, there was no hesitation anymore. One look and a tight hug was enough to know what they had always hoped. They belonged together and always would.

So Frank left them to their new life knowing they would be happy just because they where finally together. Happy and contend with a quiet life as long as the other one was around.

The End.