*I was inspired to write this story while reading one by: NCISFF Special Agent Starr. If you haven't read her story titled "Right in the Family Jewels" I totally recommend it. It's an awesome McAbby story. This takes place at the end of Semper Fi. Pretend there were a few weeks between when McGee leaves with Jules and when Tony kills Rivkin. This story takes place in those fictional weeks. As always, please read and review.*

Abby sat back in the chair with her arms folded across her chest. She had been sitting in a conference room for over thirty-minutes. A half hour ago Gibbs dragged her out of her lab and told her to sit up here and not to move until he came back. At first she was wondering what she did wrong but the longer she sat here and the more she thought about, she couldn't come up with anything. She knew it wasn't personal because he would have dealt with that downstairs. It wasn't work related because Vance was nowhere to be seen. So she sat, slowly sipping her Caf-Pow. Abby looked up as the door opened. Gibbs walked in first, then Ziva, McGee and finally, Tony.

"Sit, Probie." Tony said shoving McGee into a chair next to Abby. Abby glanced nervously around the room, meeting everyone's eyes except McGee's. She watched as Ziva pulled a pair of handcuffs from her belt.

"What the hell?!" Tim exclaimed as Ziva slapped a handcuff on him. Abby barely had time to register her actions as she felt the cool metal on her own wrist. Her jaw dropped slightly as she realized she was now cuffed to the one person she didn't want to be around. McGee had really hurt her and the problem was that he wouldn't apologize. He was acting like he didn't know anything about what he did. She had banned him from her lab and when he was assigned there by Gibbs she only spoke to him if it pertained to their work. There had been no typing together or hugs. Her normal warm lab had become a cold dungeon that he hated going down to. He loved seeing Abby but hated the way she had been acting. Abby glared at Gibbs as Tony and Ziva left the room.

"I don't know what the hell is going on between you two. But whatever it is, it needs to stop. Abby, you've been nothing but rotten to McGee for the last few weeks. You've kicked him out of the lab and have barely spoken to him when I've assigned him there. That's not like you." McGee smirked at Abby when Gibbs defended him, "And McGee you've been mean to her for the past few weeks and not once have I seen you help her when you've been in the lab. Something is wrong between you both." Gibbs stared at them both, "You two are stuck together in this room until you fix whatever the hell your problem is. If you two can't work together I'll separate you two." Gibbs pointed to McGee, "And I won't just send you across the Navy Yard to Cyber Crimes. I'll send you back to Norfolk before you can blink you're eyes."

"Boss." McGee started.

"I'm not finished!" Gibbs bellowed. McGee slunk in his seat, "Fix it! I don't care what you have to do, but if the two of you can't work together, I'll fix it MY way!" He held up the silver key and placed it on the edge of the table. He turned, and walked out the door. Abby and McGee stayed silent as they heard the lock slid into place from the outside. Gibbs had locked them in.

Abby took a deep angry breath, "All of this, is your fault." She said not looking at Tim. He just looked at her with disgust in his eyes but didn't say a word, "I can't believe you got us into this mess. Let's just get the key, unhook ourselves, tell Gibbs we're fine and go back to work." Abby tried to stand up only to be pulled down by the wrist that was still stuck to McGee, "C'mon McGee."

"No." He said calmly.

"What? Damnit McGee! I'm busy in my lab. Now I know that working might not be the first thing on your mind since you have extra curricular activities with a certain ICE agent. But I have work to do." She said, her pigtails swaying with the shaking of her head.

McGee turned his head to look Abby in the eyes, "Don't you think I have work to do right now?" He asked calmly.

"Good then you want to get out of here like I do." She tugged at his arm again but he still wouldn't budge. Abby angrily sat back down in her chair, knowing that he wouldn't change his mind. The two sat in silence for what seemed like hours when in reality was only a few minutes.

McGee looked over at Abby. Even now in the middle of a fight he still would lay his life down for hers. He watched in amazement as she closed her eyes and took a deep breath trying to calm herself down. He knew she was angry. For Abby that was an unusual emotion. But Tim always could read her like a book. If only he knew what made her so mad at him. At first he had tried apologizing for anything he could think of. He brought her peace offerings but she wouldn't accept anything. Not even a Caf-Pow. He thought back to when this all started, trying to find what event in the day could cause such irritation in the normally bubbly, happy Goth. He knew she was stressed when Jules crushed the bug and she wasn't too happy to see him flirting with Jules but they had talked about that. He asked if she was feeling neglected and she said no. Surely she would tell him if something was wrong. He glanced over at her again, this time his eyes meeting with hers. For the first time since they started their feud he saw the hurt in her eyes. Maybe he had unintentionally said something he shouldn't have said. Maybe it was something he did. He hated the feeling that he was the source of the pain in her eyes.

"Abs." He wrapped his fingers around her hand as they were cuffed to each other anyway. He was surprised when she didn't pull away, "Please just tell me what I said or what I did to you. I don't know what it is. I'm sorry if I said something insensitive or if I did something wrong. I just don't want to fight with you anymore."

Abby started at him for a moment before speaking, "It's not something you said or something you did."

"Then what the hell is the problem?" He said sounding angrier than he meant.

"You are my problem Timothy!" She said getting angry.

"I'm sorry. I just don't know what I did or didn't do to get you so mad at me." He sighed and leaned his head back, "Abby I don't want to fight with you anymore. You're my best friend. I don't know what I would do without you and I sure as hell don't want to be sent back to Norfolk because we couldn't settle an argument." He said softly.

"I don't want you to go back to Norfolk either." She mumbled.

"Then tell me what the problem is. I can't fix something if I don't know it's broken." He pleaded. Trying anything to fix their problems.

Abby chewed her lip in thought contemplating telling him what was wrong or to keep him guessing. If she told him he would just apologize for that and he might not really be sorry but if she didn't tell him he might get sent back to Norfolk because the animosity between the two of them was taking its toll on the rest of the team. She looked over at him and watched as he ran a hand over his hair. She missed doing that for him. She missed running her fingers through his hair as she dozed beside him. It always did relax her. She missed being so close to him while they worked that she would smell like him after he left her lab. In fact she missed him so much that during their fight, while she slept she slept with the stuffed black bear he had given her when they were dating. It always smelt like Tim and she never let anyone touch it. But she would never get that back. He was with Jules, and he forgot. He didn't care enough about her anymore to remember such an important day. How could he forget? She knew that he had other things going on in his life but he promised he would always remember and spend that day with her. Instead she spent it alone. The worst day of her life, that she was supposed to spend with her best friend, the day that he promised to always spend with her, was spent alone. She sat in her dark apartment crying and alone. How could he forget her? He just treated it like it was any other day. He treated her as if she was disposable. She did feel neglected. He abandoned her on the worst day of her life for someone else. Unbeknownst to her she had begun to cry. The only way she knew this was when she opened her eyes she saw McGee kneeling in front of her wiping her tears with his finger. Concern was written all over his face.

"Talk to me. Even if it's just to tell me you hate me. Talk to me. Please don't cry." He said. It felt as if his heart was breaking. Abby never cried. She was always so strong and optimistic. He must have really screwed up to cause tears from her, "What did I do?"

"You abandoned me." Abby explained. McGee gave her a questioning glance, "Do you remember the date you stayed late and walked Jules to her car?" She asked

"Not exactly." He said.

"It was an important day. A day we spend together every year since we've met. And I can't believe you forgot and went out with someone instead of coming over." Abby took a deep breath, "It was Little Bean's birthday."

McGee's jaw dropped to the floor. How could he have forgotten? Little Bean was the baby that Abby was pregnant with almost six years ago. Little Bean was their baby. Unfortunately a few days after they found out she was pregnant and the day after seeing the doctor and hearing Little Bean's heartbeat, Abby started bleeding. The bleeding didn't stop and she lost the baby. That night he held her as she cried and he promised that the day would not go unnoticed as if nothing happened. They dubbed it Little Bean's birthday and he spent it with her every year. Most of the time just hanging out as friends do and other times holding her while she slept so she didn't have nightmares about that day. How could he have forgotten such an important day?

"Abby." He breathed, "Oh God Abby." He tried to pull her in his arms but she pushed him away.

"Don't." She said wiping the tears from her eyes. There was no way she was going to start bawling in front of him. Not now. Not when she wanted to be mad at him, "You forgot about me. You forgot about Little Bean. How could you?" Finally the tears stopped as she got angrier with him, "You promised to never forget. You promised to stay with me on that day. You lied. You broke a promise. So don't think a hug is going to fix this. You messed up big time, Timothy. And the fact that you couldn't remember what you didn't do makes it worse. And instead of keeping your promise you spent the night with Jules. You gave me up for her. I know we haven't been together in a while but I thought you were my best friend. Best friends don't desert each other knowing that a day, such as Little Bean's birthday, is really hard for one of them. And you want to know if I feel neglected. Yes, Timothy. I feel neglected." She took a deep breath and closed her eyes feeling her stress level rise. She hung her head, folded her hands in her lap and started to pick at her nails.

McGee rested his hand gently on her knee as he couldn't move it too far from hers, "I am your best friend, Abby." He thought for a moment. He noted that Abby had called him 'Timothy'. She never called him by his full name unless she was serious. He knew she was furious with him, "I'm an idiot. I'm so sorry Abby. I'd never desert you for someone else. You're irreplaceable." He gently began rubbing her knee, taking it as a good sign that she didn't push his hand away, "I'm so sorry I forgot Abby."

"What were you doing?" She asked. She spoke so softly that Tim wasn't sure she said anything at all.

"What?" He whispered just as softly.

"What were you doing? What were you and Jules doing when you were neglecting me?" She asked.

"Nothing." He said. Abby looked up at him in disbelief, "Abby, I promise. I walked her out to her car, we grabbed a drink and I left. Alone. I thought her and I would click but we didn't. I don't foresee going out with her again. She's nice but she's not my type. I promise that's what happened. It was nothing."

"How can I believe that?" She looked up at him, "You lied and broke one promise. How can I believe you now?" She asked.

McGee took a deep breath, and cupped her face with his un-chained hand, "Because I care about you. I'd never do anything to intentionally hurt you." He moved his hand to brush a piece of her hair that had fallen out of her pigtails behind her ear, "You hate me don't you?" He whispered.

"No. I could never hate you McGee. No matter what. I could never hate you." She gently slid her cuffed hand into his cuffed hand as a truce, "It's just that after you and Jules were flirting and stuff in my lab and then I found out you left with her and you never came over or called or anything. It hurt. A lot. And then I was home alone to remember, and I couldn't sleep. I kept thinking about it and I had a nightmare and you weren't there. You were out with her when I needed you." She drew in another shaky breath, "Then next day you acted as if it was nothing. You didn't even care that I had bags under my eyes or that I was late to work. You never even mentioned Little Bean. You just didn't care."

"Never think I don't care about you." He said softly, "I love you." He said accentuating each word. He reached up to the table and grabbed the key to the handcuffs. He unlocked his first, and then hers. Tim gently placed the handcuffs and the key on the table top. He stood up from his spot in front of her and pulled her to her feet. Faster than he could blink he felt her arms wrap around his neck. He smiled as he encircled his arm around her waist holding her close, "I'm sorry." He whispered pressing a kiss to the side of her head, "I'm so sorry I hurt you. Please forgive me." He begged.

"It's OK." She said.

"No Abs. It's not OK." He rubbed his hands up and down her back.

"I forgive you Timmy. Just don't do it again." She mumbled into his shoulder.

McGee gently pulled away from her and looked her in the eyes, "I will always love you. No one could ever replace you in my heart." He leaned his head against hers, with their noses touching.

"I love you Timmy." She said placing a chaste kiss on his lips. She pulled away slightly only to feel his hands cupping her face, keeping her from moving too far.

"Are we OK?" He asked wanting to be sure he didn't screw up the most important relationship of his life.

"We're OK." She nodded, "I'm sorry I was so mad at you."

"Don't be sorry. You had the right to be mad." He said quietly. Slowly he placed his lips on hers. He felt Abby's hands slid up his neck and into his hair. She angled her head to deepen the kiss. McGee pulled her against him to close any distance that was between them, "Abby." He breathed, as they parted slowly.

"I miss this." She said truthfully. She really did miss him and seeing him flirt with Jules made her really feel alone. Add Little Bean's birthday that she spent alone and she missed him more than she could imagine.

"I miss you too." He said, "But won't this still give Gibbs a reason to split us up?" He asked wondering what his boss would think if He and Abby got back together after all these years. After all, Abby was his favorite and this was against Gibbs' rule twelve.

"But I'm his favorite. So all I have to do is look really cute, and he'll just let it go." She smiled.

"You're always really cute." He bent down to kiss her once again only too be interrupted by the conference room door opening.

"You two done playing grab ass?" Gibbs said. Abby and McGee sprang apart. Gibbs walked over to them.

"Boss…I…um…this…uh…" McGee stammered.

"You told us to fix it, so we did." Abby said placing herself between Gibbs and McGee.

"Rule twelve is there for a reason." Gibbs said.

"Rule twelve is 'never date a coworker' not, 'never fall in love with a coworker'." Abby clarified.

"If you hurt her, I will hurt you. You'll have to deal with me, DiNozzo, and Ziva. Understood?" Gibbs demanded.

"Yes Boss." McGee nodded his head.

"Good." Gibbs kissed Abby on the cheek and grabbed the handcuffs off the table, "Get to work." He told them both as he left the room.

"Did he just tell us this is OK?" McGee asked, spinning Abby around to face him.

"I think that's the closest to OK as we're going to get." Abby took his hand in hers and led him out of the room, "C'mon. You can help me. I wasn't kidding when I said I was really busy before."

"This mean I can come back in the lab and we can actually speak instead of glare at each other?" He asked with a smile on his face. He felt her pull him into the elevator.

She turned to face him, "Yes, you can come back to the lab. I could think of a few things we could do instead of speak." She said suggestively as the doors to the elevator closed.

McGee smiled widely. He needed to remember to send that bottle of bourbon to Gibbs, send Tony the new Blu-Ray player McGee promised him, and he needed to send in that NetFlix membership for Ziva. When he came his boss and two teammates with the idea of locking him and Abby in a room together to get to the bottom of their problem they were all a bit skeptical. It had taken some bribing but he had gotten all three of them to agree to his idea. He only expected to find out what he did wrong and apologize. He never saw them getting back together. He couldn't have planned it better.

*A/N: Here's a quick explanation of the title. The title is Little Bean because if you have ever seen an ultrasound picture of a baby in the first trimester really early on(maybe when the mom is about 8-10wks pregnant) the baby looks like a little jellybean.*