So here is the sequel to 'Tattooed McGee'. It includes spoilers for the following episodes: 'Sub Rosa', 'Twilight', 'Probie', and 'Bloodbath'. Enjoy!

Tattoos and Explanations

McGee was sitting at his desk adding a few bells and whistles to a new program he had written that had helped the team to solve their last case. It was late and the rest of the team had already left for the evening, even Gibbs. But he wanted to finish while it was fresh in his mind. The program might help them again with a future case and he wanted to add what he hadn't had time for while they were knee deep in the case. So when Abby walked into the bullpen, he was obviously surprised.

"What are you still doing here Abs?" He asked looking up from his computer. It had been two weeks since their unexpected decon shower and they had solved two high profile cases since then and had not had any time to talk. Which was a good thing since the powder had been innocuous and they hadn't been confined at Bethesda. McGee had a sneaking suspicion that Abby had stayed late to try and catch him.

"Oh, I was finishing up on a few things and time just got away from me." She replied innocently, swaying her hips gently so that her short, plaid skirt swished around her legs. McGee knew she was going for nonchalance, but he also knew her way too well to be fooled.

"Well if there was a night for staying late, tonight would be it since Vance told us to take the next two days off. I'm sure I'm not the only one who feels like they've lived here the last week."

Abby merely nodded at his statement and moved to perch on the edge of his desk. McGee leaned back slightly in his chair and stared up at her. He wondered silently what her plan was to get him to talk. The fact that he had gotten new tattoos, and never told her about them, had really piqued her curiosity.

"So any big plans for the days off?" Abby asked.

So we're going to beat around the bush, McGee thought.

"Besides sleep? No, not really. You?"

"Nope." Abby replied, popping her lips at the end of the word and smiling brightly. "Have you eaten anything tonight McGee?"

"No, hadn't really had time for it yet, Abs. Why?"

"Well, I was just wondering if you were finished maybe we could go grab something to eat?"

"I am finished, but it's almost midnight Abby, do you really want to eat now?"

"Yeah, I'm hungry, it's been a while since lunch. Besides, you know I'm more of a night person anyway." She said grinning wickedly at him.

Knowing full well that what Abby was going to ask him and that he had no desire to have the conversation in a public place, McGee said: "Ok, why don't I go grab some burgers and you can swing by your apartment and get some things and we can meet at my place? We can watch a movie after you interrogate me. Plus I need to show you something anyway."

"McGee! I am not going to interrogate you!" Abby cried indignantly.

"Yes you are. And it's ok Abby, I think in a way you have every right too. I'm just surprised it's taken you this long to corner me." McGee replied chuckling softly and putting his arm around Abby's shoulders and steering them to the elevator.

"You slipped through my last three plans." Abby mumbled causing McGee to chuckle again. They continued to walk out of the building to the parking lot. When they reached Abby's hearse, she finally conceded. "Ok, I'll run by my apartment real quick and meet you back at yours. Don't forget some Ranch dressing for my fries."

"Never!" He replied with mock vehemence. He waited until she was safely in her car and driving away before walking to his.

McGee arrived at his apartment first and changed clothes. He made sure he put on his sweat pants with loose cuffs at the ankles and a loose t-shirt. He left his feet bare, he wanted to be as comfortable as possible for this conversation. Not that Abby would do anything to make him too uncomfortable, but his explanations were hard and not something he was particularly looking forward to. He looked around his apartment quickly to see if he needed to pick anything up. Feeling lucky that he wasn't a slob, he heard a knock just as he finished his quick assessment. He opened the door and Abby bustled in. She was already in her pajamas, long black pajama pants with little white and pink skull and crossbones with bows on the skulls on them and a pink t-shirt with a big black skull and crossbones with a bow on the skull to match. She had taken down her pigtails so her hair was flowing freely. McGee was slightly taken aback when he realized how long it had been since he'd seen her with her hair down and then how much he enjoyed having it down.

His fingers twitched slightly with a desire to run them through her loose hair.

Reminding himself he no longer had that privilege he bunched his hand into a fist and closed the door. Abby had since dropped her load on the couch and turned to face him. She cocked her head to the side in confusion at the look on his face. He quickly plastered on a smile and to ward off her inevitable question asked what she'd brought.

She smiled mischievously and answered: "I brought fun McGee! I have several movies, some caramel popcorn, honey wheat beer, a change of clothes for me, Bert, nutter butters, and a new computer game!" She was starting to feel just a tad guilty. He was right, she was going to interrogate him, but she just had to know!

"Sounds great Abby! I have the food in the kitchen, want to bring it in here and eat?"

She nodded and they both moved to the kitchen to gather up their food. Once they each had what they wanted, and Abby thanked McGee for the dressing, they made their way to the couch. After eating in silence for a few minutes, McGee finally said: "Just ask Abby."

Abby, who had clearly not expected the blunt question, practically jumped off the couch, nearly dumping her plate on the floor.

"HOW McGee? How could you have possibly gone and had SEVERAL new tattoos inked and not told me? ME of all people? I mean, I thought we were closer than that?" Abby had started to pace around the room during her rant. And then in typical Abby style, began to almost babble as well. "I know we were really, really close to begin with. Then, well you know. But since I thought we'd gotten closer. And we've been through a lot too McGee! You know how much you mean to me. And how much I love the art of tattooing in general. A tattoo is a big decision! I just thought you would have come to me, told me about it! You certainly told me about the first one!"

McGee had sat in silence on the couch during the mini tirade and let Abby get it all out of her system. Once she stopped making a whole lot of sense, he finally grabbed her arm and pulled her down to sit back on the couch with him. She sat and picked up Bert to cuddle while he spoke.

"Abby, if you'd take a breath and let me talk, I'll explain." She took a deep breath and nodded at him to go on. "I didn't tell you, in the beginning at least, because the second one I had done was right after we well, disintegrated, for lack of a better word. It was a kind of rebellion in a way. Against you and the fact that our relationship was over. Against Tony, and the world really, who saw me as just a straight-laced computer geek. And then I went got a computer power button." McGee shook his head ruefully at the memory.

Abby sat in silence as he explained, not making a sound as he gave his explanation. It made her heart ache a little to here him say that their relationship had 'disintegrated'. But she waited patiently and silently for him to continue. When he caught her eyes again, he continued.

"The black rose I got after the incident with Mikel Mawher." McGee heard Abby's sharp intake of breath, but ignored it, continuing on with his explanation instead. "I had been missing you already, in an outside the office kind of way, and that whole situation hit me like a ton of bricks. I felt like I had lost you and in a way I'd never really had you. I even went to your tattoo guy to get it done. He swore to me he'd never tell you, and I guess he kept his word. It seems silly now, but it made me feel closer to you." Having not looked at Abby during this explanation, he was surprised to feel the couch shift beneath him as she leaned toward him. She placed one hand on his cheek, leaned into him and placed a soft kiss on the other one. She moved back to her original position, picking up Bert, taking care not to squeeze him, and whispered: "Go on."

Taking a deep breath, to calm his rapidly accelerating pulse, McGee started again.

"The lines of code on my ribs are the newest and I'm not going to tell you what they mean."

"McGee! I want to know!"

"Shh, Abby, hold on! Remember, I told you I had something to show you too?" When she nodded he went on. "The power button was the second tattoo I got, but the black rose wasn't the third one, or even the fourth. It was the fifth one." He could see her counting silently in her head and coming up short. She looked at him, confused, and willed him to continue.

McGee shuddered involuntarily at what he was about to reveal. It was hard to this day to think about. But knowing that Abby would fully understand he pressed on. He looked her in the eyes, holding her gaze for a long moment before he leaned over and pulled up the cuff of his right pant leg to reveal the inside of his ankle. She followed his gaze to the skin he'd just revealed and gasped, her hand going to her mouth to stifle any other sound. She reached out with her other hand and lightly brushed his skin that had very simply inked: CT 5-24-05

"Kate."

"Yeah. I had to do something, something so I didn't forget. I actually struggled with what to put, since everyone called her Kate, but her name was Caitlin. Different initials. I decided to be technically correct. I think she would have appreciated that from me." McGee ended quietly.

When Abby just continued to stare at his ankle, he moved over and put his arm around her. After a few minutes, she swallowed a soft sob and sat back up to face him. After what seemed to him like endless internal deliberation on her part, she reached for the hem of her shirt and started to lift it up.

"Whoa! Abby what are you doing?" McGee demanded grabbing her hand to still her upward motion. She just gave him an annoyed look and continued to pull her shirt up until her ribcage was exposed. McGee noticed instantly what she was trying to show him. Directly below her right breast was a red heart with a black rose, fully opened to reveal all of its petals, with no stem in the center of it. McGee reached out and lightly brushed the inked skin. Abby, not meeting his eyes, said: "I felt the same way Tim. I wish I had told you, or that you had told me. We could have gone together."

McGee took Abby's hand and pulled it down, taking her shirt with it. He then crushed her to his chest and whispered: "I'm sorry Abby. And you're right, I should have told you. That is something we should have done together, in honor of Kate."

They sat that way for a long time, arms locked around each other, and Abby sniffling occasionally. After a while she finally leaned back out of his arms, wiped her eyes and said: "Ok, so the one for Kate was number three. What was number four?"

McGee slowly leaned over and lifted the cuff of his left pant leg to reveal the inside of that ankle. Abby understood the meaning behind the Metro police badge immediately and was quick to console her friend.

"Oh, Timmy! It wasn't your fault! There is no other way you could have reacted in that situation that would have made it better!" She took his face in both of her hands and forced him to look at her. "You've got to stop blaming yourself for that!"

"I have Abby, I have. But I can't ever forget. I won't let myself. I took someone's life. And even thought there was no other way for me to react, I can't take that lightly. That's why I put it where I did. It's not skin I'd see all throughout the day and therefore become accustomed to seeing it. I only look at the inside of my ankles twice a day normally, so I can't get so used to seeing it that it looses its effect. I know I had nothing to do with Kate's death, and that there is nothing I could have done to prevent it, but I won't let myself forget that she's gone, or how she went."

Abby nodded her understanding and McGee let out the breath he hadn't realized he was holding.

"So after those two you got the black rose?"

"Yes."

"And then the lines of code?"

"Yes, but those are much newer. I've only had them for a few months."

"And you won't tell me what they mean?"

"Nope."

"Please? Pretty, pretty please?" She asked, pouting.

"No Abby. I will however let you look at them some other time and let you figure out what it says yourself."

Abby brightened considerably at that. "I've really started something in you, haven't I Timmy?"

"Yes, I think you have. I can say that you started it too, can't I? Because the first one that I had done, was for you. Though the rest have really been for me. I'm thinking I'm pretty close to done now. It's been more addictive than I'd realized!"

They both laughed at that, knowing it was true.

"So, do you want to watch one of the movies I brought?"

"Sure Abby, what did you bring?"

" 'Sherlock Holmes'. I know you said you'd wanted to see it, but hadn't had a chance. And it's really, really good! You haven't seen it yet have you?"

"No, I haven't and I'd really like to. Would you like me to go make some caramel popcorn and pop open a couple of the beers?"

"Yes! And I'll start the movie."

McGee smiled at her enthusiasm as he got up to start the popcorn. It had been easier than he'd thought it would be to tell her about the tattoos. And she hadn't even asked that many questions or pressed him too much about why he hadn't told her. But now that he was thinking about it, he had a sneaking suspicion that she would be demanding more of an explanation as to why he hadn't told her in the very near future. While the thought scared him a little at first, his next thought was one of 'oh well, more time with Abby. What could be better?'. So instead of stressing he went back into the living room and settled down on the couch to watch the movie with Abby.

And that's pretty much where they both stayed for the next 48 hours.

I hope everyone enjoyed my story! I have an idea for at least one more story, maybe two, in this series, so let me know if you want me to write it. Standard disclaimers apply, I don't own NCIS or any of its characters, I am merely borrowing them. I also do not own 'Sherlock Holmes'.