Abby had just finished telling Gibbs about the lead she found for their new case when Tony came rushing into the lab. The second Gibbs saw Tony's pale face he knew it was bad news. Taking a small step forward he pushed Tony to talk, who was just standing there looking like he had seen a ghost, with a quick, "Tony, what's wrong?"

For a moment Tony moved his mouth but nothing came out, but when Gibbs took a couple more steps toward him he found his words, kind of. "McGee, he…Tim tried, he tried too…he…" He couldn't make himself say it, he could scarcely think it.

Frustrated from the amount of fear Gibbs felt in his gut, he let out a growled, "DiNozzo, spit it out already."

That wasn't what finally pushed Tony to say the words though, it was the unshed tears in Abby's eyes as she watched him from behind Gibbs' back. In a pained whisper he said, "He just tried to kill himself."

Gibbs had figured as much out from what little Tony had said before but hearing the words spoken still packed a mighty punch, a punch he felt straight to his stomach. It was true he had been worried about Tim when he left the hospital that morning, but he had not thought in a million years this would happen. He never would have seen this coming and he blamed himself for that.

Abby on the other hand had not let her mind go to the only conclusion. She was in so much denial before Tony spoke she had convinced herself it would be nothing, just a cruel joke, and Gibbs would get mad at a useless interruption, but the moment she heard Tony speak the words her denial shattered and she could feel her whole body ache in emotional pain. It felt like someone was trying to squeeze the life out of her heart and it was a pain she couldn't bear.

When Gibbs stayed motionless, not moving toward Abby to comfort her, Tony quickly wrapped her in a big hug. Trying to keep his own tears back he spoke in a broken voice, trying to comfort her, "They found him, it's going to be okay. He's still with us and they, we, won't let this happen again." Closing his eyes tightly he assured her in the same uneven and broken voice, "We'll help. This will not happen again."

Abby spoke through her tears. "You don't know that, Tony. There's a reason they call it the unseen killer. No matter how many signs, we will end up denying it 'till it's too late; until something like this happens again." Tony opened his mouth to deny it but Abby preempted him, yelling, "What if we don't see it again the next time? What if we don't get to him in time?" Sobbing, she added, "What if we lose him, Tony?"

At this Gibbs finally moved, stepping up behind Tony and putting a finger under her chin getting her to look up at him, and in a stern and resolute tone, he told her, "Next time we will see it, Abby, I can promise you that, and we wont let it happen, not again."

Feeling some comfort from his words, she nodded minutely before another round of heart wrenching sadness hit her and she buried her face into Tony's neck. For a few minutes the only sound that could be heard in the normally loud lab was Abby's sobs. Once she had calmed down again Gibbs started dealing with the horrible circumstance they found themselves in. Rubbing his temple he asked Tony, "Has Vance been informed yet?"

Before Tony could answer the man himself came strolling in with a, "Have I been informed of what?" He looked up from the folders he was holding when there was no immediate response and frowned at what he saw. There was pain clear on Gibbs and Tony's faces, and Abby still had tears rolling down her cheeks. Hesitantly, unsure if he really wanted to know, he asked again, "Informed about what?"

This time it was Gibbs who was forced to speak it out loud upon a look from Vance. Taking a deep breath Gibbs slowly and simply said, "McGee just attempted suicide at the hospital." Vance just looked at Gibbs in stunned silence. He truly didn't know how to respond, or for that matter react. The leader in him wanted to stay cool and collected, but the human in him wanted to break at the thought of someone he considered a good friend attempting such a thing. He was no stranger to the hopelessness life could bring, he had his fair share of dark thoughts after his wife died, but he always told himself he would have never done it. Nonetheless, he understood how much pain a person had to be in just to consider it. He couldn't even imagine how much pain, and how alone, Tim must have felt to be pushed to this point.

After a few more thoughtful moments of silence Vance let his leader side take over briefly as he said, "You're current case will be reassigned to another team immediately. We are leaving for the hospital in fifteen minutes so make sure they have everything they need in that time." Vance turned on his heels and headed to the elevators. As he waited for the doors to open he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He had to be the one to hold his best team together while they tried to hold Tim together, so he had to find some extra strength. As the doors closed behind him he took out his phone and pressed one and felt the strength he needed flood into him at the sound of his daughter's voice, quickly followed by his sons. Smiling as much as he could, he spoke to his children, simply to hear their voices, to gather some strength from the only thing that got him through his wife's death.

The team that took over the case left Tony and Gibbs with well wishes after Tim and within fifteen minutes the four were headed back to the hospital. As Gibbs sped through the streets they all found their minds wandering to dark places; they all needed to see Tim alive before they could breathe easy again.