Home for Christmas
He found Abby in her mostly-dark lab, cuddling Bert and poking something on the computer he was absolutely certain was non-essential. Her hair was hanging down around her face like a curtain, and he wondered if she was deliberately hiding or if it was an unconscious thing.
"Abs?"
She looked up, all puppy dog eyes and sadness, and he kinda hated himself for putting that expression on her face. Not sulking, but... wounded.
"You okay?"
She shrugged. "You missed the movie."
He took a deep breath, then just let it out and nodded. "You should've been home hours ago." He flipped her hair behind her shoulder. "Don't you got better things to do?"
A tight little smile, that wasn't convincing and didn't reach her eyes. "Wasn't in the mood." She looked at him sideways. "Where were you?"
Gibbs sighed. He'd been almost certain when he came back to the Navy Yard that she'd be here, and he'd known for sure that if she was here, he'd get the third degree. But he'd come anyway. He didn't know what that meant. "I... wasn't in the mood." He had only talked to his dad briefly, but it had put him in the wrong frame of mind for team festivities.
He'd gone back to the memorial wall and had a long, thoughtful walk, remembering all the people he'd lost over the years. He'd been trying to ignore it the whole of the last couple of days, but he and Quinn had more in common than he wanted to admit. He couldn't help wondering if he would have ended up in the same position if he hadn't found NIS - if Mike hadn't given him an outlet for his need for revenge. Or what if his family had still been around but he'd failed them? God, he didn't like to imagine Shannon being so desperate to keep him away... or Kelly desperate to connect with a father she thought was dead, and him unable to deal. He'd scolded Abby for her part in it, for calling Melissa, but he understood better than she knew.
"But where did you go?" she asked again.
"Took a walk."
She gave him one of those searching glances that said she was seeing more than he was entirely comfortable with.
He perched himself on her desk, close but not looking at her. He could feel her watching him, trying to figure him out. Yeah, good luck with that. If he couldn't figure himself out, then he was sure she didn't have a chance.
The peace continued for some minutes. Abby wasn't even pretending to work any more; her arms were wrapped tightly around the stuffed hippo, and her eyes were burning a hole in the side of his face, but it was an oddly comfortable silence despite all the questions in the air. Abby was a chatterbox, usually, but just now and then she would surprise him by being still and quiet, letting him just... be. It was nice.
Eventually, he took another deep breath."I was with Quinn." He turned to watch her reaction.
She frowned, a line appearing between her eyebrows. "What?"
"Ned Quinn, you met him?" He couldn't bring himself to resist twitting her, especially knowing he had what she'd consider good news.
She gave him a look, though the corner of her mouth twitched up into an unwilling grin and he counted that as a win. "Very funny, Gibbs. Why were you with him?"
"Took him to see his daughter."
It took a second for what he'd said to register, and then she smiled like the sun rising. "Gibbs?"
He shrugged.
She dropped Bert and jumped out of her seat to throw her arms around his neck. He was grateful he was leaning on the desk, so she couldn't actually bowl him over. "Thank you, thank you, thank you."
"Need to breathe, Abs!"
She loosened her grip a little. "Thank you," she said again, her voice quieter now.
"Was the right thing to do."
She pulled back, but only fair enough to look up at him, earnest and hopeful. "What happened? Did it go okay?"
He shrugged again. "Looked like it."
She squealed and tightened her arms around him again with another set of happy noises he thought might take his eardrum out. He patted her back and rolled his eyes at the ceiling, but he was grinning, too. Of all the reasons to be deaf and smothered, well... an Abby hug was a good one.
Eventually she let him go. The look of warmth and happiness on her face was worth every effort they'd put into this case, and the hard memories he'd faced as he'd watched Quinn embrace Melissa. Outcomes like this... they reminded him why he did this job.
She looked upwards and smirked.
"What?"
She leaned in to kiss his cheek, then pointed up at the mistletoe over his head. He was sure that had been in a different place before. No doubt he had another lipstick mark now to replace the one he'd cleaned up before. But... he couldn't begrudge her.
"Good Christmas?" he asked.
Her eyes sparkled even in the half-light. "The best." Her face dropped suddenly. "Except..."
He raised an eyebrow. "What?"
"I didn't find anything to give you for Christmas," she admitted, cringing. "You don't wear cufflinks, you don't do bouquets... it's really difficult to find something for you, you know that?" She pouted. "I tried really hard, but I didn't find anything you'd want."
He chuckled and shook his head slowly. "Yeah. Yeah, ya did," he assured her in a low voice. "Seein' Quinn with his daughter... seein' him hug her... that was... good."
After a couple moments of complete surprise, her face softened into a smile that was simultaneously mischievous and delighted, and so wide with joy it crinkled her eyes almost shut. "Thank you for taking him."
"You were right, Abs. Shouldn't've done it the way you did, but..."
She bounced again and threw herself at him for another hug, not quite so painfully fierce this time. "Thank you, thank you, thank you. It meant so much to her." He could almost hear the words she wasn't saying: And it meant so much to me, too. Christmas and fathers... it was always difficult.
Gibbs closed his eyes against the wateriness he didn't want to admit to. "If I could see Kelly..."
He felt her nod against his neck. There were no more words to be said. If, if, if. But at least there'd been one happy reunion this Christmas.
When she finally let go, he cupped her shoulder with his palm. "You done here, Abs?"
She tilted her head to one side and gave him a slightly sheepish, lopsided grin. "There's nothing much to do."
He grinned. "Well, c'mon then."
"Where are we going?" Even as she asked, she was gathering her things.
"My place."
She frowned, her forehead creasing in that cute way she had. "Why?"
Gibbs rolled his eyes. "You wanna come or not?"
She grinned as he tucked her hand into his elbow. "Of course."
A couple of hours later found Gibbs sipping at the leftover mulled cider Abby had liberated, which he'd warmed in front of the roaring fire on which he'd cooked their dinner. Cowboy steak and secondhand cider wasn't exactly the Christmas he'd planned... it was actually a whole lot better, if he was honest. Less alcohol, more actual food, and a lot better company.
He looked down at Abby where she had fallen asleep with her head in his lap. Complete comfort and trust. He'd never been quite sure what he'd done to deserve that from her, and he was damn sure she had no idea just how much it meant to him. Hell, he wasn't sure himself. She was... coworker, friend, family - more. A vital part of his life, and not one so easily categorised. She was just... Abby. Important and precious and Abby. It was the only word that came close to summing her up.
He stroked her hair back behind her ear, trying not to pay too much attention to how it felt as he ran his hand over it, and tugged the blanket from the back of the couch to tuck around her. Feeling very self conscious and a little absurd, he pressed a kiss to his fingertips and laid it gently on her cheek.
Abby made a little sigh and snuggled down into his thigh, and he half expected her to start purring like a contented cat. Because really, if any human being in the history of ever was going to figure out how to purr? It would definitely be her.
Unexpectedly, he found himself grinning like some kind of idiot. Yeah, this was a hell of an improvement over the kind of Christmases he was used to. Sleeping on the couch was not unusual, but having someone to share it with definitely made it a lot better. He relaxed back against the cushions, stroked his thumb down her jawline, then clasped his hand on her shoulder as his eyes drifted shut.
"Merry Christmas, Abs."
~ fin ~