Title: Looking Into Your Eyes
Genre: NCIS – Romance /Angst.
Pairing: Gibbs and Abby
Rating: M, I don't know where I'm going with it.
Timeline: Um, um, well I didn't think that one through, ugh, go season 11, although I haven't seen it, only clips. Some mention of season 10 (currently screening here)
Spoilers: Many… and once again used without discretion.
Summary: This is what happens when I visit You Tube, but yeah it's another one of those where Gibbs doesn't find Abby in her lab in the morning.
Disclaimer: Not mine, I promise, sigh.
A/N: thanks to all the Gabby vid producers out there, without them my muse won't get kick started.
Started: Mid September 2014
Language: International English.
Word Count: 2,283
Trigger: It's easy to carry your heart on your sleeve, when you're not looking the person in the eye.
The elevator dinged and the doors slid open and, as every other morning, Gibbs strode out with a Caff-Pow! in one hand and a coffee in the other. They had closed the case the day before and the others were finalizing their reports, leaving him with a few moments to enjoy her company, alone.
He entered the lab, which although lit was not filled with her music. In fact the very stillness of it got his gut tweaking. "Abbs! Abby!" He called and there was no response. "Abby!" He called more urgently.
Silence.
He was just about to head for her office, when a tall lanky man in a lab coat stepped from it. Gibbs felt his heart grow heavy, but not with concern, and felt his shoulders droop. He had hoped to spend some time with her, well before they caught their next case, Gavin's presence there only reminded him that she had put in some time to attend some refresher course in some or another lab matter, he had even signed off on it. All that he knew of the course was that it was one that would help her give him results and she had wanted to go. He's never questioned her desire, her reasons to go, although he abhorred her absence.
"Good morning Agent Gibbs, is there something I can do for you?" Gavin politely asked.
Gibbs shook his head, "I thought Abby would be in this morning, before she…" He left the rest unsaid, not actually wanting to admit to anyone how these things affected him.
"Oh she was, she just came in to give me the keycard for the storage room."
Gibbs felt his heart grow heavy, he had missed her, she always said good bye before leaving on these things.
"I'll call her later," Gibbs said, turning from the man and moving towards the elevator.
They caught a case later that day which helped to distract him of her absence, although not entirely. He had McGee take the evidence down to the lab, and did not even react when the young man said Abby was not in the lab. On any other day he would have been the first to react, but this time it was Bishop.
"Wasn't she going to that forensic conference in New York."
Gibbs felt his blood run cold, she had not told him where she was going for the course. New York! Abby? His overly trusting Abby in such a city… yet he calmly lifted his head and looked at them, causing both of them to return to their work.
Later that evening, after he had sent DiNozzo and Bishop out on a lead, and McGee was down in the lab, fiddling with the victim's laptop, he sat back and pulled out his cell phone.
He scrolled through the contacts, although he could hit her speed dial without thinking of it, but he was still trying to decide whether he should call her or not. They never spoke when she was away on these things, but part of him wanted to know that she was safe. He looked at his watch, it was approaching eleven and he had no idea whether she would be asleep our out socializing with the other lab rats. That was another thing that got to him, whenever she went on these things, the chance that she could meet someone, someone more like her, and then that would be it, his girl will be his no longer.
But then she could then also be out, and in trouble. New York was not the safest city… but he didn't want to disturb her if she was out having a good time, he had always granted her that, had vowed to keep his distance – to a point. To not allow things to become more, or be considered as more that a good friendship.
He again unlocked his phone and navigated to the messages, everyone thought he didn't know how to sent these but he did, it was just easier to have them believe that he couldn't. That way they would rather phone him. He simply preferred not to communicate in such a manner.
He typed out his message, a simple "How's things?" and sent it to her. She knew him well enough to know what he meant. He waited several moments, then thought she had possibly gone to bed already. He placed his phone on the table, deciding to go over some of the case details, and pulled the folder towards him, flipping through it. It contained the usual background checks, lists of family members, some photos.
He had just started reading when his phone buzzed, he looked at it over the folder, frowning when he noticed the lit screen. It took a moment for him to realize what it meant; okay, so maybe he was not as practiced at it as others, but he could do it if needed,
He reached out and picked up the phone, unlocking it before selecting the message, without needing to check who it was from, and smiled.
Her. "What's wrong?" Was all the message contained, yet he could hear the demand in her voice, as good as if she were standing right there beside him.
He quickly composed his message, well as quickly as he could, and then sent it: "Nothing wrong Abbs, just checking."
Again he was greeted by silence and was just about to put down his phone, when it again chirped.
He selected her message, having realized she was a lot quicker on it than he was; "Gibbs NEVER messages, so where is my Gibbs? McGee this had better not be you playing games."
"It's me Abbs," he again composed, having to delete things several times before firing it off to her. There was some silence, longer this time, and he was again about to return the phone to his table when it buzzed. "Prove it! tell me something only Gibbs would know."
He looked dumbfounded at the screen. How was he supposed to answer that? There was no way he could know the answer to that, no way he could know what she had shared with the others, what she might have told them. He thought about it for several minutes, there were several pieces of key information that only a select few knew. So he thought back, thought of something only he would know, could know, and settled on the one event, the one thing he knew no one else would know, she would have felt too ashamed, had felt too ashamed to tell anyone. He punched out the message, silently swearing at his clumsy fingers when he needed to erase the wrong character and start again. Although he finally completed it, short and to the point. "You damaged Kelly."
He waited, wondering if she would remember that, she had had too much to drink, spoke openly about things, Had cause him to realize feel things he knew he shouldn't have.
Again he waited, looking at the screen, his heart thudding. Why? He was uncertain, but it felt strange, different. He looked at the phone, uncertain whether he should put it down, when it again chirped.
He opened the message and smiled as he read it, "You bored with your date or something?"
He thought over an appropriate response, there were so many things he could send back to her, they had often flirted, and she knew he wasn't seeing anyone. He finally decided that the truth would be best; "Caught a case, waiting for results." He fired it off and waited only a few moments before the response came: "So you would have come to see me anyway. Anything I can help with?"
He thought over his response, pondered on it. It was so easy to pull her into things, she could make him think, make him reach for things, think laterally. Her mind could puzzle the pieces together, much better than anyone else he knew, She complimented him, in so many ways. And after so many years he could understand her gibberish, could follow her. He had even read up on some stuff, not that he'd let her know that, but he liked being able to keep up with her, to watch her go through her paces. without needing to completely simplify things for him, although he knew she did so, anyway.
"We're good. Just checking in, ya didn't say goodbye."
He again waited for her response, and stated to understand how it was that young people could spend hours looking at their phones, although phoning was much easier, much quicker.
His phone again chimed: "You were late. You're usually earlier on those mornings, but then you did finish late last night. Anything I can help with?"
"No. We're good. Anything interesting? The geeks checking you out?"
There was some wait before her message came through, "None of them smell like sawdust. And if they were looking I'd not be interested."
Her response had him first smile then frown. They had flirted often, he knew not to let it go to his head, but sometimes things did, and he questioned his stance on matters. No it was better this way, although he had little idea of where her relationships stood, hadn't for a while. He knew all women liked attention, and as far as he knew she was not seeing anyone, or she might be, but has not gotten to the point where she would open up about the news.
He also knew she would take his next question lightly, well not as seriously as some other women would, they would think he was fishing, and he was, actually. " Why are you not seeing anyone?" Yet as he sent it off, he suddenly felt as if he had gone too far. He also did not know what he would say if she did own up to being involved with someone.
There was a long wait afterwards, causing his brow to furrow. He checked his watch, thinking it was possible that she could have drifted off, although he doubted that. And on the back of that the thought suddenly came to him; she could be in bed, and he'd been keeping her awake, that she possibly had a whole line of lectures and presentations to attend in the morning, knowing her.
Just as he was about to return to the file, his phone chimed. He again selected the message and felt his hand tighten on the phone. He tried to take in the words, keeping in mind that she was probably on teasing him, riling him, IT was better if he imagined her saying them with a teasing smile and tone, but it seemed too difficult in the end. "Not interested, because my heart has long since been claimed."
By who? Was his first thought. Why didn't he know thereof? Over the years he had learn to accept their relationship for what it was, close, affectionate, without the expectations, the pain. Although there had been moments he had felt her pain as strongly as she had. He hated it when she was upset, or hurting. He had never allowed another as close…his heart had remained un-bruised that way. Yet he could not come up with a response, and in a way he was thankful that they were doing this over the phone, that way she could not see his response, or know how severely the thought of her loving someone other than him affected him. Well it was not the fact that she loved somebody other than him, because he knew there were many whom she loved. But to say her heart had been claimed, when he ad no idea who it could be, that affected him.
He thought back to the last time they had spent time together, it had been to watch the one game… he had not picked up anything out of sorts with her, and that was only a few weeks before. She had been her usual self. He knew he should not pry, even if she had said something, he knew she would only tease him for it is. She was pulling his leg, again.
So he went the flirting route. "Lucky guy, what are you up to?" After he sent it, he thought it better if they called it a night, that he was probably keeping her from sleep.
His phone chirped several moments later, "In bed, was reading when you messaged."
He smiled as he replied, It became easier with practice. "The seminar that boring?" he could not help it, it was out before he could prevent it.
A few moments later, "The same old, same old. Same old faces, several of the subjects are the same."
Gibbs smiled, "Well I should let you get to bed, enjoy it." He fired it off and expected no reply, so he placed the phone on the table, only to have it buzz again.
He picked it up and read, "We should do this again, it's fun." and smiled. He was not certain if he could call it fun, it was frustrating, or at least he found it frustrating.
He pocketed his phone, thinking if he replied again, it was umlikely that they would end the conversation any time soon and returned to the file, reading through it.
The leads ran cold and he sent everyone home, there was nothing more they could do until the lab results were in, and even though he knew Abby would have remained the whole night, standing guard over her machines, he knew he could not expect that from Gavin, so he sent everyone home.
*·.·´¯`·.·* *·.·´¯`·. N.C.I.S. GABBY.·´¯`·.·* *·.·´¯`·.·*