I'll Keep you Safe

Title: "I'll keep you safe"

Author: AbbyGibbs Stephjag or Well, I do not own them and that is pretty unfair – they again belong to DPB! Why does he always have to own the best shows and the best characters? Could someone explain that to me? His characters are always suffering too much. So I have decided to borrow them for a little while, the length of a story, but I promise to give them back though I really wish I could keep them for myself.

Classification: Romance Abby/Gibbs, emotional stuff

Rating: T or maybe K+ (+13 as always to be on the safe side, isn't it?)

Spoilers: Beginning third season.

Summary: a little something after Ari tried to shoot Abby – a few hours after it actually – Gibbs realizes that he was scared to lose her. And Abbs also realizes something: Nothing in life is forever.

Author's note: you guys don't sue me; I'm just trying some stuff here. And it won't be a big story either. It's just something I wanted to write. I hope from the bottom of my heart that you'll like it. And before you guys shoot me, I want to apologize if a few things in the story sound rough. But remember this is only a story and we all have the right to have our own opinions, right? And the story may go a strange way, but bear with me, okay?

Many thanks to Beth as always who's a wonderful beta reader and I wouldn't know what to do without her.

Feedbacks: well, I'd love them, of course – who wouldn't? But please, only if you respect my work because it takes a lot of time and energy to get a story together. I love writing; I wouldn't allow anyone to discourage me from doing so, never. I don't have any problems at all with readers who choose not to go for this, but I decidedly do with those who write disrespectful mails just because they didn't get the ending they would have wanted. If you want to tell me what I might have done better within the story I made up, you're always very welcome to let me know. But if your only concern is to rant about it, then please, do it in private, okay? Thank you.

Gibbs was sitting at his desk in the dark; he didn't want to see any light whatsoever. The day had been long and hard. And he had this guilty feeling that didn't want to go away. He felt responsible for Kate's death.

He couldn't get it out of his head. And as if that wasn't enough he could not stop thinking of Abby and what could have happened a few hours earlier. Losing Kate was one thing, and it was not that she'd been less important than Abby, but if he had lost her it would haven been a complete chaos.

There was something very special about her, even though he couldn't verbalize what it was because he could not define it either – Gibbs only knew that it was a very strong feeling. He was damn grateful Tony had been with her when the bullet had been fired. He hadn't the time yet to thank his younger NCIS agent, but he would do so as soon as he could.

Since Kate had died, Gibbs had this terrifying feeling that something would happen to another member of his team. If DiNozzo hadn't been there Abby would probably have been hit or even worse…dead.

The simple idea made him shiver in cold sweat. Suddenly he found himself wondering why he was trapped by this feeling of uneasiness at the simple thought that something could have happened to Abby earlier. Jethro leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes.

He was walking in the pouring rain, thinking about Kate, about what went wrong. He was holding a coffee in his right hand when suddenly he heard a sort of blow first and then a bullet whistle next to his ear, followed by broken glass. Hearing a gunshot sound muffled by the pouring rain, and Abby screaming, Gibbs dropped his coffee and ran to her lab.

"Abby?" he called as soon as he entered the lab.

Tony answered instead, "Boss, get down, we're taking fire."

Gibbs moved closer to them, turning off all the lights on his way. He went to Abby's side. "You okay?" he asked the obvious terrified scientist, and told Tony to secure off a crime scene from where the shooter had fired.

DiNozzo went to do so, but not without Gibbs holding him back to remind him that there was a possibility the shooter might have a night vision scope.

"Good point, boss," Tony replied.

He left the room crawling on the floor, leaving his boss and his friend alone.

"I will get you bulletproof glass," he stated.

"There's no such thing, Gibbs," Abby pointed out.

Looking at her he said, "Okay, bullet resistant glass."

His breath was heavy as he carefully took a tiny piece of glass out of Abby's hair. Abbs looked at him them, then elsewhere for a few seconds before she asked: "Ari didn't shoot at you and hit Kate by mistake, did he? He's after me now…"

"I was walking by that window when he fired," he told her, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder, looking at her straight in the eyes.

"You're just saying that to make me feel safe," she protested, her voice still a little shaky.

Then Gibbs put and arm around her shoulder and held her close to him. Abby put her gloved hand on top of his. "I'll keep you safe, Abby." He placed a kiss on top of her dark hair before adding "I promise." They stayed like a couple of minutes.

Gibbs was thanking God that she was safe and he heard a familiar voice call him softly. He opened his eyes slowly and set himself upright, slightly surprised that she was still in the building.

A smile started to caress his lips as always when she called him or when he simply laid eyes on her, despite how tragic the current circumstances were.

"Abbs, what are you still doing here?" he gently asked.

"I think I should you the same question, Gibbs, and in the dark…" she replied, a soft smile on her lips. "Me sitting in the dark is… me, but you sitting in it is like a day without a single ray of sunlight."

"Wow, Abbs, you're getting soft…" he said lightly.

"I know, Gibbs, but my heart is dark too now, so I don't really have the desire to say some things…" Her voice trailed off and she looked at her feet.

The only joy Gibbs had felt in days faded away quickly at the sight of her so sad. He rose to his feet and walked to her. Stopping a few inches from her, he slowly pulled Abby to him in a tight embrace. "Come here," he said in a low voice.

Being held by Gibbs's strong arms made her feel a little more comfortable and a little bit better.

Abby slid her arms around him and held him as tightly as she possibly could. A single bright tear rolled down her cheek. "I'm gonna miss her, Gibbs," she said in a broken voice.

"I know. I'm gonna miss her too, Abbs."

She pulled back just enough to look into his icy piercing blue eyes. Gibbs noticed another single tear rolling down her cheek and gently brought his thumb under it to wipe it away.

"Hey, it's okay, Abbs. Everything's fine now."

Abby didn't say anything, but clung to him as if he might disappear if she let go of him. Everything that had happened earlier came back spinning into her mind. And she trembled.

"Gibbs, can I talk to you, but not here, please?"

Gibbs looked into her eyes and understood immediately that it was serious. Whatever it was she wanted to talk to him about, it was important to her and she had to get it out. He knew her well enough to know that.

"Okay, then – let's get out of here."

Gibbs left one arm on her shoulders and Abby slid her arm around his waist as they left the building. Arriving at his car, he unlocked it before opening the door for her. She climbed in and he walked over to the driver's seat. By the time he was settled behind the steering wheel, she had closed her door.

Gibbs turned his head to look at her and asked, "Where to, miss?"

And Abby's bold response came. "Take me to the stars..." She smiled wickedly.

Gibbs didn't reply; he just focused his attention back in front of him. Abby always used this language, so all of this was pretty normal, except that the tone of her tone voice had something like… a caress in it. His heart skipped a beat. Even if she had said earlier that her heart was dark and she didn't want to make such comments.

"Jethro, you're getting senile, here," he thought to himself, smiling at his own use of words in his thought.

First Gibbs wasn't sure where to take her, but then her phrase echoed in his mind. "Take me to the stars..." and a smile caressed his lips again and lit up his face.

Abby, who was watching him, simply said, "I love your smile, Gibbs."

"Thanks."

They arrived at their destination and Gibbs parked his car. They walked for a few minutes, and he turned to her to ask, "Does this place work?"

Abby looked up above them and saw a billion glowing little pearls of light above her.

"Gibbs, you're the best! You are a mind reader."

"Now, shall we walk a little and talk or sit and talk?"

"Your call, boss."

He smiled softly, and started to walk slowly without another word for the time being. They just walked side by side in a comforting silence for several moments when Abby suddenly stopped and held his arm gently. He looked at her with questioning eyes.

"The reason we came here in the first place is because I wanted to talk to you, Gibbs, but I don't know where to start. First, I want to thank you for trusting me and letting me be a member of such a great team. Second, since Kate died I don't really know how I feel or what I feel about all of this except that I'm sad and scared. I'm scared of losing everyone I care about, Gibbs… I'm scared of losing… you." Her voice trailed off a little as she walked toward the reflecting pool.

She sat on one edge and let one of her hands caress the water, her long fingers disturbing the gentle waves.

Gibbs watched her, marveling at the way she was – she could be so strong and so vulnerable at the same time. Abby was an amazing girl – woman, he corrected. She was brilliant, and she had a great personality. People who didn't know her might think she was weird or a freak, but that was far from the truth.

Abby Sciuto was adorable and sweet, and always there when anyone needed her. Every member of the team knew that, but he also knew that he was the one who shared a special bond with her. Otherwise he wouldn't have felt as terrified of losing her as he as been a few hours earlier.

"Gibbs?" She reached out her hand for him.

"Hmmm," he said in a distant voice, while slipping his hand into hers and moving closer to her.

"I need you to promise me something…" Her voice trailed off once more.

Gibbs looked at her, surprised, but her face was deadly serious, so all he could say was "Sure."

"Promise me you'll never leave me… promise me that you won't get yourself killed, because I'll not sure I'd survive it. Kate's dead and I just don't know what the hell I feel – I guess a mix of a thousand feelings that I can't define and I hate it. So please promise me you won't leave me like she did – she was my best friend and she left without giving me a chance to say good-bye…" Tears were now running down her cheeks, leaving her eyes bright and shiny in the night. Gibbs's heart ached at the sight of the tears, and he brought his free hand forward to cup her face and brush the tears away with his thumb.

Jethro looked her straight in the eyes. "I wish I could, Abbs – I really wish I could, but I can't. But I can tell you that I won't leave you intentionally, though." He smiled.

"Oh, Gibbs…" She tightened her grip on his hand.

"Abbs, honey, nothing's forever. We all know that very well, but we tend to forget it, and we take every moment for granted. Kate's death just proves it once again. I wish I could go back and undo what Ari did, but sadly I can't. No one can. And when I was walking by that window and heard you scream, Abbs, I can tell you that my heart stopped beating…. I thought I'd lost you too…" Gibbs's voice cracked. And his eyes were now brimming with tears too.

Abby's breath caught in her throat; it was the first time she'd ever seen tears in Gibbs's eyes. She leaned forward and cuddled herself against his chest, her heart breaking a little more at seeing him like this, but she also was touched because she suspected it was the first time since it had all happened that he'd let go of how he felt.

Gibbs disentangled his fingers from her and put his arms around her and held her tightly. He closed his eyes and kissed the top of her head. "But I can promise you one thing for sure, and that is I'll keep you safe, Abbs. I promise. As long as God allows me to live, I'll keep you safe…"

"I love you, Gibbs," Abby whispered against his chest.

At the words, Jethro sighed heavily. He knew it was completely crazy and he'd tried to fight what he felt, to reason with himself, but nothing helped – he felt the same way about her. Life was too short to give up any chance to love and be loved back. You have to grab the opportunity when it comes by before it's too late. And tell people you love that you actually love them because there isn't any guarantee for a tomorrow.

"I love you, too Abbs," he murmured.

She lifted her head up and looked into his piercing eyes that were amazing even in the dark. She felt herself drawn into them, losing herself completely. He looked at her intently, then tilted his head and gently brought his lips to her in a soft, loving kiss. When they pulled back, they looked into each other eyes for a few endless moments before Abby stood up, her eyes still locked to his. He smiled and she leaned forward, bending her head a little to the right and pressing her lips against his again.

She caressed his lower lip with her tongue softly seeking entrance. He opened his lips under hers, allowing her to deepen the kiss.

They might not know if tomorrow would come, but they were sure about one thing: they were sure about here and now and their feelings for one another, their love. No one would ever take that away from them. Never.

The End

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