Summery: How will Gibbs make things up for having missed Abby's birthday the previous year? Story refers to Abby's complaint (episode 6x17 - South by Southwest) about said lapse.
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters in this story. Never did, never will. And actually I'm happy I don't, because I would have to stick to too many rules :-)
Beta: DoomPrincess. Thank you so much for chasing up my silly mistakes and making some clumsy sentences sound great :-)
A/N: Story is written as a birthday present for my dear friend Kelly, who wondered how Gibbs could make up for having forgotten Abby's birthday. This was enough to set my mind thinking. Here's what it came up with...
Happy birthday Kelly! Happy Easter everyone!
Have You Ever...?
PART I
It is 7.30p.m., on a Friday evening. Incredibly loud music is blaring in Abby's lab. Our forensic scientist is still working. Standing at the desk in the middle of the lab, Abby is fidgeting back and forth on unsteady feet while typing away at the computer. She's not sure whether to be sad or peeved. She knows, she is supposed to be hopping mad, because this isn't just any Friday. It is the day before her birthday. On that day, her boss and friend for many years, Leroy Jethro Gibbs, usually picks her up to take her out for dinner.
But today seems to be the second year in a row that he has forgotten about it; even though she playfully reminded him a few weeks ago of how he had missed this special date the year before. Never had she thought he would miss it again this year.
Yet, she can never be really angry at him, so the anger doesn't make it to the surface.
Gibbs has been his usual self today; being nice around her as always. But Abby has been waiting in vain for him to tell her to go home, change into something nice, and meet him outside her apartment at 7.30p.m. Instead, he has piled her with work a couple of hours ago.
7.30p.m. -- Abby stares at the computer screen clock, which deridingly displays the time at which her silver haired fox usually picks her up to take her out for dinner the night before her birthday. And tomorrow she will be 33. She still cannot believe it.
Abby is so lost in her thoughts that she doesn't notice the music has stopped. She also doesn't notice that someone is standing close behind her. Very close behind her.
"You're all dressed up?"
Abby jumps as Gibbs whispers his question so close to her ear that she can literally feel his lips brush her earlobe. Each and every hair on her neck is rising to stand on end.
"Gibbs!" she berates him. "I'm going to die from a heart attack one day if you don't stop sneaking up on me like this!"
He has done this a countless number of times before and usually Abby would laugh about it, but this time she scolds him in a dead serious voice. She wants him to believe that she is incredibly pissed that he has forgotten her birthday again. And there is no way she is going to let him leave without a proper apolo... Dressed up? Had he just asked her if she was 'all dressed up'?
"Dressed up?" Abby inquires. "What for?" Has she missed something this time?
"What for? You truly ask me 'What for'?" Sighing, Gibbs steps to stand beside her.
Abby turns toward him, cocking an eyebrow and skilfully masking her delight about the upcoming invitation. Gibbs looks at her in utter dismay. She hasn't even changed.
"Abby! You haven't even changed!" He isn't able to hide his consternation.
"Changed? ... Why? ... How? I'm trapped here with all this evidence you brought..." Part of her astonished reaction is real confusion.
"Abby!" Gibbs groans. Pointing to her ballistics lab, he tells her, "I told you to have a look at this when you are done with the fingerprints!"
Damn. She has forgotten about that suit bag which he had brought along with her extra workload a few hours ago.
"Right," Abby admits in her quick-witted manner. "Buuut... I'm not ... yet ... done with the fingerprints, Gibbs. And since there isn't anything I'm planning to do tonight -- since there isn't anyone asking me out ... tonight ... Gi-ibbs -- I figured, I should be extra-exact with all this stuff rather than having a boring evening at home."
Gibbs has been listening patiently to Abby's rant and this typical smirk has sneaked upon his face and it is growing more and more amused, the more powerful Abby is pronouncing her accusation.
"You done?" Gibbs asks, just to be sure.
Abby glares at him warningly.
"Yeah," Gibbs continues, "I should have told you what's in the bag."
He hurries over to the ballistics lab to fetch the suit bag, grabbing Abby's hand without coming to a halt on his way back and dragging her with him.
"Gibbs!" Abby screams. "What...?"
"There's no time left for you to change now," he explains. "You'll have to change in the car."
"But Gibbs! Where are we going?" Abby asks incessantly on their way to his car.
He doesn't answer her and when they reach the car, he points to her at first, then towards the car.
"You ... backseat! ... Change! ... And stop asking!" He ushers her in and finally hands her the suit bag.
Abby eagerly opens the zip, looks inside -- and gasps.
"Honestly, Gibbs, where are we going?" she asks when she is able to breathe again.
He has brought her long black dress. Only now does she realize he is wearing his best suit.
"Change!" Gibbs orders.
"But Gibbs!" Abby simply ignores the demanding look that he gives her in the rear mirror. "If you want me to wear this, I'm going to need a pair of nylons and shoes and proper make-up..."
"Proper ... make-up?!" Gibbs echoes. "Women...," he growls under his breath.
"Pardon?" Abby has understood him very well, but she has to tease him nevertheless.
Gibbs, however, doesn't leave her another second to complain as he holds up her black high-heeled sandals.
"Okay," Abby casts a conciliatory smile at his reflection. "Forget about the nylons."
While Gibbs is steering the car across the city, he can't help but steal a glance in the back mirror every now and then, admiring Abby's smooth body movements. He had been so sorry that he had not been around for her last birthday. And he didn't even call, which was just inexcusable.
Having changed swiftly in the backseat of the car, Abby cleverly removes her bra from under the black dress in the very end. It hasn't been a long ride and Gibbs almost has wondered if Abby would have finished changing, but she has. Just in time.
"Wow!" Abby utters, as she realizes where Gibbs has taken her. He didn't forget that a head-hunter had brought her here, to the Ritz Carlton once before.
Abby quickly grabs her small day pack which Gibbs luckily has thought to bring along from her lab as well. Taking out her hairbrush, she re-dresses her hair within a minute into a single ponytail. Quickly, she finally applies some fresh lipstick.
When she is about to get out of the car, Gibbs is already there to help her.
As she stands in front of him, Abby sighs. She is not really content with her appearance.
"Gibbs, you should have told me! I could have used some more time to look like what one should look like for a restaurant like this.
Smiling, Gibbs takes a step back and without letting go of her hand he takes a closer look at her.
"Perfect," he smiles, nodding in agreement to his own statement.
"Perfect?" Abby asks suspiciously. She was considering herself far from what she thought 'looking perfect' would be.
"You look super-great," Gibbs confirms.
"Super-great?" she asks, suppressing a small grin at his choice of words.
"Super-great!" Offering his arm for her to link hers with his, Gibbs indicates that he won't allow any contradiction.
-xxx-
Almost three hours later they leave the restaurant. Gibbs now would drive her over to her apartment, where they would have a coffee or a bourbon together and at midnight, before leaving, he would give her her birthday present.
Well, this was what the night before Abby's birthday usually would be like. But not today.
Abby soon notices that Gibbs is not driving toward her apartment, but in a rather different direction, out of town. There was no use asking where he was going -- he simply wouldn't answer her. He just keeps smirking.
Only a few minutes later, Gibbs is heading for the parking area of one of the Bay's numerous marinas. It takes Abby a second, but eventually the penny drops. Gibbs has already gotten off the car and has opened the door to the passenger seat.
Squealing gleefully, Abby jumps out of the car.
"She's complete!" Jumping up and down, Abby joyfully claps her hands together.
"Yeah," Gibbs smiles.
Taking off his jacket he places it gently over her shoulder. Then he leads her down to the marina and to his finished boat.
The Kelly.
-xxx-
"Wow! She is ... beautiful!" Abby breathes.
The boat is gently swaying on the water of the Bay; the water is sparkling in the moonlight. The picture is a real vision. As they stand in silence for a while, taking in the sight, Abby can feel his grip tighten around her shoulders.
The boat has only been finished for a few days now. Never would he have thought it would feel so different to come here late at night, the marina deserted, and see the boat rocking on the water so peacefully. He has never thought about it as just a piece of wood when he was shaping it in his basement, but it was only really coming to life on the water. For a brief moment, he feels grief reach for him.
Abby feels his tension increase and she tilts her head to glance at him.
"Gibbs?" she whispers carefully. "Are you okay?"
After clearing his throat, he takes a deep breath. Lost in thought, he smiles warmly.
"Yes, Abs. I'm okay," he reassures her.
"We can...," Abby motions back towards the car.
"No," Gibbs says softly, kissing her temple and gently nudging her forwards. Strangely enough he has feared the loneliness out here more than in his basement, but with Abby at his side to keep his company, he feels comfortable.
After showing her around the modest interior, they sit down on the small seating outside in front of the entrance, having a glass of whiskey.
-xxx-
"Happy birthday, Abs!" Gibbs hugs her, kissing her on the cheek once again before Abby loosens the tight embrace which she caught him in, when she jumped up to thank him for the birthday present.
He steps back, his hands still resting on her upper arms that are now covered with the new black shawl he has given her as her birthday present, which fits the black dress perfectly. He smiles at her happily -- a smile that is as warming as the shawl around her shoulders. Leaning forwards once again, he places another kiss on her soft cheek.
Sitting down on the small bench again, they spend the next two hours outside, mostly in silence, watching the starry sky above and drinking bourbon. Abby snuggled against him with her back to him; her legs propped up on the seating. Gibbs has his arm gently wrapped around her, his hand resting on her waist.
The bourbon eventually is making her sleepy, the gentle rocking of the boat only adds to it. Abby finally can't stifle the yawns any longer.
"Hey," Gibbs whispers against her hair. "Let's get you to bed."
"But you'll have to carry me upstairs, because I'm sure I'll fall asleep in your car."
"I'm not going to carry you," Gibbs chuckles. "I happen to have a bed inside, remember?"
"Ah, Gibbs! I didn't expect you to be such a naughty boy...," Abby giggles, enjoying each and every chance to tease him.
"I'll take the seating bench," he clarifies with a small laughter
"You really mean, we are staying?" She's almost wide awake again.
"Sure," he nods.
"Cool!"
"There are a couple of shirts up there. Help yourself," he tells her when they are inside, pointing to a cabinet above the small sleeping accommodation at the far end of the interior which is separated by a wooden wall.
Five minutes later Abby is snuggling up under the sheets, thinking of how cool it would be if she could to talk Gibbs into sailing out the next day.
-xxx-
Part II will follow soon...