Gabby collaboration project now into Season 3. Each chapter is a standalone illustration of a possible beginning of a deeper relationship between Gibbs and Abby working through each episode of the series.

Title: Stunned
Author: Bluefirebird
Rating: K+
Spoilers: Kill Ari part 1, season 3
Summary: When Ari starts shooting at Abby Gibbs is reminded how precious she is.

Kate's death hit them all hard. Gibbs had mixed emotions: mostly he was angry that he had been unable to save her, as well as feeling stunned at her loss – grief would come later, that was the one emotion he truly had practice at pushing to one side. Anger he was accustomed to, anger he could channel into action in finding the bastard who had done this to her, to him, and make no mistake he knew that it was Ari's finger on the trigger.

The rain outside matched his mood as he briefly allowed himself to contemplate, conversing with Kate in his head the way they would have traded ideas in the squad room when she was alive. He was thrown for a loop though, her absence so sudden and unexpected that for a while his famous gut was stunned into silence and he was distracted, knowing there was something missing here, a piece of the puzzle not yet filled in by his honed intuition.

Tony and McGee were stunned, too, by Gibbs' behaviour; his distraction eclipsing his usual harshness with them. Neither were accustomed to him being "nice" to them, and Tony, in particular, found such behaviour unnerving. And so Gibbs went to get coffee to settle himself back into investigative mode.

The shot that whistled past his head and through the window into Abby's lab as he walked past with his coffee really got his attention, though, kick-starting his instincts in a way even the coffee couldn't. Abby's safety was suddenly the most important thing in his world and his coffee dropped from unheeding fingers as his attention turned to getting to her as quickly as possible and ensuring her safety. With Kate's death something had changed - he couldn't lose Abby, she was the light in the darkness of his life, and whilst he'd never let himself stop to consider that, all of a sudden it was as clear as day to him.

Abby was stunned and grief-stricken at Kate's death, struggling to muster the effort to deal with the forensics which would surely be delivered imminently by Gibbs and his team. She shuddered at the idea of Gibbs himself dying, Kate's death was bad enough, but the thought of Gibbs missing from her life was horrifying.

Tony arrived with the casings left at the sniper's nest and Abby was just setting to work on them when the bullet smashed through her window and before she knew what was happening Tony had pulled her to the floor and covered her with his body.

Gibbs arrived down in the basement in time to hear Abby telling Tony what a fine, muscular booty he had and a spike of something else shot through him as he rushed into her lab, shutting off the lights as he moved in answer to Tony's entreaty to stay down.

Abby looked so lost when she asked if Ari had deliberately shot at Kate, rather than Gibbs, while he picked glass from her hair. They had both worked out that Ari was playing cat and mouse with Gibbs, going after the women because that was Gibbs' weakness, but as he hugged her tight and promised to keep her safe Gibbs knew that this was a turning point in their relationship that – if Abby would have him – he needed her in his life as far more than a just a co-worker.

Still dripping from the rain outside Gibbs reached up and turned Abby's face towards him, leaning in to brush his lips gently but firmly against hers for a brief moment.

Then he pulled back and whispered: "I can't lose you, too, Abby. Without you I really would lose myself."

With that he got to his feet and, staying clear of the window, pulled Abby to her feet as well and, still holding her hand tightly, tugged her out of the lab behind him.

Stunned, Abby followed meekly until they were in the hallway, well away from the window, before stopping and pulling Gibbs up short.

"What did you just say?" she queried, almost in a whisper, as stunned at what he had said as she was by Kate's death, but this was a good kind of stunned.

He stopped too and stepped back towards her, drawing her into another soggy hug. "Come home with me tonight. You'll be safe from Ari with me - and we need to talk. In the meantime I want you in the squadroom with Tony, you can both write up your reports on this."

Gibbs gently ushered Abby into the elevator and pushed the button for the squadroom floor, before stepping back out ready to head to Autopsy to see Ducky. As the doors closed behind him Abby dared to hope that something good could come out of this horrendous day.