Disclaimer: Nothing about NCIS is mine. Poo.
A/N: This was inspired by a conversation with my own personal Gibbs. Same situation, pretty much same conversation, only I substituted NCIS chit-chat for the chit-chat of my life.
"Sorry I have to get you to take me home Gibbs. I didn't expect to stay so late, and the garage couldn't, wouldn't bring my car back 'til tomorrow." Abby climbed into the passenger seat of Gibbs' car, and tried not to shut the door on her skirt. Gibbs was opening the rear door and throwing some files inside before getting into the driver's seat. "Its no problem Abby, I just needed you around a little longer, and couldn't let McGee drive you home. Besides, now we can talk a bit." He started the car and pulled out of the parking lot, ready to make the 20-minute trek to Abby's apartment.
"So work today was really, um, work-ish, hm, boss?" Abby was a little tense sitting in the seat, as the street lights got further apart from the lot to the road. She picked at a pigtail and tapped her tongue lightly to the back of her teeth. "Yeah Abbs, it generally is work-ish." Gibbs tapped his hand on the steering wheel and looked out the windshield. "You know Gibbs, I like your new car. I never got to ride in the old one. But this is pretty sweet." "Thank you ma'am. I happen to like it myself." Gibbs turned on the radio, it was obvious from the static on the station, that he didn't yet know how to work the radio. He didn't let on at first, just pressed one of the preset buttons and some country music came out of the speakers.
The music was there for a moment all alone, but then Gibbs said "Abby, what kind of crap do you have us listening to?!" and laughed a little. Abby recognized this as a plea for help and said "Well, I can change it, tell me what stations you like, and I will set them on the buttons for you." She scrolled through and every time he said "ok" she pressed the buttons. "There you go, all set, two minutes, no problem." She grabbed her choker and started playing with it idly, as she waited nervously to either say something, or hear Gibbs say something. He just listened to the radio for a second, and then looked over at her. "You know I really enjoy working with you, right? I don't just say it because you do things I don't know how to do." She smiled.
"Gibbs, I know. I enjoy working with you too. You take care of me, how much more could a girl ask for? Well, you could let me take care of you too, I want to, but I know you don't need it. I still want to though." She looked over at him and caught him looking from the road over to her and smiling. She giggled lightly and said "Gibbs, where're you going?" He was making a right turn. "My house is to the left. Are you trying to kidnap me? I know I'm cute but…" He laughed and pulled through a parking lot to get them going back in the right direction. "I'm sorry, I was just thinking about something else." "Its ok, we're talking, I understand."
A few more minutes of silence led to Gibbs humming a song on the radio. It was a bluesy love song, earthy, with more than a little sadness. Abby said softly, "I know I like other kinds of music, but I really like this too. I've heard it before." Gibbs said, "Its close to my favorite song ever. I am not a fan of love songs but something about this one, its good for my soul Abby. Good for anyone's soul." He hummed, slightly off-key, and she listened to the lyrics. She closed her eyes just a little and sighed heavily. They were getting close to her apartment, but she didn't want the ride to end.
"Don't fall asleep on me Abbs, I don't want to feel bad for keeping you so late." "I'm not sleepy Gibbs." She flipped a pigtail just to show him she was still perky. "You were just so quiet, you are hardly ever quiet." "I am only quiet when I am comfortable. The quieter I am, the more comfortable I am. I've become quite comfortable with you Gibbs." She flipped her other pigtail this time, but slower, more thoughtfully. "Well that is good to know. Isn't this your house?" "Yeah, just pull up right there, I'll be fine from here."
She got her bag from the floorboard and started to open the door. "Have a good night Gibbs, go home, have a drink, work on your boat some. I'll see you tomorrow. I had a nice ride home, thank you so much." He smiled at her in the interior light of the car. "You're welcome Abby, any, any time at all. Just tell me. And hey, I got my radio fixed and everything. It was worth it. Good night." She shut the door and skipped up the stairs to her apartment. Gibbs waited until she had the door open and turned around to smile and wave at him. He drove away, smiling and shaking his head at how much fun it could be, not saying much, and driving home, a smart, young woman. Inside her apartment, Abby locked the door for the night, turned to rest her back on it and sighed. "Gibbs DOES need me to take care of him, even if it's just to fix his radio stations. I knew it."