"Mistake"

Author: AbbyGibbs

Disclaimers: 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.

Pairing: Abby/Gibbs.

Rating: T but can change into M

Spoilers: "Ex-files"

Summary: Gibbs realizes that he has done a huge mistake by thinking it would work out with a woman, he appreciated. For the first time in his life his gut failed him.

A/N: I've been watching NCIS the seasons four and five and well my imagination unlocked once again. I just love the end of the episode "Ex-files" because of Mann's face realizing she has lost the war to get Gibbs in her bed and her life. (Sorry can't help it, I HATE her) so a plot formed in mind and here's the result for it.

Any of your liking Mann well this is the wrong address then.

And before some of you think, she started her story in Gibbs's basement again, I know but this time it couldn't be helped seeing that "Ex-files" ends in his basement and I'm picking up from there.

Thanks, Shadoe.

Leroy Jethro Gibbs was walking his ex-wife Stephanie out of his house; while Hollis Mann was waiting for him to return. Hollis wandered around a little, Gibbs had been dragging her down to the basement for them to have diner.

As she was waiting she saw an empty tape box. "Jethro you never cease to amaze me… music" she said out loud, pushing in the 'play' button.

Music notes filled the basement and a smile appeared on Army LT Colonel Mann's lips as she listened, but then the smile disappeared as quickly as it came as she heard giggles coming from the tape in the recorder her eyes where fixed on the device where it came from then a voice could be heard.

The voice belonged to his daughter, Kelly.

"What do you think, daddy? I came in second place."

Another voice talked after Kelly's; Shannon's.

"You would have been proud of her Jethro."

"I miss you, daddy, when you'll be at home I'll be really good at it. I promise. I love you"

Mann didn't hear Gibbs coming back in again; he came down a step or two and sat down listening to the tape as it continued on.

"Kiss for daddy."

You could hear the little girl kiss her hand and blow them away. "I love you, daddy, love you."

"Bye, Jethro, I miss you."

At the end, Gibbs's facial expression showed a mixture of sadness, anger, hurt and disappointment.

Mann hadn't spotted Jethro yet, but she realized by listening to the tape that she'd never replace them, she would never have the place she wanted in Gibbs's heart no matter what she did or said and thinking that she would be able to achieve her goal by asking Ducky what to do was foolish.

Hollis felt herself being watched then and turned around to see Gibbs sitting on the stairs and watching her with such a hard look that she instantly knew that their relationship was over.

"Jethro…" she started.

"You couldn't help yourself, could you?" he said in a deadly calm voice. And anyone who knew him would know that this meant that a big storm was coming along the way.

"I just saw the tape box and thought that you were full of surprises. I thought it was music, so I pressed the 'play' button that's all… I'm sorry, Jethro."

"And what exactly did give you the right to do that, Hollis? Because we are in a relationship? Well guess again." He said standing and coming down the stairs.

"You are not over them, Jethro; you can't leave them behind you. Their ghosts and spirits still linger around here." She said simply.

"Like I said, Hollis. They're dead, end of story, it's behind me." Gibbs replied in a strong voice.

"You're sure about that, Jethro?"

As she asked him, Hollis walked towards him, as he too headed towards her, they stopped a few feet from one another.

"Yes."

"Then why did you marry three times after they were gone? Why is your damn job so important to you? Why is your team receiving more attention from you than me?"

"They're not. And my job is important to me because I like doing it. I'm giving the victims justice, giving those who are left behind some answers and peace. I married after Shannon's death because I fell in love with someone else, but it didn't work out. Same thing for the two other marriages that followed."

"Oh, so you loved them, huh? I rather think they were only substitutes, and let's face it. Stephanie is still in love with you, no matter how hard she denies it. The way she said good luck before you accompanied her outside, pathetic" She retorted dryly.

"Oh so you thought that you had a chance? That you would become the next Mrs. Gibbs? And what makes you so sure you aren't one of those "substitutes" too, huh?" he retorted as dryly before continuing the anger in his voice really clear now, "Damn you must feel pretty insecure to go ask Ducky about my pass life."

Hollis looked at him then and decided she had nothing to lose more than she had already so she told him why she went to see Ducky.

"I love you, Jethro and I didn't want to be one of the failures, I didn't want to be one of your divorced ex-wives. I wanted to be the one."

Gibbs answer was to laugh at her, mockingly. Now he was really pissed, but not only at her, but at himself, 'cause he felt immensely stupid. Gibbs was asking himself what he ever saw in her in the first place.

"I can't believe you actually thought you could be the one for me Hollis. You've been treating my team like shit since we've know each other, and the worse part is you did it slyly, as long as I was there, you were distant but nice with them, but when I wasn't around…"

She looked at him as if was about to spit on him. "And who told you that; your little whore who calls herself a forensic scientist?"

Gibbs had to take in a deep breath to calm himself down to a suitable level. When he finally was, he looked at his interlocutor coolly, the tension was palpable in the basement now.

"No, she didn't have to. No member of my team had to tell me, Hollis. Your body language betrayed you. You acted as if you had won a trophy or something each time you came out of the lab or when I came back to the bullpen after I went to MTAC. Did you think I was blind or something? I wear glasses, but only for reading."

"Well, it was not like you ever said anything about it."

"I wanted to see how far you would go and you showed that to me, pretty well today, because if you ask me you seemed pretty determined to push Stephanie behind bars. You really thought that was what you had to do to keep me? Push every other woman in my life out of the way?" he said, staring intently at her.

"You're pathetic, Jethro, no wonder none of your wives stayed with you. You can't let go and you'll never be able to." Hollis practically yelled at him.

"Look who says I'm pathetic, it doesn't surprise me you can't hold onto a man. All you try and do is dominate them. Actually you try to dominate every person you work with; it's not difficult to see why everyone hates working with you. And by the way you Lt Colonel are my biggest mistake, you are as cold as ice and you have no respect for anyone or anything. You come in somewhere and you think you own the place and everything in it. Well, I am not yours; I'm not one of your belongings and never will be. NOW, GET THE HELL OUT OF MY HOUSE!" Gibbs said forcefully.

Hollis was about to retort, but Gibbs stopped her with an ice cold stare.

"Don't even think about answering, just get out. Don't you ever risk insulting a member of my team again Lt Colonel or I'll swear you'll be seeing stars and not in a pleasant way."

Looking at him angrily, took a few steps back, headed for the stairs and climbed up, and as she stood on the last step she look back down at him and said.

"You are responsible for your own misery, Jethro Gibbs."

Gibbs didn't even bother to answer her. He just watched her leave.

What neither of them knew was that there was someone else in his house and that that person had heard every single word that had been said. Hearing Mann coming up the stairs, the person hid and waited 'til she heard the door slam rather loudly.

Walking to the basement, the individual stopped when footsteps could be heard coming from downstairs and smiled. It wouldn't long until he realized someone was still in his house.

Climbing the stairs, Gibbs suddenly froze, but soon a smiled graced his lips. She was here. He could recognize that specific smell anywhere, a mixture of caffeine, and gunpowder… Abby.

When he walked through the corridor leading to his kitchen, he called her name.

"Abby?"

"Awww, Gibbs, how did you know I was here?" the Goth asked him innocently.

"My gut told me." He smirked at her.

"You okay?" Abby asked as she walked towards him.

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?"

The Goth scientist was now standing a few steps away from him and looked down at the floor.

"Abbs?" Gibbs said coming closer and reaching out. He hooked his right index finger under her chin forcing her with his action to look at him.

Her eyes showed pain and uncertainty. His were telling her silently not to be afraid and to talk to him, so that's what she did.

"I'm sorry, Gibbs."

Gibbs frowned not quite understanding why his favorite lab tech was apologizing. He couldn't come up with a reason why she would have to.

"Abbs, what are you sorry about?"

"I'm sorry I screwed by leaving the evidence alone in the lab with Fred. I shouldn't have trusted him. I'm so sorry, Gibbs. It'll never happen again I promise." She said frantically.

"Calm down, Abby." The Marine told her, folding his arms around her.

The young Goth woman encircled her own arms around his waist holding onto him tightly.

"I know you won't let it happen again, and we caught him so that's what's most important. Don't worry about it anymore."

"I'm sorry you broke up with Mann." Abby murmured then.

Gibbs pulled away from her, not breaking their embrace, but just to be able to look at her. He arched an eyebrow.

"How long exactly have you been in my house?" He asked slightly surprised he hadn't known she was in. But then he realized that he probably hadn't sensed her presence sooner because of his heated conversation with Mann.

"Since, Stephanie left. I heard everything."

"I'm sorry, Abby"

"Don't apologize for the fact that she's a bitch. It's her loss not yours."

Gibbs grinned at her. "Hmm… You sure you're sorry, because you didn't seem to like her much."

"Okay, okay, I hated her from the moment I met her, and even before. Well, before you guys started to date. The team was so tense when she was around. And when you started to go out with her… I never thought that one day I'd be able to hate someone like that." Abby's voice trailed off.

"Abby, spill it out." Gibbs urged her on.

She looked up at him then, her eyes shining with tears. "It felt like everything was falling apart each time she worked on a case with us. Tony, Ziva, McGee didn't smile as often anymore, every time she showed up they didn't look forward to work, as if each time Mann asked something it was too much and I felt the same way they did, Gibbs, she was always so bossy, always wanted to control everything as if she needed to prove she was better than anyone. Telling us how to do our jobs…"

"I know, Abbs…" he sighed.

"Well, if you knew why didn't you do anything about it then? You're not gonna tell me you were scared of her, are you?"

"No, Abby, I wasn't scared, I was an idiot." Gibbs smiled sadly.

"You know for someone who's gut has a feel for catching criminals and pretty much knows when something goes or is about to go wrong. It pretty much sucks went comes to women."

"She isn't here anymore now, Abbs… "

"I missed you, Gibbs, I missed you so much." She whispered.

"I missed you too, Abbs."

Then a smirk found its place on Abby's lips as a question burned her lips. She looked at Gibbs with a mischievous glint in her eyes that he could even see through the moisture in them.

And knowing her the way he did, he knew what his lab tech was about to ask him. Gibbs chucked despite himself.

"What?"

"No, she wasn't really good."

Abby gasped "How did you?"

Leaning closer toward her face then close to her ear, he whispered. "Because… I know you, my favorite little squint."

Looking at him in disbelief, Abby grinned widely at Gibbs.

"So she wasn't, though I would have thought, since she's in the military…"

"Nah, it definitely didn't help."

That was certainly interesting information. Mann had been annoying Abby for so long, trying to slowly tear the team apart. Trying desperately to have a hold on Gibbs, and for what? For nothing apparently because now it felt as if he hoped to find an excuse to dump her, plus Gibbs didn't enjoy the sex with her. It was pretty stupid and childish, and completely irrational seeing that she, Abby Sciuto, didn't go out with him, but it made her immensely happy to know that.

Maybe just maybe… Abby stop dreaming he just broke up with that… no don't go there you'll make yourself sick again. She's gone now and that's all that matters.

They stayed like this smiling and holding each other for a little while longer. Then without a word they loosened their embrace and went outside.

"You up for a coffee?" she asked him.

"Yeah, sure." He replied with a smile as well.

Abby was heading for her car when she felt a hand grip her upper arm, she looked over her shoulder and her smile widened.

"You're coming with me."

Once Gibbs and Abby were sitting in his car he turned to her. He didn't say a word, but his eyes were doing the talking for him.

"Yeah, maybe we should talk and put things straight." Abby said in a low voice.

On an impulse, Gibbs reached out and cupped Abby's face with his hand, the lab tech placed one of her hands on his, leaning into his touch and closing her eyes.

"Gibbs…" Abby sighed.

Opening her eyes again, she saw a new light in Gibbs's.

"What?"

Her boss's lips curled up into a smile and he bent over to brush his lips with hers. Surprised by his lips on hers it took a few seconds to react; closing her eyes again she kissed him back. The kiss quickly became much more than a simple brushing of lips, and when they finally separated, they were both out of breath.

Pressing their foreheads together they smiled.

"We really need to talk…"

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The End

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