A/N: Man, the writers really don't even want to throw us a bone with any McGee/Abby scenes lately, do they? And where are all the McAbby stories? Come on guys! Well, after this last week's excellent episode, MeGee had some explainin' to do - to Gibbs, yes, but in my universe to Abby as well. Enjoy!

"Good night, McLovin' – ow, Ziva!'

The retort died on my lips as I watched Ziva put Tony in a headlock and drag him into the elevator. Just before the doors closed her voice floated out: "Good night, McGee. I am sorry for all-"

The doors slid shut and my head hit the top of my desk. I don't remember the last time I had been so emotionally drained. All I wanted to do was go home, feed Jethro, apologize to him for not having the energy again to go for a walk, and take a long shower. I still felt incredibly dirty just thinking about the fact that Diane had slept pressed up against me last night. The last thing I remembered was. . . .

"McGee!"

My head snapped up and I jumped to my feet to meet the steely gaze of Gibbs. "Yes, boss?"

He held my gaze for a moment before he walked towards his desk. "It's late, go home."

"B-but I haven't finished my report-" I stammered, inwardly cursing myself for my nervousness.

"The director has everything he needs tonight," Gibbs interrupted me. "Your report can wait until the morning."

"Thank you, boss," I sighed as I saved the document and shut down my computer. Grabbing my back pack, I stepped over to his desk and waited for Gibbs to look at me.

"Was there something else, McGee?"

I cleared my throat. "I know you've heard the rumors about me and Diane and what she said over the microphone during the op this afternoon," I paused and tried not to blush.

Gibbs leaned back in his chair and simply waited.

"I – I just wanted to reassure you again that nothing happened between us last night – and nothing is going to happen," I finished hastily as I felt my face grow hot.

Gibbs stared at me for a long while and I tried not to squirm under his scrutiny. Finally he gave a small nod. "I know that, Tim."

My shoulders sagged in relief. "Y-You do? How?"

"Because I know Diane – and I know you, Tim. Don't worry about it – the rumors will die down in a few days."

I smiled. "Thanks, boss." I started for the back elevator but stopped. "Do you think you could tell Fornell that nothing happened? I don't think he believes me."

Gibbs grinned.

Abby's lab was dark.

All of her babies were shut down, the music was off, and all that was left was a faint aroma of the Goth scientist's gunpowder perfume. A half empty Caf-POW sat on the otherwise spotless forensic table, black lipstick on the tip of the straw.

I sighed as I picked up the over-caffeinated sugary drink and took a long sip. She didn't wait for me.

We hadn't seen each other much today but I knew she had heard the rumors about Diane and me – she would have had to have called in sick to have had any hope of not hearing them. I had seen her across the bullpen just before leaving on our op this afternoon and the pain that flashed in her eyes had stolen my breath away. No one on Team Gibbs knew that we had resumed our dating relationship after I had been injured in the bombing incident in May.

"Timmy!"

I looked up from my unappetizing hospital food and held out my hands in time to catch the flying bundle of Abby Scuito that landed squarely in my lap. She buried her face in my neck and sniffled. Even though I really, really liked her position she was sitting right on my wound.

"Ow, Abby – you're sitting on my-"

She flew up out of my lap so fast that my food tray went flying and her eyes widened in shock, before her shoulders began to shake harder. "Oh God, Timmy, I'm SO sorry – I just-" her words broke off as her sobs grew louder.

"Abby, please don't cry – you know I hate it when you cry." I slid over on my narrow bed and patted the space next to me. "Come here."

With slower, more controlled movements, she curled up next to me in the hospital bed, once again burying her face in my neck. "Is this ok?" she whispered between sniffles.

I ran my hand up and down her arm. "It's perfect. Now, tell me what's going on back at the yard. Tony and Ziva are ok – we got them out of the elevator?"

Abby nodded against my shoulder. "And Ducky wants to leave the hospital in Florida to come to us all right now but the doctors won't release him. So he's sending Jimmy back instead."

We sat in silence for a few minutes before I whispered. "There must be loads of evidence waiting for you back at the lab."

"There is – but I have to wait until the rubble is cleared out and I couldn't focus anyway – not until I knew you –" she broke off and I felt the tremor go through her body.

I squeezed her gently. "Abby, I'm ok. It's just a scratch – they're just keeping me overnight to make sure it doesn't get infected-"

My own words were cut off by her lips on mine. Warmth flowed through me as the feelings I had buried deep came flooding back and I pulled her closer to me. When I pulled back, I watched as her eyes slowly fluttered open and from the slightly glazed look in them, I knew she had been as affected by the lip lock as I.

"Abby, what-"

She kissed me again, her lips hungry and eager before she breathed against them. "Let's not talk about this right now, Timmy. For now, could you just hold me?"

I pulled back so I could focus on her eyes, wanting to see if she was toying with me. Part of me had always been in love with Abby and having her come to my hospital room and kiss me senseless on a day when we had both nearly lost our lives – well, it wasn't the best time to start anything. But in her eyes, I only saw sadness, vulnerability, and a deeper emotion that perhaps Abby herself wasn't yet ready to define. But I was reassured that she wasn't toying with me this time around, so I repeated my words from earlier as I opened my arms to her.

"Come here."

Abby snuggled her head against my chest and soon fell asleep.

The ding of the elevator in the hallway brought me out of my memory of that day in the hospital. That had been the beginningof the renewal of our dating relationship and it really was a miracle that we had been able to keep it a secret from everyone. There were times when we suspected that Gibbs knew, because our boss seemed to know everything. But if he did, he had adopted the 'don't ask, don't tell' policy and kept quiet. Thank God Tony was clueless; otherwise we would have never had a moment's peace. Instead we had had a wonderful seven months of dates, kisses, and intimate moments.

And I'm not going to let anyone ruin it this time – especially not the devil woman ex-wife of Gibbs and Fornell.

Abby wasn't home. We had each other's keys – we had actually kept them from when we had dated the first time. I hadn't felt comfortable keeping her key but she had said that what if a madman had her at gunpoint and she couldn't answer the door? Or what if she couldn't reach her brass knuckles and the guy managed to knock her out and trap her in her coffin and she was suffocating and-

So I kept her key.

After I knocked a couple of times, I used her key and went inside only to discover that she hadn't been home since that morning. Her work things weren't there – her skull lunch box, her black cape with the red silk lining, her thigh high boots kicked off carelessly in the hallway for me to trip over. My Goth angel was a bit of a slob at home and there was no hint that she had been here since getting off work at NCIS.

Just then my phone beeped with a text message and I pulled it out of my pocket to look at the screen. I was pleasantly surprised, not to mention relieved to see that it was from Abby.

Are you coming home tonight?

My mouth fell open. She's at my apartment? A thrill of happiness shot through me as I headed for Abby's front door. As I hit the reply button, another message came through.

Or are you out with Diane?

I groaned in frustration as I relocked her front door. It was going to be a long night.

I opened my door and nearly tripped over her boots. I grinned even as I called out crossly, "Abby? Where are you?"

Jethro came from the bedroom, his tail wagging. "Hi boy – where's Abby?"

"Thought maybe you weren't coming home tonight, McGee."

I looked up and swallowed hard at the sight of my girlfriend in just my MIT T-shirt and her skeleton panties, leaning in the bedroom doorway. Her hair was out of its customary pigtails, down and soft around her shoulders. She walked towards me slowly, seductively, and I felt all my blood rush south.

"I would have been here sooner if I'd known you were here waiting for me – I went to your place first," I swallowed again, trying to get moisture into my dry mouth as I took off my NCIS jacket and dropped my back pack next to her boots on the floor.

She grinned. "And here I thought you were-"

I cut off her words with my lips, pouring all my emotions and desire for her into it. "You are the only girl for me, Abigail Scuito," I breathed against her neck tattoo as I picked her up and she wrapped her legs around my waist. "You've always been the only girl for me."

"Mm, Timmy," she sighed, trailing her hands down my back and pulling my shirt from the waistband of my slacks as I began to walk towards the bedroom.

The hot water pounded my tired flesh and I leaned my forehead against the tile. I was finally getting my long overdue shower but I no longer felt the need to cleanse myself from Diane's lingering scent. Abby's kisses and healing touch had washed all of the shame of the previous evening and today's rumors away. She hadn't asked for an explanation and as my girlfriend, she above anyone else, was the most entitled to one. Instead of meeting me at the door with tears, screams, and accusations, she had met me with love. And yet, I know I hadn't imagined the pain I had seen in her eyes earlier today. Perhaps she wasn't confident in my love for her. Perhaps she didn't want an exclusive relationship. Perhaps. . . .

I felt the draft as Abby pulled back the shower curtain and stepped into the shower with me. Her hands circled my waist and she pressed her front to my back, drawing us both back under the spray.

"I woke up alone, Tim. Why are you taking a shower at three in the morning?"

I turned around to face her, temporarily dislodging her hold on me. "I didn't get a shower this morning after Gibbs-" I left the sentence unfinished and waited.

Abby's mouth quirked as she tried not to smile. "You mean when Gibbs found you and Diane wrapped around each other on your couch?"

I took a step back. "That's not what happened, Abs."

She crossed her arms over her bare chest. "So what happened?"

"Diane wouldn't shut up! She just kept talking about her failed marriage and her daughter and how it was going to affect her forever and maybe there was something wrong with her."

Abby's face softened and her arms dropped to her sides. "And you felt sorry for her."

I shrugged. "I'm only human – yeah, I felt sorry for her. Anyway, most of the time, she was pacing and I was sitting on the couch. I must have nodded off at some point because I swear to God, Abby, that's the last thing I remember! She was standing and I was sitting. Next thing I know, Gibbs and Fornell are there staring at us and Diane is in my arms on the couch." I slapped the wall of the shower. "I know that sounds highly implausible-"

She grabbed my hand in both of hers and stepped into my personal space. "Hush, McGee. I know nothing happened between you and the devil woman."

"B-but today when I saw you in the bullpen, you looked so hurt and I thought-"

She took a deep breath and released my hand. "I'll admit that when I heard it the first time, I was furious at you. Then I was hurt – because we're dating and I thought you lo- I mean, you haven't actually said it this time around but I thought you did."

"Abby—" I breathed her name softly, winding my arms around her back, letting my fingers trace over the cross tattoo that I knew by heart. "I do love you – I never stopped."

"You do – you didn't?"

I shook my head. "I've been waiting for you – I didn't want to screw this up again. I mean, let's face it. We started dating again after both of us nearly got blown up in a bomb blast – I didn't know if your feelings would cool after you'd had time to think things over."

"Oh, McGee! Give me some credit! I've been thinking about us for longer than that – every time we'd lose someone, I wanted to run to you and never let go but I always talked myself out of it. I'd tell myself there was time. During the port to port killer case and you said if anything ever happened to me, I knew I needed to make a decision about us one way or the other. And then we lost Franks and then you got hurt in the bombing-" she shivered and I pulled her against me.

"I'm here, I'm ok." I kissed her spider web tattoo and she shivered again, although for a different reason. "I love you."

"I love you too." She smiled when she saw my eyes widen. "I'm sorry I've never said it before. I almost said it in the hospital but again I thought I'd have time. And all these past months we've been dating and things have been so great, I didn't want to rock the boat. I mean, you didn't say it – so what if you didn't feel that way about me anymore?"

I opened my mouth to protest but she silenced me with a look. "Then when I heard the rumors about you and Diane today, even though I knew you would never do that to me, part of me thought 'well, if he doesn't love me, he may want to see other people someday' – and I thought I'd lost my chance of being with you."

I cleared my throat, terrified of saying the words and yet knowing there wasn't going to be a better time to ask. "Abs, are you saying that you're ready to think about where this is going? That this could be it – you and me, forever?"

Abby surged to her tiptoes, her mouth hot and hungry on mine. For several moments, neither of us spoke as we let our bodies do the talking for us. When black spots began to appear behind my eyes, I pushed her slightly away from me.

"Abby," I panted. "Is that what you're saying?"

She grinned. "I'm saying I love you, Timmy – ever so much more than puppies. And if you ever work up the nerve to ask me to marry you, I think you'll really like the answer."

I placed my hands on her ribcage and picked her up, as she wrapped her legs around my waist. "Did you peek at your Christmas present?" I demanded.

"I plead the fifth," she giggled as she reached over my shoulder to shut off the now tepid water.

"You better still act surprised, Abigail Scuito soon-to-be-McGee."

She made a fist and hit my shoulder. "And you better come up with a better proposal than that, Timothy McGee."

Stepping out of the shower, I reached for a towel. Abby clung to my neck as I wrapped it around both of us. She squealed as I towel dried her hair and while she was distracted I opened the small drawer next to the sink and took out the black velvet box.

She whipped the towel off her head. "You'll pay for that, Ti- oh!" she breathed out softly as her eyes landed on the box. "You weren't kidding?"

I shook my head as I turned and set her down on the bathroom counter and knelt at her feet. I swallowed, trying to get some saliva into my incredibly dry mouth. I can't believe I'm really doing this – in the bathroom of all places. And naked, no less! Wait, am I in Dinozzo's imagination?

"Abigail Anne Scuito, I love you more than you can imagine. I know that for a long time you fought the idea of us because you thought we didn't have enough in common – but I think we have just enough. We both love forensics, and speak the same language of computer science. You even told me once that you love it when I talk geek – no other girl I've dated has ever told me that. As for our differences, I feel like I balance out your quirkiness and you add some to my dull spots. We're stronger together than apart, Abs, and I know that we'll have a life full of love and laughter that will never be boring. Abby, will you marry me?"

The tears were slipping down Abby's face by the time I got to the part about both of us loving forensics, and she was slowly shaking her head. My heart was in my throat that she was going to say no when she snapped open the box and looked at the ring. But in typical Abby fashion she plucked the ring out of the box and slipped it onto the ring finger of her left hand.

"I hope that means yes," I laughed.

Her startled eyes swung back to my face as she hopped off the counter and joined me on the bathroom floor. She cupped my face. "You are everything I never knew I always wanted, Timothy McGee."

I frowned. "Thanks, I think."

She laughed. "Yes! Yes, I'll marry you." She gave me swift kiss. "Who should we tell first – Gibbs or Ducky?"

"How about Fornell?"

She wrinkled her nose. "Why on earth should we tell him first?"

I sighed. "Because he thinks Diane and I are in a relationship."

Abby laughed, harder this time before throwing her arms around my neck. "Aw, my poor Timmy. You see, I have to marry you to protect you from all the devil women out there."

I smiled against her neck tattoo. "Works for me. I love you, Abs."

Abby moved swiftly, her hips straddling mine, her eyes boring into mine. "I love you more, Tim."

Merry Christmas, McAbby fans - keep the faith! Reviews are LOVE!