Bittersweet

Title: Bittersweet

Author: AbbyGibbs

Fandom: NCIS

Pairing: Gibbs/Abby
Rating: T

Category: Romance, drama.
Spoilers: none
Summary Abby's lost one of her friends in a car crash, and she's broken by it, but someone is there for her.
Disclaimer: Everything belongs to Donald P. Bellisario, CBS and the fantastic people who created NCIS.Shauna Ashton and Lee Manning are mine.

A/N: I don't know where this comes from just wrote what was in my head.

Feedbacks: well, I'd love them, of course – who wouldn't? But please, only if you respect my work because it takes a lot of time and energy to get a story together. I love writing; I wouldn't allow anyone to discourage me from doing so, never. I don't have any problems at all with readers who choose not to go for this, but I decidedly do with those who write disrespectful mails just because they didn't get the ending they would have wanted. If you want to tell me what I might have done better within the story I made up, you're always very welcome to let me know. But if your only concern is to rant about it, then please, do it in private, okay? Thank you.

No copyright infringement is intended.

Abby was leaning against the door frame of the living room of one of her friends, Shauna Ashton-Manning. The young, dark-haired woman, who had amazing violet eyes, had invited Abby to her place to introduce her to her new born son, Phoenix.

Her heart melted as she watched the scene playing before her; Leroy Jethro Gibbs was holding the little bundle in his arms, talking to him very softly. He looked so sexy. Damn there was nothing better than watching a man holding a baby in his arms!

The two women had known each other for a long time, but hadn't seen each other for a couple of years, but that didn't mean that they didn't keep in contact via email or phone conversations. A couple of months ago, she had called Abby in the afternoon to tell her that her husband had died in a car accident. Shauna was about six months pregnant at the time, it had been a miracle she hadn't lost the baby then.

Shauna Ashton and Lee Manning were Abby's best friends since high school; when you were looking for one of them you would have been sure the others weren't so far behind. They did everything together. Their nickname was "the three musketeers".

The only thing they didn't do together was sleeping, until one day...

Abby had witnessed the relationship between Shauna and Lee move to another level, but even then they still did stuff together and she had never felt like the third wheel. Abby knew she was lucky to have such friends, because most of the times when you're three and two fall in love the third one is left out and forgotten.

When she looked at her friends, she believed in happily ever after, they were so much in love and happiness radiated from them.

Tragedy had struck then and killed Lee in a car accident. When Abby's friend called to tell her the awful news, the NCIS lab rat had called Gibbs and asked him to come down to the lab. Gibbs had sensed immediately that something was going on, her voice was low and broken, as if she was fighting back tears.

His team watched him walk toward the elevator worriedly.

"Boss?"

"Not now, DiNozzo." Gibbs told him, rather dryly, as he didn't even turn to look at him when he stepped into the metallic cage.

When he entered Abby's lab, he found it odd because there was no music blaring in his ears, and as he walked further into the lab, he didn't see her at first. She was nowhere to be seen. She asked him to come down, so she had to be here.

Gibbs finally found her in the space where she usually did the ballistic tests. Abby sat on the floor, back against the wall, holding her head in her hands. The NCIS team leader crouched in front of her and reached out, softly taking her left hand in his bigger one.

Abby looked up at the man she trusted more than anyone else in this world with brimming eyes. Jethro Gibbs' heart sank when he saw the distress Abby was prey to. Moving so he could sit next to her, his arm found its place on her shoulder; she instantly leaned into him and started to cry.

Without a word he let her cry, she would tell him what made her so upset.

She wouldn't see Lee again, wouldn't laugh or cry with him ever again, she would never hear him talking about movies. In that particular aspect, Tony reminded her so much of Lee.

The three musketeers were no more. A book had been closed and a new one would need to be opened, except that this book would be filled with memories of Lee only.

Abby and Shauna would have to tell the little one, who would come to the world in a few months, how wonderful that man was.

Gibbs held her tight and close to him as Abby's body trembled and shook as the tears kept coming. He wished he could do something to ease her pain somehow; he hated seeing her like that.

After a while she finally seemed to calm down.

"He's gone, Gibbs, we'll never the three musketeers again." Abby told her boss in a small broken voice

"Who's gone, Abbs?" He asked her softly as he placed a kiss atop her hair.

She looked up at him, then. "Do you remember my friend, Shauna Ashton? You know, I introduced her to you after she got married, the tall lady with dark hair and violet eyes?"

"Shauna?"

Abby eyed him slightly, surprised that Gibbs remembered her friend. She nodded her head.

"Yeah."

Sensing she was wanting to know why he remembered her friend, Gibbs explained: "Abby it's not like I know many people with violet eyes. Shauna is actually the only one." He smiled.

Considering his answer a moment, the NCIS lab rat realized that her boss was right.

And then he added, "She's married to Lee Manning if I good remember... A great guy. How is he by the way?"

Gibbs's question made fresh tears appear in her eyes, an indicator to him that her distress had something to with the man in question. The idea that something might have happened to Lee tore at the Marine. He knew how much he and Abby were close. So close that when he had met Lee, Gibbs had felt a hint of jealousy toward him, which had made him act distantly and coldly with the man at first, but then he had seen how much he was in love with his wife. Shauna and Lee had brought memories back of a happier time in his life when Shannon was still alive...

Life seemed so much more easy back then.

"He... he's dead." the woman he was still holding close to him said in a broken voice full of sobs.

Gibbs's blood, suddenly, run cold. Had she just said that Lee died?

"What? How? What happened?" He asked her sadly.

Abby's response to his questions was only two words. "Car crash."

"Oh, Abbs, I'm so sorry." He said pulling her even closer to him.

Abby had been helping Shauna during the last three months of her pregnancy making sure she had everything she needed. The forensic scientist, trying her best to keep her friend's spirits up, sometimes failed miserably because she, herself, still had troubles accepting Lee's death.

Fortunately for her, she could count on Gibbs when a wave of sadness washed over her. She would often work herself to sleep. At least that's what she did at first, but Gibbs had figured it out, and brought her home each night, holding her while she cried herself to sleep. Weeks passed and she finally stopped crying, slowly getting over the loss of her friend but Gibbs had stayed, he still came every night and sometimes he just sat next to Abby's bed watching her sleep.

Other times, he laid in bed with her, holding her safely in his strong arms. One night, their relationship was taken to a new level as they made love. After that night, Gibbs held Abby each night in his arms.

He accompanied Abby to Shauna's place and stayed with the two women, talking with them, and the three of them took the decision to make sure that the baby would know who his father was. He and Abby finished the baby's room, finishing what Lee hadn't been able to do.

Then the baby came, a beautiful son named Phoenix Lee. They'd been there afterwards, Abby had been holding the baby, but Gibbs didn't want to. Abby had guessed it was because it would bring too many painful memories up.

She'd been surprised when Shauna had told her the name she'd chosen for her son, and asked her if there was a story behind it. Her friend had nodded her head before telling her the story.

The phoenix was Lee's favorite mythological being because it never really died and if it did it would be reborn from its ashes and have a new life; and to her the little boy was some living proof of that. Lee kept living through their son, a bit as if Lee was living a new life. A tear rolled down Abby's cheek as she'd listened to her friend, this was so beautiful to her.

Watching from the door, she smiled at the site before her. Gibbs was holding the baby. She guessed he couldn't resist the cute little thing that Phoenix was. Pushing herself from the doorframe, Abby walked over to Gibbs, kissed his cheek and caressed the baby's forehead with feather like fingers.

Smiling down at the little boy she told him, "Your daddy is watching over you from where he is now." Abby then slid her arms around Gibbs's waist and rested her head against his shoulder, looking down at the little human in her man's arms and smiled. She was feeling bittersweet, happy and sad at the same time: happy a new life had come into the world, but sad because her friend wasn't there with them and would never enjoy fatherhood.

Gibbs was mesmerized by the life he was holding in his hands. It wasn't the first baby he was holding, but Phoenix had something special, he didn't know what it was, but he seemed to give him new strength. He bent down and kissed the baby's forehead softly.

"Maybe we should have one of our own" Gibbs suddenly said softly to Abby.

Abby's head snapped up and looked at him incredulously.

Her eyes filled up with tears "You serious?"

Gibbs nodded.

Abby's smiled as tears ran down her cheeks. "I'd definitely love the practicing we need to do to have one on her own" She told him, before leaning toward him to kiss him.

THE END

Thanks for reading.

I really hope you liked it.