Disclaimer: NCIS and its characters are the property of Belisarius Productions and CBS. No copyright infringement is intended.
Title: Making Spirits Bright
Rating: M
Pairing: First time Gibbs/Abby
Category: Romance/friendship/angst
A/N: Written for the Gibbs/Abby Shippers Forum 2013 Secret Santa exchange for Ceggle143.
The NCIS forensic lab was festooned with every sort of Christmas decoration. Lights, garland, tinsel, and a life-size animated Santa Clause that welcomed every visitor with a jolly ho-ho-ho. On a small table was a delightful miniature Christmas village with lighted shops and small skating pond, all covered with sparkling decorative snow. One week into December, Abby had been bitten by the Christmas spirit, taking any spare moment to put up decorations, adding something more every day, her lab capturing the atmosphere of the holiday in ways unseen before. It was her second most favorite time of the year and her work area certainly made that obvious.
Each day with her arrival, holiday music started playing as soon as the lights were flicked on and Abby often bounced happily from one piece of equipment to the next as she ran tests and attained results. Visitors to the lab were offered colorful sugar-sprinkled cookies or eggnog or peppermint flavored hot cocoa. She loved sharing the happiness with her co-workers and it certainly helped change the mood in the entire building.
But on this particular morning, just two days before Christmas, there was a change in the atmosphere and Abby's cheerful demeanor started to shift. The lights still twinkled and the music still blared, giving no real indication of what was really taking place. But Abby wasn't feeling quite the same because the case she was working on led straight into a heated discussion with Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs.
"The results show that Corporal Angela Canton did not commit the murder," Abby stressed adamantly, sitting in her chair looking up at the lead agent.
"It doesn't prove she wasn't involved, Abby," Gibbs stated from where he stood three feet away.
"But she's not a murderer. She shouldn't be in jail."
"She's right where she should be for now. You want her out of jail, find me more evidence that proves without a doubt that she wasn't involved."
"Believe me, I'm working on it," Abby replied, spinning back towards her computer. "And you better be prepared to release her pretty quick."
For a few silent seconds, Gibbs watched Abby punch the keys on her keyboard extra hard before he stepped up beside her, his arm grazing her shoulder. "Why the concern for this Marine?" he asked in a gentler tone.
His sudden closeness into her personal space, the intentional brush of his arm, and his low warm tone sent a gathering of butterflies rushing through her insides. It was never easy to be upset with Gibbs because of her attraction to him, but this time she was going to stand her ground on her confidence regarding Corporal Canton.
Abby pointed to a small photo that leaned upright against a glass jar near her monitor. "Eight days ago she was in the Afghan desert carrying out her duties but she was granted two weeks leave to spend Christmas with her family." The picture was of three very small children. "The youngest is Baby Chrissy, she's just one year old. Then there's Logan, who's three, and Carter is five. Their mom should not be in jail. She should be with her children, giving them all the love and joy they deserve."
Gibbs felt a tightening in his chest. He knew Corporal Canton had three children, but now for the first time, he was seeing their faces, hearing their names. "I'll do what I can," he said softly, and turned to leave. "It would help if she'd give us some straight answers, though."
"It would help if she wasn't in jail," Abby replied but Gibbs was already gone and the music drowned out her words.
Later that day…
Special Agent Tim McGee stepped off the elevator expecting to hear holiday music filtering down the hall from Abby's lab, but all was quiet just before Fred, the custodian, hustled from the scientist's domain rolling a large garbage can ahead of him while pulling another one behind. Both cans were filled to overflowing with glittering Christmas decorations.
Pressing his back against the wall, Tim made room for Fred to pass, but the janitor paused and addressed the Special Agent. "You better turn around and go back to your desk, Agent McGee. She's not feeling the Christmas spirit anymore."
Fred hurried on his way, leaving Tim to frown after him before he continued on apprehensively towards the lab. Walking through the door, the entire area was dimly lit and there was no evidence at all that Christmas was just around the corner. It was a stunning contrast to just eight hours ago when lights had danced and music had lifted the mood of every co-worker that wandered in.
Tim couldn't see Abby, so he called out for her. "Abby? Where are you?" When she unexpectedly rose from behind her workstation, it gave him a jolt. "What's going on? Why did you take down all the decorations?" he asked, confused.
Turning her back to him, she walked into the next room and sat behind her desk. "What do you want, McGee?" Her voice was joyless.
Tim followed behind her and stopped just a few feet away. "Answer my questions."
"Don't want to. I don't feel like it."
Suddenly it seemed like he had entered a different Abby-universe. One that was dreary and sad. "Did you get the DNA results from the bloody knife we found in Corporal Canton's car?"
"Not yet."
McGee shifted uneasily on his feet, sensing she was ready to bite someone's head off. "Tony, Ziva, and I are going out for drinks after work. You want to join us?"
"Nope."
"Abby…" he spoke softly in a soothing tone. "You want to talk about it?"
"Just leave, McGee. I want to be alone."
With a shrug and a frown, Tim returned to the bullpen. "No DNA results yet, Boss," he reported, sitting behind his desk. "And something weird is going on with Abby."
Gibbs, Tony, and Ziva all looked up at him, but Tim had his head down, filling out a report. "Explain, McVague," DiNozzo snapped.
McGee still didn't look up but responded, "She took down all of her Christmas decorations. There's no music, no cookies, and she's sitting in the dark."
"That is very strange," Ziva agreed.
"Did you invite her to have drinks with us?" Tony asked.
Finally lifting his gaze, Tim noticed everyone's intense concern but then Gibbs quickly went back to reading the file on his desk. "Said she wanted to be alone," Tim replied before looking directly at Gibbs. "You know what's going on, Boss?"
Closing the file, Gibbs stood up. "Have no idea, McGee. I'll stop by her place on my way home later." Walking through the bullpen, he made for the stairs that led up to MTAC. "Been a long day. You can finish your reports tomorrow. Go home."
At the top of the stairs, Gibbs leaned against the railing, his mind trying to figure out what was going on with Abby. First his confrontation with her this morning and now this report from Tim. It was concerning for a couple of reasons. He knew how much Abby loved Christmas and for her to completely undo the season, she had to be terribly upset.
But another concern for Gibbs was that he had hoped, even planned, for this Christmas to be extra special for Abby and himself. He was more than ready to take their friendship to the next level and Christmas was the perfect time of the year. The season and the joy and maybe even a sprig of mistletoe would help him find a way to tell her how he really felt. But if Abby was being bullheaded about Corporal Canton's innocence, then he might not be able to approach her at all regarding their relationship.
Somehow, Gibbs knew he had to get Abby back into the spirit of Christmas.
Later that night…
Abby flopped down on her couch, exhausted from removing all the Christmas decorations from her apartment. The final item, her Christmas tree, she had drug down two flights of stairs and out the door to let it lay at the curb. It was a perfectly good tree and she was quite certain that within a couple of hours, someone would see it as a free gift and take it home. But as far as she was concerned, there wasn't going to be a holiday to celebrate.
Seeing that she needed to sweep the floor where the tree had stood, she went to get the broom when there was a knock on her door. Looking through the peephole, she saw the one man she was more than happy to let in because she was ready once again to give him a piece of her mind.
She pulled the door open wide. "Glad you're here, Gibbs," she said, standing aside and motioning him in.
Walking all the way into the living room, his eyes swept around the small apartment, noticing not one Christmas decoration adorned the entire place. "Didn't take you long to get rid of your holiday cheer," he commented, noticing an empty corner with pine needles on the floor. He couldn't believe what he was seeing and knew that whatever was going on must be serious.
In the kitchen, Abby had pulled out her broom and approached the vacant corner where her Christmas tree had stood just moments ago. "Were you watching me the last three hours? Because that's how long it took," she answered, starting to sweep up the pine needles.
"McGee told me what you'd done to your lab and I saw it for myself before I left work," he stated, watching her. "And now your apartment, too. What's going on, Abby? Did Santa Claus die?"
With the last of the needles swept into the dustpan, she stood and glared at him, watching a small grin slowly slide from his face. "You think this is funny?"
He didn't respond and watched her empty the dustpan into the trash and stow her broom away.
"I love Christmas almost as much as when I was a kid," she said, approaching him again. "But Chrissy, Logan, and Carter aren't happy children this year, so neither am I." She folded her arms across her chest with a pout on her face.
Gibbs' eyes dropped to the floor then up again. "Their mother is the one messing up those kids' holiday. Why are you letting that family do this to you?"
"Their mother did nothing wrong. I proved that."
Gibbs paused and narrowed his eyes. "She didn't commit the murder, but she was involved. She did mess up."
Abby felt her anger rising. She should have known that Gibbs was going to be stubborn. "Do you really know how she was involved? Maybe she was just in the wrong place at the wrong time."
"I'm a trained investigator. The evidence we found…"
"I analyzed that evidence," Abby cut him off. "You just can't admit that maybe you screwed up."
Clamping down on his rising emotions, Gibbs stepped towards her and gently grasped her upper arms, looking directly into her eyes. "If I screwed up, I promise you that I will get Corporal Canton out of jail before Christmas. But I don't think that's going to happen. I'm sorry, Abbs."
Shrugging off his grip, Abby busied herself with straightening up the living room. "I know that's not going to happen, it's too late." Punching a small pillow on the couch, she swung towards Gibbs again. "The courthouse is closed tomorrow. There's no way you can get her released."
"I'm not saying she should be released."
"Not even to spend Christmas with her kids? How can you be so heartless?"
Gibbs felt the sting of her words to the center of his gut, and he knew he'd better leave before their discussion got out of hand. "You're getting way too involved in this, Abby," he said, reaching for the door knob.
Her next statement felt like a punch to his gut when she said, "I won't be spending Christmas Eve with you this year, Gibbs. There's no reason to."
With the door open, he turned to look at her and could see the sadness written all over her face. For the past several years Abby had always spent the night before Christmas at his house, where they would share the cooking of a homemade dinner and exchange gifts. It bothered him that Abby was giving up everything about this holiday that she loved. But at this moment he had no words to express his feelings and with a mild shake of his head, he turned and left.
To be continued...
A/N: Please leave a review!
