Title: First Defense
Author: KouenTaisa
Rating: K
Fandom: NCIS
Pairing: Abby/Gibbs (if you squint)
Status: Complete
Category: Romance/Fluff, Friendship
Spoilers: none
Summary: "Has Gibbs always been so protective of Abby?"
A/N: Just a small idea I had floating around in my head. :D

"Has Gibbs always been so… protective of Abby?"

Tony looked up at the sound of Ziva's voice, raising an eyebrow in surprise. The question seemed completely random, and for a moment he thought of asking her what in the world was on her mind. Of course, she beat him to it, nodding her head in the direction of the back elevator. Turning his head, Tony watched as Gibbs shepherded Abby into the elevator with his hand on her back, pressingly gently. His attention was focused solely on the forensic scientist as she fidgeted with something in her hands. Looking back at Ziva, Tony leaned back in his chair.

"Oh yeah, well, as far as I know. My first year here I got to see the boss man in fine form."

Raising an eyebrow, Ziva leaned back in her own chair, relaxing. They were the only two in the bullpen this late in the evening. McGee was on a coffee run, and since Gibbs had just taken Abby back to her lab, they had a moment to themselves to talk. It was a nice reprieve from the constant activity of their last case, even if the subject was nowhere near their normal banter.

"Fine form?" she asked, crossing her arms over her chest. Tony nodded quickly, leaning forward just a tad as if he were about to tell her the biggest secret in the world. Indulging him for a moment, she leaned forward as well, watching the mischievous look on his young face.

"Oh yeah. We were heading down to the lab for some results and we could both hear this guy the moment we stepped off the elevator. I mean, by that point, I'd seen Gibbs mad a few times, but never that fast. When we got into her lab, this Senior Agent was harassing the hell out of her, and you know Abby can stand up for herself, but she looked frustrated to the point of tears."

Tony trailed off, giving Ziva a moment to take it all in. The Mossad Liaison nodded her head, letting him know that she was listening. Nodding to himself, Tony leaned back a little, grimacing as he remembered how the whole thing had ended up for the poor bastard.

"So, yeah, Gibbs strode in there and placed himself between the guy and Abby without a word. He just stared the man down, and when he had the audacity to try and get past Gibbs to Abs, Boss just grabbed his arm and told him that he needed to leave before he put Abby's forensic skills to work, because they'd never find the body. The guy just gave Gibbs this look before storming off past me."

Cocking her head to the side, Ziva wondered what it would be like to have that kind of protection. She knew that Gibbs cared about them all, but Abby was his favorite, and in the end, just the smallest sign of discomfort from her had him storming around like some bear until the problem was solved. She'd seen it a few times herself, from the smallest things like McGee pestering her, to the bigger ones like Mikel Mawher.

"What happened after that?"

Tony shook his head, crossing his arms over his chest as he looked over at his partner. "No idea. Gibbs shoved the results in my face and sent me back upstairs. He was down there with Abby for awhile before he showed back up in the bull pen… so my guess is he was-"

"I was what, DiNozzo?" the voice was more of a growl, and came directly from beside his desk. Tony jerked so hard that he almost fell out of his desk, looking up into the very dark blue eyes of their boss.

"Nothing, Boss. Just telling Ziva a story, here."

Gibbs stared down at his Senior Field Agent for a moment longer before turning on his heel and heading for his desk.

"Don't you two have some work to be finishing?"

"Yes boss!"

The unanimous cry echoed from both desks, causing Gibbs to smirk when he sat down at his own and started typing up his report.

If only DiNozzo had known what he'd really been doing with Abby.