So this actually started out as a one-shot and has obviously grown. So we'll see how many chapters come from this storyline. Also: usual disclaimers here. I own nothing, blah blah.

The next few days sped by as the team was assigned a case involving a lieutenant who had run off after accidentally shooting a co-worker following a prank gone wrong. Tony had noticed that Gibbs had looked pointedly at him after that realization.

The night of the twenty-third was suddenly upon the team as they finished up their reports on the case, each silently (or in Tony's case, not so silently) pleased that they had wrapped everything up before Christmas Eve.

Gibbs sat in silence at his desk as each member of his team began to finish their respective paper and shut down their computers for the holiday.

"Four whole days off," Tony sighed happily. "Thank goodness for the years when Christmas Eve and Day are on a Thursday and Friday."

"Yeah and it'll be a Christmas miracle if we can get through the entire holiday without being called in for a case." Tim shook his head.

"Don't jinx it, McPessimistic!" Tony hissed at his co-worker as he pulled on his wool coat.

The computer expert shrugged, tapping the power button on his monitor.

Ziva stood from her desk and stretched before reaching for her coat. "Hanukkah is almost over, so it does not really matter to me."

Tony glanced over at his partner, "Are you still good for dinner tomorrow?"

"Yes, I do not have anything else that I am doing. Is your father still coming?"

Tony snorted lightly, "Who knows? At least we'll have some delectable Italian either way." He turned back to Tim, "Let us know if your plans with Sarah fall through. There will be plenty to go around."

Tim nodded, "Sarah's pretty reliable, but I'll call if something happens."

Tony began to walk away from his desk, but paused and looked back at his boss, who was still silent and still in his chair. "Boss…"

"I'm good, DiNozzo. Got plans." Gibbs interrupted him, though he did not bother to look up at his Senior Field Agent.

"Right, Boss." Tony nodded, not really believing Gibbs, but willing to pretend to make him happy.

The three filed into the elevator, chatting excitedly about the holiday to come.

Gibbs leaned back in his chair. He wasn't lying to DiNozzo; he did have plans. He and Abby had made dinner plans for Christmas Eve weeks before after Abby had confessed that Luca and Kyle were both unavailable this year, already having plans with others. Abby had already had her family Christmas the previous weekend, so Gibbs had offered to host her and his house. He'd already put clean sheets on the guest bed and had done the small amount of tidying up that had been required, which mostly involved dusting and vacuuming.

Ever since the fundraiser, however, he had been unsure of whether it was a good idea for Abby to stay over. Gibbs had plainly heard her confess feelings for a man that sounded very much like himself. Knowing that her feelings might be the same as his after all these years might make it even more difficult to sleep at night. And even if she did feel the same way, he could never allow anything to happen between them. In the end, Abby would get hurt and he would be alone. At least now he had her friendship, even if he ached for more.

Gibbs toyed with the idea of telling Abby something had come up, but he knew how disappointed she would be that they wouldn't be spending Christmas together. That and she would end up alone on Christmas. It was one thing for him to be alone, but another thing entirely for Abby to be alone on one of her favorite holidays. His thoughts were interrupted by the elevator doors opening, revealing a grinning, pigtailed goth who bounded in with an armful of Christmas bags that each had various colors of tissue paper streaming from their openings.

"Busy day, Abbs?" Gibbs raised an eyebrow at the bags.

"Not really since I'd already finished most of my paperwor- oh, you mean these?" She lifted her arms which acted as a large rack for the gift bags. "This arm," she lifted the right arm, stacked with about ten different bags, "are gifts for me from other staff members. This arm," she lifted the left arm, stacked with about a dozen bags, "are gifts for the children's group home where the nuns sometimes volunteer. Some of the ladies in HR donated them. I'm gonna run them by the church when I leave here in a few minutes. I just wanted to check to make sure we're still a-go for tomorrow!" Abby's pigtails swung exuberantly as she talked, unable to remain still from the excitement of Christmas.

"Going to the store tonight." Gibbs nodded succinctly.

"Great! I'm gonna bring some stuff to make cookies, and maybe some ingredients for jambalaya, unless you think it's too weird to make jambalaya for Christmas, and you'd rather stick to a traditional ham or turkey or ham and turkey kind of menu. Although we don't have to eat ham or turkey or ham and turkey for both Christmas Eve and Christmas Dinner. Cuz some people do a big dinner on one night and not the other. Like, when I was a kid we always had a big dinner on Christmas Day, but some of my friends always had a big dinner on Christmas Eve and then had leftovers on Christmas Day cuz they were so busy opening presents and visiting family, ya know?"

Gibbs smirked at Abby, his head cocked slightly as he watched his favorite scientist ramble on. "Fine with anything, Abbs."

Abby's smile returned, "Okay, then! We said four o'clock tomorrow, right? Cuz I'm fine for whenever, unless later is better for you-"

Gibbs cut off her potential rambling, "Four is fine. We can order take out tomorrow, then do a big dinner on Christmas Day."

"Sounds good! See you tomorrow, Gibbs!" With a last brief smile, Abby practically skipped from the bullpen, leaving Gibbs to wonder how on earth she could move so quickly in so heavy-looking shoes.

Abby found Gibbs in the kitchen when she arrived the next afternoon. "I thought we were doing take out tonight?"

"We are. I'm putting this marinade on the turkey to let it soak overnight."

"Oh, Gibbs, how domestic of you!" Abby giggled, peering down at the turkey. "I thought marinades were mostly for beef and chicken?"

He shrugged. "Poultry's poultry."

"Can't argue with that." Abby set a bag on the counter. "So I decided against the jambalaya for now since you already have the turkey. But I did bring ingredients to make my famous Peanut Butter Kiss cookies."

"Sounds tasty."

"They are! But you get the wonderful job of unwrapping the Hershey's Kisses." Abby grinned at him. "I'm sure you have a great deal of experience with kisses, hmm?" The grin had turned mischievous.

Gibbs bit back a flirty retort; it was a bad idea to start down that road just before she spent the night for Christmas. "I think my cooking skills are good enough for candy wrapper duty."

Abby's grin faltered for a moment, but she recovered and shot him a genuine smile. "Then I think now is as good a time as any to begin the baking process!" She opened a couple of the cupboards. "Gibbs, do you have any mixing bowls?"

Without a word he opened a cabinet just below him, revealing what appeared to be a large cereal bowl.

Abby stared at it for a moment. "Good thing I brought some of my own."

Gibbs chuckled as she ducked from the room to go looking for her bag of cookware.