Title: Rumor
Author: WithTheGrain
Rating: T
Spoilers: Mind Games, season 3
Summary: Gibbs finds out about a rumor Abby started, about the two of them.
Special Agent Paula Cassidy stuck her head into the NCIS lab to check if Abby had visitors. The forensic scientist was standing at her work station, apparently alone, so Cassidy walked in and stood quietly beside the scientist until she was finished with her current task.
When Abby did turn, she gave a small gasp of surprise then carefully gave the agent a tender hug. "Are you okay? I was so worried about you." Drawing back, she looked at her right arm in a sling and the scrapes on her forehead and cheek. "Why aren't you at home? You should be resting."
Even though she was tired, bruised, and sore and she was worn out emotionally, she needed to see Abby before going home. Her body was physically exhausted from her fight to the death with O'Neal, and thanks to her extensive special training at Camp Delta, she had been able to kill the murderer with her hands bound behind her back.
The look on Kyle Boone's face when she had walked into the hall outside of interrogation was one she would never forget. Within twenty-four hours, that bastard would be dead and she was happy to be a part of putting him and O'Neal in their graves.
"I wanted to see you first," Paula responded. Walking behind Abby's workstation, she looked at the various lab equipment . "There's something I need to tell you."
Abby chewed on her bottom lip, shifting nervously from one foot to the other. "I'm really really sorry, Paula. I made a huge mistake by not identifying those last four Jane Doe's. It was my screw up and it nearly got you killed."
Paula looked at her in surprise. "Boone and O'Neal almost killed me, not you Abby." Quickly she raised her hand to stop her from protesting. "And this has nothing to do with the case. That's closed and Boone is as good as dead."
Walking quickly to the agent, Abby gave her another tender hug. "I am so glad you didn't die."
"Me, too," she returned with a small smile.
"So, what's up?" Abby asked, taking a small step back.
Paula walked around the scientist and stopped near the mass-spectrometer. She was nervous and didn't want to mess up what she was about to say. It was important. "I heard a rumor."
Abby rolled her eyes. "There are always rumors around here, Paula. It's just gossip." She watched the agent silently move on to other testing equipment, leaving a silence in the room that was unsettling. "You can't believe everything you hear, you know that."
Cassidy turned with a serious doubtful expression. "Everyone seems to think this rumor is true because someone said you told them in person."
"Oooohh… so it's a rumor about me?" Abby couldn't help but laugh softly. "That's nothing new. You should have heard the rumors going around the first year I worked here. I learned pretty quickly who my real friends were. People can say some pretty vicious stuff, and I don't have the time or the inclination to listen to it all. It's gotten a lot better, though. Actually it's been quite a while since…"
"Abby," Paula interrupted.
"Listen," Abby went on, "don't worry about it. What did you hear?" Turning, she picked up her cup of Caf Pow! and sucked through the straw.
"You and Gibbs slept together."
Abby almost sprayed a stream of red liquid across her computer, but she swallowed hard and set the large cup down with extra force, the ice cubes inside rattling noisily.
"What?" she nearly shouted, turning back to the agent.
Paula shrugged. "Hey, maybe it's time to face up to how you really feel about the man. I don't think you'll be able to nix this one as just a rumor."
It was after Gibbs' team had worked their first case with Agent Cassidy at Gitmo that Abby had gotten to really know Paula. She had briefly returned to D.C. after that case and a few other times in the past two years, always contacting her co-workers at NCIS and making it a tradition to spend a night out having drinks with everyone. Abby had grown to like the special agent and on one particular occasion, on a cold early-December night, after they had both had too many drinks, she had confided in the woman about her true feelings for Gibbs. At the end of that evening, she had gotten Cassidy to pinky swear about never revealing her secret and now this was the first time that it was being brought up since.
"What?" Abby repeated, still too stunned to say anything more.
Paula eyed her friend suspiciously. "Sooo… you and Gibbs haven't gotten together?"
"No! Who's been saying that?" She gave only a brief pause to think. "Oh god, it had to be Tony or McGee." Abby began pacing the floor beside the special agent. "Who told you that Gibbs and I slept together?" Her voice trembled a bit with anger and worry. If Gibbs came to her about this rumor, there was no way she could lie about what she had said. She was a horrible liar and he knew it. It could completely ruin their friendship and any possibility of a future relationship.
She had been stupid to say anything to McGee and DiNozzo, even if she had been sort of… kind of… joking. She didn't think the guys would go around talking about it, though. She had brushed it by them as just her way of getting McGee's attention a few days ago when he was working in her lab.
"You're not listening to a word I'm saying. I'm pregnant, McGee. Twins. Haven't told the father yet. It's Gibbs. I know it's wrong but something about his silver hair just gets me all tingly inside."
She hadn't seen Tony enter her lab as she was saying this, so she had needed to set the record straight, since she had definitely gotten his attention, even though McGee was still totally oblivious. "I'm joking, Tony, 'cept for the part about Gibbs' hair. That is really hot. McGee is ignoring me again."
Tony had slapped McGee on the back of the head to get his attention and now Abby wished she had done the same thing, instead of saying what she had.
Paula eyed Abby's back as she paced away from her. "I overheard some talk in the ladies room… and the elevator. What makes you think it was Tony or Tim?"
"I off-handedly said something to McGee earlier and Tony walked in at the same time." Her hands gestured in the air. "He wasn't listening to me and I wanted to get his attention, so I said something totally crazy and ridiculous." Coming to a standstill, Abby chewed on her bottom lip and looked at Paula. "But it wasn't all that untrue either," she confessed softly. "Well… one part was and the other part wasn't."
Abby whimpered in frustration. "Gibbs has no idea how I feel about him, although, he probably does by now, thanks to those guys."
"You don't know for sure it was them."
"Of course it was them. Who else could it be?" she strongly retorted. Turning to her computer, she punched a couple of keys extra hard. "Wait until I see those two again. They forget just how clever and devious I can be."
"Maybe Gibbs hasn't actually heard the rumor yet," Paula stated, trying to ease her friend's worry.
"Of course he has! How am I going to face him?" With a defeated sigh, she fell into her chair and dropped her forehead to her folded arms on the table. "I am so dead," she muttered.
"Well, I'd hate to be in Tony's and Tim's shoes when you confront them."
Looking up, Abby gave a weak smile. "Oh, I'm not gonna confront them. Remember I said I'm devious, which goes along with sneaky. By the way, what exactly did you hear people saying?"
"Ummm, someone said you two had done it in the gym, and in the garage, and in your back lab."
"Wow," Abby nodded. She had pictured them doing it in all three places at one time or another. "Personally, I would pick the elevator because of privacy," she revealed.
Paula smiled. "The elevator, huh? That's kinda…" The rest of her words stuck in her throat as she looked past Abby towards the door.
Abby returned a wicked grin. "Hinky, yeah, I know. What's the…" Following Paula's gaze, she turned around and almost swallowed her tongue when she saw Gibbs leaning in the doorway, his eyes glaring at her.
"Uh…" Paula murmured and started to leave. "I gotta go… someplace…" Giving Abby a quick glance, she hurried out the door, her eyes glued to the floor.
Jumping out of her seat, Abby wanted desperately to follow the agent, but knew she wouldn't get past Gibbs. "I don't have any results yet," she said, walking to the far end of the room to stand near her printer. Silently she hoped he would just turn and leave but when she peaked around, he was still there.
Deciding she may as well get this over with, she faced him and prepared for his verbal dressing down, although his glare was doing a very effective job of making her sweat. When he still didn't say anything, she couldn't keep quiet. "Umm… how much did you hear us talking about?"
Pushing off the door frame, Gibbs stood in his typical Marine-straight posture. "Heard Cassidy list off all the places you and I have supposedly been."
So obviously he had heard her little comment, too. Abby felt the blood heating her cheeks and her pulse dramatically increased. "Gibbs, I can explain." He was already walking towards her and she knew she better speak fast. "What I said wasn't exactly… well, Tony heard me say… but I was kidding."
When he was close enough, Gibbs gently placed a finger over Abby's lips to silence her then he stepped closer. She breathed in his scent of sawdust, coffee, and something else so masculine that it made her toes curl inside her shoes. "It's okay, Abbs." His fingers trailed across her cheek and down the side of her neck until just one finger followed the chain of her necklace to the pendant resting upon her chest.
Abby fisted her hands by her sides to keep herself from trembling or from grabbing him and kissing him senseless. Gibbs lifted the pendant onto his fingertip. "Sometimes I've thought of the back lab idea myself." Abby gasped softly. "But then you mentioned the elevator…" His voice was low and rough, nearly a growl.
Abby couldn't believe what he was saying and his finger now trailed along the open V of her blouse, raising her pulse for a whole different reason. "Really?" she finally replied ever so softly.
Gibbs nodded, his blue eyes locking with hers. "There is no rumor, Abby. Just DiNozzo and McGee whispering. A couple of head slaps have shut them up for good."
Abby was confused. "But Paula said…"
"Who do you think they were whispering to?" Gibbs gave a lopsided grin. "And she also gave them some added information that you had shared with her in confidence."
So Gibbs had heard all three of them whispering, sharing secrets, and Paula had broken their pinky promise. "She's going to regret that," Abby stated sternly.
"I think she did us a favor, Abbs. I'm glad you do think of me… in certain other ways." Gibbs slid his hands down to her hips and pulled her up against him.
Abby couldn't believe how her worry and near panic had suddenly changed to her being hot and bothered. The feel of his body touching hers was making her extremely turned on. Leisurely she slipped her hands up over his strong chest and around his neck where her fingers began stroking through the short silver hairs on the back of his head. "Are you saying you and Paula planned this?"
Leaning forward, Gibbs brushed his lips softly along her cheek, sending goose bumps trailing down her spine. "It was her idea once she realized how I really felt also," he whispered.
Tired of only feeling Gibbs' lips against her cheek, Abby slowly turned her head until his mouth slid over hers. The kiss was long and sweet and gradually began to heat up just before Gibbs pulled away. Abby's eyes remained closed as she tried to catch her breath and suggested, "It's late. Everyone's probably gone home. Care to try out one of those places on that list?"
Gibbs' mouth rested upon hers and she felt him smile. "We can start with my office," he murmured.
The End.
