Disclaimer: See Chapter 1
Chapter 4: 6:09pm - Thursday
The main elevator leading from the street outside to the NCIS bullpen dinged alerting anyone listening to the arrival of either personnel or visitors; however, the person sitting at Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs' desk didn't even flinch, let alone look up. Knowing it was still too early for her favorite Special Agent to be back, she continued to doodle stick figures in erotic poses on yellow sticky notes, waiting.
But Abigail Sciuto did not wait well.
Sure she was a patient person by nature, since her job as Queen of Forensics required waiting on machines to spit out results after hours of running tests. But when it came to this certain man, having patience was a whole other story and waiting for him to come back from his crime scene that happened to be several thousand miles away just sucked. Washington D.C to Houston, Texas was way too far apart for her taste.
She sighed softly, glancing briefly at the computer's time; it had been four days, eleven hours, thirty-two minutes and seventeen seconds since she had last laid eyes on her silver-haired fox, and another five hours before she would. Jethro Gibbs wasn't due back until 11:00 pm, 2300 hours Zulu time if she wanted to be correct.
And to Abby it felt like forever.
It wasn't the first time he'd been away from her over the years (she refused to let her mind bring up Mexico, that was a time she didn't want to ever relive) and wouldn't be the last, but it was only the second time since they had started a relationship that he'd been away for more than 24 hours. She knew he was safe, he had called daily to ensure her that; but it was not being able to see or touch him that was killing her.
So enthralled with her drawings and miserable waiting, she didn't notice the worn jeans or red hoodie coming within sight of the desk nor the man wearing them. She didn't seem to hear the duffle bag being dropped to the floor but a very familiar sexy voice that broke the silence caught her attention immediately.
"Hey there Beautiful."
Abby's head whipped up so fast she was sure she gave herself whiplash but didn't care as her eyes locked on the object of her longing in the flesh, looking gorgeous all scruffy and there. She quickly pinched her arm making sure she wasn't hallucinating. Feeling pain she knew she was not.
It only took 1.5 seconds, a half-second longer due to her three-inch platform boots, for her to be in his open and waiting arms. Wrapping her own securely around his waist, Abby let herself be held, inhaling his delicious scent she had missed for days.
"Gibbs!" she squealed, her voice slightly muffled against his neck, "You're home!"
Suddenly as if burned she pulled back enough to narrow her eyes at him, accusingly, "Wait a minute, you're early."
"Yep," he stated nonchalantly, a mischievous look on his face.
"Why didn't you tell me you were coming home earlier?" She demanded. On his raised eyebrow she rushed on, " Not that I don't want you here, 'cause I do. I really, really do, but it's just that you weren't supposed be here for like another five hours or so. And I've been sitting up here at your desk just waiting…"
Her rant was cut off by Gibbs' finger on her lips. Bringing his hand back to join the other, he tightened his hold on her once again. Smiling, he answered her, "Because I wanted to surprise you."
Bright green eyes met deep blue. Remaining quiet she let herself drink him in, trying not to let the tears of relief and happiness start. Idly Abby roamed her hands up and down the arms still holding her, cataloging him to her again, and making sure she didn't miss a single thing. As a new thought occurred to her, she suddenly began examining any visible skin for new marks, scars or injuries.
"Abby what are you doing?" he asked, although he had an inkling he knew, "I'm fine Abbs. Really."
She nodded, believing him. Again they just quietly gazed at one another.
"I missed you," Abby admitted softly, biting her lower lip.
"Missed you too Abbs," Gibbs admitted back kissing her forehead, letting it linger longer than usual while at work.
There was so much more to be said, they both knew it. How he longed to kiss, hold and make love to her, but they were still standing in the middle of the bullpen. That was something he immediately intended to fix.
Pulling back, he nodded towards the elevator that had just brought him back to her, "Let's go home."
"Home," she repeated. Smiley widely, she vigorously agreed with his suggestion. There was nowhere else on Earth she'd rather be.
Letting his arms drop from around her, Gibbs reached down to pick his duffle bag up. Turning back to Abby, he grabbed her hand in his, letting their fingers entwine, tugging her along with him towards the elevator.
It wasn't until she stepped ahead of him did he notice the yellow sticky note on her behind. Peeling it off her, he studied the very intriguing drawing.
"Abbs, what exactly were you doing at my desk?"
Giggling she took the little piece of paper to see exactly what pose the stick figures she had so vividly drew earlier were in before she answered.
"If you're a good boy, Jethro Gibbs, I'll show you."
Pushing her back against the wall as the doors slid shut sealing them into their own private world, he started to show her exactly how good he could be.
And it would be yet another night the main elevator's emergency switch was flicked on and locked between floors inside the NCIS Headquarters.
