Disclaimer: I own nothing. These characters belong to CBS and whoever else holds rights to them.

Pairing:Abby/Ziva

Summary:A look at the progression of their relationship.

Timeline:Starts in the third season and spans through to the sixth.

Spoilers: Last Man Standing

Rating:

Author's Note:So I know I'm not the only one who's noticed that sometimes Gibbs calls Ziva Ziver, because I've seen it in a few of the stories here but what I'm wondering is, does anyone know if it's an intentional nickname or just a slip of the tongue on the part of the actor?

elfspirit7 Thanks.

LittleSpooky Thanks. Well, if the last one made you sniffle, hopefully this one will make you smile. lol. Maybe they were.

For the first few days, Abby was fine, because she knew that Gibbs was going to fix this. Then days turned to weeks and weeks turned into a month and nothing had changed. It was getting harder and harder not to throw the new team out of her lab every time they came down.

Gibbs' team wasn't the one one she processed evidence for, but they were the only ones that she'd really gotten to know in her time at NCIS. Most of the investigators simply called down to the lab to see if she had results for them. Then she would email the findings up to them so they could close the case and file the reports. Sometimes someone would come down if they had a question or needed clarification but it wasn't an everday occurance

Gibbs was the first and only team leader to come down and check on her progress on such a regular basis and it was at his insistance that his team did the same. And through those daily interactions she'd formed bonds. She'd made friends. And then they'd been taken away from her.

Abby trusted Gibbs implicity. She had faith that he was going to fix this. But that didn't make the reality any easier to deal with in the meantime. In fact, she hated it.

She had gone from seeing McGee, Tony and Ziva every day, sometimes several times a day to seeing McGee once or twice a week and getting postcards from Tony a couple times a month. She hadn't even heard from Ziva since she'd left.

She felt a little bad for yelling at Gibbs like that but he needed to hear it. Whatever his plan was for gettting the team back together, he needed to do it soon. Because it had been over 4 months. 126 days, since Vance had split them up. And that was just unacceptable. Unacceptable.

Then finding out that Ziva had been injured, seriously, life threateningly injured, had only further convinced Abby that she was right.

So when she learned that Ziva was coming back to NCIS, she was overjoyed. She ventured up from her lab to be there in the bullpen when Ziva arrived and she could barely contain her excitement at the thought of having 2/3 of her team back together, at having her friend back.

She was bouncing impatiently in place when the elevator dinged, signalling Ziva's arrival. The door slid open slowly, much to slowly, to reveal the younger woman standing there, well put together and in one piece but with a few obvious signs of her recent injuries.

It seemed like forever, though was likely only seconds, for Ziva to exchange a few words with Agent Lee and then turn towards the others. Abby threw her arms out for a hug and was surprised when Ziva eagerly rushed into them. The hug was hard and tight and over much too quickly. Abby was just getting re-adjusted to the feel of the other woman in her arms, the compact body against her own and then Ziva was pulling away and turning to McGee. They hugged tightly, eagerly, if not a little awkwardly. Then, she was moving away from him and stepping up to Gibbs. He wrapped his arms around her, pulled her close and held her for a long moment.

Abby would have been jealous of their moment if she wasn't still bouncing around with excitement.

It also helped that, after the round of hugs, Ziva returned to her side. She stood close, not quite touching but near enough that Abby could feel the heat from her body and catch a whiff of the citrus of her shampoo. Abby looped her arm through Ziva's and cast a glance sideways, gauging her reaction and was surprised (but also pleased) when Ziva did not flinch or stiffen at the contact. Instead, she accepted the touch easily and adjusted herself to it, crooking her elbow slightly so that Abby's arm fell more naturally at her side. She then glanced over at Abby and gave her a wide, beaming grin.

"It's good to have you back, Ziver." Gibbs reached out and patted her shoulder then slid his hand up to cup her cheek.

In an uncharacterisitic, but at the moment not particularly surprising move, Ziva leaned into the touch, her eyes fluttering closed for just a moment.

This was new and different. And Abby had to admit that she was pleased. She didn't know what had happened to Ziva over the past few months to cause such a change in her demeanor but she was liking the affect.

"I am glad to be back."

The elevator dinged and opened with a whoosh, expelling an eager Ducky and Palmer, who quickly crossed the bullpen to join the others.

"Officer David, welcome home." The formality of Ducky's greeting was offset by the warm smile and the hug that he gave the young woman.

She returned the hug, murmuring something into his ear that Abby didn't catch but left them both smiling when they parted.

Palmer hovered in the background, grinning goofily but shifting awkwardly. Abby bit back a grin of her own as she waited to see if he would have the nerve to give Ziva a hug. Apparently, Ziva was thinking along the same lines, judging from the faint smirk on her face as she glanced over Ducky's shoulder at him.

"Glad to have you back, Ziva." He said it without stuttering and without going up an octave (or several) but his adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed nervously.

"Thank you, Palmer." Ziva smiled graciously and apparently took pity on the young man because she closed the distance between them and folded him into a loose, brief hug.

Palmer was blushing as they pulled apart. And a quick glance around the room revealed that everyone else was trying not to laugh.

"I think that our work here is done for the day," Ducky commented, glancing around at the gathered crowd. "What do you say we get some dinner?" His eyes settled on Ziva last.

She smiled but shook her head. "Thank you, Ducky. But, I had a long flight and am several time zones ahead of you all. I am too tired to be good company tonight. Perhaps I could get a rain check?"

"Of course, my dear. Rest up. Get yourself settled in. We will all have dinner another time."

Abby was dissapointed but also relieved. As much as she wanted to spend time with her almost fully assembled team she knew that it wouldn't be the same without Tony.

"Do you want a ride home?" Abby offered as the others started to disperse.

Ziva started to shake her head no and refuse but stopped in mid motion and nodded. "That would be nice. Thank you, Abby."

"I missed you." Abby waited until they were alone in the car to say it. She wasn't quite sure why. It just felt like something that should be said in a private moment between the two of them. An odd feeling, seeing as how their greetings had been in public.

Her excitement, the hug in the bullpen, she knew that Ziva knew she had missed her. Yet she felt the need to actually say the words. To let Ziva know exactly what her thoughts were. There had been so much misunderstanding and things left unsaid between them for so long before and she couldn't stand the thought of that happening again.

"I missed you, too."

"And yet, I never heard from you." She tried for teasing and failed. The words came out sounding much to plaintive for her liking and she knew that Ziva heard it too.

"I am sorry, Abby. It was simply to difficult to manage."

"You kept up with McGee." Again, her tone revealed too much.

"Abby." Ziva's voice was soft.

"It's fine, Ziva. Forget I said anything. I'm just tired. It's been a long day and I haven't had a Caf-Pow in-"

"Abby." Her tone was sharper this time and instinctively, Abby glanced over and caught Ziva staring at her, the other woman's expression quite serious. "I do not mean it was to difficult as in, I was too busy. I mean, it was difficult as in, it was too hard."

Abby really wished that she wasn't driving as they had this conversation. She wanted to be able to give Ziva her undivided attention.

"Timothy is a good man and a good friend but we are not that close. It was easy to talk to him. But you and I, we have gotten to be quite close yes?"

Abby nodded her confirmation.

"I did not know when, or even if, I would get to see you again and I thought it would be easier to make a smooth break."

"Clean break."

"Same difference."

They rolled up to a red light and Abby took the opportunity to turn her head to face the other woman. She didn't know what to say. She was floored by Ziva's admission. Not only that the other woman valued her friendship so much but also that she had said it aloud.

She lifted one hand from the wheel and reached out to squeeze Ziva's fingers. "It's okay, Ziva"

"So, you are not angry?"

"No. I was a little hurt," she admitted. "I didn't understand why you would talk with McGee but not me but..."

The light turned green and she had to release Ziva's hand to drive. As soon as she did, she felt the loss of the warmth.

"I know that things haven't always been easy between us. And I know that's mostly my fault."

"Abby."

Abby glanced over, giving Ziva a chiding look. They both knew that it had been Abby's anger, Abby's inability to accept that had kept them at lengths for so long. Although she appreciated Ziva's attempt to shoulder some of the blame.

Ziva's lips quirked in a grin and she nodded her head for Abby to continue.

"But, I want you to know that I'm really glad you're back. And, it's going to be different this time."

She was going to try really hard not to vent her anger and frustrations out on Ziva. It was unfair to the other woman. She didn't deserve it and after all this time, there was no excuse for it.

"Thank you, Abby."

They reached Ziva's apartment just then. Abby pulled up in front of the building and slipped from the car. She just barely made it around to the other side of the car to open Ziva's door for her. She swung the door open and gave a little bow.

Ziva laughed softly as she slid gracefully to her feet. She inclined her head, a smile playing at her lips.

"Would you like to come up for a bit?"

Abby shook her head. "You're tired. You need to rest."

Ziva nodded. "Another time then?"

"Absolutely."

She turned to Ziva and spread her arms. The other woman walked into them without hesitation and wrapped her arms around Abby's waist. Her head rested in the crook of Abby's neck and she let out a barely audible, contented sigh as she burrowed closer.

There wasn't an inch of space between them and Abby couldn't help but notice the way Ziva's breasts pressed against her or the way her hips curved in towards hers and she felt a faint stirring in the pit of her stomach, a gentle heat that spread in radiating waves throughout her body. It spread further and grew warmer with each wisp of breath against her skin. Unbidden, an image of Ziva lying beneath her, eyes darkened with desire and arching up into her touch, flashed through Abby's brain.

It wasn't the first time the thought had crossed Abby's mind. Anyone with eyes could see that Ziva was beautiful. And Abby didn't have any problems with her eyesight. She'd felt attraction for her on more than one occasion but never this strong or this vivid.

When Ziva pulled back, Abby was both dissapointed and relieved and that was when she knew that she was in trouble.