Chapter 10 is up!!! ENJOY!!!
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Gibbs sat up straight and so did Abby. This time Gibbs spoke. "Something bothering you, Abby?"
"Um, yeah, actually." She mused, and Gibbs raised an expectant eyebrow. Abby rolled her eyes and said, "Now now, you can't expect me to spill my guts just because you look at me like that, can you?"
Gibbs just raised his other eyebrow, and Abby let out a big breath of air and said, "Of course you can. You're Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs."
"I want to help you, Abbs. I can't do that if you won't talk to me." Gibbs said quietly stroking a hand down her cheek. Abby signed, saying,
"Fine. Well, I just, I was wondering, actually, I need to know, if, ah hell, I don't know what in the world I'm trying to say."
Gibbs hid an amused smile as he fell silent, and Abby screwed up her mouth in concentration and finally asked, talking this time,
"Has the past month even been real, Jethro?"
"What do you mean, real?" Gibbs asked, and Abby said,
"Like, has it meant anything to you? Anything at all?"
Gibbs hesitated, and then asked, "Has it meant anything to you?"
Abby sighed, and hesitantly covered his hand with hers, making him look in her eyes as she said sincerely, "It meant the world to me. And I'm not just talking about the protecting and the conversation."
Gibbs was a little startled, but squeezed Abby's hand, saying, "Me too, Abbs, but…"
"Oh no." Abby muttered, pulling her hand away.
"Oh no what?" Gibbs asked and Abby looked at him and begged,
"Please please please tell me that you're not about to pull out rule twelve on me, Gibbs." Gibbs acknowledged the use of his last name and he half smiled, shaking his head immediately, though the thought had crossed his mind, sometime when he had Abby wrapped in his arms.
"But, when we get back, can we go back to square 1?"
"Square 2." Abby countered, and Gibbs raised an eyebrow at her. "Square 2 as in this plane ride is our first date." She clarified, and Gibbs smiled, and nodded. "Good." She said, and took his hand again.
"Are you going to call me Jethro again?"
"Not in front of anyone else." Abby said firmly, and Gibbs nodded with a smile as she settled into his embrace and he took the ponytails out of her hair and stroked it softly. His arm that was around her shoulders was both protective and possessive, as he looked around for any sign of Mikel Mawher.
When the plane landed, Gibbs looked over and saw that Abby was sleeping. He smiled slightly, stroking her hair out of her peaceful face. He was glad she could escape this nightmare in her dreams, because otherwise it would torture her to know that Mikel was out there and wanting to kill her.
Gibbs pressed his lips to her temple, trying to sort out how he felt for Abby. Sure he had loved her since he had met her, but that was a friend kind of love, the love that wasn't romantic. And yes, he had been protective of her ever since the day they met as well, but now, that feeling was intensified about 100%.
Finally, Gibbs just admitted what he had known for a while, but refused to believe. He loved Abby. Not just a friend-love, he loved her the way he had loved Shannon. Abby was by no means a replacement for Shannon, she was just, well, Abby. That explained it all, in Gibbs' mind.
The pilot's voice broke Gibbs' thoughts and he gently woke Abby up, and she blinked a few times before standing up and stretching. Gibbs poked her side and she immediately bent over, saying with a laugh,
"Jethro!"
"Sorry Abbs. Couldn't resist." Gibbs said with a grin and she pulled him to his feet, saying,
"Not nice, Jethro, not nice."
Gibbs shrugged and took her hand as they walked through security and all of the usual time-wasters. Since they left their stuff back in Mexico, they didn't have any luggage to claim, which saved a lot of time. Franks said he would send their stuff on when the next plane to D.C. flew.
Eventually, they got out to the parking lot and Abby spotted Tony and Ducky waiting for them. "Tony! Ducky!" She exclaimed, and took off towards them, letting go of Gibbs' hand.
She threw her arms around Tony's neck as he picked her up and twirled her around a few times. She was laughing as he set her down and she stumbled over to Ducky, a little dizzy as she hugged Ducky tightly, saying,
"Duckman! You should totally go to Mexico sometime, it's so sunny and it was just so much fun! That is, until Mikel showed up and ruined it all." Abby said, and when she talked about Mikel her smile dimmed and a scowl appeared on her face. She was about to go on when Tony said,
"Whoa, wait a minute, Mikel went to Mexico?"
"Yeah!" Abby exclaimed, and Tony muttered,
"No wonder we couldn't find the jerk." Gibbs came up behind him and headslapped him, saying,
"Ya think, DiNozzo?"
"Boss," Tony said in shock, and Gibbs twitched a smile, saying,
"Surprised to see me, DiNozzo?"
"Actually, yeah," Tony said, still in shock, and Gibbs said,
"Well, snap out of it."
"Good to see you, Jethro." Ducky said warmly, striding up to his friend and holding out a hand.
"You too, Duck." Gibbs said, pulling him into a hug. Abby smiled and Tony said,
"Well, wanna go see the others, Abbs?"
"Yes! Let's go!" Abby said, grabbing Tony's hand and pulling him towards the car. Ducky and Gibbs exchanged smiles and got into the car after Abby and Tony.
Gibbs drove, Ducky was in the passenger seat, and Abby and Tony were sitting in the back seat, discussing the replacement in Abby's lab that had managed to annoy everyone in the first week.
By the time Gibbs pulled up to the Navy Yard, Abby was started laughing, as had Ducky and Tony, and even Gibbs ducked his head as he tried to hide a smile. He looked back at Abby and watched as her smile faded and the happy look on her face faded to terror and anger.
Gibbs whipped his head around to see what Abby was looking at, and quickly squealed to a stop and got out, grabbing his gun and aiming at the car driving by that just happened to have Mikel Mawher in it, with a gun.
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Well, another cliff-hanger, you can tell that I love those, right? Well, I hope you liked this chapter, and thanks for reading! Adios for now!!!