*****
Their neighbours were waiting for them when they got home but both Gibbs and Abby ignored them. They stumbled into the house, the door slamming behind them. There was a lot of laughter, a lot of fumbling with each other's clothes and tripping over obstacles between the front door and the bedroom.
Relief made them giddy, adrenaline made their actions urgent. Touches were teasing, drawing muffled laughter and contented sighs. Gibbs ran his fingers over her ribs lightly, delighting in her giggles, committing the strokes and places that drew them from her to memory for future reference. In response, Abby explored his chest with the tips of her fingers, her teeth grazing lightly against his sensitised skin.
They rose and fell together, exploring, kissing, caressing. Neither held back, neither had second thoughts or doubts that what they were doing was undeniably right.
It was a long time before they surfaced from the bedroom, Abby dressed in one of Gibbs' shirts and Gibbs wearing a pair of boxer shorts, as they made their way from their room to the kitchen-diner at the back of the house.
He wrapped his arms around her from behind as she started to fix them dinner, nuzzling the side of her neck with his lips, grinning at the giggle it drew from her.
"Keep that up and we won't be eating any time soon," she warned him with a mock glare, relaxing against his chest with a contented sigh.
Gibbs' stomach growled as if in protest but he made no attempt at dropping his arms from around her waist. "I'll try to keep my hands to myself then."
His lips grazed her neck again and she laughed, nudging him with her elbow. "It's not your hands I'm overtly concerned about."
In retaliation, he moved his hands up, fingers skirting lightly over her ribs before coming to rest under the gentle swell of her breasts. "Well in that case..."
"Gibbs!" She shrugged the shoulder he let his chin rest against, trying and failing to keep the smile from showing on her face. When his lips brushed her neck again, she gave up on trying to prepare something for them to eat and turned in his arms, lacing her own around his neck. "Why don't we order take out instead?"
Gibbs gave her a wolfish grin, leaning down slightly to capture her lips in a searing kiss before drawing back, pressing his lips against the tip of her nose affectionately. "Good idea, Abs."
*****
Food was ordered and eaten curled up together on the couch. They were reluctant to leave each other's company even for just a short while, neither able to chase away the fears of the afternoons events completely.
"I really thought you were going to die in there," Abby mumbled against his chest, her words muffled against him as she brushed a kiss over his heart. Gibbs' arm tightened around her in response but he held his tongue; he knew her well enough to know she needed to talk about it, to get it off her mind so she could go to sleep. "I thought the next time I saw you would be on some slab in a morgue somewhere and I'd never get the chance to tell you..."
Her voice faltered. He kissed the top of her head, shifting his body on the couch so they were lying rather than sitting, her body draped over his. "It's okay, Abs. You don't have to..."
"I want to." Lifting her head, she looked at him with a familiar, determined expression that made the corners of his mouth lift. "You know I love you, right?" Green eyes searched blue as she stared at him intently. "Not just in the way I love the others but more than that, too."
He let a hand rise to touch her cheek, smiling when she leaned into his palm. "I know, Abby. I love you, too."
Her brow furrowed, her eyes holding his. Gibbs waited for her to say what was on her mind but she didn't, choosing to lower her head back down to his chest and wrap her arms around him tightly instead.
"Abs. Look at me."
She refused at first, leaving him with no choice but to turn them so his back was to the room, her body pressed between his and the back of the couch. She tilted her face up then, her mouth open in order to protest but he silenced her, swiftly pressing his mouth against hers. He felt the hands she moved to push him away curl around his shoulders, her fingernails digging in just a little as she gave into his demands with a wordless sigh.
When he moved back, her eyes were dazed and her lips were swollen. He allowed himself a brief second of smug satisfaction that he was responsible for it before his expression grew solemn, his eyes serious as they locked with hers.
"I love you, Abby," he murmured, his hand gentle at her cheek but with enough pressure to keep her from looking away. "Do you think I'd let something happen between us if I didn't?"
He could tell she wanted to break eye contact but she couldn't bring herself to do it. She swallowed and her tongue darted out to moisten her lips in what he recognised to be an uncertain gesture. "I know you care about me," she hedged, her voice soft, almost too quiet to hear. "But I know I'm not..." She broke off, a line marring her brow as she struggled to find words to explain what she wanted to say. "I know you're still in love with Shannon, and I know I'm nothing like the other women you've dated or married, for that matter, and I know what you feel for me is different and I'm okay with that. I don't expect you to say something that isn't true and I don't expect anything more than you can give me in return. I just want to be with you for as long as you'll be with me..."
His frown deepened throughout her babbled ramble and he found himself kissing her again, the only way he could think of to end the tirade. Again, he pulled back but this time he let a finger rest against her lips. "You're not Shannon but that doesn't mean I can't love you, too, Abby. You of all people should know there's no limit on how many people a person can care for." He arched an eyebrow when he felt her lips part to protest under his finger. "You're not like any of my ex-wives and for that, I'm grateful. There's a reason those marriages didn't work and I don't want our relationship to go down that path. I love you. *You*, Abs. If you don't believe that, you don't trust me as much as you think you do."
Her gaze softened throughout his speech, and a small smile began to play on her lips. He withdrew his finger, arching a questioning eyebrow. Covering her hand with his own, Abby pressed his finger against her lips in a soft kiss before pressing his hand to her cheek.
"I don't think I've ever heard you say that much in one go," she teased lightly, her shining eyes and tender smile keeping him from feeling anything but amused at her comment. "I trust you more than I've ever trusted anyone, and I love you that much, too."
He wasn't entirely convinced she believed him but Gibbs was willing to let her get away with it for the time being. He made his way off the couch, biting back a groan as his knees and back protested before holding out a hand for her.
Hand-in-hand, they walked through to their bedroom, both pleased the nightmare of a day had a much happier ending.
*****
Waking up with his body enveloping hers was something she swore to herself she'd never take for granted. Abby snuggled into him, her eyes closed tightly as she inhaled his scent and pressed her cheek against the smattering of hair on his chest. His hand was splayed out possessively over the small of her back, his fingers twitching as he stirred back into consciousness.
"Do you have to go to work today?" She asked softly, fingers idly drawing meaningless shapes against his skin.
"I should." His hand trailed along her spine, his lips curving in a smile when he felt her shiver against him. "First class isn't till ten, though."
"Ten?" Lifting her head, Abby glanced at the clock on the bedside cabinet beside them. It was her turn to smile, a mischievous sparkle in her eye when she met his gaze. "So we've got at least two hours before you need to leave..."
"Hmm." Gibbs wrapped his arms around her as she leaned up to kiss him softly, rolling them gently so her supple form was fully cocooned by his own. "What you would suggest we do with those two hours, Mrs. Gibbs?"
A giggle escaped her as she wound her own arms around his neck, drawing him down for another kiss as she moved a leg to wrap around his own. "Oh, I'm sure we can think of something..."
*****
The next few days passed in a blissful daze. They alternately behaved like newly-weds and an old married couple, and no acting was required. More often than not, Gibbs would get home to find Abby engrossed in her work and then they'd cook together, exchanging stories about their day, often indulging in the flirtatious banter that had become such a staple of their relationship over the years though both enjoyed the newfound freedom they had in being able to express their affection physically.
On the Friday night of their first full week living together on the base, Abby decided to make a slight change to their routine. She had a meal prepared for the moment he walked through the door and plenty of chilled white wine. Following the meal, leaving him to load the dishwasher and to top-up their wine glasses, Abby filled the bath with steaming hot water and a generous amount of the bubble bath that had been included in her gift set from the hotel's spa. She had plans for the other items, too, for later on in the evening.
Soon they were settled together in the bath, one of Gibbs' arms wrapped around her as they sipped from their glasses and let the warm water lull them into a soothed state.
"Don't expect this kind of thing every night," Abby warned drowsily, letting her head fall back to rest against his shoulder. "I'm never going to be the domestic goddess type."
His lips curled up and he brushed his lips against her head, the arm that was wound around her shifting under water to stroke the smooth skin of her stomach. "I'd disagree about the goddess part."
Chuckling, she let her eyes drift shut. "Smooth, Gibbs, real smooth."
"I try."
For a few moments, all was silent as they enjoyed their wine and one another's company. It was Abby who broke it with a sigh, setting her glass down on the side of the bank with a soft clunk before twisting in his arms, legs tangling with his as she shifted in his lap to face him.
Seeing the serious look on her face, Gibbs took a final gulp of his own wine before setting it down next to hers. "What's wrong, Abs?"
"Nothing's wrong." The smile she tried to give him fell after a few seconds and her gaze dropped to his mouth. "I was just thinking today..." Her eyes lifted and she looked at him through lowered eyelashes. "You know we can't get this marriage annulled anymore, right? The only way we could've done that is to leave it unconsummated and, well, you know." A blush spread across her cheeks. "That's not an option anymore."
"What are you saying, Abby?" He held himself still, forcing his hands to stay at her waist. "Do you want to get a divorce...?"
Her eyes darted up to meet his before skittering away again. "Do you?"
It was a strange place to be having a conversation on divorce and hadn't featured in Abby's plans for the evening. Her heart pounded in her chest, more so when he lifted a hand to touch her cheek, pushing away a damp lock of curled hair from her face.
"Look at me, Abby." He spoke quietly but with a note of authority she couldn't ignore. Abby looked up, more out of instinct than anything else, and the expression on his face made her melt. "It's a piece of paper. It doesn't have to change anything. Married or not, I want to be with you. Just you."
Her answering smile was blinding, and the kiss she bestowed on him was deep and sweet. His arms wrapped around her, drawing her close as water sloshed against and over the sides of the bath.
*****
Gibbs hadn't expected to find someone he enjoyed spending so much time with after Shannon and Kelly's deaths. He'd liked his quiet time throughout each of his subsequent marriages – perhaps a contributing factor in each of his divorces – and had grown to resent feeling like he had to spend his valuable downtime with his wives when all he'd really wanted to do was work on his boat alone.
His relationship – marriage – to Abby was again more like his first in that respect.
He had no basement or boat to work on and, while he'd thought he'd miss it, he found he only gave it the barest of thoughts. Even then, if he found himself wishing for the familiar smell of sawdust and feel of wood beneath his fingertips, he found himself imaging sharing it with Abby, either working on the coffin she'd once told the Director she was making or just being able to sense her presence while he got on with his work.
He was surprised to find himself enjoying their weekend together, even when she insisted on dragging him to a local park for a picnic lunch on the Saturday, followed by drinks in a bar not too far from the base before they retired back to their home. It wasn't much of a hardship, if he was honest, to spend the day with his arms around her, kissing her in public without worrying who was watching or what they were thinking. He knew his team were observing them; he'd spotted McGee once and he could sense they were being watched as they walked hand-in-hand beneath the shade of the trees in the park. It didn't bother him, which was another reason for his surprise at how comfortable a fit he and Abby were.
Sunday was much the same as Saturday, though he was amused to find Abby refused to let him leave their bed until midday – with the exception of using the bathroom and making them both a cup of coffee, of course. Sunday morning's were for lazing around in bed according to his raven-haired wife and he found he had no complaints on the matter when she curled up beside him, her head on his shoulder as he read through the newspapers he'd collected from the porch while waiting for their coffee.
They were almost inseparable and it was with a great deal of reluctance that he let her shoo him from the house on Sunday afternoon, a beautiful smile on her face to go with the glint in her eye as she promised him what she was planning would be well worth the wait. He'd caught a glimpse of the massage oils she'd bought from the hotel, oils they'd planned to use on Friday but hadn't got round to after their shared bath and had no doubt he'd enjoy whatever scheme she was concocting but leaving her behind while he went to get some groceries – she'd supplied him with a list for that, too – wasn't something he was altogether comfortable with and he wasn't sure why.
Returning to the house an hour later, half of the groceries forgotten as his instincts screamed louder, Gibbs let the bags he was carrying fall to the floor as he noticed the front door wasn't fully closed.
He reached for a weapon that wasn't there, that was securely hidden in a drawer in their bedroom in keeping with their cover story, and found himself breaking out into a cold sweat as he swept through the empty rooms, listening intently, hoping his infamous gut was wrong.
His cell phone was in his hand when he reached the kitchen, Tony's voice coming loud and clear through the speaker as he glanced at the shattered glass on the floor, fear clenching around his heart in an unrelenting vice when he noticed the patches of what was unmistakably blood leading to the back door.
"Our guy's broken the pattern, DiNozzo. Get a team here ASAP."
He hung up without waiting for a response, picking his way over the broken glass to turn the heat off on the oven. His wedding ring felt heavy on his finger, an uncomfortable reminder of who was lost.
*****