Two chapters for the price of one tonight - as a thank you to everyone following, and as proof that I'm doing my bestest to catch up so it runs alongside the current season :)
Title: Made to Be Broken 11 – Silent Night
Author: Jo. R (driftingatdusk)
Rating: FR-15
Pairing: Abby/Gibbs
Category: Romance, Post-ep
Spoilers: Silent Night
Summary: Some rules are made to be broken.
****
She wasn't surprised when he didn't come back to NCIS to celebrate Christmas with the team by watching the movies Tony DiNozzo had chosen. Disappointed, yes, but not really surprised.
Abby Sciuto would have been more surprised had their boss – and her lover – Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs actually attended the event.
She herself stayed until the early hours, missing his presence but enjoying the time she spent with her friends. She'd have Gibbs all to herself on Christmas Day so let herself join in the laughter and the teasing, giggling with Ziva while Tim McGee and Tony exchanged quips back and forth only to have to the good Doctor, the one and only Donald 'Ducky' Mallard, finish the verbal war with a put-down that silenced them both.
She ate too much popcorn, drank too much of Tony's 'special' eggnog and bestowed a liberal amount of hugs and kisses on her friends before getting into the taxi waiting to take her home.
Half-way there, blaming the eggnog, she asked the driver to change direction and headed for Gibbs' home instead of her apartment.
Christmas was a difficult time for him; she knew that better than most. It reminded him of his first wife and child, of Shannon and Kelly, who had died while he'd been away from home, fighting for his country.
She knew he couldn't look at a Christmas tree without remembering his daughter's excitement, knew he probably thought of Shannon wistfully every time he caught a glimpse of a mistletoe hanging above some loved-up couples heads.
The knowledge didn't make her jealous as it would do – had done – some other women. She knew what Shannon meant to him and accepted that; if anything, it just made her sad to know how much he was hurting.
To know there was nothing she could do to stop it.
She tipped the cab driver generously and carefully picked her way up the recently shovelled path to the front door of Gibbs' house. She didn't knock, just opened the unlocked door and let herself in, closing it and locking it behind her before kicking off her shoes.
She saw the light was on in the basement through the gap between the door and the floor but hesitated, not wanting to intrude if he needed time alone. She chose to head to the kitchen instead to make herself a cup of coffee, hoping the caffeine jolt would help break through the fuzz around her mind left by too much eggnog.
Abby knew his mind would be on his daughter if not his first wife. Their most recent case, and her involvement in it, had led them to reuniting a father with his estranged daughter after years of not knowing one another. She'd known what he was planning to do when he'd volunteered to taken Ned Quinn home but hadn't confronted him about it; Gibbs was a private man and wouldn't have appreciated her letting his agents know of his intentions.
She fixed herself a cup of coffee and made sure there was plenty keeping warm in the pot should Gibbs want some later. After adding a generous amount of cream and sugar, which she knew he'd only started to buy in for her, she carried her cup through to the living room and curled up in what was quickly becoming her chair, smiling at the sight of the latest edition of the forensics magazine she preferred already sitting out on the coffee table as if waiting for her.
There was no tree, no decorations but the open fire had already been prepared, ready for lighting. It was as if Christmas had by-passed the Gibbs household and while she wasn't surprised, Abby was a little sad about that – for her lover more than for herself.
Shaking herself mentally, she turned her attention to the magazine on her lap.
****
An hour later, when Gibbs pulled himself away from his boat and found her in the living room, Abby was sound asleep, her mouth open slightly as the magazine slipped unnoticed from her lap to the floor.
He waited for a moment, expecting to feel something negative about her presence in his house on Christmas Eve but was pleasantly surprised when it didn't come. If anything, the sight of her looking so comfortable and at home in his living room made his heart feel lighter, his expression softening into a tender smile.
He debated for a moment whether to leave her sleeping peacefully in her chair but decided she was only going to get a sore neck if she stayed any longer in the position she was in. Given she planned to be at church first thing in the morning and that he had plans for her in the afternoon, he figured neither of them would be happy with that.
Approaching her quietly, he picked up the magazine and put it back on the coffee table next to her empty cup. Then, kneeling beside the chair, he leaned in to push one of her pigtails back from her face, his fingertips skimming the soft skin of her cheek as she stirred but didn't fully wake.
Grinning to himself, Gibbs closed the distance between them and pressed his lips gently against hers, drawing back just as she started to respond, the grin on his face growing wider when she opened sleepy green eyes to look at him.
"Time to go to bed, Abs," he told her softly. "You want to be up early for Mass tomorrow."
"Hmmm." She blinked at him sleepily, a small smile curving up her lips when he stood and held out a hand for her. Letting him pull her to her feet, she wrapped her arms around him and let her head rest against his shoulder. "I should go home. Don't wanna wake you up when I leave."
He shrugged and wound his own arms around her waist. "I don't mind. " He leaned in to drop a kiss on her forehead. "I'd like it if you stayed."
It was obviously the right thing to say, as a brilliant smile lit up her face and caused her eyes to sparkle. Standing on her tiptoes, Abby brushed her own lips against his in a gentle kiss and let him lead her from the room, switching off the lights as they made their way upstairs.
Gibbs watched her undress, smiling to himself when she immediately reached for one of his sweatshirts in lieu of the nightdress she'd taken to keeping at his. He let her use the en-suite first and half-expected her to already be asleep when he returned.
Instead she stood at the foot of the bed, holding a piece of paper in her hands. He noted her furrowed brow and joined her by the end of the bed.
The drawing Ned Quinn had given him was held carefully in her hands.
"Where did you get this?" She asked quietly, her eyes shining as she tore her gaze away from the sketched images of themselves and their friends. "Who did it?"
"Quinn gave it to me." He took it off her carefully, glancing down at the faces of those he loved. "Just before he went to see his daughter."
Gibbs set the picture back on the dresser where he'd put it earlier, still not entirely sure why he'd brought it up to his room instead of leaving it in his basement or tucked away in a drawer somewhere.
"It's beautiful," Abby managed, wrapping her arms around him tightly when he returned to stand beside her. "It reminds me of the drawings Kate did."
He kissed the top of her head and cradled her close. "I thought so, too."
They stood in silence for a few moments, thinking of Kate, of the others they'd lost over the years. Eventually, a yawn from Abby spurned him into moving and he ushered her over to the bed, wrapping her in the blankets before walking to the other side and sliding in beside her.
She moved into his arms almost immediately, her head against his shoulder as his arms wrapped around her automatically. "You should get a frame for that picture," she murmured, her voice heavy with exhaustion. "Maybe put it up in your basement."
"In my basement?" He let his own eyes slide shut, his body relaxing under the heavy warmth of hers. "Why there?"
"So you can see it when you need to," she mumbled sleepily, half-way towards unconsciousness. "To remind you you've got a family, even if it's not the one you thought you'd have."
She was asleep before he could comment, her words staying with him as he followed her into an easy slumber.
Like Ned Quinn, Gibbs knew he'd been given a second chance.
****
End.