A/N: Thanks for everyone reviewing and those who have read my story, even if they didn't like it. Thank you for giving this story a chance. I am very happy. Please continue on supporting me. I think there will be four more chapters to this story. I am actually surprised that I made such lengthy chapters, which is rather rare for me to do. Usually, I don't write this long because it's too time consuming. I'll be busy in these two weeks, so updates will be much, much slower. I apologize for that length of time. Oh, and I might update Only be Her Reflection after I finish this story, but I may change my mind when I have the time to type up the chapter. I wanted to upload this the day before, so it would be right on time for Easter, but I guess it took longer than usual. Well, happy late Easter everyone! The chapter is a bit rushed, but I hope it isn't too rushed.

Chapter Eleven

Three people looked over at the man with a stern expression on their faces. Ziva, McGee, and Tony were obviously pissed off at Gibbs, so they wanted to confront him by dragging him into an empty room to talk. Gibbs stood there being the same old Gibbs they knew and love except this time the love for him was replaced with utter disappointment.

"Gibbs, you are the last person that I would ever think to hurt Abby," Ziva started before she crossed her arms and glared at him. "Why?"

Gibbs kept silent. He wanted to hear what his team had to say to him while his thoughts were still on Abby. When he didn't speak, McGee spoke up.

"I knew there was something wrong when Abby had to get transferred here. I didn't think it would be for this reason," McGee said but then Tony, out of nowhere, pushed Gibbs against the wall.

"C'mon, Gibbs! What are you thinking! You hurt Abby," Tony said before Ziva pulled him back before he did some real damage to Gibbs. Gibbs continued to stay quiet.

"Damn it, Gibbs! Say something," Tony yelled at his face before letting him go.

"What do you want me to say, DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked calmly. But in the inside, he is conflicted. Tony's anger started to rise inside him when Gibbs looked and answered so calm right now. If only Tony knew it wasn't that simple.

"You obviously aren't Gibbs if you don't clearly see what's in front of you," He yelled before he stomped out of the room, afraid that he wouldn't be able to hold back his raging fury inside him that was ready to punch the older man.

"Gibbs, Tony is right. At first, I didn't think you would have feelings for Abby in that way. But thinking back, you held Abby with special regard. There's always a small gesture and that flick of light in your eyes towards Abby. You treat her differently than you treat us. If you continue lying to yourself, you'll find yourself losing Abby as well," Ziva said, less violent than Tony but just as powerful in her words. She left right away to catch up with Tony.

Gibbs looked over at McGee.

"Are you going to tell me off too?" Gibbs asked. McGee shook his head.

"But I've got a question, Gibbs," McGee started, still deciding whether he should ask or not.

"I'm not in the mood right now, McGee," he said before rubbing his right temple with a sigh escaping his lips. He needed to be alone so that he could search for answers that only he could find.

"If it's you, boss, I guess I would feel much better with Abby in your hands. At first, I felt many emotions raging inside me when I heard what's going on. And I know for sure, she loves you more than me. So Gibbs, I must ask you, are you going to win her heart or are you going to do nothing?"

"What do you think," Gibbs asked rhetorically before leaving the room, thinking about McGee's and his question in mind.

Ducky sat on the couch of the wide living room of the mansion with Jimmy Palmer at his side, who was reading some sort of book. When Gibbs saw him walking towards them, Ducky stood up with a stern look on his face. From Ducky's expression, Gibbs knew that he would want answers from him too.

"Mr. Palmer, I would like to speak to Gibbs alone, so if you don't mind…" Ducky started and then gestured for him to give them a moment. Jimmy understood so he quickly nodded and left to read his book someplace else.

"If you are going to scold me, you are too late for that, Ducky. My own team gave me a lecture already," Gibbs said, his mind still in turmoil.

"Jethro, as your friend, I have to say something," Ducky started as Gibbs new that stern look anywhere. It meant that Ducky meant serious business.

"And?"

"I know you still love your wife that is understandable, but you can't hide the fact that you love Abigail as well. You need to stop being afraid, Jethro," Ducky told him. Gibbs looked over at Ducky when he said the last statement. It struck a nerve in Gibbs but he wondered why.

"Don't tell me you didn't realize it, Jethro," Ducky asked, eying his friend in surprise.

"I have no idea what you are talking about, Ducky," Gibbs said, but he felt as if he was lying and he doesn't know why.

Ducky shook his head before he mumbled something to himself before he looked at Gibbs again.

"Jethro, my friend, are you going to let Abigail slip away because you were afraid of betraying Shannon and Kelly?" Ducky asked, observing his reaction. Gibbs froze when he said that. "Just as I suspected," Ducky thought.

"Ducky, I need a moment to myself," Gibbs told him, knowing full well that he had to get his mind straight and find answers before he lost Abby because of his carelessness. Ducky patted his shoulder and looked up at his friend.

"Good luck, Jethro. It's been years already; you deserve to be happy just like any other person," Ducky told him before he bid his friend farewell.

Gibbs sighed and thought it best to go out to think. If he stayed inside the mansion, he wouldn't be able to contemplate and clarify his feelings for Abby because of all the ruckus from the scene that took place among Abby, the two teams, and him.

He started making his way towards the exit but saw Abby near the door. She seemed dazed and uncomfortable. For a moment, Gibbs didn't recognize her until he had a closer inspection. She was wearing a disguise consisting of a blonde wig that went down to her waist. And instead of her usual black and red attire, she wore a purple plaid skirt and a white short-sleeved buttoned shirt. She didn't wear a black collar around her neck like she usually does and her make-up was natural-looking. Her lips weren't the scarlet red shade that she had once before but was replaced with its natural pink color. Her usual gothic look nowhere in sight except for her boots that she is accustomed to wearing.

Gibbs didn't know what to think about her new look, but he didn't seem to hate it. If Abby didn't look uneasy in it, she would be just as beautiful like her everyday look. To him, she would look good in anything if she was comfortable with it, but he wondered why she is dressed up like that. All he could come up with was that she was going out. She wasn't allowed to go out by herself though, and he wasn't going to let her endanger herself.

"Gibbs?" Her voice called out to him. He snapped away from his thoughts and looked over at her. She wasn't her usual cheery self right now, and Gibbs didn't like that one bit.

"Are you going out?" She asked before she adjusted her wig.

"Yeah," he simply answered. "You?"

"Me too," she replied and then released a heavy sigh. "I just wanted to play some violent games the whole night, but the girls want a night out at a bar. They forced me to dress the opposite of myself because of that threat, and you know how I am with not being able to dress my normal attire. I'm about to go insane becauses of it. What about you?"

"Just needed some time alone," Gibbs answered in his usual casual tone.

"Did everyone give you a hard time because of me? If they are, I'll give them a good beating. I just wanted this argument only between us," Abby told him, sincere concern for him written on her face and she looked apologetic as well.

"Nobody would ever be able to give me a hard time, Abby," Gibbs said before give her a reassuring smirk. "You should know that." Abby looked at him for a moment before she giggled.

"Yeah, you're right. You wouldn't be the Great Gibbs if you let them." Abby smiled and then hugged him. "I missed you. I missed us."

Gibbs slowly returned the hug and simply whispered, "I missed you too... Abbs."

They held each other like that for a few seconds before they broke apart from their hug but their faces were still close, merely inches away from each other. Their eyes were locked into each other's gaze. Unaware of it themselves, they started to close their gap as if their bodies were moving on their own. The gap almost closed between them and their lips almost touched until they heard loud giggling that they snapped out of their hypnotized state. Abby and Gibbs were surprised at what they were about to do and turned away from each other. Abby's face turned a noticeable red. Gibbs mentally slapped the back of his head for being caught up in the moment. Abby looked over where the giggling came from and saw Ziva, Phoenix, and Lily heading towards Gibbs and her.

"Sorry for making you wait, Abby," Phoenix said as Abby shook her head.

"All of you are right on time actually," Abby said nervously but tried to hide it. Lily and Ziva noticed it and gave a questioning look.

"Did something happen when we were getting dressed?" Lily asked, her arms crossed before looking over at Gibbs for answers.

"I'll see you later, Abby," Gibbs told her and then faced the three other women. "Keep Abby safe."

"Are you going out too, Gibbs?" Ziva asked. Gibbs nodded before he went out the door.

He went to the car that Briggs allowed him to choose and drove off. He started to look for some place vacant and quiet. He parked at an empty street, unafraid of the dangers that come with such a quiet and eerie place.

It finally hit Gibbs that he may have feelings for Abby. The moment when he almost kissed Abby clarified it. The moment when her green eyes met his, it triggered something inside his head. The warm hug just before may have started it all. His senses were heightened at the time. And now that he was alone, he remembered clearly what was in his mind when they held each other. Her scent, her skin, and her voice gave him a "tingly feeling" as Abby would put it. Her scent was natural and maybe that of sweet smell of berries when he breathed in the scent of her hair. Her skin felt smooth yet cool against him. He felt the urge to make her skin warm with his own. Her voice when she told him that she missed him made him smile. Even though they see each other every day, they started to drift apart, and he knew she missed him and he missed her too. No, he yearned for her. He yearned for her to be his again.

The reason why he was jealous of Briggs, he finally figured out, was that he took away the special moment between Abby and him. His hugs meant that he will always be there and the kisses meant that he is proud of her yet held another special meaning in which he didn't know until now. What was the special meaning? He loves her more than words could ever express. The bringing in the Caf-Pow personally to Abby held special importance to Gibbs as well. It meant that even though they were opposites, they both had something in common. This sort of affection showed that Abby is and will always be his. Briggs took it away by becoming affectionate the same way he was showing his. No longer was it unique only for the two of them and the special meaning behind his actions changed.

And then etched in his mind is Shannon and Kelly, the two most prominent females he loved very much. Shannon pretty much influenced him in finding love through red-heads, even though he knew no one would ever be able to replace his loving wife. He never really opened up to any of his three ex-wives nor his lovers. His devotion to his wife caused a barrier from him ever truly loving another woman. He was afraid that he wouldn't be forgiven for being truly happy after he left his wife and daughter. And in the end, lost them due to his absence. The guilt would never fade.

But just for a moment, he felt that Abby would give him happiness. At first, he didn't think of Abby as anything other than a daughter he never got to have. The kisses and hugs were meant to be fatherly until Abby started flirting with him. He thought of it as nothing more than a way for Abby to compliment him, and he played along with it by nodding and smirking. It started out innocent just calling him handsome and that nobody could deny him. But slowly, the flirting started to escalate into something more. Abby started flirting about how she felt tingles whenever she saw him, and that she wouldn't mind him coming over to her apartment. To add to the hidden meaning, she winked seductively at him. Gibbs didn't really mind since they weren't really father and daughter, and flirting wouldn't hurt anyone. Things started out okay, but he suddenly flirted back even though it was nothing much. Just like the time during Halloween when she dressed up as Marilyn Monroe, he gave a quick look and said, "not bad for a blonde." He didn't think anything of it until after they finished the case that he concluded that she looked beautiful in anything.

The thought made him smirk when he remembered the time. Abby was the one that he would give all his attention to. His favorite coffee blend could never compare to Abby and thrice did he let it fall from his hands to run to her aid. Slowly, he knew that he fell for her. If it weren't for today, he may have never known his pushed back feelings for her. All of these years he didn't get jealous because he knew that her relationships with other men didn't last long. There was nothing wrong with her, mind you, it just seemed that the close relationship she needed couldn't be found in the men she dated. It was Gibbs that always comforted her every time her heart became broken.

And in all, after a few weeks of her not being in D.C., he greatly missed her. When she left him, he wondered why he became so angry at her for telling him to let go of Shannon and Kelly and to move on with his life. And now, he figured out why. Shannon and Kelly were the reasons he met Abby in NCIS. If he moved on, he was afraid that his relationship with Abby would change and Abby would move on from him as well. Another reason is that he was afraid to be happy if he loved someone just as important as Shannon. He was afraid to lose her like he did with Shannon. And the woman that he would move on with his life with would have been Abby if he didn't try to deny it himself. Though they were unusual answers, to Gibbs it made sense. He had the right to worry because he could never bear to lose Abby in any way, even if he did love her very much.

He wondered though why he didn't realize any of this. Did he push back all of this in the back of his mind without knowing? If he did, he wondered how he was able to do so. Ducky did say once that the human mind is so complex that even one does not know what he or she is thinking or doing, and it must be that Gibbs doesn't even know what he is thinking when it comes to Abby.

"Shannon, what should I do? Tell me what I need to do," Gibbs whispered as he looked out at the night sky in his car.

As for Abby, she was trying to figure out what had happened. She almost kissed Gibbs and Gibbs almost kissed her back. This made Abby confused and about to go crazy thinking about it. And with the girls around her, they knew how to keep a secret, especially Ziva. And of course, she needed to tell them about it and ignoring Gibbs' rule number four.

"So, you almost kissed Gibbs, did you? And he almost kissed you as well?" Lily suddenly asked when Abby told them what just happened between Gibbs and her.

"I don't know what that means. Does that mean he loves me or does it mean his brain went haywire which confused him to do things from all that stress you guys gave him?" Abby asked while nervously playing with her fingers. "I love Gibbs, but I don't want him to kiss me because he doesn't want to hurt me."

"Calm down, Abby. Maybe he's trying to figure out his feelings," Phoenix said all too calmly. "There are moments that a person doesn't know they love someone until they start to lose them. I guess it happens to your boss as well."

Ziva then looked at Phoenix curiously and asked, "Did it happen to you? It sounds as if you've experienced it before."

Phoenix shrugged. "Once. I turned fat because of it, and decided to live the rest of my life being single."

"You aren't fat just a bit chubby, Phoenix. And anyways, you look very cute the way you are," Lily told her. "Don't look down on yourself. The same thing for you Abby. He may have finally opened his eyes and finally see you as his woman. Like the saying goes, men are just plain slow."

Abby looked up at her surprised and then looked down again, blushing like a teenage girl who had her first love.

"You think so? "Do you really think Gibbs likes me the way I like him?" Abby asked.

Ziva, Phoenix, and Lily looked at each other and smiled before saying confidently, "We know so."

"But the important question is, are you going to take him in if he realizes his feelings for you? Or should we just torture him a bit for all the pain he gave you?" Lily said, smirking slyly. Abby shook her head instantly.

"It's one thing to torture someone, but you three torturing Gibbs means that he won't come back alive. Nope, not going to let you girls hurt my Gibbs," Abby said sternly.

"My?" Ziva smirked with a raised eyebrow. "I see Abby has her determination back. What should we do girls?"

"Drink our hearts out!" They yelled joyously before they clinked their beer glasses except for Phoenix who had water. She was picked as the designated driver, but she didn't mind at all. She was never good at drinking beer anyways.

After drinking a few glasses of beer, Abby started to get drunk. Ziva and Lily were quite heavy drinkers, so they knew how to down their drinks. Phoenix just sat quietly, listening to some sort of music so that the three could get themselves drunk.

Suddenly, Abby in her drunk stupor cried out happily, "I love you Gibbs!"

As if on cue, Gibbs came across the same bar as the girls. When he entered, he was rather surprised to hear Abby's sudden confession. Gibbs just stared blankly at the drunken Abby. It was one thing knowing her feelings for him but it was another when he heard it from her lips. If anything, he could feel only his heart race. Abby noticed him and started walking towards him with her legs feeling like jelly. The three girls noticed this but did nothing, amused to see what will happen. She was almost there until she tripped on her own feet. And with fast reflexes, Gibbs caught her. Abby giggled and looked up at him.

"Gibbs... my hero!" Abby said, hiccuping as she did so. Gibbs did nothing but stare at her strangely. "Did you know I love you this much?" She flinged her arms to gesture she loved Gibbs alot, but she accidentally hit Gibbs' face. He didn't really mind though, but she did.

"Ah! Sorry, Gibbs! Didn't mean to... hurt you," she said, looking concerned at Gibbs. Her hands now delicately touching Gibbs' face.

"I'm all right, Abbs," he told her quietly. Abby's face suddenly lightened up.

"Did you know that... you mean everything to me? Because, you know... it's true," Abby said before giggling.

"I know," Gibbs told her. Abby giggled once more.

"Yay! Gibbs, you're the greatest!" Abby said in a child-like way before giving him a tight hug. Gibbs looked over to the three girls who were now fully amused at the scene. Gibbs gave a sigh, wondering how much she drank to get her this drunk.

"So much for getting a drink," Gibbs thought.

"I'm taking her back home," he told the three girls. Ziva and Phoenix nodded but Lily had something to say.

"Don't go back home too early. Drive around for a bit," Lily suggested. "Don't think Gloria would be too happy finding out her daughter is drunk."

Gibbs stared at her for a bit before he sighed and nodded.

"I'll take her home when she's sleeping," he told them. This gave the girls to smile at him slyly.

"Don't do anything naughty," Lily said before winking at him. Gibbs gave a low growl before he put Abby's arm around his shoulder and left the bar.

When he successfully put Abby in the car who was thrashing all about like a child, he started to drive off. Abby was still awake and drunk. She giggled here and there.

"Gibbs, I was sad when you forced me to leave your side," Abby told him. Gibbs concentrated on the road. He didn't see the tears that fell from her eyes. "But you know, I am happy that you are here with me." She started sniffling which hinted Gibbs that she was crying.

"Me too, Abbs. Me too," he replied.

"Then why did you make me leave! Why did you make me leave your side?" Abby yelled angrily. "It wasn't right! It wasn't right!"

"I know Abbs. I know it isn't fair. I was afraid of what Shannon and Kelly will think and afraid to lose you as well," he explained.

"Without you, I won't be able to be me," Abby continued. The rage disappearing immediately just as it came.

"Same thing for me," Gibbs replied.

"Do you love me Gibbs? Do you? Because I really really love you," Abby said before she motioned towards him and hugging him, which made Gibbs swerve the wheel. Thankfully, he was able to control it. Afraid that they may be in a car accident, Gibbs parked at a nearby parking lot with quite a bit of reckless driving while he did so.

He finally turned his head to look over at Abby, who still held him in an embrace.

"I love you too, Abbs," he finally said, the meaning to be true when he held her tightly back.

Abby suddenly let go of him and just stared at him. She smiled for a few seconds before suddenly attacking Gibbs with a kiss. This startled Gibbs but didn't take too long to kiss her back. Though brief, Abby let go of him. Her face starting to turn pale. Gibbs knew what that meant and immediately unbuckle his seat belt and her seat belt as well. He then got out of the car and opened the passenger's seat. Abby turned to her now opened door, leaned over, and vomitted. After she finished, he wiped her mouth with a paper towel and closed her side of the door. He got back into the car and buckled both their seatbelts. When he turned to look at Abby, she was already asleep. He smiled and then kissed her forehead, muttering a low "I love you" before driving off back home. A grin plastered on Gibbs' face as he finally decided what to do the next day.

It's too bad that Abby wouldn't remember what happened between them when she was drunk. All she remembered was the pep-talk, the drinks, the migrane, and wondering how the heck she got to bed. But for some reason, Abby felt that something good happened. She just didn't know what.