Title: Doppelgänger
Author: ncislove
Rating: G
Spoilers: Doppelgänger, season 2
Summary: Abby just wants what's best for Gibbs.
"For your sake, Gibbs, I hope it isn't a match."
"For my sake?" Gibbs sat at her desk and watched as Abby did whatever it was that she did with those machines that got him the results he needed. It was late, and the rest of the team was home. McGee had been at the office when he had arrived, but he had sent him home. "Why's that?"
Abby glanced over at him with a sad smile. "It was obvious you were into her," she shrugged. "And now she might be a killer. I mean, if her DNA matches the DNA on the cigarettes we found…"
"Not like I'm in love with her, Abbs."
Abby worked quietly for a while and then spoke. "But if you were, I would feel bad. You deserve someone who loves you as much as you love them. I get the feeling that when you love someone, you love hard."
Gibbs thought back to Shannon. There wasn't anything he wouldn't have done for her – anything she wanted. He would've died for her, almost daily he wished he had. Same with the woman in front of him. She might not know it, but there wasn't anything he would deny her, if only she asked. "What about you, Abbs? What do you deserve?"
Abby thought for a minute and then turned to him with a grin. "A Caf-Pow! It's after mid-night and I've been here since six this morning."
Gibbs shook his head. He would ALMOST do anything she asked. "No more caffeine tonight. How much longer will this test take?"
"Ten minutes, maybe?"
"Let's finish it up then, and then you need to get home and get to bed."
It was less than ten minutes before they had their DNA match confirming that Karen indeed was a match. Abby wasn't surprised when Gibbs sent her home, making her promise to go to bed and get a good night's sleep.
"Go home too, Gibbs."
"Can't. Got to wrap this up."
Abby frowned as he left the lab and turned to her stuffed hippo. "What I deserve, is someone like you, Gibbs."
Gibbs turned to leave the lab but then paused. He had been so caught up in the anger that Karen had lied to him, he hadn't given Abby a kiss to her cheek as a thank you. He was one step into her lab when he heard her. What I deserve is someone like you, Gibbs. At first he thought she had heard him come back, but when she picked up her hippo and hugged it to her chest, he realized that she hadn't heard him at all.
"One day I'll tell him," he heard her say. "One day I'll tell him exactly how I feel, but for now I'll just watch from the side lines and be there as a friend when other women let him down." It was hard to tear himself away, but he had a job to do. Then he could deal with Abby.
It was just past two in the morning when he was finally able to leave NCIS. He had done Karen the favor of bringing her into custody himself and she had gone with him willingly, not speaking the entire ride. Once she was in custody, he had a few papers to fill out, but there wasn't much he (or she) could do until morning, so he grabbed his stuff and headed out. His home was closer than hers, but all he could hear in the silent car was her voice… someone like you.
They had been flirting since day one – nothing serious and always playful, but he hadn't ever thought of it going any further. Not until now. He thought back to kissing Karen. It had been enjoyable, but none of the butterflies and heart flutters that a person was supposed to feel. If people even felt that anymore. He hadn't since the early 90's – maybe butterflies and heart flutters had disappeared with the 90's? Or maybe he hadn't been kissing the right women.
He wasn't surprised to see that the lights of her apartment were off, but it didn't matter. He knew the code to her building, and he had a key to her place (in case of emergency, she had said). It was easy to navigate her place in the dark, and when he stepped in her bedroom, the moon light gave him enough to see the bed (and her in it) and that was all he needed. He sat on the opposite edge and took off his shoes and jacket, resting the latter over the arm of a chair next to the bed.
He felt movement on the bed and glanced back to see Abby looking at him through half open eyes. "Everything okay?"
Gibbs nodded and reached out to touch her cheek before pulling his shirt off and then shucking his pants. For someone that talked so much, Gibbs was surprised that she said nothing as he slid between the sheets next to her. Instead she just moved closer and curled into his side, resting her head on his chest. "Night, Gibbs."
"I deserve you, Abbs." He could feel her lips curve into a smile.
"You already have me."
"Night, Abbs." He pressed a tender kiss to the top of her head and felt the stirrings of butterflies in his stomach.
END.
