Title: Made to be Broken 14 – Love and War
Author: Jo. R (driftingatdusk)
Rating: FR-13
Pairing: Abby/Gibbs
Category: Post-ep, Romance, Fluff
Spoilers: Love and War
Summary: Some rules are made to be broken.
****
"You wanted a 'Beary Smyles' in 1989?" Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs wound his arms around his lover as they lay in bed, her head resting comfortably against his shoulder. "I know you don't want the others to know how old you are, Abs, but by my counting, that would've made you... seventeen?"
Abby Sciuto snuggled further into his arms, her lips brushing his bare shoulder before she tilted her head back to look up at him. "I wanted to take it apart and see how it worked. Gloria thought I was insane but she sent Dad out to get me one anyway." Her smile slipped a little. "It was the last Christmas I spent at home, the last time we were all together."
He ran a hand down her back comfortingly before it settled on her bare hip. He remembered standing in line for Kelly's 'Beary Smyles' and could easily identify with Abby's father's wish to make sure his daughter was happy on Christmas Day morning.
His daughter Kelly had only been six at the time and she'd died two years later. He didn't think he'd ever forget the look on her face when she'd torn off the wrapping paper to find the box with the much-wanted teddy-bear though there'd been times when he wanted to. Times when he'd drank himself to oblivion to in order to try.
"Did you figure it out?" He asked quietly, putting the ghosts of the past to the back of his mind to concentrate on the woman lying in his arms, on the contentment he felt at simply being there with her. "How it worked?"
"I'd taken it apart and put it back together by lunch the next day." A trace of amusement lurked beneath the surface of her voice. "My brother figured that out when he tried to sneak into my room to steal the chocolate coins Aunt May gave us."
He waited for a moment, expecting her to continue the story. "How did he find out?" He pressed, his hand moving over her hip to encourage her to finish the story. "What did you do?"
She smirked, her green eyes sparkling with mirth. "I had my Uncle Ivan record a new message and rigged it to a sensor so it'd play as soon as it was set off. I left the bear on the floor opposite my door so when it opened... He heard my Uncle telling him he had five minutes to find me and apologise or he'd get the hiding of his life."
He grinned at the thought, imagining the terror her then eleven year old brother would have felt. "How did you get your Uncle to record the message?"
She shrugged and settled her head against his shoulder once again. "I cornered him when he'd had too much to drink on Christmas Day. Mom and Dad didn't know. All they saw was my brother running into the room to apologise before avoiding both me and Uncle Ivan for the rest of the holidays."
There were a few moments of silence while he let Abby drift in the happier memories of her past. After a while, he shifted, twisting so they were lying face to face, legs and bodies entwined as much as possible under the sheets they'd pulled up around themselves.
"I bet you were a cute kid," Gibbs told her, lifting a hand to touch her cheek tenderly. "A bundle of enthusiasm and intelligence no one could control."
She tilted her head into his palm, a smile curving her lips. "There'd be some who say I haven't changed much."
A small chuckle escaped him as he conceded the point. "You're not a kid, though. You're definitely all woman now."
As if to prove his point, the hand he had resting on her hip trailed upwards, stroking her pleasantly warm skin softly.
"I bet you were a serious kid. Studious, and helpful to Mom and Dad." She propped herself up on an elbow, gazing down at him tenderly. "I bet your best present was something your father made you. Maybe something you made together."
"You'd be right." He shifted to lay on his back when she pushed his shoulder lightly, hands reaching out to steady her as she straddled his hips. "I was always good with my hands."
Her smile was mischievous, her gaze molten as she settled herself over him. "That hasn't changed about you, either," she murmured, leaning down to kiss him softly as those hands of his moulded themselves to her curves.
Abby gazed down at him, pleased to see the shadowy sadness that had been present in his eyes for most of the case fade. She leaned down to kiss him soundly, determined to make some new memories of their own, content to let the past stay where it belonged.
****
End.