Title: Made to be Broken 21 – Toxic
Author: Jo. R (driftingatdusk)
Rating: FR-15
Pairing: Abby/Gibbs
Category: Post-ep, Romance, Angst
Spoilers: Toxic
Summary: Some rules are made to be broken.
****
He was watching her closely so noticed when the anger gave way to hurt. NCIS Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs wrapped the case up as quickly as he could and ushered Abby Sciuto into his car so he could take her home.
Hers was still parked outside her dentists, where it had been since the FBI had decided to enlist her in their operation.
Gibbs had hated knowing that she was with them somewhere, working on something that might have meant she ended up on a slab in the morgue. He hated knowing she was somewhere he couldn't protect her though he'd had FBI Agent Tobias Fornell promise at least five times that he'd make sure nothing bad happened to her.
For all the good that had done.
Her sweet and trusting nature had been taken advantage of. She'd believed she was genuinely helping people when instead she'd been helping build a weapon designed to hurt not heal.
He was proud of her for sticking to her guns, for staying even when he would have preferred she return to the safety of her own lab at NCIS headquarters. Even for standing up to the man behind it all, to the former marine who'd betrayed her trust.
Her hands were trembling when he opened the car door for her after pulling onto his drive. Gibbs kept an arm around her as he locked the car, ushering her up the path to his house. He quickly unlocked the door and let her inside, securing it behind him as she walked straight up the stairs, shedding her clothes as she went.
She hadn't said a word.
He followed her slowly, concerned but cautious, unable to predict what her reaction to him would be and he hated it. He threw her coat and scarf over the banister, shoved her boots out of the way so they couldn't trip over them in the morning and picked up the other items of clothing, draping them over his arm until he could put them down in their bedroom where they belonged.
She stood in the centre of their room, dressed in only her underwear, when he entered. Her arms were wrapped around her body but still she shivered, the expression on her face tearing at his heart.
He set the clothes in his arms down on the dresser opposite the bed before moving to take her into his arms, drawing her against his chest with a hand at the back of her head.
Abby stood stiff for a few seconds, her back and shoulders tense. Then she seemed to crumble and melt against him, her arms wrapping around him in an embrace that would have been suffocating had he not been in need of the close contact, too.
"It's okay, Abs." He ran his hands over her, alternating in rubbing slow circles in her back with running his fingers along her spine. "You're home now."
He felt more than heard her cry, her body trembling as silent tears soaked through his shirt.
Walking slowly, backing her towards the bed, Gibbs encouraged her wordlessly to slip beneath the sheets, tucking them around her body before stripping down to his underwear himself and getting into bed with her.
She returned to his arms without hesitation, her face pressed into the crook of his neck as she clung to him.
Eventually, she cried herself out and lifted her tear-stained face to his. "I believed him," she said softly, her voice hoarse from her crying bout. "I thought I was helping them, Gibbs. I thought I was doing something good."
He lifted a hand to her hair, deftly undoing the tight buns she'd arranged her black locks into. Running his fingers through the loose locks, he held her gaze evenly. "You were doing something good, Abby. You were trying to help people you thought were sick. Him twisting that and making it into something else doesn't take away from the fact you were being a good person and trying to help sick people get better."
"But I wasn't," she murmured, her gaze dropping from his. "I was helping him make money. They weren't even sick!"
"You believed they were, and so did they." A finger under her chin forced her to look up at him again. "You're a good person, Abigail Sciuto. The best a person can be. Don't let anyone take that away from you."
She blinked against the shimmer of fresh tears, determined not to cry again. "I could have hurt a lot of people, Gibbs. It would've been my fault..."
"No, it wouldn't." His voice, like the hand he used to keep her face upturned, became firmer. "You would not have been responsible. Unless you deliberately set out to hurt and infect and kill, you can't take any responsibility for what he planned to do." His finger moved over her lips when she opened her mouth to protest. "No buts, Abby. It's the truth and deep down, you know it is."
She nodded but still didn't look convinced. With a sigh, Gibbs moved his hand and pulled her back against him, tangling his legs with hers in an effort at warming her still cold skin.
"It's not your fault, Abby. Nothing that happened today was your fault." He kissed the top of her head softly. "You're one of the nicest, kindest people I know, and I'm going to keep telling you that until you believe it."
Abby sniffed, her arms tightening around him in silent thanks.
****
End.