Title: Rewriting the Rules 21 – Dead Reflection
Author: Jo. R (driftingatdusk)
Rating: FR-15
Pairing: Gibbs/Abby
Spoilers: 8x21 Dead Reflection, and previous story in the RTR series.
Category: Post-ep, Romance, Angst, Friendship
Summary: What's broken can be fixed, and rules can be rewritten.
Author's Note: TPTB never like to make writing an established relationship between these two easy! ;) Two missing scenes and one post-ep scene in this one… The original plan didn't have this story ending this way but the characters are stubborn.

Cookies and nekkid!Gibbs to Gosgirl, who figured out why I did the last post-ep (for Two-Faced) the way I did ;)

Sitting in the car beside his senior agent, Leroy Jethro Gibbs bit his tongue against trying to continue the conversation they'd started in his basement. He glanced at Tony DiNozzo out of the corner of his eye, watching the younger man finish sending a text message before slipping his phone into his pocket.

A text to EJ Barrett, Gibbs was sure.

They were five minutes away from the Navy Yard when Tony turned in his seat to face him, his curious gaze resting heavily on Gibbs' face.

"What about you and Abby?"

It was the question Gibbs had both wanted him to ask, and dreaded hearing. He kept his eyes on the road but his hands tightened reflexively on the steering wheel at the mention of her name.

He wasn't sure exactly what was going on with his relationship with the NCIS Forensic Specialist. He knew she'd wanted to put some space between them until he'd dealt with his issues regarding Tony's relationship with EJ and he'd understood – agreed with her, even. Her relationship with Tony was close and while she told him she didn't want to make him a hypocrite by helping him break the very rule he was disappointed in Tony for breaking, Gibbs had decided to agree to put some space between them so that she wouldn't be dragged into the middle of whatever rough patch he and DiNozzo were going through.

The space – he wouldn't allow himself to think of it as a break-up – was supposed to be temporary. Rumours of her interest in Special Agent Simon Cade seemed to suggest that Abby had other ideas.

"What about us?"

Tony was silent for a few minutes, giving Gibbs time to arrange his thoughts as he drove through the security gates and pulled into his usual parking space at the Navy Yard.

"McGee said she had a date with Cade. I thought you two were…" Tony shrugged when Gibbs looked at him. Neither agent spoke as they approached the security check point, unsurprised to find there was no queue given the late hour. "I thought it was serious," Tony continued once they were in the elevator. "You guys've been together a while, yeah?"

Gibbs reflexively clenched his fist. "Rule 12, DiNozzo."

Tony frowned at him and reached out, hitting the emergency stop. "Did you end it with her so you could tell me to end it with EJ?" It was the anger in his voice that had Gibbs turning to face his agent. "If you've hurt her, Gibbs…"

"No one ended it," Gibbs said mildly, wanting to believe the words were true even as he said it. "Abby decided to take a step back. She didn't want to be put in the middle and I agreed it wouldn't be fair on her if she was."

"So… it's a temporary thing?" Tony narrowed his eyes. "You're not gonna break her heart?"

Instead of confirming it either way, Gibbs threw him a curious look. "Aren't you gonna say it's not fair of me to make you live by my rules if I'm not?"

For a moment, Tony said nothing. He shrugged a shoulder after a short pause, his brow furrowed. "I… It's different with you and Abby. I get that. You've known each other for years… Neither of you would've started this if you didn't think you could go the distance."

Thinking of the way their intimate relationship had begun, it was all Gibbs could do not to smile at Tony's certainty. At the beginning, his relationship with Abby had changed due to a mutual need for comfort and a desire to forget the circumstances they were in by immersing themselves in each other. While the feelings had most definitely been there at the start, they'd both tried to pretend the sexual aspect of their relationship was without strings and emotional attachments, only having the courage after a few months to admit to each other that it was decidedly more.

Instead of explaining that to his agent, Gibbs shook his head and sighed, reaching for the emergency stop button to restart the elevator. "Maybe you could tell her that next time you see her."

"Why didn't you answer your phone?" Her voice stopped him from letting the elevator doors close behind him. Gibbs moved his hand over the sensor so the doors would stay open as Abby approached. She fidgeted with her hands but her eyes met his without wavering. "I mean, I know you were with Tony but it could've been important. It *was* important. Rule three, Gibbs, never be unreachable."

"Third rule you've quoted at me in a week, Abby." He arched an eyebrow and tried not to let the suspicious sheen in her eyes get to him. "You been revising them or something?"

"I don't need to. I know them as well as I know you." She bit her lip and glanced over her shoulder instinctively, taking a step closer when she saw the hallway was empty. "Why didn't you answer?"

Gibbs shook his head, the obvious hurt in her voice making something inside him ache. "Maybe I didn't want to hear all about your date with Special Agent Cade, Abby. McGee already gave me more details than I wanted to know."

"You're jealous." Her tone was incredulous, her eyes wide. "Seriously, Gibbs? After everything we've been through, knowing how I feel about you… You think I'd go on date with someone else?"

"You're the one who wanted to put some space between us."

"So you could sort out the situation with Tony without me getting in the way! Not so I could start seeing someone else!" She shook her head and wrapped her arms around her middle. "I volunteered to show him around the city, just like Ducky did when I first moved here. I can't believe you would think any different."

Gibbs watched her stride off, her shoulders slumping as she stalked into the lab. He started to follow, instantly regretting the implication in his words, but the door to the lab closed in his face, the click of the locking mechanism telling him she'd put it in lockdown.

"Abby…" Running a hand through his hair when he heard no movement from the other side of the door, he turned on his heel and headed back to the elevators, promising himself he'd put things right between them as soon as the case was closed.

He couldn't get the image of her spending the night on the floor of her lab out of his mind. Yes, she had a futon and blankets for when she pulled all nighters and yes, she had Bert the hippo, which doubled as both a comforting toy and a pillow but…

… She should've been at home, with him. She should've been lying beside him with her hair sprawled across the pillows, a leg thrown possessively across him or maybe with her back tucked against his front, his arm around her middle as he spooned his body around hers, protective even in slumber.

She shouldn't have spent the night on the cold, hard floor of her lab, missing him as much as he was missing her.

As another day drew to a close, Gibbs found himself getting up from his desk and heading towards the opposite bank of elevators to the majority of agents leaving for the night. He caught Tony's gaze as his senior agent headed in the other direction and nodded slightly in response to the silent question.

While he couldn't condone his agent's relationship with Agent Barrett, he couldn't let his feelings about it get in the way of his own relationship with Abby.

When he reached the lab, Abby's music was off and the lights were low. He followed his instincts and headed through to the office area of her lab, regret tugging at his heart when he caught sight of her, curled up on her side with her body wrapped around Bert.

Shrugging out of his jacket, Gibbs folded it neatly and knelt on the floor beside her. He put the folded material next to her head and lay down, using it as a pillow as he hesitantly wrapped an arm around her middle and drew her back against him.

"I'm sorry."

Her voice, husky with sleep, had never sounded sweeter. "Rule six." Abby moved one of her hands from around the stuffed hippo, tangling her fingers with his where they rested against her stomach. "Never say you're sorry. It's a sign of weakness."

He shifted slightly, brushing his lips against the tender skin at the back of her neck. "Definitely a rule fifty-one scenario, Abs."

She lay still for a few moments before turning to face him, her eyes locking with his. "It really wasn't a date."

"I know." He tightened his arm around her, laying the palm of his hand flat against her back to press her closer. "I talked to DiNozzo."

Abby's eyebrow rose and a hopeful glint entered her eyes. "Does that mean you're okay with him and EJ or…?"

"Not okay with it," Gibbs answered with a sigh. "But we've come to an understanding," he added when her face fell. "He knows what I think about his relationship with Barratt. It's up to him what he does now."

She leaned into the other hand he brought up to touch her cheek, a soft smile on her face. "If you guys are okay, does that mean we can go home? Sleeping on the floor isn't as comfortable as it used to be."

His answer was to lean in and brush his lips against hers, gently, sweetly, before drawing back. "Isn't a home unless you're there, Abby."

She smiled and sat up, cuddling Bert to her chest as Gibbs sat up, too, and started to push himself to his feet. She accepted the hand he offered her and let him help her to her own feet, smiling when his fingers tightened around hers rather than let her hand go.

"Let's go home," she murmured quietly, setting Bert on her desk with a quick, affectionate pat to the top of the hippo's head.

Gibbs kept his hand around hers while she gathered her purse and led her to the door when she was done, unwilling and unable to let her go.

End

And there you have the reason why I couldn't have the 'Two-Faced' tag be fluffy and happy. Writing a series of post-ep tags is both a blessing and a curse - waiting till the episode(s) after have aired so you know what's around the corner is a necessary evil. It might mean I don't get the tags done as soon as the episode airs but it means I've got a fighting chance of not writing myself into a corner I can't get out of ;)