"FIFTEEN years?!"

Abby nodded eagerly. She grabbed a basketball vest and pulled it over her head, somehow disposing of the towel without exposing herself. She then turned back to the mirror to plait he wet hair. Gibbs saw the basketball vest was DiNozzo's, her tattoo very much in the style of the wording on the vest.

"But you haven't known DiNozzo fifteen years!"

"Have."

"How?"

"You can't just do your masters degree straight away. Brownie points for guessing which uni I did my pre-degree at?"

"Ohio State."

"Got it in one."

"So how did his name end up on your back?"

"I guess it's a pretty long story. Tony stayed in the same dorm as me, until he became an Alpha Cai Delta, by which point I was in the sister sorority, so we saw each other all the time. We got horrendously drunk and hooked up in the swimming pool at a frat party. Hung out a few times, he took me on a few dates. Next thing I know, we were exclusive. That's when I got the tat. Dated all the way through university, then we ended it."

"What did he do to you?" Gibbs bit out.

"It didn't end badly, Gibbs! He was going to Police Academy and I was going to Brown to do my Masters. Neither of us wanted a long distance relationship, so we broke it off. We still stayed in touch, emails and phone calls. And yeah, I had boyfriends inbetween, but a lot of them ditched me cos I couldn't stop talking about Tony. We used to see each other once or twice a year, still hooked up whenever we could. Then you brought Tony into my lab seven years ago and my life changed for the better. I went over to his that night and I've never looked back."

Gibbs was thrown for a dozen by this revelation.

"How've I never seen that tattoo?"

"I cover it. If I'm wearing something that shows it, like my Marilyn Monroe outfit, I airbrush it. Simples."

"Right," Gibbs muttered. Abby turned and found that-all-to-familiar vein pulsing in his temple.

"Calm, Gibbs. It's not a big deal. So what if we met when we were 20?"

Gibbs just shook his head and shooed her out of the bathroom.

When he had dressed and done his teeth, he headed out into the bedroom.

Abby was curled up in DiNozzo's arms in his bed as he flicked channels. She had tucked her head under his chin. Gibbs sighed and slipped under the covers. DiNozzo shut the television off and slid down do he was lying on his back, Abby mimicking his movement. They were just drifting off to sleep when they heard Gibbs mutter, "No grab ass."

Abby just chuckled into Tony's shoulder.