Hi all! Sorry this took so damn long. By the time I had a day off to write, I had a friend's daughter's bday party to attend a couple of hours north of my home. Anyway, it's longer than usual so hopefully that helps. Enjoy. :)

Tony watched Gibbs out of the corner of his eye as they checked in to the motel where they were staying while in Norfolk. Ziva and McGee were sharing the other room, after Tony had surprised them by volunteering to room with Gibbs. Typically, they had to draw straws to decide who would get stuck rooming with Gibbs, but this time Tony wanted to get every chance he could to get Gibbs thinking of Abby in a romantic way.

He could tell Gibbs was distracted. Though he was still much more focused than the rest of the team, as was typical, there was something that seemed off about Gibbs. And somehow, Tony had a feeling it had to do with Abby.

The team trudged tiredly to their rooms, exhausted from a day of searching through the ship's personnel records and from combing the murder scene for unseen evidence. One of the two victims had been a Chief Petty Officer, the other a Seaman. It took Ziva only two jokes from Tony about the title of "Seaman" before she threatened to show him how she could make a man pass out in just over one second. Ducky and Palmer had transported the bodies back to NCIS, where Ducky had yet to determine the official cause of death, though the Seaman was clearly shot through the chest. The CPO had no visible signs of trauma, leading each of the team members to make up possible theories ranging from poison to voodoo (though Ziva had threatened Tony when he brought that one up, as well).

As Gibbs and Tony opened the room to their small room, Gibbs glanced at the time on his phone. "DiNozzo, ya' got first shower. Make it snappy."

Tony nodded, setting his bag on the bed furthest from the windows. He rifled through his things quickly and disappeared into the bathroom.

Gibbs set his own duffel on the floor at the end of the other bed, and sat on the bed with a sigh. His mind had been all over the place that day, to the point that he wondered if the others had noticed. He was sure Ducky had, but it was almost certain Ducky had always known about his feelings for Abby, though he'd remained quiet all these years.

A steady high-pitched shrill began as the shower started, the water pressure from the pipes making a constant squeal as it streamed down. Gibbs flipped open his phone and hit his speed dial, smiling from the familiarity of an unknown metal song playing on the other end.

"Hiya, Gibbs! How's Norfolk?" Abby's chipper voice cut the music off, instantly lifting a weight from Gibbs.

"Hey, Abbs. Wanted to make sure everything's okay there."

"Yeah, I'm updated on the newest Forensic Monthly, I watched some new episodes of The Big Bang Theory I had missed, which were hilarious by the way, we so need to watch them together when you get back. I think you'd really appreciate this one episode where Sheldon – that's the guy who's super, super smart but kinda socially awkward –"

"Abbs."

"Oh, right, sorry. Everything here is right as rain. Which is a weird phrase when you think about it, ya know? Why is rain right?"

"Did you drink some coffee, by chance, Abbs?"

"How did you know!?"

"Small hunch." He chuckled quietly.

"Well, I couldn't get ahold of any Caf-Pow! and I was having some caffeine withdrawals since I hadn't really been drinking any since I started taking the pain meds, so I figured, hey, Gibbs has tons of coffee!"

"How are you feeling?" He'd become so used to her ramblings, he knew he could easily move on with his questions without offending her, because she knew he'd heard her.

"Eh, okay. Still having some problems moving around, but not to the point that I can't get myself food or whatnot."

"Ducky's back there now. If you have problems, call him." Gibbs heard the shower turn off, the high-pitched whistle ending. Tony was faster than he'd thought. "Any nightmares?" He hoped maybe she would bring up her dream from the other night.

Abby was silent for a second. "Not really, no. I can't guarantee they won't happen eventually, but for right now I'm alright. Though that may be the pain meds helping me sleep deeper."

He could always ask her outright was she had been dreaming about, but that was most likely a longer conversation and Tony would be out any minute. "I need to go, Abbs. Long day tomorrow."

"Do you know when you'll be back?" Abby got quiet, and Gibbs could tell she was crossing her fingers, her eyes shut tight in hope that it would be soon.

"Dunno, Abbs. Could be tomorrow night, maybe later. Depends on how fast we get through these personnel files and interview those reported in the area at the time of the murders."

Abby sighed to herself, "Yeah, I know…it'll be a little while. Be safe and solve mysteries, Scooby."

Gibbs ignored the jest, "Will do, Abby. Good night."

"Night, Gibbs."

From inside the bathroom, Tony finished getting dressed quickly, his boxers sticking to him in his haste as he hurriedly tried to act as if he hadn't been listening through the door.

~*~*~*~NCIS~*~*~*~

While Gibbs took his turn in the shower, Tony whipped out his phone and pulled up his text message stream with Abby. 'Hey, Abby. How are you feeling?'

It was a few moments until he received a reply, 'Did Gibbs tell you or was it that obvious?'

'I figured it out. Gibbs refused to give a positive or negative answer when I asked. I could kick his ass for you.'

'Kick Gibbs's ass? Nah… I doubt that would happen. :P'

'Ha. Ha. You know what I mean.'

'I'm okay. I doubt I'll ever see him again – didn't seem interested enough. Thanks though.'

Tony shook his head at how self-deprecating she could be, while simultaneously making light of such a situation. 'I'm sure Gibbs already took care of it. There's no way he'd let someone beat up the woman he loves.' He grinned mischievously as he waited for her response.

'He doesn't see me like that Tony – we've been over this. And what do you mean he took care of it?'

As he texted rapidly, his facial expressions matched what he was typing, as if playing out how it would sound in an actual conversation. He shrugged a bit as if she could see him, 'Asked for his address on Monday. That's how I figured it out actually – he demanded his address and you went home – Rule 39.'

There was silence following his text. He readjusted so that he was lying under the covers of the bed, his exhaustion starting to catch up with him.

Finally his phone alert dinged, the vibration waking him from the light dozing that had overtaken him, 'You think he beat him up? Or threatened him?'

Her concern struck at Tony, his exhaustion ebbing back as he considered how worried she was. 'Dunno. But Gibbs isn't stupid. Wouldn't do anything that could bite him in the ass later.'

Abby's response was quicker, and he could tell she was feeling hopeful again. 'That's true. Gibbs is really smart, especially about covering his ass. Thanks, Tony. Made me feel better.'

Tony couldn't help but take one last shot before bed. 'He really gets smart when it comes to you. You're always his first priority. He was crazy distracted today – could tell he was worrying about you. Well, I'm crashing. TTYL. 3' He almost laughed at how conniving he could be at times. He was really beginning to enjoy this secretive matchmaking thing. Wouldn't start to do it regularly though. Had a reputation to uphold after all. Glancing at the quick 'Night. Love ya' that Abby sent back, he rolled over and closed his eyes.

~*~*~*~NCIS~*~*~*

Back at Gibbs's house, Abby lied wide awake, rereading Tony's text over and over. Gibbs had been worried about her? To the point of distraction? That was odd for him, even with his habit of being overly protective with her. With a sigh she set the phone down and tried to ignore the part of her brain that was beginning to overanalyze what it all meant.

Rule 39: No such thing as coincidence.