Title: A Second Chance
Author: Gosgirl
Spoiler: Reveille, season 1
Summary: post-episode for Reveille. Abby confronts Gibbs after Ari.

Author's Note: Thanks to Bamacrush for letting me use her as a sounding board.

"Not just slept."

That comment had lodged in his brain and he couldn't shift it. It had been rolling around in his head all day, tormenting him.

When he heard Abby's amused husky voice teasing McGee, he'd only been on the other side of the bathroom door and it had frozen him to the spot. He tried to tell himself he was pissed at Rule 12 being broken but who was he kidding? He was pissed because it was another example of just how much he'd blown it over the past few months.

His obsession with Ari Haswari had cost him dear, and now it looked like it had cost him Abby.

Gibbs would have been blind not to have seen McGee's increasing infatuation with Abby in recent weeks. He'd just been kidding himself that she wouldn't respond... that the young shy agent couldn't possibly be Abby's type, despite the superficial similarities in their professional interests.

Who was he kidding?

Of course, she'd look at McGee before she spared him a second glance? A young, kind, devoted man versus a damaged, cranky old bastard? How could he think otherwise?

There was a time before Ari when Gibbs thought he and Abby were drifting closer. How their flirting and easy banter seemed to be taking on a more meaningful edge, and he'd been plucking up the courage to finally make a move.

Then Ari had burst into their lives.

In the past few months, he'd pushed everyone away. Not even Abby could get through the shell of hatred and rage he'd erected around himself. And now he was paying for it. His anger and obsession had annoyed, exasperated, hurt and upset just about every person around him... everyone he cared for.

And now it turned out that even his loathing and obsession was misplaced, that Ari wasn't a terrorist after all but a Mossad agent putting his life on the line. So why was his gut still churning? Why did it scream at him that the man who'd callously shot Gerald couldn't be anything but a murdering bastard with an agenda of his own?

His payback today had felt hollow. It sure as hell wasn't as satisfying as it should have been when he put a bullet in Ari's shoulder, as he'd so callously done with Gerald months earlier.

So here he was in his basement drowning his anger in bourbon and taking his frustrations out on his boat.

Cautious steps indicated he was no longer alone.

Looking up to see Abby, he watched her closely as she descended the basement stairs. She looked tired and uncertain of her welcome. It made his heart ache that they'd grown so far apart these last months that she couldn't even be sure he'd welcome her company.

"Hey Gibbs... or should I call you Ishmael?"

"Abbs." He tilted his head in acknowledgement of her gentle teasing. It wouldn't be the first time someone had made the comparison but this time he didn't take her head off, like he had with DiNozzo,

"Just came to see if you're okay." Abby stopped by him and gave him a gentle smile. "If Captain Ahab finally vanquished his white whale?"

Gibbs shrugged. "Turns out he wasn't Moby Dick after all." He held up the bottle and poured her a shot when she nodded.

"Is that what your gut is telling you?" she asked, curiosity lacing her voice. He threw her a look and saw her smile. "No, I didn't think so. Then we'd better all try to stay safe when he comes back... which you think he will, right?"

Gibbs nodded. "Yeah, I do." It seems even his behaviour over the past few months hadn't managed to destroy her blind faith in him, that she'd trust his gut over any official explanation.

He looked at her, trying to read her face but she kept her eyes lowered as she sipped her bourbon. "Why ya here?" he asked her, gently.

"Told you, came to see how you were. Can't I be worried about you? About my... closest friend?" Abby glanced up at him briefly before her green eyes skittered away from his gaze. "You've been so... preoccupied these past few months that I wondered how you were coping now, whether no longer having Ari occupy every waking hour was catching up on you."

Trust Abby to have the balls to call him on it when everyone else had been dancing round the subject. "I'm..."

"Fine," Abby finished for him. "Yeah, I know, I kinda figured you'd say that. Okay, I get it, you don't want to talk about it. That's also... fine." She huffed an ironic laugh. "Just as long as you're okay. I was worried... been worried for months about you." She finally made eye contact for longer than a few seconds and his breath caught at the expression he thought he could read there.

"I'm okay, Abbs. No need to worry." The look she threw him indicated she didn't believe him but thankfully, she didn't push him on it.

"Too late, I always worry about you. I can't help it, Gibbs," she told him softly. Abby turned partially to face him and he looked at her, really looked at her face for what seemed the first time in weeks, seeing the tiredness, the worry and strain, and felt another pang of guilt that he hadn't noticed it before now.

"I'm... fine, Abbs, really." He exchanged an ironic smile with her. "Beside, won't McGee wonder where you are?"

Gibbs couldn't resisting asking but dreaded the answer. He still felt guilty about taking his anger out on Abby earlier. As the day began to unravel around him, he'd blown up at her, accusing her of 'playing house' with McGee.

He saw her shoulders tense at his question and her tone turned defensive. "What's that supposed to mean, as if I didn't know? I don't let anyone dictate what I do, you should know that about me by now. Besides, it's just casual with Tim... or at least it is on my part." Abby turned away to lean against the bench beside him, sipping her drink and gazing thoughtfully into the distance.

"Just thought you'd prefer to be with him than checking up on a cranky old bastard like me."

He knew pushing her like this wasn't a good idea. She could clam up just as effectively as he could if she didn't want to talk about something. But it was like a fog was lifting from around him, both from Ari and his obsession, and fuelled by the sliver of hope he thought he could detect in Abby's words and eyes.

Gibbs saw her square her shoulders as if making a decision and her head came up and she looked at him, gaze suddenly determined, a spark deep in her eyes. "Maybe I prefer to be with that cranky bastard."

"You sure about that?" He held his breath. Abby could have anyone she chose, she was beautiful, bright, funny and sexy as hell. Why would she want him?

"Yeah, I'm sure. You've pushed me away enough the past few months, Gibbs." She couldn't hide the hurt that flashed across her face. "I just thought you might let me back in again now Ari is gone but maybe I got that wrong."

She of all people should know it wasn't that easy for him to let anyone in. She had to understand how much seeing her with McGee had affected him. "Thought I'd left it too late, that you'd moved on already, Abbs."

"Maybe you gave me no choice lately, Gibbs?" Abby's explosive temper soon flared. "Maybe I got tired of all the mixed signals from you... one minute hoping that what I was reading from you might be true, and the next minute thinking that I was mistaken and that you couldn't possibly want someone like me."

Oh, if only she knew. Well, tell her, Gunny, she' s not a mind reader.

He tried to interrupt but Abby steamrollered on. "So I decided I couldn't hang around forever waiting for you to remember that I existed... remember that the world didn't revolve around Ari Haswari."

"That why you were with McGee the other night?" Gibbs felt his own temper rising again; it had simmered too close to the surface all day to be easily quashed.

He was getting his own taste of mixed signals tonight... one minute seeing the spark of flirtation and desire from her that was achingly familiar, and then the next moment seeing that turn to anger and hurt.

He watched Abby pace, arms crossed over her chest, shoulders hunched. "I've been withMcGee, as you put it, for months, Gibbs... you overhead the end of our conversation today about my coffin, didn't you?" She stopped in front of him, anger suddenly draining away from her features and looked up at him, eyes shimmering. "I didn't think you wanted me... or I'd never have started a relationship with McGee."

"Oh, Abbs." Unable to help himself, Gibbs reached out to brush his hand over her cheek, itching to trace a familiar sign over her skin but wondering if she'd welcome it now.

"What did you expect me to do, Gibbs?" she asked him almost plaintively, leaning into his touch. "Wait for you forever when I didn't even know how you felt about me? I still don't..."

"No, Abbs, had no right to expect that." He stepped closer and tilted her chin up, wanting to kiss her but still holding back.

Too restless to stay still, she spun away from him and resumed her pacing, hands gesturing with half formed signs. "He's kind and attentive and he adores me. It's a hard combination for a girl to resist." The way she described him, it made McGee sound like a loyal retriever rather than a lover.

"Then why are ya here, Abbs, if you're now with McGee?" It hurt like hell to ask but he had to know where he stood. He knew Abby's free and easy approach to relationships. But he didn't share... not with anyone and especially when it came to someone as special as Abby.

"Because..." She hesitated and came to a stop in front of him again. "Because, Gibbs, I wanted to see if there was any point in me hanging on... for you." His heart sped up at her words and he rested his hands on her hips. "I know McGee wants me, and I know he wants a more serious relationship and I... I don't know if I want that with him..." She looked away, biting her lip, "Casual was enough for me with him."

"And McGee doesn't want casual?" Gibbs had some sympathy for McGee. No man could view a relationship with Abby as casual; she was addictive. For Gibbs, it would be all or nothing.

"I know he doesn't but I don't want what he wants. I don't wanna hurt him and I know I'm going to even if... even if there's nothing here between us." She looked up and seemed to realise how close he was, her eyes widening before she continued softly, "But I've gotta know, Gibbs. I've gotta know whether I'm wasting my time here, waiting for you."

That was enough.

Gibbs cupped her face in his hands and brushed a light kiss over her lips, feeling her sigh into his mouth as he lingered. "You're not wasting your time, Abbs."

She slid one hand around his neck, threading her fingers into his hair. "Good, coz I know you can feel this too."

She gestured between them and he instantly knew what she meant... the way his eyes would lock with hers and neither could look away... the way his pulse and heartbeat would react to her perfume... the way her nearness would steal his breath... the way her sultry voice would send a shiver straight down his spine to his cock... the way electricity sparked between them every time they were in the same room. Their chemistry was intoxicating.

"Oh yeah, I feel it." He nuzzled his way across her cheek and down her neck, feeling her shiver against him. "Always have."

He raised his head and took her mouth in a kiss that rapidly turned hungry and possessive. When he broke away, they were both breathing heavily and he rested his forehead against hers as he admitted, "Just been a bit distracted lately."

"Yeah, I noticed," her laugh was ironic. She stopped him as he bent to kiss her again, holding his shoulders and searching his eyes. "But I need to know if this is just a one-off casual thing for you, Gibbs, and then you'll push me away again, coz I don't think I could cope with that?"

He curled his hands on her hips, pulling her more firmly against him, wondering what she needed from him to convince her. "It's much more than that, Abbs, at least for me."

"Me too. It's you... it's always been you I've wanted, no one else." She seemed to find what she was looking for in his eyes for a blinding smile lit her face. "So... tell me what you want, Gibbs?"

He held her gaze, trying to convey what he felt. "You, and a second chance."

The end.

Chirugal's Note: Okay, that's season one all done and dusted! We'll be starting a new fic for season two, so if you want an alert when we post the first tag, add us to your author alerts now. :)