Abby woke up the following morning with a complete feeling of calmness and happiness searing through her body when she remembered last night. Gibbs had been so gentle with her under the shower and they all had a blast with movie night. Staff had to walk in on a fairly regular basis and ask them if they could tone it down a little notch, mostly because of DiNozzo of course. He was so fully into his movie character impersonations, that he just didn't notice that he was being loud and to be honest? Fairly obnoxious as well. His team members didn't care, they were just happy to be alive and able to spend some quality time together.

When Ducky's gaze met Gibbs' adoring stare he chuckled. "Are you happy, Jethro?" he whispered in Gibbs' ear.

"You know what, Duck? I think I am..."

Ducky couldn't help but notice the hesitation in the voice of his protegé.

"You want to step outside and talk?" he asked.

Gibbs nodded and excused himself with Abby. "Be back in a second, sweetpea." He said as he softly kissed her on the lips.

Gibbs hadn't noticed that Abby had watched his interaction with Ducky. She hadn't been able to hear what the 2 had been saying to eachother in the business of the night, but she knew Gibb's body language well enough to know that something was bothering him.

"Are you okay?" she asked, panic rising up in her chest.

"I'm fine, Abs, don't worry. I'll be back as soon as I can." He smiled at her as he turned around and followed Ducky out of the room.

"So, Jethro. Let an old man hear what's on your mind and maybe he can offer you some sort of advice. What is it that makes you hesitate so much?"

"I don't know, Ducky. I love her with every fiber of my being, that is not the problem. I think the tension of the past couple of weeks is starting to get to me. The nightmares are horrendous and I'm always afraid that something will happen and I might lose her some day. I will not survive that, Duck." His voice was soft and filled with emotion.

"Poor lad..." Ducky put his arm around Gibbs' shoulder. "You both have a job in which danger is and always will be lurking. I can't guarantee you that nothing is ever going to happen to either of you. But are you really willing to push away the opportunity of true love and happiness over it? It will crush not only Abby, but you as well." He gazed softly at Gibbs.

"I know, but what if we can't get over this? I was so sure that Abby and I could work through anything and everything, but my nightmares keep getting worse and worse, and I'm sure that she's going to have her fair share of anxiety and fear as well when things calm down." Gibbs said as he shrugged his shoulders.

"And I, for one, am a thousand percent convinced that the both of you can work through it. And, if you ever need a safe space for a while, you can always come to me. You know that, right?" Ducky said, smiling. He felt awful from the inside, though. It hurt him so much to see his best friend and protegé so out of place, and he would do anything to help him.

"Thanks, Duck. I really appreciate that. Maybe we should get back inside."

"Yes, we should."

Abby laid there, watching the door, anxiously waiting for Gibbs to return.

"You need to tell me what's bugging you." she said as he came back and sat next to her on her bed. Her eyes were fixated on him as he tried to find the words to explain to her what was on his mind.

"I love you SO much, Abby." He started out while he tangled his fingers with hers. She saw that he was looking to find the right words and it was difficult for her to not interrupt him, but she knew that what he had to say was important. So she took one for the team and waited out his silence.

They both didn't notice that the other ones were ushered out of the room by Kate, who felt that they could use some alone time.

"But my nightmares are getting worse and worse and I am just so utterly terrified of something happening to you, that it is really hard for me at the moment to look at what we have going on and enjoy it."

Boom! Abby felt her stomach drop to her toes and tears stinging in her eyes.

Gibbs motioned her to scoot over and laid down besided her, wrapping his arm around her waist.

"And I'm sure that all that has happened in the past couple of weeks isn't easy on you either..." His voice trailed off as he nuzzled into her hair.

"No, it isn't. But I thought we were going to get through this. Together..." A silent tear rolled down her cheek.

Shoot! It had never been his intention to make her think that he was leaving her. He just wanted to ask her to be patient with him.

"Abby! Don't think for one second that we are not doing this together! He exclaimed. "Listen, of all the people walking around on this planet, YOU are the only one I want to do this with. I just want to ask you for some patience with me. You know how I deal with these kind of situations, I'm not always a delight to be around, but I don't want you to think you're at fault and blame yourself. Do I make myself clear?"

"Crystal, Boss."

He nudged her cheek softly with his nose. "I'm not your boss right now. I am your boyfriend and I am telling you that you are, and forever will be, my entire world. Don't ever think again that I can do this without you."

A sigh of relief escaped her mouth. "Is this what you were talking about with Ducky?" She asked.

"Yes, he offered me some fatherly advice and a safe space if I should ever need one. I'm guessing that if you aver need a break from me, he has the same safe space for you."

"That's good news. I'm sure I'll take him up on that offer pretty soon." She said, casually plucking some invisible crumbs off of the blanket and not looking at him.

He knew her well enough to know that she was trying to push his buttons, though. So he said nothing and just looked at her. His heart overflowing with a multitude of happy feelings right there in that moment.

"Is it time for a movie yet?" Tony stuck his head around the door to see if they could come back inside.

"Yeah, DiNozzo, let's see what movies you brought." Gibbs said as he gently kissed Abby's neck.