Chapter 11

Gibbs walked down the stairs to Abby's lab, needing the time to get his own emotions under control. He knew that they all thought he was an emotionless bastard but they were wrong, he had just learnt the skill of subduing them and not permitting himself to be led by them.But they were there and they hurt the same for him as for anyone. He missed Kate; he still heard the sound of the bullet in his sleep and often woke in a cold sweat in the dead of the night haunted by the events on the roof top, haunted by Kate's murder.

He entered the hallway next to Abby's lab without conscious thought and turned into her lab; as soon as he walked in he felt his control return and a smile flitter to his lips. Abby danced around her lab, head banging, hair swinging in time to the awful racket she called music, she hopped to one machine andtwirled to another, never noticing Gibbs standing in the doorway watching her.

Gibbs walked silently forward, making sure he stayed out of her line of sight, he paused by her desk and placed the caf pow on it, making sure it sat in full view, he then crossed behind her desk and blended into the shadows to await her reaction. He knew that this game he played with her was juvenile and silly but it was one of the things that kept him sane, Abby was one of the things that kept him sane and no way was he going to analyse why, he just accepted that it was true. And so when he needed a sanity fix he walked to the coffee shop and got two drinks and visited Abby.

He watched as Abby's head beat in time to the music, her lips moving in time too, but he was unable to hear her singing over the noise from the CD player, he smiled as her eyes caught the drink on her desk and she stopped mid turn, her head freezing on the down beat of her nodding head. He watched as she slowly straightened up a smile creeping up to her lips, her eyes searching the room for him, he noticed the way her nostrils flared slightly as if she was trying to smell him, the way her head turned so that her ear was cocked slightly, all the better to hear you with my dear he thought grinning to himself. He held his breath as her eyes scanned where he was, sure that she had seen him but her gaze skimmed past him and carried on its perimeter check for him. He waited till her back was too him and then he crept forward and snatched the cup away, crouching down behind the desk and moving away into a further corner before standing once again in the shadows, this time cast by one of her fridges.

He watched as she turned back to her desk and stopped again, he eyes narrowing, her grin growing wider, as once again she peered into the shadows.

Abby crept closer to her desk, knowing that he was near, her heart racing in time to the happy beat that it always seemed to have when he was near her, she hadn't figured out yet just what it was about Gibbs that made her want to smile whenever she saw him, but she knew she liked the feelings he generated in her.

Abby paused with her hands on her desk, knowing that she wouldn't find him until he wanted her to, and knowing that he was bound to creep up on her. She told herself she was ready for him, and yet she knew that she would still jump when he appeared, because she always did, no matter how many times she told herself he was standing behind her she was never ready for the jolt of electricity that passed from him to her.

Gibbs grinned as he stood behind an unawares Abby, who was craning her neck over her desk trying to see if he was behind it, he leant forward slightly, his arm reaching around her right side and as he placed the cup once more on her desk he blew in the left ear. Abby groaned and jumped, causing Gibbs to have to step back rapidly or have their heads come to blows

"No fair Gibbs" Abby moaned as she spun to face him, her hands reaching for the drink "I had my music on so couldn't hear you" she told him grinning as she happily sucked her drink through the striped straw.

Gibbs just watched her, an amused look on his face as he reached out to tuck a wayward lock of hair behind her ear.

Without saying a word Gibbs smiled at her and turned to leave the room, just as he tookthe firststep his phone rang and he reached into his pocket and pulled it out.

"Gibbs" he answered shortly

"Agent Gibbs, I wanted to offer my condolences on poor Kate" Ari Haswari murmured in his ear. Gibbs stopped, his whole body going still and cold

"Ari" was all Gibbs said in response, his voice cold and hard. He turned to face Abby and saw the look ofhorroron her face, but just as quickly it was replaced by determination and action, she leapt over to her computer and started to type furiously, trying to get a trace on Ari's location. Gibbs walked over to her desk and stood next to her, watching her fingers fly, admiring how quickly she had acted, expecting and accepting no less from her.

"What do you want?" He asked Ari calmly, calling on all his years of training not to betray his true emotions

"I have told you, I want to offer my condolences, it was unfortunate that Kate had to die, I really did like her" Ari said, his tone seemingly sincere.

"Then why kill her?" Gibbs asked back

"An unfortunate choice I am afraid, she was the one in the clearest line of fire, and one of you had to die" he told Gibbs, no remorse in his tone, just the cold hard truth.

Abby looked up at Gibbs and nodded to him, indicating that she nearly had him.

"Tell Abby better luck next time, and that I look forward to meeting her soon" Ari said, a grin in his tone as he hung up the phone.