Chapter 13

Abby sat at home, the music turned down low, a soft rock Ballard playing instead of her usual all guns blazing style, but she hadn't felt like listening to the hard stuff tonight. Tonight she needed to calm her nerves and allay her fears and she wasn't afraid to admit that she was afraid. Gibbs had driven her home after work and had swept the apartment checking for anything out of place and also making sure that the security was in place. He had arranged for someone to come in earlier and install a state of the art alarm system that was connected not just to the police but also to his mobile phone, anything happened and Gibbs would be there to protect her. She grinned as she carried her red bull and vodka over to the window with her, peering out into the darkness and the dark car sitting out front. At first it looked as if it was empty but if you watched carefully enough you would catch a glimpse of a white coffee cup moving. She smiled and hugged herself secure in the knowledge that Gibbs was keeping watch. He had told her he was going home but that it wouldn't take him long to get here is anything happened, but Abby was nobody's fool and she knew Gibbs far better than most people and she knew without a doubt that he wouldn't leave her unprotected. She also knew that if she went down and invited him in he would refuse, it was just who Gibbs was. In her mind he was the ultimate protector, but one that didn't want anyone to know just how much he put into it, just how much he really did care, as far as Gibbs was concerned if you thought him an unfeeling bastard then he had done his job right, but Abby saw through him and knew the truth of just who Gibbs was.

Abby dropped the curtain back into place and headed for the kitchen and the coffee pot that was percolating. Sometimes you just had to ignore the rules that Gibbs lay down, and tonight was one of them.

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Gibbs sipped the last of his coffee and wished he had thought about bringing a thermos with him, it was the sort of thing that Kate would have made sure he had he thought sadly, he hadn't lied when he had told Tony that Kate couldn't be replaced, what he hadn't told Tony or anyone was just how much he missed Kate.

Gibbs moved slightly and watched Abby's window for a moment, the lights were blazing and he could imagine her sitting with her music blaring and her long red tipped fingers flying over her keyboard on some chat room thing, or talking with someone on that MI thingy she and McGee talked about sometimes. Gibbs sighed, thinking of the long night ahead of him. He had approached the director about arranging protection for Abby, but as Morrow had pointed out no direct threat had been made against Abby, and Ari was a patient man, if Abby was a target he might not act for months. Gibbs could understand the directors position but he knew he was wrong, Ari had mentioned Abby as a warning and it wouldn't be later it would definitely be sooner. Gibbs, Tony, Liz and McGee had all agreed to take it in turns to watch Abby's apartment at night, and Gibbs had opted for first duty and so here he sat at 11pm watching the quiet street on which Abby lived.

Gibbs hunched down slightly and pulled his coat closer around himself to ward of the approaching chill, he had a perfectly good car blanket on the seat next to him but he knew that the chill would help to keep him alert.

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Abby finished loading up the rucksack, looked around her kitchen to see if she had missed anything, satisfied that everything was packed away she grabbed her coat and rucksack and headed out the door. She waited by the elevator, idly watching the numbers above it ticking away, grinning as she did so, knowing that Gibbs was going to be pissed at what she was doing but not really caring.

Abby bounced from foot to foot, feeling like she had as a kid when she had snuck out of the house as a teenager, either to party or just to dig around the wreck yard. She moved the bag to the other shoulder and grinned. Gibbs wouldn't be pissed to long, not once he got a load of what was in the bag she thought happily, hating the idea that he was sitting out there in the cold, without fresh coffee or a warm meal.

Abby flicked her hair out of the way, as the elevator reached her floor and prepared to step into it as the doors opened, Abby paused as she went in, nearly colliding with the figure stepping out. Abby absently looked up a smile on her face, an apology on her lips, one that never made it out.

Abby's mind froze as she looked into the dark eyes that had stared at her so many times from Gibbs' computer screen.