Chapter 12

Ari watched as they entered the room, their reflections mere shadows on the glass of the window he stared out of. He had known that they would come for him sooner of later. At it appeared as if sooner was the option.

"Hello Ari" Jules Therese murmured as she crossed to stand beside him, her gun held casually in her hand. "It seems we have a slight problem" she informed him softly, a gleam in her eyes that could have been amusement or pleasure, Ari wasn't sure which but he recognised it was one he would have used in this situation.

"Do you?" he murmured softly, not turning from his perusal of the city below him. He watched as the other shadows that had accompanied Therese moved forward slightly, there guns trained on his back.

"Oh I wouldn't say I have really, I was just being polite, but you certainly have." She informed him with a smile of pure hatred.

"And what problem is that then?" Ari murmured, his voice soft and sensual, as he turned to stare at Therese.

"Me" she smiled at him, moving closer and pressing her body against his, her lips mere inches from his ear, her breath caressing it. "And what I'm going to do to you" she whispered, her gun hand reaching up and caressing his hair, the small black automatic brushing through his hair. "I'm going to kill you slowly" she whispered as her lips brushed his ear lope. "And then I'm going to finish off Gibbs, so that you get the glory for it." She finished as she moved away from him, her hand suddenly moving fast, aiming the butt of the gun at his head. Ari reacted faster, dodging his head back and grapping her arm, using it to pull her against his body. He heard the click of the other guns trained on him and grinned as his lips ground into Therese's in a punishing yet sensual kiss, before pushing her away.

"So be it" Ari murmured softly, an almost fatalistic smile on his face. He turned to the two men in the shadows and smiled at them before turning back to Therese. "I don't see any silencers, so you don't plan to kill me here" he said softly making his way to the door, pausing as he reached it. "After you my love" he murmured to the woman staring at him in suspicion.

Jules Therese motioned her companions to follow, all three of them placing there weapons in there pockets, keeping them trained on Ari as they entered the hallway of the hotel that Ari had been using as his base. Ari and Therese walked side by side, her arm linked in his as if they were lovers, the other two men following on behind.

As they reached the elevator and headed for the underground car park Ari bent his head and nibbled in her ear "What am I supposed to have done?" he whispered into her ear, so that other passengers in the elevator didn't hear him.

Therese turned into his body, her arms snacking around his neck as her mouth met his "Warned Gibbs" she whispered into his mouth as she intensified the kiss, her tongue meeting his and then withdrawing, his tongue following into her mouth. Therese then bit down on it hard.

Ari pushed her away, his hand reaching out and wiping the blood from his mouth

"You bitch" he whispered as he pulled her closer to him again, his eyes shooting hatred at her, hers laughing at him in silent triumph.

"Remember that" she warned him as they excited the elevator and headed for a dark blue Mercedes. Ari just grinned as he climbed into the back of the car, his grin staying in place as the car drove off. Everything was going to plan, he thought to himself, his grin faltering just a fraction as he thought of what that might actually mean, before he lent back and relaxed into the leather of the rear seat, a smile of supreme confidence replacing his grin.

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Gibbs stood staring at his boat, his ears tuned to the sounds coming from upstairs. It felt as if his home had been invaded and he didn't like it at all, he had looked forward to spending the evening alone with Abby. There was no way he was admitting it but he still felt very woozy and slow. And whilst he was starving, food just didn't sit well in his stomach at the moment, in fact even his coffee tasted funny, which was doing little to improve his mood.

"Hey Gibbs" he heard Liz say quietly from the top of the stairs, "Is this the famous boat I have heard so much about then?" she asked as she slowly and carefully descended the concrete stairs.

"No it's a new car" Gibbs muttered turning to glare at Liz, hoping she would get the message, knowing she would ignore it.

"Feeling better I see" she retorted back with a grin, Gibbs sighed and sipped his coffee, grimacing at the taste of it and the effect it had on his stomach. Liz walked over and handed Gibbs a foul looking liquid. "Abby said I was to make sure you drank it all" Liz said as Gibbs stood staring at the liquid.

"Abby can go to…" Gibbs started to say only to have Liz override his voice

"Ah ah ah, its this or the hospital" she warned him with a big grin "and your unarmed" she added on noticing the look he shot her, one that would have felled lesser men, but not this petite woman.

Gibbs glared at her then at the liquid, his eyes narrowing thoughtfully trying to find a way to ditch it.

"Me or Abby" Liz said correctly interpreting the look, "and I bet she wouldn't hesitate to hold your nose" she warned him. Gibbs growled and downed the liquid in one go, almost gagging on the taste of it. He struggled for breath as the liquid coursed its foul way down to his stomach.

"That damn Doctor would love seeing this" he muttered as he finally found his voice again. Gibbs swung around and grabbed a wood plane from his tools hanging over his work bench.

"Fornell can't track Writer down, she seems to have gone to ground" Liz said as she crossed over to peruse his tools, "Don't you have any electric to…"

"…no I damn well don't" Gibbs growled before she could finish her sentence "Any clues as to why she did it?" he continued in the next breath.

"Nope, not yet" Liz replied thoughtfully, glancing up as she heard a noise on the stairs. Seeing Abby walking down she smiled at her friend and headed towards the stairs, making her way up them when Abby reached the bottom. She paused halfway up, turning to peer over the banister rail.

"I'll clear everyone out" she said softly looking at Abby, knowing that Abby was going to tell Gibbs about her meeting with Ari earlier. She smiled reassuringly at her friend, receiving a smile in return and a wink. Liz walked up the remainder of the stairs grinning, knowing that if anyone could handle Gibbs then it was Abby.

She reached the Kitchen to find Tony and McGee sitting at the table eating the brownies that Abby had baked earlier.

"Ducky gone home?" she asked around a mouthful of the last brownie left on the plate.

"Yeah, and that was my Brownie, me and Probie had a system" Tony complained watching as Liz finished the Brownie off before wiping her hands on Tony's shirt.

"That was you and McGee, not me" she said smiling at the look of disgust on his face, as he pulled his shirt away from his chest looking for chocolate stains.

"We better get going too" she said as she reached over McGee to get her jacket off the chair beside him.

"Why? Abby has more brownies in the oven" Tony declared, sniffing appreciatively at the smell emanating from the oven "Didn't know that the lab rat was such a good cook" he said with admiration.

"Why?" Liz said repeating his question back at him "Because any minute now your going to hear busy bonking noises" she said smiling sweetly at him, laughing at the look of confusion that suddenly turned to comprehension. She burst into a full throated laugh as both Tony and McGee grabbed their coats, looking at the stairs in fear as if she had just told them a three headed dragon was coming up the stairs.

"Take it that means you don't want to stay for the brownies?" Liz called after the two fleeing agents, as she bent to turn the oven off, knowing that Abby wouldn't be getting back to them anytime soon. Gibbs was either going to kill her for not telling him about Ari earlier or Abby really was going to bonk Gibbs's brains out, as she had told Liz was her plan.

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Abby walked over to the cup on the side and grinned at Gibbs

"Good boy" she crooned as she crossed over to his waiting arms.

"You made it taste foul on purpose" he scolded her with a grin, his arms wrapping her securely in his embrace

"I would never do that to you," Abby laughed lifting her head up and gently placing her lips on his as her arms wrapped around his waist.

Abby leaned into the embrace as Gibbs deepened the kiss, his tongue gently parting her lips and finding its way into the warmth of her mouth. She allowed her own tongue to gently spar with his, unconsciously pressing her body further into his, her breasts tightening at the sensation his mouth was creating all over her body. She felt his hands gently rub her back before sliding down to cup her buttocks, sensuously moulding and kneading them before he pulled her up and into his body. Abby felt her feet leave the floor and wrapped her legs securely around Gibbs's waist, the action rocking her pelvis against him. She groaned at the sensation that flooded her already heightened senses. They both gasped for breath as their lips parted, but Abby wanted more and dropped her mouth to his neck, using her tongue to push away the collar of his soft shirt, before using her teeth to nip at his neck. Gibbs angled his head to allow her better access, propping his body against the shell of his boat, his hands tightening on her buttocks, his fingers gently caressing them as he pulled her tighter into his body.

"Please" Abby whispered wanting, needing more. Gibbs smiled at her, more than ready to give her what she wanted.

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Gibbs cradled Abby in his arms, both breathless and panting, their bodies still joined intimately. He watched as she stretched her body like a cat, grinning at the way she peeked at him under her lashes.

"Wow, for an old man you rock" she whispered against his shoulder, as she laid her head on him, her eyes filled with love and mischief, as she settled herself comfortably against his naked body.

After a few moments of leaning into each other and the boat, Gibbs slowly disentangled their bodies, quickly scooping Abby up into his arms and heading up the cold concrete stairs to the kitchen.

"I hope Liz did get rid of everyone, or Tony's in for a show along with his brownies" Abby laughed as they reached the top of the stairs. She laid her head against Gibbs's chest so she could feel the rumble of laughter rising from him.

"The look on his face would be worth it" Gibbs laughed at Abby, kicking the door open and striding into the empty kitchen. He carried on into the living room, heading for the stairs. He carried Abby tenderly up to their bedroom, and gently placed her on the bed, before pulling the blanket up and tucking it around her.

"Shouldn't I be looking after you?" Abby queried as she sat up, pulling the blanket up and crossing her legs, loving the way Gibbs moved with such confidence, his toned and strong body rippling in the soft light.

"Next time you can carry me upstairs, your getting heavy" he told her as he crawled into the bed beside her, pulling her into his arms and cuddling her against his body once more.

They lay like that for a while, each listening to the others heart beat, both just enjoying the closeness for awhile.

Sometime later Gibbs gently disentangled himself from Abby and lent up on one elbow to peer down at her.

"So are you going to tell me what you have done?" he asked gently, knowing from the way she had been acting that she had done something major.

Abby lay there looking up at Gibbs, wondering how he always knew what others were thinking and how he managed to keep quiet about things until he was ready to spring it on you. She reached up and ran her hand through his thick greying hair and smiled at him.

"I was going to downstairs but you distracted me" she told him primly. Watching as his blue eyes darkened slightly in memory. "I was going to seduce you afterwards so that you didn't kill me" she told him with a grin, "but you beat me too it"

Gibbs smiled down at her before dropping a kiss on her nose.

"Well?" was all he said, his voice taking on his usually tone of impatience. Abby sighed and rolled over, before sitting up and crossing her legs, tucking the blanket around her breasts primly.

"I saw Ari today" she said softly, looking down at the bed, watching Gibbs through the curtain of her thick black hair.

Gibbs remained still for a moment, his face a blank mask before he fell onto his back, his hand falling across his eyes for a moment as he tried to control his anger and hatred.

"And?" he muttered as he got up and paced the room like and caged angry tiger.

"He said she was his" she told him, watching him wearily. Gibbs turned and stared at her for a long moment, his eyes narrowed and cold, his eyes assessing her body as if checking for injuries or damage.

"Damn it" he muttered harshly as he spun around and headed for the bathroom. Abby watched him go, before getting up and heading for the wardrobe for clean clothes as she heard the shower running.