To all of my readers out there, I apologize for taking soooo long to update my fics. I've been really bogged down at school and I've been neglecting my fics lately. But, if you decide that you still want to continue reading, here's the next chapter for TBB. Hope you guys enjoy it!

Disclaimer: Sadly, as much as I would love to, I don't own NCIS or DPB's wonderful characters.

Chapter 9- The Moment of Truth... Drumroll, Please

Everyone was standing around, processing what had just been said. Tony was staring daggers at McGee, who was looking like he wanted to shrink into his shoes and disappear. Kate was staring inquisitively at Tony, while Gibbs was looking questioningly at Ducky, who was taking in the while scene, looking not surprised in the least. It was if he had foreseen all of this.

As if on cue, down the stairs came Jimmy, dragging Abby, who looked like a little girl in pigtails who was being taken to the principal by the teacher after she had pushed another kid at recess.

"Something's hinky here Jimmy," Abby whispered.

"Yeah, well, you've started a revolution," Jimmy whispered back to her.

"What do you mea-" Abby started to say as they reached the bottom stair, but she was cut off by Gibbs.

"Get down here and explain yourself, or no more Caf-Pows!" Gibbs barked, looking as much like a Marine as he ever had in Desert Storm.

Abby stood up straight, fixed Gibbs with a withering stare (not quite as intimidating as his, of course), and bravely walked toward the "Boss man" and said, "Gibbs, no matter what you may say or do, and no matter how rough around the edges you are, and no matter how much you like to yell or smack people around on the back of their head, and no matter that you only give your people twenty minutes to do something that would normally take two hours, and no matter..." she was stopped short by a look from Gibbs that clearly said, "Get on with it...or else."

"–And no matter," Abby continued, "how good you are at staring...I know that you would never take away my Caf-Pows, because inside of that gruff Marine there is a sweet, loving, caring, romantic teddy bear. And that is why I decided to hook you up with Kate, who needs a man like you in her life. No offense," Abby said, turning to Kate, but that Mike guy you went out with a few months ago was totally disgusting. No to mention he needs to find a decent barber..." Abby trailed off. She knew that this wasn't the time to be criticizing Kate's choice of men in the past. 'Why focus on the past,' she thought, 'when the present is so exciting and the future is bound to be full of surprises?'

At Abby's last comment, Gibbs self-consciously touched his white-walled hair. He tried not to focus on the turmoil that was churning in his minda and his heart. Instead, he tried to focus all of his attention on the current star of the show, Abby, because what she was saying might have an impact to either change his future for the better– he would find out that the incident in the elevator wasn't just completely spontaneous and a one-time thing on Kate's part, that she actually mirrored the feeling that he had held in his heart for her for so long; or for the worse–rejection. He looked to Kate to see her reaction. It was the moment of truth.