~*Authors Note*~
"Hope you enjoy this FF so far, I can't help but add another chapter cuz I don't want to hold back this chapter too long - it feels nice to get lost in my OTP again. I missed this, anyway, here's another chapter. I hope you enjoy."
In Plain Sight
"...and worth killing for."
Those words echoed in Tony's mind as he continued to look at Gibbs who was still looking down at his family near the lake. Would he have really killed his friend to protect them? Tony quietly wondered. Would Gibbs really have shot him? No, he wouldn't have risked anyone hearing the shot... especially not Abby, he assured himself. He always shielded her from the horrors of their line of work and of course he would have not allowed her to hear a shot when she was with her kids. Maybe his throat would have been slit if he didn't say that he would promise to keep this between them. That would have been a possibly, Tony thought. He saw him take out enemies with a knife before and he was certain that he knew exactly how to end a life in a blink of an eye, if he wanted to. Would he have been dead before he knew it? Anthony continued to think.
Tony's emotions were everywhere. From fear when Eidson pulled the gun on him. To happiness when he met Gibbs then back to fear when he was threatened, now... it was everything from happiness to shock.
He continued to look at Gibbs, and watch his smile slowly fade to a gentle grin. Tony thought of Shannon & Kelly. They were gone. Gibbs wasn't with them when their lives were taken. There was nothing that he could have done to save their lives, because he was not there. Now, he had a second chance at life, at love? and at being a father. Tony didn't know if Gibbs would have killed him today, but he wasn't about to go down the road of 'what-ifs' at least not yet. Tony felt his heart slowly beat back to normal and he drew in a breath that caused Gibbs to turned to him slowly.
As soon as their eyes met, Tony let out a nervous chuckle.
"I don't know where to begin." Tony admitted.
Gibbs only smiled back.
"I guess..." Tony chuckled again. "I guess we were right though. If I found you, I would find Abby." Tony shook his head. "It's just... I wasn't expecting them." He said as he turned to watch Abby who had sat on a log and watch the kids play near her, still unaware that she had a captive audience.
"Wasn't expecting them too... we both weren't." Gibbs replied quietly as he too looked back down at them.
Tony ran his hand through his hair and faced Gibbs with a wide grin. "When, how..." He stammered.
"I think you know how." Gibbs chuckled as he turned to Tony.
"Stupid question." Tony laughed. "How old are they?" He asked beaming at his friend with excitement and disbelief.
"Both gonna be four soon." He replied.
"Twins?" Tony smiled, as he thought back to all those years ago when he walked in on Abby telling McGee that she was pregnant with twins and she hadn't tell the father yet, who was Gibbs. A joke to see if Tim was listening to her, but now it was a strange twist of fate that she would in fact have twins all these years later for him.
Gibbs only smiled.
That's when Tony saw it. Saw what he had completely forgot about. The scar. Without hesitation he stepped close to the Marine and reached for his shirt collar, which caused Gibbs to step back a bit.
"Hold up..." Tony trailed off as he tugged down the collar to see a light thin scar run down Gibbs's neck down toward his collar bone. So light, that he had missed it before.
"What?" The gunny asked a bit annoyed as he swiped his hand away from him.
Tony smile grew brighter. "A cute carpenter with a scar on his neck." He simply replied as he looked at where they stood. He had missed it all before. He was too focused on Gibbs to even notice that they were standing on a patio connected to the cabin. He laughed as he looked from the patio out toward Abby and at the scenery all around them. The majestic mountain range and the bright blue lake below.
"A view that you would give up the world for..." Tony chuckled.
"What?" Gibbs asked, confused.
He ignored Gibbs and looked at the door of the cabin. Two doors that could open to bring the beauty of the outdoors inside. He peaked in through the windows and laughed at blueish rug that lay on the floor of the living room. A baby blanket and a few stuffed animals lay on it. Quickly he looked back at Gibbs who was watching him in confusion. He took note of the color of his eyes then looked at the rug then back at Gibbs.
"...a blue rug that made me think of Gibbs for some reason." Tony laughed as he pressed his face up against the window to see random bookshelves that lined the walls of the cabin. Unable to contain his excitement he whipped around to Gibbs, who seem so confused by this point.
"Are those your books?" Tony asked.
"Yeah-" Gibbs slowly replied.
Tony couldn't hold back the excitement as he hugged Gibbs and just as quickly let him go.
"A closet nerd..." He trailed off as he looked at the still very confused Marine.
"DiNozzo, you okay?" He asked
Tony shook his head. "She was telling us; she was telling us everything."
"What-" Gibbs was cut off.
"Abby, she told us about this place. Not about you or her, but about this... all this!" Tony said as he looked down at Abby. "That's her crew!" He laughed as he pointed at the small kids that played at Abbys feet.
Gibbs chuckled as he made his way around Tony. "Want to meet them?" He asked.
Tony's excitement came to a halt as he froze and looked at Gibbs, who was now closing the small patio gate behind him. Those words felt like a head slap to him. "Uh... yeah." He managed to breathe.
"Wait here." Gibbs replied and stopped as he looked at the gun and knife that still lay on the railing. "You can put that away, while I go get them." He said calmly as he made his way down the path that led to the lake.
Those words brought this surreal moment to life. He was moments away from meeting Gibbs's son & daughter. Abby's son & daughter. Gibbs and Abby's son & daughter. Something he never imagined he would ever find himself doing. This couldn't have been real, he thought as he watched Gibbs get closer to the lake. It couldn't be real and yet there they were. There he was, there she was with her kids. There they played, unaware of how much their parents lives seemed so different that the possibility of them ever being together in this way was impossible. Not next to impossible, but literally impossible. It just couldn't happen but there they were.
Impossible that two friends would risk their friendship for this. Tony let out a shaky breath. What about the rules? He wondered. What happened to them or did they not apply to her? How did this happen. Did they meet on a dark rainy night four years ago, had a few drinks and the next found out they were going to be parents? Did they drink at his place and while intoxicated on bourbon did things lead one thing then another then... Tony watched in silence as a dozen possibilities flashed through his mind. Gibbs had to be drunk or impaired in some way for this to have happened, DiNozzo concluded. Because he would have never allowed himself to be so vulnerable with her or would he? Would the walls he built around his heart and fortified with rules come crashing down for her? He couldn't imagine Gibbs giving into desire and allowing himself to risk it all for her. He would have found a million excuses to not be distracted by her or to get so intimate with her… or did he give into her without putting up a fight? He couldn't believe it but he was contemplating every scenario where Gibbs would have done anything to prevent this from happening and yet, he was looking at the proof that Gibbs had allowed a intimate relationship between him and Abby to occur.
"This can't be happening," he breathed as he watched Gibbs get even closer to his family.
They had to have been drunk, right? Tony asked himself again. Gibbs was always so closed off, except for the times she was around. He always gave in for her. He was a fortress barricaded behind no nonsense behavior. A professional. A Special Agent. A Marine. A sniper. All the things that screamed resiliency, but the girl with tattoos must have been his weakness. But he was Gibbs, the kind of person who rarely showed emotions. Always hidden. Always a mystery. Always his way or no way at all... but, when she came into the mix his walls crumbled. Tony smiled, knowing he saw it a couple of times for himself. Saw how his glare didn't work on her. Times when she matched it instead. How he took a break from a case and walk across the Navy Yard in any weather to get his coffee and her Caf-Pow! This fearless Marine would face down any enemy without showing any flicker of fear, but when it came to her. Tony saw fear in his eyes if there was a chance, she was ever in danger.
He thought back to when Mikel was stalking her, when she was taken right from under their noses. He saw fear on Gibbs's face that day when they went to find her. He thought about it. Were they together then? Did they get together after he found out about Tali and moved away? Did they get together after she left? So many questions were swirling in Tony's mind as he watched Abby look up and smile as her daughter went running to her father. Smiling he watched the scene unfold in front of him. The twins were a bit older than when he first met his own daughter, Tony noted. His breath shuddered as he watched the little boy run after his sister toward their father. They knew him. They must have spent time with him long before he left NCIS, Tony came to the conclusion as he watched Abby's smile radiated while she watched Gibbs pick up their daughter.
"How the fuck did we miss this?" Tony whispered to himself.
In one fluid movement Gibbs bent down a bit to the level of his daughter and just as she came rushing into his arms, he swooped her up, making her giggle at the swarm of tiny butterflies that suddenly filled her tummy. Smiling Gibbs placed a kiss on her cheek and laughed as one of his legs were now captured by tiny arms. Looking down he smiled at his son that clung onto him.
"Daddy..." His daughter whispered next to his ear as she nuzzled into his him.
Smiling Abby got up from the fallen tree she had been sitting on. "Did it come in?" She asked.
"At the house." He simply replied as he reached out for her hand and pulled her toward him.
She didn't fight him. Lazily she crashed into him and allowed herself to be captured in a soft lingering kiss.
"No-" Their daughter groaned as her small hands pushed her dad away from her mom.
Smiling Gibbs allowed the only boss he answered to these days have her way. Abby giggled as she placed a quick kiss on his cheek that caused her daughter to whine.
"Noo, mommy." She warned.
Gibbs looked at those sleepy blue-green eyes and turned back to Abby. "Someone's tired." He pointed out.
"Yeah..." Abby breathed as she looked down at their son. "In other news, someone found another rock for his garden that he still calls acorns." She smiled.
Looking down at his son who was still hanging tightly onto his leg he smiled. "Chipmunk." He said quietly that caused the same blue green colored eyes to look up at him with a shy smile.
Abby smiled at their interaction. These small moments are what she lived for these days. Tiny snippets of time that would live forever in her heart and memories.
"Abbs..." Gibbs breathed, that brought her out of her thoughts.
"Mmm?"
"Someone's been looking for you." He replied.
"Who?"
Smiling Gibbs looked up toward the cabin, which she followed with her gaze. He heard her take in a small but audible gasp.
"Is that..." Her voice started to crack.
"Tony." He finished for her. He smiled as tears filled her eyes while her smile grew. "Go, I'll take the kids." He assured her. She didn't hesitate as she darted up toward the cabin.
Tony couldn't help but feel emotional as he watched his friend run toward the cabin. His chest tightened as he drew in the brisk Alaska air. His heart fluttered knowing that he didn't have to worry about her or her whereabouts anymore. She was here, living her life just as his wife had told him. Abby wasn't missing at all, simply missed... by him.
He heard the pebbles shuffle beneath her feet as she came up rushing up to the patio gate. Hair a mess and her emerald eyes darken with happy tears, her chest rose and fell as she tried to hold back her tears.
"Hey stranger." Tony said as he walked up the closed patio gate that kept her on the other side.
She couldn't speak.
Smiling as tears of his own filled his eyes, he reached over the other side of the railing; pulled her into a tight hug and dragged her over the waist-high gate that kept them separated. Abby laughed as she clumsily was pulled over. She clung onto him and let her tears fall. They swayed as they hung onto each other, both shedding tears as they did. A part of him was worried that something terrible had happened to her all this time and he had started to believe it but as soon as he held her in his arms, all sense of dread was gone. He placed a kiss on her cheek that only caused her to laugh and hug him tighter.
"I was so worried Abbs. I thought something happened to you because you stopped calling and emailing us... I was freaking out. But all this time you were up here playing house with boss man." He smiled.
Abby laughed as she pulled away from him and saw that he too was crying happy tears. Quickly she wiped her tears and attempted to catch her breath from the excitement. Smiling she looked down at her Gibbs carrying their daughter while holding their sons' hand as they slowly made their way up toward them.
"Crazy huh." She giggled as she wiped another stray tear that streamed down her face.
"What's crazy?" They heard a voice come from the side of the cabin.
Quickly they both turned their attention to that familiar voice.
"Ziva?!" Abby screamed as she darted toward the small gate and threw it open and instantly wrap her up in a one of those infamous overly energized Abby hugs.
Tony was shocked to see his wife here. Quietly he watched as she too was smothered by Abby. A smiled tugged at his lips as Abby rocked her forcibly side to side that made Ziva laugh.
"I missed you, Abby." Ziva said, her voice muffled by Abby's arms that wrapped tightly around her.
The tears Abby had just wiped away came gushing back. "Missed you too, Ziva!" She replied.
Smiling Ziva forced herself free from the clutches of the very excited and very different Abby. Pulling back she looked Abby up and down. She had a pair of boots on, but not the usual kind of boots Abby wore, Ziva noted. A pair of worn blue jeans that had little smudges of mud on them. A blue button shirt that she could have sworn she saw somewhere before and her beautiful jet black hair hung around her glowing face. She seemed grown up, dressed like this. She seemed to have aged a bit too but that same bubbly personality was still there, yet it seemed a bit more turned down than the normal 'volume' she had it dialed up at before.
"How have you been?" Ziva asked.
Before Abby could reply Tony cleared his throat that drew her attention away from Abby.
"We need to talk about what the hell you're doing here and who is with Tali, but..." Tony trailed off with a smile.
"What?" Ziva asked.
Tony didn't reply, instead, he pointed behind her. Slowly Ziva turned to see Gibbs just feet from her carrying a little girl with dark brown hair and holding the hand of a small boy who shyly walked next to him.
Abby and Tony smiled at her stunned reaction. Her eyes big and confused she looked on as Gibbs smiled at her as he came close.
"Ziver..." he said quietly as he placed a kiss on her cheek as he walked past.
"You kiss her and you pull a gun on me?" Tony shot at Gibbs who only smiled as he handed his daughter over to Abby, who looked at Gibbs with an expression that demanded answers as to why he pulled a gun on Tony. An explanation that could wait, for now, she noted.
"Mommy... sleepy." The little girl mumbled tiredly as she wrapped her arms around Abby's neck.
Ziva's mouth went dry. "Mommy?" She breathed.
Abby only giggled and she held her daughter.
"Are you a mom, Abby?" Ziva asked, but didn't get an answer because the quietest of voices caught all their attention.
"Da, da, daddy?" The little boy stumbled through his words tiredly.
"Daddy?" Ziva said in utter disbelief.
Gibbs didn't answer instead he knelt down to his son until he was level with him. Tony moved over to Ziva as they watched him sign something in ASL to his son, which caused the little boy to smile. That's when Tony saw the small earpiece that was tucked behind one of the little boy's ears. In silence, Gibbs's son handed him three small pebbles that cause him to smile and fall into the arms of his father.
Ziva's eyes filled with tears as she watched the small interaction. She looked up at Abby who smiled at her. "I have so much to tell you, Ziva."
"Yes, yes... you do." Ziva managed to say.
Picking up his son, Gibbs looked at Tony and Ziva, "No place to stay in town, so you can stay with us." He said before he walked to the double doors and opened it and entered.
Abby smiled at them as she followed Gibbs and their son into the cabin with her daughter sleepily draped in her arms.
"How did we miss, all this?" Ziva breathed while she still tried to piece everything together as she watched the family inside settle into their home.
Tony wrapped his arm around her waist. "I have no fucking idea." He chuckled.
He looked up at the tall trees that surrounded the cabin. Saw the tiny specs of stars turning on in the velvet sky. He looked down toward the lake then back to the Gibbs who was building fire inside, while Abby sat on the rug with her kids. Another smile pulling at his lips he quietly asked:
"Do you think this just happened or do you think it was always there... hidden, in plain sight?"
~*Next Chapter*~
"21 & In Love"
"Not sure how long I'll make this FF, but I'll pause here for a moment to allow you to catch up and lmk what you think. Hope you enjoy this FF so far... I am enjoying writing it. The nostaliga is giving me GABBY feels for sure."
TGE
