Fate had been with Abby and Gibbs as nobody had entered the lab or had been calling in to search for Gibbs. Abby had comforted him and he had eventually asked her why she had done this.

"Are you mad at me, Gibbs?" Abby wanted to know, a bit frightened.

"No, Abs," Gibbs reassured her and he even managed a weak smile. "But I hadn´t expected you to react that way. You seemed to not like Hollis very much in the beginning."

"Well, when you first brought her down here, I didn´t. That´s right. Because I was afraid you would spend less time here at the lab and you wouldn´t be there for me to listen to my problems any longer."

"Did I do that, Abs?"

"No. And even if -- you and me, we are not in love, you know. We are friends. And as a friend, I would never want you to not be happy with someone you love. And Colonel Mann is okay. She is a boss, like you. Or was. She is used to giving orders. And I don´t have to love her. But she really is okay."

Gibbs loved Abby for her honesty and he was glad that she didn´t have anything against Hollis.

-x-

One day later Leroy Jethro Gibbs was waiting at Washington D.C. airport. The last flight from Hawaii for this day had only just landed a few minutes ago and his eyes were searching for Hollis. But he couldn´t see here anywhere among the passengers.

Someone tapped at his shoulder and he jerked around.

Hollis had sneaked up on him from behind. How she ever had been able to do that -- it didn´t matter now.

How should Gibbs have known, Hollis had taken an earlier flight just to be able to watch him for just a little while as he was waiting for her to arrive and to do what she had only just done. Sneak up on him.

And now, she was there. Right in front of him. Her sparkling eyes were filled with tears and when he took her in his embrace, he wasn´t able to hold his tears back any longer as well.

He kissed her with love and passion and relief.

People stopped to look at the couple, that was crying for joy for finally having found each other again.

Had the spectators known that this man seldom, if ever, showed his feelings, let alone with such intensity and in front of others, they would have been even more astonished than they already were.

-xxx-

The End

A/N: Now, what should I say? Thanks for reading it, thanks for liking it and thanks for all your wonderful reviews. Feels good to having been able to contribute to a nice day of yours.