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As Abby began cleaning up the living room, there was a soft knock at the door. It wasn't his usual knock, but Abby knew it had to be Gibbs. She rushed to the door and opened it without pausing to look through the peep hole. The moment the door was open, she threw herself at him, wrapping her arms tightly around him and burying her face against his neck. "Gibbs!"

"Hey," he hugged her tight and pressed his nose to her ear before pulling away. "Everything okay here?"

"Yeah, she fell asleep on the couch." Abby nodded to the sleeping girl. "I was just cleaning up and then I was going to put her in my bed."

"I'll move her, you put the pizza away." Gibbs pointed to the open pizza box on the coffee table.

Abby watched him lift the small girl and carry her down the hall to her bedroom. She then gathered up the remaining pizza and put it in the fridge. When Gibbs found her in the kitchen, she nodded at the coffee maker. "You want coffee?"

"No." He stepped past it, and pulled her against him. "I want you."

"I was so worried it was you, that you had been hurt." Abby pressed onto her toes and kissed him.

"I'm fine, Abbs. It's all over now. When I left, Diane was talking to Tony, telling him everything."

"Wasn't she hurt?"

"Yeah, but not seriously, they'll get her into surgery tonight at some point, and then she'll be brought in and questioned at NCIS."

Abby nuzzled his neck. "I'm just glad it's over."

"Me too." Gibbs pressed his lips to her forehead and then pulled her out to the living room. He sat on the couch and pulled her down next to him, and then pulled the large blanket from the back of the couch over them.

Abby leaned into him, kissing along his neck and jaw – any inch of skin she could reach.

Gibbs gripped her chin and tilted her face to his so that he could kiss her again - slow and deliberate.

Abby melted against him, her relief showing up in an over abundance of emotion as she struggled to keep the tears from falling.

As soon as he realized she was crying, he pulled her onto his lap and hugged her tight, silently enjoying the way she curled around him, maximizing their bodily contact. She sobbed, with her face pressed against his neck, as he ran a hand up and down her spine.

"I've got you, Abbs. Everything will be okay."

"I know." Abby sniffed and pulled away as the tears subsided, I just couldn't help myself. The past few weeks have been so… so scary, and I just…" she shrugged. "I just couldn't hold it in anymore."

"You don't need to hold it in for my sake."

"I know, I just… I'm not usually a sobbing mess."

"You're not a mess."

"Your shirt is." Abby pointed to where her tears had wet his shirt.

Gibbs let out a soft chuckle and pulled her in close again. Gibbs reached out and clicked off the light on the end table, and they sat quietly in the dark, only the sound of their breathing keeping them from complete silence.

"Abbs?"

"Yeah?"

"That night, when I was sick, I didn't think you were Shannon. I knew who you were, and I wanted you. You should know that."

"But you said…" Abby shook her head. "It, it doesn't matter, Gibbs. You were poisoned and… it's okay."

"I had seen her earlier. It was Ducky that put the two together, not me."

"I-"

"And the bruising? I need to know how that happened." His fingers traced over her ribs.

"Oh," Abby had forgotten that he had seen the bruise. "It's nothing. I was just a little clumsy-"

"Abby," Gibbs could tell when she was lying. "I'm remembering bits and pieces from when I was drugged. Did I… did I hurt you?"

"What? No, you didn't hurt me." Abby hugged herself closer to him.

"I pushed you?" Gibbs waited for an answer. "Abby?"

"You got up really fast from my chair, and I wasn't expecting it, so I sort of fell to the side, and…"

"I pushed you out of the way." It was still a bit of a blur, but he vaguely remembered pushing past her. He felt sick to his stomach at the thought of having physically harmed her.

Abby could feel his whole body tensing as he confirmed it for himself that he had pushed her. "You didn't do it on purpose, Gibbs. It's okay, it didn't even hurt that much. I'm okay, really."

Gibbs took a deep, slow breath.

Abby cupped his face and made him look at her through the dark. "You didn't hurt me, Gibbs." She pressed a kiss against his lips, sighing happily when he kissed her back and she felt the tension drain from his body.

As her eyes grew heavy, they shifted so that they were lying side by side on the couch, snuggled up under the blanket, Abby's back pressed firmly to Gibbs' chest. "When this is all over," Abby yawned, "we're taking a day off, a whole day." She yawned again. "And I'm not letting you out of bed at all."

"I could live with that," Gibbs nuzzled the soft area of skin behind her ear.

"I hope so. You might think I'm kidding, but I'm not." Abby pulled his arm tighter around her waist.

"Sleep Abbs, I'll be here when you wake up." Gibbs pressed his lips to her ear. "Oh, and Abbs?"

"Hmm…?"

"I meant what I said earlier. I love you."

"I love you too." Abby closed her eyes and let sleep claim her. He wasn't going anywhere.

Abby woke to the sound of giggles the next morning. Before she opened her eyes she could tell she was alone on the couch, but judging by the smell of coffee, Gibbs hadn't gone far.

"I think she's waking up," Emily whispered.

"Oh?"

"Yeah." Abby heard child-size feet race across the floor toward the kitchen. "Are the pancakes ready?"

"Mm hmm."

Abby opened her eyes in time to see Emily coming back to wake her up. "We made breakfast!"

"You did?" Abby pushed the blanket aside and stretched her arms up over her head. She followed Emily into the kitchen and toward the wonderful smell of pancakes, coffee and Gibbs. She wrapped her arms around Gibbs' middle and pressed her cheek to his back. "Morning."

"Sleep well?" Gibbs dished up three plates of pancakes – two plates with Mickey Mouse shaped pancakes and one plate with regular.

"Yeah. You?"

"Was a little crowded, but otherwise…"

"Hey!" Abby dug her fingers into his side, making him laugh. She pressed a quick kiss to the back of his neck and then stepped away. "Emily, would you like milk or juice with breakfast?"

"Milk, please."

Abby handed her a handful of napkins and urged her toward the table and then lowered her voice. "Have you called the hospital?"

Gibbs nodded. "He's fine. Sharon is picking him up this afternoon at one. I told him we'd drop Emily off at three."

"Diane?"

Gibbs peered around Abby to be sure that Emily wasn't close enough to hear. "I spoke to DiNozzo earlier, she'll be fine physically, but she's a mess. I guess she-" Gibbs stopped as Emily stepped into the kitchen. "Hungry?"

"Very!"

"I see you two got a little creative." Abby pointed to the Mickey Mouse pancakes.

"It took a few tries. Been a long time since I've make Mickey Mouse pancakes."

Abby accepted her plate when Gibbs handed it to her, and then wrapped an arm around him. "I appreciate it."

They carried their plates to the table and Emily told Gibbs about the fun things that she and Abby had done the night before; playing wii, eating pizza and ice cream and watching her favorite movie.

"Maybe, if you ask super nicely, Gibbs will play wii with you while I clean up after breakfast. But I haven't gotten him to play with me yet, so you'll have to ask very, very nicely."

Emily's eyes lit up and she looked at Gibbs. "Uncle Gibbs? Would you pretty please play wii with me?"

"I…" Gibbs glanced at Abby and then back at Emily. "I… I don't know how to play. Maybe I'm better off watching you two play."

"It's super easy, I promise. I can teach you!"

"Plus, you cooked breakfast, so I should clean." Abby bat her eyelashes at him.

"Alright." It wasn't often that Gibbs let his guard down, but in front of Abby he didn't mind showing his softer side. "But I'm warning you, Emily. I play to win."

Emily shrieked with delight and pushed away from the table to run to the living room and switch on the wii.

"I guess I better go make good on my threat." Gibbs folded his napkin and went after the little girl.

Abby smiled as she watched Gibbs listen intently as Emily explained the basics of the games they were going to play – a collection of sports games. It wasn't often she saw Gibbs so relaxed, and she wondered if way back when, back when he had Shannon and Kelly, if that was how he was all the time. She wondered if he played games and chased them both around the house when they teased him. She watched a few minutes before returning her focus to the dirty dishes. The entire time she loaded the dishwasher she listened to Emily's giggles, and Gibbs' pretend curses. She dried her hands on the dish towel and went to see if she could join the fun.

"You guys sound like you're having too much fun out here."

"Abby! He's sooo bad, you have to play against him. You'll totally win."

"Is he?" Abby's eyes widened as she pretended to be surprised. "Well, how can I turn down a chance to beat the boss?"

Emily eagerly handed over her controller and flopped down on the couch to watch. "Come on, Abby. Girls rule!"

"I think I'm a little outnumbered, not sure if that's legal."

Abby won without much of a challenge and Gibbs pretended to pout and let Emily console him. "It's okay, Gibbs. You can't will them all." She patted his arm gently and then jumped off the couch to join Abby in front of the TV.

It wasn't until mid-afternoon that Gibbs drove Abby and Emily to Fornell's house. Sharon answered the door and Emily hugged her before rushing inside in search of her father.

"How is the miserable old bastard?"

"Gibbs!" Abby elbowed him in the stomach and held up a bag of Chinese food. "We brought some food for you guys."

"Come on in," Sharon waved them in and accepted the food from Abby.

They followed the sound of Emily's voice to the living room where Fornell was propped up against several pillows, him arm in a sling, with Emily was sitting cross-legged on the other end of the couch telling him about her time at Abby's. "…. And then Uncle Gibbs was sad because he kept losing."

"That true Jethro? You were sad?" Fornell looked at him with a smug little smile.

"She must be lying." Gibbs messed Emily's hair affectionately. "How're you?"

"A little sore, but fine." Fornell looked at his daughter. "Ziva dropped off stuff from mommy's house and put it in your room. Maybe you could go put it away? I bet Sharon would help you."

"Of course! Come on, Em." Sharon waited for Emily and then followed her up the stairs to her bedroom.

Fornell sat up a little straighter. "Has she mentioned Diane at all?"

"Not once." Abby shook her head. "How is she?"

"Diane? Physically she'll be fine. One of my agents spoke to her doctor and I guess mentally she's a wreck."

"She was married to you," Gibbs' shrugged.

"And you," Fornell countered.

Abby rolled her eyes at the both of them and crossed her arms over her chest.

"I guess she was doing alright on medication, and she must've gone off of it for whatever reason, and then things just didn't balance out right. We'll know more once he's had more time with her, and has her back on her appropriate medication."

"She… she won't be let off the hook, will she?" Abby reached out to grab Gibbs' arm. "I mean, she tried to kill him."

Fornell bit back the comment about the fact that Diane had tried to kill him too. "No. It depends on what the doctors say as to what will happen. Either way, she'll get the help she needs."

"That's good. What about Emily?"

"I've got the numbers for some people to contact. She's going to need to talk to someone about all of this. I spent the morning on the phone with a judge who over-turned the custody agreement to give me permanent full custody immediately. I've got agents going through everything in her room at Diane's to make sure she hasn't hidden anything in her room, and they'll then bring it over for her to keep here. Ziva brought a few things already."

"It'll take some time for her to settle into a new routine, but she'll be okay. If you need any help, or Emily wants to talk, you can always call me." Abby offered.

"I appreciate that. Sharon and I have talked about her moving in as well. I'm going to talk to Emily about it and see what she thinks. I don't want her to feel set aside by Sharon moving in, but maybe it would be good for another woman in the house."

"That's great! So things between you and Sharon are going well?"

"She didn't walk away after I was shot by my," he glanced at Gibbs, "our, crazy ex. That has to be a good sign, right?"

Gibbs laughed. "Yeah, yeah it is."

Tony flexed his fingers and then squeezed his hands into fists as he stood outside the interrogation room. With both Fornell and Gibbs victims of Diane's mental insecurities, the lead of the case had fallen to him. He would get to interrogate one of Gibbs' ex-wives. There was so much he could ask – if only he didn't value his life.

Diane looked frail when Tony entered; her arm was still in a sling because of being shot. She glanced up when he entered and gave a small nod of acknowledgement and waited quietly as he took a seat opposite her.

"Care to start from the beginning."

Diane looked up at him, her eyes looked empty. "My girl, I didn't want to lose my girl."

"Emily?"

"Yes."

"What makes you think you were going to lose Emily?"

"I…" She hung her head. "I was in a relationship, and… and it didn't work out. They never work out."

"Most people don't lose their custody because of a failed relationship. Emily was happy, wasn't she?"

"She was, I kept her busy with school and extra-curricular activities."

"Then why worry you were going to lose her?"

"Jethro… he was filling Tobias' head with lies. He's been doing that from the time that I married Tobias. It's why we split up in the first place. All of Jethro's lies."

"I'm still not getting the connection here."

Diane sighed. "He was filling Tobias' head with lies, and the more Tobias heard the more likely he was going to take Emily. He's seeing someone, and he thought that they could provide a better family life for Emily. They were going to take her away!"

"Did Tobias ever give you any reason to believe that he wanted to change your custody agreement?"

"No, not yet, but I could tell it was coming. With how much Emily was talking about his new girlfriend, and about Jethro and his girlfriend, that woman, Abby."

Tony tried to keep a straight face as he glanced back at the one-way mirror. He couldn't see into observation, but he knew that both Gibbs and Fornell were on the other side. "Agent Gibbs and his girlfriend are what led you to believe that Fornell was going to take away your daughter?"

"It's all… the signs… they were there, and the more she talked about them… all of them… they were going to take her!" Diane yelled across the table at him.

"Okay, okay…" Tony held up his hands to show he would back off that topic. "Why don't you explain what you did to Agent Gibbs? Start from the very beginning."

"I just… I wanted him focused on other things, I figured that way he wouldn't focus on spreading lies about me."

"So you slashed his tire?"

Diane nodded. "And I put paint on his car. I figured it would keep him busy."

"And when that didn't work?"

"I… I had been on medication, but it wasn't working. So I stopped taking it. I figured it would make him a little sick, throw him off. I was always so confused when I was on it, didn't feel like myself."

"You hired Cheryl?"

Diane nodded. "It worked so seamlessly. I wasn't expecting her to get a job on the Navy Yard so quickly. And then, it worked… they were back to normal, focused on their case, and Tobias didn't have time to try and take Emily, but then…"

"Then..?"

"Jethro was better and Tobias wanted to take her."

"He just wanted his time back, the time he's always had with her."

"He was going to take her. I know he was! I don't regret what I did; I'd do anything for my baby!"

"You shot her father! You think that's going to ensure she stays with you?" Tony leaned back in his chair, wondering if she really thought she would get away with it."

"I know… I know." Diane hung her head. "Oh God, what did I do?"

Tony took it as his cue to leave. He slipped out of the door and motioned for an agent to keep watch of the door while he went next door. "Pretty much and open and shut case, right boss?"

"Think so," Gibbs nodded.

Fornell sighed. "Her doctor said she was fine on her medication and that she likely went off it for whatever reason, and that's when things went downhill." He left the room.

"So… your girlfriend, huh?"

Gibbs' hand connected with the back of Tony's head, just before he left the observation room.

Gibbs wasn't surprised to see Abby's car in front of his house when he pulled up after work. Ziva had taken her out to dinner to get away from NCIS and the case for a bit and Gibbs had stayed with Fornell and Tony to talk with Diane's doctor again.

He also wasn't surprised to find her already in bed. It wasn't late, but the last few days had been long and tiring and she muffled a yawn when she pulled back the covers on his side of the bed. "I need you."

"Be right there." He hung his jacket in the closet and folded his pants over the back of a chair in the corner of his room. He took a few minutes in the bathroom, and then tossed his t-shirt into the hamper before sliding under the covers.

The blankets were pulled up to Abby's chin and when he reached for her he was surprised to find his fingers in contact with bare skin. He lifted the blankets a few inches to look and his eyes sparkled at the sight of her naked body. He pulled her to him and kissed her softly. "I suddenly feel overdressed for the occasion."

Abby grabbed a fist full of material of his boxers. "I'd have to agree."

Gibbs grinned at her and then pressed her back into the mattress. "Someone is eager tonight."

"I need you right now, Gibbs. I just… I need you." Abby worked his boxers off his hips and then used her feet to push them the rest of the way down his legs.

Gibbs pressed his face to her neck and moaned when he reached between them and found that she was already wet. "You get started without me, Abbs?"

"Nah, just thinking about you."

Gibbs groaned again and the thought of her getting wet just thinking about him made his cock twitch against her thigh. He grazed his teeth along the shell of her ear before nipping at her earlobe.

Abby reached for him, her hand sliding up and down his length a few times until he couldn't help but thrust into her hand. She pushed him onto his back and straddled him, pausing to let him align himself with her opening. She sank down over him, tossing her head back with a moan.

Gibbs gripped her hips, and was content to let her set the pace and take what she needed. It was only when he was a few moments away from release that he pushed his thumb to her clit to help her along. She collapsed over him as her orgasm ripped through her and he pushed into her twice more before shouting her name as he found his own release.

"Abbs?" He was still breathing heavily, but Abby had yet to move since collapsing over him and he needed to know that she was okay.

Instead of answering, Abby shook her head and then pressed her face to his neck.

"Take your time," Gibbs tightened his hold on her. "Take your time."

He didn't mean to fall asleep, but the next time Gibbs opened his eyes, light was streaming in through the curtains of his bedroom. Abby was still sprawled out over him, and he could feel the heat radiating from between her legs. He shifted beneath her and smiled when her arms tightened around him and she pressed her face to his neck the same way she had the night before.

"Don't want to get up yet."

"Didn't say you needed to get up, but maybe…" Gibbs traced his fingers down her spine, over her buttocks and along the back of her thigh. He pulled her knee up along his side and then slipped his fingers between her legs and smiled at the wet heat he found.

"Maybe what?" Abby purred.

Gibbs stroked her fingers against her softly. "Maybe today is the day we don't get out of bed?"

"Agent Gibbs," Abby lifted her head enough to smile at him. "That might be your best idea yet."

Gibbs spent the morning showing her over and over again just how much he really loved her. He took his time, exploring every inch of her body – tasting and touching her all over. Each time Abby tried to hurry him towards his own orgasm, he backed off, and slowly she learned to accept his attention and then when he was ready for his own release she let him take what he needed.

Abby was mush in his arms when he finally directed her towards the shower, and once he had her under the hot spray she leaned against him and allowed him to wash her from head to toe.

She felt as though she had a permanent smile on her face as he finally led her to the kitchen, despite the rumble of her stomach from not having had anything to eat since the night before. Perfect, she thought to herself as Gibbs placed her in a boneless heap at his dining table. This is perfect.

TBC…

Only one or two more chapters. If there is anything you'd like to see… now would be the time to say something!