Thanks for all the reviews, especially to Eliza-angel, who inspired me to write this fic in the first place. Sorry the last chapter was a bit short but the chapters will get longer.

Chapter 2

The only person that knew why the kisses had stopped was currently searching through his wardrobe for his old NIS sweatshirt. "The sweatshirt must be here some where" he thought to himself. Abby loved wearing it, she jokingly said that it made her feel safe as it smelt of him, a mixture of old spice , bourbon and sawdust. That's how she saw him, the man that promised to always keep her safe, her protector, her knight in shining armour. Gibbs wished he could be a whole lot more.

His feelings for her had deepened over the last year; she had been his constant through the lost of Jenny and his team. He had found her crying in his basement the night the team had been disbanded. All he could offer her was words of comfort as she clung to him, pleading with him to get her musketeers back. That night he had carried her to his bed and held her whilst she sobbed herself to sleep.

There had been many nights like that until the team were reunited. Nights that he found himself lying awake, staring into the darkness, with his beautiful lab rat in his arms, fighting the urge to wake her and show her exactly how he felt. That's when he knew the kisses had to stop; the temptation to break Rule #12 was too great. He needed to put some space between himself and Abby which he was finding particular hard to achieve. Abby was very demonstrative with her affection, to avoid any physical contact with Abby was nearly impossible, as McGee says; "she is a hugger". To deny her hugs would make Abby think something hinky was going on. The only tactic he had left was avoidance so now when Abby stayed the night he made sure that she slept in his bed alone creeping out once she was asleep to go down to the basement to work his frustration out on his boat.

Gibbs found the sweatshirt at the back of the wardrobe; it had been awhile since Abby had stayed last. He always seems to find a reason to be out when Abby suggested a night in with a bottle of bourbon. He couldn't trust himself whilst drunk any more, just in case he might tell Abby exactly how he felt. He couldn't take the risk, he rather have her friendship then have her reject him.

He suddenly became aware that he was sitting on the edge of his bed hugging the sweatshirt. The sweatshirt smelt of Abby, her own distinct smell with that hint of gunpowder. Gibbs found the smell intoxicating and he felt his breath quicken and his body respond as he thought of Abby wearing nothing else but her perfume.

He needed to get back down to the basement; Abby must be wandering where he had got to. If he didn't get down there soon she'll come looking for him and in his current predicament he definitely didn't want that to happen.

"Man, you need to snap out it" he thought to himself. He smiled to himself as he remembered saying those exact words to Dinozzo. He needed to listen to his own advice. He was a 55 year old, ex-Marine, not some hormonal teenager who couldn't keep his feelings in check. If he was to return to Abby in his current state, she would definitely notice. A cold shower was out of the question, he needed to start thinking about something else, Ducky's autopsies, Fornell, Leon Vance, Leon Vance was definitely an alternative to a cold shower. Leon was another reason he had to limit his displays of affection for Abby; he didn't quite trust the man and he knew Leon had issues with intimacy amongst staff. He made that clear when the FBI was investigating Jenny about the death of the arms dealer, La Grenouille. Over the last 48 hours he had come to some sort of agreement with the man, but trust was still something that Vance still had to earn. Feeling calmer, he got up from the bed, straightened his clothing and with sweatshirt in hand, headed for the basement.

Down in the basement Abby had not noticed how long Gibbs had been gone; she was too busy thinking of her next plan of action. She decided that she needed to get herself into a situation which merited a kiss from Gibbs. How could she managed to get him to kiss her tonight in his basement and then she remembered that time in her lab when she cut her finger on a circuit board and Gibbs had kissed it better. Grinning she picked up the saw…..