by lj user="debc"
Special thanks to lj user="soobunny" for beta reading. :-)
"You know what you need, Gibbs?"
The question came out of left field, at least as far as Leroy Jethro Gibbs was concerned and he responded by pausing his sanding and arching an eyebrow in amusement. It was hard for him to imagine needing anything at this stage in his life. "What is that, Abs?" he asked with a quirk of his lips.
"You need to get out more. All you do is go to work, come home, and head down here." She waved her hands in the direction of the boat he was building in his basement. "Now..." she said quickly, setting aside her Caf-Pow and hoping off the stool she'd been perched on for the better part of the last hour. "Don't get me wrong, it's a nice boat but a man cannot live on sawdust alone."
Gibbs chuckled at this. "And you're so much more an expert on what a man can off than I am, Abs?" His eyes twinkled with mischief.
"Well, noooo... " the words were drawn out in playful frustration. "Of course not! But you have to admit that a change of pace would be good for you, Gibbs."
"A change of pace?" Gibbs echoed. "Abby, where exactly are you going with all of this. First I need to 'get out' and now I need a 'change of pace.' I assure you, I need neither."
"But --" Abby started to protest but Gibbs raised another eyebrow and a finger, as well stopping her words in their tracks.
"I have a good life here, Abby. I have a job I love doing, friends I enjoy having around, pleasant co-workers, several ex-wives... I don't need to go rocking the boat, so to speak.' His countenance darkened a little. "As an old friend once told me, it leads to trouble."
"Old friend, eh? How 'old' are you talking?" Abby asked, allowing herself to be derailed for a moment. Gibbs was usually pretty tight lipped about the other aspects of his life. The only reason she even knew about it at all was because Gibbs had briefly dated one of her father's aunts back in the day and Abby had recognized him from a photograph in one of her grandmother's albums. After a lot of bugging on Abby's part, he fessed up with one of the weirdest - not the weirdest, but definitely in the Top Three - things she'd ever heard.
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you, Abs," he replied and the mischief was back in his smile.
"So this 'older than dirt' guy who told you not to go rocking to boat without a reason, he gonna just pop in for a visit someday?"
"No," Gibbs said, his smile fading this time He didn't say anything.
He didn't have to. "I'm sorry, Gibbs. What happened?"
"He stuck his neck out when he shouldn't have, and that left him vulnerable to someone on the wrong side."
It was the most Gibbs have ever said about it, so Abby couldn't help her curiosity jumping into hyper drive. "So there's a 'wrong side' in this ... Game... of yours?"
"No, not really," Gibbs said, staring at his boat for along before he spoke again. "It's like life, Abby. One person's friend or allie is another person's worst enemy. And then there the ones who go rogue... head hunters. People who take heads for the sheer thrill or the power. Forever... can be very disillusioning sometimes."
Abby nodded her head at that jewel of wisdom. "It can also be very lonely," she added, hoping Gibbs would take it as an afterthought.
He didn't, smirking as he asked her, "are you back on that again? I'm not lonely, Abby." His eyes narrowed a little. "What's this about?"
Abby shrugged, tilting her head to one side as she studied him in turn. "I just thought..."
"That I was lonely and needed some special company?" Gibbs interruped to ask. Abby nodded. "And who might that be?"
"Tony, actually," she admitted.
"DiNozzo?" Gibbs gave a small, enigmatic laugh that Abby couldn't quite feel out. She thought she knew most of his expressions - maybe not as well as Ducky - but this one ecaped her. "Uhuh, Abby. I know you mean well but I have a rule about --"
"... dating coworkers, I know," Abby said. "You keeping saying that, but it never stopped you in the past."
"Jenny was different," Gibbs defended himself.
"Uhuh, sure, Gibbs. And denial is just a river in Egypt." Abby shook her head, her pony tails swinging as she did. "In the meantime, Tony has the cutest guy crush on you and you can't say you don't notice it."
"Guy crush?" Gibbs laughed at the term.
"Yeah... like a girl crush, only you know..."
"For guys," Gibbs supplied the rest of the sentence. He cocked his head to one side as if puzzling something out. "DiNozzo..." he mused almost under his breath.
"Tony," Abby reinterated. "He's had a thing for you since the beginning, Gibbs. You can't tell me you don't see the way he looks at you."
"I do, Abby, but... it's complicated."
"What's complicated about it? He's interested... you're interested... it's really very uncomplicated," she insisted. "Of course, if you're nervous about asking him out, I could do it for you, if you wanted." She paused and then added, "have you ever asked out a guy before, Gibbs?"
Gibbs chuckled ruefully at this. "I have, Abs, but it's been a while. And... yeah?"
"Yeah? Yeah as in you want me to hook you and Tony up, or yeah as in yeah?"
"Yeah as in ... I'll think about it. How would that be?"
Abby beamed at him. It was better than nothing. Actually, from Gibbs, it was almost a sure thing.