A/N: This chapter was wonderfully created by Shelbylou.
Three Cheers for her brilliance and a job well done!
Tim stood in front of the mirror and smoothed his hand down the front of his casual shirt. He hadn't been able to resist stopping off at one his favorite designer stores to grab himself a new set of clothes and something special for tonight. This was a fresh start and what better way to start fresh than to treat yourself to some new clothes for the occasion? He gave himself one last glance in the mirror before picking up his jacket and wallet.
He had already set his keys and that something special out on his computer desk and reached over to grab them. He held the little white envelope in his hand and tapped it confidently against his fingers before placing safely in the pocket inside his jacket. He reached over and stopped the soft Jazz music that filled his apartment before heading out of the door.
Abby was sitting in her living room sipping on the Cafpow she had bought and stored in the fridge. She was dressed and ready for the big night ahead and could feel every cell in her body vibrating with sheer excitement. Timmy, her very special Timmy, had refused point blank to let her know where they were going and the curiosity had been killing her. She grabbed her bag and pulled out the deep red lipstick she knew Tim loved. Just as she was about to retouch, she heard a knock at the door and jumped with sheer excitement at the thought of her hot date standing on the other side of the door.
"Hey Timm......"
Abby had just opened the door but her exclamation was cut dead by the emptiness on the other side. She shook her head with confusion before stepping out to look around. There was no one there and she glanced back and forth a couple of times before going back in. Just as she was about to close the door, she was stopped by Tim's voice.
"Abbs, hey."
He bent down and kissed her firmly on the cheek before pulling the dozen, hand tied black roses from behind his back. He smiled as Abby bounced up and down at the gift that he had ordered earlier and stopped off to collect on the way.
"Oooh, they're gorgeous Timmy. Come on in, I won't be a minute."
Tim followed her in and watched as she slicked on her lipstick and gave herself a quick squirt of perfume. New perfume? Tim thought as she made her way back over to him.
"So Agent McGee, where are you taking me tonight?" Abby purred.
"You want me to ruin the surprise Miss Scuito?" Tim playfully asked in return, with a grin on his face.
"Don't tease, it's so not fair." Tim smiled at the playful pout that adorned Abby's face and pulled out that little white envelope.
"Ok, ok, I give in. I've booked us in at Jaleo. These are a little something special."
Abby was beaming as she took the envelope from Tim's outstretched hand.
"Yea! I love Jaleo. Good Spanish food, good company, and in a very romantic setting to boot McGee. I love it."
Abby opened the envelope and pulled out two small tickets. Tim could almost hear her jaw hit the floor when she saw what was inside.
"You got....seriously, you manag....Timmy you are the best!! Brainmatter! Where did you get the tickets? They were all sold out." Abby exclaimed.
"I've had them a while Abbs. Even if we didn't start dating by then I would have asked you to go with me. I know how upset you were last time they played and we couldn't make it." Tim told her sincerely.
"You are the best boyfriend ever." Abby rewarded him with a genuine smile and a tight hug.
Tim flushed at the statement and wrapped his long arms around her before pulling away to hold out his arm so Abby could link hers in. She took his arm and let her date lead her out into the night.
Tim had decided to drive and handed the keys to his beloved Porsche to the valet.
"Take care of her for me ok?" He asked with complete seriousness.
The valet smiled and nodded.
"For a car like this, I'll make sure it gets the best treatment." The man promised.
Tim chuckled slightly and turned to lead Abby into the restaurant. He paused slightly and looked at the slightly bewildered look that adorned her pretty face.
"Abbs?"
Abby turned her gaze to him and smiled ruefully.
"Sorry Timmy, I just got this weird feeling that I was being watched. You know how you get this hinky feeling and can sense it."
"Well, people are probably looking and wondering what I did to get such a gorgeous girl to go out with me." Tim reassured her with a smile.
Abby smacked him softly on the chest and straightened her back.
"OR, they could be wondering what I'm doing out with such a handsome guy. Don't put yourself down Timmy; you know how I hate it."
He kissed her on the cheek and paused briefly with his cheek resting on hers.
"I wasn't Abbs. I just wanted you to know how beautiful you are." He whispered gently in her ear before pulling away to lead her into the restaurant.
They were soon chatting comfortably over a drink whilst they waited for their order to arrive.
"How did you know I loved Tapas? This place is amazing." She asked finally.
"I got the scuttlebutt from a friend, and yes that is all I'm going to say Abs." Tim said through the soft laughter. Abby's eyes narrowed slightly and she smiled that knowing little smile that drove him crazy.
"And said friend wouldn't be the one and only Anthony DiNozzo Junior would it."
Tim looked incredulous at her guess and shook his head.
"I should have known you'd guess that...how?" he shook his head slightly and laughed "Never mind. Tony rang me this afternoon to congratulate me on the two of us finally, quote, 'getting it together'." Abby laughed loudly and picked up her glass of red wine.
"The boss man came through! Tony's really ok with us dating?" Abby's voice took on a pang of uncertainty that didn't go unnoticed by her date.
"Oddly enough, he's fine with it. I asked Gibbs to gently nudge Tony in the right direction. Looks like he came through" He reached his arm over the table and waited for Abby to lay her hand in his.
"We have their blessing Abbs, so how about we agree to thank DiNozzo on Monday and forget about everyone else for the time being."
Abby grinned and stroked her thumb gently over the back of Tim's hand.
"I'll drink to that Timmy" she said, raising her glass. Tim laughed and picked up his glass of Ice water and toasted their romantic evening.
The meal passed too quickly and between the Tapas and the conversation, Abby and Tim soon found themselves feeling totally at ease with each other. Abby was surprised to find, that despite working with each other and seeing her crush on a daily basis, there were things she didn't know about Tim. She listened intently as he regaled her with stories of his childhood and told her of the sorrow he felt when he crashed the very first car his father had bought him. She had seen his legs and knew the scars were the result of the wreck he had when he was sixteen. What she didn't know, were the gruesome details that surrounded that incident.
"So you woke up in the hospital, and then what?"
"Abbs, this isn't exactly what I planned to talk about tonight." Tim admonished quietly.
Abby smiled sweetly and shrugged her shoulders.
"It's all a part of you Timothy McGee, so I want to know everything."
Tim's eyebrows were practically sitting in his hairline at her statement so he carried on with his story.
"Yeah" Tim huffed out a short laugh "I woke up with my legs in traction and my dad standing over me. All I could think about was how angry dad was going to be. The funny thing was, he wasn't really mad at all, I just felt really guilty at crashing the car. Especially seeing as I'd only had it a day or so"
Abby gasped as Tim described his injuries and the long recovery he endured afterwards.
"My poor little Timmy, I'm glad it had a happy ending"
Tim reached down to his plate and scooped up some of his Espuma de avellanas y chocolate. He reached over and held the spoon in front of Abby's face.
"You've got to try this Abb's, it's really, really good."
Abby opened her mouth and let Tim spoon the decadent chocolate and hazelnut mousse torte into her mouth. She chewed and leaned her head back slightly as the richness of the desert sent her taste buds spiralling.
"Wow that is good. It puts my ice cream to shame."
"You wanna swap?"
"I've got a better idea, how about we just share."
Tim's grin practically lit up the room as they shared their deserts.
30 minutes later found Tim arguing playfully about the bill; Abby had tried to 'go Dutch' but soon conceded when Tim told the waitress under NO circumstances was she to take his date's money or credit cards. Abby had tried to use that playful pout again but soon discovered that years of working together had hardened Tim's resolve to it. She rewarded Tim with a kiss that made his toes curl, not the kiss on the cheeks that the two had been exchanging, but a soft kiss on the lips that had the waitress waiting with the pen and portable credit card machine patiently.
The waitress had handed Tim back his credit card and Abby and Tim walked towards the door. Tim grinned when the valet opened the door for them and couldn't resist slipping his hand gently into Abby's soft one. He handed over the ticket for his car and stood there chatting happily with Abby. He noticed she was shivering slightly and noticed the goose bumps that peppered her bare arms and was just about to take his jacket off, when a dark figure barrelled towards them as though the seat of his pants was on fire. Tim tried to pull Abby out of the way, but didn't quite manage it as the figure barged through the two of them, ripping their hands apart before shoving Tim sharply into the wall.
"Timmy!" Abby's shout seemed to startle the hooligan and he glanced over his shoulder briefly before stepping of the curb......right into Tim's the hood of Tim's car.
"I'm ok Abby, it's nothing" Tim noticed her wet eyes and pushed himself away from the wall. He gently nudged her head up with his finger. "Hey, Aw come on Abbs. It's nothing, just some idiot in a
hurry. We're not going to let this ruin our night ok"
She nodded slightly and looked over to Tim's porche. Tim pulled her into tight embrace and kissed the top of her head gently. He smiled at her warmly when she pulled away and grasped hold of his hand once again.
"I hope he didn't damage it" she said sadly as Tim took the keys from an apologetic Valet. He couldn't help but smile at the guy's comment when he walked Abby round to the passenger side to open the door for her.
"Hell of a way to treat a Porsche"
Tim tipped the valet and paused briefly to glance at the hood of his car. He sighed heavily when he saw the small dent that had been left there and made a mental note to take it to the garage first
thing on Monday morning, there was no way he was going to even attempt to hammer that out of his baby by himself.
He stepped into the car and opened the glove compartment; he had made sure that no matter what, tonight, Abby was going to be treated with the affection she deserved. He pulled out the silver, moon shaped box of chocolates he had seen in one of the chocolatiers shops and placed it in her lap.
She looked up at him with that infectious grin and leaned over to steal a quick kiss before Tim pulled away and buckled his seat belt.
"You ready to go dance the night away Abbs?"
"Absolutely Timmy, as long as you are right there with me"
Tim pulled away into the mainstream traffic and knew that no matter what, Abby would walk away from this night on a complete high.
Tim parked the car and walked Abby to her door. They had spent the remainder of the night dancing together in the mosh pit in front of the stage. Abby had been amazed that her date had managed to get the best tickets and had been beside herself with excitement.
Abby pulled out her keys and opened the door; she stood there for a second before grabbing Tim's arm to pull him into her apartment.
"You are coming in for coffee McGee and I won't take no for an answer!"
Tim laughed loudly and allowed himself to be led towards the kitchen. Abby soon had the coffee machine brewing the expensive ground coffee beans she knew Tim loved so much poured the hot nectar into two mugs. They walked into the living room and sat on Abby's large plush couch.
"I have had the best night EVER tonight." Abby stated as she placed her coffee on the table. "I can't believe you did all this for me!"
Tim was brimming with pride and something akin to adoration for Abby right now. She looked so sweet sitting there hugging one of the red cushions that were a brilliant contrast to the black velvet
that covered the couch.
"Me too Abbs, who knew Brainmatter could be so good!"
"I told ya. None of you believed me when I had the tickets last time" Abby gloated.
Tim blushed when he remembered the time they had all ran off out of the squad room enroute to what had turned out to be that awful case onboard the Chimera. He'd felt bad for Abby at the time, but had to admit to himself that he really didn't want to go. The only reason he had gone tonight was the fact that Abby wanted to see them so badly.
"it was just......I......we....it's not that we didn'...."
Abby howled with laughter and placed her hand on his forearm to stop the stuttering, nervous
answer.
"Tim stop! You had a case, that couldn't be helped"
Tim laughed nervously and sipped at his doctored coffee. He knew that none of them wanted to go, but had been prepared to endure one night of noise just to make her happy. Luckily the case had come up and he was saved from enduring the torturous band. At least, that was then. He had really enjoyed the concert tonight and found himself soon drawn into the atmosphere that enveloped him, causing the amazing, overwhelming adrenaline rush that had him dancing alongside Abby. He glanced down at the coffee mug and looked at Abby with surprise.
"Wow, that's good Coffee!"
"I got it from Gibbs' favourite coffee store. Boss man's got taste"
"Yeah, he does." Tim admitted.
"What can I say, that man knows his coffee" Abby giggled and placed the cushion behind her as she scooted closer to Tim. She sighed contentedly when Tim wrapped his arm securely round her shoulders and laid her head down on his strong chest.
"Thank you for tonight Timmy. It's been amazing" Abby purred contentedly.
He hugged her closely to him and rested his chin on top of her head, for the first time in a very long time, actually feeling good about himself, as he answered her. "It really has Abbs, it really has"