The Red Haired Woman
Chapter 3
Abby oohed and ahhed over Chanel's Mercedes. It was a small two seater, very fast, and very expensive. And Chanel drove it like the commercial race car it was. They pulled up to a set of gates with marine guards at the front, opening the gates for them to enter. Chanel led Abby up the stone stairs to the huge front doors that she unlocked with a pass key and code entry. The entry hall was three stories high and hung with a flag and portraits everywhere. She led Abby to the kitchen because neither of them had eaten in many hours. Chanel fixed them both omelets with some juice while they giggled and laughed all their fear, disgust and frustration out. Finally exhaustion took over, and Chanel led a very tired Abby up the curving staircase that reminded Abby of something out of "Gone with the Wind". The guest room Chanel provided Abby with had a huge four poster bed, and its own private bath with giant shower and tub.
"Sleep as long as you like Abby. I'll get you up in time to get dressed and to NCIS by noon."
"Oh my God, Chanel. I don't have my court clothes! What am I going to wear?"
"You are going to wear some of my stuff. It will fit just fine. Do you need anything else, something to help you sleep?"
"No, I'm good. Toothbrush, toothpaste?"
"Under the sink. My room is just three doors down the hall. Come get me if you need something. Good night Abby. I'm sorry this day has sucked for you."
Both women fell asleep as soon as their heads hit their pillows.
Chanel got up and got dressed, a little dressier than usual, but she doubted there would be any bloody crime scenes today. She wore a Vera Wang black wrap-around dress, tied on the side. It fit tightly against her skin and was extremely flattering. She wore her vibrant auburn red hair down, and had assorted weapons hidden on her body. She was ready and now was the time to get Abby up, fed, and dressed for her big day.
Abby loved the dress Chanel had picked out for her. It was a black Prada sheath that hit at the knee, with a matching black jacket. Chanel styled her hair to mostly hide the neck tattoo, and let Abby do her own makeup making a few suggestions. Then she gave her some of her jewelry to polish the whole outfit off. Some large diamond earrings and a single large diamond drop set against the black looked stunning.
Abby looked in the mirror ecstatic about how she looked. "I can't wait for the guys to see this. I look amazing! Thank you."
"And not a hint of polyester in sight. Now Abby, I want to give you something in case something goes wrong and you have to protect yourself."
"I can't carry a gun, Chanel."
"I know sweetie. But you can carry this." Chanel handed Abby her super tazer. "If someone tries to attack you, you shoot them with this. They can be maybe 10 feet away. It won't kill them but it will knock them off their feet and stun them almost unconscious. You just aim and pull the trigger. Carry it in your purse, ok?"
"Got it. Thank you. Now let's go show the guys before I have to do my thing at the courthouse. I don't know who I hope to make a bigger impression on, Gibbs or McGee."
Chanel heard the remark and gave nothing away as they walked to the car. Gibbs? Abby really did have feelings for Gibbs, but she was sure those feelings were not shared. Were they?
Abby babbled her babble speak almost all the way to NCIS and then started prepping for the case she was providing evidence for later that day. Chanel pulled the car into her slot and soon the two women stepped off the elevator. Gibbs found himself watching the elevator every time it dinged hoping to see Chanel, but this time it dinged, Abby, looking more stunning than he had ever seen her, walked off followed carefully behind by Chanel. He caught Chanel's eyes, the relief she was safe showing in his face. He knew she was walking a discrete distance behind Abby because she didn't want to steal Abby's thunder. Chanel was always perfectly dressed, even in jeans. But Abby never wore anything but Goth, so seeing her in very expensive designer wear was a pleasure.
All the excitement and pleasure at Abby's reformation entertained for a while. Chanel watched from her desk, silently enjoying all the attention Abby received. McGee was flabbergasted as usual, Tony was pleasantly surprised and as a 'ladies man' he kept the charm on full force. Gibbs gave her a tiny kiss on the cheek, saying something in her ear that was probably terribly understated as was his way, but caused Abby to almost faint with pleasure. Chanel's desk phone rang and the Federal Marshall was downstairs ready to take Abby to the courthouse.
Abby quickly gathered her things and Tony escorted her downstairs. It was only about 15 minutes later they realized they had just delivered her into the other stalker's hands. Gibbs had been explaining the secondary stalker of unknown purposes, and while Mikel had done many things wrong, his latest actions were his clumsy psychopathic way of warning Abby. He'd been breaking the TRO and accidentally caught the second stalker on film. Gibbs and Tony ran off to intercept, where they found Abby using the tazer gun on the killer over and over again. Gibbs took her to her court appearance, and Tony took the bad guy to interrogation.
By the end of the day, they had their case wrapped up. Abby was safe and agreed to let Chanel teach her to protect herself, and multiple bad guys were in jail now. Abby wanted desperately to go out to dinner.
She whined to Gibbs, "But Gibbs, I'm all dressed up with nowhere to go. Please? We never go out as a team." She even went so far as to pout, which amused Chanel to no end.
Gibbs looked at Chanel, "What are you laughing at?" He was embarrassed by Abby's childlike display and his frustration came out as a snap at Chanel.
"I wasn't laughing at you Gibbs. I was laughing at the depths to which Abby will go to have you join us for dinner. The pout was a pretty good pout, Abby, but doesn't typically work on the hard core military man, except maybe in the bedroom. McGee, Tony, and I are in for dinner. Gibbs, will you please leave your boats for later and join us?"
He stared into Chanel's eyes. There was no begging, pleading, or otherwise unseemly guile at work, just an honest desire to have him join them, join her, for dinner. They both knew he would agree just because she asked.
"Ok, but don't think I'm buying every time we do this. You guys are more familiar with the restaurants around."
Abby jumped up and down, and Chanel motioned her to slow down and act more ladylike. She was after all dressed like a lady. Everyone started throwing out names, and finally Chanel threw out Madam's Organ.
"It's got Creole Soul Food, live Jazz every night and a very small dance floor. Great food, great drinks, and the Jazz is great, and it is not too expensive."
Every one enthusiastically agreed to that, although Gibbs was reticent as usual.
They headed out to their cars and would meet up there. Gibbs could hear Chanel speaking in French to someone at the restaurant she obviously knew well, reserving a table, estimating 30 minutes till they got there. Tony made sure Abby would get there and get home, while Gibbs walked Chanel to her car parked, not accidently, next to his.
"We have never done this you know, gone out to dinner. The occasional bar is the extent of it. This is your doing, Chanel."
"This was not my idea, but Abby's. Is it so bad to have dinner with your co-workers every so often? And just think, you might get to dance with me if Tony doesn't monopolize my time. You'll have an excuse to bury your hands in my hair. Or you could invite Col. Mann to join us. You are the only one of us attached. It would be reasonable."
"Hollis and I are no longer seeing each other. She wanted a commitment and I could not give that to her. As for dancing, yes we will dance, and I will bury my hands in your hair, but I'm afraid I won't remove them again."
"I'm sorry about you and Hollis. I really am. We'll talk about your commitment issues later. Right now, we go to dinner. I wish we could ride together but I will go straight home, which is not driving by NCIS. And maybe someday you will bury your hands in my hair and you will be able to remove them at your leisure, but tonight I don't think will be that night. Too many eyes watching, don't you think?"
He smiled at her softly and opened her door without answering or commenting on her last statement. "Drive safely. I'm right behind you." He closed her door and walked to his while she started hers. About half an hour later they joined the rest of the team at a table set for 7, including Ducky and Palmer. The jazz hadn't started yet, but the ambiance music was wonderful. Their table was right at the dance floor with an unobstructed view of the band. It was perfect. The owners came to greet cheré Chanel and meet her friends. They would definitely get the finest service tonight. The band would be on and they hoped everyone would join in the slow bluesy jazz. Chanel assured them they would enjoy the company, the food, and the music. They left shortly afterwards and platters of food started to arrive, about the time the music started.
Gibbs was shocked. "We haven't even ordered yet!"
Chanel smiled a big smile and touched his bare arm since he had removed his jacket. "I ordered family style an assortment of things that people might want to try. Eat baby eat."
Oops, that just slipped out. He looked surprised and then happy and then laughed. He watched the dancers with interest, and turned back to look at her while her eyes smoldered back at him. He leaned into her ear and speaking in French asked if this was the kind of dancing that went on all night.
She laughed at him naughtily and whispered back in his ear, "Yes, Gibbs. This is how one dances here. It is very sexy, couples grinding slowly against each other, hands running along bodies, feeling each other's heat. If you dance, and I understand if you aren't comfortable with this, but if you do you will definitely need a cold shower afterwards. If you dance with me, I will be disappointed if you don't get hard. I want to feel you, just like I think you want to feel me. But if you get hard over Abby, I will be greatly disappointed."
"And what of you and Tony? I think I might shoot him. This is why these team dinner things are not a good idea."
"They are a great idea. Tony is like a brother to me and while he might have felt a certain way before, I definitely know he feels for me like a sister and a friend, possibly a best friend. There is no conflict. He does not make me hot. You make me hot. This provides us some degree of cover for how we are starting to feel. We go at a baby crawl, Gibbs. I don't like to make mistakes and I think you have probably made enough." He raised his eyebrows at such a direct and critical statement from Chanel, but chose to just listen to it and keep his mouth shut.
The group ate, drank, talked, and laughed. There was a sense of relief in tension from the last two days of fear over Abby's life. Abby, who was the guest of honor, decided it was time to dance and grabbed Gibbs. Gibbs tried to beg off, but he always had a hard time saying no to her, and soon found himself on the dance floor. Fortunately the floor was crowded and Abby, sensitive to Gibbs' discomfort, went towards the back of the floor. She immediately wrapped her arms around him, pulling him close, while he pulled away an appropriate distance. She ground against him, her back pressed to him while she guided his arms and body to follow the moves. Gibbs was horrified at being seen and held like this, by Abby and maybe by anyone. Chanel actually felt sorry for him. Abby was dancing with sexual abandon instead of going easy on Gibbs. Chanel doubted she would ever get him up there again. She turned to Tony, winked at him with a wicked smile, "Come on Tony, let's show 'em how it is done." Tony gave her his full voltage smile and stood to escort her onto the dance floor. The two of them generated enough heat between them the whole restaurant stopped to watch and the dance floor cleared. The dance was extraordinarily slow and every movement they made matched that slowness, the backwards grind, the hands running the length of the body, the length of the arms, all very very slow. Her dress hung on her ripe body and Tony's hands covered her entirely. It was almost porn, fully clothed.
'When you came in the air went out, and every shadow filled up with doubt, I don't know who you are but before the night is through I want to do bad things to you.' And the song went on, slow and sexy and full of heavy breathing. It was slow and nasty and so was their dance.
When the song finished, there wasn't a dry pair of panties or flat pair of pants in the place. There was applause when the song finished, as much for the band as for the two dancers that had steamed up the room. The floor became packed again after they left. Tony leaned over and whispered in her ear, "Any other girl, I'd be taking you home now. But you are my best friend, and I'll settle for a cold shower." He kissed her cheek, held her chair for her and returned to his chair. He looked unafraid at Gibbs, while Gibbs had a completely blank look on his face. Tony knew Gibbs had nothing to fear, but Gibbs wasn't so sure. Yeah, there was technically no relationship between Chanel and Gibbs, and they really did try, but no one was fooled.
Chanel leaned over to Gibbs whispering in his ear, "THAT is how you dance here, not whatever Abby was showing you. If you want to give it a try, I'm game, but I understand if you don't want to."
"Thank you for the out. I think we can create that kind of heat, but I don't think I can do that kind of dancing. You can dance again with Tony, but it looks like he has a line forming."
"But you don't really want me dancing with Tony again, do you?"
"Not really. But I have no right to ask. You enjoy it so much obviously."
They were interrupted by the waitress delivering a drink to Chanel, which she sent away without a look towards the gift giver. Then men started coming to the table asking to dance with Chanel, one even going so far as to touch her. She grabbed his hand subtly and whispered to him, "I am a Federal Agent, as is everyone at this table. We are armed in more ways than you can imagine, and I can break every bone in this hand that you dared to touch me with without a thought. I suggest you take yourself on home, via cab since you are clearly drunk. Try to drive home and I'll have the locals pick you up for a DUI. Test me." She released his hand, motioned for the waiter and asked him to get the miscreant a cab.
That small scene scared off the rest of the dance suitors. When an appropriate song came up, Chanel leaned over and asked Gibbs to dance with her and then they would leave. It was just a nice slow bluesy song originally sung by Nina Simone. It was a nice basic slow song that wouldn't embarrass him but would allow them to slow dance, and he was right as they danced the steam between the two of them was hard to miss. They held their foreheads touching, breathing in each other. Holding each other so close, no air could pass between them. The world disappeared beyond the two of them and they never would have left that world if the music hadn't ended. They reluctantly parted and headed back to the table. Chanel had already tactfully taken care of the bill and by unspoken agreement, Gibbs and her headed towards their cars.
"I'll just follow you home if that is ok?"
"Want to make sure I get home safe and sound? Protect me from wanna be dance partners?"
"Yeah, I think you are safe enough on your own. I'm just looking for an excuse to see this "awesome" mansion that Abby went on and on about."
Chanel laughed at his weak excuse, "You don't care about where I live, but I would like for you to follow me home."
He smiled at her and opened her car door, and got in his to follow her home. They ended up in front of a huge white mansion surrounded by a gigantic wrought iron fence, electrified, and two on duty very armed guards. Chanel pulled her car up to the gate without opening it, and Gibbs pulled his car behind hers. She walked over to his car and smiled suggestively.
"What? I don't get invited inside the gilded gates?"
"Nope, those are the rules. You can enter the pearly gates a little longer into whatever is going on between us. Now, this is as far as you get Agent Gibbs."
He got out of his car, while she leaned with her back against his car. "When it is just us, you think it could be Jethro?"
"Hmm, that could be ripe for slipping, sorta like the 'baby' earlier."
"Chanel, I have a feeling that even though nothing has happened between us, we aren't fooling anyone. I'm not saying we should do anything different, but let's not fool ourselves that anyone is being fooled by our presumed lack of interest."
She leaned against his car and he moved very much into her personal space, close but not touching.
"Jethro, can I ask you something? It is kind of strange."
"OooK." He wasn't sure he wanted to hear the question.
"When you look at me, really look where our eyes meet meaningfully, does anything happen for you?"
"I feel a jolt. I've never felt it before, but I have ever since you first stood at my desk."
She gave him a soft and reassuring smile. "Yeah, me too. Do you think you could kiss me now?"
He rolled his eyes along with his head slightly and looked at her. "I think if I don't kiss you I will implode."
"Can't have that. Kiss away, Agent Gibbs."
Gibbs moved till his body pressed against her. They both dipped and teased each other without actually touching lips until Gibbs moved to reach her lips, taste her, feel her smooth lips. She wrapped her arms around his neck as she opened her lips to accept his tongue begging entrance. As urgent as they both felt, his kiss was languorous and soft and she went wet instantly. She pressed her body even closer to him. They finally broke the kiss, but not the full body contact. Their breathing was ragged and fast.
Gibbs looked Chanel in the eyes, giving that electric jolt they both felt. "Wow!" He shook his head in surprise.
"Yeah, maybe we should try that again, Jethro. You know, just to make sure it isn't just a one-time thing."
He gave her a slight smile and went in for another kiss. And again, the racing pulse, the soft tongue strokes, the tasting of lips, and once broken away, the heavy breathing. The couple leaned their foreheads together, feeling the fast breathing from each other.
"Ok, second test replicates first experience. You are amazing, Jethro. And while I never want to break away from you…"
"We said slow and easy, no mistakes."
"Yeah. So I'm going to let go of you and walk back over to my car, drive myself in, and take a cold shower, a long cold shower."
"I think that is my plan too. Goodnight Chanel. Thanks for getting us to do this."
"Good night Jethro. Sweet Dreams."
He laughed slightly as he closed her door and she started her car and drove through the gates that closed behind her.
A/N: The song playing at Madame Organs is from Jace Everett called 'Bad Things.' It is the theme song to True Blood.