So the phone call was a nice added touch, huh? At least that's the feedback I've received. Enjoy ch 4.

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"Gibbs, Gibbs, Gibbs!"

Gibbs turned away from the plasma to catch a blurry glimpse of Abby before he found himself wrapped in an Abby-hug, steadying them both. He had been taken by surprise as he normally heard the heavy clunk of her boots before she rounded the corner from the back elevator. "Hey Abbs, you okay?"

When she pulled back to speak, he automatically gave her a look over for any signs of injury or distress. "I missed you!" Abby turned to look at Ziva, then Tony and Tim. "I've missed you all!"

Tony checked the time on his watch. "Abby, it's 0900. We've only been here an hour, how could you miss us already?"

Stepping away from Gibbs, Abby made her way around the squad room to hug the other agents. "I know, but I'm living with Fornell now, and I just… I missed you." After she hugged Tim she moved over to Gibbs' desk and sat down in his chair.

"Abbs?" Gibbs looked down at her, unsure of what exactly she was doing.

"Yeah?"

"You lost?"

"Nope."

"You need something?"

"Nope."

Gibbs raised an eyebrow and nodded at her feet which she had propped up on his desk. "You plan on telling me why you're sitting at my desk?"

"Just wondering what it feels like to be the boss."

"Abby." It was a slight warning; though he knew there wasn't much she could do while they waited on the results on the DNA Ducky had sent her, Gibbs didn't need her playing around in the squad room distracting his agents.

"Right, I'll move. See you guys later." Gibbs helped pull her to her feet and with a wave of her hand Abby headed back to the lab.

Gibbs smiled and shook his head as he moved to the chair that Abby had been sitting on.

Tony whispered to McGee as they moved to their desks, "McProbie, anyone else would've left in a body bag."

---

Gibbs felt like he and his team were running in circles when it came to the petty officer they were after and it was well after lunch before Gibbs made it down to visit Abby. She was leaning over the evidence table examining something he couldn't see. Her foot was tapping along to the beat of a song he knew he'd heard before and her head bobbed side to side. He stepped up behind her and set a Caf-Pow on her left and a little something else on her right.

Since the music had masked his arrival, Abby startled briefly before it registered that it was Gibbs. "Gibbs! What's this for?"

Gibbs motioned to the shelf above Abby's computer. "Your other one… it looked lonely."

"That's soooo sweet." Abby hugged the small stuffed monkey before setting on the shelf next to Bert and turning back to Gibbs with a smile. "You do know that this won't get you a DNA match any sooner, right?"

"Not everything I do is to bribe you for results, Abbs."

"Good to know." Abby motioned for him to step beside her at the computer. "I might not have DNA for you yet, but I do have a little something. I managed to pull the call records off the mangled mess of a cell phone you brought in. There was only one incoming call and it was from this number." Abby scribbled down the number and slipped the paper into his shirt pocket.

Gibbs leaned in to place a tender kiss over Abby's temple. "Good work, Abbs. Call me when you've got the DNA."

Abby watched him walk away and then shouted after him, "You're on speed dial!"

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Gibbs had nearly forgotten about Abby's new living arrangements until he looked up at the sound of Abby's voice.

"What are we having for dinner tonight, Tobias?" Abby smiled at the look Fornell gave her as they rounded the corner from the back elevator to walk through the squad room toward the front elevator. "What? We're dating now, so I figure we should be on a first name basis, don't you? I think it would be weird to call my boyfriend by his last name."

Tobias shrugged, she had a point. "I can't take too much time to sit down for dinner - I've promised Agent Johnson from Anaheim that I would look over his report from that double homicide last weekend and then I have some papers to go through that were sent up from Atlanta. We can grab something to go on the way home."

Gibbs watched silently as they discussed their plans for the evening. He couldn't help but notice that Abby looked a little discouraged at the fact that she would essentially be ignored once they made it home. Abby didn't mind being by herself, but she was social. The worst thing you could do to her was ignore her.

Abby smiled at him as she passed his desk. "Night Gibbs, goodnight guys." Tony, Ziva and McGee echoed her goodnight, and Gibbs gave a little nod.

On the way home, Fornell was fairly silent, only asking where she preferred to stop to grab dinner. She chose a little Italian place that Tony had told her about. They got their order to go, and Abby held the warm containers on her lap as they drove home.

Agent Terry was sitting on the couch watching an old episode of Oprah when they got home. "Hey boss, all is well here. No movement, nothing. Checked in with the agents across the street about an hour ago. There was one car that came down the street this morning that wasn't one of the cars registered to any owners, but it turns out it belongs to a woman that cleans a house four houses down."

"Good." Fornell took two plates down from the cabinet and then reached for a third. "You eat yet Terry?"

"Yeah boss, my mom packed a dinner for me. I just finished."

Abby bit her lip to stop from laughing out loud and noticed a small smile on Fornell's face before it disappeared. Fornell dished up his plate and then retrieved his briefcase before disappearing upstairs into his office. Abby watched him leave before dishing up her own plate and then sitting down at the dining table alone. "No wonder Diane divorced him."

"What was that?" Russ looked over his shoulder at her, though it was easy to see that his attention was clearly still focused on the TV.

"Nothing. Just talking to myself." He was completely focused back on his program before Abby could finish. She finished her dinner, set her plate in the dishwasher and put away the leftovers. She sat beside Russ to watch TV, but when he switched from Oprah to Dr. Phil she gave up and headed up to her room. She was quick to fire-up her lap top and was delighted to see a few friends online. They weren't online long, only enough time for a quick hello and to invite her to a party that night at her favorite club. She briefly considered playing rebellious teenager and sneaking out without Fornell or Russ knowing, but figured that the agent's across the street wouldn't miss her creeping down Fornell's driveway. There was also the thought that some psycho might be waiting just beyond the safety of the front door.

While her friends partied away, Abby slipped a DVD in and let herself get carried away into a fantasy world where the bad guy was always caught, and the good guy had chiseled abs and a sexy accent. As the credits rolled, Abby yawned and looked over at the clock. 2300. She was surprised that she hadn't heard the changing of the guard downstairs.

Jack Moore was just headed upstairs to announce his arrival when Abby stepped out of her room. "The boss up here?"

"Hiding in his office." Abby pointed to the door across the hall and then headed to the bathroom to follow her nightly routine. When she came out again, Jack was still standing in the doorway talking to Fornell. Abby wished them both a pleasant night and then headed to bed. She tossed and turned again for nearly an hour before reaching for her cell phone. It's only mid-night; Gibbs must be awake still, Abby rationalized.

"Abby." This time, when the phone pulls him from sleep he knows it's her, so he takes the time to clear his throat and sound awake.

"He irritates the hell out of me."

"It's only your second night." His soft chuckle broke the usual silence of his bedroom. "I've got the name of a couple's counselor. Though, I can't attest to the success rate."

Abby pushed her face against her pillow to suppress her own laugh. "Let's be real. This relationship was never meant to last. If this psycho killer doesn't come after me soon, I might go looking for him myself."

"Abby…"

"It was a joke Gibbs. Fornell is just so… so dreary. Honestly, he needs a basement so he can build a boat. He really needs something to do."

"What is he doing?"

"Hiding in his office, I guess. I'm bored Gibbs. Maybe I need a basement to build a boat while I'm here."

"Get some sleep. He's trying as hard as he can to get this guy, and then you can go home." Gibbs hated to defend Fornell, but it was true.

"I know. Thanks, Gibbs."

"Night Abby."

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The rest of the first week went by in a similar fashion. Abby had never been so thankful to spend long days at NCIS. Team Gibbs seemed to catch one case after another and with the massive load of forensic evidence, Abby was forced to work late the remainder of the week, arriving at eight when Fornell dropped her off, and getting picked up when they finished for the night around nine or ten. Fornell didn't speak much when they did spend time together. He usually disappeared up to his office after they had a quick bite to eat, and he usually left her to chat with whichever agent was in the house at the time.

Each night before bed, Abby called Gibbs to check in one last time, even if she'd just left the office the hour before. Their calls were quick, but the reassuring sound of Gibbs' voice put her at ease before she drifted asleep. Gibbs would whisper a goodnight and smile when Abby muttered something in return before snapping her phone shut.

The weekend wasn't much better. They made a quick run to the grocery store together, but had walked stiffly down the aisle side by side as they picked up a few items to make lunch and cook dinner. She enjoyed her time most when Donny Cunningham was in the house. He brought along his X-box and it didn't take long for her to master Burnout.

Gibbs kept both Tony and McGee busy all weekend, but gave Ziva a few hours off to visit with Abby and take a bit of the edge off of being stuck in Fornell's house all weekend. There wasn't anything that Abby could do in the lab, and since there weren't many people in the NCIS building, Gibbs thought it would be safer for her to stay home.

Abby stifled her laugh and tried not to encourage Donny as he shamelessly flirted with Ziva and she intentionally ignored the irritated looks from Ziva. After a quick lunch and a few lessons on car racing on an X-box, Ziva's phone rang and Gibbs asked her to come back in. Abby was reluctant to see her friend go, but she put on a smile anyway. She didn't need Ziva around to win another round of Burnout against Donny.

The way the week had gone, she knew it was no way to convince anyone of their relationship, and if she had been in the killers place, she would've given up on finding a loop-hole in their schedule in order to make the kill. Sadly, she thought, this guy never would. "Something has to change."

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TBC…