I Know You Can Feel This Too
A/N: Finally... first bit of the dinner dance section... which might drag on over a few chapters... if I'm tempted.
Chapter 13 – Anticipation
Fornell looked round with interest as he escorted Abby and Ziva into the ballroom of the hotel hosting the inter-agency dinner-dance.
He'd be surprised if there were two more beautiful women in the whole room than Ziva and Abby, and felt more than a little smug that he was the one arriving with them on his arm.
The tables occupied all the edges of the room, leaving a space in the middle for the dance floor, and the raised stage at the far end of the ballroom held the band.
After checking their coats in, they paused in the doorway.
Abby could see Tony, Palmer and McGee at the bar talking to Ducky but there was no sign of Gibbs. She and Ziva excused themselves from Fornell to go over to say hi to their teammates, Ziva promising Fornell a dance later on and Abby saying that she'd return after saying hello to the others.
They made their way through the rapidly filling room towards the bar, smiling and exchanging greetings with agents they both recognized.
"Just look at this, Probie. So many beautiful women, so little time and only one Anthony DiNozzo."
"And I'm sure half the women here will be grateful for that by the end of the evening, Tony."
"Oh, wow," came the awestruck comment from Palmer standing next to them and they both turned to see what had caused it.
"Wow, indeed, autopsy gremlin." Tony's wide grin broke out as he saw Abby and Ziva approaching through the crowd, and reached up to reflexively straighten his bow tie.
"They look... wow." McGee trailed off.
"Real eloquent, McAuthor, can't you do better than that?"
McGee shook his head, wryly, "Just wishing I had a camera, Tony."
"Improvise, Probie," Tony clapped him on the shoulder. "Use your phone."
Both women looked incredible.
Although both dressed in black and both blessed with dark hair, their beauty was strikingly different. Abby's ivory pale skin and Ziva's warm golden olive tones created a remarkable contrast, as did the vivid green eyes of their forensic scientist and the smoky brown eyes of the ex-Mossad agent.
"Hello, boys, you look a little shell-shocked," came Abby's sultry purr when they arrived, causing all the men in the vicinity to unconsciously snap to attention.
A warm voice interjected before any of them could pull themselves together enough to reply, and heralded the arrival of a very dapper-looking Ducky. "That's because they're all struck speechless, Abby, which is quite understandable. You both look absolutely beautiful, if I may say so."
"Thank you, Ducky," Ziva smiled at the ME, looping her arm through his and kissing his cheek in greeting. "And you look very handsome too."
"You all do. You all clean up very well," grinned Abby, linking her other arm through Ducky's, who looked very pleased with himself at having two such beautiful women on his arm.
The tables assigned to NCIS were, by a lucky coincidence, within reach of the bar, which Tony flatly denied had anything to do with him.
Everyone had so far decided to prop up the bar, the better to scan the whole room until the food arrived and they'd be forced to sit down. Vance had yet to arrive, and Tony and McGee were taking advantage of the time to relax before they were officially 'on duty.'
Tony drew Abby up to the bar, signalling to the bartender for a refill for himself and a drink for Abby, before wrapping his arm around her shoulders. "You okay, Abbs?" he asked quietly, out of earshot of the others.
She smiled fondly at him, leaning against his solid warmth. "I'm fine, Tony. Much better than yesterday."
They'd all visited her in her lab at various times during the day to see how she was.
Abby hadn't told them the details of what had passed between her and Gibbs, but just enough so they knew that things were much easier between them than yesterday. That and her much improved mood helped to lighten the atmosphere in the bullpen for everyone.
Tony didn't look totally convinced, but was content to let Abby tell him how she really felt in her own time.
Giving her a hug and kissing her temple, Tony turned away to start teasing Ziva who was chatting to McGee. Abby scanned the rest of the room, but the silver head she was looking for was nowhere to be seen.
She heard Ducky's reassuring quiet voice at her elbow. "I haven't seen him yet, Abby. I'm sure he'll be along later."
Abby smiled weakly at her friend. "Yeah, but who with, Ducky?"
Abby knew she couldn't spend the entire evening on edge waiting to catch a glimpse of Gibbs, but it was difficult not to torture herself by wondering if he would turn up at the dinner with Allison Hart clinging to his arm.
Ducky squeezed her arm sympathetically, guessing where her thoughts were taking her, and sought to change the subject to distract her. "Will you save me a dance later, my dear?"
A genuine smile broke out on her lovely face. "Love to, Ducky but now I'd better get back. It's only fair that I spend some time with Toby since he brought us both here tonight."
TBC
A/N: Well, will he turn up I wonder?