Chapter Nine

"Abby?" Gibbs held her tight and rubbed his hand soothingly up and down her back.

Shaking her head, Abby pressed her face to his chest. "Just take me home."

"You okay to go through the squad room and say goodbye to the team, or should we head back down and take the stairs?"

"I'm okay," Abby pulled away, straightened up and wiped at the tears collecting in the corner of her eyes. In an instant she looked fine and Gibbs was amazed at the sudden transformation. They hit the squad room and Abby smiled as the team came in to view. "I'm headed out guys, just a little tired and could use a nap." She hugged each of them tight. "I'll see you again soon, maybe tomorrow."

She accepted their hugs, but Gibbs could tell she was distracted. He couldn't figure out what had thrown her off – if it had been autopsy, or something he had said…

They walked hand in hand out to his car and she smiled weakly as he opened the door for her. He wanted to ask what had bothered her, but decided to wait until they were back at his place. The drive was quiet and Gibbs' itched to reach out and touch her, but she looked tense and he wasn't sure if his touch would be welcome.

He drove as quickly and carefully as possible and with a little luck and no red lights, they were home before long. He hurried around to open the door for her and then nudged her up the front step as he followed along behind her. Once the door was shut and locked and their jackets hung in the closet, Gibbs reached out and placed his hand on her shoulder. "What's goin' on, Abbs? What's got you so spooked?"

Abby turned to him, visibly struggling with her emotions. "I… I remembered Kate and Jenny and… and Mike. All of them were down in autopsy, and it hit me like a ton of bricks and… and… I don't remember if I like tea," she sobbed, falling against his chest when he pulled her into a hug.

"Ah hell, Abbs. I should've asked about them before bringing you down there." He pressed a few gentle kisses to the side of her head as she cried. "Still gets to me too, sometimes." He held her until her sobs became sniffles and then her sniffles became an occasional hitched breath. "And for the record," he added, "you're not a big fan of tea, but you like the way Ducky makes it."

"Okay," she smiled and wiped away the tear tracks on her cheeks.

"Come on, its past lunch time. Let's get some food into you and then maybe a nap is a good idea."

"Okay," together they headed for the kitchen. "Will you lay down with me?"

"Course." He hadn't slept much the night before, so an hour or two napping would do him some good. Together they made sandwiches and Abby pulled together a fruit salad and before long they were headed up to his room. Abby changed into one of his old shirts and he stripped down to his boxers and they settled together in the center of the bed.

"Should be set an alarm?"

"Nah, your body needs lots of rest, so if you sleep long it's because your body needs it."

"Okay. Gibbs?"

"Hmm?"

"Will you remind me about Kate?"

Gibbs nodded and pressed a kiss to her forehead. "You two were the best of friends, always doing girly… shit together." He smiled when Abby giggled softly and nuzzled against his chest. "Getting your toes done or spa stuff. You two were always going off on a spa weekend or to yoga. She liked to draw and you were always asking her to draw stuff for you, couple times I had to drag her out of the lab to get you both to focus. You still have a drawing she did of you as a bat, it's in that box downstairs…" he continued to tell her stories until her breathing slowed and evened out. With Abby peacefully asleep, it was his turn to try to relax.

"Boss, there are plenty of forensic scientists out there, just pick one!" Tony argued. "I'm tired of you moping around, none of us are getting any work done!"

"DiNozzo!"

"What? I get it, you're sad. But being sad won't bring her back, just like it won't bring Shannon and Kelly back. Get over it!"

Gibbs startled awake and glanced at the clock. It had only been forty-five minutes and Abby was still asleep. Sighing, Gibbs settled back to wait while she slept. There was no point in trying to sleep again, he was tired, but he was more tired of the nightmares that seemed to plague him every time he closed his eyes. The afternoon sun faded into darkness as evening and night rolled in. He was able to lose himself in the good memories – the team dinners, bowling with Abby and the nuns. Every time Abby shifted, he lifted his head to check if she was awake, but as she continued to sleep, he relaxed again, content to hold her in his arms.

"Gibbs..?" Abby's sleepy voice interrupted one of his more favorite memories – Christmas with both his father and Abby.

"Yeah?"

"What time is it, looks like it's getting dark."

Gibbs turned to the bedside clock and chuckled. "It's not getting dark, it's getting to be light. Nearly five am."

"What?" Abby lifted her head to look at the clock as well. "Why didn't you wake me?"

Gibbs shrugged. "You needed the sleep."

"But it was like… 3 in the afternoon. That's… fourteen hours! Oh God, I've gotta pee!" Abby threw the covers back and rushed for the master bathroom. Gibbs was quick out of bed and headed across the hall to the bathroom. As he was heading back to the bedroom, Abby was headed out. He reached out and caught her around the middle, pulling her in close and making her laugh. "Gibbs!"

He stumbled backward, pulling her with, until his legs hit the bed and he pulled her down with him. As soon as she was on the mattress beside him, he rolled over her and nipped at her earlobe.

"God, Gibbs…" she moaned.

"Need you, Abbs." He nuzzled her cheek and then kissed along her jaw.

"All yours," she gasped when his hand slid inside her underwear and his middle finger slipped between her folds. He kissed her hard as he toyed with her clit and then sucked at her lower lip. She rode his fingers hard until she knew she wasn't going to be able to hold on much longer. "Wait, Gibbs… wait…" she pulled his hand out of her underwear. "Together…"

Gibbs shook his head, "let me do this for you, let me…" he tugged her underwear down and slipped his fingers back inside her. He held her close, his kisses deep and demanding, as he worked her nearer to her orgasm.

"Gibbs!" She arched off the bed and clutched his arm, "I can't…"

Instead of answering her, Gibbs flicked her clit again with his thumb, and pressed a kiss to her shoulder. He could feel her tense and tremble around his fingers and again she arched off the bed, crying out his name as she came.

Gathering her into his arms, Gibbs held her as she began to relax again. He was beyond exhausted after so many nights with little to no sleep, and nightmares most every night. He had hoped that they would go away now that she was back, but he was still plagued with bad dreams keeping him awake most of the night.

"I always knew we were connected," she turned in his arms and tapped his forehead. "It's like you just know how to touch me, like you know just what I need."

"Mm," Gibbs kissed the tip of her nose. "You tend to give some pretty clear signs as to what you like."

Abby laughed, "ever stop to think that maybe I just like you?" This time she was the aggressor, and she pushed herself over him and straddled his waist. "And weren't you saying that you needed me… you've still got your boxers on. How can you get what you need while you're still dressed?"

"I think we figured things out for you fairly well, and you're still dressed."

Abby thought for a moment and then pulled her shirt off. "Well, we can fix that, too." She moved off of him and slipped out of her underwear as Gibbs pushed his boxers down over his hips. Abby reached for a condom on the nightstand and then moved to sit between his legs. "Hmm… where to start?"

"Abbs," he growled. He had calmed down after giving her what she needed, but now that they were both naked and she was sitting between his legs, there was familiar warmth pooling in his stomach.

"Don't growl at me, let me have my fun. I promise you'll enjoy it," she gave a cheeky grin and leaned over him for a quick kiss. She almost found herself lost in the kiss, but pulled away and refocused on his body. She licked and nipped her way down his chest, moving her hands up his sides as she paid attention to his stomach. His muscles tensed and relaxed under her touch and she could tell he was having a hard time just lying there. She trailed her kisses even further south until his hard dick nudged her chin.

"Abby!" He struggled to sit up at the sudden contact, but Abby just pushed him back down and nibbled her way over his hip.

"Hmm?" She glanced up at him as she took him in hand. "Were you saying something?"

"You're a tease… yeah, just like that…" his hand covered hers and increased her speed a fraction. "God, Abby!"

Abby twisted her hand and brushed her palm over the tip of his cock before leaning over to take him between her lips. She fought the urge to giggle as Gibbs struggled with his control. For a man that was so in control over everything, including his body, it was funny to see him come apart so easily. "Ah ah," she pulled away a few minutes later with a smile, as he groaned and growled about being close, "we're not going to end this so quickly."

"Abbs..." The exasperation in his voice was comical and Abby almost felt bad for him.

Slowly she kissed her way back up over his stomach, his chest and neck before finally giving in to his attempts to kiss her.

He thrust up against her in search of any friction he could find. "Abby, please."

"You must be quite desperate if you're already saying please… you feel okay?" She brushed the back of her hand across his forehead. "Hmm, I dunno… you feel a little sweaty," she pretended to think for a moment, "maybe we should slow down."

With quick precision, he switched their positions. It was all a blur and suddenly Abby was the one unable to string much of a coherent thought together. "Oh, Gibbs!"

This time it was Gibbs that grinned. He lowered his head and nipped at her lower lip, sucking it between his as he thrust in to her again and again. "So good, Abbs. You feel so good."

"More Gibbs, more!" Abby arched and twisted below him, crying out as he reached between them to brush his fingers over her clit. She pushed his hand away as she reached her orgasm, calling out for him over and over, her body slowly relaxing as Gibbs' need took over and his thrusts faltered and he came with a load groan.

"I'm not sure I'm ever going to be able to move," Abby sighed happily.

"Am I too heavy?" Gibbs started to move off of her, but stopped when her legs wrapped around him to keep him in place.

"Nah, you're fine. I like the way you feel. But despite having slept for so long… I could almost nap again."

"We have no plans, if you want to sleep some more we can set the alarm for an hour or two and rest."

"You'll stay and snuggle with me?"

"Where else would I be?"

"I dunno," Abby half shrugged under him, "but if you've been here the whole time, you must be wide awake and ready to get up."

Gibbs distracted her with another kiss. She didn't need to know that while he had indeed spent the entire evening and night with her, he hadn't had more than two hours of sleep. "I'm staying in bed if you're staying in bed." Slowly he moved off of her and pulled her into his side. Within minutes he was sound asleep, no nightmare in sight.

TBC..