The snow had lightened up, and was now gracefully gliding from the sky as Gibbs drove slowly on a side road to Abby's apartment. The roads here had not yet been touched, and it looked like no one had come through in at least an hour. From the truck cab, Gibbs looked around on either side of the road to see if he could spot where a car might have gone off into the snow. He hated to admit that was what he was looking for, but he knew it was better to assume the worst.
Gibbs saw the road glisten ahead of him, so he let his foot off the accelerator and eased around the large patch, into the other lane. Just as he past the ice he spotted a flash of bright red from the side of the road, almost entirely buried in snow. He braked lightly, anxious for the truck to stop, but knowing he shouldn't slam on the brakes and potentially end up in the ditch as well. The front end of a very familiar car stuck up toward the road. Gibbs left the truck running, shoved the door to the cab open and leapt down, running through the snow drift.
Abby was still in the same spot she'd been in since she'd tried to call Gibbs. Tears still streamed down her cheeks, succeeding in only making her colder as they took on the car's freezing temperature. Every few minutes Abby glanced at her phone, hoping to see new bars appear that would show she could make an outgoing call.
"Gibbs will find me. Yes, that's exactly what will happen. Gibbs will rescue me and…" Abby sobbed, cutting herself off. "No, he won't! Because I ruined everything!" Abby reached into her dashboard and found a stray napkin to blow her nose on. Taking deep breaths she tried to talk some sense into herself. "No, Gibbs will find me. Because Gibbs will always protect me, even if he doesn't feel the same. And Gibbs' gut will be telling him that something is wrong. Because somehow he always knows. And his lack of feelings won't keep him from rescuing me with that gut of his." Abby steadied her disjointed breathing, but began to cry once more, the tears cascading rapidly down her face. "I'll have to face Gibbs as my rescuer, knowing that he thinks I'm some silly, lovesick little girl. Maybe it's better if he doesn't rescue me." She shivered suddenly, as if the cold hit her with more force. Burying her face into her curled up body, she whispered to herself, "Gibbs, why am I so stupid?"
The car was surrounded by a thick wall of snow that caused Gibbs to turn around and run back to the truck, plucking a shovel from the bed. He shoveled the snow from the driver's side, tossing it haphazardly behind him so that it was out of the way.
Gibbs yelled toward the car as he shoveled, "Abbs!?" He strained to listen for Abby's voice as he continued to shovel, hoping that she was still conscious and hadn't been injured when the car had hit the embankment. If only he had forced her to stay. Or if he had grown a pair and told her how he really felt. Shoving the thoughts from his mind, Gibbs tried to focus on the snow in front of him. He glanced the top edge of the car window and threw the shovel aside, falling to his hands and knees on top of the snow pile. "Abbs!?" He yelled again into the car as he shoved snow away from the door handle.
Abby was drifting off, still shivering as she tried to sink further into the cloth seat to keep warm. "Gibbs…" She mumbled in her sleepy state. "Mmm…Gibbs…wish you loved me." Her eyes were closed and her lips were a sickly blue that shone through the lipstick that had rubbed off as her tears had come to rest on her lips.
Gibbs was yelling her name as he yanked on the handle, trying to get the frozen door to release from the door jam. After several attempts the door flew open violently with the force of the pull and Gibbs reached in and picked Abby up, cradling her as he pulled her from the car and carried her carefully through the snow and to his truck. She began to mutter as he laid her on the passenger seat.
"Gibbs, need phone…purse…" Abby was half awake and trying to lift her arm to point back to her car.
"Alright, Abbs. Be right back." Gibbs' voice was quiet and soothing to Abby.
"Mmm…Gibbs…so sexy." Abby murmured in her daze, "Can't have him. So sexy."
Gibbs was already back with her things by the time she drifted out entirely, sleeping against the window.
"Abbs, come on, wake up." Gibbs shook her lightly as he began to turn back towards his house. "Abbs, you need to stay awake. You're going to need to warm up at the house."
"No, Gibbs mean. Abby tired." Abby tried to shove his hand off of her but only succeeded in waving her arm around before she let it drop to her side.
"Not tired, Abbs, hypothermic. Come on, sit up." Gibbs pulled her arm so that she was sitting upright next to him.
She immediately started to slink back towards the seat, whining, "No, tired."
Gibbs pulled her up close next to him as he drove so that she was sitting up, pressed against his body.
"Mm…Gibbs." She leaned over and cuddled up into his side, wrapping her arms around him. "Nice pillow." Her voice was soft and dreamy as she slipped in an out of consciousness.
He continued to hold her up against him as he drove, trying to think of ways to keep her awake so that getting her warmed up once in the house would be easier. "Abby, tell me about Death Plastic's Christmas album. What's your favorite song?"
"It's Plastic Death, and favorite song is Holly Jolly…I told you that…" she slurred a little as she swatted at him at if playfully smacking him for asking her a question he knew the answer to.
"How does it go? Sing some."
Abby tried to hum a tune that sounded like a drunk singing Have a Holly Jolly Christmas. "Best time…th' year…" Her version had sharper beats to it, but Gibbs wasn't sure if that was from the cold, or if it was the actual version of the song.
"By golly…jolly..holly…" Abby was nodding off again.
"Abbs, keep singing. We only have a few minutes to go and then we'll be in the house. I'll turn the heat up for you and wrap you in a bunch of blankets, okay?" Gibbs was trying to shove aside how worried he felt so that he could focus. He always protected Abby, had always demanded that everyone protect Abby. But he realized now that there was one thing he could not protect her from: and that was him.
Abby was mumbling the lyrics to a metal version of All I Want for Christmas is You when Gibbs turned into his driveway, and threw the truck into park. He flicked the keys and jerked them from the ignition.
"Come on, Abby, let's get in the house." His tone was demanding, as he attempted to rile her from her sleep.
"Mmmkay." Abby slid across the cab seat and fell into Gibbs' outstretched arms. Picking her up, along with her purse and phone, which she began to demand in her stupor, he leaned against the truck door to shut it and stamped through the snow and up into the warm house.
