"Thanks for coming by to help, Abs," Tony said as they worked together to make cookies.

"As if I'd miss out on some Christmas Eve with one of my besties," she said as she grinned and playfully punched him in the shoulder.

"Please don't ever use that term again..."

"I know, right?" She grimaced. "I told myself I'd try it out once...I'm not diggin' it either."

"Besides, you're not one of my best friends," Tony stated matter-of-factly, as he continued to roll out the dough.

Abby looked at him with a flash of hurt. "What?"

"You're more than that, Abby." He glanced at her for a moment before looking back down at his administrations. "You're my sister...my family," he elaborated.

"Aww, Tonyyyyy!" She gave him a sideways hug.

"Whoa whoa whoa!" He laughed as her hug about caused him to topple, sending flour all over the floor beneath them. "Gibbs is gonna kick my ass if I destroy his kitchen!"

"I think you've got a 'get out of ass-kicking free' card for at least the rest of the year," she said before placing an apologetic kiss on his cheek. "Besides, I'll help clean it up!"

"You'll clean it all up," he retorted playfully. "You made the mess!"

"You're the one that squirmed, DiNozzo!"

"I wouldn't have squirmed if you hadn't hug-attacked me!"

"I wouldn't have hug-attacked you if you hadn't been so darn sweet!"

"I didn't say it to be sweet, Abby," he said as he cocked his head. "I said it 'cause I meant it." Her accusatory face softened into a smile. Then, without warning, he raised a hand up and smeared frosting on her cheek.

"DiNozzo!" she shrieked, and Tony couldn't help but to laugh at her shocked face before running out of the room to avoid any kind of retaliation. To his surprise, however, she went into the bathroom to wash the frosting off of her face. "Don't think you're off the hook, mister!" she shouted.

Tony laughed, then jumped a bit when his cell went off in his pocket. He quickly headed back into the kitchen to wipe his hands on a towel, then fetched it out. "Hey, boss!" he answered. "Havin' fun yet?"

The team leader had decidedly gone Christmas shopping at the last minute; something he hadn't done in many years. Tony tried to remind him how busy it'd be, but Gibbs was too stubborn to back down from his goal.

"Took me forty-five minutes just to get into the mall,"Gibbs told him. "And once I finished getting what all I needed, it took an hour to get through the line at check-out."

"I warned you." Tony let out a soft chuckle.

"Yeah, well...had to be done,"he said in his defense. "I'm figurin' it'll take at least half an hour to get out of this chaos."

"You on the road, then?"

"Still tryin' to get outta the damned parking lot," he tried not to sound too annoyed.

"Ah man...I'm sorry, boss..." his apology was less than sincere, since it was accompanied by a humored tone.

"Figured I'd pass the time a little by callin' to see how much of a disaster you two have made of my kitchen."

"Disaster?" Tony turned around as Abby came into the kitchen, and he gave her a glare. "What makes ya think there's anything wrong with the kitchen, boss?" he motioned to Abby to start picking up. "It's in pristine condition!"

"Uh huh," Gibbs replied, knowingly. "Somehow, you and Abby and baking seems like a formula for the inevitable, DiNozzo."

"I have no idea what you're referring to...whatsoever," Tony cleared his throat. "So whatcha get at the mall?" He changed the subject. "Anything good?"

"Not gonna tell you."

"Aw, c'mon! You can tell me what ya got Abby! Promise I won't tell her!"

"She'd get it out of you in less than two minutes."

"That much faith in me, huh? Two-minute threshold for- well...you're probably right..." Gibbs' laughter on the other line was cut short by a sickening sound of screeching tires and crunching, scraping metal. Tony was suddenly dumb-struck for a moment, absorbing the sound. "Boss, what was that?" he asked. There was no reply. "Boss?" His chest constricted and his body was suddenly burning with fear. "Gibbs!"

Tbc...