"Gibbs! Come see! Sit!" Abby was zipping around the lab at warp speed and was holding out her stool for him to sit on.

He looked at her with amusement in his eyes. He loved seeing her so excited about things. There was always an aura of innocence and light around her. And it was intoxicating to him to be exposed to it, even if it were only for stolen moments.

He dutifully sat on the stool and she pushed him closer to the counter. Her gunpowder perfume subtly surrounded him, but it was different somehow. She added something to it that he was having trouble placing, something familiar that eluded his tired brain. She reached around him in typical Abby fashion to reach the keyboard, her chin tucked on his shoulder.

Normally he could maintain his composure when she did that, but it had been a couple of really long days short on sleep to close their latest case and he was punchy. "You change your perfume, Abs?"

She chuckled lightly in his ear and his eyes almost crossed. "Just tweaked the formula a little. It was missing something."

"I like it. So what are you showing me?"

"Remember when my friend Kristen and I went on vacation to Vancouver last year?"

He did. Distinctly. He could mentally catalog all of the times she went away with this friend or that. And all the times he wished he had been the one to have shared her adventures with her instead of her friends.

"Well, remember me telling you that we got to be extras in a TV show? I just got a copy of it! I'm gonna be on TV, Gibbs! How cool is that?"

The next thing he knew she was pushing him, stool and all, over to face the plasma screen on the wall. She plunked down in lower chair in front of him and clapped excitedly. He just shook his head and chuckled.

He tried following the story unfolding on the screen, but sensed that unless you followed the show religiously that it was almost an impossible task. He found himself liking the gruff male lead character, Colonel O'Neill however, his attitude similar to Gibbs' own.

He got the impression that there was something between Colonel O'Neill and his young blond teammate Major Carter. But what about the fraternization regulations? It would never work in the real Air Force. Plus the Major was a lot younger than the silver-haired Colonel. But his curiosity was piqued and he leaned forward to say close to Abby's ear, "So are they…"

He wasn't quite expecting Abby's reaction. She whipped her chair around to face him, her eyes wide, "No! They have been teasing us with that for years, Gibbs. Years! They are so perfect but because of the stupid frat regs, which are way worse than your Rule Twelve by the way, they have never done anything. It's so unfair, they save the world and the universe and can't even be with the person they love. Not nice, Gibbs."

She whipped back around to face the screen again, leaving Gibbs sitting there with a pole-axed expression on his face.

He leaned forward again and asked, "You don't think he's a little old for her, Abs?"

Abby didn't turn all the way around this time, she just turned her head to look over her shoulder and pursing her lips just rolled her eyes at him then turned back to the screen.

He stared at the back of Abby's head for a moment trying to process the meaning of her reaction to his question. Finally giving up he shook his head and refocused on the screen trying to follow the story.

----------

The team always worried when it was Sam's turn to pick the movie for team night at Jack's. She would either find some obscure science fiction movie or would go the opposite end of the spectrum and show up with the latest chick flick.

Tonight was just going to be Jack, Sam and Daniel as Teal'c decided to use his down time to visit his son and the rest of the Jaffa.

Jack had the beer chilling in the fridge and would order the pizzas once Sam and Daniel had the umpteenth repeat argument over toppings. He wondered at times, with the way that they squabbled like children, if they had been separated at birth. His kids. Well no, that wasn't entirely accurate. Although he had some heavy paternal feelings for Daniel, he most certainly did not see Carter as a daughter. And wasn't that just a big, pink, fluffy gorilla in the room most days. He knew it. She knew it. And they both were pretty damn sure that Daniel and Teal'c knew it. What General Hammond knew was a mystery, he never asked, and they never told.

His reverie was broken by a quick knock on the door. He opened it to see Sam standing there, movies in hand. He smiled, and she smiled. It was all they allowed themselves.

"So do we need hankies or physics textbooks tonight, Carter?" he asked in playful sarcasm.

She gave him a fake scowl and teased back, "Actually I was nice to you guys tonight. I got the new spy movie that everyone is talking about. It's got everything, a gorgeous leading man, beautiful women, gadgets, and it's even set in the Middle East so Daniel can pick apart the dialects." She handed him the dvd and he looked at the box and frowned, the leading man was a silver haired fifty-something year old and the leading lady was a whole lot younger.

"Dontcha think he's a little a little old for her, Carter?" Jack asked pointing to the dvd.

Sam didn't answer him, she just shook her head and rolled her eyes then turned and heading into the kitchen to help herself to a beer leaving Jack to interpret her response.

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To be continued…..feedback appreciated!!

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Abby snorted in the lab at the art imitating life. Gibbs raised an eyebrow in question but she didn't say anything further. Abby was trying to roll her shoulders a bit to relax them. It had been a very long couple of days hunched over equipment and her neck and shoulders were very tight. His hands autonomously went to her shoulders and started massaging away the knots, his eyes never leaving the plasma.

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They were still waiting for Daniel when Jack's phone rang. Sam heard him muttering into it with annoyance and hang up. "That was Daniel. Seems that one of the other teams just found some interesting hunk of rock that has himself beside himself. So he's staying at the mountain tonight. Looks like it's just you and me tonight."

Oh damn, did he really just say that last part? Hello pink gorilla, would you like out of the closet tonight? No really, come join us on the couch.

Sam chuckled, "Well, at least we won't argue about the pizza."

Jack grinned, she was right, they liked the same toppings. "Good point. You get the movie ready and I'll order it up."

Pizza ordered, Jack settled into the opposite corner of the couch from Sam and they started watching the movie.

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"Oh, here comes Kristen, Gibbs. Pay attention." Abby said excitedly.

He paused in his massage to concentrate on the show only to have Abby chide him, "You don't have to stop you know. As my third grade teacher once said, you see with your eyes not with your hands."

He let out a low chuckle and dutifully went back to his massaging.

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Their pizza had arrived and plunked on the coffee table. Sam had slid down to sit on the floor leaning up against the middle of the couch, totally engrossed the in the movie. Jack was trying to keep his focus on the movie but kept getting a faint tickle of Sam's perfume in his nose that was very distracting.

His focus was dragged back to the movie when he heard Sam say, "Oh no, don't go out there. You know he's going to kill you." Sam had a habit of talking to the screen, as if they would hear her.

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The pretty brunette was skulking through the dark office building clutching a computer disk. She could no longer see her pursuer and she felt safe to try and make a run for it. But the moment she opened the door and carefully stuck her head out she knew she had made a mistake. And the sound of gunshots and the white-hot pain that cut through her chest confirmed it.

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Gibbs had recognized Abby's friend Kristen and was impressed. He had just expected to just see her passing by somewhere. He wondered what Abby's role had been.

"Well, that was Kristen's bit part. Mine's coming up soon."
Gibbs pressed a thumb into a particularly stubborn knot and Abby moaned. He tried not to let that affect him but he was tired and his resolve weak.

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Sam was enjoying the movie and was watching with the same intensity that she generally reserved for studying some alien doohickey. Jack was torn between watching the movie and watching her. The pink gorilla kept poking him in the ribs.

He noticed that she was rubbing her shoulder and remembered that she had taken a particularly nasty roll back through the gate their last mission. She was probably stiff and sore. He impulsively asked, "Shoulder bothering you?"

She smiled at him over her shoulder and replied, "A little. I think we need to pad the ramp in the gate room."

He chuckled, that had been a running joke for a long time at the SGC, mostly because of SG-1's propensity to make flying entrances back through the gate. He shifted a bit on the couch and said, "Here, scoot over and I'll fix it." The pink gorilla was even surprised.

Sam regarded him for a moment, her expression unreadable, and then moved over to sit between his knees.

Jack leaned forward and put his beer on the coffee table and rubbed his hands on his jeans then gently began to knead Sam's sore muscles.

----------

----------

Abby giggled, "Go Jack. It's about time."

Gibbs leaned forward to ask near her ear, "He's never made a move before?"

Abby gnawed on her bottom lip, trying not to let him see that his proximity to her ear was starting to short circuit her brain. She finally managed to answer, "There've been some hot moments here and there, mostly when they're about to die or under alien influence but this is new."

Gibbs chuckled, "So if they got together because the aliens made them do it, it would be okay?"

----------

Sam was back to focusing on the movie. Well at least she hoped Jack thought she was focusing on the movie. The feel of his hands on her was intoxicating. She had wanted it for so long.

He worked his magic hands and found a knot that she didn't realize she had, and when he dug his thumbs into it she moaned.

Jack had been trying to split his concentration between the movie and giving Sam a massage. It wasn't easy. And then she moaned. It took all his self control to just close his eyes and will his body not to respond. He could just envision the imaginary pink gorilla doing a victory dance in the corner.

He opened his eyes and forced his attention back to the movie. It was a funeral scene for the young brunette that had been killed. The silver-haired leading man was front and center and Jack could sense the drama coming to a head.

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He stood apart from the rest of the funeral attendees, watching from a distance. She shouldn't be dead, he thought to himself. He was a man of stone, no emotions showing on his face. His eyes agates.

He scanned the rest of the crowd and met a pair of green eyes filled with unshed tears. He knew the face that held those eyes better than he knew his own. He ached to go to her, to hold her and help her deal with the death of her best friend. But he didn't. Couldn't. She deserved someone younger, someone less scarred, less battle weary. He had had these feelings for so long, he almost couldn't remember not caring about her. But he tucked them away, far away from her and anyone that would hurt her to get to him. But they were there and undeniable.

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"Look, Gibbs! There I am! I'm officially a t.v. star now." She clapped and wiggled in her chair.

Gibbs hadn't recognized her at first, and then he realized why, "You look good as a red-head, Abs."

She chuckled, "I thought you would appreciate that. There's a lot more of me coming up."

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To be continued…..feedback appreciated!!

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Sam sniffed, she couldn’t help it. She always cried during the sad parts of movies. This movie in particular was hitting too close to home. The brilliant scientist lead was young and driven and hopelessly in love with the gruff silver-haired agent. They lost friends and put their lives on the line for the benefit of others that would never know.

Jack had planned ahead; Carter always found a reason to cry while they watched movies. The tissue box was on the coffee table ready to go. He paused in his massaging and leaned forward over her shoulder to grab it and as he dropped it in her lap he said very close to her ear, “Just for you.�

It was good thing Sam was in front of Jack so he couldn’t see her expression. His breath in her ear made her eyes cross.

---------------

He was playing with a random piece of equipment in her lab that she repeated told him not to break in the past. He could probably recall each individual occasion because she always smiled at him when she did, and he had the memories of all her smiles filed away safely in his brain. When things got bad he would pull one out and it would give him strength.

He frowned when she entered the lab, she was carrying a flak vest and a sidearm. And given that he was already wearing his, he knew they were for her. She was adamant about completing her best friend’s mission. And she was the only one that could do it. He just wasn’t technical enough to get what they needed.

They argued and yelled and in the end he didn’t win. She would go. But he would keep her safe no matter what, even at the expense of the mission or his own life. Because if anything happened to her, his life was over anyway.

---------------

Gibbs sat there staring at the screen, this watching of a movie in a t.v. show was a little weird, or to use Abby’s favorite phrase, it was hinky. But he was impressed at how much she put into her bit part. And seeing her decked out as a red head was intriguing. And oddly enough, the idea of her in a flak jacket with a weapon could easily become a little naughty fantasy in his tired brain.

He rested his chin on Abby’s shoulder and followed the action. Part of his mind was registering the attraction between the gruff silver haired secret agent and Abby’s character, and he also registered the almost palatable attraction between the Colonel and the Major. He sighed softly, thinking about how closely life could imitate art.

Abby was so content she was almost purring. She finally had her silver fox where she wanted him.

---------------

Sam was cognizant of the fact that she was still sitting between Jack’s knees and a faint little smile crossed her face. Stolen little moments like these were all they allowed themselves, the regulations crystal clear. But there were times that she wanted to push the envelope. Push the envelope before a mission could go completely wrong and they all died, died without ever knowing.

She was in the mood to push that envelope a little tonight and she casually draped an arm over top of Jack’s knee and began to gently rub it, knowing how they bothered him.

With her back to him she didn’t see him freeze the moment that she did it, or exactly how wide his eyes got. But after a minute, her tender ministrations to his knee relaxed him and he tried to force his attention back to the movie. But the pink gorilla was back on the couch nudging him in the ribs again.

---------------

The mission had of course gone to hell in a handcart and they found themselves locked in a room with a bomb about to take out the building, and likely most of the city block. They had been over the room inch by inch and there was just no way out.

He punched the wall then cursed in English, then Arabic, and finally French. She calmly walked over to him and took his aching hand in hers and whispered to him in French that he should not injure himself. She gently rubbed the bruised knuckles and bent her head to plant a feather light kiss on them.

She looked up to meet his eyes and all his resolve broke. He couldn’t keep her safe, couldn’t get her out of here, and yet she stood there kissing his bruised hand. Her eyes screaming all the things she couldn’t put a voice to. The wanting, the needing, and the pain of trying to deny their feelings any longer.

His free hand stroked her cheek and found its way to wrap in her hair and pull her towards him and he cursed himself for being weak as his mouth claimed hers.

---------------

Gibbs was almost dumbfounded, then sat back and growled, “You kissed him?�

Abby plastered a look of tolerance on her face and turned to face him, “It was in the script.�

“But he’s so much...you kissed him?�

“He’s so much what, Gibbs?� She knew exactly what he was talking about and he could see it in her eyes. But she was going to make him say it.

“He’s a lot older than you, Abs.�

“So?�

“So?�

“Yeah, so? Oops have to rewind, we’re missing it.� She got up and went over to her bench and when back to just before the kiss, and he was pretty sure she did it on purpose to torture him.

When she came back around instead of heading back to her chair she stood behind him and wrapped her arms around him and leaned in to whisper as the kiss commenced onscreen, “I pretended it was you.�

Gibbs’ tired brain was going to implode. She did not just say that.

---------------

Sam watched the onscreen kiss and had to sniffle, “Oh.� She snagged another tissue and Jack chuckled behind her.

She turned to face him and gave him an exasperated look, “What?�

He leaned forward and teased, “You wanted him to kiss her? Dontcha think he’s a little old for her?�

Sam held his eyes with hers and sniffed again, “No.� Another sniff, “I picked this movie because he reminded me of you.�

Jack’s eyes grew huge and he opened his mouth to say something then closed it again, like a fish out of water.

She decided that never mind pushing the envelope, she needed to break through it and she turned to kneel in front of him and reached up and cupped his cheeks in her hands, “One of these days we’re not going to make it home. That last one was too close. And I don’t want to die not knowing, Jack. Do you?�

It was an incredibly bad idea on so many levels. The ramifications were huge. But the ramifications of not doing it seemed even worse. And that won out in the mental argument that Jack had with himself in the moment before he tangled his fingers in her hair and pulled her in to kiss her fiercely.

He pointedly ignored the pink gorilla jumping up and down making the touchdown signal.

---------------

Abby giggled in his ear, “Go Jack.�

Gibbs was still trying process what she had said a moment ago but caught the action onscreen to say quietly, “They’re breaking regs.�

Confidently she replied, “Sometimes you have to break rules to be happy.�

He didn’t say anything; he just dropped his eyes to the floor and let his senses absorb the feeling of her arms around him and the pounding of her heartbeat against his back.

A tinkling of pretty piano music brought his attention back to the screen.

---------------

Jack was walking through a darkened house in just a pair of boxer shorts. He grabbed a couple of bottled waters from the fridge and made his way back through the house and to his telescope platform. He got a silly grin when he got to the top of the platform seeing Sam sitting there wrapped in the quilt from his bed with a big smile and looking beautifully mussed.

“You know most women don’t find my telescope this sexy.�

“Most men don’t find it sexy that I carry a P-90 either.�

She opened the quilt and he saw that she had on one of his t-shirts and not much else. He settled himself in front of her and let her close the blanket around them and plaster herself to his back. And she asked playfully, “So what are looking at through your very sexy telescope?�

And the credits rolled as he very matter of factly said, “That is a nebula. Now let me explain what a nebula is…�

---------------

Abby was quiet as the credits rolled and she finally got up and turned off the dvd.

He missed her touch the second she stepped away. He stood and went over to her bench. He could see that she was struggling with what to say.

She started, “Gibbs…� but he hushed her with a gentle finger on her lips.

With an unusual gentleness in his voice he said, “Grab your stuff, I’ll walk you out.�

She nodded and grabbed her purse and they headed for the elevator. Getting in, it had barely left the lab’s floor when he hit the emergency stop. But he didn’t immediately turn around.

“Gibbs?�

“You’re right you know.�

“About what?�

He turned to face her and stepped into her personal space, “Sometimes you do have to break rules to be happy.� And then he mirrored what the other two silver-haired men from the screen had done, he wrapped his hands in her hair and pulled her to him to kiss her senseless.

He pulled back for a moment and studied her eyes, “Are you sure about this, Abs?�

She nodded, “I hate not knowing. And with you being in the field…� That he could be killed just wouldn’t come out of her mouth.

He embraced her tightly and buried his nose in her hair, the revised perfume tormenting him again. He made her laugh when he teased, “I’m not sleeping in the coffin.�

“I’m not sleeping under the boat so we’ll call that even.�

He kissed her again, slowly and carefully, pouring a world of promise into it. And when they finally broke away he hit the emergency button again setting the elevator in motion.

And as the doors opened and she walked out ahead of him, that perfume hit him again and had to ask, “What did you add to your perfume? It’s making me crazy.�

She gave him a little cat-like look over her shoulder and taunted, “Sawdust.�

---------------

The End.