>*~~{@}~~*<

How Abby Became a Beard 1/1


"

"Got that right, Probie."

"Tony! What did I say about calling McGee that in my lab?" Abby glared at Tony over one of her computers.

"Um, not to?" Tony raised an eyebrow at her as McGee hid a smirk.

"Then don’t." Abby snapped back, or as close to snapping as Abby ever got. "Why are you still down here anyway? Didn’t Gibbs give you something else to do?"

"He’s supposed to be doing a back ground check on one of the suspects." McGee piped up, but shrunk a little when Tony glared at him.

"Then go do it!" Abby yelled in Tony’s direction.

"Alright already. I can see when I’m not wanted." Tony replied, making to go back up stairs to his desk.

Satisfied, Abby turned back to what she was showing Tim on her computer, missing the tongue Tony stuck out at McGee as he left.

"You know, rumor has it that we’re sleeping together." Abby commented conversationally as they worked.

They had gotten close over the short time McGee had been working with Gibbs’s crew. Most people atomically assumed it had to be more then just mutual interests and office rumors had started. It didn’t hurt that Abby was somewhat protective of McGee.

"What do you say that we make them more then just rumors?"

Tim nearly choked at the open proposition.

"Well, Abby, um, I’m flattered, really-" Tim stammered, blushing, "And I would take you up on it in a heartbeat, really, but, um, see Imiarealonip."

"You’re in a relationship?" Abby blinked at the mumbled end of his refusal, which she really hadn’t expected. She expected the blushing and the stammering and even the mumbling in to an extent, but not a flat out refusal.

"Since when? I know Kate asked you last week if you had a girlfriend and you told her you didn’t."

"Abby, I don’t have a girlfriend."

"Oh. Ohh, I get it. You have a boyfriend." She said, unnecessarily and he nodded. "I never would have pegged you as bi."

"Well, you can’t really help who you fall in love with." Tim said, some confidence returning to his voice.


"No you can’t." Abby agreed, gracing Tim with a dazzling smile. "So, how long you been with him?"

"Six years next spring. I met him my senior year at Johns Hopkins."

"Wow. Six years." Abby commented. "Is he it? I mean, are you two in it for the long haul?"

"I’d like to think so, but we haven’t really discussed it. It’s been almost six years, but over four of those we lived in different cities along the east coast."

"So, why haven’t you said anything? Are you worried about what your relatives might think?" Abby asked, wondering if that was the reason he hadn’t told anyone.

"No, nothing like that. My parent’s and sisters actually know and are okay with it. And his family- well, he’s estranged from his family for other reasons anyway." Tim confided in her. "Keeping it a secret has to do more with our professional lives. There were some ethical questions revolving around how we met and got together. And then there’s our jobs, which don’t mesh well with same sex relationships, and some other stuff." Tim waved vaguely.

"I don’t think Gibbs would care one way or another."

"Oh, I realize that. But you know, we’re government employees, and the Navy, and law enforcement in general, unfortunately, really aren’t open to that sort of thing."

"Yeah, not to mention what Tony’s reaction would be." Abby added, thinking about all the teasing McGee would get if he knew Tim had a boyfriend instead of a girlfriend.

"Um, yeah."

"Then you definitely need a beard. Which I will so humbly provide, on one condition."

"Which would be?"

"I get to meet him."

"Okay." Tim readily agreed. "How about dinner this weekend? I’ll cook."

"You can’t cook."

"He’ll cook." Tim amended. "He’s a great cook." He added when she raised an eyebrow to go with her skeptical look.

"Okay. I’ll bring wine."

"Make it red. Say, seven-thirty on Friday?"

"Great!" Abby agreed.

"Okay. Well, I better get back up stairs." McGee had a smile on his face as he took the elevator up.

>*~~{@}~~*<

Abby rang the bell for McGee’s apartment and waited impatiently for a response, bouncing on her feet.

McGee had given her the code for the main door last time she was here so that she could get into the building without any trouble. Finally, the door opened.

"Abby! You’re early." Exclaimed the last voice she expected to hear that evening. "Come in, come in. Tim’s in the shower." Tony said, ushering her into the apartment. She shook herself out of her shock and stepped inside, handing him the wine bottle she held, wondering about this new development.

"I was just working on dinner. You want me to open this?"

"Um, sure." Abby said dumbly, following him into the kitchen.

"Abby, are you okay?" Tony asked her as he was hunting for a corkscrew.

"You called him Tim." She pointed out, blinking at the pile of sliced mushrooms on a cutting board.

"So? It’s his name."

"Yeah, but I didn’t even think you knew it."

"Well, I’ve known the man for five years. Have a seat." Tony, having found the corkscrew, gestured to a stool at the counter with it before proceeding to open the bottle of merlot. She took a sip from the glass he set in front of her and she blinked again, a large smile spreading across her face.

"You’re McGee’s boyfriend!" She exclaimed. "I can’t believe it! Do you know how great this is?" There was a gleeful glint in her eyes as she watched Tony pull items out of the refrigerator. "I knew you weren’t as big of a player as you pretend to be!"

"Pretend to be?"

"Well, duh! I mean you chase, but how many times in the three years that I’ve known you have you actually

caught?"

"I’ll have you know that I AM a player." Tony replied, mock indignantly. "Have been since I was a teenager! I just stopped chasing seriously when I caught someone I wanted to keep."

"AHH! That’s so sweet! But why keep it a secret, anyway? Kate would flip if she found out that you’ve been in a steady relationship with one person for the last five years, not even mentioning it’s with McGee!"

"It’s just-" Tony paused, trying to think of a proper word. "Safer."

"Safer? What are you making, anyway?" Abby asked as Tony began flouring the pounded chicken he had gotten out.

"Chicken Marsala. Aunt Sophia’s specialty."

"Aunt Sophia?"

"Well, not really my aunt. She was our cook when I was a kid." Tony explained. "I was always closer to her then my actual mother though. She taught me to cook before I left for college."

"Oh." Abby frowned at the thought that Tony was closer to the cook then his parents. Not that there is anything wrong with being close to the cook, but there is with not being close to your child.

"Safer?" She prompted again as Tony worked, getting a sauté pan out to heat on the stove.

"Yeah. Law enforcement hasn’t been known as the best place to be gay, or bi. Then there’s the quasi-military organization we work for that is, in fact, a branch of the US Navy. And can’t forget rule number twelve."

"But you were dating before you worked together! And neither of you were at NCIS when you met!" Abby protested.

"Like any of that would matter to Gibbs. He’d probably be more pissed that we didn’t tell him we knew each other during the sub case in Norfolk, not to mention later when Tim started doing fieldwork."

"McGee said there were ethical questions?" Abby was curious about that since McGee had said something about it the day before.

"He was a key witness on one of my cases shortly after I joined the Baltimore PD." Tony explained. "One of his class mates was killed. The roommate made it look like a suicide and Tim figured out that it wasn’t."

Abby nodded, seeing where the conflict could be.

"About a month after we wrapped it, but before the trial, I saw him in this club down town." Tony continued. "Ended up having breakfast the next morning."

"No, we didn’t sleep together that night, Abby." Added Tim as he came into the kitchen. He looked comfortable, bare foot in jeans and an Ohio State t-shirt. "You need to stop telling people that." He told Tony.

"What? It’s true. It’s not my fault people think we jumped into bed instead of stayed up all night talking." Tony winked at Abby.

"Smells good. Almost ready?" Tim asked, picking up Tony’s wine glass and taking a sip. "This is nice

wine." He commented prompting Tony to turn away from the browning chicken to see what he was doing.

"Hey," Tony took the glass out of Tim’s hand. "Yours is over there." He said, gesturing to the bottle and the third wine glass next to it.

"What happened after that?" Abby asked Tim as Tony turned his attention to sautéing mushrooms.

"We started dating. Took things slow, really. He wanted to go slow because of how much younger then him I am, and I wanted it to last and I thought it would last longer if I forced it to." Tim told her, sitting in the stool next to hers.

"You didn’t think it would?"

"No," Tim answered honestly. "I knew the minute I met him that he liked to chase tail. Figured the only way I could keep him interested for more then a few weeks was to prolong the chase. I didn’t think I would fall so fast for him, or that he would be right there with me."

Abby was a little surprised at how easy going and self-assured Tim was acting. She saw little glimpse of this side of him when they were alone, working with the computers, but never this much. He was relaxed, she realized.

"I stayed in Baltimore longer then I should have, because of him." Tim grinned. "Almost missed my first lecture at MIT."

They both looked over to the stove at a sizzling sound and smell of cooking wine as Tony added the Marsala and some chicken stock to the mushrooms.

"Hey, Babe," Tony called over his shoulder as he added angel hair pasta to a pot of water, "Could you set the table?"

"Sure." Tim got up and moved around the kitchen, collecting table wear from various places and taking them
into the dinning room. Abby watched as Tim and Tony moved around each other, each intent on their own tasks, but helping the other without getting in each other’s way. They had certainly done this before.

"Salad?" Tim asked once every thing else was on the table.

"In the fridge with the dressing waiting to be tossed."

Tim got out the salad, the Caesar dressing Tony had made earlier, and some Parmesan cheese.

"I have a question." Abby said as Tim tossed the salad and Tony added the chicken back to the sauce to reheat.

"Abby, you’ve been asking questions all night." Tony pointed out.

"Well, I think I’m entitled, seeing as you two have shocked me out of my little black socks."

"Remember this moment, Tim." Tony commented in a stage whisper.

"Why?" He asked.

"Because the unthinkable has happened. The unshockable Abigail Sciuto has herself admitted to being
shocked, and I quote, ‘out of her little black socks’."

Abby and Tim both rolled their eyes at him.

"Can I ask my question now?" Abby whined.

"What is it, Abby?" Tim asked her.

"I was just wondering about the hazing."

"Abby, remember how much I harassed Kate when she first started working with us?" Tony asked in response.

"Tony, you still harass Kate." Abby pointed out.

"Yeah, but not so much now. And more playfully. And she gives as good, or I wouldn’t."

"So?"

"So, don’t you think it would be weird if I treated Tim differently when I should really be threatened by him?"

"You have to treat him like you would any other new guy." Abby figured.

"Exactly. Can’t give him any slack just cause he’s my honey." Tony grinned at Tim and Tim smiled back.

"I don’t mind it, really, at least not from Tony." Tim added. "I know he doesn’t mean any of it. And I know he loves me. Besides, since the first day I’ve known him, he’s been pushing my buttons. And if you haven’t noticed, I push his right back; I’m just a hell of a lot subtler then he is."

Abby had noticed that, actually. A timer went off near the stove and Tony turned to take care of it.

"Pasta’s ready. Time to eat." Tony drained the pasta then dished up portions of it and the chicken for each of them as Tim got the salad. As they ate, Tony and Tim told Abby a few stories about them out and about or getting into trouble together. Including one antic a few weeks ago in the office.

"That was you? I can’t believe it." Abby commented as they cleared the table.

"Oh believe it. I’m just glad none of the cameras picked us up." Tony told her.

"Man, and to think, everyone thinks it was a couple of the cleaning crew playing a prank! Wait till I tell Kate it wasn’t!"

"Abby, part of being a beard is that you can’t tell anyone about us." Tim chastised.

"Duh! I’ve been a beard before, you know." Abby rolled her eyes.

"Really?" Tony asked, eyebrows high.

"Well, yeah. I won’t tell Kate it was you two, I’ll just tell her it wasn’t the cleaning crew."

"Okay, whatever." Tony agreed. He trusted her.

"Well, dinner was great, Tony, but I should get going."

"Yeah." Tim agreed, as the three of them walked to the front door of his apartment.

"Don’t worry. I made a promise, and I don’t break promises." Abby assured him and he smiled at her.

"Thank you, Abby."

"Anytime. You’d do the same for me."

"Of course." Tim opened the door for her. "Good night."

"Good night Abby." Tony added, standing next to Tim.

"Good night." She called. As the door closed behind her she could swear she heard laughing and she

thought she caught a glimpse of a kiss, so her imagination supplied her with some very nice images of what they could be doing. Putting those thoughts aside for later, Abby let her mind wonder to the different side of the two men she had seen that evening. They were both more relaxed and happy then she had ever seen ether of them. And not once did Tony insult or take a cheap shot at Tim, and Tim didn’t blush or stammer all night. Yep, Abby decided, they were good together. Now the hardest part about this beard business would be avoiding the temptation to tell Kate.

>*~~{@}~~*<




Time line notes: In case anyone is wondering how I got them together so long I’ll explain. Now, correct me if I’m wrong, but at the beginning of the second season, Tony had been at NCIS for three years. Which means he started some where in the fall of 2001. And if he was with the Baltimore PD two years, he should have started some time in 1999. So I stretched the time line a little to say he started in the spring. Now, I don’t know how long it took McGee to get his masters, but it only took my mom five quarters to get hers (granted it’s not in computer forensics nor from MIT) so I figured if he actually worked on it, it would take him around two to three years, he’s a pretty smart guy, after all. Then he had to have NCIS training and I know he did some kind investigating training besides the two degrees, so that would fill some time. He made his first appearance on the show in November of 2003 as a green agent. So maybe there is a discrepancy or two, but it’s roughly five and a half years.


Comments? Questions? Concerns?
Drop me a line at Balebold@yahoo.com