**Chapter Fifteen -- Tell You Something**
**September 17, 2009 -- Tony's Apartment**
"That was the stupidest movie ever, DiNozzo." Abby whined, ribbing him gently as they laid curled up in his bed. "I can't believe you made me watch it."
Tony gasped, looking down at the Goth in his arms. "You haven't lived until you've seen Saw! It's one of the best modern horror movies!"
She buried her head in his shoulder, rolling her eyes. "I don't know what I'm gonna do with you, Tonyboy."
"Love me forever, of course!" He said cheekily, wrapping his arms tighter around her.
Abby groaned as she rolled out of Tony's embrace, reaching for her phone as it beeped on the nightstand.
"Shit." She said, reading the message on her phone. "I gotta go."
"Why?" He asked, watching as she rolled out of the bed and started dressing.
"Nichols got a case, they need me to come down and process the evidence. Its high priority." The Goth relayed, gathering her things. "Have you seen my other shoe?"
"In the corner." Tony chuckled, amused by her rushing around. "You coming back after you're done?"
"Maybe, depends on when I finish up. Might just head home if it's too late."
"Alright. I'll see you tomorrow for sure then?" Tony asked, relaxing against his pillows.
Abby grinned, leaning down and giving him a quick kiss on the cheek. "Definitely."
He smiled at her and watched as she left his apartment, headed back to work. A few hours later, a loud knocking at the front door woke him up, making him groan pitifully.
"Abby!" He whined groggily, stumbling out from his bedroom toward the front door. "It's 3 in the morning!"
He sighed heavily as the knocking continued, unlocking the door and swinging it open. "I gave you a key just for this..." He froze, staring at the woman standing in his doorway.
"Ziva."
The Israeli woman stood in the hallway, the shadows obscuring Tony's view of her face. "Hello Tony." Her voice was completely emotionless, her eyes empty. "Aren't you going to invite me in?"
Tony's mouth had gone dry as soon as he saw her, flashing back to the last memories he had of her as they left her standing on the tarmac in Israel.
"That depends."
"On?" She asked, not moving an inch from her position in the hallway.
"Your mental state." He said, tilting his head slightly. "We weren't exactly on friendly terms when we last saw each other."
Ziva stepped forward, into the small strip of light that was streaming out of the door from Tony's apartment. His throat nearly closed up when he saw the bright red scars and the angry black and purple bruises that covered her once flawless face.
"Actually, that's why I came by."
**2 Years Earlier -- May 2, 2007 -- NCIS Headquarters**
The sound of the elevator caught Tony's attention. Glancing over, he offered his favorite Goth a smile as she stepped off, tugging nervously on her shirt sleeves as she drew closer.
"Hey," He greeted casually. "Bossman letting you out at a decent time tonight?"
"Yep."
"Wanna tell me what the trick to managing that is?"
"I asked," She replied simply, a smirk on her dark lips as she perched herself on the edge of his desk.
"That actually works?" Tony questioned, leaning back in his chair and propping his hands behind his head.
"It does for me," She teased. "I just thought I'd come up and say goodnight before I left."
"Big plans tonight?" He asked as he raised an eyebrow suggestively.
"Actually...yes. I've got a date."
She watched him carefully, noting the way he struggled to keep his face neutral. He almost succeeded, but the way his hazel eyes darkened gave him away. She decided that it wasn't the time to bring up Tony's underlying jealousy issues and opted instead for simply standing up.
"Well, I'd better get going. Our dinner reservation's at 8." Abby leaned down and pecked the Senior Agent on the cheek, leaving a little bit of a lip print behind.
Turning away, she stopped when he grabbed her hand and squeezed lightly. "Have fun, huh? Don't do anything I wouldn't do."
She squeezed his hand back before pulling away. "So, free rein, right?" She joked, flipping her pigtail over her shoulder as she stepped into the elevator. "See you tomorrow!"
Tony sighed as he watched the elevator doors close. He ran a hand through his hair, glad that McGee and Ziva had gone to pick up food.
He wondered when his feelings for Abby had changed, when he started being jealous of her spending time with other men. If he was going to be honest with himself, he had always been a jealous man, especially with Abby.
He was confusing himself. He had Jeanne, they were happy, even if the whole thing was only a version of the truth.
He threw his pen to the desk in disgust as he leaned back in his chair, running his fingers through his hair as he closed his eyes in an attempt to push thoughts of his Goth laughing at some other guy's jokes from his mind.
**2 Hours Later -- Cafe Atlantico**
"So Abby," The dark haired man began with a smile as he leaned forward, reaching for her hand. "Tell me...what do you like to do for fun when you aren't working?"
Offering her a date a smile, Abby politely pulled her hand away under the guise of reaching for her glass. She took a quick sip of her water, leaving a dark red lip print on the pristine glass. "I like to watch movies. Have you ever seen 'Evil Dead'?"
"Evil...Dead? No. I'm not really..."
"Oh man. It's a great movie! You've got to see it! I mean, it's not really a great movie. It's actually a terrible movie, but it was a staple for me in the eighties! It's actually a whole triology, but the first movie is by far the best. That's usually how it goes though, you know? Except for the Star Wars Triology. Return of the Jedi is clearly the best movie, even though Tony doesn't think so. We argue about it every time we watch them but..."
"Um, Abby?" Alex asked, cocking an eyebrow at him. "I'm not really into movies."
She dropped her eyes back to the table. "Oh. Well, what are you into?"
"I like Nascar." He said, smiling at her.
"Oh!" She nodded. "I don't have cable. I mostly watch movies. Tony says Nascar..."
"I don't really care what *Tony* says." Alex said, taking a drink of his beer. "What's he, your ex or something? You sure you're over him?"
Abby glared at the man across the table from her. "He's not my ex. He's my best friend. And he's a great guy, you just have to meet him."
"I don't want to meet him. I don't know if you've been told this, but guys don't generally like it when their dates talk about other men."
"Yeah? Well girls don't like it when their dates are assholes either." She spat, standing up and leaving the restaurant. Stepping outside, she flagged a cab and had the driver take her back to her apartment for the night.
**Jeanne's Apartment**
"You okay, Tony?" Jeanne asked, looking over at her lover as he fumbled with his phone next to her, not paying any attention to the movie.
His head jerked up. "Huh? Oh, yeah. I'm fine. Just had a long day."
She sighed, her big green eyes looking at him sadly. "Been having a lot of those lately?" She asked. "You've been really distracted the past few days."
"Yeah...just waiting on confirmation for film festival tickets for my class." Tony lied, checking his phone again.
He sighed, clicking his phone shut between his fingers and leaned back, wrapping his arm around Jeanne's shoulders. He closed his eyes, trying to shake the thoughts of Abby from his mind.
Jeanne curled up against him and rested her head on his chest as they finished watching their movie in silence. When the credits finally rolled, she turned to him once again. "Coming to bed?" She asked quietly.
He rubbed her back gently, smiling down at her as he pressed a kiss to her lips. "Not tonight, hon. I've got work early tomorrow."
She nodded slowly, standing up from her place on the couch and stretching out. "Okay. Well...I'll see you tomorrow, right?"
"Definitely." The Italian said, standing up and pulling the smaller woman into a tight embrace. "Love you." He said, kissing her once again before releasing her and heading for the door. "See you tomorrow, Jeanne."
Tony walked out of her apartment and shut the door behind him, cursing himself. He had been friends with Abby for years now, and never before had she completely overtaken his thoughts as she had tonight. Checking his phone once again, he growled when he still saw no calls from his Goth.
"Damnit." He cursed, climbing into his car and leaving the garage, subconsciously heading to Abby's apartment.
**20 Minutes Later -- Abby's Apartment**
As he approached her door, he hesitated, not really understanding what he was doing there. He had been upset when he left Jeanne's, though he couldn't explain why, assuming it was because she hadn't called him that evening and he was concerned if she was okay.
Sighing, he shook off his doubts and slid his spare key into the lock on the door, opening it quietly and stepping inside.
"What took you so long, T?"
"How...what are you talking about?" He asked, dropping his keys in the little dish behind the door and taking his shoes off, stacking them next to hers.
"I've been here for at least 3 hours. What took you?"
Tony walked into the living room and saw her curled up in the corner of her couch, back facing the door, staring blankly at the TV. She couldn't have seen him as he walked in, and he nearly chalked it up to a psychic ability when he saw the cordless phone sitting in her lap.
"Ah, Ryan called you when I came in. That's why you have a doorman, I guess." He chuckled, standing next to her. "Everything okay? How'd the date go?"
Abby chuckled, continuing to stare at the TV. "Oh you know, the usual. Found out things about myself I would have rather ignored, probably insulted him, left early." She paused. "You don't just pick up and leave from a dinner at Cafe Atlantico. Well, not if you have any brains. But I did."
"What happened to make you leave?" He asked. The Italian stepped around the couch and sat down next to her, noting that she was wearing one of his old t-shirts that was big on him, making her look as if she was swimming in fabric.
She broke her staring contest with the TV and looked over at him. "I don't really wanna talk about it, Tony. He was an ass."
"Ah. I'm sorry, guys can be that way sometimes."
She nodded. "Yeah, you're telling me. So, why are you here? Thought you were going to your girlfriend's place tonight."
Tony faltered slightly. "I was there. We watched a movie, but she...she has to work early and wanted to get some sleep."
"So instead of going home you drove 10 miles out of your way to come over here? You didn't even know if I was home or not."
"Ryan would've told me if you weren't here."
Abby sat quietly for a second, processing their conversation. "Oh. My. God." She pulled her legs under her and knelt next to Tony on the couch, staring at him with a smile in her eyes. "You...You're jealous!"
"No." The dark-haired man shook his head. "I am a lot of things, jealous is not one of them."
"You *SO* are."
"Am not."
"Are too."
Tony threw his hands up. "I am not! Can we get past this?"
*Are too.* She signed quickly, knowing he wouldn't understand. "Okay. I'm over it. Jealousy is perfectly normal, you know."
"I'm *NOT* jealous!" He yelled, louder than he meant to.
She flinched, surprised by his tone. "Sorry." She whispered.
He shook his head. "No, I'm sorry."
They sat in silence for a minute, avoiding eye contact as they returned their gaze to the TV, not really paying attention to what was on.
"Tony..." Abby said after a minute, he green eyes fixed on the television screen as she muted the sound. "Can I ask you a dumb question?"
"That depends. Is it going to be about psychics or telepathy or--"
"Just forget it," the Goth mumbled. "It's late. I'm tired. You should go."
"Hey, come on now. I'm just kidding," he protested, grabbing her hand when she moved to stand. "I'm all ears. Ask away."
She turned back to him, allowing herself to be pulled back down to the couch. "Do you ever think about soulmates?"
"They were on Decca, right? Big hit, mid-70s? Sort of a disco thing?" He paused for a second, looking down at her. "Sing a few bars, I'll get it."
"You'll never get it." Abby said dismissively, standing up again.
"Abs." He grabbed her hand again, standing up with her. "What's goin' on?"
"It's nothing." She stated, trying to pull away from him. He held her hand firmly, letting her know that he wasn't going to just drop the topic. She sighed, looking up at his hazel eyes. "It's just...sometimes I think that I missed my chance with mine. You know, fucked it up."
"Oh. Well, I don't really get that stuff." He shrugged, looking down at her. "But...you know, I just want you to be happy, Abs. And if being with McGee does it for you, then by all means..."
The Goth was speechless for a moment before she frowned, looking away from his intense stare. "Yeah, I guess." She mumbled halfheartedly.
Abby cursed herself for even thinking that he would feel the same way. She had been holding back her feelings for him for years now, letting them slip out occasionally, only to have them interpreted by everyone as the product of a close friendship.
"I'm beat, T. I'm gonna go to bed."
"Please." The single word made her hesitate and look up at him. "Hang out for a bit. I promise I won't keep you up much longer."
She closed her eyes and sighed, contemplating his offer momentarily before leaning up and giving him a kiss on the cheek. "Lock the door when you go, huh?"
Tony watched as she padded off to the bedroom, closing the door behind her. He sighed and considered relaxing on the couch for a while, hoping that she would change her mind.
He stared at the bedroom door and ran a hand through his hair, walking over to the entrance to her apartment and slipping his shoes back on. He stepped outside and turned back to lock the door, pausing for a second before deciding to head home.
Chapter End Notes:
"Tell You Something" by Alicia Keys