Author: bluefirebird
Title: Never Assume
Rating: FR-18
Category: Romance, Smut, Humor, Angst
Pairing: Gibbs/Abby
Words: ~3700
Spoilers: No specific eps, just general character history.
Summary: Who'da thought Gibbs would be jealous of Fornell.
Prompt: Misunderstanding/strawberries - (sorta)
Written for Kuromigrrl in the 2010 Secret Santa at the Gabby Forum
The Fancy Restaurant
Abby always enjoyed it when Tobias Fornell took her out for dinner. She was pretty sure that he knew there was little chance of luring her away from NCIS to join the FBI. For all that he could offer in the way of a well equipped lab and electronic toys to play with, the deal breaker that NCIS had and the FBI never would was Leroy Jethro Gibbs. Although she had pondered more than once that if Gibbs' rule 12 was ever the only thing standing between the two of them, then her leaving to work for the FBI and having Gibbs to come home to at night might turn out to be a girl's dream.
But with the likelihood of Gibbs ever seeing her that way pretty minimal she'd settle for appreciating his company at work and enjoying the perks of a slap-up meal at a really fancy restaurant on the FBI dime at irregular intervals. Although Abby didn't fancy him in the slightest, Fornell was pleasant company and she suspected that he rather liked her company too, they weren't above a little harmless flirting at their meals, both knowing that it would never lead to anything. Whether he realised it or not, Fornell was also a goldmine of tiny details about Gibbs, having a shared ex-wife between them, and Abby was a master at teasing such snippets out of him. She also enjoyed Fornell's tales of his young daughter - Abby knew Gibbs had a soft spot for the girl because her mother was the ex-wife that Gibbs shared with Fornell.
So as the nights drew in and the weather grew harsher foreshadowing the approaching winter Abby was delighted to accept Fornell's invite to dinner. It was also an excuse for Abby to dress up in an elegant and formal way that she never bothered with in her real life.
Now the two of them were enjoying an intimate meal at an exclusive restaurant, tucked away in an alcove by the wall, with a very attentive young waiter that Abby idly noted was getting on Fornell's nerves.
Leroy Jethro Gibbs was happy to cultivate his reputation as a bastard, but what he didn't advertise too widely was that he could also be a gentleman when the moment arose. He could be quite charming when he wasn't distracted by little things like his job. So when the widow of one of his Marine buddies contacted him to say she'd be in town for a few days and would he like to take her out to dinner he knew just the place - small and expensive - and when he put his mind to it he could spruce up pretty good. He'd known Amanda - a redhead - and her husband well, years ago when he still had a wife and a daughter of his own, but had not seen her for years.
When he arrived at the restaurant Gibbs had routinely surveyed the entire room, spotting Fornell at his table, but not quite recognising the dark-haired woman in the elegant dress who sat opposite him with her back to Gibbs. Briefly catching Fornell's eye he had nodded to him as they were shown to their own table across the restaurant. As Fornell had done, Gibbs seated himself with a view of the restaurant - looking out for trouble - leaving his date with her back to the room.
As Gibbs held the chair for his date to sit down, Fornell leaned conspiratorially across the table and indicated across the room to Abby. "Well look what the cat dragged in."
Abby twisted round in time to see Gibbs seating his date and taking his own seat, neither looking their way while they were occupied. Her stomach flipped and "Wow" slipped from her lips as she took in how handsome he looked - and the flame red hair cascading down the woman's back.
Fornell smirked, "Yeah, not often we see Jethro dressed like that, must be a special occasion."
Story Notes:
Written for Kuromigrrl in the 2010 Secret Santa at the Gabby Forum
Author's Chapter Notes:
Who'da thought Gibbs would be jealous of Fornell.
Chapter End Notes:
Written for Kuromigrrl in the 2010 Secret Santa at the Gabby Forum