She was jealous, when she first started. There were little signs, hints even that he might be interested. Sure, why not. Kate was a beautiful woman. She was fun and funny. She power dressed. She was lithe, graceful. She had a quick wit and a sharp mind. She had an incredible talent for the work they did. Every body could tell she was going to be a great agent, hell she was starting at the top, on his team.
It was easy to be jealous. Sure she was nice enough, but he kept calling on her to partner him, when it had always been Dinozzo in the past. He kept her close, watched her work and let her figure things out for herself, all signs that he liked her. That he trusted her.
Until the day he made them work together. Enforced time in a small lab; women talk.
Having discussed their various backgrounds and thrown down the gauntlet to each other; "You show me yours, I'll show you mine," things were bound to get interesting.
"So what's up with you and Tony?" asked Kate as she tucked the last of her small arms into the holster at the small of her back.
"ME and TONY? Eww," Kate thought Abby looked adorable when she screwed up her face and shook her head, causing pigtails to fly, in disgust, as if trying to force a distasteful thought out of her head. Like a little girl. "So I have a younger brother, right?"
"Right," said Kate, nodding as if she had known this before. Of course she hadn't, but had already decided that the best way to deal with Abby was to let her run.
"Andy was the bane of my existence for 14 years. Tony…so much more annoying, but I like it, it's kinda like having Andrew here again, and yet I don't have to deal with the rest of the family like I do when he's normally around, you know, at family events and stuff."
"So you're saying Tony is like a brother to you." Kate nodded slowly, as if coming to a decision and then asked tentatively; "Ooookay, so how about you and Agent Gibbs?"
Abby's head raised slowly to pin Kate with a steady look, a slight blush was tainting the Goth's otherwise deathly pale cheeks. "Well it had to be one or the other." Kate circled around the work station to opposite the place where Abby was sitting. Both had stopped working on what they were doing. "The flirty bi-play around the room; I wasn't sure which was the target and which was the pawn but it was defiantly there. And there was the casual leaning on the desk, chest out, beautiful profile. What man could resist?"
"Gibbs," replied Abby, resignedly. She gave Kate a small smile and looked back towards her work. Despite this it was clear she wasn't on task. Her hands played with the tools she had been using proficiently only minutes before, this was one distracted lab technician.
"We've worked together for 5 years now and there is nothing to suggest that he would be at all interested I me. Sure, we flirt but I flirt with everyone, including you, and we only met a week ago."
Kate smiled in acceptance of that statement. It was true, Kate had seen Abby flirt with everyone, it was obviously how she communicated and it worked well for her. Everyone adored Abby; Kate had yet to hear a word against her apart from her questionable caffeine intake. She flirted with the cleaner who emptied her bins, passing lab assistants from other departments, Security, Ducky, who gave it back just as assuredly, and the rest of the team, including Kate herself…that was how they got into this conversation.
"Gibbs flirts back," said Kate, encouragingly.
"Oh, yeah" said Abby with wide eyed earnestness, "Gibbs is a flirt alright, but that's just the kind of relationship we have. I sometimes think he thinks he's a sort of replacement father/uncle figure for me," she continued with a frown. "Anyway, recently he's been paying far more attention to you that he has me." Ah, the green-eyed monster had finally said its piece. Abby gave Kate a steady look. Kate looked right back, with holding nothing. She liked Abby, and didn't have too many female friends. Secret Service hours and carrying a gun will do that to your social life.
"Gibbs is spending so much time with me because I'm the newbie. It's clear in everything he does. He's making me make decisions, so he can call me on them if I'm wrong and build on my gut if he thinks I might be right. He's keeping me with him so that I can watch and learn from him. He's letting Dinozzo play on his own now, and I'm the one he's working on next. There's nothing else in it. Sure, like you said, he likes to flirt, but there's nothing there and anyway…my type is more…"
"Tony?" guessed Abby, with a calculating smile.
"Yeah, what can I say, I sure know how to pick ‘em," replied Kate with an amused, if slightly pained, shrug.
"Tony's a great guy. Sure he can be an ass, but what guy isn't? Anyway, it's mostly all show. He's really actually quite sweet."
Kate smiled and shrugged. For a while there seemed nothing else to say and there was silence in the lab.
"You tell anyone about this conversation or its revelations and you die."
"Hey sister, I know how to rig a murder scene to make it look like your neighbours dog did it."
They made eye contact and grinned at each other. Oh yeah, working together was going to be fun.
Hours later, when Gibbs had heard all the evidence, Abby's green-eyed monster had morphed back into its normal longing gaze. "Now you're thinking like an NCIS agent," meant exactly what he had said, and she was no longer looking for what wasn't there.
Story Notes:
I really don't mean to offend any Kate/Gibbs shippers, I just like Gabby!
Author's Chapter Notes:
Girl talk
Chapter End Notes:
I really don't mean to offend any Kate/Gibbs shippers, I just like Gabby!