Abby sat on Ducky's autopsy table. She looked towards Gibbs who stared straight at her. As if deep in thought. But it felt to her as if he was looking right past her. Deciding whatever he was thinking about was wrong he shook his head. He stood there, coffee in hand, shifting from one foot to the other; he really could never stay still. Abby figured it was the coffee. After all the caffeine was what made her crazier than the normal human being.
Abby coughed. A loud sound that startled Gibbs out of his trance. He looked to Abby. Concern written all over his face.
"I'm fine Gibbs." She simply stated before he had the chance to ask. "Really." She added at the ‘are you sure' look plastered on his face.
"Stupid stupid McGee! How could he not notice?" Gibbs slammed his hand down on one of the other autopsy tables, the sound rumbled through the room, echoing off the walls.
Abby felt a chill run through her spine. He was angry. There was no question about that. She just didn't understand why he was so angry. She was fine, wasn't she?
"Gibbs, don't go blaming McGee. He couldn't hear me. He was working. It's not his fault."
"Wasn't his fault? Abby he should have been paying attention!" Gibbs erupted in a loud scream. Now Abby really was scared. Gibbs didn't normally act like this.
"Gibbs stop. I'm fine. The little old lady telling me to go into the light didn't win. We kicked her little butt! You got off the elevator saw me and…oh my god. You threw your coffee. No, no it was more like you chucked the poor thing." Abby chuckled. Gibbs throwing a perfectly good coffee? Unheard of.
Gibbs didn't react. Tried not to at least. He moved forward to stand in front of Abby. As Abby continued chuckling Gibbs stood there, shifting from one foot to the other. Abby noticed. Gibbs and his stupid habits. His feet moving back and forth like that was making her dizzy. She patted the cold metal next to her and moved over a little to make space for him to sit down.
"Gibbs, sit. Your fidgeting to much. Its making me dizzy." Gibbs looked from Abby to his feet and then looked at the cold metal Abby sat on. Cold, but he'd deal with it, if it meant he could sit that close to her, he'd deal with anything.
"Hold." He handed Abby his coffee. Trusting her not to try and drink it he turned for a second and then he heard a loud gulp from behind him. He turned his head. Staring at Abby like she was insane. She stuck out her tongue in a gesture of disgust and looked at the coffee like it was crazy. She squinted her eyes and tried to peek at the coffee through the hole on the top. She didn't believe that this black death was coffee.
"Abby, I said hold not drink." Gibbs shook his head. Laughing at her reaction to his coffee.
"Gibbs that can not possibly be coffee." At the raise of his eyebrow she sighed and when Gibbs took the cup from her and took a sip a shiver ran down her body. "Ugh."
Gibbs chuckled and placed the coffee next to Abby's thigh on the table. He turned back around and used his hands to push himself up onto the table. He reached between them, his hand grazing her thigh a little as he reached for his cup. He tried not to delight in the shiver that he saw run through her body, defiantly not one of disgust.
Gibbs stared at her sideways. Hoping she didn't notice. She noticed. "Gibbs stop that. I'm fine. Really."
"I know. I know. No need to repeat yourself." Abby looked at him sidelong and smiled.
"Oh but I do anyway." Gibbs chuckled at Abby's remark and just at that moment the elevator doors slide open, revealing Tony with a smirk on his face and Ziva looking like she was about to do some major damage to him.
"Tony move." Tony just stood there. Right at the entrance of the elevator, not allowing Ziva to pass. Ziva shoved her elbow right into his back and delighted in the loud scream that came from Tony.
"Aw. What the heck was that for?" He glared at Ziva as she passed by.
"Told you to move." Was her simple answer.
Tony was about to say something back to her when he caught the glare Gibbs was directing towards him. He saw Ziva stick out her tongue at him across the room and couldn't help himself. "Sexual harassment. That was sexual harassment." Gibbs cleared his throat, drawing Tony's attention back to his glare. "Shutting up boss." He glanced towards Ziva who chuckled in amusement.
"Bout damn time. Sometimes I feel more like a high school…no with all the bickering, an elementary school principle." He heard Abby chuckle next to him and turned his head side-long a bit so he could see her face.
"Aw come on Gibbs. You should at least give them the benefit of the doubt."
"Being?"
"Middle school…or Jr. High school. You know I never quite got that. Why does middle school only have grades 6-8 but Jr. High grades 7-9? It just doesn't make sense to me. I think they should-" Abby was cut off by a warning "Abs" from Gibbs.
"Shutting up boss." Gibbs turned his head to look at Tony and Ziva, a hint of a smirk trying to work its way out.
"What do you think? Middle or Jr. High?"
"Well I think Tony is more of an elementary he's such a-"
"Ziva doesn't even know her English well. She should go back to elementary. She's the one always bickering and-"
Both were cut off as they tried to talk at the same time by a loud whistle from Gibbs.
"Both of you shut up." Gibbs said sternly. Abby smiled, knowing exactly what Tony and Ziva were about to say.
"She started it!"
"No he started it!."
"No you did with your stupid elbow shoving."
"You wouldn't move."
Gibbs turned to Abby smiling and hoped off the table. He turned back to Abby. "Coming Abs?"
"Aw and miss the show?" Gibbs just turned and started walking towards the elevator, not even needing to look back to see if Abby was following him.
Abby slide into the elevator just as the doors were about to shut. "Thanks for waiting Gibbs." She complained, after all she had to do a mad dash to get to the elevator before the doors shut and all that resulted in was a nice coughing fit that Gibbs had to deal with now.
As the doors opened to Abby's lab Gibbs stopped her with a hand on her arm. "Hey and Abs, you're more important then coffee." Abby stared at him. He was crazy. He had to be crazy.
"But…but coffee is your life line. Without it your like…there's not even words for what you're like, you're just worse than just regular grouchy Gibbs on coffee.
Gibbs simply repeated, "You're more important than coffee." Abby was shell shocked. He never said that. Ever. He loved coffee. It was his obsession. He probably loved coffee more than all three wives. Well excluding his first wife. But to hear him say that to her was a shocker. More than a shocker, there just weren't words to explain it. But to hear him say it to her twice? Abby was out of her mind shell shocked.
Gibbs smiled and put a hand to the small of her back pushing her out of the elevator. As the doors started to shut he quickly signed ‘you mean more to me than coffee' to Abby and then the doors closed. Blocking his view of an Abby who looked like she was about to faint.
Author's Chapter Notes:
Gibbs loves coffee. Possibly more than any of his wives. So in Driven when Gibbs throws his coffee to save Abby you have to think 'is Abby more important than coffee?'