YOLO

A/N: So I learned a new word today from my nine-year-old. Which somehow my mind immediately translated into this story. Because I imagine Gibb's expression upon hearing someone use this "word" would probably be similar to my own…

Gibbs barely managed to rein himself in—this time—as he strode into the lab and was confronted with the long, bare expanse of his favorite scientist's back, revealed as it was nearly in its entirety within the barely-there confines of a stunning evening gown he'd never seen her wear before tonight. It was a Herculean task both mentally and physically, when all he could see right now was her and all he wanted in the world was to align himself to the long line of her body and taste as much of that gorgeous bare skin as possible, while simultaneously filling his hands with the rest of it.

Luckily—or maybe unluckily, for him at least—Dinozzo had no such restraints on either his thoughts or his mouth. "Wow, Abby, looking good," he told her enthusiastically as he wrapped her up in a hug that, of course, she was only too happy to return. "That dress and you—knockout combination!"

Her green eyes sparkled at him with her characteristic Abby grin even as Gibbs' jaw tightened without his permission. She should be looking at him that way, damn it! And then he gave himself a mental head slap. What in the hell was he thinking?

"Whatcha got for me, Abbs?" he managed to grind out from between clenched teeth, only mildly satisfied when it got the desired result—well, one of them, at least—and she bounced back from Tony and turned all that enthusiasm his way.

He was taken aback for just a second as she turned to face him, all long dark hair loose around her shoulders, creamy shoulders bared by that incredible dress, sparkling green eyes and bright red smiling lips. "Gibbs! You won't believe it! But you're gonna love me!"

He could only stand and stare. It was all he was capable of at the moment while he fought the words that found themselves balancing on his tongue, clamoring to get out. I already do.

Abby was trying not to be smug about the whole thing, but it was pretty hard not to be when her plans were coming together so nicely. She'd seen it in his eyes. Her silver fox wasn't as immune to her as he liked to pretend. And damn it, she'd been waiting too long. She was tired of waiting. She'd bought this dress with him in mind, worn it tonight with him in mind, since all of the team had been attending the gala tonight.

And before he could pick her up they'd been called in on this case. Which, she now thought, wasn't much of a case, as it turned out, so maybe they'd still have time to make the tail-end of the party? She wanted to dance with Gibbs in this dress, wanted to feel his hands on the bare skin of her back in this dress she'd bought for expressly that purpose. Wanted to wrap her arms around his neck and look into his eyes and tell him to take her home. To his home. To his bed.

And she wasn't far off the mark tonight, either. She'd seen the look in his eyes when he and Tony had come into the lab, reflected in her monitor as he'd stopped dead in his tracks as if he'd been struck stupid. Saw the heat there as his sharp eyes had scanned the length of her, missing nothing. He'd wanted a closer view, all right. He'd wanted to trace every single one of her tats. With his tongue. And then he'd shut all of that down, all of what he wanted and needed and felt, just like he always did. Because of his honor and his principles and his damn rules. As well as all of the stumbling blocks all of his failed relationships made in his mind, stretched out interminably until they were hurdles he didn't have any idea how to span.

And then Tony had stepped into the void and the moment was lost. Well, not entirely lost, she thought to herself smugly. There was no way she could have missed the flash of jealousy on his face as she'd stepped into Tony's arms, or the clench of his jaw as she'd laughed at Tony's effusive words, and most of the happiness bubbling out of her had been the result of the reaction she'd gotten from her silver-haired fox. He wasn't immune, and it was time to give him a good hard push out of his comfort zone.

She focused her attention on him now and almost laughed out loud at the look on his face, like he was mentally steeling himself to resist. Silly, silly man. She took a step toward him, and then another, and the heels she'd worn with this dress brought her almost to his height. Stepping closer, closer still, she smiled into his eyes, grinning now at the shell-shocked expression on his face, as if he was terrified with just the thought of what she might do next, or might not do next. She spent another long second in the middle of his personal space, and then she reached for his hand and twined her fingers with his, smiling mysteriously. "Come with me." She turned and led him to her computer, intensely satisfied when he did nothing to put more space between them. With her free hand, she pointed at the screen.

"So I got into his Twitter account, and it seems that our petty officer has had a little competition going on with his buddies. You see this tweet? It's a YOLO, Gibbs. He's daring them to keep up with him, and here's another one. His stunts got more and more daring, leading up to this one. This is his last tweet, just before he jumped off the bridge. He wasn't trying to kill himself, just one-up his friends."

Gibbs registered what she was saying even though it was getting very difficult to breathe right now. His hand was still in hers, and it was only with supreme effort that he was able to keep from pulling her to him and kissing her senseless. He shook his head in an attempt to clear the fog of lust that she had wrapped him in. That damn dress ought to be illegal.

Turning his head, he realized that she was closer to him than he'd realized. He found himself uncomfortably close to that damn spider web tattoo on her neck, and he wanted to taste it right now. Very badly. Instead he focused on her profile, willing her to turn so that he could see her gorgeous eyes. He needed to know if she understood exactly what she was doing to him right now. He smiled slowly. Turnabout was fair play, wasn't it? Leaning in, he spoke lowly into her ear. "YOLO, Abbs? What the hell's that mean?"

Abby could feel her insides melt along with her brain when this man spoke in that deep, dark growl so close to her ear. She could feel the warmth of him right there, so close, and she had no defenses against this man at his most deadly. Surely he knew that. Without conscious thought she turned her head swiftly to him, only to be instantly poleaxed by the intensity of those deep blue eyes. And she had no words right now. She was pretty sure she couldn't string two words together if her life depended on it.

She took a breath. It didn't help. He was still too close. "YOLO means… you know, it's slang. Social networking slang. Twitter, texting, Facebook, youtube…" She broke off, unable to continue, his face still so close to hers, smack in the middle of her personal space now, and from the look in his eyes, he knew exactly what he was doing and was quite satisfied with the result.

She stared into those fathomless blue eyes. "YOLO, Gibbs," she said quietly. "You only live once."

He didn't take his eyes from hers. Finally, he nodded slowly, that little half smile playing on the left side of his mouth that said he knew exactly how good he was at this little game. "So it wasn't murder. Just idiocy. And you've just closed our case."

His smile deepened, and then there was a flash of humor in his eyes as he leaned in slowly, just slowly enough to make her wonder, and then kissed her cheek. "Good work, Abbs." Pulling back, he looked back into her eyes. "We still have time to get a little dancing in, if you still want to go."

Abby almost gasped at the heat in his eyes, the smug promise in his face, directed at her, no less! Always it had been meant for some other lucky, lucky woman. Never her. But… was he… could he be serious?

And she realized she had totally forgotten that Tony was still in the room when he spoke up.

"Sounds good boss. I'll round up McGee and Ziva."

When Tony left the lab, he must have taken all of the available oxygen in the room with him, because suddenly she couldn't breathe. Gibbs was still holding her hand, and then he lifted it in both of his, kissing the back of it gently, and tucked it beneath his arm. And that was when she realized that he still looked good enough to eat in that suit. "Shall we, Abbs?"

She went him without a word. Hell, she'd follow him anywhere. It wasn't until they were in the elevator that she realized that they were going to the gala. She honestly didn't care at this point. Wherever he led, she would follow. His magnetic hold on her was just that powerful.

Her nerves were jumping the whole way, though thankfully it was a short trip. Even Tony and Ziva bickering nonstop in the backseat didn't calm her down. It didn't help that she was somehow sitting up front with Gibbs, trying in vain to keep her eyes off of his strong, sure hands on the wheel, and it seemed like every time she moved a muscle in this damn dress Gibbs eyes were drawn to the spot where the hemline rode high on her thigh. And it wasn't the first time he'd seen her dressed like this. She wore shorter skirts all the time. So why was he acting like the way she was dressed was a capital crime? She knew he liked the way she looked, but ever since they'd gotten into the low-slung car, the Gibbs Glare had been in full effect. It made her nervous, wary, emotions that weren't usually part of her always-special relationship with her silver-haired fox. Relax, Abby, she told herself firmly. Just relax.

Gibbs wasn't sure if it was good that they'd missed the food and speeches and arrived once the dancing was already under way, or if it was very, very bad. All he knew once they'd entered the packed ballroom was that, one: every male eye in the place was on Abigail Sciuto, two: half of them wanted to claim a dance, and probably a hell of a lot more than that, and three: That. Wasn't. Gonna. Happen.

Jaw clenched with everything he was holding back right now, he waited just long enough for the rest of the team to get drawn into conversation with someone they knew, and then he had Abby by the hand and he was striding with her to the dance floor with a calm he certainly didn't feel right now.

And then he had her exactly where he wanted her: in his arms, one of her hands tucked within his, and the other at the back of his neck. Wary Abby from the car was gone and confident, cheerful vixen Abby was back, watching him with smoky green eyes and a mysterious smile. Damn it, she had finally done it. She had finally made him give in to the one thing he'd sworn he'd never do. And she had him so worked up right now that he couldn't bring himself to care. What was that dumb-ass made-up word from their case? He couldn't keep the smirk off his face as it came to him. YOLO indeed.

"You in that dress should be illegal, Abbs," he growled, her face just inches from his as they danced.

Abby smiled wickedly like only she could. "I could take it off if you like, Gibbs."

And this was the point of no return. He knew it. How long had he known how she felt about him? How many times had he told himself that if he just ignored it, ignored her, she would move on and find someone else? Someone who was right for her, who would love her as she deserved to be loved and never let her go? Someone young and idealistic enough to give her children and build a life with her?

It had been his greatest hope for so long, and then it had become his greatest fear. Because with Abby, Rule Twelve wasn't his biggest concern, and never had been. It was all her. She deserved better, and he knew it even if she didn't. He couldn't forget it. He was too much of a bastard for someone as sweet and good as his Abbs. He was too old, too solitary and set in his ways for someone as intensely happy and positive and good as she was. She deserved marriage and children, two things he could never give her. Giving in to what he wanted and what she thought she wanted would only extinguish that effervescent light within her, and that was the one thing he couldn't bear to do.

But he wanted it. Wanted that light and fire and passion for himself, and tonight he just wasn't strong enough to resist her pull any longer. Losing his eyes in hers, he let her see his hunger for the first time. Let her see how much she made him burn. "I'd like to do that myself," he told her, so low that he wasn't sure if she'd heard him at first. And then he knew she had. Her eyes widened with aroused interest. And she wasn't backing away, just moving in closer to his chest.

"Any time, any place, Gibbs," she told him without a second's hesitation, the heat in those green eyes setting the constant burn he always felt in her presence to flashover.

"Be sure," he told her very quietly, pulling her in even closer until every inch of her was plastered against him in the most satisfying way possible in front of an audience of their peers. "Because once I have you, I won't be able to let you go." His body happily absorbed the full-body shudder that statement earned him.

Abby's eyes never left his, both hands on his shoulders now. "I don't want you to let me go, Gibbs," she said very quietly, "I never thought you saw me that way. I mean, your women are so gorgeous and sexy and sophisticated... And I'm... not. "

He knew that so many possibilities depended on the way he responded to that statement; he felt it, but then she took her bottom lip in her teeth and worried it nervously, and it distracted him. When he was finally able to lift his gaze back to her eyes, he was happy to see that she had apparently noticed his little lapse and didn't seem to mind it in the least. She was looking at him with equal parts wonder and hunger, and he made sure she saw the same in his eyes as he leaned closer, his warm breath fanning her cheek as he spoke into her ear. "You are all of those things, Abbs, but more than that, you're the best person I know."

He chuckled and pulled back to look into her eyes. "I want to kill any man who sees you in that dress, Abbs." And then the smile fell off his face and his eyes darkened, his hands sliding down her bare shoulders and back, barely managing to skirt the very fine curve of her backside to rest on her hips. "Starting with Dinozzo. For putting his hands on what's mine."

Oh Dear Lord. This man was her kryptonite. He always did it for her, always had, but possessive Gibbs made her unbelievably hot. If he didn't stop now they weren't going to make it very far before she ravished him, witnesses or no witnesses. "YOLO, Gibbs," she said with a smile. "Take me home."

The trip was made in silence. Gibbs didn't dare touch her beyond keeping her hand firmly in his. When he pulled into his driveway and shut off the car, he had calmed down just enough to be able to give her one last chance to back out of this. To do what was right, maybe not for him, but for her. That was what mattered to him the most. He turned to her. "Abby…" he began, and that was as far as he got before she cut him off.

And she didn't waste any time on words, just leaned in and put her mouth on his, her hands on him. And it wasn't a soft kiss, either. It was too hungry, too demanding, a mating and melding of lips and teeth and tongues that had been far too long in coming to be possibly tempered now by anything remotely resembling reason or restraint. Gibbs crushed her to him and kissed her back. He'd waited so long. He wasn't waiting a second longer.

When his mouth moved down her throat to worship that damned spiderweb that had been tormenting him forever, Abby somehow found the strength of will to move her own mouth to nibble on his throat, and then his ear. "I'm yours, Gibbs," she told him huskily. "I've always been yours."

And those words, in combination with the way they were spoken and her heat and her proximity and the fact that he'd wanted to hear just that from her for so damn long, turned out to be his undoing. Without another word he was out of the car, pulling her with him into his house, not a thought left in what remained of his mind but the need to show her that he was hers as well.

A/N 2: I actually wrote a one-shot! Shocking! But it may turn into a two-shot… who knows?