Author's Note: I'm so sorry I left it with that cliffhanger for so long! I'm done now - hope it meets expectations. :) As always, big thank-yous for feedback. I'm going to focus on Between Life and Death next.

The intruder hums tunelessly as she gathers what she needs, using the light from outside to see by, but then she cuts off abruptly. Abby's giggles have ceased now, and we wait to hear what's caught her attention in motionless silence.

"Marie?" she calls loudly, and the voice of her colleague answers in the distance after a pause that seems like an eternity. "Did we run out of sunflower oil yet?"

Somehow, I just know that the sunflower oil is stored right next to where we're hiding.

The woman takes one step closer to us, and Abby gives a tiny gasp, her fingers tightening on my shoulders. I daren't move, even though every muscle in her body has tensed, inside as well as out. She's so tight around me right now that part of me just wants to move against her, and damn the consequences.

She registers a change in my breathing and catches onto why, and the next thing I know she's teasing me on purpose, squeezing and relaxing her internal muscles around me without moving an inch visibly. God, if she keeps this up…

"Yeah, during the lunch rush!" the other cafeteria worker yells in the distance. "I picked up another bottle already!"

After a brief hesitation, the woman with us picks up one more item from a nearby shelf, depositing it with a rustle on top of her other selections. It seems to take a lifetime for her to retreat to the doorway, leave and close the door behind her, and even when the storeroom falls into darkness again, neither of us dare to move or make a sound.

It's only when the receding footsteps grow too faint to hear that we relax, sighing our relief against each other's skin. Abby begins to giggle once more, and I allow myself a soft, relieved laugh before grabbing her hips, pulling her tightly against me. "One more second of that, and I would have just-"

With a gasp, she whispers in my ear, "Oh, you would?" Arching her back, she begins to move against me, resuming where we left off before the interruption.

Inwardly cursing the darkness that prevents me from watching her, I nip her neck, my hands on her waist to guide her as she rides me. "Mm-hmm… And then she woulda caught us…"

"Imagine that… I-" I sweep a thumb over her clit, effectively cutting her off mid-sentence. Trembling, she cries out a little too loudly, and I drag her lips down to mine to muffle any further moans.

All attempts at communication cease from that moment. There's only the liquid darkness around us; the heat of skin on skin. I've watched Abby dance around her lab countless times, and the thought that she must be fantastic in bed has strayed across my mind more than once. The way she moves to the music is just too rhythmically suggestive to indicate otherwise, and right now, she's confirming all my suspicions.

The movements of her hips are hard, fast, yet controlled – she knows exactly where she wants me, and she doesn't hesitate to put me there, driving me half out of my mind in the process.

At first, I try to keep one ear open for the sound of approaching footsteps, but the way she feels… I couldn't move away from her even if someone was to open the door and stare right at us. We're past the point of caring, now, and all of my focus is concentrated on her body against mine.

Shaking with need, she presses her forehead against mine, gasping my name. Knowing what she's pleading for, I stroke my fingers over her clit faster and harder, rewarded by a quick, shallow gasp followed by a moan she only just manages to bite back. She's right there with me at the edge with me, and I buck up against her hard, trying to tip her over before I'm spent.

She spirals into her climax with a tiny cry, clutching my shoulders tightly as she rides it out, and I relish the sensation, willing myself to join her. My mind goes blank, emptying out for a few searing, pulsing seconds, and I bury my face against Abby's neck, inhaling her gunpowder perfume deeply while she gives a throaty, satisfied giggle.

Breathing hard, I draw her tightly against me, my pounding heart keeping pace with hers. She runs a hand through my hair, and we both drift on a lazy current of satisfaction, pressing occasional light kisses to each other's necks, shoulders and faces.

"That was…" Abby trails off, and I can read the smile in her voice.

"Uh-huh," I agree, running my fingers down her cheek, finding her lips and leaning in to possess them. The kiss is slow, soft and unhurried, and she responds in kind with almost intangible flicks of her tongue against mine, tempting me skilfully.

"Stay the night at my place?" she breathes against my lips, and I give her one final kiss before breaking away with a grin she can't see.

"Could live with that." I tap her thigh, signalling that we should move, and she reluctantly drags herself to her feet. The darkness is so complete that once she's no longer touching me, I have no way to determine where she is. I begin to straighten myself up as well as I can while sightless, and her soft, amused curse orients me a little. "What?"

"You tore my panties." Far from being put out, she seems delighted by this development.

I don't bother to apologise. "You have any spare in your lab?"

"Lucky for you," she tells me, stepping back into my arms for a brief, affectionate kiss. "And I sure hope Sheriff Charlie left by way of the bullpen, or Tony and Kate are gonna think it was her you dragged in here…"

Wincing at the thought, I nudge her toward the other end of the room. "I didn't drag. You walked."

"Semantics," she retorts dismissively, cracking open the storeroom door and peeking out into the hallway. "I think we're safe."

My brain has almost remembered how to think rationally, and I put a hand out to stop her. "You head back to your lab. I'll follow in a couple of minutes."

Nodding, she leans out to double-check the coast is clear, and then looks back at me. "How do I look?"

In the half-light, I look her over. Her hair is a little dishevelled, and her shredded panties are bunched up in one fist, but she'd pass a cursory inspection. And god, she's beautiful. "Like I should give DiNozzo the lead on the case for the rest of the day and take you home right now…"

Grinning wickedly, she reaches out to adjust my shirt collar. "Patience, Gibbs… Who would process the evidence if you did that?" With another swift glance out into the corridor, she leans into me, kissing me one last time. "See you later."

I watch her head down toward the elevator at a casual walk, her hips swaying a little too much for it to be accidental. She's teasing me, and it doesn't help to know that underneath that tiny skirt, she's not wearing any underwear…

Turning my mind to the task at hand, I check my clothing one more time and wait until I hear the elevator begin its journey down to the lab. Then, moving quickly and silently, I vacate the storeroom and make for the men's head in the opposite direction.

I need to be absolutely certain nothing gives me away before I subject myself to my agents' curious gazes. If Kate and Tony decide I've been fooling around with Sheriff Dupray, I might as well resign as team leader and ask the Director for reassignment as an Agent Afloat.

Ten minutes later, I walk back into the squad room. Tony doesn't bother to hide his grin, but Kate tries for surprise. "Hey, Gibbs… the sheriff left about a half-hour ago. She looked a little… upset."

Passing over her remark with no reaction, I ask, "She leave any more information?"

Replying in the negative, Tony starts fishing for information of his own. "So what'd you say to her, Boss? She blew outta here pretty fast – did you mention the divorces?"

I shrug, checking my desk for messages and then shoving my wallet into my jacket pocket. I'm definitely overdue some decent coffee. "Wasn't anything I said. She chose to take herself outta there; said she had a lead to chase up."

Kate frowns. "Seems uncharacteristic. Want me to check on her next move?"

I meet her eyes in appreciation of the analytical thought, but shake my head. "Let me handle her."

Predictably, DiNozzo smirks, so I spend the next couple of minutes grilling him on exactly what he hasn't found out since I left them to it. Once he's kicking himself for gossiping instead of working, I leave them to turn over a few more stones.

There's a short line at the coffee shop down the street, and while I wait, I let my mind drift back to the storage room. Every sensation and emotion seems branded into my mind, and I'm so lost in the memory that it takes me a second to register that a barista is trying to get my attention.

Coffee in one hand, Caf-Pow! in the other, I return to the Navy Yard and enter Abby's domain. She's re-tied her hair and applied burgundy lip-gloss that just begs to be licked away.

She smiles in welcome, the only change in the greeting being a mischievous sideways glance. "Hey."

She holds out a hand for the Caf-Pow!, and I press it into her grip on my way past her, gazing up at the plasma screen and the results displayed on it. "What do you have for me?"

After a brief pause to swallow a mouthful of her drink, she begins to lay it out for me. I shift my mind back into work-mode for long enough to take on board the new information, but once she finishes her report I have to ask. "You find spare underwear?"

"Maybe," she teases, one eyebrow lifting suggestively. "Maybe not."

I get out of there before I lose grip on my self-control completely.

END.