Title: Rewriting the Rules 01 – The Spider and the Fly
Author: Jo. R (driftingatdusk)
Rating: FR-15
Category: Post-ep, Romance, Fluff
Pairing: Abby/Gibbs
Spoilers: 8x01 'The Spider and the Fly'
Summary: What's broken can be fixed, and old rules can be rewritten.
Author's Notes: A continuation of my 'Made to be Broken' series! I wasn't sure if I was going to continue the series in post-eps or start a completely new series altogether but the new season has so far inspired me so 'Rewriting the Rules' was born :)
Dedicated: To all of my fellow Gibbs/Abby shippers at the Gabby Forum!

Leroy Jethro Gibbs pulled his car onto the driveway outside his house and grinned. He'd been in Stillwater for two weeks, helping his father fix the damage to the store and no one knew he'd been planning on returning, not even Abby, who he'd planned on surprising. They'd spoken every night on the phone but it wasn't the same; he still missed lying beside her as they slept.

The last four months hadn't been easy but he'd got used to having her close. With the threat of Paloma Reynosa hanging above their heads, those closest to him had been assigned bodyguards to keep them safe. A man named Darren had been charged with Abby's safety during the day but, at night, the man went home with Doctor Donald 'Ducky' Mallard and Abby went home with Gibbs himself, giving herself completely to his care. Sure, there'd been two agents on guard outside his house every night but Gibbs had slept better knowing both his lover and Jackson Gibbs, his father, were within the same four walls as he was just in case Paloma and her men had chosen to show themselves.

Looking up at his house, at the light through the windows that told him his lover was inside, he felt as though a weight had been lifted from his chest and shoulders. It was as if everything, finally, was going back to normal.

No, he corrected himself, better than normal.

There was no real reason to hide his relationship with Abby anymore. He didn't plan on flaunting it, aware that there were still people out there lurking in the shadows of his past that would love nothing more than to hurt him by hurting her but he didn't have to worry about the immediate future anymore and it finally felt as though he was free to get on with his life.

Free to move on.

The ghosts of Shannon and Kelly, his first wife and daughter, had finally been laid to rest. They'd always be with him, of course, in his heart but he'd realised there was still plenty of room there for Abby, too.

Smiling to himself, Gibbs got out of the car and grabbed his bag from the trunk. He hurried up the path both to get away from the autumnal chill in the air and out of eagerness to see Abby, letting himself into the house as quietly as he could.

Music drifted towards him, a mass of noise he recognised as one of Abby's favourite bands. He felt another grin curve up the corners of his mouth, thinking how right it felt to have her music on his stereo, her personal belongings mixed with his own. She was careful not to make it obvious that she practically lived with him but he could see little signs of her everywhere and had no problem with it.

Maybe one day he'd figure out how to tell her that, too.

He locked the door behind him, a relatively new habit he'd fallen into over the course of the last year, and left his bag in the hall before following the scent of cooking through to the kitchen in search of her.

The wine and beer was chilling in the fridge, the lasagne she'd made bubbling away merrily in the over and the chocolate chip cookies she'd made for dessert were cooling on the tray. Abby Sciuto sipped from the small glass she'd poured herself when she'd started cooking and put the glass down on the bench. She grabbed some cutlery from the drawer and danced over to the small table, signing along to the song currently playing, oblivious to everything else.

The danger was gone, Darren was gone and Jackson Gibbs had called her earlier to tell her that his son was on his way home.

Life, as far as Abby was concerned, was pretty damn good.

She smiled to herself as she set the table, wondering if it was too early to light the candles she put in the middle. Deciding to wait until she heard his car in the drive – and realising the music was a little too loud for her to do that – Abby danced her way over to the stereo she'd hooked her MP3 player up to.

After a few moments deliberation, she decided to change the music, too. Something softer, quieter, more to Gibbs' liking would be good...

A squeal escaped her when arms wrapped around her middle, drawing her back against a solid chest. It turned rapidly into a contented sigh when familiar lips brushed the back of her neck and she dropped her hands to her stomach, lacing her fingers with his.

"You're early."

"You're not supposed to know that."

Unable to keep back to smile that appeared on her face, Abby turned to face him and wrapped her arms around his neck. She gazed at him for a few moments, searching his face for some sign that he was bothered by her being there before tilting her head up slightly to accept his kiss when she found none.

What started off as a sweet, gentle kiss to welcome him home rapidly turned into more. Abby found herself pressed against the wall, her hands in his hair as his gripped her hips tightly. She parted her lips when she felt his tongue sweep over them, a small noise of approval escaping her when one of the hands on her hips slid up her body beneath the shirt she wore...

If it weren't for the shrill ring of the timer on the oven, his welcome home dinner would have been abandoned in favour of other activities.

Pushing him away with the hand she put on his shoulder, she stared up at him, needing a moment to catch her breath. His blue eyes were dark as they ran over her flushed cheeks and swollen lips and she felt her heart skip at the expression that passed over his features.

"Dinner first," she told him quietly, her voice husky. "Then dessert." She arched an eyebrow when Gibbs didn't immediately let her go, a mischievous glint appearing in her eyes when he did so with obviously reluctance. "Good. Or else we wouldn't get to the cookies."

"Cookies?" It was his turn to arch an eyebrow. "Not the dessert I had in mind, Abs."

"It wasn't?" Mock innocence coated her words but couldn't disguise the note of amusement in her voice. She walked back through to the kitchen to put the vegetables she'd already prepared on to heat, her smile growing wider when he walked up behind her and again wrapped his arms around her waist, resting his chin on her shoulder. "You should've told me you were coming home."

She felt his mouth curl up into a grin against her neck at the word 'home'. "Wanted to surprise you. Shoulda known Jack would've called."

"I asked him to, before he took you with him," Abby replied matter-of-factly. She leaned back against him, content just to be held for a moment.

"You could've come with us," Gibbs pointed out, nuzzling her neck affectionately. "You'd have been more than welcome."

"I know, but I didn't want to intrude." Abby pulled away reluctantly, heading to the fridge to get him a beer. "You guys needed some time on your own without me getting in the way," she told him, handing him the cool bottle once she'd taken the top off it.

Gibbs arched an eyebrow and accepted the beer. Instead of taking a swig, he set the bottle down and covered the distance between them once more. "You'd never be in the way, Abby," he told her seriously. When she shrugged and fixed her gaze on his chest, he lifted a hand to her chin to tip her face up. "I mean it."

After a few moments, Abby gave him a small, almost shy smile. "Just checking. I know what it's like to have someone around all the time when you really just want some time to yourself. Darren was pretty cool as far as bodyguards go but I'm so pleased to have my lab back to myself."

"Darren was your security detail, Abby. You're family." Gibbs shrugged at the look she gave him but said nothing more. He leaned in to kiss her instead, drawing out the moment for as long as he could.

When she pushed him away again, he sighed heavily and let her go only to frown as he watched her move over to the stove and turn off the heat under the vegetables and turn down the oven to its lowest setting.

Abby turned back to him, an eyebrow arched suggestively as she held her hand out to him. "Looks like dinner won't be ready for another half hour. Think we can keep ourselves busy that long?"

Taking the offered hand, he couldn't stop the smirk that appeared on his face as she led him towards the staircase. "Oh, I'm sure we can think of something..."

End