Title: With Time

Pairing: Tabby, minor McGiva

Rating: PG

Warnings: none

Summary: None of them knew how it happened. It just did.

Tony didn't know how it had happened. None of them did. It had all started with them going out as friends after work, and with time it just grew into something more.

Sometimes Abby had taken him to one of the various clubs she used to go to and let him see a glimpse of her world, but he felt that it wasn't something for him. Instead he had taken her to his favorite clubs, where they would dance the night away, or to a movie that they later would discuss over pizza or Chinese. They both enjoyed their time together immensely, and from that it wasn't a big step to spend their days off together too.

Tony had started taking her out riding, something he had kept doing ever since he was a child, since it was the only thing with his old life he still liked. Abby turned out to be a fast learner and soon they made it a habit to rent two horses and just ride somewhere. Tony had also take her on long walks along the beach or in the woods, something Abby had teased him about in the beginning since he didn't really seem like that kind of guy.

Abby had taken him to concerts and Tony had begun to see why she liked that sorry excuse for music she always listened to, even though he probably never would be able to enjoy it like she did. Abby had also started to teach him sign language and after months of practice he was almost as fluent in it as she was, and they started to have secret conversations at work whenever they could. Gibbs soon found out of course, but he didn't say anything about it. He had just raised his eyebrows and given Tony a strange look, but after that he had left the lab and seemed to let it pass.

They started to have late movie nights at home, either at Tony's place or at Abby's. They would sit huddled close together on the couch with a large bowl of popcorn on their lap and talk and laugh while the movie played. Those nights where always followed by a sleep over, and it felt natural for both of them to share the other's bed, where Abby would be held secure in Tony's arms throughout the night, even though most of the times they just passed out on the couch.

The first kiss they shared didn't come as a surprise. Both realized at almost the same time that their friendship had slowly grown into something more, something they hadn't been able to prevent. They had been at Tony's place at the time, watching a bad comedy Abby had picked out, and after both had laughed hysterically at a scene that wasn't really funny, they had come to look deeply into each others eyes, and before they knew it, Tony had reached his hand up and softly caressed Abby's cheek before bending closer and brushed his lips against hers. Abby had responded by deepening the kiss and when they parted it had been with a happy smile on their faces. They made love for the first time that night and then they fell asleep in each other's arms, and since then they seldom spent a single night apart.

If Gibbs noticed the change between them he didn't say, but they were pretty sure that he must have. Nothing ever eluded him. They didn't really hide their relationship, even though they didn't tell anyone about it, either, and it seemed that no one suspected a thing. They went on as usual while at work, except for that they maybe teased and bantered more than they did before, and that worked well for them.

It didn't take long for the truth to come out, though. Tony took a bullet in the chest while protecting a victim and had to be rushed to the hospital for an emergency surgery with Gibbs accompanying him, while Ziva and Tim took the perpetrator into custody. Later they came over to the hospital with Ducky and Abby, who had become almost hysterical with worry and demanded to see Tony immediately, even though he wasn't out of surgery yet. Gibbs took Abby to the side and hugged her to try to calm her down. Abby latched on to him and cried, and through her sobs Gibbs heard her say that she loved Tony and that she wouldn't know what to do if she lost him.

It confirmed what Gibbs had suspected but couldn't prove, but he decided to let it be for now. He could deal with it later when Tony was well again, because there was no chance in Hell that Tony would die. He was a fighter and if he loved Abby he would make it through this.

A few hours later the doctor came out and announced that Tony was alive and would be okay. The bullet hit a lung and he had lost some blood, but they had managed to patch him up completely and he would recover fully.

Abby got to be the first one to see Tony, Gibbs made sure of it, and when he saw his forensic scientist tenderly take Tony's hand and beg him to wake up, to come back to her, his gut told him that what they had was real. Thinking back, he realized that all the signs had been there, he had just simply chose to ignore them, and he had no choice but to deal with it.

When Tony finally woke up, the smile on his face when he saw Abby was like watching the sun go up. He accepted the hug she gave him and ignorant of the world around them he reached up to brush her cheek with his knuckles just when Tim walked in with Ziva in tow. Both stopped and stared for a while, not sure what to believe at first, but when Tony admitted that he and Abby had been dating for quite some time they were both okay with it and even congratulated them.

When Tony was released from the hospital Gibbs confronted him about his relationship with Abby, but as soon as Tony stood up for it and said that no matter what Gibbs said or did he would never walk away from Abby, Gibbs just gave him a thoughtful look and said that if Tony ever hurt Abby he would answer directly to him.

After the accident Abby decided that she wanted to take their relationship one step further and told Tony that she wanted them to move in together permanently. She was half afraid that he would refuse or say that he wasn't ready, but instead he admitted that he had been thinking about it himself for a some time and so they went apartment hunting together, both feeling that they wanted to find a place that would be really theirs instead of one of them moving into the other's place.

They found a nice apartment not too far from the Navy Yard that would be big enough to suit both their needs. They got the team to pitch in and help them with the move and it didn't take many hours before their old apartments where empty and the new one filled with boxes. It took them several weeks to unpack everything and decide what was going to be kept in the apartment and what was going into storage, and they had quarreled a lot when one wanted to keep something the other didn't thin would fit. They both felt relieved when they were finally done and all boxes were gone. It meant that they could finally relax and enjoy their new life to the fullest.

Christmas came and Abby took Tony with her to see her parents, who had been very curious about the new man in their daughter's life. Tony was happy that Abby had taught him how to sign since that made communication a lot easier. Tony had at first dreaded the meeting, but when Abby's mother, Mary, had greeted him with a tight, warm hug not unlike Abby's bone crushing ones and immediately taken him under her wings he had felt like coming home. He let Mary pamper him while he found out that she could talk about as much and as fast as her daughter did, which sometimes made it a bit difficult for him to follow her flailing hands, but he managed.

After a while Abby's father, Lou, took pity on Tony and took him out for a walk while mother and daughter caught up. Lou and Tony noticed quite fast that they would get a long well and even become close friends. Lou's personality reminded Tony a little of both Gibbs and Ducky somehow, but he could also detect several of Abby's characteristics in the man. Tony found him easy to talk with and when their walk was over, Lou confessed that he was happy to have Tony as a part of the family, and that warmed Tony's heart more that he would admit.

Looking back, Tony would say that that was the best Christmas he had ever had but it had ended all too soon. He and Abby had been called back early and had no other choice but to rush back to DC to help with an unusually tough case, but it was still a memory he would cherish for the rest of his life.

Their life got a sort of routine that felt good for both of them, one that could easily be broken or changed whenever necessary, but after some time they realized that something was missing. Abby was the one who figured out what it was and one weekend she dragged Tony to the pound where they chose a young dog that had been badly mistreated and neglected by its former owner and needed a loving, caring family where it could learn that people weren't all bad. Tony was skeptic at first. It was by no mistake a mix breed, a thin, ugly creature that didn't look like a real dog at all, but Abby refused to choose another one and so they brought it home.

The dog was a girl, and after some consideration Abby decided to name her Stella, after a star-like spot on the dog's left flank. Stella was very cautious at first, and Abby had to tell Tony time and time again that they would have to be patient and just show the dog that the cared, and just as Abby knew they would they got their award in the end. Stella warmed up to both of them when she discovered that she would never be beaten or go hungry again and started to be the happy, playful dog she really was, to both Abby's and Tony's delight.

One day at work, Tony suddenly realized that Tim and Ziva seemed to have grown peculiarly close. He studied them covertly and was confirmed when he saw that look in Tim's eyes whenever he looked at Ziva. Tony wondered how Gibbs would take this much insubordination. First he and Abby, and now Tim and Ziva. He and Abby had gotten away lightly, he knew that, but would Gibbs let Tim and Ziva, too, break rule #12? It was one thing with him and Abby since Tony was the only one out in the field, but with Tim and Ziva and was both of them.

It turned out that Gibbs did let Tim and Ziva break his rule. He wasn't happy about it, that much was obvious, but both Ziva and Tim felt that they would rather leave the team than break up and they let Gibbs know it. He yelled at them for a long time, but in the end he gave in when Ziva pointed out that he had seen through his fingers for Tony and Abby, and told them that their relationship would better not affect their work. Besides, Gibbs didn't really want to go through the pain with replacing his entire team. These were the ones he had picked and he felt that he didn't want to let them go just yet.

Throughout the following months Tony and Abby grew even closer, and much of it was thanks to Stella. The dog was like a fresh wind and gave them both an excuse to be silly and act like children even in public. Tony had quickly discovered that Stella loved fetching things and he and the dog could play for hours in the park until they were both so weary that they had to take a nap together as soon as they got home.

Sometimes they all went to the beach and played for a long time in the water, splashing each other down and running along the water line or just walked slowly and talked while Stella ran back and forth around them. The dog loved the beach, especially if it was a windy day and often she would stand still as a statue with the wind in her face, and then she would come to life and take of like she was racing with the wind and the sand that flew across the beach, and Tony and Abby loved to watch her, amazed that the scared, nervous puppy they had brought home had changed to much because of them.

They would still go clubbing sometimes, even though it wasn't as often as in the beginning of their relationship, and sometimes they'd invite Tim and Ziva along, or even the entire team, but mostly it was just them. Abby even managed to persuade Tony to come with her to a few of her special clubs and once he had gotten used to them he thought that maybe they weren't so bad after all. After all, they did bring some spice into their life, and that was always a good thing in Tony's book.

Late one night Tony happened to stand in the doorway of the master bedroom while he watched Abby get ready for bed. He eyed her beautiful body with a warm smile on his lips and couldn't believe how lucky he was, to have this amazing woman in his life. How on earth had he come to be this lucky?

Looking back at his life, there hadn't been many, if any at all, he had felt this strongly for. Not even... No. That was a chapter of his life he better not look at again. It all had been a mistake and he should have gotten out before it went as far as it did. He had never wanted to hurt anyone.

Tony walked over to Abby and hugged her close to him, wanted to feel her skin against his. He truly hoped that they would never end. So many women had come and gone in his life but she was the one he wouldn't stand giving up. He loved her more than he had loved anyone before her. Looking into her eyes he knew something he hadn't know before, and that scared him just as much as it made his heart fly.

He wanted to spend the spend the rest of his days with her.