Up, or down?

by Carol Sandford

Disclaimer is in force, so let me be, you brutes!

Rated M!

It was late. Gibbs had popped down to see Abby. He'd been out working a case most of the day and had wanted to touch base with her. That was what he told himself. In truth he just needed to see her. The day was over and they both just wanted to go home. Abby closed up shop, gave Bert a farewell squeeze and followed Gibbs out. All was normal. All was as it should be. That was until they both stepped into the elevator. The doors closed and nothing happened. Gibbs couldn't think of a worse predicament. He'd been on edge all day. He'd known the cause. She was standing right beside him, twittering away about some guy that she'd begun dating. He couldn't decide whether she was just being obtuse, or she really didn't know how much she was yanking his chain. Probably both.

He'dspun away from her, but was unsure if it was from frustration or anger. Probably both. She drove him insane. She kept toying with him. One moment she was all over him, like a rash, and the next she was ridiculing his attempts to get closer to her. God, he wanted to get closer to her. He just wanted to sweep her into his arms and kiss her senseless.

But he couldn't. He wouldn't. He'd made a promise, a promise to himself that he wouldn't touch her - love her, until she made the first move. A first serious move. Sometimes he thought she was afraid of him. Sometimes he caught her watching him and she'd look away, but not before he'd seen a look of confusion in her beautiful eyes. And it had been that look that had kept him away from her.

Until now.

They were trapped in the elevator together. Not really 'trapped' per se, but 'temporarily inconvenienced' for a short time whilst maintenance were changing a cable. Neither of them had heard the announcement before unwittingly stepping into elevator together. Seconds later, mid floor, it ground to a shuddering stop.

"Now what?" He groused as he punched the button savagely, utterly aware that the next few minutes were going to be a trial. He couldn't think of a situation much worse than being stuck a couple of feet from the girl you desperately wanted to strip naked and devour.

"Oh, I heard they were going to mend...something," She floundered, forgetting what she'd actually heard awhile back acutely conscious of their predicament.

"And you didn't think to mention this to me before we got on it?" He growled turning on the spot in a futile attempt to look for another way out before resolutely slumping against the metallic wall. He crossed both his arms and his legs and scowled at his companion.

"I'm sorry," She grimaced as she too struck the same pose as he. "They did say it would only take fifteen minutes. That's not so bad, is it?" She added with a bright smile.

God, if only she knew, he mutinously thought. How could he stay beside her without witnesses to keep him sane and away from her magnetism? She pulled him like no other woman had. She was doing it now even though she didn't know what she was doing to him. All it would take would be a word from him. Just one word. If he said it in the right way and at the right time, she would know what it meant.

If he reached out and pulled her to him, she would come to him, of that he was certain. Could he do it? Could he do what he'd wanted to do to her for a long time – much, much too long. He'd gone without the intimate touch of a woman because of the woman that now stood beside him tapping her toes to a silent beat on the rubberized floor as she silently sung along to a song.

And then she started to hum. He didn't recognize the tune. Heck, he didn't stand a chance in hell of naming anything she listened to. To say her taste in music was weird was an understatement. It was too loud, too fast and combined, it was downright painful on the ears.

"Shut up, Abby." He grumbled.

The silence that followed was awkward, the air became heavy and uncomfortable. Abby stole a glance at him and then wished that she hadn't before murmuring, "Sorry."

Another tense minute passed and before long he heard the tell-tale tap of her feet on the floor start up again. He sighed, his exasperation vibrating from in in waves. She was driving him nuts; so close, yet so far. He wanted to shake her senseless. He wanted to... Hell! He shifted uncomfortably, uncrossed his legs and then crossed them again.

"You okay, Gibbs?" Abby asked nervously, finally daring to face him, her teeth worrying her scarlet bottom lip. Gibbs couldn't drag his eyes away from them and watched the sensual movement with fascination. The whiteness of her teeth against the plump, painted and highly kissable lip shifted something inside him. He barely managed to suppress the groan and he turned his head away from her as he muttered, "No, I hate being stuck in elevators. Makes me kinda jumpy."

"You're always getting yourself stuck in elevators, Gibbs, deliberately." Abby stated unnecessarily, swinging away from the wall to confront him.

"Yeah, but that's my choice. This isn't." His reasoning sounded logical to him. Then she realized what his real problem was.

Her.

Abby stuck that same luscious lip out and turned sulky on him, her head tilting to one side allowing her pig tail to swing free as she studied him. "You don't like being stuck with me, Jethro? I'm hurt." She grinned knowingly, swaying with her new found knowledge, taunting him. Drunk on her feminine power.

"Don't push me, Abby." He snarled. "The thread I'm hanging on to right now is getting a little...thin."

Slowly Abby moved towards him and settled her hands upon his shoulders, her concern clearly etched upon her elfin face. She could see herself in the pale blue orbs. "Are you scared of being trapped, Gibbs. Really scared?" She knew she was taunting him, and she knew that he wasn't afraid of the elevator. Gibbs wasn't afraid of much, if anything. But he was afraid of her and she knew it. But she wasn't going to let him know that she knew. She was taking a chance, the only chance she had of seeing where this precious fifteen minutes would lead them.

Gibbs looked into her eyes and felt himself beginning to melt. He didn't realize that she'd take him literally. He hadn't been scared of being stuck. He was scared of being alone with her; of being alone with Abby and starting something that he wasn't sure she wanted.

His heart stopped when she pulled him away from the wall and cuddled him tight. He felt her tapping his back at her attempt to soothe him. It did anything but. Being close to Abby was hell. Being against her body in innocence was beyond hell. For a few, taut seconds he held himself rigid. A few seconds later he began to melt. A few seconds after that his arms were slipping around her and his head moved to nuzzle against her throat.

He felt rather than saw Abby's smile and he allowed himself slip into the intimate moment knowing that she was playing him and moments later, she whispered. "I'm always here for you, Gibbs. Any time you need a hug..."

He felt the invisible bucket of freezing cold water tip over his head and he pulled away abruptly, turning away from her so that he could hide the longing that he knew shone from his sultry, blue eyes. He dropped his gaze to his lower loins and willed himself to deflate. Abby clearly hadn't felt him harden against her.

"Gibbs?" She whispered with bewilderment as she reached for his hand, tugging at it, pulling him to come back to her. He lifted his head to look at her and she saw a rawness there that she'd only seen a handful of times before; the agonizing loss of Kate. The even deeper loss of Ziva. And the moment that he'd heard his father had passed away.

And now. She was seeing it now and she didn't understand why she was seeing it. Abby hadn't died. She hadn't deserted him. She was right there, with him and she was suddenly at a loss to see such pain. Gibbs told her practically everything before now, but now he was being stubbornly silent and it was driving her crazy. Abby whispered his name again as she stepped nearer. "Gibbs, what is it you want?"

And there it was; his chance. And he took it. "I want you, Abby. I. Just. Want. You." He groaned with anguish, finally giving in to the pull. He quickly yanked her back into his arms and dropped his head so fast to kiss her that she had to grab at his shoulders to stop herself from falling. But in truth, the moment Gibbs' mouth had met hers she'd fallen. It had been a kiss of utter certainty, and it had told her everything that she'd wanted to know; that Gibbs loved her.

All this time that she'd been teasing and taunting him he'd never said anything, never done anything other than be the friend that she always knew him to be. For all these years she must have put him through hell. He must have wanted to strangle her on too many occasions to count when she'd toyed with his affections. She been nothing more than a prick tease and he'd taken it all with good grace.

Until now.

Abby arched towards him as Gibbs reached down and pulled her tighter to him. Now Abby could feel the might of him; the depth of his need as his tongue swept into her mouth and kissed her with a power that made her momentarily shudder with a desire that she'd kept banked for too long. Her arms slid around his neck and she found herself being tipped back. The heady, infamous image of a sailor kissing the nurse on hearing that the war was over swept through her mind as they took up that same stance. Gibbs continued to kiss her senseless. It was erotic and exciting as Gibbs turned his face one way and then another as he deeply plundered her mouth. She could barely breathe. She didn't want to breathe. Abby didn't want anything as mundane as breathing interrupt and get in the way of his declaration.

She almost feinted with the loss as he suddenly tore his lips away, his own breathing heavy, matching hers as he stared into her eyes trying to decipher what he saw within hers. He still had her bent back but she wasn't afraid that he'd let her go. Right then, at that moment, Abby knew that he'd never let her go again.

Slowly, Abby lessened the space between their faces and gently touched her lips to his. Her eyes never left his hoping that he could see what she was silently telling him. Time slithered to a stop. Heartbeats began to slow as some other entity began to seep in and hold them captive.

"Abby?" Gibbs whispered quietly, "What do you want from me? I need to know before we go any further."

Smiling serenely, Abby released her hold around his neck and gently cupped his face before whispering as quietly as he, "I want you, Gibbs. I've always wanted you. But right now, I want you to kiss me again. Maybe it will convince you that I'm not teasing you anymore, and I know I have been. I was hoping that one day you'd see beyond the tease and realize that I wanted you."

Slowly Gibbs eased her back to a stand but didn't release her. He stepped back to lean against the cool wall, pulling her with him. Her legs parted to straddle one of his and she squirmed against his hard thigh. Gibbs responded in kind, his eyes turning smoky with the promise of times to come. He touched his lips to her again suddenly realizing that she matched his height, even if it was while she was wearing her crazy boots, and it made him smile.

"Me and you, Abby, are going to be real good together." He promised huskily. "You ready for the ride?"

They both chuckled as at that moment the elevator sprung to life indicating that the maintenance was finished and they could move on, if they wanted to.

They didn't. Gibbs reached over and flicked the switch to stop it from moving or opening then dropping his large hands to cradle her ass, both grinning and aware that they weren't moving anytime soon. Abby settled her mouth against his again and she murmured cheekily, "Oh, yeah, I'm ready, Gibbs. Are we going up, or are we going down?"

Unanimously they both slid to the floor and Abby found herself straddled across his lap, suddenly ridiculously happy that she'd worn her trademark mini-skirt to work that day. She felt Gibbs' fingertips slip beneath the lace of her panties and his eyes dropped to watch as her own fingers began to undo the tiny skull shaped buttons on her blouse. His breath began to labor as he gently kneaded the soft globes beneath his hands and then he gasped out loud as her hands abruptly dropped to his belt to undo it.

Within seconds she had him free and quickly guided him past the saturated strip of material that kept him from her. Gibbs was about to stop her; tell her to slow down, but the moment he touched her heat the words died in his throat releasing instead a moan that matched hers as she sunk down onto him. Gibbs lifted his eyes to watch her face, not wanting to miss a moment. Her mouth was open wide as she gently undulated on him. Her eyes were closed as she lost herself. Her hands were linked behind his neck, anchoring herself to him.

Abby sensed that he was watching her and slowly, she lowered her face, opened her eyes and locked them with his, the intimate movements between so small, yet so perfect. They were connected, everywhere, heart body and soul. Breaking his gaze, Gibbs nuzzled against her breasts. He couldn't get at the tempting tips still hidden beneath the black satin as she hadn't finished unbuttoning her top, but he didn't care. Wherever he could reach he was happy. He was in heaven.

Abby trembled against him. She needed more and Gibbs sensed her need. He slipped his hands under her thighs and found her with his fingertips. He could feel himself inside her, he could feel himself pulsing, her juices saturating him, goading him on. He slipped his hands under further, moving his fingers apart to go either side of his cock, pushing them against it, increasing the sensations that ran all the way through it and his balls. Abby could feel his fingers touching her and she gasped when she felt them going inside her, the ones outside creating their own magic on the already sensitive, alive heart of her. She'd done many things as a hot-bloodied woman, but this had been a first and it wasn't long before it created the effect that they were both craving for.

In unison, barely seconds later, they began to climb. Gibbs silently screamed at her to look at him; to look into his eyes and see what she was doing to him. What he was doing to her. Smoky blue against glistening cat-like green, their joint trembling proving to them both the ultimate depth of their feelings. Gibbs open his mouth and as he began to explode within her Abby reached down her face and kissed him deeply, plunging her tongue into the depths of his wide, welcoming open mouth to dance in complete harmony with their bodies frantic, tiny movements.

Slowly, Abby broke away from Gibbs' lips but continued to cradle his face, watching him from barely a breath away. She saw the questions in his eyes and knew that he could see those same questions within hers. What now? What next? Where do we go from here?

"Abby?" Gibbs quietly murmured, suddenly unsure of himself. Of them.

Abby gently stroked his ruddy cheeks with her finger tips and Gibbs saw a sadness in her eyes that frightened him. He repeated her name, unable to keep worry out of it. "Abs?"

Abby's bright eyes met his and he died a little when he saw the shimmer of tears building within them. "Does this mean that this isn't going to happen again, Gibbs?"

He frowned at the surprise question. "Why would you think that, Abby?" He asked, genuinely puzzled.

He watched her chew the inside of her cheek. "Because what we just did was too good."

Now he really was puzzled. "Meaning?"

Exasperated, Abby gently slapped his shoulder. "How the hell are we going to top what we just did, Gibbs?! I mean, that was probably the best sex I've ever had – and I've had quite a bit, you know that, don't you, Gibbs?"

He knew it was just a rhetorical question and he didn't even dare try and answer her. Not that she was going to let him anyhow.

"How are we ever going to top what we just did, Gibbs? That sex was a one-of-a-kind type of sex, never to be repeated, so that means we aren't going to do this ever again. It was too good."

Gibbs was grinning by the time she'd finished her little speech. Gently he reached up and pulled her hands away from his face and kissed her knuckles. And then one by one he took each finger into his mouth and gently sucked each tip as he spoke.

"Abby, I can assure you, there is plenty more of where that came from. Let's think of it as a challenge, eh? You've had plenty of guys, I've had plenty of women. I'm sure that between us we can show each other a thing, or two. You up for that, Abs?"

There it was; the dare.

Abby's face almost split apart with the saucy grin. "You're on. Your place, or mine?"

Abby squawked as Gibbs suddenly shifted them both over so that he could reach the switch. Flicking it back on with a grunt as he felt himself go hard against her. "You asked me if we were going up or down not too long ago, and as your lab is nearer we're going down. You ready for the ride, Abby Scuito?"

Abby chuckled seductively as she squirmed against him and got ready for the second ride of her life. "Bring it on, Leroy Jethro Gibbs. Bring it on."