Usual disclaimers apply I dont own the characters in this story (except liz) I just wish I did because then Gibbs would be mine and I would be rich! The charcters belong to MR B and CBS, with a big thank you for creating them for us.

Rating is T mainly for language.

This is the sequel to Life and Death and is set after Twighlight.

pairing -Gabby..what else?

as always please feed me...leave feedback!

Chapter 1

Gibbs stared at his screen, his eyes following the words written there but his mind taking in none of the meanings behind them. He flicked his gaze over his computer and watched briefly as Liz talked on the phone. He noted absently the habit she had of twisting the phone cord around her finger, often getting it stuck in the process. Liz was on secondment from the British military police; ostensibly it had only been whilst they tracked down and apprehended Ari Haswari, the terrorist that had killed Caitlin Todd, a former member of the secret service and a member of Gibbs's team at the time of her murder. But somehow Liz had managed to extend the secondment for a year, and so was now a permanent fixture at Caitlin's old desk. Gibbs turned his head slightly and took in Tony DiNozzo, and smiled slightly. He was sitting with his feet propped on his desk, his keyboard balanced on his lap and his fingers tapping away at the keys. Gibbs watched surreptitiously as DiNozzo flicked a screwed up ball of paper at Liz opposite him. He watched as without pausing in her conversation Liz caught the paper missile and launched it straight back at DiNozzo, hitting him squarely in the forehead. Gibbs struggled not to laugh as he turned his full attention and steely gaze on DiNozzo.

"Next time I will add a rock into the fray" Gibbs growled at Tony, his eyes hard and cold whilst inside he wanted to laugh loudly. Tony gasped at having been caught, the shock of Gibbs's voice causing him to drop his feet from the desk, sending the keyboard sliding to the ground. In his haste to retrieve it Tony slipped off his chair and ended up sprawled on the floor in an ungainly heap. He stuck his head over the desk and grinned weakly at Gibbs

"Yes Boss" he said somewhat sheepishly as he picked himself up off the floor, shooting Liz a glare for good measure as he turned to retrieve his chair.

Gibbs turned at a sound behind him and glared at the youngest member of the team, Timothy McGee was a young agent who Gibbs had had promoted onto his team sometime before, the young man was often nervous and easily intimidated but had all the markings of being an excellent investigator. He watched as McGee caught sight of Gibbs glaring at him and swallowed his laughter mid voice, almost choking on it in the process. McGee smiled sheepishly at Gibbs before bending his head to his computer monitor, the sound of keys being tapped rapidly reaching Gibbs in seconds.

Gibbs sat back in his chair for a moment and smiled to himself. Things had changed since Kate's death, but life was moving on and he knew that that was what Kate would want.

Gibbs looked up at a familiar prickle on the back of his neck and smiled as Abby Sciuto came bounding out of the elevator and headed towards his desk. He drank in the sight of her, dressed today in black pants covered in zips and belts, toped with a red and blackstripped t-shirt and black lace gloves. He turned his attention to her face, shining with enthusiasm for life and everything in it.Her makeup would be the envy of snow white with blood red lips, white skin and dark laughing eyes, crowned by her sleek black hair tied as usual in pig tails. He silently mulled over the way he felt when she was near him as he watched her approach. It had been two months since Ari had kidnapped Abby and Gibbs had finally admitted his feelings to himself about her. They had been seeing each other personally since then, but Gibbs refused to rush things with her, even though all he wanted was to keep her with him all the time. He privately admitted to himself that Abby was the most important person in his life, but he was damned if he would admit it to anyone else, not even to Abby. He watched as she stopped at Liz's desk for a moment, dropping a small sack onto it. Gibbs lent forward slightly and struggled to make out the words on the paper bag, internally cursing his failing eyesight. He wasn't able to make out the name but the logo looked like that of the little heath food deli down the street. Liz smiled her thanks and reached for the bag as she continued talking on the phone.

"What about me?" Gibbs heard Tony moan at Abby. He watched as Abby turned to look at Tony, a huge grin on her face as she crossed over to stand in front of his desk.

"You can share mine" Abby said sweetly, her eyes glinting with mischief as she perched on the side of Tony's desk. "It's really, really great" she told him as she took out a small wrapped parcel from the bag. "Roasted vegetable medley with tofu wrapped in wholemeal pita bread" she continued pushing it towards him. Tony looked at the small package as if it was an unexploded bomb and gingerly pushed it back towards Abby.

"Thanks Abby but I like real food, not fake rabbit food" Tony informed her loftily.

"You mean swimming in grease and a death toll of at least three cows" Liz called out as she hung up the phone, grinning at Abby as she passed her and headed towards Gibbs.

"And your not much better" Liz informed Gibbs as she reached him.

"Keep me out of it" Gibbs growled his eyes narrowed in warning, which Liz decided to ignore. Gibbs admired the way that Liz was rarely intimated by him, and would often challenge him in small ways. She seemed to enjoy pushing him to see how far she could go, and Gibbs enjoyed letting her. They both knew that when push came to shove she would respect his authority and position as team leader and would back him all the way. But at times like these it was fun to spar with her.

She grinned as she leant her hip on his desk, one of the few people who would dare do that, Abby being another. Liz handed him a sheet of paper with her notes from the telephone conversation on it. She watched as he took it, moving the paper away from him, and then closer to him again as he tried to read it.

"Your hand writing it atrocious" Gibbs growled at her, as he tried to read what she had written.

"Nope it's your eyesight" Liz retorted, reaching over him and opening his desk drawer to pull out a small leather case. She popped the clip and watched as it sprang up to reveal a stylish pair of silver glasses. Liz smiled as she handed them to her boss and then moved out of his reach as he growled under his breath as he snatched the offending item off her. Gibbs slapped the glasses on his nose with enough force to make Liz wince.

Gibbs scanned her notes and then looked up at her, taking the glasses off and slamming them on the desk, secretly hoping that they would break.

"This is a closed case" he told her, his eyes flicking back to the paper.

"Yes it is." She answered "But I had a call from the guy convicted of the murder and decided to do some digging, I think its worth us taking another look at it" she told him calmly, noting that the others were listening to the conversation. Gibbs stared at Liz for a long hard moment then nodded.

"Ok" was all he said as he stood up, handing her the paper back. "Look into it and give me a full report by the end of the day" he told her as he grabbed his coat from the hook behind him.

"I'm going for coffee" he informed no one in particular. "You coming?" he asked Abby as he drew level with her, noting the way her eyes followed him.

"You bet boss man" she told him sliding from Tony's desk and linking her arm into Gibbs's "Cos your buying" the others heard float back to them as they watched Abby and Gibbs walk away, all still slightly shocked that Gibbs and Abby were actually together.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Gibbs stood in the queue next to Abby and absently listened to her chattering away, his eyes watching a man in the corner arguing with a petite red headed woman. He stiffened slightly as the man leant over the woman, his hand raised slightly as if to hit her. Gibbs watched as the woman flinched away from the dark haired man but otherwise stood quietly as he railed at her.

Abby felt Gibbs stiffen beside her and turned to see what was wrong, she followed his eye line and saw the couple arguing in the corner. She felt her own anger mount at the way the man was acting and gently let go of Gibbs's arm, knowing that if things went to far he would intervene. It was one of the things that she loved so much about him, his sense of right and wrong and his willingness to act on it. She watched as the woman turned to walk away but the man grabbed her arm roughly causing her to crash into the table beside them. No sooner had Abby registered this fact than Gibbs had moved and was standing between the fallen woman and the man.

"Everything ok ma'am?" he asked quietly, his body turned towards the man in preparation for anything that came at him.

"None of your damn business" the man snarled at Gibbs, trying to step around him and grab the woman "She's my damn wife and she's coming with me" he continued angrily pushing at Gibbs.

Gibbs levelled a cold hard stare that had the man stepping back slightly.

"I didn't ask you" he warned quietly, his voice hard and vicious. He turned slightly to look at the woman, who had pushed herself away from the table, and was standing shaking slightly "Do you need help?" he asked her softly, his voice taking on a gentler, more reassuring tone as he addressed the obviously frightened woman.

"Yes" she whispered stepping closer to Gibbs "He's my ex husband" she whispered, pressing herself closer to Gibbs, causing the silently watching Abby to narrow her eyes slightly before she crossed over to the trio. Gibbs sensed Abby next to him, and reached out gently to push the woman towards Abby, who automatically stepped forward and took her arm.

"Come with me" Abby whispered, pulling her away from Gibbs and her ex husband.

Gibbs turned his full attention to the man before him, knowing that the woman was in safe hands with Abby.

"I suggest you leave now" Gibbs warned the man, his voice quiet and calm and all the more deadly for it.

"Go to hell" was the response as the man tried to step around Gibbs and grab his wife as Abby led her away. "And take your freak bitch with you" the man snarled. At that comment Gibbs stepped forward on light feet, grapping the man by the shoulder and levering him around, his fist rising and connecting with force to the man's face. Gibbs watched as the man's eyes widened in surprise before he crumpled to the ground. Gibbs stepped forward and peered at him for a moment before taking out his phone

"This is NCIS Special Agent Gibbs, we need an ambulance and police" he informed the operator calmly as he bent down to check the man on the floor for weapons and ID.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Gibbs finished talking to the police and silently crossed the now deserted coffee shop to stand beside Abby and the woman who he now knew was called Rose Stellar. He smiled gently at Abby before crouching down in front of the softly crying woman.

"You need to make a statement" he told her gently, nodding his head to the young police officer standing a few yards away.

Rose nodded shakily and smiled at Gibbs, her hand reaching out and taking hold of his.

"Thank you" she said with a soft smile her eyes wide and weepy. "I can't tell you what it means to me that you came to my help" she continued leaning forward slightly, her breast skimming Gibbs's arm.

Gibbs shifted slightly and looked up at Abby who was staring at him, her eyes flashing a warning. Gibbs stood up and smiled down at the woman.

"Your welcome" he said, motioning with his head to the young officer who quickly stepped forward. "Officer Phillips will take your statement and see you home" Gibbs said as he motioned to Abby, his hand reaching out and taking her arm gently to steer her out of the coffee shop.

Abby and Gibbs walked back to the NCIS building in silence, Gibbs grinned slightly as they walked feeling Abby suppressing what ever it was she wanted to say. Gibbs thought that if she didn't talk soon she was going to literally explode, with that in mind in he gently pulled her into a door way and turned to face her.

"Spill it" he told her with a soft smile, his hand reaching out to push a stray tendril of hair behind her ear, his thumb gently caressing her cheek as his hand moved away.

"She was making cow eyes at you" Abby rushed out, indignant and amused at the same time. Not sure she liked the fact that some other woman would make eyes at her Gibbs.

"So?" Gibbs queried softly, enjoying this new side to Abby.

"So? So?" Abby asked indignantly before she suddenly sagged against the wall "I am such a fruit" She muttered more to herself than to him, knowing that she was over reacting.

Gibbs smiled as he pulled her into his arms, his mouth gently caressing hers, his arm pulling her closer to him. As his lips parted from hers, he smiled down at her as she laid her head on his chest, listening to his heart beat under her ear.

"Yes you are, but I'd have to say your more of a nut than a fruit" he told her brushing a kiss across her hair. Andmoving away from her before she could hit him for the comment, his hand reached out and grabed her hand pulling her along with him as he began to walk back to the NCIS building.

"Back to work Abs" he informed her; the tenderness they had just shared quickly replaced by Gibbs the boss. Abby watched him for a moment always amazed at how quickly he could transform from her Gibbs to her boss.

Abby jumped in step beside him, smartly saluting him

"Yes sir!" she smart mouthed him, enjoying the way his eyes flashed with laughter, even though his face remained impassive.