Title: Mr & Mrs Gibbs
Author: Jo. R
Rating: FR-15 unless otherwise stated.
Pairing: Abby/Gibbs
Category: Romance, Drama, Case-file, friendship
Spoilers: 'Forced Entry'
Summary: Two marines are dead, their wives missing. Mr. & Mrs. Gibbs go undercover to catch a killer.

With thanks to lady4gibbs.

****

Shopping had never been a real chore for her but shopping for a wedding dress was something else altogether – something she never thought she'd have to do, either. Ziva David seemed more excited than she did – relieved, perhaps, that the crutches she was using to manoeuvre herself around meant they weren't looking for a dress for her.

Realistically, Abby Sciuto knew the nerves she felt were ridiculous. It wasn't as if she was really getting married so why she felt like a blushing bride, she couldn't explain. Yes, the wedding vows would be real. And yes, they'd be said in front of a real minister. They had to be.

It was too much of a coincidence that the two couples involved in the case had been wed in the same place with the same people present. They'd stayed at the same hotel as part of their honeymoon package, booked through the same agency. They'd moved to the same military base after their weekend away, though had lived at different ends and led separate lives from that point on – up until the husbands had been found murdered, their wives missing.

Abby had been reassured that the vows could and would be easily annulled once the case was over. Due to the fact it was all for show and their vows weren't going to be consummated, it would be easy to end the marriage as though it'd never existed in the first place.

She wasn't disappointed by that. Or she told herself she wasn't, anyway.

It was a business arrangement, pure and simple, and it would be best for all involved if she kept reminding herself of that.

*****

Standing at the altar wasn't an altogether new experience for him. He had, after all, been married four times before.

Waiting for his bride, his wife-to-be, Leroy Jethro Gibbs couldn't help but think back on the times he'd stood in front of a minister before and said his 'I do's'.

He'd meant his vows each and every time he'd said them, though three of his four marriages had ended in divorce. He'd loved each of his wives in their own way though in most cases those feelings had petered out like the flames of a fire. His feelings for his first wife, the only one he hadn't divorced, were still there and he knew they always would be; Shannon would always be part of him. Loving her, and losing her, had made him the man he was today.

He thought of Shannon as he stood there, pictured her smiling eyes and gorgeous red hair. He remembered being a nervous groom at their wedding, unable to believe it was really happening. His hands had been damp, his mouth dry, and she'd been the most beautiful person he'd ever laid his eyes on.

After she'd given birth to their daughter, Kelly, who'd died with her mother, Gibbs had decided there was room in his heart for both of them to hold the title of most beautiful person.

Turning around when the music started to play in the small chapel, he found himself deciding to amend that to three.

*****

The dress she wore was cream in colour, demure but undeniably feminine. It was satin and glided over her curves, hinting at what lay beneath. It flared out just a little and the bodice of antique lace and embroidery hugged her body close before narrowing into two delicate looking straps. Flowers – daisies or sunflowers, he couldn't sure which, were embroidered in the flowing skirt starting a few inches before the hem kissed the floor.

She was beautiful, literally breath-taking, and she was going to be his wife.

'It's just an act,' Gibbs told himself, reminding himself to breathe as Abby glided down the aisle towards him, her hair styled in loose curls, half-up, half-down, around her naturally made up face. 'It's not real.'

That didn't stop his heart from skipping a beat when she gave him a shy, almost uncertain smile and moved to stand beside him.

He found himself wiping his hands on the pants of his dress uniform before he realised what he was doing and realised, belatedly, that his mouth was indeed dry.

Like his first wedding, he thought, only with a black-haired beauty at his side in place of the ravishing redhead who'd won his heart all those years ago. Like then, he couldn't really believe he was standing there, exchanging vows with Abigail Sciuto, promising to love, honour and protect her for the rest of his life.

Vows he promised he'd keep, even when the charade was over.

*****

Fidgeting with the band of entwined white and yellow gold around her finger, Abby could help but glance over at the man sitting beside her.

Her husband.

Even as she reminded herself that it wasn't real, her heart gave a little flutter in her chest.

"You okay?" Sensing her gaze, Gibbs glanced over at her. He gave her a small smile, obviously reading something on her face. "I know this is above and beyond the call of duty for you, Abs, but I appreciate it."

'Duty...?' Abby smiled a little too brightly. "It's not a problem, Gi—Jethro. Sorry," she added with an eye roll. "It might take me a bit of time to get used to calling you that."

"We can explain it away if you slip up." He shrugged his shoulders. "It'll be okay, Abby."

"I just don't want to mess it up," Abby murmured, pulling her gaze away from him to look out of the window. "I know I'm not your first choice in this, and I still don't know how you talked the Director into letting me be part of it..."

"Abby." The tone of his voice, the sigh with which it was said, had her turning to look at him again. Anything else he was going to say was forgotten, however, as he pulled up in front of the three-storey hotel and looked to the valet waiting to greet them. "Let's get this started."

Gibbs got out of the car and handed the keys to the uniformed man waiting for them. He let the porter grab their bags from the boot and walked around to her side, opening the door and taking her hand in his.

Squeezing her fingers, he led her through the lobby to the reception desk.

"Hello, Sir, Ma'am." The receptionist, a pretty brunette, smiled at them expectantly. "Do you have reservations?"

Gibbs gave Abby a quick smile and wrapped an arm around her waist, drawing her to his side. "The name's Gibbs. Mr and Mrs. Gibbs."

The receptionist typed their names into the computer and beamed at them brightly when their reservation appeared. Abby bit her lip, her stomach flipping over.

Mr. and Mrs. Gibbs indeed.

*****