GOING AFTER TOMORROW

By Caz

Disclaimer is in force, so please, leave me alone, huh?

Set: Who knows? But this is primarily a love story. Places are as close to reality as I can make them. I apologise if I've got the geography wrong!

Rating it M because of some language and mild sex situations.

Hope you enjoy as this is my first 'proper' NCIS story and not one I've adapted.

Reviews; Sure I like them as much as the next person. Not too keen on flames though, thanks J

Chapter one

Thursday 5.20 pm

"Hey, Gibbs."

"Hey, Abby. What're ya doin'?"

Abby grinned as she swung her body around on the chair making her pigtails swing out like propellers. "Nothin'."

Gibbs sighed as he eyed the bubbly lab tech with unease. "Aren't you supposed to be running tests on that sample that Ducky sent up? Y'know, the one that I'm waiting on?" He added with a trace of sarcasm.

"Are you going to give me that Caff Pow! that you're hanging on to there, Gibbs, or have I gotta scream blue bloody murder to get you to hand it over?" She grinned up at him without an ounce of guilt at her sass.

"Abby." Gibbs warned, his tone turning to a menacing growl as he prowled before her.

Abby shot to her feet, her hands flying high as she surrendered to the invisible attack. Not that she considered anything that Jethro Gibbs did to her was a real, live attack. He was her puppy. She knew that, and he knew that, too. But even so, she was aware of the limit of how much she could push him, especially when she had a result that he'd want to hear. "Okay, okay! Caff Pow! first, result second."

The growl came again, this time right behind her. She knew he was near because she could feel his warm breath on the back of her neck, tickling her, exciting her, if she was honest with herself, as she hit the keyboard revealing the details that he was crowding her for. "Abby, just give me the damn results." But even as he grumbled at her side he plunked the much loved caffeine drink down beside her keyboard.

Knowing that he was on dangerous ground if he'd have stayed where he was behind her, Gibbs leant down besides her keeping his hands and his eyes away from the temptation that plagued him every time he came down into Abby's laboratory. It was bad enough dealing with the woman herself on a daily basis, it was another being constantly tempted by her somewhat revealing, if not kooky, outfits. It was bad enough her being a Goth with her outrageous assessories. But besides all that, her clothes were a complete turn on for him, especially the cute little black pleated mini skirt that she favoured, especially when it was teamed with the miniscule red T shirt.

Okay, so sometimes she dressed like a school girl, but damn it all, she always wore stuff that made him as horny as hell and it was a real struggle for him sometimes to stop himself from putting both his hands on her hips and pulling her back against him. At least one of his hands was occupied when he brought her a Caff Pow! And if he was really lucky, he still had some of his own drink left by the time he got down to her so both of his hands were full.

His racing thoughts were quickly brought back to present when he finally registered what she was telling him. "Did you hear me, Gibbs? It wasn't the same bullet that killed our John Doe. This bullet came from a different gun. This bullet, Gibbs, has a flaw, and," She added with a flourish, spinning to face him as he pushed himself to a stand, her face alive with the pleasure of yet another success. "I found a partial print on it. I'm running it as we speak!"

It wasn't enough for him. It was never enough. "Is that it, Abs. Is that all you found?" His gaze was steady as he shattered her moment of euphoria.

Abby immediately deflated under his scrutiny, but before he could blink an eye, her face suddenly split with a grin as she held up her index finger on hearing a familiar, 'ping!' behind her. "Not... quite." The finger turned and beckoned him to follow her as she turned away from him and headed to her other computer station hitting the access as soon as she reached it and with a satisfied crow, she added, "And the print belongs to... Lieutenant, Marcus Welling."

Shaking his head in defeat, the smirk telling her that she'd outsmarted him once again, Gibbs stepped towards her and said huskily, "Good job, Abs."

He was going to kiss her on the cheek again and Abby readied herself for it by holding her breath for the sensations that she knew would sweep through her body at the intimate action. God, how she wanted him to sweep her into his arms and give her the kiss that she really craved for, but that darned rule 12 popped up in between them every time.

And besides, Abby didn't even know if that was what Gibbs wanted. He was fond of her, she knew that instinctively. But to take it further - if they could - she just wasn't sure enough of him. She'd seen him smile in the same way at other women, and, damn it all, she seen him kiss them on the cheek in the same way as he kissed her.

But she was Abby. She was special.

She visibly started when she felt two tender finger tips touch her jaw line and her mouth was still slightly open when those same finger tips pulled her face gently to the side and she felt warm lips settle upon hers, but before Abby could even register what Gibbs was doing to her, those same lips were gone.

By the time Abby regained her senses, Gibbs' was swinging away from her and heading for the door. She couldn't let him go, not without saying something. Her blurted, "Gibbs!" brought his steps to a halt and he slowly turned around on the spot. Abby could see in his wary gaze that he was expecting her to ask him why, or worse still, something even worse than that, but after a long hesitant moment, Abby smiled shyly at him and said, "Don't forget to wipe the lipstick off."

Gibbs' trademark smirk lit up his face as he winked and spun on his heels and carried on out of the door leaving behind a slightly bemused and shell-shocked Abigail Scuito.

Abby slowly walked back over to her computer and stood silently in front of it as she silently pondered Gibbs' actions. What did it mean? What did that kiss mean? What was going to happen next time she made his day? And, damn it, what the hell did she do now?

Her black tipped fingers touched her equally dark lips revelling in the fact that she knew that they would now be smudged. Did she go to the ladies and touch them up, or did she leave them be? Hell, she wanted the world to know that Gibbs had kissed her, on the lips, but in her heart, she knew that she could not, and would not, do that to him. What ever happened between them, no matter how trivial or bizarre, stayed that way. Those moments were their secrets.

Gibbs was one of the most private men she had ever met. He would take their kiss to his grave, if need be. But was it just a kiss? Abby pondered. Gibbs had never ventured any further than her cheek before. His touches had been impersonal, sweet, but impersonal.

Or were they?

It was true. Gibbs always seemed to be there for her when she needed him most. A hug when she was scared. A gentle shoulder massage when she was tense or tired. And then there were the kisses, sweet, treasured, and priceless.

But the more Abby thought about those treasured moments, the more she wondered about the man behind them. She knew he'd been married before and was certainly in no hurry to do it again, of that she was certain. And she knew that she was probably too kooky to go that route herself. There were not many men who could take on her own lifestyle. There were even less that would sleep in a coffin.

Would Gibbs, or wouldn't Gibbs? That was the mother of all questions. She grinned as she pictured herself asking him one day, and then she openly laughed as she visualised his response. 'Whaddya think, Abs?' The only answer that she knew she would get out of him leaving her to work it out for herself, and he was more than aware that she couldn't. In reality, Abby knew as little about Gibbs as the rest of the planet, and that was just the way he wanted it. The man was an enigma and as far as Abby was concerned, enigmas were just another thing to be investigated.

Gibbs rode the elevator in subdued silence, but his mind was working overtime. 'Now what the hell did I go and do that for?' He mentally slapped himself upside the head as he relived the moment when his lips had touched hers. He'd been dying to do it for as long as he could remember and had only managed to stop himself up until now by being a bastard to her.

In truth, Abby Scuito was the best lab tech he had ever come across. Her expertise in the laboratory was nothing short of miraculous. Nothing ever phased her, and the odd time that it did, she pow- wowed with McGee and between them, they got the job done, not that she couldn't have done it on her own, but sometimes - just sometimes - especially when she had things on her crazy mind, things got the better of her.

But even so, she was a phenomenon.

And he had kissed her, damn it!

The elevator ground to a halt at his level and he stepped through the doors, silently groaning as he heard the familiar banter between his sidekick and the latest probie. Tony and Ziva were always sparring and everybody except them knew it was their idea of foreplay. One of these days, Gibbs knew he was going to step out from that elevator and find them with their tongues down each other's throats with McGee looking on with his usual stumped expression as he pondered on whether to stop them before he got there, or leave them to it and hope for the best.

As usual McGee was tapping away at his keyboard, instantly spotting him as he headed his way. Even his approach sent his team into a frenzy which made Gibbs silently chuckle. Such was his power.

"DiNozzo, you're with me. Ziva, McGee, go round up Lieutenant Welling. I want his ass in the interrogation room within the hour."

As McGee slowly came to a stand he raised his hand like he was still in a schoolroom. "Boss, I thought we eliminated him?"

Gibbs was already reaching into his drawer for his badge and gun as he responded to the question that he'd known was coming. "Abs lifted a print off the bullet. I want him in here, now!"

As expected the two agents responded like a pair of jack rabbits with a gun aimed at their asses, their united, "On it, boss." echoed around the bullpen making Gibbs smirk with satisfaction as he followed them to the elevator with Tony hot on his heels.

"Where are we going, boss? Have we got time to grab something to eat? You know I've been working my..."

"Mouth off to Ziva. Yeah, I know, I heard. Don't you two do anything else other than argue?"

Tony looked from one comrade to another as they all piled into the elevator, the air becoming tense just with the proximity of the four of them in less than a couple of yards square. All eyes were upon him as he frantically searched for a suitable response. "She likes it, boss. I'm helping her to improve her English. They say that fighting makes you say words that you would never say in an ordinary conversation." Tony patted himself on the back for his amazing rejoinder.

But Ziva got him. "What, like, asshole, and butthead. Great English words, Tony, especially when I'm arguing with jerk ups, like you."

The comeback was unanimous as all three of her comrades turned to face the closing doors and said together with a grin, "Jerk off."

The day was done, at last. The bad guys were behind bars. Peace wafted through the bullpen and Abby's laboratory at last sparkled with cleanliness as she whipped off the cleansing cloth from the last corner of her evidence table.

"There. Done." she crowed, her face splitting into a triumphant grin. There weren't many days that could put her world to rights - at least professionally. The evidence she had supplied through her brilliance had resulted in a job well done. Her laboratory looked like a showcase once again. Gibbs had kissed her and Abby figured that at that moment, she was the happiest bat in the whole wide world.

And as she slipped on her jacket and pulled the bands from her pigtails, quickly ruffling her fingers through her dark tresses, she wondered what tomorrow held in store for her.