Title: "Versus"

Rating: FR13

Genre: Alternate Universe, Friendship, Family, Humor

Written For: Adventures in Babysitting Challenge

Pairing(s): HetTony/Abby

Summary: AU. Tony volunteers to babysit four year-old Timmy for the Gibbs' when the family leaves for Abby's math tournament. With the awkwardly inquisitive little boy, a pending thunderstorm, and unexpected visitors, will Tony survive the night?

Notes: Part of Gibblets' Verse series. Anything that is publicly recognizable does not belong to me. Enjoy!

Chapter One

Tony bites his lip absentmindedly while he observes the movement going on behind him. Waiting has never been his best suit, much more so in the kitchen of his girlfriend's house. He has known Abby's family for more than a year now, and he knows should at least be comfortable enough to sit there by himself for at least ten minutes.

Actually, after a while, he's warmed up to Mrs. Gibbs. She's always so kind to him, especially after he proved to her that he respects her daughter and wishes her no harm. Because of the, she calls him 'sweetheart' now and to be honest, he likes it. She reminds him of his mother.

Although, when it comes to fathers, he still prefers his over Abby's dad. Mr. Gibbs still scares him. What's not to be afraid about him? The first time Abby introduced him to her family, her dad made sure he remembered that he's a marine sniper, and that he's constantly watching. Abby told him her father was just joking, adding with the explanation a glare to her father. Mr. Gibbs only smiled at her, but the look he shot him as he did so told him he was serious.

He picks up his backpack from the floor then starts shuffling through the half dozen DVDs he brought with him. A groan threatens to escape from his throat. What was he thinking taking that job? He doesn't even know much about taking care of kids! Ones that are a few years younger than himself, he can manage. As long as there's a computer or a game console, they will be busy.

But a toddler like Abby's little brother? He expects—hopes—that his young age will easily take toll on him when late night strikes, but he worries about the possibility that he might not get sleepy at all. Not only that, he might be hyper, courtesy of the older Gibbs who gives in easily to his son's pleas, as he has seen so many times before.

He sighs. It's not like he had any choice. When Abby talked to him about how important the math competition is to her and her team (which, he assumes, consists of Kate and Paula), and how she had to miss it because they could not find a babysitter, he knew he had to jump in and save her. "Maybe one of your parents can stay behind, and the other one can go," he remembers suggesting to her a week ago.

"Well, Dad has to come. The last competition he attended with me was when I was nine," Abby explained to him. He knew that the slight disappointment she displayed on the outside then was ten times more magnified than what she truly felt inside. "The schedule of his deployment always clashes with my school schedule," she added with a half-hearted smile. "Mom, on the other hand, wants to come, because she missed my Regionals Science Fair the last month because she was called to court that morning for one of their cases. She said she wanted to make it up to me with this. It would be great if both of them could come, but it's going to be late at night, and I don't want Timmy to stay up so late. My baby brother will just get sick, and he'll cry, and I'll be responsible," she finished with the smallest of frowns as she thought of the boy.

He never likes seeing her upset and sad. So, the inner knight-in-shining-armor rising up within him, he offered, "Well, you think your parents will let me babysit Timmy boy?" He wanted to take it back almost immediately when he realized what he was putting himself into, but when Abby smiled, suddenly excited by the idea, he could not get himself to do so anymore.

Thus, tonight. He's sitting at the Gibbs' kitchen, watching as the family gets ready before they leave.

"Oh. Tony? Sweetheart?" Mrs. Gibbs calls him as she strides inside the kitchen, fixing her earrings. She plucks a paper fastened by a magnet from the fridge then hands it to Tony after he looks up. She grinned. "That's the list of numbers you can call in case of emergency. Here are my number and Jethro's…" she holds up a finger before she corrects her mistake, "Mr. Gibbs' number. I'd add Abby's number, but you already know that." She chuckles. Tony does the same but only slightly. "There's also, uh, the Police Station's number, Fire Station, Children's Hospital, Poison Control—"

"Shouldn't I just call 911?" Tony asks, overwhelmed.

"You can," Mrs. Gibbs laughed. "But you never know. Plus, those are the numbers of people I know in those places. I'll feel more comfortable if they'll be the ones who'll be here if something happened."

"Okay," Tony mumbles, his eyes back on the paper.

"And I also took the liberty of putting in the electrician's number," Mrs. Gibbs adds, a little abashed. Tony fights the urge to wrinkle his brows. "I know it's too much, but I saw on the news that there's supposed to be a thunderstorm tonight, and if the lights go off, at least you'll have someone you can call for questions. Or, you know, if you just didn't want to risk messing with the electricity."

Tony stares at the numbers, hoping that he will never have to dial them that night. "Alright, Mrs. Gibbs," he smiles up to her.

"Tony, are you sure you can do this?" Abby asks as she walks into the kitchen, a light knapsack slung over her shoulders. She proceeds beside him, obviously anxious about the bother all of it is causing him. "We can always ask my grampa to look after Timmy."

"Don't worry about it, Abby," Tony waves her sentiments away, grinning. "I can manage. Besides, I don't think it's a good idea to have your grampa drive with this weather. Your mom said it's going to rain."

Abby nods in contentment, saying nothing further. "Okay," she mumbles. She kisses Tony on the cheeks, causing him to smile. Mrs. Gibbs disregards the scene by looking away with a smile on her face.

"And don't you know?" Tony whispers towards Abby. "I'm great with kids."

"Really," Abby challenges his statement, placing a hand on her hip.

"Yeah," Tony says confidently. "I'm like Chris Parker in 'Adventures in Babysitting.'" Abby slightly frowns as she tries to remember. "You know. 1987 film. Elisabeth Shue."

"Ah," Abby nods. "That one. But doesn't she end up running through different problems?"

Tony thinks about it. "Well," he says pensively, "maybe not."

Abby laughs in response.

Tony seeks his surroundings, his brows slightly knitted. "Where's Jet?" he asks Abby. "Usually, he'd be so happy to run towards me and take a stab at gnawing on my ankles."

"He's at Uncle Jason's house," Abby responds. "Spencer has no one to play with since his sister, Emily, is on a college visit at Massachusetts, so they borrowed him for a while."

"Oh," Tony nods slowly.

"Come on, Abby," Gibbs says sternly as he strides inside the room with his car keys. "We'll be late. The place is almost an hour drive."

"Good evening, sir," Tony says after he stands up, suddenly feeling nervous.

Gibbs stiffly nods at him before exiting through the backdoor.

Tony knows that Abby's father is still not used to him, so he does not expect much of a reply. Abby, on the other hand, feels embarrassed about the way her father has treated Tony. Instead of saying something, she looks at her mother for help.

Mrs. Gibbs nods to her in response, letting her know that she will talk to him about it. "Don't take long in saying goodbye to Tony and your little brother, honey," she tells her daughter while she hurries out of the house. She turns her attention to their babysitter for the night. "Tony. You know what to do, sweetheart," she raises her eyebrows at him.

Tony nods, refreshed with the smile on Mrs. Gibbs' face. "Yes, ma'am," he says.

Right then, Mrs. Gibbs leaves.

"Well, I have to go," Abby says, and then hugs him.

"Go get 'em, Abby," Tony speaks to her softly in her ear. Abby disengages from him, and it is then that her grin becomes evident. "Enjoy your time there."

"I will," Abby replies. "Thank you again for taking this on."

"Anything for you."

Abby kisses him lightly on the lips, pleasantly surprising Tony.

"Ew."

Both of them swivel their heads towards the direction of the small voice. Standing at the archway is Timmy, clutching a Spongebob stuffed toy. On his face is a displeased expression because of what he saw.

"Timmy, what did I tell you about making a face when you see me and Tony together?" Abby asks her little brother.

"It's not nice," Timmy responds.

"Right," Abby says. She walks over to him, and then squats down to look him in the eye. "And I'm just thanking him for taking care of you, little tyke," she adds, holding on to his tiny arms with a smile. "You need to thank him, too. After we come home."

Timmy glances at Tony, and then turns back to his sister. "I don' wanna kiss him, Abby," he loudly whispers to her.

Both Tony and Abby laugh lightly after hearing it. "You don't have to do that," Abby tells him. "I already did. But what you can do is be nice to him. Is that okay?"

Timmy nods, finding it a better option than the first.

"Awesome!" Abby says. "Can I get a kiss?"

Timmy nods again. He puckers up, hugs her sister on the neck, and then plants a deep kiss on his sister's cheek.

Abby giggles. She kisses him on the cheek too after he lets go, and then she stands up to leave. "Don't forget to behave, Timmy," she says to her brother. "Tony. If you need anything, just call us, alright? Or look up people on the list my mom gave you. Whichever. We'll be back at around one in the morning."

Tony runs after her when a question pops up in his head. "Abby?"

"Yeah?"

"Your brother. He doesn't have any…allergies, does he?"

Abby shakes her head. "Not really," she answers. "He's not a big fan of sprinkles, but that's just about it. Oh! But, it might also be a bad idea to give him Nutter Butters and hot chocolate. He might ask you for some, but don't give in—even if he cries."

Tony swallows because of the possibility of having to deal with a screaming and crying kid. "Why…why not?" he asks.

"He gets super hyper," Abby chuckles. "You don't want him in that mode with just the two of you alone." She pats a frozen Tony on the cheeks. "See ya, sweetie!"

"See…See you," Tony mumbles. He watches Abby join her parents in their car. The vehicle backs up, and not long after the garage door descends down to the ground noisily. He finds himself cemented at the backdoor, and if it's possible he would have stayed that way the whole night. However, when he remembers the little boy waiting for him to come back in, he obliges to the call of his task for the night.

He finds Timmy staring at him blankly. After locking the back door, he can't help but shoot a look at the clock on the microwave. 7:54 PM, approximately five hours before he's released from duty. He smiles at Timmy after decisively clapping his hands together. "So," he says rather awkwardly. "Bed time."

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