Summer of Extremes

A/N: Set after Gibbs kills Dearing and comes home... where someone is waiting.

Chapter 6 – Coming Home

Later that night, Abby curled up on Gibbs' couch in his darkened house, her arms wrapped round a cushion as she sat, staring off into space. She hadn't bothered turning the main lights on, just the lamp on the side table, finding comfort in the dim light of his familiar living room.

She'd been unable to settle to anything.

Tried reading and given it up. And despite the tiredness she felt, she couldn't sleep. Pacing didn't work either. Nor did watching TV.

She'd come straight here from the Navy Yard when she was finally too tired to concentrate on work and at risk of making a mistake. Too restless to go back to her apartment, she'd come here to wait for Gibbs... to this place that felt like home as much as the man in it.

At least she knew now it was over.

Dearing was dead... really, finally, completely, utterly and totally dead this time.

Gibbs had rung shortly before she left work to put her mind at rest. That act alone warmed her as much as the tremendous relief that Gibbs was okay.

Maybe now they could concentrate on them and on getting back to normal at work, whenever the repairs would be complete, and on helping Ducky recover from his heart attack.

It had been just over a month since she and Gibbs had become lovers and it had been going well, or so Abby had hoped. She was certainly happier than she could ever remember this early on in a relationship, which made the continuation of her nightmares a source of frustration for them both.

She seemed to sleep well enough when they were together in the same bed, with only the occasional disturbed night's sleep. It seemed to be only when she went back to her own apartment or pulled an all-nighter at work, that she had a nightmare; his presence seemed to keep them at bay most of the time.

And lately, there had been the added tension which neither could ignore, knowing that Dearing wasn't dead. It meant that they'd never really been able to relax fully in the past couple of weeks... Dearing hovering over everything like some dark cloud that wouldn't blow away.

Pulled from her thoughts, Abby heard the front door open and blinked as the hallway light came on, waiting until Gibbs appeared in the living room doorway. Her car was outside so Gibbs didn't look surprised when he spied her huddled on his couch.

Abby swung her legs to the floor, leaning her elbows on her knees and scrubbing her hands over her face before pushing herself to her feet. "So... it's done, really done."

Gibbs sighed. "It's done."

She walked slowly towards him, looking him over carefully, taking in his strained face and the slight slump to his shoulders as if the effort of holding himself Marine straight was too much now he was home. Her eyes ran down his figure, snagging on his arm and she darted forward to grab his hand, turning the sleeve to the light.

"It's not mine."

"So I see... blood spatter. Are you hurt?"

Her mind automatically supplied the answer to the way the sleeve was patterned with blood, even while her emotions registered how close Gibbs must have been to Dearing to even get blood on his sleeve in that way.

"I'm fine." His eyes in turn were taking their own inventory, trying to work out her mood and if she was still pissed at him.

A subdued Abby was a hard one to read... and an Abby after an argument was a bit of an unknown quantity too.

They'd had plenty of fights and arguments as friends.

This was their first one as lovers.

She was even paler than usual and she still had dark smudges under her eyes, and it worried him she wouldn't meet his gaze for more than a fleeting second.

"Well, I'll wait till I see if you're fine with my own eyes. Have you eaten?"

Gibbs shook his head in reply, feeling awkward, wanting to reach out and hold her but not sure if she'd welcome it. "You?"

Abby shrugged. "Not yet... was waiting for you. I'll heat something up for both of us."

Gibbs nodded. "Thanks. Gonna take a shower."

Gibbs turned away when she nodded and he headed for the stairs, glancing back over his shoulder to see Abby watching him, but he couldn't decipher her expression.

This tentativeness was not them... as if they were weighing the other up; tiptoeing round each other, both not wanting to say the wrong thing and make it worse, which he was very good at doing, especially when he was so tired.

When Gibbs returned from the shower, he found Abby in the kitchen, heating up soup. The situation was eerily like their first night as lovers but this time the atmosphere was totally different... edgy, wary, awkward, uncertain.

Gibbs stepped up beside her but before he could say a word, Abby turned and wrapped her arms round him tightly, pressing her face into his neck, exhaling on a shuddering breath. "Oh, Gibbs."

Feeling a surge of relief, his arms slid round her back, almost crushing her to him but Abby only clung onto him more fiercely. Gibbs turned his head to bury his nose in her hair, letting her familiar scent wash over him.

It had been a long time since there'd been someone in his life that he wanted to turn to like this; who he trusted enough to lean on when times were rough.

Once he'd made the phone call to Director Vance with the news about Dearing, it had been a natural instinct to call Abby. He knew how worried she was and hoped it would set her mind at rest, and maybe show that he didn't take their relationship lightly.

All the way back in his new truck, all he could think about was how much he wanted to see Abby, to hold her but not entirely confident of his welcome.

They stood quietly together for long moments, absorbed in each other's presence, until Abby drew back, her green eyes glittering with unshed tears. She cupped his face, brushing a soft kiss over his mouth.

"I'm sorry I gave you a hard time, Gibbs... and don't tell me not to apologize coz I feel I need to."

"No, you don't. I understand, Abbs. Didn't wanna cause you any pain." He nudged her nose playfully, trying to take down the emotional temperature. "You weren't the only one pissed at me."

She huffed a soft laugh. "Yeah, I had Ziva wearing a groove in my lab floor earlier and it was very impressive the number of words she managed to come up with that still meant stubborn."

Gibbs chuckled softly, remembering Ziva's forthright opinion of his plan earlier in the day in the bullpen.

"McGee's been doing that quietly worried thing he does so well while hammering his keyboard through the desk, and Tony's been swinging between being way too quiet and biting everyone's heads off all day, along with popping into the lab to see how I am."

"And how were you?" He stroked her hair off her forehead.

She shrugged. "I coped..." She neglected to mention how she'd spent the day trying to bury herself in work and not freak out, with only varying success. She leaned her forehead against his. "So I'd say we'll all be glad it's over. D'ya wanna eat now... or after a stint in your man cave?"

In answer, Gibbs kissed her lightly before moving to get the bowls out of the cupboard and spoons from the drawer and set the table.

She watched Gibbs for a moment, feeling something settle back into place inside her at the sight of him. "Food it is then."

They ate in near silence but it was a more comfortable one than before. When they were done, Abby offered to clean up, pressing a kiss to his hair as she stood. "Go... I know you need time."

Gibbs snagged her arm as she turned away, examining her eyes. "You staying tonight?"

"D'you want me to?" she asked uncertainly.

Gibbs nodded, sliding his hand down to tangle their fingers together, squeezing gently. "Stay."

She smiled slightly before leaning down to kiss him on the mouth. "Don't wanna be anywhere else."

After an hour in his basement, Gibbs felt calmer, more settled... both over the events of the day and the hope that his new relationship with Abby hadn't been damaged too badly.

Finally being face to face with the man who'd caused so much death and misery had both troubled and relieved him. Mixed in with the relief that here was a chance for it to finally be over had been feelings of uneasiness, especially when Dearing tried to find common ground between them.

It didn't help that he'd partly made the connection himself to Vance, in trying to convince the Director to let him go alone when he'd argued that he'd known where Dearing would be because that's where he would go, back to the house where the important memories were.

It's what he'd done for the past twenty years.

He vividly remembered curling his hands into fists to stop reaching for Dearing when the man had tried to make the comparison with his own feelings for Kelly's home. The casual way the man had thrown his daughter's name at him had made his blood boil, as if their situations were the same... as if Dearing was seeking some sort of understanding and acceptance on Gibbs' part.

There may have been similarities in losing their children too soon but the way they'd each dealt with their loss was vastly different. Gibbs hadn't killed innocent men and women in his revenge... even if innocent people had suffered in other ways since the day he'd shot Hernandez.

For Dearing to imply that their loss somehow made them kindred spirits had sickened and angered him.

For it now to be over... really over... removed this cloud that had taken over their lives. They could now get on with the future... one he was determined involved Abby in every way.

Abby had gone up to bed while Gibbs was down in the basement, but hadn't been able to sleep, merely dozing and turning restlessly.

The bed was too big and too empty without him and anyway, she was still getting used to sleeping in this bedroom... Shannon's room. Since that first night as lovers in her apartment, the next time they spent the night together, it had been at his house and he'd taken her hand and led her in here and not to the guestroom.

It had both made her nervous and thrilled her.

Tonight, it wasn't until much later that the door opened and his large frame appeared in the doorway. She watched through half closed eyes as Gibbs undressed and as soon as he slipped under the covers, he scooted nearer and curled round her without hesitation.

She rolled towards him, sliding her arms round his back, running her hands over the warm skin, wanting to feel every inch of him... to remind herself he was in one piece.

He was here... home and everything was right in her world again.

"You okay?"

Gibbs brushed his thumb gently across her lower lip, murmuring her name as he stared down at her. "Need you."

Shivering under the intensity of his gaze, Abby drew his head down into a slow kiss which he soon deepened, trying to pour everything he felt into it. She opened to him readily, a mewling whimper escaping her throat as she pulled him closer.

They had to break the kiss as Gibbs pulled her T-shirt off, hands smoothing down her body before rolling on top of her, savouring the feel of her skin. He kissed his way slowly down her body, paying attention to those spots he'd learned drew the most response until she was writhing beneath him. Abby undulated her hips as his mouth teased her moist heat and her back arched as she grabbed for the headboard with one hand, threading her fingers through his hair with her other hand.

Abby was rarely quiet in bed but there was an extra desperation to the sounds she was making tonight, and his body responded until he was achingly hard.

When Abby was gasping his name over and over and he could feel by the tensing of her muscles and urgent edge to her movements that she was close, Gibbs eased back, grinning against her skin and nipping her thigh as she cursed him.

Her hands reached down to grip his shoulders and she almost hauled him up her body and into a fierce kiss, her hands roaming over as much of him as she could reach as she tasted herself on his tongue. She needed her hands and mouth on him... needed to revisit every gorgeous inch, to remind herself what she nearly lost.

Abby rolled them over, reaching between them to take his hard length into her hand, rubbing her thumb over the weeping tip, feeling him buck into her touch. He pulled her down into another kiss, cupping her head in his large hands and growling into her mouth when she teased him with her fingers, stroking him leisurely.

Gibbs flipped them over again and settled between her legs, running a lazy hand gently over her hip before nudging slowly inside, sinking all the way in one long deep thrust.

Abby groaned, wrapping herself around him as much as she could, relishing his weight pinning her down, the heat of his skin, the overwhelming feel of him surrounding her. Her fingers ran down his back, scraping lightly with her nails and drawing another growl from his throat.

Weight braced on his forearms, hands tangled in her hair, Gibbs watched as a whole range of emotions chased across her expressive face. Beginning to move slowly and deeply, he felt her arms clutching him tightly, her cries becoming louder. She skimmed her fingers down to his ass, feeling the rhythm and strength of his thrusts through the muscles under her hands.

Her head arched back into the pillow, exposing the smooth column of her neck and he kissed and licked over the creamy skin. Her legs rose higher to wrap round his back and they both groaned as the altered angle plunged him deeper. He felt himself coming undone by the wave of rising warmth, the feel of her skin, the way she clenched around him, the noises she was making.

This was about them and no one else.

It was reaffirming their connection, strengthening their bond... an apology and a celebration he was alive all wrapped up into one.

His entire body tingled as the sensations surged through him... the slowness not quite enough to send them over, but enough to drive them both to the brink and keeping them hovering there.

Gibbs raised his head to watch her unravel as she began to tremble beneath him. Her gaze locked with his and his heart squeezed in his chest at the love and devotion he could see so clearly in her eyes.

When Abby finally cried out, he let her release begin to pull him the rest of the way as he changed the pace, plunging faster... harder... deeper... lost in a haze of raw sensation. With a low groan of her name,, he buried his head in her neck as he felt his climax rip through him. It was prolonged and intense and left him trembling as they clung together.

The room was filled with gasping breaths as they lay there still joined, heartbeats gradually slowing...

... aware only of each other.

TBC... in Fall of Recovery, which will cover tags / missing scenes from episode 2 to the end of episode 8. It might be a while as I'm still writing them!