Fic: Molecular Romance for Danicawebb (Tony/Abby, Teen)

[justhuman.livejournal.com]

Title: Molecular Romance
Author: justhuman
Written for: dannicawebb
Prompt: Tony/Abby just starting to date/get into a relationship, can be humorous, angsty, you pick. Any rating.
Archive: Ask
Genre: het
Pairings: Abby/Tony
Rating: Teen
Disclaimer: If I owned NCIS, there'd be a lot more boy kissing going on. No infringement intended.
Word Count: 5884
Summary: Abby and Tony begin a new project and find some common ground they didn't know existed.
A/N: Many thanks to janedavitt for the last minute beta and putting up with my weird punctuation, whether it was due to typing with a bandaged finger or just me being me.



There was no iPod in his ears, but there was rhythm in his step as Tony cruised into Abby's lab. "Abs!"

"Tony!" she said with a smile.

When she reached to give him a hug, Tony took her hands and twirled her first, then pulled her in for a couple of dance steps. He danced her until her back was against the lab bench, then inclining his face towards hers. He said, "That was a fantastic dinner party you took me to last night."

Abby slid her arms loosely around his neck. "Wasn't it! Last night I went to bed dreaming about crispy duck skin."

"Good lord, the duck! Would you think less of me if I said that I enjoyed it paired with the arugula in the blood orange vinaigrette?"

Quietly, Abby said, "Tony, the fact that you occasionally eat salad - that will be our secret."

"Fantastic! Now let's get to the important question - how do we get invited back to Supper Club de Roadrash?"

"Well as you know, I was given a "Go to Dinner" pass last night for Roadrash's monthly supper club."

Tony squinted. "Could you explain that one a little more?"

"Basically the members of Roadrash's Supper Club come every month. Roadrash is particular about setting the table with all the correct spoons and forks, so having a harmonious balance of guests around the table was important. Our "Go to Dinner" status was because Junebug and Nancy had to go to their son's concert, so -

"So they needed guests to fill their seats. Wait, there's a biker guy that usually shows up and is called Junebug?"

"Don't be silly, Junebug is a biker chick. I've been her date to the supper club before when Nancy had to work late."

"Hold on, half of the lesbian couple with kids asked you out on a dinner date?" Tony asked, wiggling his eyebrows.

Abby smacked him on the arm. "No - well, okay technically yes, but not everyone who goes is a couple. You just need a partner in crime, or should I say cooking."

"So we're done because there are no more seats?" Tony asked.

"Au contraire! It turns out that two of the members, Nitro and Psyche, just moved out of town -"

"Wait, gay guys?"

"Nitro and Psyche? No."

"More lesbians?" Tony asked.

"No again," Abby said.

"Ah, Nitro is a boy-"

"Oh, third time you're out, DiNozzo. Psyche is a very nice motorcycle riding tarot card reading guy and Nitro, well, Nitro can be nice if you haven't put fingerprints on her bike."

"Gotcha. Then who took their place at dinner last night?"

"As a trained NCIS agent, you can guess this one."

Tony frowned and thought a moment. It had been a table full of bikers and him. Technically, they were all former bikers or hobby bikers. Like Abby, they had spent some part of their lives on the road, but all had settled down into more lucrative careers. Roadrash was a beltway bandit with a mansion in the suburbs.

Part of the conversation around the table had been about summer rallies that they'd ridden in. Even though they had come from different backgrounds than Tony, this group of bikers was from the patriotic end of the spectrum instead of the anarchist. In the end, it was like meeting up with any other group of people who earned their living on the Federal government. Even though Tony had found some common ground and enjoyed himself, he was the one that stood out most as the outsider as far as company went.

Last night hadn't been as much about the company, though, but about the food. Then it all hit Tony. "It was the vegetarian couple!"

"Exactly! Although Momma Stace is a devoted carnivore; she just brought the wrong date for this kind of party. But that wasn't what sunk her. It was the wine."

"Their wine was okay," Tony said with a shrug.

"But it's the price of a "Go to Dinner" ticket. Go to dinner. Go directly to dinner. Do not cook. Do not collect $200, but feel to spend that much on wine."

"Ah!" Tony nodded and filed the detail away. Abby had been insistent about stopping at a real wine shop and getting the store manager to consult. They hadn't spent $200, but they'd spent more than Tony had expected to.

"As a result of our successful choices in vino, we have be been given the opportunity to take Nitro and Psyche's seats." Abby pulled her arms in close to her head, balling her fists and then sending them into the air with a big smile.

Tony always found that smile irresistible and smiled back. "They asked us to become regulars? You said, yes!"

"I said, yes! Now all we have to do is figure out what to make."

"Yes!" Tony mirrored Abby's raised arms and then squinted at her. "Make? Why can't we bring wine?"

"You need a "Go to Dinner" card to do that. Every month, someone has to bow out so the non-regulars get the pass and bring the wine. The regulars make the food, and on rare occasion when everyone shows up, Roadrash opens up his cellar."

"All that fabulous food was made by the attendees? You know, Abby, I can boil a mean pot of pasta, but my skills don't go much beyond that," Tony said warily.

"Look, it's once a month and we'll only be responsible for one dish. They do cocktails, appetizers, main course, and desserts. Everyone swaps off and brings one of them. We've got a week to choose a course for next month."

"Abby, I think you're overestimating-"

"Tony, I asked you to go with me because nobody loves food like you do. And when you cook it, your passion shows in every bite. Frankly, I never figured out why you bothered picking up women in bars. You should open up a food truck and feed hotties off the street."

"I didn't know you loved my food that much." Tony stood a little taller and straightened his tie.

"I do, and you could get women to fall over left and right for that food. They would completely overlook the lingering, skeevy, fratboy-tendencies you have."

"Thank- What!"

"Tony, do this with me, please! I can throw together some food, but I can't cook. I will be your loyal assistant, and I can bring other things to the table like pH meters and digital scales."

Tony blinked.

Before he could say anything, Abby jumped back in. "Tony, Roadrash would host this event at Café Atlantico's Minibar every month if they had more than six seats."

"And it didn't cost $120 a person? And if you could actually get reservations?"

"Tony!" Abby shouted and then wiggled her shoulders a bit. "Okay, that's all true too. But that's what I'm saying. Everyone brings something that they could serve at Café Atlantico- the main restaurant. I want us to, dare I say it, kick it up a notch. I want us to bring something that they could serve at the very special restaurant within a restaurant, Minibar."

"Minibar is molecular gastronomy! They cook with liquid nitrogen and, and chemistry stuff. It's food that's made in a lab, but tastes great, despite that. When you say things like appetizer, I think chips," Tony said, starting to panic.

"Okay, first off, I will accept the popular usage of the term molecular gastronomy, but I have to point out that it is completely inaccurate - total misnomer. The second part you got right."

"Chips?" Tony asked hopefully.

"No." Abby took his hand and turned him all the way around so they had a 360-degree view of the room. "This is a lab; I do lab. I will be in charge of the chemistry. You're responsible for taste; you've made me some great food." Abby ran her palms over Tony's shoulders and gave them a squeeze. "Think about it. We'll get to spend an entire month indulging our taste buds to find just the right dish."

How was he supposed to resist Abby when she had that much faith in him? "We could eat out, looking for inspiration. Movies, I know just the movies. Okay, you win; I'm game."

"Yes!" Abby lifted both arms in the air, and did a turn, then jumped into Tony's arms. He wasn't exactly expecting it, but it was Abby, so he wasn't exactly not expecting it.

*** Appetizers ***

Abby was gloved and wearing her lab coat. "Okay, I think we're ready to begin. No, wait! We should go over the equipment list.

Tony was dressed in a set of OSU sweats, frowning between Abby and his kitchen counter. "Are you sure you need the safety glasses?"

Abby gave him a passing look and frowned back. "Overkill?"

"My kitchen hasn't attacked anyone yet. Well, unless you count that time I tried cooking live crabs."

Abby nodded and took off the glasses and her lab coat, revealing a 1950s style apron with red and black stripes.

"Look at Betty Crocker of the Goth world. I like the skulls on the ruffles. You know, it reminds me of your bowling gear."

She did a little twirl, shaking the ruffles. "I got it at the same shop. Well, it's not really a shop, just a friend's garage where she sews for profit. Speaking of bowling, Sister Rosita wanted me to let you know that she's praying for you, and you should come to more of our bowling nights. That coaching you did for Sister Michael-Ann put thirty points on her score."

"That was back when I was recovering from the plague, and you were nursing me back to health."

"I wasn't nursing you, just being a friend. Anyway, the God-squad likes you."

"They're trying to convince me to be a nice Catholic boy again."

"Well, duh, it's their thing. But look at me - I'm not exactly their version of a model nice Catholic girl."

Tony thought about how Abby wasn't the stereotype of any kind of girl. It was true that he had a good time hanging out with her bowling team - they were so not the nuns of his grammar school nightmares. Abby had been over every night but bowling night during his recuperation, and she didn't like the idea of leaving him alone for that either, so Tony had gone along.

"What the hel- heck! I like Sister Rosita and the girls; I could coach them. Also, the bowling ally has surprisingly good fries."

"Coolness," Abby said with a smile.

"Okay, so where do we start?"

"You make a Mojito."

"Always good to start with alcohol," Tony said.

"I'm going to weigh out the sodium alginate."

"Abby, not that I'm fussy about food additives, but I tend to prefer them on an unpronounceable list on the outside of a package."

"It's from seaweed."

"Seaweed, hmm." Tony frowned.

"Tony, you eat sushi, and I've personally watched you bogart all the seaweed salad."

"Mmm, seaweed salad. Can we make something with sesame in it? Maybe a high-end sesame noodle."

"Tony!" Her tone sounded harsh, but then she had him in a brief bear hug. "This is why I recruited you. Leaping from seaweed to sesame noodles, brilliant."

With a smile Tony went back to the mixology. "That's just how I roll." He decided to hold back the info that the way he rolled was to try and combine everything he liked with pasta or noodles.

Abby whizzed some white powder into some water with a stick blender as Tony combined his own ingredients in a more standard blender.

"Okay," Abby said.

"Okay," Tony replied and handed her the blender.

"Oh, that's a lot of Mojito. We only need 200 grams." While she spoke, Abby measured some of the cocktail into a mixing jar, leaving most of it behind. "Yeah, a little more than we need."

Tony flipped over a couple of glasses and added some ice. "No problem, I've got a plan for that."

Abby whizzed a different powder into the Mojito. Tony thought better about asking about it.

"There," she said. "Ideally, we'd get rid of all the bubbles by drawing a vacuum over it or letting it settle in the refrigerator overnight. But that's mostly about appearance."

Tony passed her a glass and said, "Can I try first?"

Abby took a sip and sighed with pleasure. "Go ahead."

Tony picked up a round measuring spoon and scooped up some Mojito mixture. "So this just goes in the seaweed water, like we saw on the Youtube vids?"

"Algin bath, yeah. Then it sits for about two minutes and then into the fresh water for a rinse." Abby pointed at the containers.

Trying to repeat what he had seen online, Tony slowly poured the Mojito into the clear solution.

Abby was hovering, but not touching, and then she was clapping. "Look, it's holding together. You just have to try and pull in the rough edges - like you're doing."

"It's like poaching an egg." Tony was using the spoon to coax the feathery bits of liquid into the main ball and prevent it from reaching the bottom. Finally he had a round ball about the size of an egg yolk floating in the liquid. "There!"

"You poach eggs?" Abby demanded.

"And toast English muffins and fry Canadian bacon. I completely cheat with the hollandaise and use a mix and the blender. You should have let me make breakfast for you, when you were spending all those nights here."

"I was trying to make you feel better, remember. Now that you're better, you're on brunch duty for now on. Okay, make another Mojito ball, because you're not trying that one alone."

Tony scooped more Mojito and added a second sphere to the same bath as the first while Abby set a timer for two minutes.

"Done! Now we just have to wait two minutes," Tony said and then picked up his glass and clinked it against Abby's. They sipped their drinks for two minutes in silence until the alarm went off.

Tony gestured at the works.

Abby took a small slotted spoon and gently scooped the balls into the bowl of clean water. "Yes, yes, they didn't break! It worked!"

"Looks like it, unless they're gummy bears."

"That shouldn't happen with reverse spherification."

"Oh yeah," Tony laughed, "I totally understood that - not."

"Tony, you've been watching all the videos with me. This is reverse spherification. If we had swapped the powders, we would have been doing standard spherification. The biggest difference is that when you dropped the balls in the bath, the alginate reacted with the calcium and stopped."

"Stopped," Tony repeated.

"Stopped. If we had done it the other way, it would have become-"

"A Jell-o shot," Tony said.

Abby frowned. "Yeah."

"I don't know about you, but I'm getting some ideas for Halloween and stakeout snacks," Tony said.

She moved the balls to Asian style soupspoons and handed one to Tony. "Wow, that's pretty. I love the green of the drink against the blue and white scrollwork on the spoon."

"Wait! We should probably do a palate cleanser."

"Do you have some lemon sorbet in the freezer?" Abby asked doubtfully.

He handed her a corn chip. "This should be good enough to erase the flavor of the drinking we've been doing. Then we'll be able to taste any weirdness in the flavor." Tony crunched.

Abby bit her chip, and then they both counted to three using their spoons, finally placing their Mojito spheres in their mouths. Tony threw back his head as the bubble burst against the top of his mouth and flooded his tongue with the rum and mint goodness of the Mojito. Abby was dancing in a circle, waving her hands and smiling with her mouth closed. They did a high five.

"Score!" Tony said. "We can do this with anything liquid?"

"More or less. We may have to add some citric acid to adjust the pH or some xanthan gum to thicken things."

Tony nodded and pointed at the Mojito mix. "I remember them being creamier that time we had them in Minibar. The Xanadu stuff can do that?"

"Xanth- Never mind. Yes. When it's thicker, we can use a syringe instead of a spoon. We can make it in drops like salmon roe or if it's thick enough, we can make noodles.

"Noodles? I'm good with noodles. I'm thinking about peanut noodles with vanilla ice cream and chocolate sauce. Oh!" Tony opened the refrigerator and pulled out some celery. He took a knife, sliced off the root end, and sifted through the stalks until he had a smaller one from the center. "Abby, I'd like you to imagine this celery filled not with cheese, but with Bloody Mary caviar."

"I'm imagining." Abby nodded vigorously. "Pour us the rest of those Mojitos so we can get to work on the Bloody Mary's!"

* Three hours later *

Abby leaned against Tony, who in turn leaned against a wall. "Maybe we should have saved the margaritas for another night," he said.

"It was an awesome idea to serve them on corn chips," Abby said.

"I liked your idea. We need to look for the scooping chips that are like little bowls."

"I'm pretty sure I can't drive home."

"I'm really sure you can't drive home," Tony agreed. "Sleep here. I can take the couch."

"Don't be silly. I snuggled with you when you were recovering from the plague. We'll both fit in the bed."

With a shrug, Tony took her hand and they wobbled together into his bedroom. "I make it a policy not to deny hot women that want to spend time in my bed.

***

The next day at work, Tony was pretending to be researching a case on his computer, but in reality he was thinking of the night before. When he had come home from the hospital after the plague, Abby had spent a lot of nights in his bed. Abby had spent a lot of time with him, period.

He didn't like to think about how weak he had been when he came home from the hospital. For the first week or two, it wasn't just nice to have an afternoon nap; it was necessary. A trip to the grocery store was something that needed to be short. It also usually meant takeout for dinner, because he was too tired to cook. Everyone swung by once or twice, but Abby had come almost every day for an hour or the entire evening.

Sleeping with him had been her idea; she wanted to make sure he stayed warm. It wasn't really necessary, but it was damn nice. Someone who cared about him was willing to snuggle up and make him feel better.

When Abby had snuggled up after their night of wild spherification, he had a hard-on. That kind of reaction was to be expected, especially since Abby had been practically lying on top of him. But it was Abby and that should have been wrong.

"So, Tony, I hear you and Abby got a little crazy last night," Ziva said as she sat at her desk.

"Crazy? There was no crazy!" Oh no, that didn't sound defensive at all.

"I'm sure Ziva's referring to your crazy science and cooking," Tim said.

"Oh," Tony said. "Of course she was."

"Although from what I hear you didn't get past weird cocktails." Tim turned towards Ziva. "Abby and Tony have been researching molecular gastronomy for two weeks."

"They weren't weird flavors; they were weird textures. Also you should know that molecular gastronomy is a complete misnomer," Tony said. He didn't know why exactly but Abby insisted it was.

"It sounds like too much work to me. You couldn't have simply drunk the alcohol instead of putting it on spoons? " Ziva asked.

"But-" Tony started to explain.

"But nothing. We have a dead Marine. Gas the truck." Gibbs said as he tossed Tony the keys.

***

Tony juggled a box between his body and the wall. He unlocked his front door and pushed it open for Abby, who was carrying a box.

"Why don't I wear shoes that I can just kick off?" Abby complained.

With a smile, Tony adjusted his own box and followed her in. "I don't know about you, but I think tonight was worth a little sore feet."

"It totally was. Did you see Roadrash's face when we presented our appetizer?"

Tony put his box on the floor and took the box from Abby, depositing it next to his. "I watched all of them. Dragstrip was looking a little condescendingly at his garnish."

With a grimace, Abby waved her hand. "That's just Dragstrip. You hand the man a perfect oyster covered with spherified, Bloody Mary caviar and he's looking at the shaved pieces of celery. Tony, that dish was brilliant."

"I thought so when I decided to steal it from the internet."

"Don't wave it off like that," Abby said. "Bloody Mary Oyster shooters are a classic. Of course the greats of scientific cooking spun it into the form of the dish we presented. But we made over a dozen test batches of that drink before we hit a fantastic recipe. We made it fantastic."

"We're a good team, and I'm looking forward to next month's food obsession."

"You are?"

Tony nodded.

"You are!" Abby bounced, winced, and glared at her feet. "Next time, let's pick something that doesn't have to be entirely prepped at the last minute. I didn't expect to be standing in these shoes for a long time."

"If you add in that it doesn't involve tomato juice and vodka, you're on. Come on, let me help you unlace those shoes."

"If you do, I won't be able to get them back on," Abby said.

"Oh sure," Tony said, feeling a little disappointed. "Between the food movies, nights in the test kitchen, bowling, more nights in the test kitchen, you're probably getting tired of hanging out with me."

"No, you're getting tired of me," Abby insisted. "I invited you out for dinner and took over your life."

Tony tried to add all that, but came up with the wrong answer. "No. I love having you around. I love sharing a hobby."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

"Oh, me too! Does that mean that I can spend the night, and we can get these damn shoes of me?"

"Hell, yes!" Tony walked her over to the couch and sat at her feet. "And if you like, we can be couch potatoes tomorrow and just order takeout. I just got one of the hard to find food movies in the mail."

"French movie?" Abby asked.

"Japanese noodle western," Tony said.

Abby clapped her hands lightly, but then fell into a full-body sigh as Tony pulled off the first shoe.

*** Main Course ***

"Tony, this is total food porn. I mean Babette's Feast was food porn -"

"There was nothing sexy about the Danish food made by religious zealots."

"Well no, but that was the point. It just made the French feast that much more decadent and illicit." Abby pointed at Tony's big screen TV. "But this is beyond food porn. This is porn with food," Abby said and snuggled in closer to eat more popcorn from the bowl Tony was holding.

"Tampopo, food porn with subtitles. Beyond the classics, like Godzilla, Godzilla vs. Mothra, I haven't delved much into Japanese film. I've got to say that I love how the vignettes are connected with the food theme, but manage to be their own stories. We have the main noodle western where Goro is trying to help Tampopo open a class-A noodle house against her inability to cook and the rival shops. Then there are the subplots of noodle slurping etiquette and how the junior exec shows up the boss in the French restaurant."

"Listen to you, with all the intellectual analysis. Let's jump to the gangster and his girlfriend, and what happens with the cream and the honey. I don't even know what to say about the live shrimp."

"No one knows what to say about the live shrimp, but even if it hits all your squick buttons -"

"It was sexy," Abby finished and shook her head.

"Hello! Did that woman just get off her death bed to cook her family dinner?" Tony asked.

"Oh my god, she did, and she died happy having fed her family. That one wasn't sexy, but it rips your heart out."

Abby leaned against Tony, and he didn't fight the urge to swing a protective arm around her back and rub her arm. His feelings for Abby were becoming like the shrimp scene. Okay, nothing was like the shrimp scene, but it was something that looked all wrong on the surface, but underneath felt good. Too bad he was never going to be able to tell her about it. A confession of feelings might put a dagger in their friendship and nothing was worth risking that.

"Come on, Tampopo, I know you can get the noodle broth right," Abby entreated the screen. She sat up and grabbed Tony's hand. "Gangster and the girlfriend again!"

"They look like they're getting dressed," Tony said, a bit disappointed.

"Who cracks an egg when they're getting dressed?" Abby asked.

"Maybe one of them has a hangover," Tony said. "You need a raw egg yolk for that."

"So she's got the hangover," Abby said. "Or maybe he's got the hangover since she just passed it to him with her mouth. Holy-"

It was another one of those surreal scenes where the movie managed to convey Sex with a capital "S," as the couple passed a raw egg yolk from boy to girl and back again. "She's practically on her toes," Tony said and then the egg burst in the girlfriend's mouth, running down her chin.

Abby grabbed the TV listings and fanned herself. "There's only one word for that, I suppose."

"Uh-huh," Tony said.

"The whole food and sex thing is something you don't run into every day."

Tony laughed. "Now look who's talking! Did you or did you not tend bar in New Orleans, Ms. Sciuto? Because I've seen Coyote Ugly and know all about hot women and belly shots!"

"I never-"

Tony gave her the fish-eye he used for lying suspects in interrogation.

"-professionally," Abby finished with a laugh of her own.

"I get first dibs on a belly shot with a spherified Mojito."

"Only if I get one too."

"All right, but you should know that even my belly button is hairy," Tony said.

"So is mine." Abby slid a hand under Tony's shirt and tried to tickle him.

"Hey now!" The popcorn bowl went over onto the floor as they struggled. Tony took a mild jab in the gut before he managed to capture both of Abby's hands. She threw her weight away from Tony who was moving in that direction to try and immobilize her. They rolled off the couch, landing in the popcorn. Trying to be a gentleman, Tony rolled to his back so he wouldn't pin her with all his weight. Abby seized the opportunity and straddled Tony's thighs as she raised her arms in victory,

With a light slap on Tony's thigh, Abby said, "You're still pretty solid, DiNozzo, for a guy who can't beat a woman half his size in a tickle fight."

The last time Abby had complimented him like that had been when Ari had them under fire in Abby's lab. Now Tony didn't have his gun and didn't have to worry about saving their lives. His instincts were completely different, and were somewhat expected, considering there was a beautiful woman more or less rubbing against his thighs. But this was Abby.

Before his body could get him into more serious trouble, Tony decided he should say something. What blurted out of his mouth wasn't planned. "I bet we could do the egg thing with a spherified drink."

"Oh, let's hit the kitchen!" She smacked him a little harder on the side of the thigh and got up, offering Tony a hand. "Hey, you're a little food porny yourself, on the floor, surrounded with a halo of popcorn."

"That's because I'm a sex god," Tony said as he accepted her hand and got to his feet. When she rolled her eyes, he smacked her bottom and ran for the kitchen.

"We've got leftover alcohol in many forms," Tony said as he opened the refrigerator.

"No Bloody Marys," Abby said.

"You don't have to say it twice," Tony agreed. "Hey, this red jar already has a few spheres in it."

"Oh, those are the cherry brandy balls in a cherry brandy bath for our attempt at a Shirley Temple."

"Shirley Temple Black - a Shirley Temple that's all grown up with a cherry made out of brandy," Tony said and scooped one out of the jar with a slotted spoon. "I bet you break it on the very first pass."

"Bring it on, DiNozzo!" Abby snapped and opened her mouth.

Tony gently placed the alcoholic sphere on her tongue. She held it for a second and then leaned over to Tony, who deliberately stood up. She grabbed him by the T-shirt and pulled him down until their mouths were even. Closing his eyes, Tony tried not to move as Abby's lip touched his and the sphere passed into his mouth. There was a faint trace of cherry from the bath that the sphere had been soaking in, but what he was fully aware of was Abby. This was a colossally bad idea, but it was a game he needed to keep playing so as not to reveal himself.

He showed her the sphere and then leaned down, touching lower lips and pivoted on that contact, so that their noses brushed as he rolled the cherry brandy into her mouth. The blood red ball peeking out from between the black color on her lips was doubly hot, because there was food porn and then there was vampire food porn.

Abby grabbed his T-shirt again, pulling him down at first and then moving her hands to his shoulders, pushing him to his knees. Their mouths were together again, and Tony concentrated on being careful as the sphere rolled into his mouth. Despite that a wash of cherry rolled over his tongue and his throat burned as he swallowed the brandy.

For a millisecond he thought he'd blown it, until he felt Abby's tongue move against his, tasting the brandy in his mouth. Tony almost called her a cheater, but instead he put his arms around Abby and pulled her to her knees. He pressed his body against hers and kissed her back.

Screw it if it was wrong, because to Tony it felt completely right. This wasn't like the very first month Tony was at NCIS. They weren't out on the town and drunk. They weren't bumping noses or arguing about whether or not a coffin was an appropriate sleeping/ more-than-sleeping device. She wasn't mocking him because of the lack of ink on his skin, and he wasn't labeling her as just plain weird.

They were Tony and Abby. They appreciated one another and knew what it took to be friends. Now Tony wanted to find out if they could be something more. Tony kissed her chin as their mouths parted.

"I think we should have sex," Tony said. "You know and still go bowling and cook. Maybe we should throw in a laundry night too sometimes, but right now I'm feeling really strongly about the sex."

"I think that's a fine idea except for a thing or two."

"Rule #12," Tony said, ready to fight her tooth and nail on Gibbs' rules.

"Screw Rule #12, DiNozzo. That's practically taking relationship advice from Gibbs. I hope I don't have to spell out how stupid that would be."

"Oh no. I got you on this-"

Abby kissed him again, and then slid back slightly. "I'd say that if we were going to risk everything that maybe we should date for a while. However, it seems that we like each other well enough to do the same thing every night with an occasional night out with friends and nuns. Not that the nuns aren't are friends-"

"Abs! I get you on the nuns!"

"If we do this, we're in a relationship," Abby said.

"We are in a relationship, and I'm going to treat you the only way I know how - like my best friend."

Abby squinted at him. "So no stupid bets on who says the "R"-word first or anything like that? No debates as to whether or not what we're doing constitutes dating?"

"All of that and I promise not to become a stalker."

"Hey!"

Tony ran his fingers down her cheek to soothe her. "I'm not the only one coming into this with some baggage."

Relaxing her frown, Abby leaned her cheek into Tony's hand. "And you can get away with saying crap like that because you are my best friend. We're going to do this, aren't we?"

"Even though we're scared shitless, yeah. I mean I'm that scared, and I'm thinking that you're-" Tony shrugged.

"Uh-huh," Abby nodded.

"Normally I'm not so fussy, but the kitchen floor has been through the wringer the last couple of weeks." They both looked down and frowned at each other.

"Maybe we could move to the couch!" They helped each other up and took a few steps towards the living room when Abby added, "We can be distracted as Tampopo and Goro ride off into the sunset of this noodle western."

"Uhm." Tony tried to smile over his panic.

"What? They don't ride off into the sunset?"

Tony cringed.

"What is he, an idiot?"

"He's like Shane or the nameless gunman! He rides into town and saves the girl from the desperados of the rival noodle restaurants. Then he rides on."

"I see," Abby said, looking none too happy. Then she grabbed him by the shirtfront and began pulling Tony away from the couch. "In that case, we should head to the bedroom, because you're a lot more like the town sheriff than the gunslinger."

"Technically, I'm more like a Federal Marshal, but since they still exist, I'm uncomfortable with the association."

"Technically, I'm going to be naked in a minute or two. Gonna do anything about it?"

Tony put on his best John Wayne accent. "Well, little lady, that seems like a mighty tall order. You should let me help you with that."

Abby stopped and turned to face Tony. He wondered if he'd crossed a line. Was impersonating John Wayne akin to bumping noses?

Then Abby slid her arms around his neck. "Well, very special federal lawman, as the local schoolmarm, I should warn you that if you come into my schoolhouse, you just might learn a thing or two." She wiggled her eyebrows.

Tony scooped her up and kicked the bedroom door open. "Just keep in mind, ma'am that I was never the best student. You may have to keep me after class to go over things again and again."

*end*

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