December 1999

Abby Sciuto becomes NCIS's newest forensic scientist at the beginning of a snowy December in the year 1999. The first few weeks of work are a bit quiet; only a few cases, pretty open and shut. She's struck by the gruff behavior of one Special Agent Gibbs, recently returned from field work overseas; she's been warned about him, and she thinks sometimes he doesn't take her seriously as a scientist because of the way she looks, but then, she's used to that reaction. She doesn't appreciate his constant impatient demands all that much, though.

Two days before Christmas, they are handed the case from hell, and Abby barely gets any sleep until Boxing Day. Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs is struck by the fact that she's the only person in the building involved in the case who doesn't blow up at him over being forced to work straight through Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. He's noticed – even made a casually annoyed remark – about her holiday cheer. She's decorated the lab and probably would have gone for the squadroom had Gibbs not shot her a trademark glare; she seems to be one of those people who genuinely likes Christmas. But somehow he gets the feeling that Miss Sciuto doesn't have anywhere else to be but at NCIS, and this puzzles him.

Gibbs doesn't like puzzles, but before he can dwell on it, she finds the trail that leads them to the bad guy and it slips his mind. When she's yawning, waiting for the mass spectramajig to process a last piece of evidence on Christmas night (just to make sure the whole thing's tied up for court, which he already told her could be done after she got some sleep), he brings her the first of many Caf-Pow!s. She doesn't say thank you, just gives him a grateful, unassuming quirk of her lips.

Before she leaves that night, she stops by his desk to wish him a Merry Christmas, and Gibbs looks up at her, hiding his surprise. He returns the sentiment with rather lukewarm enthusiasm; he hasn't been a Christmas person for eight years, not since he lost his family, but no one knows this yet. They just assume he's a Scrooge and leave it at that. She lingers for a moment as if she wants to say something else, as if she just doesn't want to leave yet, but before he can stop her she seems to think the better of it and heads in the direction of the elevator.

It isn't until he comes in the next morning that he sees the tiny present sitting on the edge of his desk.