#tim mcgee imagine

[chiefdirector]

Human Shield | Tim McGee | NCIS

No 8 (alt 14): human shield

It happened so quickly, Tim didn’t have time to turn around let alone react or defend himself. He was so absorbed with tracking the lost Navy lieutenant that he hadn’t noticed that the M.T.A.C doors hadn’t fully shut, and he certainly didn’t notice the all too familiar face slip in behind him.

His training had taught him to be aware of his surroundings at all times, and yet he had failed. The most wanted man in the country was lying dead in front of him, bullets lodged in his chest, but more importantly, so was (Y/N).

The piercing sounds of firearms shooting had alerted him to invader but by then the bullets had been fired. It was clear from where his body fell that the perpetrator wanted Tim dead. Maybe he was getting close to busting his operation, or discovering something he wanted hidden; he would never know now.

He could also tell from the way that (Y/N)’s body fell that she had died protecting him. Her reflexes were sharp enough that she could dive in between Tim and the shooter, taking the shrapnel intended for him, whilst also firing her own shot. The observation of this took him a fraction of a second but the ramifications and the realisations of what she had done for him, what she had given up for him took days to set in.

Tim had loved her with all of his being. He didn't know that he could love like that. It was almost ethereal. In his eyes she lit thw sun and hung the stars in the sky. She was the reason that he had so much faith in the world; if she could find the good in something than maybe, just maybe, there would be good in the word for him any anybody else.

But despite how much he loved her, he knew that she would never go for a guy like him. She was pretty, and popular, and kind; girls like that never went for him. Tony, yes. Tim had long accepted that fact, he was happy to love her from a distance. He acknowledged her flirting as friendly and not recurred. Tony and Ziva often teased them about their relationship but Tim defended it as strictly platonic.

He wished he had told her how he felt. Watching her die for him broke his heart, there was nothing that he could do for her at that point. IT was a quick death, merciful even. It still ripped him apart inside. The salt in the wound was that now he could never tell her how he felt. She died thinking that he biggest admirer and the person that arguably loved her most thought of her as another face, another friend.

She would never know the love and companionship that Tim had to offer, and now Tim would never be able to give it to her either. He didnt know if he would ever feel love for anyone else as intensely as he did for her, but he didn't allow himself to ponder that for long. For now he would grieve, then he would move on.

Eventually.

Masterlist | Whumptober Masterlist

@ailesswhumptober @happygirl-0408

[writings-of-a-demigod]

Leaving the BAU was a tough decision for you to make but it was the one you’re sticking with. Sure, you miss everyone there but it was time to turn that page and start a new one. A one where you start working with Gibbs in NCIS. 

You worked with the NCIS team before on a case, after that you were still on contact with McGee texting back and forth. After a rough case you called him up and ask him if he could meet you for coffee. And that became a thing for you two, meeting for coffee or video call if you had time. After a while he asked you.

“Would you consider coming to work for NCIS?” 

You looked up at him, little surprised “What?”

“I said would you consider coming to work for NCIS?” He talked slowly. 

You hit his arm “Ow! What was that for?” 

“Don’t make fun of me.” You gave him a little smile and he smiled back.

“But seriously would you?” 

Stopping for a minute to think about this “Maybe?”

“You said that like you’re unsure.” He commented.

Huffing “Well damn Tim I never thought about this like ever.” 

“Maybe you should and if you made up your mind I’m sure Gibbs would like to have you on the team.” 

Since then you thought about the NCIS all the time and weighting your pros and cons in leaving the BAU. These people were your family but that doesn’t mean you will cut all ties with them, it will be a little difficult to see each other all the time sure but you will. 

You heard the elevator ding, you reached your floor. Walking into the bullpen “Good morning guys” you smiled giving everyone the coffee you made.

“Well looks like someone’s in a good mood today.” Tony commented with his sly smile. 

“Good morning Y/n” McGee replied “Oh and thank you” he raised his coffee to you in cheers motion. 

Before you got to ask about Gibbs whereabouts he came in with a serious expression on his face “We got a case.” 

While everyone grabbed their gear you saw Gibbs grabbing the coffee on his desk and drinking it. 

“This tastes good. Where did you get it from?” He looked for a logo. 

“Well thank you, it came from my home.” You smiled at him. 

And he smiled back while both of you walking to the elevator.

[theoceanandthestars]

Friendly Lies

A/N: This is my first post/story, I’ve written before on Wattpad but never committed to writing but I feel like this is something I can actually commit too. Let me know any NCIS requests and I’m hoping to open up my writing to other fandoms soon too. This is definitely a testament to my ability to yap. Apologies for any mistakes :)

Also, I know the timelines probably don’t match up in terms of Gibbs knowing Tobias etc and Tobias having another daughter, or maybe they do, I don’t know but I thought it was a fun idea so belief will just have to be suspended. ;)

NCIS y/n fanfic, slight y/n x tony dinozzo, tony dinozzo x reader

Word count: 1969

Summary: Fornell’s daughter, Gibbs' Goddaughter, is an FBI agent working a case with her father and Godfather and decides to help get her dad to leave McGee alone after he found him asleep on the sofa with his ex-wife (I loved that episode so much) at Tony’s expense.

____________________________________________

You’d only known Tim, Tony and Ziva for a few weeks but already you knew you’d be great friends. After only knowing them for 5 minutes the day you ended up sharing a case with both your father and godfather, you were making plans to hang out with them. Your godfather, or your Uncle Gibbs as you preferred to call him, was of course more than happy to see you and be working with you, although the protective dad act from the NCIS and FBI agents had driven you slightly insane. Although you loved the rare times when you and your father shared an FBI case, that time had made you nearly want to quit, which had driven you straight to Gibbs’ team, who were more than welcoming and friendly to you.

Now, you sat on Ziva’s desk, chatting to her and McGee while your father and godfather interrogated a suspect and Tony watched.

‘And that’s why your dad hates me’, concluded McGee after explaining to you what he described as the ‘incident’ between your dad and his ex-wife Diane.  Both you and Ziva had been laughing the entire time he told the story.

‘I’m sure he doesn’t hate you, Tim’, you smiled at him ‘he’s only mentioned it a few times.’

‘A few?’ Tim asked in horror, causing Ziva to snort in laughter. This topic had taken up a good 20 minutes and it had clearly been playing on his mind for a long time before that.

‘Look if you want me to talk to him I can’ you offered, trying to ease Tim’s obvious panic, but your offer only seemed to send McGee into a further state of pure anxiety.

‘No, absolutely not, that would only add to it.’ He spoke moving his chair slightly as it was currently situated next to Ziva’s desk where you were congregated. As Tim moved you gaze shifted to DiNozzo’s desk and an idea popped into your head.

‘McGee, I’m sure y/n’s right, Fornell can’t be holding on to a grudge for that long.’

‘He brings it up every time we see him!’ Tim insisted.

‘Hang on’ you quickly said jumping up from Ziva’s desk and captivating both agent’s attention, ‘I think I know how to get my dad to forget about you and Diane.’

‘First of all there was no me and Diane’ Tim quickly insisted, causing the pair of female agents to roll their eyes as they failed to hold in their laughs ‘But what’s the idea because I will do anything to make him stop bringing it up?’. Both agents’ gazes were fixed on you as you moved from Ziva’s desk to sit on Tonys.

‘Oh you wouldn’t have to do anything McGee, it would be all me’, you smirked as the two agents watched eagerly, ‘this isn’t entirely selfless though, remember when Tony told Gibbs and my dad that I’d been sleeping with an NCIS agent to try and piss them off? And it took me weeks to convince them he was just trying to mess with me and them?’, the two NCIS agents nodded, smirks growing on their faces as they pieced together what you were planning to do, ‘well I think it’s time I get Tony back for that, don’t you?’.

Just as you said this your father and Gibbs reappeared into the room and as they did, you got up from Tony’s desk and made a beeline for them, meeting them just in front of Gibbs’ desk.

‘Dad, Uncle Gibbs I need to talk to you’ you said, grabbing their attention in the most serious and anxious voice you could muster, grabbing one of their hands in each of yours, ‘I know this is really important and I want to be honest with you both’ you took a deep breath to highlight your nervousness. At this point you had captured your father’s and Godfather’s attention, squeezing their hands as you raised your eyes to meet theirs you finally said, ‘I’m pregnant.’

Now Ziva and Tim were clearly shocked and impressed by your lies, hiding their laughter surprisingly well and instead adorning looks of shock and intrigue. Your father and godfather on the other hand, with hands still held by yours, were looking at you with such pure shock your father had turned slightly white. Before they could even utter a word, you quickly continued, ‘and its Tony’s’.

At this revelation, McGee and Ziva quickly turned so that Gibbs and Fornell couldn’t see the laughter that was daring to burst out. The silence was quickly broken by a synchronised ‘WHAT?’ from the two men who held your hands. Their gazes had turned harsher, but you knew that if you wanted this to have the best effect you had to really milk it.

‘I know we haven’t known each other long’ you stated looking them both in the eyes, but were quickly interrupted by your father half shouting, ‘How did this happen?’, quickly followed by Gibbs’ ‘I’m sorry what?!’

Before you could think of an answer though everyone’s attention was diverted in the sound of a voice, Tony’s voice, ‘hey boss. Fornell.  You look like you’ve seen a ghost, what did y/n do? Tell you she’s pregnant? I told you she was sleeping with an NCIS agent.’, as he Tony laughed at his own joke, Tony sauntered towards his desk, but only for a second before Fornell was on him, pinning him to the wall. Tony’s face quickly shifted to panic and confusion, his eyes scanning the room.

‘You got my daughter pregnant!’, Fornell shouted.

‘What? No’ DiNozzo squeaked out as Gibbs removed Fornell from him, freeing him from the wall. You quickly shifted your eyes to where Tim and Ziva were still at Ziva’s desk, attempting to contain their laughter. You knew you didn’t have long before the two of them blew the prank, but you also knew that the damage would be done soon enough and you would have got Tony back and your dad would definitely forget about finding McGee and Diane on the sofa asleep together.

Suddenly Tony rushed over to you seeking some sort of explanation or help but before he could squeak out another word, you grabbed his arm hugging it slightly and turning the pair of you to face Gibbs and Tobias.

‘Me and Tony are in love, dad, you can’t stop our love’ but as you got to the end of your sentence McGee and Ziva had burst into full belly laughter, causing you too to crack and lean on Tony as you couldn’t stop laughing. As the three of you continued to laugh, Gibbs only rolled his eyes at your antics, shaking his head slightly and letting out a slight chuckle. He knew that DiNozzo had told Tobias that you were sleeping with someone at the agency to piss him off and he also knew that your dad had practically become a helicopter parent for a week after he had done so.

As Gibbs moved back towards his desk, you patted tony on the chest before calming yourself enough to say, ‘you should have seen your face’. Quickly, McGee walked behind you both to return to his desk, slapping Tony on the back as he continued to laugh at Tony’s expense. He stopped by your side quickly whispering to you how he was now free from any comments about Diane. Your gaze then shifted to your father who still stood in front of you both, surprisingly quite but glaring at you both.

‘Gotta keep you young dad.’ You smiled at him, kissing his check and moving back to Ziva’s desk, the pair of you still giggling and smiling. Your dad however, kept his gaze on Tony, glowering at him, as Tony seemed to continue to shrink under his glare, still looking stunned and scared. Finally his gaze shifted as Gibbs called him telling him to go down to autopsy to see Abby with him.

At first he didn’t move, continuing to stare, before finally moving when he heard his name shouted by Gibbs. ‘I still don’t trust you DiNozzo.’ Tobias said, finally moving towards Gibbs’ desk, his gaze remaining on Tony until they were out of site.

At this point you, McGee and Ziva all began to laugh again with the same force you did when your dad had pinned Tony to the wall.

‘I did not think you would take it that far’ commented Ziva, ‘I admire your commitment’. You smiled at her amongst the laughter but couldn’t respond as tony too moved towards Ziva’s desk, where McGee had now joined you and began to stare at you all.

‘Not funny guys, I thought I was going to die!’, Tony’s statement only caused more laughter though, as his hand reached his neck, fiddling with his shirt collar even though your father had only grabbed his shoulders. Finally you spoke through the laughter, ‘I told you I was going to get you back Tony and McGee needed by dad to lay off him about the whole thing with my ex stepmother, so really I was just helping a friend’ you smiled a sickly sweet smile at him before the phone at his desk began to ring causing Tony to quickly scurry over to his desk, grabbing the phone before answering.

‘Yes boss?’ he questioned into the phone, as you high fived Tim and Ziva, ‘right away boss’, followed by him quickly grabbing his things after he put down the phone. ‘Gibbs says Abby’s matched the ballistics from the gun, wants me and Y/N to bring in the suspect.’ He stated as he continued to gather his stuff. As you listened, you quickly grabbed your bag that was sat next to Gibbs’ desk, but before you could leave Gibbs and your father returned, arguing as they walked.

‘I’ll go with DiNozzo Gibbs’ your dad argued, his gaze landing on Tony, at which point Tony swallowed.

‘No you’re not’, Gibbs deadpanned.

‘Then, I’ll go with them both’ he stated as he moved towards the pair now standing together with their bags, but not before Gibbs grabbed his shoulder directing him towards the director’s office and repeating ‘No you’re not’.

As you and Tony turned and began to walk towards the elevator, he quickly began to argue with you. ‘You know your dad is going to kill me, right?’ he questioned as you pressed the elevator button, your gaze shifting to him.

‘No he won’t’ you dismissed, ‘but he won’t trust you for a while, just like how he’s been hovering over me for weeks after you told him I was secretly sleeping with someone at your office, or like how he constantly brings up that time he found Diane and McGee together asleep. I guess it’s just time for you to get a taste of what we’ve been putting up with for years now.’ You smirked as the elevator reached your floor and you stepped inside, turning slightly as you watched Tony’s face change from looking like he was about to argue, to just giving up.

‘You know’, he turned to look at you, smirking, fully grasping your attention, ‘if you were to sleep with anyone in this office, I’d be the perfect guy. You’ve already told your dad and although he’ll keep glaring at me and probably wanting to kill me, he’d never suspect that we were actually sleeping together.’ He said, waggling his eyebrows at you as you chuckled, and he reciprocated your laughter.

As the elevator doors, reopened on the ground floor, you turned away from Tony, shaking your head slightly and rolling your eyes , before simply stating, ‘In your dreams DiNozzo’ before walking out of the elevator, not missing Tony’s whispered reply, ‘oh you bet’, before he followed you out to find your suspect.

[allthingsfangirl101]

Interrupted – Timothy McGee

It all happened so fast. One minute we were securing the building, the next McGee and I were outrunning a bomb.

"Y/L/N!" McGee yelled. "Get down!"

I gasped when he grabbed me and pulled me to the ground, instantly covering me. We held our breaths as shrapnel and building parts showered around us.

"Thanks, McGee," I whispered.

"Anytime," he said gently. We stared at each other, none of us moving as things slowly calmed down around us.

"Y/L/N! McGee!" We heard the others call out to us. McGee looked down, his eyes widening when he realized he was still on top of me.

"Sorry," he stuttered.

"It's okay," I laughed awkwardly. He got off and pulled me to my feet. I took a step but gasped when pain shot up my leg. I would've collapsed if McGee hadn't caught me.

McGee wrapped his arms around me and walked me toward the others.

"There they are!" DiNozzo yelled. He and Gibbs ran toward us.

"Are you two hurt?" Gibbs asked.

"Y/N's hurt," McGee said. "I'm fine, but she can barely walk."

"There's an ambulance over there," Gibbs said as he took me from McGee. As he led me away, I looked over my shoulder to see McGee watching me.

I wasn't sure where McGee was as the EMTs checked my ankle. After they looked it over, they carefully helped me out of the back of the ambulance. I rounded the corner and stopped when McGee was walking over.

"Hey," McGee said.

"Hi," I smiled.

"How are you feeling?"

"Not bad," I shrugged. "It's just a sprain so I feel a little. . ."

I gasped when he was suddenly right in front of me. "Are you okay?" I whispered.

"I just. . . I was really scared. I thought. . . When that bomb went off, I didn't know if you were going to make it."

"Me?" I asked, my voice soft. "What about you? Weren't you worried something was going to happen to you?"

"I didn't care what happened to me," McGee shrugged. "I was more focused on making sure you were safe."

I grabbed his face and pressed my lips to his. McGee instantly wrapped his arms around my waist as he kissed me back. We let out small laughs as our kiss made us back up and hit the side of the ambulance.

"I'm sorry," I whispered.

"What for?" McGee smiled at me.

"I just. . . You. . . Kissing you."

My face burned as McGee tightened his arms around me and pulled me closer. "I didn't mind," he whispered.

"Well," I said slowly, "if you want to continue, we should probably go somewhere our coworkers aren't."

* * * * *

With his hand holding mine, McGee led me into his apartment. He closed the door and locked it behind us. When he turned toward me, the tension in the room thickened. We stared at each other and let out small laughs.

"Sorry," he chuckled. "This is. . ."

"Awkward," I finished for him. "Considering the fact that it's planned."

"It fits us," McGee joked. I stepped closer to him and wrapped my arms around his neck.

"It oddly does," I whispered. Suddenly, my smile fell.

"What's wrong?" He asked as he tightened his arms around my waist.

"Doesn't this complicate things?" I asked. "You and me? Besides, Gibbs has a rule about never dating a co-worker."

"I know," he sighed. "He thinks it'll distract us from cases."

"He might be right," I shrugged, slowly letting go of him. I walked over and sat on his couch. He sat next to me as I continued, "Most of the time, when we're on a dangerous case, I'm not focused on getting the suspect or protecting myself. I'm focused on you."

"If it makes you feel better," McGee said as he reached over and grabbed my hand, "I'm more focused on you when we're in a dangerous situation. And, it might help if we're actually together."

"No, it wouldn't," I chuckled. "I'd be even more worried about you. And if something went wrong, nothing would stop me from doing something extremely stupid to get to you."

McGee leaned over and gently pushed his lips to mine. I smiled as I wrapped my arms around his neck and deepened the kiss. Without breaking the kiss, McGee laid us down on the couch, hovering over me.

Things escalated as we got more comfortable on the couch. I reached down and slowly pulled his shirt off. He broke the kiss and pulled mine over my head. We laid back on the couch with smirks on our faces. I grabbed his face and brought his lips back to mine. We were just about to take off our pants when the last thing both of us wanted to happen, happened.

"Probie! Open up!"

"Shit," McGee gasped, breaking the kiss.

"Is that. . ."

"DiNozzo," he said, climbing off of me. He stood up but stopped. "I hate to ask you this, Y/N, but will you hide in my bedroom? Maybe the bathroom?"

"Weird place," I chuckled as I stood up and pulled my shirt back on.

"Do you really want Tony to find you? On my couch? Half-naked?" He asked as he slowly checked me out.

"Fair enough," I laughed. I grabbed his face and pulled him back toward me. I kissed him and he instantly started kissing me back. Things instantly started getting heavy.

"Stop playing your game, Elf Lord, and open the door!" Tony yelled from outside.

Tim let out an annoyed groan as he broke the kiss. I playfully kissed his nose before locking myself in his bathroom. From my hiding spot, I could hear Tim answering the door.

"You're alive!" Tony yelled.

"Yeah, I'm alive," McGee sighed. "What do you want, Tony?"

"I need your advice," Tony sighed. I could hear him walk in and it sounded like he was heading towards the couch.

"What kind of advice?" McGee asked.

"Dating."

"Since when do you come to me for dating advice?"

"Well," he sighed, "the woman I'm interested in doesn't like handsome, smart agents like me. She's more interested in nerdy, awkward agents like you."

"Wow," McGee sighed. "I don't know whether to be flattered or offended."

"How can I get Y/N to go out with me?"

"Me?" I mumbled under my breath.

"Wait," McGee stuttered, "Y/N's the girl you want to ask out?"

"Yeah," Tony said like it wasn't a big deal.

"Since when do you have feelings for Y/N?" McGee asked, still stuttering. "I thought you would never date a coworker."

"I know," Tony shrugged, "but there's something. . . different about her."

"Different how?"

"You know I like the chase," Tony smirked. "I could win her over. But how?"

I held my breath as I waited for McGee to say something. "What if. . . Is she even interested in you?"

"I could change that," Tony laughed.

"That's not. . ." McGee stuttered. "Do you know if she's single? What if. . . What if she has a boyfriend?"

"Does she have a boyfriend?" Tony asked.

"I think so," McGee stuttered. "I mean. . . She may have said something about a guy."

"Damn it," Tony sighed.

"What made you. . . Why now?" McGee asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Why are you suddenly interested in Y/N?" McGee clarified. "We've been working together for almost a year."

"There's nothing wrong with taking time to notice someone," Tony said, sounding like he had already lost interest in this conversation.

"Yeah but, when you notice someone, shouldn't it be instant?" McGee pushed. "You notice beautiful women right away. Are you saying you didn't notice how beautiful Y/N was when she first joined the team?"

"I noticed her Geek Levels, just like I did with you," Tony said. "It took me a while for that to wear off."

"Wow," I heard McGee sigh. "Tony, that's horrible. Y/N deserves someone who notices her beauty right away. Not after her Geek Levels wear off."

"Sorry," Tony said with absolutely no sympathy in his voice. "Why are you getting so touchy about this? It's not like she's here."

I couldn't hear the rest of their conversation. When I heard his bedroom door open, I finally came out of the bathroom.

"He's gone," McGee said as he shut the door behind him.

"Where were we?"

* * * * *

I was looking at my phone as I waited for the elevator. When it dinged and the door opened, I walked in. It was about to close when someone called for me to hold it. My stomach flipped when I saw McGee.

"Hey, you," I said, my face burning.

"Hey, you," he repeated back to me. He walked into the elevator and stood next to me.

"How was your weekend?" He asked when the elevator door closed.

"You know exactly how it was," I smirked. He looked over and we instantly smirked at each other.

"It was a pretty great weekend," he chuckled.

There was a small silence between the two of us that I had to break. "What now?" I whispered.

"I don't know," he sighed.

"I want. . ."

When I didn't continue, McGee reached over and flipped Gibbs's Shut-Off Switch.

"Tell me," McGee whispered as he reached over and grabbed my hands.

"I want this to turn into something," I admitted. "Something real. But I don't want to deal with everyone's reactions. I know we'll probably have to tell Gibbs but telling Tony would be like inviting him into the bedroom."

"Basically what almost happened this weekend," McGee tried to joke. "But if we tell Tony about you choosing me over him, that would give me so much to make fun of him for."

I pulled my hands out of his and flipped the elevator switch back on. He reached over and flipped it off.

"Y/N," he whispered, "I'm sorry. I really like you and want to see where this goes, too. If you want to keep it a secret, I'm fine with it. If you want to tell the team, I'm fine with that too. As long as I get to be with you."

He pulled me back into his chest and leaned down, pressing a kiss to my lips. I smiled as I wrapped my arms around his neck and deepened the kiss. We broke the kiss but stayed in each other's arms.

"We should probably turn the elevator back on."

"I know," McGee sighed. Neither one of us reached for the switch.

"I keep thinking about what you said to Tony," I whispered. "It was really sexy how you stood up for me."

"I couldn't have him talking about my girl like that."

I giggled when he reached down and squeezed my ass. I pushed him away and pointed my finger at him. "Agent McGee, that was Red Light behavior."

"So sorry, Agent Y/L/N," he smirked at me. "Won't happen again."

"Liar," I laughed. He sent me a wink as he leaned over and flipped the switch.

We walked to our desks like nothing happened in the elevator. As we started work, we kept sending each other smirks.

"Good morning!" Tony yelled as he walked in.

"What is wrong with you?" I asked. "Did someone put crazy sugar in your cereal this morning?"

"No," he elongated.

"Well," McGee said but I could see him hiding his smirk, "based on our conversation the other night, there shouldn't be an extra pep in your step."

Tony turned toward McGee but stopped. My eyes widened when he walked toward McGee and lowered so they were face to face.

"Wait a minute," he said slowly. "Did you. . . You had sex this weekend! Who's the girl, McRomeo?"

"Just a girl I met," he smirked at me over Tony's shoulder. Luckily, Tony didn't notice.

"Oh!" He yelled as he spun toward me. "Y/N, do you have a boyfriend?"

"Where the hell did that come from?" I asked, acting like I wasn't in McGee's room when they talked about me.

"Rumors," Tony quickly said.

"Well, not that it's any of your business," I sighed, "but yes, I'm dating someone."

"Really?" Tony smirked as he practically skipped over to my desk. "Where did you meet him? When did you meet him? How long have you been seeing him? Have you slept with him yet?"

"None of that is any of your business," I snapped. I got up and went to the breakroom. A few minutes later, McGee walked in.

"You okay?" He asked as he walked over to me.

"You were right about not letting them know," I sighed. "Especially Tony. It's none of his business. He's just a mouthy, egotistical, misogynist. And where the hell does he get off asking me if we've slept together yet?! I mean, sure we have but he doesn't need to know."

"Y/N," McGee closed the gap between us. "He doesn't know I'm the one you're dating. It's okay."

"But. . ."

"How about this," McGee gently cut me off, "tonight, if we don't have a case, you and I go on our first date?"

"As long as we don't get interrupted again."

"I'll lock the door."

[lizzyk137]

What about Tony flirting with the new head of NCIS & not knowing they are married to Gibbs ?

Flirting With the Boss' Wife- An NCIS Short (Tony/Gibbs X Gibbs' Wife)

Warnings: None, just fluff! Thank you for asking for this!! I haven't written in a while, and it was nice to sit down, watch NCIS, and write something! Hope you like it!! :)

Want to read more, visit my Masterlist!

"Have you seen the new director yet?" Tony asked McGee as they sat at their desks during a quick break between doing paperwork.

"No, I can't say I have." McGee answered back, not at all interested in another one of Tony's rambles about a girl. "I doubt she'll be paying any attention to us, though, since it's her first week here."

"Eh." Tony looked around the office, tiring of the conversion, and decided to set his sights on the gorgeous women that had just walked out of the elevator. "Damn..."

This woman dressed in a suit that clung to every curve she had and had black heels that helped elongate her body, making everything sit right where it needed to be. She put everyone women he's been with and all the women at N.C.I.S to shame. She was naturally gorgeous, not to the point where she looked faked, but just enough to catch your breath when you looked at her.

She made her way up to their bullpen and smiled at both men who had watched her walk up, jaws slightly hanging. "Hello, gentleman. Do you know where I might find Special Agent Gibbs?"

Tony stood and flashed his thousand watt smile. "Very Special Agent Tony DiNozzo. Gibbs is out, but what can I do to help a beautiful woman like yourself?"

"Is this how you greet everyone women who come to the office, oh Very Special Agent DiNozzo?" The woman said with a playful tone.

"Not unless they're you." Which earned Tony a snort from McGee.

The woman walked over to Gibbs' desk and sat down, resting her chin on the back of her hands as she leaned against the desk with her elbows. "I doubt that much to be true, but I'm flattered nonetheless. I don't mind waiting for him, do you know when he'll be back?"

"I would say soon, but with Gibbs sometimes, you don't know." McGee answered before Tony could rely with another flirtatious remark. "Special Agent McGee, ma'am."

"It's nice to meet you, McGee, I've only heard good things about you so far." Both men stared at her questioningly, and she answered before they could ask. "I'm the new director. Call me Liza, for now."

"Nice to meet you, ma'am." McGee said with a short nod.

Tony came up to Gibbs' desk and leaned against it, a smile still on his face. "And have you heard anything particular about me? I can assure you, I have many good qualities."

"Oh, yes, I've heard quite a few things about you, DiNozzo." A small smirk forming on her lips. "One of the top things is how obnoxious your flirting can be."

DiNozzo looked at her with a small amount of shock for a second before replacing with a smile and a small chuckle. "You can't always believe what people say. I guess we just gotta spend some more time together, say how about tomorrow night, 7 o'clock, I'll pick you up?"

Before Tony could hear a reply, a hard slap to the back of the head made him grunt and turn to see Gibbs walking up to the new director and giving her a kiss on the cheek before he turned to Tony to ask, "Are you hitting on my wife, DiNozzo?"

[slutforsilverfoxes]

McGirlfriend

[A/N: in my defense, I did say I was becoming a DiNozzo simp 🙃]

—————

Ziva wadded up an old draft of a report that she was about to shred, opting instead to beam it at Tony’s forehead to gain his attention. The grin on his face melted away as his eyes narrowed in her direction, and he barked out a playful, “What?”

“What is it that you are smiling at over there?”

“A text.”

“From?”

“A friend.”

“Not just a friend,” Abby chimed in from her spot at McGee’s desk, propping her chin on her hands as she batted her eyelashes in Tony’s direction.

“Oh?” That piqued Tim’s interest, and he pulled his attention away from the screen where he was testing a new program to optimize one of Abby’s many search parameters. “Are you seeing someone, Tony?”

“Yeah, McProbie,” the senior agent grinned, brewing up a facetious response. “Your sister.”

Rolling his eyes, McGee shot back, “You wish. She’s too smart for you.”

“Children!” Gibbs barked as he rounded the corner. The three agents scrambled to appear busy, shuffling papers around and clamoring over one another with updates on their supposed productivity this morning. Silencing them all with a mere glance, Gibbs continued, “If you’re done dishing about your social lives, we’ve got a dead Marine in Rock Creek Park.”

—————————

“I do not believe that you have a girlfriend,” Ziva stated matter-of-factly, pulling open the van doors to gather the crime scene kit.

“Well, believe it, Zi-va,” Tony retorted, the two syllables popping off his tongue in that infuriating way only he could do, “because it’s true. Here, watch my eyeballs when I say it: I have a girlfriend. What does your Mossad training tell you about that statement, huh?”

“That you are telling the truth,” she huffed back, eyes narrowed. “But if that is the case then how are you not gloating about your sex escapes all the time?”

“Sexcapades,” DiNozzo corrected automatically.

“Whatever. Why not?”

Tony shrugged, trying to control the blush threatening to creep across his cheeks. “Because.”

McGee unzipped the camera bag and slung the device around his neck as he caught the senior field agent’s eye with a teasing grin. “Because he really likes her! Tony’s in love.”

“Shut it, McGoob,” Tony growled out, slamming the van doors shut and stalking off to find Gibbs at the primary crime scene.

“Look at that, Ziva,” Tim sighed dramatically as they watched their colleague walk away, “our boy’s all grown up.”

—————————

“How was your day today, babe?” You flipped back to the diagram on venous circulation in your anatomy textbook, wiggling your fingers in an invitation for your boyfriend to join you on his bed. He heaved a dramatic sigh before stretching out across the comforter, laying his head against your thigh. “Don’t ask.”

Your fingers automatically went to brush through his short hair, freshly wet from his post-work shower. “Tough case?”

“What’d I just say?” he teased, reaching up to tweak your nose and eliciting a sheepish giggle from you. “It’s not the case, it’s my colleagues. They found out about you today and now they’re probing for more.”

“So tell them,” you offered easily. “My friends at school know about you.”

“Oh yeah?” His voice grew a touch huskier and you resisted the urge to roll your eyes.

“Oh yeah,” you whispered. “I tell them all about your big, thick d…ura mater. For that big ol’ brain of yours.”

He groaned your name in frustration and you laughed, pleased with yourself, until his eyes shot open and you saw that green had faded to black. You held your book up in defense and tried to quell your now racing heart. “Whatever you’re thinking, don’t. I have to study! I swear- don’t you even-”

He shut you up with a gentle kiss that quickly turned more desperate. Taking the textbook from your hands, he set it on the bedside table and tugged your shirt off before molding his lips back to yours, mumbling, “You need to study anatomy? Let’s get you some hands on experience.”

—————————

Tony strutted into the bullpen the next morning, greeting his teammate with an uncharacteristic smile given the fact that the sun had yet to rise. “McProbius. How was your night?”

Tim’s face twisted into one of confusion as he answered, “Uh, fine. Uneventful. How was yours?”

“Why, thank you for asking,” Tony grinned despite intentionally prompting the exchange. “My night was absolutely incredible.”

Ziva dropped her coat on the back of her chair and smirked knowingly at DiNozzo. Crossing her arms, she stated, “You had sex. Good sex, I am guessing, from the way you are gloating right now.”

“Not just good,” Tony clarified. “Amazing. Mind blowing. Since you two are so interested, my girlfriend’s a med student-”

“Hey, so is my little sister!” McGee cut in excitedly. “At Georgetown?”

“Yes, now hush. Anyway, when I tell you that she knows her way around male anatomy which is truly a testament to just how hard she studies. So diligent. Doctors are amazing, and we should appreciate them more.”

Tim and Ziva exchanged curious looks, then turned to see the reason behind the sudden shift in conversation standing behind them. A chorus of greetings- slightly too loud- poured from the three agents’ mouths as they all but ran to their desks to continue working on their current case.

—————————

“His desk is right over there,” the security guard gestured in the general vicinity, and you thanked her with a smile before making your way through the bullpen bustling with midday activity.

An older man in a tan suit approached as you neared the section the guard had pointed out, a soft smile on his face despite the gruffness in his voice. “Can I help you?”

“She’s here for me,” two voices in unison confidently rang out, and you peeked around the man you assumed to be Gibbs to find the source of the sound.

“Easy, McGeek,” Tony chuckled as he rose from his desk. “Unless she’s the suspect you’ve been theorizing about all day, I’ll take it from here.”

“Uh, I think you should take it easy considering you have a girlfriend, Tony,” Tim shot back, brows furrowed. “She’s my sister.”

“But that’s- she’s-” Tony stumbled over his words while Ziva leaned back in her chair, laughing to herself as she connected the dots with a giddily mumbled, “This is the best day ever.”

Both men pointed accusatory fingers at you, fighting to be heard.

“You said you were studying last night!” “Your last name isn’t McGee!”

“Woah,” you held up your hands in defense, trying to calm the situation. “I was studying last night,” you directed the response to your older brother, then turned to your boyfriend, “and we have two different dads. How come you two have never mentioned each other?”

“He is Probie,” Tony clarified, as Tim mumbled, “He’s DoucheNozzle.”

“Hey!” you and Tony cried out.

“Hey!” Gibbs mocked you all, jingling a set of car keys in the middle of your heated circle. “Boyfriend and brother, go pick up our suspect. Figure this out when I have my killer behind bars.”

Sufficiently chastened, they each pressed a kiss to one of your cheeks while glowering over your head at the other man. As they made their way over to the elevator- clearly bickering from the looks of it- Ziva approached you gleefully. “They will either bond over their love for you in that car, or you will end up single and an only child. Also, hi, Ziva David.”

“Y/N,” you supplied in kind, taking her proffered hand.

“What inspired this visit, anyway?”

“Oh,” you laughed, shaking your head. “I came to tell them I passed my anatomy exam with flying colors.”

[writeandsurvive]

Caught in a Snow Storm ~ Alden Parker 1/2

Summary: After a work road trip, you and Alden have to stop at a hotel cause the roads are being closed and there’s only one room left.

Warnings: one bed, heater goes out, smut, age gap, smoking, handjob, oral (f receiving).

Words count: 5.2k

Author’s note: yes, despite being summer, I’m writing winter fics. I couldn’t shake this idea off my head so I finally wrote it down. Second part coming soon! Special mention to Supernatural in this work because 18 years later, I finally fell into the rabbit hole. I hope you’ll like it! ❤️

None of this was planned. Nothing happened the way it should have. The whole trip was a major waste of time, giving you zero info for your murder case and even less a lead. On top of that, a huge snow storm hit, blocking the roads and you had to stop at the first hotel you found. You usually love the snow, you find it beautiful when it’s all white outside. But this time, it was just the cherry on the cake. “Do you have everything you need for a sleepover?” You did this trip with your team leader, Alden Parker. You didn’t want to go in the first place.

The idea of being stuck in a car for almost three hours with your crush didn’t sound appealing. Not that you mind being with him, you actually love his company, love talking to him about all kinds of things, love his face when he smiles, or how his eyes are soft whenever he looks at you. You love how his mustache is dark while the rest of his beard - and hair - keeps getting whiter. But you still didn’t want to, because of what happened the week before.

Despite being cold outside, the sky was clear blue and the sun was out. You love this exact kind of weather, and ever since you found out about the roof, you enjoy going up for a break, taking some deep breaths, having a smoke and just appreciate the quiet. And that was exactly what you did. Smelling the nice scent coming from the bakery down the street, a cigarette in hand, you relaxed. You even took a couple of pictures of this nice view.

“You know,” you jumped for a second at the sound of his voice straddling you. He chuckled at your reaction. “Ever since I joined, I’ve been wondering where your secret smoking spot is.” He got closer to the ledge, taking in the view. You tried not to stare too much.

“Did you follow me here, Parker?” You puffed on your cigarette.

“Just a little at the time. Nice spot. But the cigarette—“

“I know, I don’t need the lecture. I’m not a heavy smoker, you know.” You stayed a few steps away from him, not wanting to overwhelm him with the bad smell of nicotine.

“Just when you’re overwhelmed or want to relax.”

You didn’t know what to think about the fact that he noticed all of this. And was intrigued enough that he found your secret spot. You felt all giddy, but buried it deep inside you.

“After sex, too.” As soon as it left your lips, you regretted it. Where was this coming from? Technically, it is true, you enjoy a smoke after sex, but it wasn’t something Alden Parker needed to know. You felt so horrified that you stopped looking at the man and just focused on the view and your cigarette that was coming to an end. You would probably need another one. “I shouldn’t have said that.” You managed to say.

“Yeah,” he agreed and you felt even worse. “Look, I’m not going to tell you how bad it is for you, cause I know how annoying that is—I’ve been there.” You looked at him, forgetting your embarrassment for a second. “Just that if and when you decide to try to stop, I’ll be happy to help.”

“H—how did you stop?”

“That’s actually one of the good things that came out of my marriage with Vivian. She really wanted me to stop, so we came to an agreement that everytime I needed to smoke, I’d reach out to her. I’d call if we weren’t together, or just tell her if we were, and she’d do her best to take my mind off it.”

“And it really worked?”

“After a while, yeah. It did. But also because I wanted to stop. If you don’t have that in the first place, no matter what you do, it won’t work.”

“I’ll— think about it. Thank you for offering your help.”

Your cigarette was long gone, and you put the bottom away in a little ashtray you hid.

“We’re a team.” He smiled at you. That damn smile that makes you want to reach for him and kiss him until you can’t breathe.

You went back to the bullpen together. “I do miss a good cigarette after sex though.” He just said before you left the roof.

Maybe you spent the entire week overthinking this. He obviously didn’t mind what you said, but you still felt horrified by it. Why would you say something like that to him? Clearly, he knew what that feeling was like, but it still wasn’t worth mentioning. He did agree when you said you shouldn’t have said it though. Did it make him uncomfortable? He probably doesn’t want to know anything about his coworkers sex life.

Not that you had any lately.

When you finally reached a hotel, you thought it would be it. You couldn’t wait to get into your room, lay down and relax. Probably go back down later to smoke. The ride itself wasn’t bad at all. Alden was his usual self, you two talked about many stuff in the car, some were work related and some weren’t. At some point, it felt like he was trying to know you better than he already did. After all, you’ve been working together for just a year, and it’s not like you two spend a lot of alone time together.

“I’m sorry we’re booked.” The receptionist started to say, and you sighed heavily. “Lots of people decided to stop when they announced the storm coming up. All we have left is a suite.” You and Alden looked at each other.

“It’s either that or the car.” He said.

“Fine. But accounting better not give us hell for that.”

“Is this a work trip?” The lady asked, surprising both of you.

“Yeah, why?” Alden asked.

“Because that suite—only has one bed.”

“Fuck me.” You muttered a bit too loud. But Alden agreed for the room.

“We’re adults.” He said in the elevator. “We’ll build a pillow wall if it makes you feel better.”

“Sure. Adults and pillow walls really fit together.” You rolled your eyes. Alden chuckled.

“Have you ever slept in the same bed as a friend or something?”

“Yeah, of course. But it’s different.”

The elevator’s doors opened and Alden walked out first. “If it really grosses you out to share a bed with me, I’ll sleep on the floor, Y/N.”

You usually love when he says your name, but not this time. You could tell by his tone that you upset him. Hurt him, maybe? But wasn’t it better that he thought something like that than know the truth? That you didn’t want to share a bed because you were scared of what it may do to you. You followed him into the suite. It was very beautiful, spacious, and kinda—romantic. Not helping.

“That’s not what I meant, Alden.” He put his backpack down.

“I saw a little store down the street, I’m gonna go buy a few things.” He walked past you to reach for the door again. “Do you need anything?” He still asked.

“A pack of cigarettes?” You heard his quiet growl.

“I was thinking more like some food? Hygiene products? PJs?”

“Do you really think they are selling PJs in that mini store?”

“I’m hoping. Sleeping on the floor is one thing, but sleeping on the floor in my suit? I’d rather not.”

“You’re not sleeping on the floor.” You told him.

“Are you?” He raised an eyebrow.

“Yeah right.”

You knew he wanted to ask you why it was different with him. Why did you seem so repulsed by the idea of sharing a bed?

“I’ve got everything I need, thanks.”

Alden nodded and left.

This would be alright, yes? It was just one night. The bed was big enough for you two, you wouldn’t need a pillow wall. You just hoped his scent wouldn’t drive you crazy, that his body heat wouldn’t warm your insides.

While Alden was gone, you called McGee to give them updates - not that you had much - and listen to theirs. You exchanged a few theories about the case. And finally told him that you’ve found a hotel to spend the night. “Where’s Parker?”

“He needed a few things for a store downstairs. How are the roads in DC?”

“Not too bad yet, but we’re all heading back home before we have to sleep in the office.”

“Lucky you.”

“Be safe and stay warm.”

“Not too warm though.” You overheard Nick. The team knew about your crush on Alden. They all figured you out little by little.

“Tell him he’s a dead man.”

“She’s going to kill you.” Tim said to Nick, laughing.

“Love you too!” Nick shouted.

You were still working on your computer when Alden came back from his little trip. You immediately noticed the snow all over his dark coat, his hair was wet, and he looked absolutely frozen. “It’s getting bad.” You stood up to take a quick look through the window. Everything was covered in snow and the night was dropping. “The store owner told me that a neighborhood close by lost power. We may be next.”

“Wonderful.”

As Alden took his coat and jacket off, you went to grab a towel from the bathroom and offered it to him. “For your hair.”

“Thank you.” He dried off his hair, and sat on bed to take off his wet socks. He looked at you puzzled when you extended your hand.

“It’s just socks. They need to dry.”

You disappeared in the bathroom to put them on the tower heater, while it still worked. When you came back, Alden was sitting on the bed in his white undershirt, his belt was unbuckled. You forced yourself not to stare. “We can eat downstairs but I don’t feel like moving just yet. You can if you want to be alone.”

“Not hungry for now. You should take a shower while there’s still hot water, that’ll warm you up. I put a towel on the heater.”

You could feel his eyes on you even though you had your back turned to him. “Thank you.” And he was gone to the bathroom.

This was going to be alright.

You took a look in the bags he brought back. Was this considered sneaking? He didn’t say anything about it being private, and you could see a bag of chips on top anyways. And you found mostly snacks, a bag of your favorites. There was your favorite kind of tea, and some coffee powder. And obviously, a box of pastries. You smiled at that. If Alden doesn’t find his way to pastries, pastries will find their way to him.

Then you grabbed the hotel menu, looking at what could interest you. Unlike you told Alden, you were hungry, you just didn’t want to eat alone. And you wanted to make up to him for hurting his feelings earlier.

He came back from the bathroom, wearing some night shorts, his white t-shirt and a black zipper on top. His hair was still a little wet, and messy. You’ve never seen his beautiful hair like this and you loved it even more. Alden looked so casual, and cozy, you realized this was what it’d be like to date the man. This could be one of your daily views, if only— if only.

You were on the bed, scrolling on your phone, your legs under the blanket as it was getting a bit colder. “You should go too.” He told you, and you agreed. Walking past him as he smelled fresh from the shower turned your upside down. You hurried to the bathroom and locked up. A cold shower was more needed than a hot one. You almost gave up to your urges in the shower and touched yourself, but your embarrassment afterwards would be written all over your face, and Alden could read you very easily.

You needed to smoke.

“You were looking at the menu. Do you want to order something?”

“Do you?”

You definitely noticed how Alden looked at you from head to toes, even though there was nothing to see. You were wearing an oversized hoodie that you always have with you during winter, and your work pants. “I don’t have shorts like yours or anything similar.” You answered his silent question.

“Get under the blanket and take them off. I’m staying here for now anyway.”

You did as told, because you honestly wanted those pants off. Alden stayed seated at the little table. “So, food?”

“The grilled cheese sounds good.”

“Drink? I got you some tea for later, but you already saw that.”

It was the first time since you got the room that you and Alden actually looked at each other. You could tell he was teasing you for looking into the bags, so you smiled. “My favorite. Thank you by the way.”

You gave Alden your full order and he called the reception, who informed him about the heating system issue. The room temperature was clearly dropping. You pulled on your sleeves to cover your hands, and put the hood on. “We can get an extra blanket, or hang out around their chimney.”

“I’d rather stay here for now. And get your ass under the blanket too.”

“I’m good.”

“For the love of god, Alden! I’m not grossed out by the idea of sharing a bed with you! Or anything like that for that matter.”

“No, I know. I get it. I’m your team leader, I’m quite older than you. It’s not very comfortable, like sleeping with your weird uncle or something.”

You laughed, but Alden looked serious.

“You’re definitely not the weird uncle.”

“Yeah, tell that to my nieces and nephews.”

“I’d rather trust Eli.” You smiled and he returned it. You and the team learned about Alden’s godson only recently. You’ve met his former FBI partner, Jeremy, who talked about his son Eli, and how much he loved his godfather. You had no doubt believing that Alden was a loving godfather, who took his role very seriously. And you loved that about him. “Get under the blanket, Parker.” You said again, and this time he did. He stayed very much on his side though, a huge gap between your body and his. “Plug your phone before the power goes out.” He said, plugging his own.

As you left the bed to grab your phone charger - and computer - you forgot that you had no pants on. It didn’t even occur to you when you slightly bent over to get it from your bag. It was only when you walked back to the bed, and saw how red Alden’s cheeks were that you realized. You basically jumped under the blanket, mortified. “I’m sorry! I completely forgot—sorry.”

“It’s okay.” He cleared his throat. “No worries.”

“Let’s agree that if either of us does something that makes the other uncomfortable, we can just say it. Yeah?”

“Deal.”

How could you look him in the eyes now?

Both of you on your side of the bed, focusing on your phones, the room became totally quiet. You didn’t know what was more uncomfortable, the fact that you just saw your panties, and that you’re both so ill at ease, you can’t even talk, creating this awful atmosphere.

Finally, your order came in. You obviously decided to eat on the bed, the blanket covering you as much as possible. “I can put up something on my laptop if you want.” You offered.

“Yeah, why not.”

You gave him a few options as he settled the food.

“What’s Supernatural?”

“Seriously? Dean and Sam Winchester, chasing demons and all kinds of creatures?”

“That sounds—“

“Like what we’re watching. Sit.”

And you did just that. Eat dinner in bed, covered by a comfy blanket, watching the first episode of Supernatural… with your team leader. Your crush. The guy who’s much older than you.

You didn’t know who was the most surprised by how Alden got into it. He was asking you a bunch of questions, some that you couldn’t answer without spoiling. “Just because it’s not that bad, doesn’t mean I’ll binge the whole thing. Don’t care about the spoilers.”

“I do. So, if you want to know what killed the boys’ mom, just watch it.”

Alden was leaning against the headboard, an arm behind his head. He looked even more cozy than he did earlier. You could so easily lay down on his chest, and cuddle as you watch the show. “Maybe I should go down and get that extra blanket.” He said at the end of the episode.

“I will go. I’m gonna smoke.”

“I didn’t buy you a pack.”

“Always have a few with me. Do you think you can avoid freezing to death for ten minutes?”

“You’re the one going outside. Wouldn’t you prefer to stay warm here and talk to me?” He offered. How he managed to stop smoking. “We can watch another ep, if you want.”

“You’re hooked.” You grinned.

Alden turned on his side, leaning a little closer to you. “Well it’s always nice to know how to defend myself if I ever encounter a demon.”

“Or a vampire, or a werewolf, or a rougarou.”

“What the hell is a rougarou?” He laughed.

“Binge. The. Show.” At every word, you got closer to Alden. So close your forehead almost brushed his. A little more and you could’ve kissed the man. And it obviously took both of you by surprise.

“I’ll go get the blanket. Be back in a few.” He was gone before you could say anything.

By the time he came back, you had cleared the bed from the plates and food, made sure that there were no crumbs or anything in the sheets, put his water bottle on his nightstand, and waited. The extra blanket looked fluffy and pretty warm, and Alden couldn’t wait to get under. “It’s freezing in those damn hallways.”

You grabbed the blanket from his arms and set it just right on the bed. You took your computer, settling it between your hips and Alden’s, maybe it acted as a barrier. “You’re cold.” You could feel his coldness despite the gap.

“You think?” His vest was close up to the top, and he put his hood on just like you. Without thinking further, you reached out for one of his hands. It was frozen.

“Gimme the other one.” Puzzled, he gave you his hands. You put them in the big pocket of your sweater, and covered them with yours. His hands were much bigger than yours but you didn’t care. You moved your fingers on his skin, putting a bit of pressure to get the blood flooding properly.

“Do you have another pocket for my feet?” He asked as you felt his legs getting closer.

“I swear if you put your cold feet on my legs, I’ll scream.”

In the pocket where the four hands were, you didn’t know who was trying to warm who. They were mixed together, you could feel his fingers moving against your palm and wrist. Alden chuckled, his legs got even closer.

“Parker, I have a gun.”

“So do I. And I’m a better shooter.”

“We’re 1 to 1, so no, you are not.”

You and Alden went to the shooting range a couple of times. It started with a little teasing about your aim after a case, and it turned into a competition. Whoever wins the next round has to invite the other for dinner. His idea.

Did it mean something?

“When this case is over, we’re doing the last round. I can’t wait for my free dinner.”

“Be careful. I could take you to the worst and cheapest restaurant ever.”

“In that case—“

Before you knew it, Alden’s legs were intertwined with yours. His feet were pressed against your calves, and your body got much closer to his. You let out a small scream of surprise before trying to fight him off. But his hands had left your pocket to lock you down. To be honest, with your training, you could get out of his hold but he wanted to play, so you were going to indulge. He was holding you so tight that your hands were stuck in your pocket. You tried to sneak your way out, until you both heard a thump. “Was that my laptop?” You asked.

“Uh-huh.”

“If it’s broken, you’ll explain to accounting why I need a new one.” You lifted your head to look at him. “Shouldn’t be too hard for you.”

“Why’s that?”

“According to the rumors, you dated—“

“Come on. Don’t tell me you believe those rumors?”

“Well, they are around your age, some are single. And Kathy is very beautiful.”

You felt his hold loosen a little but honestly, you didn’t want him to let go of you. You wanted to stay there for as long as possible. He smelled so good, his body felt perfect against yours. Being this close to him felt—right.

“Mmm… that’s true, she is. Do you think I have a chance with her?”

You forced yourself to smile. “Of course you do. You’re clever, handsome, sweet, funny, passionate. And you have the best head of hair ever.”

He laughed at that. From where you were, you saw his throat bobbing. His Adam’s apple was so close, all you wanted was to kiss it. His laugh was the best sound you’ve heard, and it was even better when you were the reason he was laughing.

“I figured you loved my hair when a month after I joined the team, you accidentally touched it.”

“It was an accident, Alden! I was reaching for the file and your head was on the way!”

“Sure it was. I have such a big head.”

“Aldeeeen!” You whined and somehow your face buried itself in his neck. “I swear I didn’t—“

“I’m just teasing you.” He chuckled.

Realizing that you were basically cuddling the man, you were ready to move away and get some much needed distance. Especially that Alden’s released the last bit of pressure they had on you. But before you could move even just a little, his arms closed again. This time, he wasn’t locking you down. He was hugging you. Cuddling you.

“We should stay like this if we don’t want to freeze to death. Unless it makes you uncomfortable—“

“I’m good.” You immediately said. You didn’t want to move. Not now, not ever. “You’re lucky your feet are warm now.”

“Thanks to you.”

After a long moment and an internal debat, you moved your arms to hold him back. You felt his body relaxing entirely, and yours did the same. And you stayed like long enough that you both fell asleep.

Three hours later, you woke up. You and Alden were practically in the same position, except that he rolled a bit of his back, and one of his hands was dangerously close to your butt.

Your skin was damped. You were hot and sweating. Pulling the blankets just a little, you realized that the room wasn’t cold anymore. As slowly and quietly as possible, you moved out of Alden’s arms and left the bed. The heater was working very well, your hoodie wasn’t needed anymore so you got rid of it, as well as your socks. You were now in a tank top and panties, but couldn’t bring yourself to care. Especially not after what happened earlier.

You removed the extra blanket as gently as you could so Alden wouldn’t wake up. Then, you crawled back in bed, stared at his beautiful and peaceful face before slowly opening the zipper of his vest. You were halfway through it when his body moved and you felt his eyes on you. “The heating system got fixed. You should take it off.”

“You were doing a great job.” He sleepily said. You opened the vest entirely, and tried to remove it from one of his arms.

“A little help, Alden?”

Half asleep, he sat up and put his arms in the air like a toddler wanting to be undressed. You quietly laughed and undressed him, almost straddling his lap. It surprised you when he got rid of his t-shirt too before laying back down, taking you with him.

Alden was shirtless. You could feel him, you could touch his chest if you were bold enough. You wanted to turn on the lights and see his body, admire it, imprint in your brain forever. You were about to relax and just enjoy this moment, but it was when he let go of you and practically turned on the other side. “Oh” left your lips as it surprised you, confused you and kinda hurt you.

“Male body reaction.” You heard him say. “It’s better I stay on my side.”

It took you a couple of seconds to understand. “What if I don’t want you to stay on your side?” You whispered and moved closer. You didn’t know what had gotten into you at this moment. Maybe you were going to die of embarrassment, maybe you’d have to quit your job in the morning. Or maybe—

You were now spooning Alden. “Remember our agreement? If one of us does something that makes the other un—“

“Yeah.” He cut you off.

Slowly, you ran your hand from bare back to his chest. He started to breathe heavily. You loved the hair that was there. You touched his pecs, his tummy, making him growl, and reached the waistband of his shorts. You softly kissed his shoulder and Alden melted. His hand went up and down your forearm that was around him. “I need you to agree to this, Alden.” You whispered into his ear, “Don’t want to take advantage of sleepy you.” You planted a kiss under his ear.

“I’m very much awake, sweetheart.” His head leaned back into you. “You can do anything to me.”

When was the last time someone took care of this man?

Your hand finally got into his shorts. You had barely touched his length that he moaned. When your hand wrapped around his cock, you didn’t expect it to be this thick. You got even wetter than you already were. You collected his pre cum on the tip, and used it to start stroking. “Fuck!” He growled deeply. He completely leaned into you, his hand reaching for your hair, neck, face. He was needy and you loved it. You freed his cock from the shorts and stroked him slowly, putting just enough pressure. You kissed his cheek, nipped his ear. You were able to move your other arm under his head, which allowed him to touch his chest. Between the noises he was making, you could tell he wanted to talk, he wanted to say something but everything died on his tongue. “Kiss me.” Was all he could say as he turned his face and you did. All teeth and tongue, all needy and desperate. Alden was now on his back, his hips moving. You weren’t sure if you were giving him a handjob or if he was fucking your hand. That you cared.

“I’m gonna—“ he choked and growled.

You kissed his cheek and whispered to his ear again. “Cum for me, Alden. I’ve got you.” A few more sloppy strokes and he was coming all over his stomach, your name dying on his lips along curse words, his fist holding onto your hair for dear life - it stung a little but you loved it.

You watched him coming down from his high, playing with his hair. His chest was rising and falling rapidly as he was catching his breath. The post orgasm bliss on his face. You kissed his cheek, “I’ll go get a towel.”

When you came back, Alden had turned the nightstand light on, and he looked absolutely perfect. Naked, satisfied, relaxed… the best version of Alden Parker you’ve ever seen until now.

He tried to reach for the towel but you slapped his hand away, and cleaned the sticky mess on his stomach. As soon as you were done, Alden grabbed you and pinned you on the bed, his body covering yours. “I think we can say that our platonic work relationship is ruined.” His eyes moved from your eyes to your lips.

“How terrible.” You grinned and he kissed you. You’ve been in control so far, but you knew at this moment that he was taking over.

“I’m not sure how I got you to be interested in me, but I’ll take it.” He lifted your tank top a little and went down to kiss your stomach.

“You’re the only one who didn’t know I’ve had a crush on you for months.” Your body shivered under his touch.

“I may have noticed a few things—“ he took your top off of you and admired your breasts before touching them, kissing them, playing with your nipples. “But it seemed impossible.” He kept touching your tits as he got back up to kiss you. You buried your hands in his hair, and wrapped your legs around his waist.

“Why? Because you’re older?”

“For starters.” He kissed you one more time before getting on his knees. He slowly took off your panties while staring deep in your eyes.

“I don’t give a fuck about your age.” He looked at your panties, smelled them before throwing them away. You practically moaned at his actions.

“You should, babydoll.”

He settled between your legs, kissed your inner thigh, bit a little, and gently touched your pussy, looking at it so hungrily.

“Well if you don’t fuck me properly, I just might.” You teased, trying not to lose your mind over having him down there.

“As much as I want to, I’m not going to fuck you tonight, unless you got a condom hidden in your bag.��

“For fuck sakes!” You shouted.

“Sorry, doll. But I’m going to make you cum.”

And he finally dived in. He inhaled your scent deeply, before putting his month where you needed him the most. Alden knew what to do, when to do it. He ate you like a starving man. Making you moan loudly. You felt his index finger penetrating you, and another finger as his month kept playing with your clit. It didn’t take long before that amazing and familiar feeling appeared. One of your hands was in his hair, while he was holding the other with his free hand. Your legs around his neck could’ve suffocated him but you didn’t care and neither did he.

“I want to taste all of you, doll. Cum with my mouth.” He encouraged you. “I’ve got you.” He repeated your words. And you didn’t need more.

After cleaning you with the towel, Alden held you as you were catching your breath. Kissing your hair, he gently stroked your back. You both enjoyed this moment, this position, this tenderness. You didn’t know what tomorrow would be like, or even what this all meant.

Neither of you dared to ask.

[instantnoooodles]

A Driving Force

An ancient ask from an old friend, it came to me in a dream. Viola. 

Gibbs x Reader | No use of [Y/n] | 3.2 k | Mentions of Childbirth, swearing, pregnancy, mentions of sex, fluff with little to no angst

Pregnancy has got you ready to throttle your husband. 

Nearly eight months pregnant, and you are going to kill someone. 

Someone's name is Jethro. 

Jethro, who- after your first baby- thought it would be a swell idea to have another (don't get me wrong, he is more than good at making them, it's the labor and the first trimester that does you in.) Jethro, who is at work and not at home making you tea or rubbing your calves, or doing literally anything other than being at work. It's driving you nuts, and your son may as well be training for the baby Olympics. There's no reprieve, not with a heating pad, not with an exercise ball, not with the piss-poor excuse for a nap you'd tried to take, nothing. 

So you do what anyone would've done: You drive your ass to his work and give the security guards some vaguely veiled threats to let you up to the bullpen. 

And naturally, he's nowhere to be found. 

"I am going to kill that man," you grumble, reclining in his chair, leaning your head back, and closing your eyes. Ironically enough, the background noise helps- you feel more relaxed than at home. 

The elevator dings, and in comes the trio. (McGee- you assume- is down in the lab. Jethro says he prefers it to fieldwork some days.) And- naturally- they're yelling. 

"I had him!" 

"You had shit! That dude outran you by miles! He's halfway to Timbuktu right now!"  

"Dinozzo-" 

"Boss, I am telling you-"

"Dinozzo."

They stop in the bullpen, and you stand, hand over your stomach, and downright glower at your husband. "Leroy." 

Tony's face crumples into something like horror, Kate looks like a bomb might go off, and Jet- well, he looks a little south of terrified. As he should. 

"Sweetheart," He walks toward you, hands outstretched, and immediately goes in for a gentle peck on the cheek. You swat him away. He frowns comically. 

"Your son is driving me up a wall." 

"You shouldn't be driving like this," he reaches down and caresses the bump. Damn him and his soft voice. Usually, you only hear it in the comfort of your home, never at work, and maybe that's what melts your resolve of putting up a fight. 

You sigh, slouching into him and leaning your head into the crook of his neck. He takes it all in stride, cupping his hand on the back of your head, drawing circles with his thumb on that place where the base of your skull meets your neck. It makes you fall apart like a card tower. You groan- he has the decency not to laugh, just winds his other arm around your waist. "Is he giving you a hard time?" It's asked softly, gently, kindly, with all the warmth of a roaring fire and the bourbon in the basement. This is the Jet that makes you question if he's really an agent. 

"He's been kicking my bladder for hours," you groan into his shirt. It smells like sawdust and mint. "You'd think he's training for boot camp in there." 

Jethro rubs gently at your waist- Tony and Kate sit quietly at their desks and have the decency to stop arguing. Tony even takes a field trip to God knows where- it makes you smile. "Better or worse than Dani?" 

Dani is your nearly five-year-old. A bundle of joy and Jethro's entire world, she has a smile to light up a room. 

And a temper to rival Hell, she gets it from her dad, but he handles her well. 

You scoff. "Dani didn't take up gymnastics, and if I recall correctly, you missed the first eight hours of my labor." 

"Twenty more to go- didn't miss much." You smack him gently on the back, and he only chuckles and continues to rub the muscles of your hips and neck. "You damn near broke my hand." 

"Twenty-eight hours��of labor, Jethro. You're lucky I didn't break every bone in your body and shoot you." He mumbles something like 'touche', and you stand in silence for a moment. Jet quietly says 'here' and untangles himself from you (you nearly kill him) until he spins around. Facing your back and winding his arms around to your stomach, he reaches underneath your bump, intertwines his fingers, and lifts. 

You come this close to moaning in the middle of NCIS headquarters. 

Jet started doing this sometime towards the end of the second trimester when your bump became less of that and more like a mound. (These days, it feels more like a mountain.) The muscles in your abdomen relax, and the relief is instantaneous. Your head lols back onto his shoulder, and you kiss the underside of his jaw. "Thank you." 

It comes out in a whisper, but he gets the idea and returns the gesture to your forehead. "'Course sweetheart," And then you just stand there. It could be hours- it could be seconds. Realistically, it was probably closer to ten minutes. Jethro is strong, despite his age and his appearance. If you asked him he could probably do this for another hour and then some. Come to think- he'd do anything you asked him to. And you'd do the same, quite frankly, but right now- right now this is plenty. 

Jethro releases the weight of your baby boy slowly, oh-so-gently and it nearly makes you sob (damn pregnancy hormones) and hugs you from the side, careful not to undo the release he's just given you. You peck his cheek, leaning into the embrace, and close your eyes. 

And then water splashes down your leg, down your pants, and onto a puddle in the NCIS bullpen. 

Motherfucker. 

Echoed both in your head and out loud by your husband, Tony chooses this perfect moment to come barreling into the room. "Boss, we got something- oh shit." 

"Dinozzo, go get my car," and Jet hurls the keys at Tony's head. Tony, with all his goofiness and jokes, makes none about the situation and beelines for the staircase, Kate hot on his heels. 

Contraction number one hits with full speed, nearly taking you to your knees, and Jet hugs you around your waist, keeping you from collapsing and yanking the phone from his back pocket. "If the nurse doesn't give me an epidural this time, you have my full permission to shoot them." 

"Yes ma'am," he says, throwing the phone onto his desk. You don't see what he's done with it, you're too busy trying to stand. 

The contraction fades, you rise, and Jethro rises with you. "You're early." 

"Dani was three weeks early," you breathe deeply through your nose and out through your mouth. 

"This is nearly four." 

"Well, then, Jet, get a damn move on." And move he does. He makes sure you're standing steady first, before flying behind his desk to grab a bag. You do a double take. "You keep the hospital bag in your office?" 

He gives you a quick peck on the cheek, slinging the bag over his shoulder and guiding you toward the elevator. "Been with me for two months now, sweetheart." 

You're going to sob. 

Jet's gentle hand on your elbow and back gets you both to the elevator in one piece. An agent- you don't know who- is standing there as the doors ding open. Jethro gives him a look that could freeze over hell as he turns around to ask what floor, and the mystery agent steps out. 

You poke the 'G' button as another contraction punches through you. Jet gets you to lean against the cool metal wall as the elevator begins to move, and you grip his forearm tight. You're not swearing, not yet, just breathing deeply, but at this rate, you'll be calling the doctor a fuckwad the minute you walk through the hospital doors. 

Tony and Kate (bless their hearts) have the car running right out of the elevator in the parking garage. Tony reaches for your arm to help you in but a sharp, "Hands off my wife, DiNozzo!" Stops him dead in his tracks. Kate steps in as Jet throws the bag in the backseat. He opens the passenger door while Kate leads you. 

"You're gonna do great, call us when the baby's here, and we'll handle the case, Gibbs." The last part is directed toward your husband, who takes your other forearm as you sit gingerly in the car. 

He drives like Jethro. Which is to say: Like a maniac. 

You don't complain, even if it feels like you're in the middle of a police chase. He cuts the fifteen-minute drive to the hospital in half, skidding to a halt in front of the maternity wing, and barely remembers to turn off the car before reaching behind him to snag the bag and half-carry you to the doors. You can hardly blink before they've got you in a room, changed into a hospital gown, and are telling you to push.

Mike Leroy Gibbs' labor clocks in at a whopping two hours. 

It's a very painful two hours. Jet may have threatened several doctors and nurses to give you an epidural (who complies, you don't know the details and you don't want to.) They whisk him away to check vitals and clean him up, though Jet also threatens to maim or seriously injure someone if Mike isn't in your arms in fifteen minutes. 

He's returned rather quickly (you have a feeling you'll have to do damage control when you give a shit.) And he is the cutest bundle of warm brown hair and the brightest blue eyes you ever did see. 

You don't let Jethro hold him for something close to an hour, you damn near fall asleep with him on your chest for a little while, but with a soft, "Jet, look at your son." He takes him

Jethro is pretty quiet while he holds him- he was the same with Dani, awestruck by her existence and speechless. He coos at Mike, who's fast asleep, and sways him gently back and forth. He sits down, the armchair pulled as close to your hospital bed as it can get, with one hand cradling your son and the other holding your hand, rubbing gentle circles on the meat of your thumb. 

(You crushed his forearm during labor. Not literally, Jethro is still injury free, but there will be bruises in a few days. He knows how sore you are though, and if he wasn't occupied with his new son, you'd be sure he'd be giving you a massage. He was just as good- if not miles better- than when you gave birth to Dani. He was on a case, deep cover, and didn't get the phone call from Ducky or the hospital until you were well into labor. Ducky's phone call was far more urgent- Gibbs drove at least forty over to get to you.) 

"Jet, I gotta call Donovan, he still has two more days with Dani-" 

"Already taken care of sweetheart." 

You're going to melt. Absolutely dissolve into a pile of lovey-dovey goo. "Thank you." 

He brings your hand to his lips to kiss each of your knuckles. "He's on his way, your brother drives slower than I do-" 

"Jethro, everyone drives slower than you." 

The corner of his lips twitch upward at that, and he doesn't argue. 

The room is... nice. It's the only way to describe it. You feed Mike, and Jet is respectful and goes to find you OJ while you do it. "It doesn't make me uncomfortable, hun. Figured you could just use some time with him, skin to skin." 

Yeah, you're gonna cry. 

You actually do, while he's away and Mike has finished. It's not sad tears, they're definitely happy. When Jethro comes back he seems to know it, you don't even have to say anything, he just sits on the side of the bed, curls an arm behind your shoulders, and pets your hair. There are kisses laid atop your head, and he rubs your bicep. He whispers in his soft voice, the one you're so used to hearing that when you visit him at work his 'Boss' tone makes you do a double take. (Is it hot? Absolutely. But there's nothing quite like the quiet tone he uses when he asks if you're ready for bed.) 

You sniffle, Mike shifts in your arms as Jethro wipes a tear and a series of gentle knocks at the door sound through your hospital room. One, two, three, four, five, heads poke through the sliver in the open door. "Boss? Can we come in?" 

Gibbs looks to you for permission before answering. You nod and smile softly, and he beckons to the agents. Abby and Kate file in first, closely followed by Tim, then Ducky, who holds the door open for Tony, who's carrying two huge plastic bags filled with something that smells magical. 

Abby gives you the first hug, careful to avoid your newborn, she wraps an arm around your shoulder while Jethro untangles himself from you to help Tony. ("Did ya buy enough for the whole wing, Dinozzo?") 

Kate comes in next, taking Abby's place with a hug around your shoulder. You share grins, and she asks you how the labor was- the conversation is easy and nice. (Everyone knows how bad Dani's labor was. You've come into the office a few times a month, usually with coffee or breakfast, or-hell, even dinner for your husband and his crew when the nights turn long. You used to come in once a week during the first trimester. You and Gibbs would be in the NCIS bathroom with your head in a toilet, hair held back, and circles rubbed on your shoulders. Those were rough days.) 

"Do you wanna hold him?" 

Kate looks a little dumbstruck. Ducky and Tim are giving her encouraging glances, grinning ear to ear. "Y-you're sure?" 

You smile up at her, readjust, and hold Mike out. "Make sure to support his head, arm under his neck, keep the blanket- there you go." Kate kinda giggles- a breathy laugh escapes as she turns toward Gibbs and grins wide. He smiles back- then wider to you- and winks. To this day, it still gives you butterflies. 

Kate moves around the room- pacing in circles, bounces your son in the crook of her elbow, and quietly talks with Ducky. Tim comes in for a small hug. "Congrats, Mrs. Gibbs. You feel alright?" 

You scoff and pull him in with both arms. "I'm exhausted- I think Jet threatened someone for an epidural." 

You give him a peck on the cheek as he steps back, unfolding himself. Tim blushes pink and smiles. "Anything I can do? Food? Clothes?" You nearly start crying again. "I make a mean quiche, waffles too- Abby's can vouch for me-"

You laugh (Jethro's eyes light up at the sound, Tony notices.) "That sounds wonderful, Tim. Thank you, I mean it." 

He smiles, genuine, and you get the feeling sometimes Tony and Kate are a little hard on him. Then you remember how they rallied when he was in the hospital from a gunshot wound, and all those thoughts fade away. 

"McGee! Get over here!" Tony yells from across the room, gesturing with a plastic knife. 

Kate comes over to hand back Mike, but you gesture to Ducky. "Go ahead, Duck. I'm sure you've had your fair share of holding babies, don't make me lecture you." 

Ducky smile kindly (everyone seems to be smiling lately, and as cheesy as it sounds, it makes you happy. The my-heart-hurts-with-happiness way. You think the work is thankful, but even that seems too small of a word for what you feel.) Kate hands Mike over, carefully, slowly- his head fits neatly into the palm of her hand, where it waits until Ducky re-settles the blanket over him. 

Duckys' a natural- he sways with Mike and regals him with PG versions of his cases. Mike, sleepy and half-conscious, wiggles out of the blanket and wraps one of his teeny-tiny hands around the doctor's fingers. Abby and Kate coo and fold the blanket back over your son. They wiggle their own fingers at him, but Mike stays sound asleep, shifting minutely in Ducky's arms.

Tony comes in next for a one-armed, light hug. (You suspect Jet is behind that- you pull him in all the same. ) 

"Gibbs mentioned you were hungry," he gestures to the small table ladened with takeout boxes. "Said you were craving pasta." 

You pull him back for another, tighter hug, gifting him with a peck on the cheek too, "Thank you, Tony, that's really sweet of you." 

He blushes lightly, with a smug sort of look on his face. "You guys can keep the leftovers- McGee's idea."

You give his hand a squeeze instead of words, but he seems to get the idea, winking and holding up your shoulders while you sit up as Jet brings a plate over. He doesn't chastise Tony for his hand placement or the still-visible blush painted across his neck and cheeks, but you're more focused on the heavenly-smelling, rich, and sauce-loaded noodles being presented to you. 

You groan. "You are a saint, hun. Thank you." You grab the plate and fork with eager hands. Tony laughs and meanders off to grab a plate of his own while Jet sits on the side of your bed. He's got his own plate- carefully portioned and balanced on one knee as he catches a noodle falling off your fork and nearly onto the sheets. 

"Thanks," you reply with a mouthful, but it comes out more like a grunt. Jet gets the message anyway, smiling down at you. You're more at an even height now that you're sitting up, and you watch cheerfully as Ducky looks to you for permission to pass Mike to Abby. 

Tim and Kate are chatting quietly. They look over at you and Jet once and a while. (You get the sneaky suspicion you won't have to cook or do chores in the house for months.) Tony is still ladling noodles onto his plate, and you watch as he hands a similar one to Ducky. 

You didn't notice when they first entered- or maybe she was hiding it- but there's a little (not-so-little) bag sitting at Abby's feet as she takes Mike oh-so-gently from Ducky. You guess it might be something black- it'll contrast with his eyes, and you giggle internally at the thought. Abby sways over to Tony, rocking Mike in her arms- you think Tony calls him Giblet Number Two, and you roll your eyes playfully. 

It hits you suddenly how happy you are, nearly knocks you breathless as you watch everyone crowd around Abby as Mike opens his eyes. This is... wonderful. You don't have words for it: you have everything you can ask for and more, and Jethro seems to read your mind (as always.) He reaches down to squeeze your free hand, looking sideways through his eyelashes. "I'm proud of you, sweetheart." 

You smile tearily at him. "I know." 

[ncis-imagines-blog]

[chiefdirector]

(ailess) whumptober sneak peak

here are the first nine days of whumptober that are all ready and prepared to go.

> No.1 Oxygen | Evan Buckley

> No.2 Sleep | Bobby Nash & Evan Buckley

> No.3 Trust | Cisco Ramon

> No.4 Gut feelings | Tony Dinozzo

> No.5 Hopalong Cassidy | Aaron Hotchner / Spencer Reid

> No.6 (alt 29.) Home | Wanda Maximoff

> No.7 Forgiveness | Alex Karev

> No.8 (alt. 14) Human shield | Tim McGee

> No.9 Healing | Barry Allen

All works will be posted daily at 12pm (BST)

Let me know if you want to be tagged

[theoceanandthestars]

Stand By Your Man

A/N Inspired by the song ‘Stand By Your Man’ and a vanilla custard filled choux bun I had recently that I can’t stop thinking about. Apologies for any mistakes :)

Summary: After Parker, who your beginning to develop a crush on, discovers your hidden talent, you go undercover at a country bar to find a suspect.

Word Count: 2391

____________________________________________

You’d regretted revealing your hidden talent to Alden Parker the minute it had slipped from your lips. It was a moment of weakness on your part. You had initially rejected the agent as Gibbs’ replacement, you told yourself it was because he was too cheery and not as professional as Gibbs, but you knew that your resentment for Parker was, in reality, the manifestation of your sadness at Gibbs leaving and Parker taking his place meant that he really was gone. However, after a particularly hard case which ended with Parker offering you a vanilla custard filled choux bun from a bakery he had found on the drive back to the NCIS building. Your resentment had completely crumbled and amongst the praises for the pastry, in what you believe was a sugar induced moment of insanity, you had confessed your talent for singing to the older agent as a type of olive branch, who had been trying to encourage you to divulge a secret talent to him for the entirety of the case. The grin on his face was what immediately triggered a sense of regret within you, wishing that the pastries’ ability to loosen your lips hadn’t worked and it was that same grin that reignited that flame of regret within you 4 weeks later, when Parker told you that you would all be going undercover at a Country Bar. It was that grin that told you everything you needed to know in a matter of microseconds.

It was that grin that you could still see now as you were standing, dressed in a pair of jeans, a white flowy bell sleeved top and cowboy boots, being handed a microphone to go and sing on the stage of your suspect’s favourite hangout.

Parker had argued that it was imperative that the team could see every face within the bar in order to find the suspect and that the only way to truly do that was to have someone on stage and the rest of the team sat around the bar. You, on the other hand, had not felt the same and had rolled your eyes while Torres sniggered at your annoyance, promising to film the whole thing so he could torture you with it, following Parker’s divulgence of your talent to the rest of the team as well as his plan to catch the suspect. You had silently thanked McGee for not mentioning that he had in fact already heard you sing, (after an evening out drinking with him, DiNozzo and Bishop had led you all to a karaoke bar, which in turn had led to some very questionable renditions of many, many songs), not wanting to have to explain your karaoke too.

But as hard as you tried you couldn’t really be mad at Parker and truthfully you did think that Parker’s plan made sense, it was subtle, you could find the suspect without him realising you were looking for him and keep his attention away from whoever ended up grabbing him in the crowded bar.  Over the past four weeks you had softened to Parker, accepting that while he was replacing Gibbs in terms of his job, he was so different from him that he could never take his place. You liked to think of it as a different place, just as good as Gibbs but in different ways. Unfortunately for you during the past four weeks as well as coming to terms with Gibbs’ absence and Parker’s arrival, you had started to develop a crush on your boss. A crush you were almost certain he didn’t reciprocate.

You took a breath and shook your hair slightly before returning your mind back to your current situation, thanking the man who had handed you the microphone before the band began to play the song you had chosen to sing. As the music started to flow to your ears you calmed, the familiarity of the feeling settling in. It’s not that you hate singing in front of people, it’s more that you would rather just gouge your eyes out than have to sing in-front of your co-workers and boss/crush.

‘Sometimes its hard to be a woman’, the words flowed out your mouth effortlessly. As you continued, you shifted your focus from the words you were singing to the faces in the bar, scanning each one for the face of your suspect. However, after a few lines, you realised that there was no way you could get a clear read on half the faces in the bar without getting closer.

So, despite the resistance of every fibre of your being, you stepped of the stage and started to walk around the bar as you continued to sing. At first it was just a brush of your hand to someone’s shoulder so they would lift their gaze and you could see their face, but after a minute of singing you began to get bolder. As you continued to move around the room you found yourself sliding on the edge of the booth McGee was sat at, who like you had been searching for your suspect, and found yourself wrapping your arm over his right shoulder, directing the words of the song at him, and leaning your head on his other shoulder. This elicited a chuckle as he laughed softly at you. If you were being forced to do this, you were at least going to have some fun.

After moving away from McGee, you continued to make your way through the packed bar, the eyes of all the patrons now focused entirely on you, the words of the song falling effortlessly from your lips, and unbeknownst to you wowing the entire bar full of people, including your team. Unlike Jess, who had never doubted your ability to sing, Torres was in utter disbelief, still holding his phone recording you like he had promised, but now with the knowledge that there was very little to tease you with. McGee, on the other hand, was not surprised by your beautiful singing at all, after all, he had heard you sing drunk all those years go with him, Tony and Ellie and he knew if you sounded that good while that drunk, and you had all been very drunk, that sober your voice must be angelic.

Meanwhile, Parker’s gaze had stopped moving around the bar and instead fixed itself on you. When you had admitted to him that you could sing he had thought you would instantly take it back, and from the look on your face at the time he could tell you regretted it. He knew that you, like Torres, were having trouble adjusting to him taking over from Gibbs, but over the past few weeks both of you had been getting on very well. So well in fact, that he had developed somewhat of a crush on you, however, he also convinced himself that being your boss, as well as much older than you, made this crush entirely irresponsible and wrong, besides he was almost certain that you didn’t reciprocate it. In this moment though, he couldn’t take his eyes off you. He had been stunned into silence when he had first seen your outfit as you ran into the elevator which he had just gotten into, as you were about to go to the bar. The words he wanted to say, that you looked beautiful, had sat at the back of his throat and instead he opted for a smirkish smile as he told you he liked the outfit, to which you had rolled your eyes gently while chuckling softly, trying to hide the flush of your cheeks at the fact he had even commented on the outfit.  Now Parker was watching as you continued to move around the bar in his direction, admiring your voice and attempting to ignore the way his heart beat faster when you walked over to him as you sang, wrapping an arm over his shoulders as you placed yourself on his lap.

After singing a few lines of the song sitting on Parker’s lap, which was something you knew you would regret instantly the moment you did it, you forced yourself to get up and continue to search the bar as you sang. You were surprised for several reasons when you had sat on Parker’s lap. Firstly, you surprised yourself that you would do something that bold, but more importantly to you, you were surprised by Parker’s reaction, he had smiled at you, laughed softly and placed his arm around your waist, holding you close to him. An action you were sure had caused your heart to stop beating momentarily.

As you continued to sing you tried to shake the thoughts of Parker out of your mind, convincing yourself that he, like you, was undercover, he was just playing the role. Suddenly though you were snapped out of your spiralling as you caught sight of the man you had been searching for, who was staring at you. The suspect was sitting with another man, also looking directly at you. You moved over to them trying not to rush and maintain your cover.

As you reached them, you placed your hand on the man’s shoulder, turning to make eye contact with Nick, McGee, Jess and Parker, as you empathised the words of the song, ‘stand by your man’. You had chosen the song for this specific reason, that when you found the suspect, it would be easy to tell the team where he was. That and the fact that it was a short song and you didn’t want to have to sing longer than necessary.

After receiving nods from all the team, you removed your hand from his shoulder and walked back to the stage, with only a few lines left to sing. As you finished singing and the room burst into applause, the team quickly moved towards the man, their actions hidden from him by the applause, before grabbing and arresting him. The rest of the bar remained mostly oblivious thanks to the noise that was no being created.

You received a small rush from both the applause you received, and the relief that the suspect was now in custody. But as quickly as you had been handed the mic, you handed it back to the same man who had previously given it to you and rushed to the entrance of the bar to catch up with your team. As you left the bar and got outside the first thing you saw was Tim and Jess, who were putting the suspect into one of the cars, but you couldn’t see Parker or Torres. That was until you felt an arm wrap around your shoulders as Nick began to tell you how he was never actually going to tease you, which he definitely was going to do, and sang your praises. Eventually after he came down from the apparent high he was on after you singing, he jogged over to McGee, still giggling slightly, while you just shook your head and smiled.

Not a second later did Parker join you, after having disappeared somewhere, retuning with a box under his arm as he clapped softly, causing you to laugh and blush rather furiously.

‘When you told me you could sing, I assumed you could carry a tune, I didn’t expect you to have the voice of an angel.’

‘Thank you’ you blushed even more at his compliment, avoiding meeting his eyes, ‘just don’t think this will be a regular occurrence, I don’t think I could handle that’ you added pointedly.

He chuckled, ‘I don’t think it’ll be that easy, now they’ve heard you sing’, he gestured to the team, who were still chatting amongst themselves, occasionally glancing over at you and Parker, ‘they are going to try and get you to every chance they get’. This caused you both to chuckle.

‘Oh god’ you groaned, ‘I hadn’t thought of that’, eliciting yet another laugh from Parker, before he moved the box he had perched under his arm and held it in front of you.

‘But since you’ll probably never be given a break from this now, I got you this’ he stated opening the lid of the box to reveal one of the same vanilla custard filled choux buns he had given you all those weeks ago when you first confessed to him your talent.

Your eyes widened in excitement upon seeing the choux bun, taking it out the box and moaning as you took a bite of it. ‘This makes it all worth it’ you smiled, content with the pastry in your hand and completely touched by the gesture.

Meanwhile, by the van the other three agents continued to watch you and Parker after giving up on just sneaking glances at the pair of you.

‘Aww’ Jess cooed as they watched Parker give you the pastry he had bought especially for you, ‘Do you think they realise how much they like each other? Or just how obvious it is?’ she then asked the two men next to her.

‘Oh they have no clue’, answered Nick immediately, smirking as he watched you both.

‘Yeah they’re oblivious. I’m pretty sure they both think the other one doesn’t fell the same’ added Tim, returning his gaze to the two agents in front of him.

‘They’re the only ones who don’t see how much they like each other; I mean it’s pretty obvious to literally anybody else’ added Nick.

‘What’s obvious?’, you asked as you and Parker had made your way over to the three agents standing in a huddle as you continued to eat the choux bun in your hand. Jess and Tim looked like deer caught in headlights, but Nick began to smirk.

‘We were just saying how oblivious people can be sometimes’, looking directly at you and Parker who were both proving his point and being entirely oblivious, adorning expressions of confusion as he then added, ‘you know like the suspect, just sitting their not realising he was about to be arrested by the five agents in the bar.’

‘Oh right’

‘Yeah, that makes sense’.

Both yours and Parker’s answers were met with small giggles and nudges as you all began to move into the cars, which once again the pair of you where oblivious to.

Part 2?

[allthingsfangirl101]

Adorably Naive – Timothy McGee

McGee's POV

"Where is that warrant?!" Gibbs yelled, quickly losing his patience.

"Someone from legal should be. . ."

"I'm here!" Y/N ran into the squad room. "I got you a warrant for their house, garage, cars, and DNA. I wasn't sure if you wanted it for DNA but figured better safe than sorry."

Y/N jumped when Gibbs quickly pulled it out of her hand and headed to the elevator. DiNozzo and Bishop quickly followed him.

"Good work, Y/L/N," I said softly. "I know Gibbs doesn't say it out loud but he appreciates you and everything you do."

"McGee!" Gibbs yelled from the elevator.

"You better get going," she said, nodding towards the team. My stomach sank when she wrapped her arms around herself and walked back to her office. I grabbed my gear and ran to the elevator.

Thanks to Y/N's warrant, we found the murder weapon and were one step closer to arresting the murderer. I walked into the squad room and tossed my backpack on the ground.

"How'd it go?" Y/N asked.

"Good," I said, instantly smiling. "We got everything we needed. Even found the murder weapon in the car under the spare tire. Oh! And thanks to the DNA you added in, we tied him to a convenience store robbery from three years ago."

"That's good," she said as she reached up and tucked a piece of hair behind her ear.

"Yep," I chuckled. "Thanks to you."

"I have to be honest, Agent McGee," she said, suddenly looking away from me, "sometimes I feel like I don't do much here."

"Because Gibbs doesn't trust lawyers?" I laughed. I stopped laughing when I saw the look on her face. "I didn't mean. . ."

"I have work to do," she said quickly as she wrapped her arms around herself and walked away.

"But Y/N," I called after her. "I wasn't laughing at you. I was just. . ."

"Wow," DiNozzo elongated behind me. I turned around and was instantly greeted by his smirk.

"What?" I sighed.

"That poor girl." He shook his head and walked away. "We got a lead, McClueless. Let's go."

"I didn't mean anything by it," I mumbled to myself as I grabbed my gear and headed to the elevator.

"That's not what I meant, McNieve," DiNozzo said as we stepped into the elevator.

"Then what did you mean?" I sighed, quickly losing my patience.

He leaned in and whispered, "You really don't see it?"

"See what?" I asked slowly.

"He doesn't see it," Bishop laughed to herself.

"What. . ."

"When you three middle schoolers are done," Gibbs sighed, "we have a killer to catch."

The elevator stopped on the bottom floor, the doors opened, and Dinozzo and Bishop stepped out. Before leaving the elevator, Gibbs mumbled, "Everyone sees it but you, McGee. You might want to try looking for it."

"I don't even know what 'it' is," I mumbled.

* * * * *

Throughout the case, I kept thinking about the look on Y/N's face. I wasn't laughing at the fact that she thought she didn't do much around the office. I was laughing because of all she does to help us. We wouldn't be able to make any arrests if it wasn't for her. 

After we found what we needed and arrested our suspect, we headed back to NCIS. I walked into the squad room and saw Abby bouncing up and down on her toes.

"Are you going to say yes?!" Abby squealed.

"Yes to what?" I couldn't help but ask.

"You know that new agent? Agent Dwayne Wilson?"

"Abby," Y/N whispered.

"He's the one who helped us on the case where the guys robbed a bank to cover up killing another guy's dad," I said slowly. "But why would you be saying yes to him?"

"Well, the thing is he. . ."

"He asked her out!!" Abby squealed extra loudly.

"Who asked who out?" DiNozzo asked, joining the conversation.

"Agent Dwayne Wilson asked Y/N out to dinner," Abby giggled like a schoolgirl.

"Way to go, Dwayne," DiNozzo chuckled.

"He's cute!" Bishop giggled as she walked over to the girls.

"Make sure he treats you right, Y/L/N," DiNozzo smirked. "If he doesn't, let us know and we'll kick his ass."

"You don't need to get kick anyone's ass," Y/N said with a small laugh.

"Still," Bishop shrugged. "We'll do it. Right, McGee?"

"Of course," I stuttered, unable to look away from Y/N who was avoiding me.

"Do we have to talk about this?" Y/N asked, her voice soft. "I don't even know if. . ."

Y/N paused when she finally looked at me and our eyes met. The tension between us all of a sudden changed. She cleared her throat and quickly looked away.

"I don't know if I'm going to say yes," she said, her voice changing. "And I really don't want to talk about it with you guys."

DiNozzo and Bishop walked over to me as soon as Y/N walked away. Abby chased after her.

"What?" I asked.

"You're an idiot," DiNozzo said before walking to his desk.

"What is he referring to?" I asked Bishop.

"He's referring to the fact that you're an idiot," she shrugged as she ran and caught up with Y/N.

"How am I being an idiot?!" I asked even though neither one of them was listening anymore. I gasped when Gibbs walked up and hit me across the back of the head. "Boss, what was that for?"

"It was for being naive, McGee," Gibbs said simply.

"Naive. . ."

Gibbs looked over my shoulder and I followed his eyes to see him staring at Y/N talking to Abby and Bishop. I turned back to him and asked, "Y/N? What am I. . ."

"Don't waste time, Tim," Gibbs said, his tone slightly changing. "You never know how much you have."

Gibbs went to his desk and I sat there, watching as Y/N, Abby, and Bishop headed toward her office. I sat at my desk and thought about Y/N. We met when I went down to the legal department to get a search warrant. I bumped into Y/N and made her spill the files in her hand. I spent twenty minutes helping her organize the mess. Whenever we need a warrant, I always go to Y/N. She usually delivers it to us instead of emailing or calling us, telling us that it's ready.

I spent the rest of the day thinking about Y/N. I had reports to fill out but I focused on Y/N. To be honest, she was the only lawyer I trusted. She made me ignore Gibbs's rule about not trusting lawyers.

Eventually, everyone went home. I slowly started packing up my stuff but froze when I saw Y/N heading towards the elevator. As she hit the button, I heard Gibbs's voice in my head.

"Don't waste time, Tim. You never know how much you have."

As soon as the doors opened, I ran to catch up to her. I heard Y/N gasp when I slipped through the elevator doors as they closed.

"Agent McGee," she said, still surprised. "Are you. . . You're really in a rush to go home, huh?"

"What?" I stuttered. "No. I was just. . ." When I couldn't think of anything to say, I reached over and hit the elevator button.

"Tim," Y/N said slowly, "what are you doing?"

"I need to talk to you."

"Okay," she said, her voice shaky. "It's just. . . I don't do well in confined places for long. My claustrophobia kicks in and it gets hard to breathe."

"Oh," I gasped. I quickly turned and flipped the elevator back on. "I'm sorry, Y/N. I didn't know."

I held my breath and waited as Y/N caught hers. She looked at me and let out a small giggle when she saw the look on my face.

"We can still talk," she chuckled.

"Are you sure?" I asked softly.

"As long as the elevator is moving, I'm fine," she said, smiling weakly at me. "So, you wanted to talk?"

"Everyone keeps telling me I'm being naive," I started before I could rethink this. "I have been searching through every part of my brain to figure out why I was being naive and what I was missing. The only hint my team has given me is you."

"Me?" Y/N stuttered. Just then, the elevator doors opened. I grabbed her hand and led her out of the office and to the coffee chart. Instead of ordering, we sat down on a nearby bench.

"What am I missing, Y/N?" I asked her. "Please tell me what it is."

"It's kinda. . . I mean. . . It's complicated," she finally got out.

"How so?"

"Because," she hesitated, "if you don't feel the same then it's going to make things horribly awkward."

It took me longer than I would like to admit to figure out what it was that I was being naive about.

"Oh," I whispered.

"See?" She said, forcing a laugh. "Now it's horribly awkward."

She started to get up, but I grabbed her hand and stopped her. She still didn't look at me until I said, "I didn't say that I don't feel the same."

"You. . ."

I leaned in and gently pressed my lips to hers. I broke the kiss before she could begin to kiss me back.

"I'm sorry I was so naive," I whispered, our faces inches apart. I finally noticed the blush on her face as she tried to wrap her head around everything.

"It's okay," she whispered. "It's kind of adorable when you're naive."

[sarcasticsweetlara]

I need to get this out of my system, but...

Do you imagine how it would be if one of McGee's twins was interested in Tali once they grow up?

Like the Dinozzo-David family comes back to US, and even if they had kept in contact with the McGee-Fielding family, Tali and John/Morgan can't help but feel drawn to each other now that they see themselves as grown-ups.

Like, imagine Tony's reaction to McGee's child being interested in his precious daughter? And the advices McGee would give them.

And Delilah and Ziva's amusement at their children being head over heels for one another and using their fathers' tactics.

[silverstar70]

Fandom: NCIS Character: Alden Parker & Jessica Knight (father/daughter relationship)

Author’s note: English is not my first language so I apologize for any mistakes. I love their relationship so much so I wrote this!

Warnings: father/daughter relationship, Jess teases Parker about his love life.

Summary: On the way back to the office, Jess teases Parker about Dr. Clara Logan. The conversation leads to a more hearth-to-hearth one. Set after the end of episode 8 of season 21.

Words: 4,768k

You deserve to be happy

The road stretched ahead, illuminated by the warm glow of streetlights that flickered on as dusk faded into night. Jess sat in the passenger seat of Parker's car, her eyes occasionally flicking toward him as he focused on driving. He gripped the steering wheel with one hand, his other resting comfortably on the armrest.

Parker could feel her eyes on him. He knew she was waiting for the right moment to strike with a teasing comment. He didn’t need to look at her to sense the grin that was creeping across her face.

He sighed softly. At first, he had hesitated to get close to her, unsure if they would ever find common ground. She was fiery, independent, and at times reckless. He was methodical, calculated, and approached everything with the calm reserve of someone who had seen too much in his life. But somehow, their differences had meshed in unexpected ways.

“You’re thinking too hard, Parker,” Jess said, cutting through the quiet.

He smirked. “Am I now?”

“Yup. Your face always gets that look when you’re brooding.”

Parker shot her a sideways glance. “I don’t brood.”

Jess chuckled. “Yeah, okay, sure. You don’t brood, you ‘think deeply.’ Got it.”

He let her comment roll off him like water off a duck’s back, focusing again on the road ahead. The last few days had been exhausting, the neck pain and being kidnapped didn’t help either. The last thing he wanted was to think about Knight’s teasing comments. But she had other plans.

Jess’s body language had shifted in the past few minutes. He wasn’t sure what she was going to say, but he had a feeling it would be one of those moments that forced him to confront something he didn’t particularly want to.

“So,” Jess finally broke the silence again, her voice casual, but Parker could hear the underlying intent. “Clara.”

Parker’s eyebrows rose slightly, but he didn’t take the bait right away. “What about her?”

Jess shrugged, feigning nonchalance, though Parker knew her better than that by now. “Nothing. She just seems like a good person. Intelligent, brave, funny.”

“She is,” Parker admitted after a moment, his eyes still fixed on the road.

Jess bit her lip to keep from smiling too wide. She could practically feel Parker’s discomfort radiating off him, which only fueled her teasing spirit more. “Mmm.”

Parker sighed. “Knight…”

“She seems to have joined the Alden Parker fan club,” Jess continued as if he hadn’t spoken, her tone dripping with playful amusement.

This time, Parker couldn’t help but roll his eyes, his lips twitching in a small, reluctant smile. “Again with this?”

Jess grinned, her arms crossing over her chest as she leaned back in her seat, clearly enjoying the way she could get under his skin. “Oh c’mon, Parker. Women like you. There’s nothing wrong with that. Besides, she’s totally your type. You should ask her out.”

“I don’t have a type,” Parker muttered, his voice tinged with exasperation. This wasn’t the first time Jess had brought up the subject; he had hoped she would have dropped it by now.

“Oh please, you totally do,” Jess said, laughing as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

He shot her a glance. “Enlighten me.”

Jess didn’t even hesitate. “Vivian, Joy, the Senator, Clara. They all have one thing in common: they’re strong women. You’re drawn to them.”

Parker didn’t respond right away, his face betraying nothing as he stared out at the dark road ahead. But Jess knew him well enough by now to know that his silence meant he was considering her words. He wasn’t one to react immediately, preferring instead to mull over things in that quiet, Parker-like way of his.

After a few more moments, Jess sighed softly. “Look, there’s nothing wrong with it, you know. You respect them, they respect you. That’s not a bad thing.”

Parker’s lips twitched, and the faintest smile finally broke through. “Is this your way of giving me dating advice, Knight?”

Jess shrugged, still smiling. “Someone’s gotta do it. Seriously, though, you could do worse.”

Parker chuckled softly, shaking his head. “Yeah, I’ll keep that in mind.”

The two fell into silence again, and Parker continued to focus on the road, but her words were running through his mind and maybe, just maybe, she wasn’t that wrong after all. Knight always had a way of getting under his skin, but it was always rooted in something deeper. From the beginning, she had seen through his gruff exterior, recognizing that beneath it was someone who cared deeply, even if he didn’t show it in traditional ways.

They’d been driving for about fifteen minutes when Parker’s stomach began to growl. He hadn’t eaten anything since breakfast that morning and now it was past midnight, and he was starving. They decided to pull over at a small roadside diner. The neon sign flickered, casting a dim glow over the otherwise quiet lot.

Jess rubbed her stomach with a dramatic sigh as they walked toward the door. “I swear, if I don’t eat something soon, I’m going to pass out.”

Parker chuckled, shaking his head. “You’re that hungry?”

Jess shot him a look. “I haven’t eaten since lunch. And you had been kidnapped so I guess you haven’t eaten since this morning.”

Parker shrugged as if that was normal. “I’ve had coffee.”

“That’s not food,” Jess shot back. “You’re worse than Gibbs.”

“Don’t compare me to Gibbs,” Parker said, a half-smile forming on his face. “I eat.”

Jess smirked, passing past him as he was holding the door open for her. “Uh-huh, sure. You eat… maybe once a day.”

Inside, the diner was cozy in that small-town kind of way. The smell of greasy burgers and coffee hung in the air as they took a seat at one of the booths near the window. The waitress came by quickly, leaving menus before disappearing to check on another table.

Jess flipped through the menu absentmindedly, but Parker noticed her eyes kept drifting back to him. He sighed, sensing she wasn’t quite done with her teasing yet.

“You’re still thinking about Clara, aren’t you?” he asked, not even bothering to look up from his own menu.

Jess smirked. “Maybe.”

Parker set his menu down and leaned back in his seat, leveling her with a calm but knowing look. “You’re not going to let this go, are you?”

“Parker, come on,” Jess said, resting her elbows on the table and leaning forward slightly. “I’m just saying… it wouldn’t kill you to try.”

Parker’s expression softened, and for a moment, Jess thought he might actually take her advice. But then he shook his head, his eyes drifting out the window as if the answer lay somewhere in the distance.

“I don’t know,” he said quietly. “I’ve got too much going on right now. The team… this job… I don’t have time to think about that kind of stuff.”

Jess tilted her head, her expression turning more serious. “Parker, you can’t just bury yourself in the job forever. I mean, look at Gibbs. He moved to Alaska to be happy and find peace.”

Parker frowned, clearly not loving the comparison. “Gibbs is a different man.”

“Yeah, but you’re walking a similar path,” Jess countered. “You care about us, about the team. You put everything into it. But what about you? When’s the last time you did something for yourself?”

Parker didn’t answer right away, and she knew she had hit a nerve. Yes, he had his hobbies and Risiko’s game on Saturdays with his father, but after that, he had nothing, no one but the team and the job. Jess didn’t push, though. She let the silence settle between them, giving him the space to think.

Finally, Parker let out a deep breath and leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table and rubbing his hands together slowly. “It’s not that simple, Knight. Things… things get complicated. And sometimes, it’s easier not to deal with them.”

Jess studied him for a moment, her heart softening at the sight of him so vulnerable, even if just for a second. Parker rarely opened up, and when he did, it was usually in small, measured doses. But this—this was real. This was him letting her in, even if only a little.

“I get that,” she said softly. “I really do. But I’m not saying you have to marry her, Parker. Just give it a try, it might surprise you. Maybe she’s the right kind of strong woman for you.”

Parker arched an eyebrow. “The right kind of strong woman?”

Jess grinned. “Yeah. The kind that challenges you, makes you better.”

Parker’s expression softened. There was something in Jess’s tone that reminded him of the quiet wisdom she often tried to hide behind her sarcasm.

“You sound like my therapist,” Parker said dryly, though his eyes were warm.

Jess laughed. “Maybe I should’ve gone into psychology instead of law enforcement.”

The waitress came by, taking their orders: Parker went with a burger, fries, and, of course, coffee while Jess ordered waffles and a banana milkshake. When the waitress left, Jess leaned back, studying him.

“You know,” Jess said after a while, her voice thoughtful, “you’re not exactly the lone wolf you think you are.”

Parker glanced at her, a little caught off guard. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, you act like you’re all ‘I work alone, I don’t need anybody,’ but, like I said, you care about the team.”

Parker’s brow furrowed slightly. “I never said I didn’t care.”

“Yeah, but you don’t show it all the time,” Jess replied, her tone serious but not accusatory. “You think you’re doing us a favor by keeping your distance, but really, it just makes us worry about you.”

Parker let her words sink in, unsure how to respond. Jess was right, as much as he hated to admit it. He had built walls, not because he didn’t care, but because he cared too much. It was easier to focus on the job, on the mission, than to get close to people and risk losing them even though he knew something changed in the past few years.

“You’re like a dad to me, you know that?” Jess said quietly, breaking the silence.

Parker’s chest tightened. He didn’t say anything for a moment, the weight of her words hitting him harder than he expected. He wasn’t sure how to respond to that.

Jess noticed his hesitation and quickly tried to lighten the mood. “I mean, you’re grumpy, you lecture me, you never let me have any fun. Classic dad behavior.”

Parker chuckled, though there was a lump in his throat. “I’m not that bad.”

Jess smirked. “Oh, you are. But it’s okay. I’m used to it by now.” There was a beat of silence, and then Jess’s voice softened again. “Seriously, though. You’ve looked out for me in ways I didn’t even realize I needed. And I know you do that for the whole team. It means a lot.”

Their order was placed in front of them just in time to clear the air from the weight of their revelation. Not that it was a bad thing what they said but they were both too tired to continue on that note. They eat their meal in comfortable silence that Jess broke again after a while, her voice light and teasing once more. “So… Clara.”

Parker groaned audibly, causing Jess to burst into laughter. “We were having a nice moment, Knight. Why’d you have to ruin it?”

Jess grinned, completely unrepentant. “Because I’m right. And you know I’m right.”

She was right, about everything but she dropped the argument to focus on the full plate of waffles with blueberries and whipped cream in front of her. Parker watched her eating for a moment with a grin on his face, he knew waffles were her comfort food after a long day or a tough case. When the plate was put in front of her her eyes widened with excitement like a kid on Christmas morning unwrapping the gifts under the tree.

Jess shot him a look, narrowing her eyes as she noticed his gaze. “What?”

“Nothing,” he said innocently, though the grin on his face said otherwise. He quickly dismissed the subject, taking a bite of his burger but keeping his eyes on her. They fell into a comfortable silence again, finishing their food as the hum of the diner surrounded them. Parker couldn’t help but glance at Jess every now and then, watching her as she devoured her waffles with the kind of joy that made him smile.

Once they finished, Parker paid the check, and they were out to head back to the car. The highway stretched before them once again, endless and dark, but the quiet companionship filled the space. Parker’s thoughts wandered back to Clara and Jess’s teasing.

“Why do you care so much about my love life?” Parker asked after a while, his tone casual but curious.

Jess smirked, not missing a beat. “Because it’s nonexistent and that’s tragic.”

Parker chuckled, shaking his head. “Maybe I’m content with how things are.”

Jess snorted. “Content, sure. But happy? I don’t think so.”

Parker gave her a sideways glance. “And you think a relationship is going to fix that?”

Jess shrugged, popping a piece of candy into her mouth. “Maybe not ‘fix,’ but it could help. You deserve someone, Parker. You’ve got too much good in you to just… waste it all on the job.”

Parker’s face softened at her words, but he didn’t reply right away. He wasn’t used to talking about himself like this, especially not about his personal life—or lack thereof.

Parker sighed, running a hand through his hair. “Maybe. But it’s complicated.”

Jess chuckled softly. “Everything’s complicated with you.”

He smiled slightly, but his mind was elsewhere, drifting back to what Jess had said about him being like a dad to her. He hadn’t really thought about it in those terms before, but now that she’d put it out there, he couldn’t shake it.

“You really think of me like that?” he asked quietly, surprising himself with the question.

Jess blinked, caught off guard by the vulnerability in his voice. She shifted in her seat, sitting up straighter as she looked at him. “Like what?”

“Like a dad,” Parker said, his eyes focused on the road ahead. “You said I’m like a dad to you.”

Jess hesitated for a moment, not because she didn’t know the answer, but because she hadn’t expected him to take it so seriously. She thought back to all the times Parker had looked out for her—those small, subtle moments when he’d checked in on her after a rough case or made sure she was eating during long hours in the field. He wasn’t showy about it, wasn’t the type to give big speeches or emotional pep talks, but he was always there, steady and reliable.

“Yeah,” she said softly, her voice more sincere than before. “I mean it. You’re always looking out for me… for all of us, really.”

Parker’s heart swelled, but he kept his focus on the road, not trusting himself to meet her gaze. “Don’t get me wrong I love my dad; I’d love to spend more time with him but it’s just…I always feel like I letting him down. And then you say something like ‘You did a good job’ or ‘You’re a great team’, ‘I’m proud of you’ and I wish that my father could be more like you from time to time.”

Parker finally glanced over at her, surprised by how much she was sharing. Before he could say something, she continued. “This team is a family, and Gibbs was a father figure to everyone. But I didn’t work with him long enough to consider him as such. So, when you joined the team and we started bonding over being the last ones to arrive, the movies we both like, and the sweet tooth for pastries you turned out to be for me what Gibbs was to the others.”

Parker felt his heart swell in a way that was both painful and comforting. He hadn’t realized how much he needed to hear that—how much he had come to care about Jess, not just as a colleague, but as family.

“I never had kids,” Parker said softly, surprising himself with the admission. It wasn’t something he talked about often, if at all. “I always thought maybe one day I would,” Parker continued, his voice low. “But life… it didn’t work out that way.”

Jess didn’t say anything, letting him talk. She could sense this was something he needed to get off his chest. “This team is a gift that keeps on giving and it’s good to work with people who look after you. I earned a family I didn’t know I needed. And I feel the same way about you, Knight. You’re the daughter I never had.”

Jess felt a warmth spread through her chest as a smile formed on her face. She’d always sensed that Parker cared about her, but hearing him say it, hearing him admit it out loud, meant more than she could put into words. She cleared her throat, trying to keep the emotion out of her voice.

Admitting it out loud was a shock for Parker too, he had never been too vocal about his feelings but after Knight shared hers it was only fair for him to do the same. He hadn’t been so attached to a partner since Jeremy and sometimes this still scared him, being so close to the team scared him because he would never be able to forgive himself if something bad happened to any of them.

Back at the NCIS headquarters, the night had settled into a calm routine. The bullpen was mostly empty, save for a few agents finishing up paperwork. Parker and Jess sat at their desks, the soft glow of computer screens casting a faint light over their tired faces as they filled out reports from the case.

Parker leaned back in his chair, rubbing the bridge of his nose. Paperwork was never his favorite part of the job, but it had to be done. Near him, Jess typed away, her focus sharp despite the long day. She’d been uncharacteristically quiet since they returned from the diner, but the mischievous glint in her eyes was still there.

He glanced over at her, finding himself thinking about their conversation once again. Parker knew he was not gonna see the end of her teasing until he called Clara. He was never going to admit to her, or to anyone, but he already thought about calling Clara in the morning to know about her wrist. But deep down there was another reason to call her; she intrigued him and he was actually interested in knowing her more.

He shook his head, a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth, incredulous of what he was about to say. "Alright,"

"Alright, what?”

“I’ll call her,” he said, sounding defeated but with a hint of amusement. “I’ll call Clara.”

Jess’s eyes lit up. “Really?”

Parker sighed. “Yeah, really. But don’t make a big deal out of it, okay?”

Jess grinned triumphantly as she had just won a prize. “I knew you’d come around!”

Just as Jess was about to tease him further, Torres and McGee walked into the squad room, both holding cups of coffee and clearly in good spirits. Torres immediately zeroed in on the look of discomfort on Parker’s face.

“What’s going on here?” Torres asked, raising an eyebrow as he took a seat at his desk.

McGee, ever observant, glanced between Parker and Jess, his curiosity piqued. “Yeah, what’s up?”

Jess couldn’t resist. She leaned back in her chair, crossing her arms with a smug grin. “Parker’s going to call Clara.”

Torres' eyes widened in surprise “Wait—Doctor Clara Logan? The one who’s totally into you?”

Parker rolled his eyes. “She’s not ‘into me.’”

“Oh, she’s totally into you,” McGee said with a knowing smirk. “It was obvious earlier in her room.”

“We saw the way she was looking at you, Parker.” teased Torres. “And how you were looking at her,” added in a much lower tone, hoping Parker wouldn’t hear it.

Parker groaned, rubbing a hand over his face, knowing that now that McGee and Torres joined the tease it would be a matter of time before Kasei and Jimmy would join too.

“Right,” McGee said, snapping his fingers. "She is totally your type, man.”

Parker looked around at the three of them, knowing he was outnumbered. He wasn’t going to get out of this without some serious ribbing.

“I don’t have a type,” he muttered, though the argument sounded weak even to him.

“Oh, you definitely have a type,” McGee said, chuckling. “Vivian, Joy, the Sen-“

This conversation was starting to sound too familiar to Parker. “Okay, I get it.” he raised his hands in surrender, interrupting Tim. “I do have a type. I’ll call her tomorrow to check in on how she’s doing. No big deal.”

Torres leaned back in his chair, kicking his feet up on the desk with a smug grin. “You know, Parker, I’ve got some tips for the first date if you need them. I’m pretty smooth with the ladies.”

Parker, busy pretending to focus on his computer, muttered, “I’m fine, Nick. It’s just a call, nothing more.”

“Yet,” Jess chimed in from her desk, not even bothering to hide her smirk.

Parker turned slowly toward Jess, raising an eyebrow. “You’re liking this too much, Knight.”

Jess shrugged, leaning back in her chair with a self-satisfied grin. “What can I say? Seeing you squirm is one of life’s small joys.”

Torres, not one to let a moment like this pass, leaned forward, his grin widening. “Come on, Parker. This is a big deal. When was the last time you even went on a date? Or made a ‘just a call,’ as you’re putting it?”

Parker exhaled, rubbing the back of his neck. “I don’t see how that’s any of your business, Nick.”

“Oh, but it is. We’re a team. Your love life is basically my entertainment at this point.”

McGee chuckled from his desk. “Yeah, Nick’s just trying to live vicariously through you, Parker. He hasn’t been on a real date since... well, ever.”

“Excuse me?” Torres shot back, feigning offense. “I’ll have you know I’m a catch. I could be out on a date right now, but I choose to be here, working hard for justice. You know, priorities.”

Parker gave him a deadpan look. “Right.”

Ignoring Parker’s sarcasm, Torres leaned toward Jess, eyes sparkling with curiosity. “So, really—how did you get him to agree? This is Parker we’re talking about.”

Jess crossed her arms, her grin growing wider as she leaned back. “I wore him down. It’s a gift.”

Torres laughed, nodding in approval. “I respect that. Man, if I ever need to break him, I’m calling you in, Jess.”

McGee, still typing away at his keyboard but clearly listening, added, “Oh, I believe that. Parker, you never stood a chance.”

Parker shook his head, sighing in mock defeat. “I’m surrounded by children.”

Jess snickered. “You love us.”

Parker gave her a sideways glance, his expression softening. “Yeah, unfortunately.”

McGee finally stopped typing and leaned back in his chair, arms crossed over his chest. “So, what’s your game plan for this ‘call’ tomorrow? Casual check-in, or are you going to pull the ‘accidental second date setup’?”

Parker blinked. “What?”

“You know,” McGee explained, “you start off by asking about her wrist, make some small talk, then—oh, what a coincidence—she mentions something she wants to do once she’s out of the hospital, and bam! You casually suggest joining her.”

Jess chimed in, nodding enthusiastically. “Oh, yeah, that’s the classic move. And Parker, you’ve got the whole 'I'm a cool, laid-back guy' thing going for you, so you’ll play it off perfectly. ‘Oh, you’re into museums? Funny, I was just thinking about going to one myself.’”

“Or,” Torres interjected, leaning forward with a serious expression, “you could just skip all the small talk and hit her with the Parker charm. Tell her you’re interested in more than her wrist.”

Parker shot Torres an exasperated look. “That’s terrible advice, Nick.”

“Yeah, well, works for me,” Torres said with a cocky shrug.

McGee glanced over at him, eyebrows raised. “Does it, though?”

Torres huffed, giving McGee a look of mock offense. “Hey, you don’t know what happens off the clock, McGee.”

“I have a pretty good idea,” McGee shot back with a grin. “You’re still single.”

Jess laughed, her gaze moving back to Parker. “Don’t listen to them. Just be yourself. You’ve got this.”

Torres crossed his arms, nodding in agreement. “Exactly. You’ve got the mysterious, rugged, older guy thing going for you. Women eat that up.”

Parker sighed heavily, rubbing his temples. “Remind me why I let any of you into my personal life again?”

“Because we’re your family,” Jess said sweetly, batting her eyelashes at him. “And because deep down, you love us. Admit it.”

Parker shook his head, though a smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. “You’re all insufferable.”

McGee smirked, closing his laptop and getting up from his desk. “Well, I’ll leave you to it, Parker. Good luck with Clara.”

“Thanks,” Parker muttered, already regretting the decision to tell them anything.

Torres, standing and grabbing his jacket, grinned as he made his way toward the elevator. “Hey, remember—confidence is key. Just don’t be too smooth, or she’ll see right through it.”

Jess chuckled, watching Torres and McGee leave before turning back to Parker, her tone softening slightly. “Seriously, though—you’ll do fine. She likes you.”

Parker sighed, running a hand through his hair as the squad room grew quieter. “Yeah, we’ll see.”

Jess stood up and grabbed her own jacket, draping it over her arm. “And if all fails, you can blame me.”

Parker shook his head, chuckling softly. “Oh, trust me, I already do.”

Jess smirked, walking toward the elevator. “You’re welcome.”

As they stepped into the elevator together, Parker glanced over at Jess, a quiet smile settling on his face. He didn’t say it out loud, but he appreciated how much she pushed him, even when it was uncomfortable. She had a way of keeping him grounded and making him realize that sometimes, it was okay to let people in.

The elevator doors slid shut, and the soft hum filled the silence between them. Just before the doors closed completely, Parker broke the stillness.

“Thank you, Jess.” His voice low, barely above a whisper. “I mean it.”

Jess turned to him, her expression softening at his words. A genuine smile spread across her face. “I’m returning the favor. For that talk, you had with my father a few weeks ago.”

Parker raised an eyebrow, surprised. “You know about that?”

Jess nodded, her eyes twinkling. “He told me. Said you gave him a lot to think about. Helped him come around.”

Parker looked away for a moment, humbled by the thought that he’d made a difference. “I just wanted to make sure he knew how proud he should be of you.”

Jess smiled wider, feeling a warmth in her chest that she rarely let show. “Well, it meant a lot to me.”

The elevator descended in comfortable silence into the building's parking lot, the ding signaling its arrival at its stop. As the elevator doors slid open, they stepped out into the quiet parking garage. The cool air greeted them as they walked side by side toward their cars.

Without a word, Parker veered slightly in the opposite direction of his car, accompanying her to hers. It was something he did often, a quiet gesture of protection, though he knew she didn’t need protection. Jess noticed, of course, but she didn’t call him out on it. Not tonight.

When they reached her car, Parker paused, his hands stuffed in his pockets. He gave her a small, almost fatherly smile.

“Goodnight, kid,” he said softly, the warmth in his voice unmistakable.

Jess smiled back, feeling that familiar sense of safety Parker always managed to provide. “Goodnight, Parker.”

He lingered for a moment, watching as she got into her car and started the engine. With one last nod, Parker turned and made his way to his own vehicle, the faint echo of his footsteps accompanying him into the quiet night.

[writeandsurvive]

Author's note: I liked this idea at first and I still do, but I'm not I did a good job at writing it. Sorry if it's not great.

Summary: You always respected rule 12, until you couldn't anymore

Warnings: angst and comfort, 'normal' ncis stuff, mostly based on ep 20x14 'old wounds', ex/booty call, jealousy, Alden being a dick to the team, happy!Gibbs in Alaska

Damaged Goods ~ Alden Parker

You've always respected Gibbs' rules, they actually became a code for you to live by. And Rule 12 - never date a coworker - was in your top 3, because you saw how bad it could turn. You saw Gibbs and Jenny having this strange connection, Tony and Ziva invading each other's lives but never being able to be together until very recently (let's be honest, it can only work because they left the agency), and lately Nick and Ellie. Lots of struggles and heartbreak. The only exception being your friends from LA, Kensi and Deeks. Every rule needs its exception, and since they had this spot, you knew it wouldn't work for you.

And surprisingly, you did pretty well all those years. Never dated someone from the office, nor even a federal agent. You never even had a crush on someone from NCIS.

But that was before.

Before him.

Alden Parker.

At first, you told yourself it was just some kind of attraction because let's be honest, this man is incredibly gorgeous. Knowing you'd never act on it - and Alden didn't seem to feel the same anyways - you decided to call your booty call a little more often; someone you actually dated a while back, with whom it didn't really work but the sex was amazing. You're a human with needs after all.

The team knew Joel, except for the two new additions, Alden and Jess. So when J dropped you off at work after a night at his place and kissed you goodbye under Alden's eyes, he immediately assumed it was your boyfriend, which you didn't see the point of denying.

Seeing Joel more regularly worked for a while, until it didn't. Spending more and more time with Alden, discovering about him and all those things he loves, seeing him take care of his plants like a dad, bringing pastries almost everyday, showing love and support to the team,... You weren't just attracted to him, you were developing feelings for him.

When a case involved his ex-wife Vivian, you realized how bad you had it. You felt jealous about how he still cared for her, thinking he may still be in love with this woman. And you were just envious of Vivian for being married to this man for ten years. How could she let him go, you'll never understand.

Despite the way you felt towards her, you offered support to Alden when she got shot. Showing up at the hospital with food as she was still in surgery, you told him he could count on you if he needed anything. It took you by surprise when he reached for a hug as a thank you, you didn't have time to appreciate it, his body against yours, his arms around you, his smell right up in your nose. It was all over too soon.

For weeks after this event, he never talked about Vivian again, so you convinced yourself she got back to her life and nothing was going on between them. You were relieved and happy.

Meanwhile, you kept seeing Joel, and he asked you to be his date at a family wedding. You had no reasons to refuse. But working for NCIS being what it is, you had to change and prepare yourself at the office. Jess and Kasie helped you with hair and make up, and allowed you to leave only when they were satisfied with their work. Walking back to the bullpen, you immediately spotted Joel talking with the boys. He looked very handsome in his fancy suit, but your eyes quickly fell on Alden who was already staring at you. You shyly smiled but he turned his face. When you finally reached them, Nick whistled at you. "Looking hot, mama!" You giggled and thanked him.

"Wouldn't say it that way, but Torres is right!" Tim agreed.

"Why thank you very much, Timmy."

You looked back at Alden's desk but it was empty. He had disappeared. Shaking off the deception - you'd have loved to know what he thought - you focused on Joel, who grabbed your hand and made you spin. "You're gonna outstage the bride." He then gently kissed your lips and that was when you saw Alden again from the corner of your eyes, upstairs, near the MTAC entrance. Fucking Houdini. His face was unreadable.

When you came back to the office on Monday, things with Alden had changed. He got distant with you, teaming you up with everyone but him, not getting interested in your free time anymore, and barely answering when you got interested in him and his life.

You couldn't help but get hurt at his behavior. And your defense mechanism was to hurt back, so you ignored him even more. If you told him three sentences a day, it was a miracle and it was strictly about work. Moreover, you were back to calling him 'Parker' or 'Sir', after switching to 'Alden' months prior. Maybe you were being petty, but you couldn't bring yourself to care.

What hurt the most was when Parker invited the team for game night at his place, and you only heard about it by Kasie. "What do you mean you're not invited?"

"I mean I didn't get an invite, a question, a text, a call, or a damn pigeon."

"I'm sure he counted you in anyways. We're a small group, he knew it'd reach you."

"Doesn't matter, I'm not going."

Somehow, by the end of that day, Alden stopped you in the hallways. "Hey, are you coming tonight or not?"

You stared at him for a second before laughing sarcastically, "Kasie scares you that much?"

"Look, I just assumed you'd spend the night with Jonas--"

"Joel." You corrected, arms crossed over your chest.

"Joel, right. But anyways, I didn't think you'd want to come, so--"

"You assumed wrong, Parker. Very wrong. But I don't want your pity invite, so I'll not be there." You started to walk away from him but he was quick to grab your arm and make you face him again.

"I'm sorry. It was wrong of me. I let my --" he sighed. "I shouldn't have assumed. And I'd really like it if you would come to game night at my place."

Alden really looked apologetic and sincere. All you wanted to do was say yes after asking him why he had been acting like this with you. No, the complete truth was that all you wanted was to close the gap and kiss the life out of his man. You wanted his hands and mouth on you, his cock inside you, his noises in your ear.

You never felt this way before, and it scared the shit out of you.

"Too late, I made plans with Jonas." This time he let you leave.

It was a big fat lie though. You spent the night alone in your apartment, drinking, and feeling sorry for yourself. And before you knew it, you were booking a plane ticket to Alaska for the following weekend. You didn't tell anyone you were going to visit Gibbs. All they knew was that you requested your Friday and Monday off to leave town. Of course, everybody assumed it meant a little getaway with Joel.

It felt amazing to see Gibbs after months, and you were so glad to see how well and peaceful he looked. He showed you his new place, took you around this little town he called home - it didn't take long -, he took you on a boat ride, and fishing. Photography being one of your hobbies, you spent lots of time snapping anything that caught your eye. At night, you'd eat his infamous steak, and have a drink on his porch, facing the lake and mountains. "So, you gonna tell me why you're here?"

"I told you, I wanted to see you. I miss you."

"I miss you too, sweetheart, but I'm no idiot. Talk."

You told him everything and much to your surprise, Gibbs laughed once you were done. "Laughing at my misery? Alaska makes you mean, Leroy."

"I'm laughing because you're the idiot."

"Wow, thanks?"

"Parker has a thing for you. It's obvious. He's ignoring you cause he's jealous of Joel. Who, by the way, is still desperately in love with you." Gibbs laughed more at the face you made. Pure confusion, you looked like you were trying to figure out string theory. "Here, have one more." He poured you another glass of bourbon, and watched you drink it in one swallow.

"Okay first things between me and Joel are pretty clear --"

"Maybe for you. Honey, all you have to do is snap your fingers and he's there, despite breaking up with you, because--and I quote 'this job doesn't leave you much time for us'"

You sighed and went for the bottle but Gibbs grabbed it first. "Not yet." He said, putting it by his feet.

"Now, about Parker. He's friends with Tobias you know, and Tobias calls me often."

"Okay?"

"Parker asked Tobias about you, soon after he joined the team."

"What kind of things did he ask?"

"Things you like outside the office, your backstory, if you were in a relationship..."

"I don't believe you."

"Call Fornell, and you'll see."

"I check on Toby every week, we try to see each other whenever I can and he never said anything about that."

"Because he knows."

"Knows what?"

"Alden could be your Shannon, your Diane, sweetheart."

You tried to enjoy the rest of your trip, but you couldn't. Everything Gibbs told you was replaying in your mind and you tried to remember whatever you could, any interaction with Alden that wasn't work related. Were Gibbs and Fornell reading too much into this or were you completely blind? As an investigator, this made you question your abilities. If he really had a thing for you, how could you not notice? Or was he a really good actor?

You thought about Joel too, and maybe a part of you knew that but selfishly, you never questioned it too much. It was nice to have someone to call whenever you needed, whether it was for sexual relief or just have someone there to hold your hand, which he always did.

On the plane back home, you decided to have a very thorough and honest conversation with Joel. You didn't want to lose him as you really care about the man, but it was for the best.

But you came back to a weird vibe at work. As you got into the office on Tuesday morning, everyone was already here except Alden - admittedly you felt relieved as it gave you more time to prepare yourself to see again - and the team got you up to speed. "We had a case yesterday, a murder that looks like drugs related and Parker stormed off. He's been MIA since." Jess informed you.

"I went to his house last night but he wasn't there. Called, texted and nothing."

"That's not very Parker like," you conceded, puzzled by what they were telling you.

They gave you more details about the case, and theories they had thus far - wasn't much - and Alden finally walked in. "That's a W. For Wills, Clayton Wills." He quickly took his coat off and threw it in his chair. You sat back at your desk, and started to do research on this Clayton guy. Nick asked about pastries and Alden immediately lost it on him.

"Do I have to do everything around here while you just beg for pastries and sit on your ass at your damn desk?!" He angrily shouted, standing face to face with Nick. Who was this guy?

"Agent Parker!" You all heard from upstairs, where Leon Vance was standing. Alden sighed and walked to the director.

Everyone agreed that something was very wrong.

During the day, the team made progress on the case, but Alden wasn't calming down. He kept snapping about everyone, making it sound like the team was just a bunch of useless investigators. He wasn't with you though, as he was utterly ignoring you. You honestly felt invisible. If you said something, Alden would answer to someone else, like it wasn't you who talked.

This was a side of him you never saw before and you didn't like it very much. By the end of the day, you were all in the evidence garage, when a man in a wheelchair arrived, asking for Alden. "You're Jeremy Brighton?" Tim asked him with a smile. "My wife and I love your book and your podcast! - Tim McGee," he extended his hand.

You all proceeded to introduce yourselves, but when it got to you, Jeremy already knew your name. No time to ask for some explanation as Alden walked out of the elevator and a moment later, you knew why this case was personal to him; Wills' case was the one that got Jeremy in a wheelchair. It explained a lot, but it didn't minimize Alden's behavior with the team. Especially since he kept snapping, until Vance actually benched him on Wednesday.

You never meant to eavesdrop on Alden and Jeremy's conversation in Autopsy, but they arrived, not knowing you were the supply closet. The door was slightly opened, you could hear everything they were saying and it was obviously too late to let them know you were there.

"It was my bullet that hit your spin, Jer! And that guilt is eating me alive." His voice broke and you felt shivers in your entire body. You wanted to get out and hugged him forever.

They kept arguing back and forth. Jeremy telling his best friend it's not easy to live with Alden's guilt on top of everything, and Alden saying that his hobbies are just a way to fill the void. That man was broken, the guilt had been slowly killing him for years.

"Since we're spilling the beans, are we going to talk about her?" Your ears tickled.

"Not a chance." Alden was stern.

"She's as pretty as you told me, more even." You could hear Jeremy's smile. "Don't tell Josie I said that though."

Alden's small laugh was a bit covered by the body drawer being closed. "I will if you don't shut up."

"I may have made a mistake -- I guessed her name before she told me." Oh yeah, they were clearly talking about you. You smiled despite yourself.

"What the fuck? Jer! She's not stupid, she's gonna question that!"

"Well you could tell her you've been pining over her since you joined."

"I haven't --"

Jeremy laughed. "'Jer, she was so pretty today.' 'Jer, she figured out the case all of her own, she's so smart.' 'Jer, she has a boyfriend. Of course she has one, how could a woman like her stay single?' 'Jer, I can't stop thinking about her, I need a lobotomy.' Should I go on?"

"I think I need a new best friend." You heard the automatic doors opening and closing and then silence.

So... It was all true? Alden has had a thing for you for over a year? He's been pining over you? While you had a thing for him too? You wanted to smile and cry at the same time. Cry for the lost time and the pain of the past months, and also for Alden's pain and guilt. Smile because the man you loved had feelings for you. Your stomach was jumping inside of you. You had to sit for a moment to process and figure out what you were going to do.

Obviously, having the conversation during this case wasn't an option, so the goal was to get it closed as fast as possible. Which the team did once you found out evidence against Wills. But of course, Alden was sent home by Vance instead of joining on the op to catch him.

However, Alden refused to let it go. After calling Tim to 'check', he went rogue; left Jeremy in his apartment, grabbed his gun and went to get Wills himself.

~

Seeing Alden holding Wills at gun point, his pretty face bleeding, and the pain and the guilt written all over his face, was your breaking point. You put your gun away, and slowly walked over to him, not caring about the team being there. You stared at his face, saw the tears in his eyes. But he wouldn't look at you, he kept staring at Wills who was on his knees. You let your hand run over his arm, until it reached his hands. "Let it go, Alden." You whispered, pressing on his hands so he would stop aiming at the scumbag. "Look at me." He shook his head no, but dropped his aim. The team proceeded on handcuffing Wills, but you didn't pay any attention to that. You grabbed the gun from his hands and handed it to Nick, slightly nodded at him. A silent understanding that they could go.

It was just you and Alden, in that dark forest. Thanks to some spotlights several feet away, you could see his face clearly as you stood in front of him. He looked down, still avoiding your eyes. You put your hands on each side of his face, softly stroked his beard for a moment before forcing him to look up. "We got him. You are okay and most importantly, Jeremy is okay. He seems to be a very happy man." At this moment, he locked eyes with him, slowly figuring out that you knew the entire truth. "It wasn't your fault."

How, he wanted to ask. It got caught up in his throat when you wrapped his arms around his neck, and held him tight. His shaky arms wrapped around your middle, and his face buried itself in your neck. "Not your fault." You repeated, playing with the small hair in the back of his head. He cried in your arms.

You drive him home with his car, holding his hand the entire ride. The music filled the silence, you didn't want to pressure him to talk. Once at his house, Jeremy was still there and immediately asked what happened. Alden just apologized, grabbed a beer and disappeared into his greenhouse. "Do you know a ride home?" You offered to his friend. "I'll come back here and stay if he lets me."

"He will, he needs you. He's--"

"I'm in love with him, Jeremy." You spurred out, not realizing the words leaving your mouth before it was too late.

Jeremy smiled. "I figured, but I'm glad to hear it. He's been self sabotaging his life and relationships since the accident, and he probably won't be easy 24/7, but please, stick with him. He's worth it."

"I've been told I'm pretty stubborn ever since I was born."

"Hopefully, you're more stubborn than he is."

"Are you done talking about me?" You heard from the greenhouse. You should've been embarrassed by the fact Alden probably heard your confession to Jeremy, but you were planning on telling him at some point, so you didn't. Plus, you were confident by the fact that he had feelings for you too.

"I'm leaving, pal. Looks like you're in good hands. I better see you at Eli's game this weekend."

With Jeremy gone, you joined Alden. He was drinking his beer while checking on his plants and flowers. "How do you know?" He asked, without looking at you.

"I heard you and Jeremy talking. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to spy or anything, I was there and you didn't see me--"

"I ruin everything I touch. Don't listen to Jer, you should leave before it's too late."

You knew that no words would convince him at this moment, so instead of talking, you grabbed his face and crashed your lips on his. It was the most meaningful first kiss you ever had. You tried to tell him how much you loved him with that kiss, and Alden returned with the same intensity. He held you by the back of your neck, trying to get you as close as possible to him.

You only separated when the need to breathe was too important. "Let's get this wound clean up."

As well as all of his other wounds.

[impassionedromancewriter]

A Picture's Worth

You and your husband are organizing your photos. You can't help but look at them and smile at all the memories.

McGee: Do you remember this?

You: Aww I love that picture. Tony took it. I don't think you'd been at NCIS a week.

McGee: Probies together.

You: You were a probie. I was six months in.

You keep looking through the photos when McGee spots one in particular.

McGee: Guess what I found?

You: What?

McGee: The photos from when you went undercover as a pregnant woman.

You: Let me see.

McGee: You were the most beautiful fake pregnant woman I'd ever seen.

You: Aww yeah. I loved that baby bump.

McGee: You refused to take it off.

You: Everyone was so sweet to me. They all wanted to know how far along I was and if the baby was a boy or a girl.

McGee: What did you tell them?

(You and McGee have tried to get pregnant many times, but it's never happened)

You: (softly) I told them it was a boy

You start to get a little more emotional.

You: (whisper) I wish it could of been real.

He puts his arm around you, pulls you close and kisses your head.

McGee: I know. Me too.