Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS or any of these characters
"Ellie, would you please stop that?" Eleanor Naasir quickly withdrew her hand from her friend's face, wincing guiltily.
"Sorry! I'm sorry, I can't help it." She frowned. "I just-I have this irresistible urge to clean things." Alex Quinn raised her eyebrows, her mouth open.
"My hair is clean. I washed it yesterday." Ellie rolled her eyes at her friend's veiled sarcasm.
"I know, it's just-" she reached forward hesitantly "-it's in your face." Alex smacked her hand away.
"Ellie!"
"I know! I'm stopping." Both women looked up as their coworker walked into the bullpen. Kate Gibbs had taken Tony's desk when he had left two years before, but she had not taken over as senior field agent.
"The senior field agent can't leave at three o'clock everyday to pick up her kids," she had said. "And it looks bad if she's married to the boss." Now, she was taking off her coat and putting it on her chair. "Morning, ladies."
"Morning, Kate," Alex called. She and Kate were friends, but it had taken them awhile. It was in Kate's nature to take everything seriously, and working with Gibbs had only strengthened that character quality. Conversely, it was in Alex's nature to question everything she was told, which made her a great investigator and teacher, but she was a terrible person to test jokes on. The two women had not complimented each other at first, butting heads about who to trust and when, but eventually they had learned to trust each other's instincts. Of course, a few headslaps and glares may have played a part.
"Hey, Kate." Ellie was an entirely different matter. When she had left the NSA to work at NCIS, the team had still been smarting from the loss of Ziva David. Kate had been particularly hostile to anyone she judged as trying to take Ziva's place. Being three months pregnant had not helped her general mood, either. But in time, she had come to accept Ellie as valuable to the team, and had protective, older sister kinds of feelings for the young woman.
Kate noticed that Ellie was leaning on Quinn's desk, and wondered if she had interrupted something.
"Something up?"
Alex responded. "Ellie's grooming me," she stated matter-of-factly. Kate raised her eyebrows, obviously confused, but nodded, accepting her coworkers' bizarre behavior.
"Oh-kay..." She looked down at her desk and frowned. "What happened to my stuff?"
"I organized your desk," Ellie answered promptly, looking around. "I organized everyone's desks. Except Gibbs." She paused. "I didn't want to mess up his system."
"Smart move," Alex said in a low voice. Kate stared, torn between outrage and confusion.
"His system? What about my system?" she exclaimed.
"You have a system?" Ellie asked, seemingly genuinely surprised.
"Had. Past tense," Kate responded sarcastically. Ellie rolled her eyes at her friend's tone. "Hey!" Ellie pushed herself off of Quinn's desk. As she was walking across the bullpen to her own, Kate's eyes met Quinn's, hoping for an explanation, but Quinn just shrugged, obviously just as confused by their coworker's behavior as she was. They both looked at Ellie as she reached into her desk and pulled something out of a drawer.
"Well,"she began, watching them watching her, "I found these in Nick's desk. I could share." It was a bag of Dove chocolates. Kate smiled sweetly, any anger apparently forgotten.
"Have I mentioned lately that I love you?" Ellie smiled and held out the bag. Kate grinned and clapped her hands a little before moving out from behind her desk and over to Ellie's. At the same time, Quinn vaulted out of her seat and joined the other two at Ellie's desk. All three took a chocolate and ate it, momentarily closing their eyes in bliss.
"Ah, that's good," Ellie sighed, her eyes still closed. Kate made a guttural noise that sounded like an agreement, as Alex moaned, "Mm-hmm," beside her. After a moment, Alex swallowed and looked at Ellie while taking another piece.
"So, when's Qasim getting back from Gitmo?"
"Two hours and thirty-seven minutes," Ellie answered promptly, also reaching for another piece. The other two stared at her incredulously. She looked up at their silence, meeting their amused eyes. She blushed. "I missed him," she said, defensiveness creeping into her tone.
"Ok," Kate said soothingly, trying not to laugh as she glanced at Quinn. "I understand. I'm the same way when Jethro has to travel." Alex and Ellie winced in unison.
"Ka-ate," Ellie whined, her eyes closed. Kate looked back and forth between her friends' aggravated faces.
"Fine. When Gibbs has to travel." Alex and Ellie nodded, relaxing, and all three women took another piece of chocolate.
"You know, technically, I'm Gibbs, too."
"I know, but you won't let us call you Lady Gibbs," Ellie explained with a smile as Kate rolled her eyes before glaring at her.
"Yeah, well, when I can call you Lady Naasir, we'll talk." Ellie shuddered dramatically.
"I could go for that," Alex interjected, while taking yet another piece of chocolate. Kate and Ellie looked at her, Kate questioning, Ellie somewhat suspiciously. Alex looked up and, reading their faces, quickly elaborated," The lady part, not the Naasir part."
The others nodded, and after a moment, Ellie said teasingly," Yeah, you'd be Lady Torres." Kate snorted and Alex groaned.
"Lady Torres? Are you two ever going to get over that?" she asked as the others snickered. "I'm not going to be Lady Torres."
Kate grinned as she replied, "No, Abby will probably take that." The other two froze, and Alex dropped the chocolate she was holding.
"Take what, Kate?" Gibbs asked as he swept into the bullpen in his usual fashion.
"Some chocolate, Jethro. Think she'd want some?" she took another piece, still smiling at her friends' stunned expressions.
"Some what?" Nick Torres asked as he and Tim McGee walked in behind Gibbs. "Hey, is that my chocolate?"
"No," the three women answered in unison, smiling secretly at each other as Torres walked hurriedly to his desk and opened a drawer.
"Hey! That is my chocolate!"
"Were you ever going to eat it?" Kate asked innocently.
"I was thinking about it," Nick replied, disappointment etched on his features.
"Well, you should have thought faster," Ellie said in a mock-scolding tone. McGee, who had been watching the whole exchange with amusement, began to put his coat and bag down and prepare for the work day when he noticed that nothing on his desk was where he had left it the night before.
"What happened to my desk?" he asked no one in particular, before looking to Kate for an explanation.
His eyes darted to Ellie as she responded,"I organized it." Tim looked to Alex and Kate for an answer to his new, unspoken question, but found none.
"It was organized."
"Well, now it's more organized," Ellie retorted, with her signature bottom-lip-jutting-out expression that meant she was feeling defensive. After a moment, she relaxed slightly and continued, "I also cleaned your keyboard." Again, Tim looked to Alex and Kate for an explanation, but they both shrugged. Three pairs of eyes darted to Ellie's face when she suddenly winced and bent forward slightly.
"You ok?" Alex asked in a low voice, rubbing Ellie's arm soothingly.
"Yeah, just-" Ellie's face scrunched up in discomfort "-cramps." Kate and Alex looked at each other, obviously concerned, but everyone was distracted when Clayton Reeves walked off the elevator to his desk.
"Morning, everyone," he called, his distinct accent distorting the words pleasantly.
"Morning, Clayton," everyone chorused back, except for Gibbs, who said, "Hey, Reeves," before taking a sip of coffee.
Taking in the little gathering around Ellie's desk, Clayton asked, "Hey, Ellie, isn't Qasim getting back today?"
"Yep. In two hours and thirty-five minutes." Ellie looked around and blushed when she met six incredulous stares. "I really missed him," she elaborated in an embarrassed tone, before wincing again.
"All right, what's up? This isn't normal, is it?" Kate asked quietly, unease in her brown eyes.
Ellie shook her head. "No." Kate bit her lip, deliberating for a split-second before turning towards her own desk.
"I'm calling Ducky."
"No, that's not necessary, I'm ok, really-" Ellie insisted, but Kate whipped around and fixed her with a stare. Ellie shrank back. "If it'll make you feel better..."
"The point is to make you feel batter," Kate responded tersely as she picked up her phone."Hello, Ducky? Could you come upstairs for a minute? I want you to take a look at Ellie." Kate nodded, obviously having gotten an affirmative response. "Thanks, Ducky." She hung up, and then continued to stare at Ellie, daring her to move or contest her concern. Ellie kept her mouth shut tight and stared at the ground as Quinn continued to rub her arm. Ducky appeared a moment later, and bustled over to Ellie's desk.
"Now, my dear, what seems to be the problem?" he asked kindly.
"Nothing, Ducky, it's just cramps-"
Kate interrupted. "She keeps wincing, Ducky. She's never done that before." Ducky nodded wisely, and then narrowed his eyes in concern as Ellie's face scrunched again.
"I see. Where are you feeling the most discomfort?" Ellie placed both hands over her nearly flat stomach, just below her bellybutton. Ducky nodded again, and placed one of his own hands over the specified area. After a moment, Ellie winced again, and Ducky's eyes widened. He looked up (even the petite Ellie was taller than Ducky) and said in a shocked tone,"My dear Eleanor, I believe you're in labor."
