This is a little thing that came to me.

Rating: K+

Warnings: Spoilers for season 12 episodes "Lost In Translation" and "Troll"

Disclaimer: I own nothing of NCIS. Just borrowing a couple of characters for a bit.

All mistakes are mine.

Jake drove through the quiet neighborhood thinking about what Ellie had told him. The details... and the lack of details. When had she ever had trouble talking to him... telling him things... all kinds of things... about everything?

As he parked he admitted, no, not everything. Perhaps never... everything. But this... this was something she should have told him and if not her then someone else on the team.

The basement was brightly lit compared to the rest of the house and the man he felt like punching looked up as Jake made his way down the stairs.

He'd been so certain in his mission, but now that he was there, his nerve abandoned him.

"Jake?" Gibbs put down the tool he'd been using and took a small step forward.

Unable to form a word, Jake glared. After all, that was one thing Gibbs would understand.

"Something wrong?"

Yes, there was something wrong. A big something. His neatly trimmed nails dug into the palms of his hands as the fists tightened until finally... "You should have told me," he yelled, taking several steps forward and almost invading Gibbs' personal space.

Gibbs didn't flinch, didn't move. His gaze never faltered. His body language didn't change.

"Told you what?"

He'd expected a confrontation, maybe a shouting match or even a brawl. All kinds of scenarios had bounced around in his head, but whatever he thought would happen... could happen... might happen... wasn't happening. How could Gibbs not know what he was angry about?

"About Ellie," he sighed. "About Afghanistan," he whispered as his vision started to gray out.

If Gibbs hadn't shoved a saw horse over for him to collapse onto, he'd have hit the concrete floor like a marionette with its strings cut. His legs felt weak and his head was spinning a little when his elbow landed on the workbench and he realized Gibbs had put it there.

"Not for me to tell," Gibbs told him, with a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

The two men stayed that way for a bit, Jake leaning into Gibbs feeling like he might pass out and Gibbs supporting him like a rock pillar.

Twenty minutes later Jake headed for the stairs with Gibbs behind him. They'd talked as much as they were going to for that night... on that subject... at least right then.

"She'll talk more when she's ready," Gibbs tried to reassure.

Jake wasn't so sure. Oh, Ellie had gone for after shooting psych sessions and she'd re-qualified at the range. And Gibbs believed that she was doing all right or he wouldn't have let back into the field, but they'd grown apart since she left the NSA. They didn't share much anymore, didn't have much in common. They had more in common than the job when they fell in love and got married, didn't they?

End

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