He hadn't seen her look this angry in a long time, the storm clouds across her face a greater worry to him than the hurricane currently raging outside of the ship, and yes they were trapped here for the time being but from the look in her eyes, he suddenly understood that his night could get a lot worse.
Hurricane Eleanor was about to make landfall (was it still landfall if it wasn't on land?), and he, not seeing it coming, was going to be blindsided, possibly killed.
He admired Ellie, hell, he was even intimated by her, but he'd never thought himself scared of her… until then. He was suddenly very glad he hadn't met her during her divorce.
"Do you think it was easy? Not having friends? Being Scarecrow? Nick, you were… popular! People liked you, you had it all! Me… I wasn't like that." She crossed her arms, eyes fixed over his shoulder, and he saw that while she was upset, it was more pain than anger. "You don't understand."
"Maybe." He took a step towards her, hoping she wouldn't take a swing at him. "But Bishop… that was high school. Nobody is a good person in high school." At the scornful look she sent him, he remembered then.
She'd been voted in as prom queen as a joke. When in fact, he was sure that she could've been prom queen for real. Not that he'd ever tell her that, but still.
"Hey, Bishop." He put a hand on her shoulder, and saw from the way that her shoulders relaxed a bit, that she was not as angry… and she probably wouldn't kill him. "Look, I'm sorry you had to deal with jerks like that, and I'm not gonna tell ya to move on or whatever other BS I could spout. Because you're right. I don't understand. Look, maybe you're mad at me right now, and I'm kinda a jerk, but we gotta stick together right now."
She nodded, taking a deep breath. "I shouldn't have shouted at you, Nick."
"You had every right to," he replied. "But seriously? Maybe you were Scarecrow back in high school… but look at you now! You scare me, Bish. You've got the scary confidence and smarts, but the heart of gold underneath, and a badge and a gun and you speak like five languages-,"
"Six," she corrected, but he could see the smile on her face.
"Six languages, and you make friends with everyone! I wish I had that kinda talent! Nobody likes me… for good reason! Look, Bishop, you aren't who you were in high school."
"Well, Nick," she said, shaking her head, but he could see that she was warming to him. "Should've met me when I first joined. I was the weirdo who always had food… and who sat on the floor. It helped me think," she said. "Before you ask."
"Ah." Something clicked in his mind that hadn't before. "Floor time?" he asked.
She laughed. "Yeah, Nick. Floor time. One of those few things I was good at."
"Hey. Bishop." He paused. "Ellie. You made a fantastic boss. And you kept me chained to a desk, which is saying something!"
"You know Torres, as much as you pretend otherwise, you really are a team player," she said with a smile.
"No," he corrected her with a grin. "I am undercover as a team player. I'm actually still a lone wolf."
"You're a liar, Nick. I know the truth. A lone wolf wouldn't feel the way you did after Paraguay." Something in his face changed, and he seemed to close himself off. She realized with horror her misstep. "Oh, God, Nick, I'm sorry, I didn't mean-,"
"I relive it sometimes you know," he said, and when he looked up at her, she saw an honesty she hadn't before. "On the bird… holding a gun to that pilot's head and knowing that I woulda pulled that trigger… just so I wouldn't be abandonin' them. When I can't sleep… I think about it. Gibbs. And McGee… God… McGee. He missed…"
"Nick." She impulsively grabbed his hand, and he met her eyes. "It's not your fault. None of it's your fault."
"We coulda found them sooner, Bishop."
"I may not be the boss anymore, Nick, but stop right now."
They stared at each other for a second, locked in a silent stalemate. And finally she said, "I know it must have been hard."
"Couldn't have been easy for you either," he said, leaning against the pallet. "Being the boss. Stuck with the new kids… instead of McGee and Gibbs."
"I wouldn't call you and Reeves the new kids, Torres. You're part of the team… that's the beauty of Team Gibbs. From the minute you join the team, you're part of the family."
"Part of the family?" he asked. And then winced. "Does that mean I gotta babysit the new McGee when it arrives?"
She laughed. "Don't worry, I think between Abby and I, we have it covered. You aren't excited?"
"Look, Bish, I've known our Timmy for what… a year? And Delilah? Even less time."
"I know, I was there when you met her."
"But I got to spendin' time with her when Tim was missin', and I dunno… I realized that it must have killed McGee to leave her behind. And I got that stupid instinct of wantin' to take care of everyone."
She groaned. "I am so sick of agents with a hero complex!"
"Y'know however many times I tried to stop him from putting his sorry butt in danger, he just kept tellin' me he had experience, he could do it. And in the end, did his experience do a damn thing for him?" Nick asked.
"Does it make you question your own role on the team?" she asked.
"Yeah. You?"
"Oh yeah. It felt like I was a little kid dressed up as the boss. I second-guessed and triple-guessed everything."
He chuckled as she leaned against the pallet next to him. He wrapped an arm around her shoulder. "We shoulda had this talk sooner, Ellie."
"And ruined this great moment?" she asked, turning to look at him. They shared a smile. "Would you have admitted half the things you did if we weren't trapped here?"
"Nah. Have a reputation to keep up."
"C'mere," she gestured to him, and then pulled him into a hug. "Thank you, Nick."
"Aw c'mon Bish, don't get all sentimental on me. I have a tough guy image to protect." He rolled his eyes, but hugged her back. "And thank you, Ellie."
She pulled away, looking up at him. "For what?"
"Puttin' up with me."
"See if you're still saying that when the storm's broken," she replied with a laugh. Hurricane Molly might've still been wreaking havoc, but Hurricane Eleanor was over.