Two
She looked out the small window and studied the clouds floating by beneath them. She still wasn't completely sure how they had ended up there but she knew that she was exactly where she needed to be.
They had spent the day before working on the paperwork to tie up their last case before Leon had sent them on a two week mandatory leave to recover from everything that had happened in the last six months. She could tell that everyone, even Gibbs shockingly, had appreciated the gesture. The only thing that had been off was the fact that Ellie had been nowhere to be found, Gibbs had arrived at work to find a stack of her reports for the case with a note that she was taking time off. He had come up to her office to see if she had known anything but she had been just as in the dark as he had been.
After a bit of prodding Leon had admitted that Ellie had asked for time off to go home, a reasonable request in Jack's mind but she could tell by the look on Gibbs' face that he was concerned about something. She hadn't pushed him on it though, she knew he would come to her when he was ready.
"You good?"
She was broken out of her thoughts by Gibbs' voice next to her, she looked over at him questioningly and he nodded down to her bouncing knee.
"I'm fine," She replied, "just not a fan of being locked in spaces that I can't get out of."
He placed a hand on her knee and gave it a reassuring squeeze. She gave him a half smile and rested her hand on top of his.
"So what did Ellie's mom say to you when she called?" She asked quietly.
"That she was worried, Bishop didn't eat anything all day yesterday and Barb didn't think she was sleeping either." Gibbs replied with a small sigh.
She had gotten a call from Gibbs asking her to accompany him to Oklahoma early that morning and eight hours later they were on a plane on their way to the home Ellie had grown up in.
"And you're sure she's okay that I'm coming?"
She really didn't want to put out Ellie's parents or worse be a very unpleasant surprise when Gibbs didn't show up alone.
"Yeah, she asked me to come out and I told her I had someone who might be more help than me." Gibbs replied.
"Is this the first time she's done this?"
"No, she did it once right before she got divorced." Gibbs said, his jaw tightening at the memory, "Her husband cheated on her."
"And you left work to be with her?"
"Had a case at Leavenworth."
"You would have gone anyway." Jack gave him a pointed look.
"Yeah." He agreed quietly.
She turned back to the window and let him be alone with his thoughts, she brushed her thumb back and forth over his hand absentmindedly as her own thoughts wandered.
They hadn't talked about their conversation and kiss, things had shifted between them and she knew they both felt it but like most things with them it went unmentioned. Eventually they would need to talk about it, or at least verbally acknowledge it but for now she was content to just let it play out.
N*C*I*S
Jack's eyes widened as Gibbs turned the rental truck down a long, tree lined, gravel driveway. She was a west coast girl but she could definitely appreciate the beauty of the rolling fields of Oklahoma, between the trees she could see a plow in the field to her left and horses in the field to her right. Gibbs slowed the truck further and rolled down the window and stuck his arm out the window to offer a wave to the driver of the plow who waved back.
"Ellie's dad." Gibbs explained as he continued on down the driveway, "Johnathan, everyone just calls him John."
Jack nodded but didn't respond as the farmhouse came into view, a two story yellow building with a green roof and shutters and a wraparound porch, exactly what she pictured when she thought of a farmhouse. She could see a large red barn off to the left and several trucks and a small car parked in the driveway. Gibbs pulled up beside the other vehicles and put the truck in park before turning to her.
"Fair warning, the Bishop's… Can be a lot."
She raised an eyebrow and him and shrugged, "I love a challenge."
Gibbs snorted and nodded before opening the drivers side door and sliding out of the truck. She unbuckled herself and opened her own door, she went to grab her bag out of the backseat but Gibbs had beat her to it and had both of their bags in his hands.
"I can carry my own bag." She reminded him.
"Yeah, I know."
She rolled her eyes and followed him across the driveway and up the front steps, her foot had barely touched the bottom step to the porch when the door opened to reveal an older woman who if she had to put money on it was Ellie's mother.
"Gibbs." She greeted with a fond smile before her eyes landed on Jack.
Jack saw her eyes widen a moment in surprise but she quickly covered it with a friendly smile and an outstretched hand.
"Barbra Bishop, you must be Jack."
Jack accepted the hand and offered the other woman a smile, "It's nice to meet you."
"I've heard a lot about you from my daughter."
"Speaking of…" Gibbs said, looking around.
Jack rolled her eyes at his interruption but Barbra just smiled and shook her head.
"She's upstairs in her room, I would offer to go get her but I think she's taking a nap and it's the first time she's slept since she got here." Barbra explained, "why don't I show you to your rooms so you can get settled in, I made up two rooms but if you would rather share that's perfectly fine too."
Jack saw the way Barbra was studying the two of them and risked a quick glance at Gibbs who only shrugged his shoulders.
"Maybe separate rooms would be better for now." Jack said slowly.
They barely knew what they were and up until that point she hadn't even considered what they would tell the 'kids'. She also wanted Ellie to be able to approach either of them if she needed to talk and not feel like she was interrupting something or getting in the way. Barbra nodded and lead them up the stairs, Jack took in the family photos and memorabilia from when Ellie was a child scattered around the house. She couldn't help but pause when she came across a picture of a little girl with messy blonde hair and her two front teeth missing, proudly brandishing her scraped elbows.
"Ellie took her training wheels off of her bike." Gibbs explained quietly, "Her fourth birthday, didn't even cry."
Jack looked up and gave him a soft smile, she didn't know how he knew the story but she could hear the pride in his voice as he told it.
"So this is your room, Gibbs." Barbra said, breaking them out of their moment.
She pointed to an open door and Gibbs placed his suitcase down before following her down to the next door.
"And this'll be your room, Jack." She said, gesturing into the homey bedroom, "The bathroom is just through there, it connects to Gibbs' room too so just make sure both doors are closed, dressers are empty in both rooms so feel free to unpack your stuff. Supper's in about an hour so just take your time settling in, if you need anything let me know."
"This is perfect, thank you." Jack replied sincerely.
"Thanks, Barb." Gibbs echoed.
Barbra nodded and slipped out of the room leaving them on their own. Jack looked around and took in the yellow walls and white furniture, there was a double bed underneath the far window, the curtains framing the headboard, to the left there was a white dresser beside the door to the bathroom with towels neatly folded on top and in the right corner there was a small rocking chair with a homemade throw blanket over the back.
"I'll let you get unpacked." Gibbs said, placing her suitcase down on the bed.
She caught his hand as he walked past her and pulled him back lightly.
"I only asked for separate rooms because I wasn't sure what you wanted to tell Ellie." She explained quietly, "and I wanted Ellie to feel like she could come to either of us without feeling like she was intruding on our space."
"I know." Gibbs replied, he reached up and brushed a stray hair behind her ear with his free hand, "I woulda said the same thing."
She smiled softly and gave his hand a squeeze before letting it go, she nodded towards the bathroom door and grinned.
"Besides, it's not like we can't sneak around like teenagers."
Gibbs snorted and shook his head, "I like the way you think."
"Yeah?" She bit her lip coyly and then smirked up at him.
"Yeah." He whispered before lowering his head to claim her lips in a quick kiss.
She pressed her hand against the back of his neck when he tried to pull away and pressed a few more quick pecks against his lips before letting him pull back.
"Go unpack." She ordered smugly.
Gibbs rolled his eyes and gave her side a gentle pinch before leaving her alone to unpack. It took her less than ten minutes to unpack her bag and hang up the few items that needed to be hung in the small closet. Once she was done she wandered over to the window and looked down at the field beneath her, the long grass was blowing in the wind and there were a few horses wandering around at the far end of the field where the grass was shorter and packed down. She watched them for a few minutes before making her way through the shared bathroom to Gibbs' room where he was putting away the last item in his bag.
Gibbs' room was set up almost exactly the same as hers the only difference was that his furniture was a dark brown instead of white and his room was missing the rocking chair.
"I'm gonna head downstairs, you wanna come or just relax for a bit?"
"I think I'll come down." Jack replied, "I wouldn't mind talking to Barbra for a bit before Ellie wakes up."
"Yeah." Gibbs agreed.
"And I know it goes without saying but… I'm not here as her psychologist or her colleague."
"I know." Gibbs replied, "that's not why I brought you with me, I'm not here as her boss."
"I think you've always been more than a boss to her." Jack said quietly, "a boss doesn't know that his subordinate fell off of her bike on her fourth birthday and didn't cry, a boss doesn't fly four hours and drive for another hour because he's worried, a boss doesn't but a father does."
"Bishop's got a dad." Gibbs protested.
"There's no rule saying she can't have more than one." Jack replied with a shrug, "come on, Cowboy, I want to see if Barbra needs any help with supper."
She left him standing in the room staring after her with a dumbfounded expression on his face. She knew Ellie's situation was unique for him, to her understanding Tony and Tim had both had strained to almost non-existent relationships with their respective fathers for most of their lives, Ziva had never really had a father, Abby's father had passed before she had joined NCIS and Nick and Jimmy had never really known their fathers. Ellie was the only one who had come from a relatively happy and normal family, as an outsider she could see that the young blonde leaned heavily on Gibbs and depended on him as more than a boss, co-worker or friend but she could understand why Gibbs wouldn't want to step on her father's toes. It was a fine line he had to walk but sometimes she feared that he strayed to far on the side of caution, and it hurt Ellie more than it helped.
She made her way down the stairs and she had almost made it down to the open concept first floor before she heard him following her. She felt his hand settle low on her back as he finally caught up to her on the bottom of the stairs and she let him lead her to the kitchen where Barbra was peeling carrots.
"All settled in already?" She asked, looking up in surprise.
"Yup." Gibbs replied, "need any help."
"I didn't invite you to make you do manual labour." Barbra stated, "but since I know you won't take no for an answer you can check on the chicken, can I offer you anything to drink, Jack? Maybe a beer, some iced tea or water?"
"I'm okay right now, thank you though." Jack replied, "is there anything I can do to help?"
"I think I'm okay right now." Barbra replied, "why don't you just have a seat."
Jack nodded and pulled out one of the chairs and sat down at the island across from Barbra.
"So tell me a bit about yourself." Barbra said brightly, "Eleanor said you were an agent, are you on Gibbs' team or do you run your own team?"
"Actually I don't work on one particular team." Jack replied, "I'm the resident Forensic Psychologist, I kind of float around to wherever I'm needed."
"You're a doctor?" Barbra asked in surprise, "I don't think my daughter ever mentioned that."
"I am, but I have the same title as Gibbs or Ellie so everyone tends to forget." Jack replied, "It's been a really long time since I've heard the words Doctor Sloane in a sentence, I like it that way, people tend to dislike Doctors, not that they like cops a whole lot more though."
"I'll bet." Barbra agreed, "Eleanor said that you seem to really like NCIS though."
Jack saw Gibbs stand up from checking the chicken and met his eyes.
"I love it." She replied, "it's home now."
"Where are you from originally?"
"California, DC is a big change but I'm really enjoying it."
"Do you have any family in Washington?"
"Um, not really." Jack replied slowly, "NCIS is my family."
Her eyes met Gibbs' again and he offered her a small smile that had her smiling in return.
"Eleanor says the same thing." Barbra stated, "I used to worry about her out there all alone, I still do but I worry less now that I know she has a good support system."
"You're daughter is a strong young woman," Jack commented seriously, "and an amazing Agent."
"She's always been a tough cookie… That's why I was so worried when she came home unannounced and she just hasn't been herself." Barbra admitted quietly, "even when she came home after her divorce she was still, Eleanor I guess but now…"
"She didn't mention anything?" Jack asked, biting on her thumb nail.
"No but that's not shocking, my daughter doesn't really open up to a lot of people and she definitely doesn't open up to my husband or I about work." Barbra replied, "Sometimes she'll talk to her brothers but I called all of them and they hadn't heard anything… That's when I called you." She added, turning to Gibbs, "You're the one person I know she'll talk to."
"I can try." Gibbs replied, "but I'm not sure how much good it'll do."
"She adores you, if anyone can do it you can."
Jack couldn't argue with the fact that Ellie relied on and opened up to Gibbs but she was a bit worried about all of the pressure that was being put on him. There was only so much he could do if Ellie wasn't willing to ask for help.
She watched as Gibbs reached for an unpeeled carrot off of the counter only to be whacked in the hand by Barbra who glared at him and pointed her peeler at him.
"No." She said firmly, "potatoes are one thing but you are not mangling my carrots with your knife."
Gibbs smirked and held his hands up in surrender before stepping away from the counter. Jack could tell there was a story there but didn't ask about it as Gibbs came up behind her and rested his hands on the back of her seat. She leaned back a bit and could feel the warmth radiating off of him as he brushed one of his thumbs back and forth across her back discreetly.
