I do not own NCIS I do own the Ocs.
This take place after "fight or flight" episode.
Nick's secret
McGee was started to get worried about Nick, first it just how down in the dumps he had been after that fight club case, but now it was something else.
It had all started nearly two weeks after the fight club case and Nick who had been not depressed but not happy as he used to be since Bishop had run off doing god knows what.
But that morning when Nick arrived he was wearing a small smile, which at first made McGee happy, until he notice that his follow agent was moving weird, like he was a robot or something with jerky moves.
"How are you today Nick?" McGee asked
"I am good McGee," was the answer from his friend "I just over did it with my morning training."
McGee sigh in relief and turn his attention back to the report he was working on, maybe his friend was on the way back to the fun guy he had been before.
Later that week and Nick was a bit late not by much but instead of being there around the same time as Knight he was the last to arrive and was ,McGee looked closer and yes, Nick was limping not much but still he was having a hard time putting weight on his right foot it seemed.
"Hey Nick," Knight called out "What the matter with the limping?"
"Nothing just stepped wrong on the way here," was the simple answer she got
"Maybe you should see Jimmy," said McGee
Nick just smiled and shook his head, the limp was not so bad.
And so it continued, some days Nick would be there with a small smile on his lips a bit stiff from what he said was over doing training, but some days he would arrive later still not by much with either a limp or some other injury which he just brushed off.
And it started to worry not just McGee but also the other in the team, sure they were all happy that Nick seemed happier than before but all the injuries was starting to worry them more and more, mostly because he would never say how he got them more than a simple "training to much" or "slept weird" or "Step wrong". No one was that prone to stepping wrong or sleeping weird and not Nick Torres at least.
It was Jimmy that was the first one to say what everyone was thinking.
"You don't think Nick is doing something stupid?" the medical examiner said worried for his friend.
"No," Knight said not all too sure "He wouldn't do anything stupid right Tim?"
McGee looked up from his laptop.
"I want to say no but," he said and pause as he check that Nick was nowhere in sight "But I am not sure, he was really down in the dumps after everything with Bishop and well what he said at that fight club worries me."
"Can't you talk to him Jimmy?" Kasey asked "You are his best friend."
Jimmy nodded, he would try to talk to Nick and get to the bottom with this.
Jimmy got his chance later that week.
"Hey Nick," he called out
Nick stopped and turn to face his friend.
"Hey Jimmy," he said smiling "What's up?"
"Oh nothing really," Jimmy answered "How are things with you?"
Nick told his friend that everything was good with him, but Jimmy wouldn't believe him, he wanted to but he just couldn't. As a medical examiner he could see more than the other how injured Nick really was, it was nothing too serious but the level of soreness that Nick was showing was worrying as it was not from over training as his friends had said, no Jimmy fear that it could have been from fighting, Jimmy had heard from friends who also were in the medical field that the cases of fighting related injuries had gone up and after that case they had had with the fighting club he was just so worried that this too was that.
"Nick, "Jimmy said slowly "You know you can always talk to me right."
Nick stared at his friend not sure what he was getting at.
"Yeah I know that Jimmy," he said
"Okay good," Jimmy said "And you are sure you are okay? I mean with Bishop and all that, I know you two were really good friends."
Nick frown again he didn't really wanted to talk about Bishop as her exit still was a bit sore for him.
"Yes Jimmy I am doing really well," he said in a short tone
He looked like he was about to say something else but then he phone buzzed and when he had read the text he said a short goodbye and nearly run off leaving a worried Jimmy behind.
"Oh Nick what have you gotten yourself into this time," Jimmy said in a soft worried tone as he watch his friend leave the room.
A few weeks later and it was Tim's birthday and the team was all invited to celebrate him.
Nick turned up with a big smile and a wrapped gift that he gave to Tim who thanked him.
"I hope you like it," Nick said nodding to the wrapped gift.
"I am sure I will," Tim said smiling and open the gift and then he just starred at the book he was holding.
"It was the one you wanted right?" Nick said starting to grow a bit worried that he had got the wrong book. "I have the recite if you want to exchange it."
Tim turn and starred at Nick like he didn't know if he should hug the man or not.
"This, this is… how did you?" Tim said still having a hard time finding the right words "Nick, this book is supposed to come out next month, how did you get it this early? It must have cost you a lot, I can't accept it."
Nick just smiled broadly.
"Nah it was not that costly," he said "I am just happy you like it man."
Tim hugged Nick thanking him over and over again.
Nick just patted his friends back.
Later as the cake was being eaten.
Nick was sitting in the sofa eating a piece of cake and looking on his phone, when Parker sat down beside him also with a plate of cake in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other.
"So Torres," Parker said "Where did you find that book?"
Nick looked up from his phone.
"I have my contacts," he said and took a bite of his cake and looked down at his phone again and snickered a bit before he typed out something.
"Something funny?" Parker asked and tried to see what his agent had typed but Nick put the phone in his pocket again and got up to get some more cake.
He looked at the cake box that Delilah had put down under the table he read the name of the bakery and smirked a bit like he know something no one else know.
"So Nick," Jimmy said "Where did you find that book? If Tim says it is hard to get this early how did you do it?"
"Well you know me Jimmy boy, I have my contacts," Nick said and took another slice of cake.
"You too like the cake huh?" Jimmy said smiling
Nick once again smirked a bit.
"It is okay I suppose," he just said and walked off with his cake plate laughing quietly in his head over the joke that only he got.
He had just started eating the piece of cake still smiling when Knight dumped down beside him also with a piece of cake.
"This cake is so good," she said and stuffed a large piece of it in her mouth "I wonder where they got it?"
"The Golden cupcake," Nick said "And it is okay I suppose."
"How do you know that the cake is from that store?" Knight asked looking at Nick strangely.
Nick pointed at the cake table and told her that the box to the cake was still under said table.
Knight took the last bite of her cake.
"So spill," she said to Nick who was looking at his phone again.
"Spill what?" he asked and hope that it was not about the book again as that feel done now.
"The book where did you get it?" his friend and co-worker asked
With a sigh Nick just said the same as before that he had contact and nothing more after that.
"What sort of contacts?" Knight asked not letting this go as easy as the other had. "And what did you have to pay for it?"
"Knight, do you want one of those books?" Nick ask after looking at her for a moment.
"No, not my style of book," Knight shot back "And you still didn't say what you paid for it?"
"Why do you want to know?" Nick shot back starting to get annoyed, he had tried to be nice when he got that book but now he started to regret it.
"I am just curious," she said
"I won it, okay," Nick said annoyed and got up "If you excuse me I have to visit the little boys' room."
With that he more or less stomped away leaving a very confused Knight looking after him.
"Why did Nick just stomp of like that?" Jimmy asked and sat down beside Knight
"I just ask where he got the book and he got all weird," she said and snatched a cookie of Jimmy's plate.
"Weird how?" he asked not even caring that his girlfriend had taken one of his cookies.
Knight repeated what Nick had said about winning the book, which to Jimmy didn't make any sense at all, well maybe if what he feared was true then it would make a bit more sense.
"You look worried Jimmy," Knight said "What make you so worry?"
Jimmy wondered if he should tell Knight what he was worried about or not, in the end he did in a low voice he told her that he feared that Nick was in some sort of fight club, Knight didn't first believed him but when he told her all he had notice she too started to worry that it was like her boyfriend had said.
"What do we do?" she asked
"What do we do about what?" Tim asked he had not really sneaked up on them, the duo had just been so into their whispering that they hadn't notice him.
Knight looked first at Jimmy then at Tim.
"We should tell him," she said "He could help."
Jimmy nodded and then said that they should tell the whole team.
"What are you talking about?" Tim asked a bit annoyed at all the secrets.
So after first making it clear that Nick was not close Jimmy in a low voice told Tim his worried about Nick and his injuries and always checking his phone.
Tim nodded he didn't wanted to believe it but for some reason he could stop seeing that Jimmy had a point.
"So what should we do?" he asked "Just talk to him won't work, we tried that."
Jimmy nodded and said that he didn't know either what to do.
"We could tell Vance about it," Knight said "He might be able to talk some sense into Nick."
"I think that is a good idea," Tim said
So they agree that they would talk with Vance at work.
Nick returned from the bathroom, he did notice that his friends was acting weird but didn't think anything of it at that moment. He talked to the McGee twins for a few minutes before he had to leave.
He wave to Tim.
"I have to go now," he said "it was a nice party and Happy Birthday again bro."
"Thanks for the book," Tim said "You don't have to go, you could stay and even have dinner with us, I think we are having Pizza."
Nick grinned at his friend.
"Nah I have plans tonight," He said with a big grin on his lips
"What sort of plans?" Delilah asked "Something special?"
Nick just smiled secretively and bid his goodbye to the others, before he was gone.
Later that night Tim got a notice from a news channel he was following, about an underground fight club that had been busted, after that an undercover police had got serious injured, Tim gasped.
"What the matter Tim?" his wife asked worried as her husband had grown pale as a ghost.
"An underground fight club has been busted," he said in a soft voice filled with worry
"Okay," Delilah said still not getting why he was so worry.
Tim then told her about his and the rest of the teams worries about Nick and his weird behaviour and injuries this last few weeks, now even Delilah started to worry.
"You don't think that Nick is in that club," she said.
Tim just shrugged his shoulders and said that he hope that was not the case but he didn't know.
"Call him," his wife said to him
He nodded and called Nick's phone, it rang and rang but no one answered.
Nick arrived on Monday limping, with scratches all over his arms and looking like he had not slept for days.
"Torres;" Vance said "I would like to talk to you in my office please."
Nick just nodded and followed his boss to said boss office.
"Do you know why I wanted to talk to you Nick?" Vance asked
Nick stood silence for a few second as his tired mind was processing what Vance had said before he nodded, he could guess why he was there, and a bit of him was annoyed at his friends but another part of him was touched that they cared that much about him.
"So, is there something you would like to share with me?" the boss asked
"Not really," Nick said before he yawn god he was tired.
"Well could you explain why you are limping?" Vance asked
Nick pulled up his left pants leg and showed Vance a shin covered in bruises.
"What in god's name happened to your shin?" his boss asked
Nick smiled a bit.
"I got kick," he said simply
"By who?" was the question he got back
"By one of the kids I was babysitting," Nick reply "I told him that it was bed time and disagree with that."
Vance stared at his agent, whatever he had thought Nick would say this was not it.
"You babysat?" he asked still not believing it
Nick nodded and pulled out his phone found something and turn the screen around to show Vance a picture of Nick with three kids all seemed to be under the age of ten, all of them were grinning, Nick had his face painted.
"Thea wanted to give me a make-over," Nick said "Her brother and cousin helped."
Vance didn't know if he should laugh or not.
"Yes umm very pretty," he said
"Therry the youngest is the kicker," Nick said and rubbed his shin "He has a hell of a kick."
"I see," said his boss and as he was giving the phone back he accidently swiped left and saw for just a few seconds another photo and suddenly Vance understood.
"Agent Torres, your team are worried about you," Vance said
Nick looked at his boss waiting for more.
"They seemed to think that you are involved in some fight club," his boss said
Nick did a double take.
"They really think that?" he asked
Vance only nodded, Nick thought for a moment sure he could see why they would think that but why hadn't they asked him about it?
"I think you should talk to them," Vance said
Nick just nodded and was then excused.
He walked out and looked down at rest of the team he started to walk down but in his tired state he somehow tripped over his own feet and tumbled down the stair landing in a pile on the floor out cold.
"Call Palmer!" Parker barked out
Knight nodded and called Jimmy up from the autopsy room, Jimmy rushed up with a stretcher and with some help from the others they had soon transported the still out cold Nick down to the autopsy room where Jimmy started to examine his friend, he also send the team away with the promise that he would call them as soon as Nick woke up.
Nick woke up just as Jimmy was done.
"What happened?" he asked looking around the room "How did I get here?"
"You fell down the stair and lost consciousness," Jimmy told him "Nick, please could you explain why you have those bruises on your shin and other places?"
Nick sat up a bit too quickly as his head seemed to spin a bit.
"Could I have some water?" he asked
Jimmy gave him a water bottle and Nick drack most of it in one go.
"Well first of all the bruises on my shin is from a five year old boy, who didn't want to go to bed at his bed time," Nick said and once again held up the picture of the three children and himself "I was babysitting yesterday and Therry disagreed about bed time and he is a kicker."
Jimmy looked at the smiling kids and Nick.
"You babysits?" he asked sure he know that Nick would play videogames with Victoria but this was something else.
Nick nodded and then winced as his head shot a spike of pain at the movement.
"So you didn't go to a fight club on Saturday," Jimmy said slowly
Nick stared at him and told him that no he had not gone to any fight club not on Saturday or any other day for that matter either.
"But all your injuries," Jimmy said "I could tell that they are from fighting."
Nick sighed.
"I have been doing some training," he said "As in I have been sparring that is where most of injuries is from. Not all of them."
"Where did the others come from?" his friend asked "I mean how often can you overdo training, sleep weird or step wrong?"
Nick blushed and for a second he thought of not telling his friend about it, but then he sighed.
"I did overdo training a few times," he said "and I slept weird a few times too and step wrong but yes not all of them was from that, I got a box of books on my foot once, and Therry and his cousin Harry tried to make some giant Lego thing and I step on a few bricks, we should use that as torture. And I may have got sore from helping making bread all the kneading it can be brutal."
Jimmy made a grimace at the Lego thing, he too had step on Legos and it hurt like nothing else.
"Who has you been baking bread with by the way?" his friend asked
Nick reached out for his phone and just as Jimmy was giving him the phone he too accidently swiped to the next photo and he stop and just stared at the photo on the screen, a big grin spread over his face as he looked at Nick who just calmly try take the phone from him.
"So who is that?" Jimmy asked and held the phone away from Nick "The secret baker maybe?"
"Give me that Jimmy," Nick said and tried to reach the phone but his friends took a step back.
"No before you tell me who this is," he said "You two look so comfy."
Nick once again tried to get the phone he reached and was closed to fall of the bed he was sitting on.
"Jimmy!" Nick said not in the mood for being teased
Just as Jimmy was going to give Nick the phone the doors to the autopsy room open and the rest of the team come in.
"So you are awake," Parker said
Nick nodded.
"So Jimmy did you get to the bottom of what the matter with Nick?" Knight asked
"Hello I am sitting here," Nick said a bit annoyed "You could just ask me."
Tim turn to his friend.
"I called you on Saturday where were you?" he more demanded then asked
"I was babysitting," Nick said and crossed his arms.
"You! Nick Torres babysitting?!" Tim said clearly not believing him
"Yes and if Jimmy just would give me back my phone I will show you proof of it," he said
Everyone turned and looked at Jimmy who was still holding Nick's phone, said phone had gone to sleep mode so the picture that Jimmy had been teasing Nick about was gone.
"Give him the phone," Parker said
Nick got back his phone and for just a second he thought of not showing the picture but then he just sighed and show them, the picture of him and the three kids, Nick was starting to get tired of having to show everyone this picture.
"You have…make up," Knight said trying to no laugh
"Yes Thea wanted to give me a make-over," Nick said "Her brother Therry and their cousin Harry helped her."
"Who is Thea, Therry and Harry?" Tim asked
"They are the kids I babysit sometimes," Nick said
"So when you said you had plans on Saturday," Tim said "You meant you have babysitting plans?"
Nick nodded.
"So I was not nor have I ever been to a fight club," he said curtly
"But all the injuries, Jimmy said that it was from fighting," Kasie said
Nick's head started to hurt and he just wanted the questions to stop, so he repeated what he had said to Jimmy, that he had started training and was now sparring and that was where some of the injuries had been from, but also that he had slept weird, overdone training, getting big box of books on his foot, step on Lego and kneading bread.
The team looked at him not sure if they believed him or not.
"I believe him," Jimmy said
Nick smiled at his medic friend.
"But one thing I don't understand," Knight said suddenly
"And what would that be?" Nick asked tired
"You never explained how you won the book," she said
The other nodded they had wondered that too. Nick who was just too tired for this.
"I won the book in a contest," he said
"What sort of contest?" Parker asked
Nick mumbled something that sounded like best story teller, the rest of the team stared at him.
"The best what?" Kasie said not sure if she had heard right
"Best Story teller okay!" Nick said loudly "I won a contest of who was the best story teller."
"I still don't get it," Tim said "Who has that sort of contest?"
Nick didn't get the chance to answer as just then the door open and Vance walked in with a young woman after him.
"Hello I found this young lady waiting for someone upstairs," He said
When the woman saw that Nick was still sitting on the medical bed she rushed over.
"Nick are you okay?" She asked worried and started to check him over
"I am okay," He said
Jimmy snorted beside him.
"He fell down the stair," he said ignoring Nick's glares at him to be quiet.
The woman looked at Nick with a raised eyebrow.
"You fell down the stairs?" she asked
"Yes but I promise I am okay," he said once again
"Who are you?" Parker asked
"Oh sorry," the woman said smiling as she stood beside Nick "I am Eddie, nice to meet you all. Nick has told me a lot about you all."
"Funny he has not said anything about you," Jimmy said smiling
"Wait I know who you are!" Tim suddenly said
Eddie looked at him with a raised eyebrow.
"You work at the history museum," he said "My wife was there a few days ago with my twins, and she told me all about how much they like it that you were really good with the kids."
"Yes is where I work," Eddie said and smiled broadly at Tim "I am happy that your wife and twins liked it, you are all welcome to visit."
A weird sound suddenly started.
"Oh sorry that me," Eddie said and picked up her phone. "Hello, yes, no, no thanks, I am fully aware of that, you are sure it is real, Oh I see, well I will talk to my boss, thanks for the call and have a nice day."
She ended the call and turn back to the NCIS team smiling.
"Well I have to go now," She said "I only come here because Nick forgot his lunch."
Nick took the bag he was given but when Eddie made a move to go he grabbed her arm and pulled her to him.
"See you later and thanks," he said softly and pressed a quick kiss on her lips
Eddie smiled at him.
"You are welcome," she said just as softly "And please don't fall down anymore stairs."
That made everyone even Nick laugh, Eddie kissed him on the cheek before she said her goodbye.
"So," Tim said
"So what?" Nick said
"Why didn't we know about her?" Jimmy said a bit hurt that his best friend had not told him about the fact that he had a new girlfriend.
"I just wanted to get to know her first," Nick said and held up a hand to stop the others from speaking "I know that if I said anything, you all would have start doing background checks on her and I didn't want that."
The other could understand that as they all had done something like that.
"So she has kids?" Knight asked
"No, the kids are her sisters'," Nick said "She just happened to babysit them sometimes and sort of roped me in to help."
"Aww aren't you just the sweetest," Kasie
"Yeah, Yeah I know," Nick said blushing bright red "Can we just return to normal now that you know that I am not in some stupid fight club!"
The rest of the NCIS team agreed that they could that but would still tease Nick.
The end
A/N: So what do you all think?
I hope you like it, I will be doing a series of one-shot or few chapter stories with Nick and Eddie.
Just a small thing I may have some problems with seeing reviews and faves, but I am working on it :D