step by step

An NCIS fic collection

by mew-tsubaki

- ^-^3

imagine: miscellany 11—s20e5 (this post on the sideblog: 700861643220041728/ parknight-imagines-miscellany-11-s20e5)

tags: s20e5, established!Parknight, AU (alternate opening to the episode)

- ^-^3

Sleep is clearly meant for the dead. That's the thought that crosses Parker's mind when he stirs in the middle of the night and fumbles around for the source of his disturbance. He huffs as the ringer keeps going and drags a hand over his face. "Agh… That mine or yours?"

Knight sighs, equally reluctant to budge with her head on his chest. "…'n'mine," she mumbles.

He snorts. He might not be as multilingual as her, but he at least speaks Jessica Knight. Parker drums his fingers on her arm. "'Kay, Jess, c'mon. Let me check—"

Suddenly, his phone has an echo.

Even in the dark, Parker locks eyes with her as Knight's grogginess fades. "Well, that can't be good."

"Tell me about it."

They sit up and roll out of bed. Parker hits the switch on his bedside lamp and finds his phone just an inch out of reach, if he'd strained while still stretched out.

Knight snorts on the other side of the bed. "Spam call. I forgot to turn 'Do Not Disturb' mode back on." She grins at him, but then she notes his diverted attention. "Alden?"

He holds up a finger while he returns the call. Thankfully, it connects. "Director? Is everything—? What? Holy sh—" For the second time that night, Parker drags his hand over his face, although he feels far more tired than before. "Yeah, no, that's good. But stay put. I'll be right there, after I pull the rest of the team out of bed. See you soon." Parker hangs up and gapes at Knight. "You're not gonna believe this."

"Alden, what the hell?!" She scrambles across the covers, moving closer to him, as if he's the one hurt.

"Some idiots thought they'd break into Vance's house. They encountered the man himself."

"And?!"

"Well, he won."

Knight settles him with an incredulous look and smacks him in the shoulder with his pillow. "At least you're halfway to rousting the team," she states, backing up and swinging her legs off the edge of the bed. "You want McGee or Torres?"

Parker exhales and grabs a pair of sweatpants to pull on and a hoodie to zip up over his t-shirt. Urgency matters more than formality, given both the hour and the situation. "I'll take McGee," he decides, not wanting to point out that sometimes he and Torres still don't see eye to eye.

"Done and done," Knight says. She pulls on her jeans, pauses to shoot her friend a text, and grabs a couple shirts off the floor, both of which she dons before gathering her hair up haphazardly.

They're on the way out the bedroom door when it clicks with Parker's sleep-deprived brain exactly what Knight's wearing. He turns around to face her in the hallway. "Uhh, Jess…you really gonna wear that?"

She furrows her brow and squints at him, confused. "? We gotta go, Alden."

True, they do. But that t-shirt clearly isn't hers. Parker would bet good money Knight doesn't have anywhere in her closet a fan-made, won-at-auction design of four Abbott's starlings made up to look like the members of KISS.

But…the red plaid shirt is hers, and he wonders if anyone will notice her strange attire if it's covered up, Parker muses as he assists a sleepy Knight in buttoning up her shirt before they leave.

- ^-^3

In an otherwise perf ep (bc I'm a huge Vance girl -w-), the writers threw in that tee scene/detail as if baiting me. So I decided to rise to the challenge. (I also don't know if such a shirt exists, but I could deffo see bird- and music-enthusiast Parker owning it.)

-mew! ;P