Changes

A request sent in by Blacklister124 on Tumblr.

Something was off. He had been on this job just over a year now, which was longer than his average stint, but that had been part of the deal when Reddington had reached out to Bill and requested his best. It was a relatively easy job. All he had to do was keep the little princess safe. It wasn't hard. From what Jacob had said there had only been the vaguest sorts of threats towards her. Nothing a trained operative couldn't handle in his sleep, and that's why she was questioning his approach.

"You don't have to hold her hand, you know."

Jacob turned from his computer where he'd been going through the background on someone in Scott's life. A medical student. The fact that he was digging quite this deep this early was overkill. From what she understood, the girl had a turnover rate in guys in her life. This one probably wouldn't last either.

"You knew when you dropped by that I'm on a job," he answered, turning back. "You're the one that came anyway."

"Even you need a break," she countered. "And it's three am."

Jacob sighed, closing the laptop lid and his oldest friend - his only friend - gave him a triumphant smile as he moved over to the bed where she was still tangled in the sheets. "You never come by without wanting something, Gina," he countered, his expression curious.

"Maybe I needed a break," the Russian woman answered as she caught hold of his hand, pulling him roughly back into the bed with her. He let himself topple over and she pulled him in, his hands on her as she kissed him. It was an old ritual any time one of them was on a particularly long assignment and the other was between, or even if they were both between. This wasn't any different. At least it shouldn't have been.

Jacob rolled over on his back. "This one's a little different from the rest. He's an outlier. The rest of them have been quick. No real emotional connection, nothing steady about them since that one right after I started in the job."

Gina leaned over him. "You know I appreciate your dedication to the job," she all but purred, "but you're getting too close. Taking a moment won't cost you the integrity of it. It'll help reset you to think clearly."

He sat up suddenly, toppling her off of him. "Bud sent you."

The blonde snorted. "Can you blame him?"

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"It means you're on your thirteenth month straight of watching this girl and you haven't had a breather in at least six. He knows how fixated you get." She tilted her head a little, studying him. "And you are, Jacob. You're sinking in. You're supposed to stay at arm's length, but you're moving closer without realizing it. You said were in her circle and saw her regularly."

"I have to be to watch her without setting off suspicions," he argued. "You know that."

Gina snorted. "You're too close. You need to take a step back to clear your head."

Blue eyes studied her and she waited patiently for him to figure out if she were a threat or not. It was absurd. She was the closest thing to a friend he had ever had and he held the same for her. The fact that they screwed around held no bearing on that. It was just easier to come back to someone that actually understood an incredibly complicated lifestyle. Theirs was both a very simple and very bizarre relationship, but one that they'd come back to since they had been teenagers. It was one of the few familiarities in all the masks that they wore.

Jacob loosed a breath, his shoulders sagging a little and she knew he saw her point. "Okay."

Gina snorted and shoved him on his back. He pulled her down and it didn't take long for them to be tangled up in the sheets. The motions were all there, but she couldn't help the suspicion that something was different about him. She didn't want to be right, but she suspected that she wasn't the one on his mind as they tossed around. Elizabeth Scott was, and she had her grip on him like no other job had before. It was the length, Gina assured herself. That was all. As soon as it was over Jacob would break free of whatever name he was living under and shed this absurdity once and for all. He would lose the softer look his gaze took on when he spoke about her and the sharper tone when he complained about one of her revolving love interests. Jacob would come to his senses and whatever fondness he had developed for Elizabeth Scott would be left behind. He didn't care for her, not in the usual sense. Gina wasn't that foolish. Jacob couldn't wrap his mind around the idea of loving someone any better than she could. They were just different. It made things simpler.

So Gina shoved the lingering concerns down as best as she could as they laid in bed together, the sheets tangled and Jacob sleeping as soundly as he ever did. He would get over Scott and things could return to normal. She just had to be patient.

Notes: I'm currently taking requests for this set of one-shots again and Blacklister214 on Tumblr requested a one-shot of Gina noticing something was off with Jacob before he and Liz get together. I really hope they give us more information about Gina in the future.