*Ding* The familiar sound of the elevator doors played through the room.
Tim and Jimmy were babbling on about a new superhero movie. Each taking the opposite view and progressively raising their voices. Ellie briskly walked through the bullpen keeping her head low as not to interfere with their ongoing discussion. Although if she were being honest she kept her head down to avoid the bright light coming through the windows above. Her head pounded right above her right eyebrow and she quickly sat down trying to avoid being noticed.
"He was so much cooler in the newer version, he had all this cool new tech." Jimmy urged
Mcgee shook his head, disagreeing "the tech took away from the objective of the movie."
"Oh come on Mcgee who are you, Gibbs-" he stopped in his tracks as the hairs on the back of his neck stood up and a familiar feeling washed over him.
"Mcgee had a playful smile plastered on his face, daring Jimmy to keep talking.
Jimmy swiveled around and was met by a not so pleasant face looking down at him.
"Hey Gibbs.." Jimmy said immediately, breaking into an innocent smile.
"Oh shut it Palmer.. Come on guys, we got a dead body in an alley, let's go" Gibbs yelled
"And where's Torre-"
"I'm here, I'm here" Torres yelled running into the room
He eyed Bishop as she looked up from a case file sitting next to a bag of ketchup and prons on her desk. They made eye contact but quickly looked away, both feeling flustered.
-FLASHBACK-
"Ellie?" Nick yelled.
He was standing at her door, knocking impatiently. At Ziva's incessant prodding and begging, Nick had been racking his brain trying to figure out what to do with his feelings for Ellie. After a very awkward 48 hours following Ziva's departure he decided that he could not go on with this tension between him and his fellow agent. So in a split second decision he had hopped in his car and drove straight to Ellie's apartment building. Now he stood waiting at the door, growing more and more nervous by the second until he heard footsteps getting closer and closer.
"Nick?" Ellie said confused, opening the door.
The look in his eyes said it all and Ellie quickly fell silent. He grabbed her and embraced her passionately. Ellie was shocked at first but soon moved with him through the doorway. She shut the door with her foot and they quickly made their way to the bedroom.
-THE PRESENT-
"Ellie… Ellie?" Gibbs was waving his hand in front of her eyes trying to get her attention.
"Huh..what?" she replied, startled. She had been staring out the window trying to get control of her fluttering mind and aching body.
"You ok?" asked Gibbs from the driver seat.
"Ya, ya I'm fine" Ellie answered quickly "just thinking"
"Ok well you better continue later cause we're here." Gibbs replied, gesturing at the police tape and blood splatters.
They hurried out of the car, Ellie fixing up her hat and Gibbs immediately taking action and ordering Torres to canvas the area. Ellie was secretly thankful to Gibbs for helping her avoid an awkward interaction with Nick.
Bishop and Mcgee looked over the body. It was all bruised and cut up, blood splatters covering the two walls in the alley way. Usually Bishop had a strong stomach when it came to dead bodies, it was part of being an agent. But today she took one look at the battered up corpse and her stomach churned with disgust. She willed herself to avoid humiliation and stifled a gag.
"You ok Bishop?" Mcgee asked, a concerned look on his face.
"Oh ya, I'm fine, it's just horrible you know." Ellie answered pointing at the body. She was happy to have a slightly acceptable reason for her behavior.
"Ya, it is, but it's part of the job you know" Mcgee sighed