additions to episode 1617

MTAC

Jack is sitting in MTAC. She is following the working in progress from the undersecretary Leo. the door is ripped open and Nick comes in. "Jack… we got Miller. We have regained contact with the sub and the USS Memphis is surfacing. Gibbs and Bishop are on their way back." Nick says before Jack can say anything. Jack doesn't have words for how relieved she feels right now. Her heart has been beating impossibly fast. She hasn't moved out of MTAC since Torres and McGee left the office to find and stop Miller. She needed to stay in there so she would know that Gibbs and Bishop would be okay. Epically Gibbs… she tried to force her brain to also focus on Bishop but for some reason, her mind kept flashing images for her of Gibbs's sweet smile. Torres sits down next to Jack. He seems so relaxed too. Jack had noticed how upset and worried he had been all days, which obviously was completely understandable considering they had two agents stuck on an out of control nuclear submarine. She has also noticed how close Bishop and Torres seem to be on a personal level. Especially over Christmas, they had seemed almost like a couple. Jack hadn't said anything… she didn't what to spook them but they would make a cute couple. Jack had thought to herself several times.

"How are you doing Nick?" Jack asks and rests a hand on his arm. He looks down at her hand and then at her. she quickly removes her hand from him. realizing she might have overstepped.

"It is okay, Jack." He says and looks straight ahead on the big screen. "I was pretty freaked out earlier." He admits. And then quickly look over at Sloane. "don't tell Bishop." It makes Sloane smile. She knows how close Bishop and Torres are even though none of them have ever admitted it. "for a while I thought I was never going to see her or speak to her again." He admits. He just stares straight ahead. Sloane completely understands what he is talking about. She felt the same about Gibbs.

"I don't think I can lose another colleague…"

"she isn't just another colleague or fellow agent to you," Jack says.

"she is my partner. She is… I don't know... My friend… She was there for me when we lost Reeves and Abby left." Jack just nods in understanding. "I never thought I needed someone to rely on… I am an undercover agent. I am used to working alone.

"having a friend that you can rely on is everything in this job Nick."

Torres nods. "incoming call from the USS Memphis." The technical assistant announces, and a big but unstable video fee of Gibbs comes up on the big screen. Torres and Sloane immediately stand up and approaches the screen. "Gibbs… are you alright?" Jack asks.

"We are fine. We are on our way back now."

Jack can feel her heartbeat slowing down just from seeing Gibbs alive and safe. He looks tired and a bit stressed out but otherwise fine. Torres is looking at the picture and, in the background, but he doesn't see Bishop anywhere.

"where is Bishop? How is she?" Torres asks. He can see the smile on Jack's faces a she looks over at him, but he doesn't react to it.

"Bishop is finishing up now. We will be back in a few hours, Torres." Gibbs says and turns back to Jack. She asks what happened on the sub and he informs her of the events and after Gibbs is done updating her, Torres notices how it, for a moment seems like they are having some sort of romantic moment just starring at each other. None of them are talking. Just looking at each other. It does make Nick a bit uncomfortable being around them and Nick is about to head towards to door to give them some privacy.

"Gibbs update." Their moment is interrupted by Leon Vance entering MTAC. He stands in front of the screen and Jack and Torres walk towards the door. Jack reaches for the door handle, but Nick grabs her hand to stop her for a moment.

"Our talk earlier…" he says and looks at her with an intense sincere look. "stays between us." He says and she nods in understanding. He is about to reach for the door handle but she grabs his hand to stop him. he looks into her eyes and she has the same intense stare. "what you just saw…" she says with the same whisper in her voice as he has. "stays between us." She adds and he nods in agreement before they both leave MTAC.

Duckys party

It had been a long and tough day for Gibbs. He had been stuck on a nuclear submarine with Bishop. He had been locked in a room and the submarine had nearly been sunk by the SECNAV's order instead of going into a nuclear war with a Russian ship but the day at work had ended with the entire team along with director Vance and Jack had surprised Ducky with his new position as NCIS historian. It had been an overall okay day. After the celebration with Duckey Gibbs had walked Sloane to her car.

"it is going to be good to go home a get some rest," Gibbs says as they approach the cars.

"I doubt I'll get any sleep," Sloane says and finds her car keys in her pocket. Gibbs looks concerned at her. he notices how exhausted she looks. She notices the way he looks at her with concern on his face, so she elaborates.

"thinking of you and Bishop stuck in that submarine with no way of communication. Just thinking of it makes me really uncomfortable even though I know you probably had a plan the whole time. I was in the MTAC when the SECNAV started talking about the last solution was to sink the sub. Not exactly what you want to hear when there are people you care about onboard the sub." Sloane is looking down. She is clearly affected by the events of the day. Gibbs takes her hand and gently screes it.

"why don't you come over to my house…" he officer and when he notice the surprised look on her face and he realized what the offer might have sounded like he adds quickly "to have a beer?" he forces a little smile on his face to try and hide how tired he is too and how much it affects him knowing how much she worries about him. Sloane looks up and meets his eyes. They are so soft, and the shy comforting smile he gives her just makes the load of the day a bit easier. She gets in her car and Gibbs gets in his. On the way home Gibbs stops by the store to pick up a few things before he heads home.

Gibbs's house

Gibbs arrives at his house and sees that Sloane's car is already parked in the driveway. He parks behind her. He has a feeling that she is going to stay for the night. She usually does when she comes over for a beer and a download of the day. He enters the house and walks into the living room. Sloane is laying down on the couch sleeping. She is curled up to as small as she can. She looks cold. She has her jacket on and her hands pulled inside her jacket sleeves. He walks to his guestroom and grabs a blanket and places it over her. after that, he starts a fire to heat up the living room. After the fire is nicely going, he goes to take a shower. He comes back into the living room Jack is sitting in front of the fireplaces wrapped in the blanket. She looks up at him as he is standing in the doorway to the kitchen. Nice and clean and in a big USMC hoodie ad sweatpants. She likes his professional agent-look in the suit but there is something about him in his nice and comfy hoodies that she just finds incredibly attractive. Obviously, she would never tell anyone that.

She just simply smiles at Gibbs and he sits down next to her and opens a beer and hands it to her. she takes it and the blanket falls down a bit over her shoulder. He gently pulls t up over her shoulder and she leans her head against his shoulder. They are just sitting in front of the fire comfortably enjoying the silence and the sound of the fire while silently enjoying each other's company.

"I had no plan." He finally says after a long time of silence. She looks up at him. he is just starring into the fire. He then takes a sip of his beer before he elaborates. "I had no idea how to handle it today. Bishop was scared. I kept telling her it was normal what was happening. She didn't believe me. I could have lost her today."

"I could have lost you too." She says looking into the fire too. Too afraid of looking at him because she might not like what she sees. she is too afraid she might see either confusing or rejection in his face so she just forces herself to stare into the fire. Gibbs looks down at her. all he sees is the top of her head. her head is resting on his shoulder. her forehead is just the right height for him to place a soft kiss on it. Jack isn't sure what the kiss means. she is too afraid to look up at him. Gibbs is waiting for her to look but she never does so he leans an arm around her shoulders and pulls her closer to him.

There are a lot of unspoken emotions between them. over the past few months, there have been a bunch of stolen little moments where Jack would feel Gibbs's hand accidentally brushed against hers and it would give her a chill. sometimes he would even take her and squess it for comfort. he would sometimes take her in for a hug if she was having a bad or a rough day. sometimes he comes to her office just to see how she is doing... in the beginning she thought he was checking up on her but, she has really come to like getting the little surprise visits from him doing the day. Jack isn't sure whether these little moments that are giving her butterflies in her stomach are real or just in her head. all she knows is how much she enjoys spending time with the man who has become her best, most trusted and dearest friend. and today she thought she nearly lost him on a rough nuclear submarine. in the car on the way to Gibb's house tonight after Duckys party she told her self to tell Gibbs how she feels. to not waste any more precious time on little stolen moments, but... when she came to the house and Gibbs wasn't there yet... as she sat on the couch waiting for him she lost her courage. she fell asleep on the couch and once she woke up and she saw the little fire he had started and that he had placed a blanket on her to keep her warm. she had decided that once he entered the room again she was going to walk straight up to him and tell him the truth, but her courage had failed her... once again. She is a train special agent and she can handle terrorists and murders but she can't work up her nerves tell her best friend how she feels.

As they sat there by the fire and she could feel him holding her close to him she felt okay. For now, just being friends and feeling the comfort from each other seems to be enough... for now.