Secret Santa and Mistletoe

This fanfiction has been uploaded across multiple platforms, all under the username, A_Big_Stressed_Mess.

Special Agent Eleanor Bishop arrived to work early one Friday morning. She didn't arrive her usually five minutes early. She didn't arrive ten or fifteen minutes early. Heck, she didn't even arrive thirty minutes early. Why? Because today was the day they gave out their Secret Santa gifts.

This year, the gift exchange was between her, Torres, McGee, Gibbs, Sloane, Jimmy, and Kasie. The whole gimmick was to secretly deliver your present, along with figuring out who was your Secret Santa. Bishop was determined to not be discovered. For her plan to work, she couldn't just be early, everybody would be early for Secret Santa. She had to be early to being early. Hence, she arrived forty-five minutes before her job started.

Now, Kasie, Jimmy, and Sloane actually started work an hour earlier than agents like her did, so Eleanor was technically fifteen minutes late, but that was her plan. After carefully conducting some research (light stalking), Bishop learned Kasie would arrive at 8AM, unlock her lab, organize her stuff, and prepare everything for the day. After everything was set up, Kasie would leave for the break room, leaving her lab unlocked, to make herself some tea. Normally, she would leave her lab around 8:17 and arrive back no later than 8:30.

Eleanor Bishop arrived at her desk at 8:15. None of her coworkers were here yet, although there was one staff member putting up a few holiday decorations. She stashed her bag, but kept her coat. The office was cold this time of day, and her winter coat was perfect for hiding her gift bag. Kasie took the stairs everyday to the break room for exercise, so Eleanor took the elevator down to Kasie's lab, a gift bag stashed under her jacket. Fortunately, nobody joined her, or saw her take the ride down.

As the elevator arrived, Bishop, as stealthily and as quickly as possible, dashed into Kasie's lab. It was empty, as expected. She dropped off the gift bag, containing two candles and some incense. One candle was a Homesick candle, and it apparently smelled like Kasie's home state. The other candle was lavender and vanilla. Just as stealthily and as quickly as she arrived, Eleanor left, and ran back to the elevator.

She reached to push the button for her office floor, but stopped. There was a high likelihood that she would run into one of her coworker's while on the elevator, and coming up without a backpack would be incredibly suspicious. Instead, Eleanor selected to go down a level, to autopsy. Jimmy stayed late to catch up on work last night, and he had a report they needed. She would kill two birds with one stone, doing work, and giving herself a cover story.

Eleanor's elevator stopped on the ground floor, and opened to reveal Special Agent Nick Torres, backpack in hand, fifteen minutes early to work. He had been digging through his bag, but immediately stopped and zipped it back up when he laid eyes on Eleanor Bishop.

"Good morning Nick," Eleanor greeted, eyeing him suspiciously. "What's in your bag?"

"Nothing!" he replied too quickly.

"Secret Santa?"

"I could ask you the same question, Bishop. Why are you coming up from the basement, before your shift?" Eleanor was eternally grateful for the cover story in her hands.

"Jimmy stayed late working last night, so I decided to come in early to work. I did all of us the favor of retrieving the file on our John Doe. Care to look, Nick?" He looked her over, then shook his head.

"I'm good. I have enough work of my own to catch up on before the holidays." With that response, the pair rode slightly up to their floor. Eleanor exited the elevator first, but a decoration on the ceiling caught her eye, and she stopped abruptly.

"I'm not sure that's HR approved," she mused. Torres, who was caught in his own thoughts, didn't notice the ceiling decoration or Eleanor's pause until it was too late. He crashed into her.

"Ow, Bishop, what the heck? Why did you stop?" he glanced up to see what Bishop was looking at. It was mistletoe, and Eleanor had stopped just before walking under it. "Ohh." The pair stood there awkwardly for a moment, before Torres noticed a gift left on McGee's desk. "Well, well, well, the first Secret Santa has delivered their present."

"How do you know that was the first?" Eleanor asked, sitting down at her desk

"How do you know it wasn't?" Nick responded, standing in front of Bishop's desk. She just shook her head. "I have my eye on you."

"I do too," Eleanor said, uninterested. She was reading over Jimmy's report, and had stopped paying any attention to Torres.

Nick was Eleanor's Secret Santa. His original plan was to arrive early, drop his gift on Bishop's desk, and then take the stairs back downstairs to hide out until work started. He really should have known that Eleanor would have shown up early, but he couldn't bring himself to wake up any earlier, and he could only rush through his morning routine so much. He now needed a Plan B. Unfortunately, by 1PM, Bishop had only left the bullpen twice. Once, she went to the bathroom, and the rest of the team was still there, so that wouldn't work. The second time, the desks were abandoned, but he was with Eleanor in Kasie's lab. To add insult to injury, Kasie already had her gift delivered that morning, and to add more insult, a gift had been left on his desk while they were gone. It was a nice jogging hoodie, and a new band for his Apple Watch. His gift was quite nice, and he wanted to see Eleanor's reaction to the present he picked out. Fortunately, an opportunity would present itself soon.

"Get your gear, dead body at the hospital," Gibbs rounded the corner with his surprise attack.

"Aren't dead bodies a normal part of hospitals, Boss?" McGee asked.

"Not stabbed and hidden in the laundry room, McGee. Let's get going." Torres grabbed his backpack, and glanced at the bright yellow bag hidden inside. He turned towards his coworkers and saw that they all had their backs turned, hurrying to catch up with Gibbs. He saw his chance.

As smoothly as he could, Nick hurried towards his friends, while pulling the bag out of his backpack. In one swift motion, he dropped the gift on Bishop's desk while putting his backpack on. He walked behind the group to the right, trying his best to hide the gift from their sightlines. Luckily, nobody noticed the new package as they boarded the elevator and headed towards their new body. Now, Nick just had to figure out who his Secret Santa was.

Eleanor exited the elevator followed by McGee and Torres. She carefully avoided the mistletoe still hanging from the ceiling. Gibbs had disappeared somewhere, and Bishop suspected he was delivering his Secret Santa gift. However, her thoughts were cut short by a yellow gift bag sitting on her desk.

"What's this?" she asked, turning towards McGee and Torres. They both shrugged, one ignorant and the other playing dumb.

"I'm guessing it's your Secret Santa gift," McGee answered. Eleanor stood behind her desk, McGee and Torres watching on from in front of it. Bishop grabbed the bag, but she didn't open it. She inspected the bag, looking at it from every angle.

"Are you going to open it? Nick asked. He was growing impatient. He wanted to know what Eleanor thought of his gift.

"In a minute, I'm inspecting it for clues." Nick chuckled and Mcgee shook his head.

"I think you're taking this a bit too seriously, Bishop," Mcgee said. Her eyes locked with his.

"That sounds like what my Secret Santa would say," Eleanor glared at him.

"I-I'm not your Secret Santa, Bishop. Just- what's your gift?" She opened up the present. Out of the two items in the bag, she pulled the smaller of the two out first.

"Ooh, a Steam gift card," Eleanor said, smiling. "I can finally buy Untitled Goose Game!" Nick was glad she seemed happy. The gift card was definitely a less personal and kind of lazy gift, but the main gift was under the spending limit, and he didn't know what else to get. Bishop reached into the bag for the second gift, and Torres sucked in a breath. When he saw this item online, he immediately thought of Eleanor. He really hoped she liked it.

Eleanor Bishop looked at the tan bag in confusion. She flipped it over, and an agonizing second passed before recognition flooded her face and a grin burst out. "A tortilla blanket!?" Bishop was so excited, she was bouncing a little on her toes. Nick exhaled. She didn't like the gift, she loved it.

"A tortilla blanket?" McGee repeated what Eleanor said, but he was far more confused.

"It's a blanket that's round, and it looks like a tortilla. It's amazing!" Bishop looked at the gift for a bit longer before putting it back in the bag. "I cannot wait to get home so I can wash it and use it." McGee and Torres returned to their desks, and work resumed, but with a bit more holiday cheer. Not a whole lot though. They did just get back from a crime scene.

Hours later, it was dark outside, and most of the NCIS had gone home. However, Torres and Bishop were still at their desks. The only thing standing between them and some time off for the holidays was filling out some paperwork. Eleanor finished before Nick, and she started packing her stuff away, catching Nick's attention.

"You're done already?" Nick asked. "I'm not even halfway done with all the paperwork!"

"The benefits of coming in forty-five minutes early to drop off my Secret Santa gift, you get an extra fifteen minutes to do actual work." Eleanor grabbed her gift bag off the ground. "Do you want some help, or at least some company? I feel bad leaving for my holiday when you're still stuck here." Nick smiled at her.

"I appreciate the offer, but you can go home. I'll be done within half an hour." Nick paused for a second. "You weren't just grabbing paperwork this morning! Kasie?"

"Yep. I was Kasie's Secret Santa. I don't think she knows it was me. I should probably text her tomorrow." Torres walked over to Eleanor's desk.

"Do you know who your Secret Santa was?" he asked cautiously. Eleanor smiled at him.

"Yes, I know it was you. Thank you for the gift card and the blanket, they will go to good use." They stood there looking at each other for a moment. Eleanor broke the silence. "Do you know who your Secret Santa was?"

Nick looked down in defeat, and embarrassment. "No, I don't, and it's shameful as a NCIS Agent that I don't know."

"Do you want me to tell you who it is?"

"You know?"

"I know everyone's." Nick looked at her in astonishment.

"Everybody's?"

"Yeah. You had me, I had Kacie, who had McGee, who had Gibbs, who had Jimmy, who had Slone, and Sloane had you." Nick just stared at her for a moment, trying to figure out what to say,

"You-How…? Even? How did you figure that out?"

"Logic, reasoning, some detective skills, and the process of elimination. You were the last person I figured out. You hid it well, and I'm still not sure how you did it." Nick smirked at Bishop.

"Ninja skills, luck, and being the last one out of the bullpen." Eleanor lightly shook her head at Nick, and then she turned her attention over to the elevator. Torres saw an opportunity. "May I walk you over to the elevator?" he asked, extending an elbow towards Bishop. She giggled and took his arm.

"How suave. I feel so special, being walked… twenty feet?" she estimated.

"It's a wonderful gift, being walked twenty feet, you know," Nick joked as they approached the elevator. Suddenly, Eleanor paused and let go of Nick.

"I can't believe it! I almost forgot your gift," she exclaimed, digging in her backpack.

"I don't think you understand how Secret Santa works." Torres said, looking on in curiosity. Just because he wasn't supposed to get a gift doesn't mean he didn't want one.

"I was planning on giving this to you for Christmas before we decided on Secret Santa," Eleanor said as she pulled something small out of her backpack. "Then all this happened, and I didn't draw your name, but I still wanted to give this to you. I think it's been long enough."

Nick was confused. Been long enough for what? Whatever the thing was, it could easily be hidden behind her back. Torres waited as Bishop put her backpack back on and got herself situated. Finally, she handed him a folded piece of printer paper. He was still confused.

"Do you remember when you got hypnotized, and you wrote that letter to me?"

"I remember you telling me about it, but I don't remember writing it."

"Well, now you can read what you wrote."

"Now?"

"I would wait until you got home. Save it as a reward for finishing your work?" Eleanor suddenly seemed more nervous than before.

"Have you read this?" The paper seemed worn, the creases were soft, like she had folded and unfolded it many times.

"Yeah," her confirmation was so quiet, Nick was surprised he heard it. Then he realized how close Eleanor and him were standing. They looked at each other, Eleanor clearly knowing something he didn't. Then he realized…

"Did you push the button for the elevator?" he asked.

"Uhm… no," Bishop responded. She moved away to push the button, and the distance between them became wider. They stood there together, waiting for the elevator. Eleanor looked up, and a decoration hanging from the ceiling caught her eye. Nick noticed her looking and followed her eyes. Mistletoe.

The air around them became awkward as they both stood there, staring at the mistletoe they were standing underneath. The elevator doors opened. Bishop paused for a moment before turning to Torres. Gently, she placed her left hand on his shoulder. Nick's body froze, but his head turned slightly towards her. Eleanor leaned in and gave him a peck on the cheek.

"Merry Christmas, Nick," she said, and then she walked into the elevator.

"Merry Christmas, Ellie," and the doors closed behind her.

Nick turned his attention to the note in his hand. He could save it for later, but now his burning cheek demanded he open it here and now. Carefully unfolding the paper, Torres revealed a single sentence written inside: I Love You.

His blood froze, but the burning in his cheek somehow felt even hotter. Millions of questions raced through his mind. How many people know? How long has she known? At the longest, about a year, maybe? Did she tell anyone else? Does she feel the same? I mean she kissed me, so yes? Part of Nick wanted to hide under his desk in embarrassment, the other part wanted to run after Eleanor. Instead, he just walked over to his desk, and finished his paperwork while feeling many emotions.

The next day, Nick received a text from Eleanor. It was a picture of her wrapped up in her tortilla blanket, with a bag of chips, Untitled Goose Game loaded up on her computer.

I read the note he texted back.

The End