step by step
An NCIS fic collection
by mew-tsubaki
- ^-^3
imagine: miscellany 32—troublemaker (this post on the sideblog: 776694427943141376/ parknight-imagines-miscellany-32-troublemaker)
tags: post-s22e1
- ^-^3
She can't stop grinning when they're back in D.C. Everything's worked out for the best—Torres is still alive and kicking (and punching…the guy sure does love to take down bad guys), McGee's back in the bullpen with them (erm, all right, not exactly ideal because that LaRoche dude gives all of them the heebie-jeebies), and Knight's got her spot back on the MCRT. And, of course, Parker has people to share pastries in the morning with once more (good, because Kasie and Jimmy were mumbling about putting on holiday pounds the other day and there are no holidays in sight…!).
But Knight? She can't tamp down her grin, can't help how often her eyes slide to her left.
Parker often feigns ignorance, keeping focused on some task at hand, be it paperwork to rifle through, Bandium to update, or even something to search on his monitor. But, sometimes, he caves and glances her way, one deeply silver eyebrow raised, caught between curiosity and scolding.
It's an expression that almost makes Knight laugh out loud, because she can tell he's trying to decipher her amusement and is waiting for the opportunity to ask.
And they do get an opportunity, after Metro P.D. calls them in on a carjacking, because the target was a Petty Officer. "McGee, Torres, you two take the scene, go over it with fresh eyes, see if Metro missed anything. Knight and I will interview Petty Officer Grant at the hospital," he says, and it's the usual flurry of activity in that instant, bags and guns and jackets grabbed before they all pack into the elevator.
They split in the parking lot, but Knight and Parker don't even make it to the car before he gives in:
"Okay, I've gotta know."
Knight tosses her bag and windbreaker in the backseat. "Know what?"
Parker cocks his head forward when they lock eyes over the roof of the car. "You told me you wanted to come back—and I'm glad you're back"—his pink cheeks redden just this much when he's honest with her, with himself—"but I know how much you loved California, too. And that case was absolutely bonkers. So…what's with the gigantic grin?"
"Eh, nothing much. I've just realized that, come hell or high water, you'll be there for me. My partner in fighting crime…my partner-in-crime. Maybe even help me hide a body, if I need it," she jokes. She drops into the passenger seat.
Parker joins her, but his skepticism hasn't left him, and he doesn't turn the key in the ignition yet. "Hide a body, Jess?"
Yet he doesn't dismiss the partners-in-crime quip, she notes. "All right, so maybe that's going a little too far, but." She shrugs. "Things got hairy and you did everything except arrest me, Alden. Hell, I daresay you might've joined me in cuffs, if it had come to that."
He scoffs and rolls his eyes. "Well, it's not as if I don't have experience with that…"
She knows what he means, given his background with Billy in their teen years. But the casual way he says it? It's got her grinning again, almost laughing, and her own cheeks redden as she catches his eye. "Yeah? Something you wanna share with the class, Alden?"
Now he starts the car, and he huffs and shakes his head, trying to dodge the question. "You, Jess Knight, are a troublemaker."
"Takes one to know one…! And, hey, it's fine to experiment—although if we're gonna, we absolutely need a different kind of cuffs than our standard issue—"
- ^-^3
Smthg kinda ridiculous for Parknight bc yeah, my mind went there, *lol*. Altho cuff kink…hmm. *eyes* B3c But they're partners thru and thru.
-mew! X'D