Journey Series: Ellick

A Moment

Ellie's POV

Sitting to finish up some paperwork at her desk, Ellie put on her headphones and let the music course through her like the blood in her veins. Blood that was luckily still flowing steadily inside of her. It had been a long day. What started as a simple procedural follow-up on an anonymous tip had turned into an "Ellie nearly got blown up again" situation. Being trapped with Nick for those hours had been edgy. Guilt shot through her mind like a knife as she recalled her words, thinking she was calling Nick on some weird crap. "I am tired of your hover-y man crap!" His passionate confession of concern shut her up relatively quickly. "I am not going to just sit here, and watch you almost get blown up again. I'm not okay with you getting blown up--- I'm not okay with that Ellie." The intensity of his accent came through, sharpening the words, alerting her to the fact that he was incredibly angry.

As she subconsciously recalled the day's events, one other moment caused her to zone out, taking herself back. Remembering the strong, almost hungry expression of his eyes as he gazed into hers following her own confession: "I'm not okay with you getting blown up either." "Well, what are we going to do about that?" Damn. She had so badly wanted to kiss him. But she was afraid of the "why." Instead, she had walked away after Gibbs called out to them. She kept on walking. Torres said nothing, though she wished he would. She was not sure what she was supposed to feel. Whatever Torres had said, well, what was that even supposed to mean? How was she supposed to react to that when she did not even know how he felt? The question had been provocative, no doubt. But then again, it could have been just Torres being Torres. Ellie though could not deny the intensity of his gaze nor the seriousness of the question. What are we going to do?

At a tap on her shoulder, she removed her headphones. "Hey, Ellie." A voice broke through her reverie. Scratch that. His voice broke through. Ellie glanced up swiftly, "Uh-huh?" "Listen," Torres continued in the tone of voice she instantly recognized as apologetic. "I need to apologize, about today, in the cell, when..." "Stop." He looked shaken by her quiet interjection. "You have nothing to apologize for Nick. Everything you did was for our own good. I know that. But at the moment I was over-rationalizing everything because-because I was scared." She deliberately avoided his gaze as she admitted something that would normally cause her to choke: fear. "And I am probably going to regret telling you that because I'm not supposed to be afraid of anything, but I need you to know because you did everything you should have done." Eyes still cast down, Ellie's voice became softer as she closed her explanation. Torres placed his calloused, warm hand under Ellie's chin and gently tilted it toward him. "Ellie," he said softly, "thank you." Ellie's eyes widened Nick Torres, thanking me? I must be dreaming. The moment was one moment. Ellie knew it could literally be called a moment since she read somewhere that a moment was a literal mathematical section of time that lasted exactly 90 seconds. One moment passed. Then Torres removed his hand, strolled to his desk, and shouldered his bag. He had nearly passed the outer border of her cubicle when he leaned over the partition. Ellie hadn't moved. "Oh, and Ellie?" Ellie swiveled in the chair to look at him. "To be scared of something doesn't make you weak. It makes you human. I'd be surprised to meet someone who wasn't." In a moment of boldness, a bright flame lit Ellie's eyes as she looked daringly into his. "So, Special Agent Nick Torres, what scares you?"