Journey Series: Ellick

Unpausing

Nick POV

Special Agent Nick Torres descended off a military carrier on a base in D.C. clothed in, yes, that outfit. He breathed the summer air in deeply. For the first time, he didn't inhale a cloud of dust with it. He hadn't been here in five years. Five more years had been added to his deep undercover career. An 18th name and home address were now in the recesses of his mind. Another successful operation had been added to his dossier. There were a few more scars on his body, in his mind. There were a few small grey hairs in his sideburns that he had been viciously plucking for a couple of months now. There were a few more creases in his forehead. But he felt stronger, and accomplished. He had caught the head of the snake. Being back undercover had retrained him how to school his features and emotions. He was able to maintain control. Was it the healthiest for him? No. But it was the safest for those he cared for. He had seen things and learned things. Horrors beyond one's wildest nightmares. No one should know what he had seen, much less some of the things he had to do. But he was coming home. For the first time ever, he wasn't hitting the reset button. He was pressing unpause. And now he was ready for where this was going to go.

It felt strange walking into NCIS again. They still accepted his credentials. Vance's orders, probably. There were a few more faces that had passed him for years now on the wall of agents they had lost. But mostly it was like walking into a time capsule. The walls were still that hideous orange color that he had come to appreciate. The desks were where they had always been. His breathe caught in his throat when he saw that there was a light on. It was the light on Ellie's desk. There was her golden head bobbing along to whatever must be coming through the earbuds she had in. He didn't want to startle her. He walked around to the bullpen slowly. Her eyes were closed. It was enough to just watch her for now. He turned his attention toward his desk. It must be someone else's now. But he gravitated toward it like a magnet. Ellie's eyes were still closed. He went and sat in the chair that he had avoided sitting in for so many years. He closed his eyes. He was home.

"Holy shit!" Ellie's frantic voice broke him out of what must have been a light doze. His eyelids flew open to see Ellie gaping at him. He stood up quickly, completely forgetting that this was the first time she had seen him in three years. She moved out from behind her desk and crashed into him, nearly knocking him off his feet. "Oh my gosh, you're back! Your back!" "Yeah, I'm back," he said as he stroked her hair. Then she pushed him away and gave him a solid punch to the chest. "Ouch, B, what the hell was that for?" "For nearly scaring the living crap out of me! Geez, Nick. Can you try and think about what that was like for me. To close my eyes, wish you were here, then open them to discover that you're literally here! Oh my--, I can't even with you." She continued to ramble. "Hey Ell," he began, "What," she interrupted. "Um, I got back like an hour ago and I haven't eaten anything yet. Do you want to grab a bite?" She closed her eyes momentarily. "You know what, yeah. I think that is a really great idea. But I'm paying. And then we can, we can talk or something." He smiled his old smile. "Okay."

Ellie POV

Ellie closed her eyes, swaying to the flow of the music coursing through her ears. She let the thoughts come and pass. Like a privileged relation, one came in and pushed all the others out of the way. I wish Nick were here. Sometime during her train of thoughts, she thought she heard the ding of the elevator. Probably just the janitor. He wouldn't bother her. They had become silently acquainted with eachother the past three years. He knew she rarely went home until early the next morning. Often, she only left for coffee and to change and reapply her make-up before the rest of the MRCT showed up. Gibbs, McGee and the "temporary replacement" agent that they had had for five years. She, Jessie Randall, did her job well, but she respectfully did not try to make herself "one of them." There weren't many who didn't know the story of Nicholas Torres. How he had basically just up and left, and had never come back. Director Vance out of respect of the team's sentiment had never removed his credential information from the system. Just in case his ghost mysteriously visited them and needed credentials to get in.

Everyone was convinced that he was dead. They would never outright said it. A cocky agent from another team had made a comment in Bishop's range of hearing. Gibbs, McGee, and their temp, Agent Randall all denied seeing her attack him. Since the security system in the parking lot had malfunctioned, how the agent's nose had been broken, among many other bruises was still a mystery despite his claims. However, he nor Bishop were never paired together under any circumstances.

Bishop and the team had never given up quiet hope that one day he'd come strolling through the elevator's doors, that mysterious grin playing on his lips.

Slowly, she opened her eyes. Had she fallen asleep? Was she dreaming? She pinched herself. Nope. She blinked, rapidly. Apparently, Nick was there, wearing the same outfit she had first met him in, the one he had left in. She shook her head, trying to clear it. It was an illusion, it would fade. But it didn't. He was there, actually sitting in his chair, arms crossed, eyes closed. She saw the rise and fall of his chest. Oh hell, he was real flesh and blood. She stood up so fast that her chair shot out behind her, she yanked out her headphones and screamed. "Holy shit!" He startled, must have been sleeping...? She thought. She heard his voice and rushed in for a hug. She felt him resteady himself. Will this guy ever stop giving me near heart attacks?

Walking into a diner with him, she thought, Guess I'm about to find out.