Will You Take Care of Me?

Together

Ellie pulled up to the only place she felt like being... Nick's. He had given her a key sometime back and told her to come by if she ever felt like she didn't have anywhere else to go, so that's what she did. As she let herself in, she plopped down onto the couch. "Oh Nick..." she said to herself. "You have to be okay..." If it were anyone else in the hospital, Nick would be here beside her and this would be the point when he would tell her to talk to him, that she could tell him anything. Not having Nick to turn to but also not wanting to be alone, she pulled out her phone and dialed the last number she expected herself to be calling... her mom.

"Eleanor!" Her mother said excitedly as she answered the phone. "I didn't expect to hear from you dear."

"Hi, mom..." She could hear the sadness in hear daughter's voice.

"What's wrong, Eleanor?"  She hesitated for a moment, deciding whether or not to share.  "Ellie, honey, you can still talk to me.  I'm still your mom..."  Much to both of their surprise, Ellie opened up almost immediately in a tearful rant.

"One of my friends is in the hospital.  He might never be able to walk again and it's all because of me.  I... I don't know what to do.  He's the only person I've trusted ever since I found out..." Ellie trailed off when she realized what she'd said.  "I'm sorry, mom, I just..."

"No, El, I understand.  But I am here if you need anything."

"Thanks..."

"Eleanor, someone is calling me.  Can I call you back?"

"Sure, mom." When they hung up, Ellie couldn't believe the way she'd opened up to her mom.  It was almost like it had been before everything had happened between them.  She knew her heart wasn't ready to trust again that easily, but at least this was a start.

***

Gibbs walked in the house that evening to find Jack curled up on the couch, staring at her phone with a distressed look on her face.  She didn't even notice him come in. "Hey," he offered. She looked up, a bit startled.  "You alright, Jack?" She pushed away her thoughts and put on a smile.

"Yeah. How is Ellie?" She wondered.

"She ran off." He sighed as he sat down on the couch beside her. "Blames herself. She said it should've been her."

"Oh no..." Her heart sank when she heard this.

"Jack, I was wonderin'..." he hesitated and she rubbed his arm lightly.

"What is it, Jethro?"

"I'm not very good at advice or comforting, you of anyone would know that."  She laid her head on his shoulder.

"Jethro, yes you are.  You're the one person I always feel like I can talk to about things.  You were even before we were married.  Even when we first knew each other..."

"I didn't even know how to help Bishop..."

"No one is gonna be able to help her until she can see and talk to Nick, you know that."

"I know, but I was hopin' you might try to talk to her. Maybe she'll listen to you. You know what she's going through." He said, knowing Jack had blamed herself the same way Ellie was now when Ellie had been shot. She said nothing.

"Jack?" He turned to look at her but she seemed completely distracted. "Jack, what's is it?"

"I- I'm sorry, Jethro, I just can't." She stood up and ran up the stairs, closing their bedroom door.

"Jack," He called after her. "Jack, wait..." He hurried after her and went in their room to find her sitting on the bed faced away from the door. He sat beside her and laced his fingers in between hers. "Jack, what's going on? This morning you didn't even wanna see Ellie, now you won't talk to her..." His eyes drifted down to the photo she held. It was the same picture she'd shown him this morning. "Oh, Jack... why didn't you tell me it was her?"

"Because I've only known since the kidnapping."

"Does Bishop know?" She shook her head.

"She was gone by the time Vanessa gave me this photo." Her voice started to get louder as she finally realized how angry she was at herself. "You know, Jethro, I don't even know why I try. I'm a horrible mom. I abandoned one of my daughters and lost the other. And now that I've found them both, it's too late. They both already have moms. I know that I chose to give up Faith, to protect her. But Ellie, Ellie I was supposed to raise..." He took her into his arms and rubbed her back.

"Hey, it's okay. It's okay."

"No, Jethro, no it's not! I abandoned my little girl..." She could barely get the words out as she choked on her tears. "I abandoned her, and when I came back... she was gone. Another woman was raising her somewhere and I... I never even found her. Then she got shot because of me... and Nick got hurt looking for me, which hurts Ellie. And I've been avoiding Faith and dodging her calls and Jethro I... I'm just not cut out to be a mom." He continued to hold his wife, whispering comforts to her.

"Jack, it's okay, it's gonna be okay.  I've got you." He kissed her on the top of her head.  "I promise, I've got you."  After some time, she spoke again.

"When you came in... something was wrong."

"I know.  Just didn't wanna push you."  She leaned back to look at him.

"Faith called me again and I didn't answer.  She texted me and said that she's worried about me."

"You text her back?"  She shook her head.

"Faith has already struggled with feeling that I abandoned her.  Telling her that I kept her sister wouldn't help any.  I know that I have to tell her, both of them actually, about each other eventually.  I'm just not ready for that."

"And Bishop?"

"She's been dealing with something before any of this happened, and I don't know what, but I just don't want to make it any harder."

"Jack, you can't just avoid your daughters forever." He thought for a moment about how to tactfully say what was on his mind. "Never give up a moment with your kids. You never know when it might be the last." He looked away from her.  Jack was never sure what to say when she knew that Kelly was on his mind, so she simply laid her head on his shoulder and took his hand in hers. After several minutes of quiet, she spoke in a whisper.

"I love you, Jethro." He looked at his wife. How did I get so lucky? He thought to himself. He looked her in the eyes and their lips met in a tender kiss. He didn't have to return her words, she knew that this was his way of doing so. The two sat quietly in each other's embrace, knowing that whatever they would have to face next, they would face it together.