Work Text:
It was only supposed to happen once.
And that time, it was by accident.
Ellie's tired. Like, college student with four back to back lectures tired. She's just gotten off a case that she had to work on without her normal help from McGee, since he's out sick, and Gibbs, since, well, he's suspended. Nick's helpful enough, but it'd be nice to have someone who can use a computer, like McGee.
It's not that Ellie isn't tech savvy, it's just that she's tired. Her eyes have been staring at her screen for the past five hours, and if only McGee were here, he'd definitely be able to find suspects faster than her, and her eyes would be okay.
Honestly, now, she's not sure if she's more tired or hungry. Ellie hasn't eaten since lunch, and it's five in the afternoon. She opens her food drawer, and groans. It's empty.
Groaning again, this time very loudly, she stands up, and trudges her way into the break room to the vending machine. After getting enough food to restock her drawer, she heads back to her desk, and shoves her snacks into the bottom drawer, before taking out one bag of chips to eat.
"Wanna grab some food?" Nick's voice rings out as she opens her bag of bacon brown sugar chips.
Ellie holds her chips up. "I have food."
Nick nods. "Okay, then." He heads to his desk, standing and finishing up some reports.
"Do you ever sit on your chair?" Ellie asks, trying to find some kind of memory of Nick in his seat.
"Yes, I've sat on it before!" Nick says, looking up.
The afternoon sun shines through the windows, making a spotlight effect onto Nick, and Ellie turns her attention back to her chips to hide her blush. "I'm pretty sure you haven't."
Nick sighs. "If it helps, I check my seat every week to make sure there isn't another twenty-dollar bill on it."
"But do you sit on it?"
Nick's mouth opens and closes. "Oh my God, have I never sat on my chair?" His voice goes up an octave at the end.
Ellie nods, crunching on her chip.
There's a long pause, where Nick turns back to his report and Ellie keeps staring at him. Finally, Nick looks back up. "What?"
Ellie blinks. "Hm?" She tosses her empty chip bag into the trash, and digs out another bag, opening it.
"You're staring, Ellie." Nick's eyebrow lifts for a second.
"Are you going to sit on your chair or what?" Ellie asks. "It's not cursed, you know. No one's done any voodoo magic on that," she teases.
Nick seems to contemplate sitting down on the chair for a second, his gaze focused on the item that's probably been collecting dust for the past five years. "Nah, I'm good. "
Ellie groans. "Okay, this is getting out of hand." She stands up and storms over to his seat. "If you don't sit on your chair, I'll make you."
"Did you know people who stand have a 50% less chance of getting heart disease?" Nick asks, just as Ellie shoves him onto his seat. "What are you doing?"
Ellie crosses her arms, smirking. "Do you like your chair?"
Nick fidgets in his seat for a while, touching the grey fabric. "It's okay, I guess. I like standing, though." He leans forward to stand up, and Ellie instantly drops right onto his lap. "What the fu-"
"Language, Nick." Ellie continues eating her chips, before realizing what she's done. "Oh my God."
"Yeah, Ellie, I have a report to file. I can't do that with you sitting on my lap."
Ellie blushes, and suddenly has this fantasy with Nick putting his hands on her waist, or wrapping his arms around her torso. It lasts for a second, before she shakes it away.
"Ellie?" Nick says.
Finally snapping out of it, Ellie stands back up. "Enjoy your seat." Blushing, she heads back to hers, while Nick eyes her, intrigued and confused.
"If you wanted an excuse to sit in my lap, you could've just asked, El."
Ellie throws a pencil at him.
The next time it happens, it's not really an accident as much as it's Ellie voicing her thoughts out loud.
"Floor time!" Ellie calls one very slow and quiet day, and everyone groans. "Aw, come on, we haven't had floor time in a long time." She stands up, gathering her files, as Nick and McGee begrudgingly come over to sit on the floor.
McGee drops onto the floor, crossing his legs. Nick does the same, and Ellie quickly packs up a few items before looking over at Nick, and thinking what it'd be like if she could sit on his lap again.
Sure, she's had her fair share of totally not safe for work dreams and fantasies she know she really shouldn't be having and all, most of which launched from the time she accidentally-not really landed on Nick's lap in his chair. Those dreams would definitely get worse, but her reality would be so much better, if she could just ask, "May I sit there?", and-
"That's my lap, Ellie," Nick says, as Ellie's back in the present, where her finger's pointed in Nick's direction.
"That didn't answer my question, Nick," Ellie realizes she's saying out loud, and tries not to cringe.
McGee's just confused now, and Nick shrugs. "Be my guest." He gestures to his crossed legs, and Ellie doesn't hesitate to drop right onto his lap.
"What are you guys doing?" McGee asks.
"She asked," Nick says, shrugging. "Gotta give the lady what she wants."
If only you knew what I really want, Ellie thinks, pressing her lips together so she doesn't actually say those words out loud, because if she did, then WOAH, she's screwed (hopefully not literally).
God, she has really dirty thoughts that don't belong in her head. She really does have it bad.
McGee shakes his head. "I really want to know what goes on in your heads, both of you."
A shiver goes down Ellie's spine. If McGee ever found out what goes on in there, she's definitely screwed.
They end up sitting there for a while, with McGee playing a game, and Ellie doing an online crossword puzzle with Nick. In the end, it's a good day.
That night, though, a whole new round of dreams invade Ellie's brain.
Ellie and Nick head into Kasie's lab for a presentation about World War II crimes two weeks later.
Nick gets himself situated in one of Kasie's lounge chairs, and Ellie looks over at the other one, before finally squeezing in next to Nick in his seat. "Hey!" he protests, but eventually relents and lets Ellie sit with him.
Unfortunately, the seat's small, so Ellie's half-sitting on Nick's lap. She keeps moving to adjust her position, until Nick grunts, annoyed, and puts his hands on her waist to hoist her up onto his lap.
His hands stay on her waist, and Ellie's cheeks are heating up so much she's surprised her blood isn't boiling.
Kasie walks in with her microphone and tablet, and begins her presentation, only to cut off when she finally sees the position they're in. "I have so many questions."
Ellie blushes. "Don't ask."
"Okay, then..." Kasie turns back to her presentation, but Ellie's not paying attention. All she can think about is Nick's arms around her and the way she feels so safe, and how she really hopes she's not saying anything out loud.
At the end of the presentation, Nick just lifts Ellie up off of him and places her down on the ground delicately.
They don't talk about it after that.
After spraining her ankle while chasing a suspect, Nick has to carry Ellie everywhere, since he doesn't trust crutches ("You get them stuck in one sidewalk crack and you're left with two sprained ankles," he said).
She doesn't mind. In fact, Ellie's pretty sure this is the most amazing thing that's ever happened to her. In a way, it might even be romantic, if he felt the same way.
Honestly, Ellie's made peace a long time ago with the fact that she's helplessly in love with her partner/best friend, and she knows that all efforts to try to make something happen out of it is pretty much futile.
She still dreams, though. As much as it makes her sound like a teenager with a crush, she doesn't mind. Ellie's pretty sure it's the first time it's been this bad in her entire life, so as long as he doesn't know, it'll be for the best.
Sometimes, though, she wishes he knew. Because she's almost positive he feels the same way. If he doesn't, then that night they decided was a half-mistake would've meant nothing.
(It's the best mistake she's ever made.)
"Where are you taking me?" Ellie asks, once they're in his car. Luckily, they carpooled, so she doesn't have to worry about her truck being in the cold parking lot at the Navy Yard.
"To my apartment. You need to rest, ice, compress, and elevate that ankle, and you might fall if you're alone." Nick turns the radio on.
Ellie's heart does a quick skip. She's going to his apartment. It takes a few moments for that to settle in. "Okay."
When they get to his apartment, he carries her and places her onto the couch, resting her ankle on a pile of pillows (why does he have so many pillows?).
There's a few moments of silence while they watch TV, until Nick finally lifts her up so she can sit on his lap.
She didn't know how much she wanted that until she got it.
Nick keeps his arms locked around her torso, just in case she'll fall off the couch. Before long, she's drifting off to sleep.
"Goodnight, Nick," she whispers, closing her eyes.
"'Night, Ellie," he replies, pressing a small kiss to her forehead before she's out.
The next day, things have definitely changed.