Work Text:
“Hey Jimmy, do you have a moment?”
“For you? Always.”
His answer came in instantly, without lifting his face from the computer as he was actively typing some text. His fingers stopped moving as Jimmy froze when he realized what he had just said. He slowly turned around to face Jess, already ready to apologize for probably making this whole conversation awkward by a simple comment that had escaped him when he had heard her voice. But the fond smile tugging at the corner of her mouth and her soft gaze made him relax and forget the apology he had been ready to make and he smiled back before gesturing to his screen.
“Just give me a few minutes to finish this report.” He nodded towards the tables that were free and added. “Make yourself comfortable.”
Before she could control it, another fond smile formed on her lips and she walked to him to put the coffee she had brought him next to his keyboard and sat on one of the tables, quietly observing him to not disturb him, even though her mind was racing with thousands of questions. Jimmy got distracted by her presence so close to him when she handed him a coffee and noticed the file she was holding. Even if he forced himself to turn his attention back to the last reports he had been working on to finish as soon as possible, he couldn’t help but wonder what this was about and he felt curiosity rising within himself.
“And… done.” He said with a smile a few minutes later as the sound of the printer turning on reached her ears. “I’m all yours now.”
Jessica was so glad she was sipping on her coffee at this precise moment, because his choice of words definitely didn’t escape her and she automatically held his gaze, wishing it was the case.
“So… What’s this about?”
Jimmy finally asked to break this little awkward silence that had settled between them. He had joined her, standing in front of her and gestured towards the file laying next to her thigh. Jessica could barely hold back a smile at how curious he sounded.
“Just some interesting stuff I found out.”
Her tone was mysterious and Jimmy met her eyes again immediately, even more curious than before. There could be so many things she could have found out about, he had no idea what it could be and he knew she wasn’t telling him right away to playfully torment him.
“But since you’re here, you want to talk to me about it.”
That wasn't even a question. He just knew her well enough to know that if she was here she would tell him.
“Well, yes. I have so many questions for you, Dr Palmer.”
Jimmy tried to contain his proud grin at how well he knew her, but was, once again, intrigued by her words. Jessica put her coffee down and picked up the file, going through a few pieces of paper before finding the one she was looking for, but carefully keept it hidden from Jimmy’s eyes, for now. He noticed the way her posture stiffened and he frowned at this detail.
“Care to explain this?”
She asked, in an accusatory tone he had heard her use in interrogation countless of times, a serious look in her eyes, but the teasing grin - she wasn’t able to control - on her face betrayed her. So despite the surface, he knew this wasn’t as serious as she was pretending it to be.
Jimmy took the photo she was - finally - handing him, even more intrigued than before by the way she had asked him about it as Jessica studied him. Her grin widened when she saw realization wash upon him at what she was showing him. His mug shot from years ago. Jimmy opened his mouth and closed it, several times, not knowing what to say or where to start with this story he had not thought about in a long time. As he looked up at Jessica, he noticed the proud smirk that had formed on her face, proud to have rendered him speechless.
“Oh you’re enjoying this!”
“Yes.” She didn’t even try to deny it. It was useless. And it was way too fun to even try. “And I’m still waiting for answers.”
“Right.”
Jimmy whispered, as the night from years ago came back to his mind, and not feeling as proud of himself as he had felt back then. Jess was so amused to see his slight discomfort and watched him pace up and down in front of her but she didn’t say anything. She could tell he was lost in his thoughts, but after a while, still wanting to know the full story, she asked in a teasing tone.
“So… Will you explain or do I have to take this into interrogation? Just like you took Victoria there to question her?”
He turned around, a shocked - but amused - expression on his face as she had brought back that memory, still not believing he had actually questioned his daughter, in interrogation, as if she had been a killer. And Jessica - not surprisingly - knew just what to say to get a reaction out of him, or anyone.
“You’re really…”
“Jimmy Palmer, you better not finish that sentence.” Jessica warned with a false threatening tone but a playful smirk on her face, cutting him. She had seen the look on his face and had guessed that he had not been about to say something nice, even if it was just as a joke. But her tone softened when she added. “Please, just tell me what happened. It seems like an interesting story.”
Jimmy stopped pacing, facing her and he couldn’t help but smile at the glint in her eyes. He could tell she just really wanted to know what had happened to have him and Nick end up in jail that night.
“We just went to a boys night out at a painting studio.”
“A painting studio uh?” She asked, her grin only widening, already enjoying how this was starting. She added in a teasing tone. “So like a date?”
“And we ended up in a fight.”
He continued, ignoring her interruption, with an amused roll of his eyes and a smile on his face.
“We?”
She was feigning ignorance, he could just tell. There was no way she had come across his mug shot and not Nick’s. Just a look at her and he knew he was right.
“Oh don’t pretend like you don’t already know.”
“So what happened?” She asked again, still not knowing and losing her inner patience over it but not showing it. She met his eyes, softly adding. “I know you would never provoke a fight without a good reason.”
It was Jimmy’s turn to smile at her words and he reached for her hand, absently stroking it with his thumb before finally telling her the whole story, how full of adrenaline he had been after that and Jess laughed a few times at his comments, their eyes barely leaving each other the whole time.
“How did you not know about this?”
“Well, I wasn't around yet and it’s not something either you or Torres bragged about.”
“Yeah, you're right. Definitely not our finest moment.” When she laughed again he squeezed her hand and added more seriously. “And if you had already been here, we would have called you to bail us out instead of Gibbs.”
“Who says I would have come?”
Her answer was automatic, in a defiant tone and he grinned. He had anticipated this would be her reaction.
“Come on, we’re talking about Nick and me, you would never have let us spend the whole night in jail.”
“Well…” Jessica started and stopped herself, pretending she had to actually think about this and Jimmy watched her the whole time, pouting, making her unable to resist. “No, I would never have let you spend the night in jail… Torres, maybe.”
Again, Jimmy found himself grinning at her unsurprising answer. He was unconsciously standing closer to her, his hand still on hers, not that Jess seemed to mind at all. But he suddenly wondered why this incident was resurfacing out of the blue.
“How did you find out about this anyway?”
“McGee sent me to Ducky's archives for the case.”
“Oh.” He started, squinting his eyes. He would definitely have a word with Tim. “He knew what he was doing. He knew you would find this!”
Jessica slowly nodded. She had come to the same conclusion, especially when she had noticed the smirk on McGee’s face when a comment about needing to talk to Jimmy about something she had read in the files had slipped before she had realized it. She kept on asking questions until they got interrupted by the printer bipping, needing more paper to continue its task.
Once Jimmy was done with filling the printer, he turned around and noticed the way she was sitting and biting her lower lip. There was something on her mind. More serious this time. And she wanted to talk about it, otherwise she would have taken this opportunity to leave. He walked back to her and when he was standing next to her once again she asked.
“Did you really climb on the ledge of a building to hold back a suspect or was McGee just messing with me?”
Jimmy had been about to make some playful remark but he noticed the look on her face and just knew she was being serious.
“No, he wasn’t… That really happened.” The flash of surprise in her eyes didn’t escape him, but there was something else. Something he wasn’t able to read, yet. “That was reckless.”
“Like inhaling an unknown toxine that almost killed you? Or limping back to a group of heavily armed men?”
‘Or making out with a potential killer.’ She couldn’t help but think about this but managed to not say it out loud. She still remembered how she had felt when they had found him with that woman - how she still felt about this - but she slightly shook her head to chase those images and feelings away, just as Jimmy exclaimed with a little smile.
“That one was to save you!”
“I know and I’m still glad you did and I thanked you for it. Several times.” They exchanged a knowing grin, both remembering how she had thanked him. But Jessica’s expression became serious again pretty quickly, as she added in a whisper. “Promise me you’ll never do something reckless and dangerous like that again, please.”
Jimmy easily noticed the worry in her eyes, worry she wasn’t trying to hide this time. He put his hand on her shoulder, moving his thumb in a comforting way on her shoulder.
“I can’t promise you that I will never find myself in danger again -”
“I know. I'm just… I’m…” Despite wanting to tell him how she felt, she couldn’t help but hesitate. She met his eyes and the way he was looking at her made her spill her feelings easily. “I’m scared of losing you.”
Jimmy slowly nodded, her words somehow taking his breath away. She had not said anything like this to him in such a long time - too long. But knowing her the way he did, better than anyone else, he was aware of how losing her REACT team had affected her. And he knew Jess well enough to know, even if she had never said it, that she was afraid of losing anyone from this team - just like he was.
Even if it wasn’t usual for Jessica to show that much vulnerability - except with Jimmy - like she was right now, Jimmy wasn’t really surprised. He had somehow known it would come at some point, after everything the team had been through recently.
Over the past weeks, he had noticed, despite how well Jess had hidden it, how saddened she had been during the few hours they had thought Parker had been blown up. Just like he had seen in her eyes how shaken she had been after Nick had attacked her and Sawyer when he had suffered cerebral trauma and how truly scared she had been while waiting for Nick to wake up. If they had had the time, he would have taken a few minutes to comfort her. He had also picked up on her nervousness when McGee had been kidnapped.
With all that happening lately he wasn’t surprised she would be a little clingy. It wasn’t the first time she was after death or live situations had hit a little too close to home. He remembered her being extra cuddly during their spa weekend after that case involving her ex, when Jimmy had been shot at at the restaurant.
“I don’t want anything bad happening to you.”
She repeated, breaking him out of his thoughts, her voice a little shaky. Jimmy softly put his hands on her cheeks, stroking her cheeks slowly, holding her gaze seriously as he promised her he would not be doing something as reckless as climbing on the ledge of a building. A shy smile tugged at the corner of her mouth as she leaned into his touch, her eyes never leaving his.
And if, a few weeks ago, he had hesitated about talking to her about them; the way she was looking at him or melting into his touch right now pushed him to change that. He leaned in, whispering her name, and when she did the same, it only encouraged him to finally close the distance between them and allow their lips to finally meet.
The kiss started, at first, tentative and hesitant but it turned into something deeper when their feelings took over anything else they had been feeling just seconds ago. The kiss turned into two and lingered without getting carried away, giving them time to enjoy the feeling of the other’s lips.
“Hey Palmer, about toni-... oh!”
If he hadn’t been so absorbed by his conversation over text with Victoria, Nick would have noticed what Jessica and Jimmy were doing and would not have walked in. He instantly stopped in his tracks when he realized what he had just interrupted, as a gasp of surprise coming from either Jess or Jimmy, he wasn’t sure, reached his ears.
An obvious uneasiness settled between the three of them as they all exchanged furtive glances, neither of them knowing what to say right away. It was Jessica who broke the silence first.
“So… should I be worried about you and Nick dating?”
She asked in a teasing tone to diffuse the awkwardness, as she looked at Jimmy with a soft grin. There was no use in trying to hide how she still felt for Jimmy, not when Nick had caught them kissing, not when he had made her unwillingly admit her feelings for Jimmy several times while they were on stake outs.
A little laugh escaped her when the look of confusion showed on his face, before his eyes landed on the photos of their mug shots still displayed on the table next to her.
“Oh… you found out about this!”
He exclaimed and her grin only widened as she nodded, in synchronisation with Jimmy.
“Yes, among other memories.”
Jimmy clarified for him. She had only mentioned two of their hold cases, but if McGee had sent her to the archives, he was sure there were many other things she had read about.
“I’ll have so many questions during our next stake out.”
“Why did you tell her everything?”
Nick turned to face Jimmy, playfully accusing him of revealing some past secrets. With a smirk on her face, Jessica softly stroked Jimmy’s arm saying.
“Hey, leave him alone. You should blame McGee for that.”
“Oh he’s so dead.”
Nick whispered, making them both laugh. She hopped down the table and gestured to the elevator.
“Gentlemen, come on, it's time to go home.”
She let them in the elevator first and with mischievousness, she looked at Nick and grinned.
“I am so glad I never had to take care of a baby overnight with you!
“Having to marry me was a better task, right Mrs Torres?”
Nick automatically answered, laughing when he saw the disgusted expression on her face at the mention of her marital name. The same one she always wore whenever he would use that name just to torment her.
“So… should I be worried about you and Nick dating?”
Jimmy interrupted their bickering, looking at Jessica, using her own words against her, holding back a smile, teasing her. Even though, and he still couldn’t believe he had let himself think that, a few weeks ago he had actually been worried about something more than friendship going on between them; he knew there was nothing romantic between them.
“Ugh, never!” It was Nick’s turn to be disgusted by the question and he rolled his eyes. “You two really are perfect for each other.” He smiled when he saw them exchange a flirting look and honestly added. “I’m happy for you.”
A comfortable silence settled between the three of them after Jess had let out a touched “Thank you” at his words. A few seconds later, just before the doors open on the ground floor, Jessica was purposefully avoiding their eyes, in order not to laugh, and stared right in front of her, saying as seriously as possible.
“I can’t believe McGee and Vance let me date a criminal. Or even worse, made me marry one.”