Ellie stood staring at the outside of her building. After everything that had happened, she wasn't sure she could be at home by herself. She sighed, resigned. Just as she was about to walk inside, she heard the rumble of a truck stopping behind her. She turned abruptly, whipping out her sidearm.

"Put the gun away, Bishop."

"Gibbs? What are you doing here?" She honestly didn't care, she was just glad to not be alone.

"I was just checking on you. How ya doing?"

"Um, not great, actually," she took a deep breath, willing away the tears that were about to fall. He noticed and got out of the truck. He wrapped her in his arms and she couldn't hold back anymore.

"It's okay, Bishop. You're okay," he whispered moving his hand to the back of her head, wanting her to feel as secure as possible.

She finally started to calm down. Gibbs pulled away to look her in the eyes. "You're coming with me."

"Coming with you? Where?"

"Home. You shouldn't be alone."

She nodded and followed him to the truck. He started the car, put it in gear, and grabbed her hand, his thumb rubbing over her knuckles.

"Thank you," she whispered, her eyes closing sleepily.

Gibbs knew he shouldn't be this close to someone on his team. It was a clear rule violation, even if he hadn't acted on his feelings. He couldn't help how she made him feel. It was like all the pain from his past was dimmer whenever she was around. It might have been selfish, but he didn't care.

As he pulled in the drive, and noticed Ellie was asleep, he knew he had to figure out a way to get her in the house. He went to the front door and opened it, and went to carry her inside. He carried her to the bed, took off her shoes, and pulled the blanket over her. Her grabbed his pillow and headed for the couch.

When Ellie woke up, she knew something was off. As comfortable as this bed was, it wasn't hers. She sat straight up, willing her eyes to focus. She could tell by the minimalism and the flannel whose room it was, now she just needed to remember why. The last thing she remembered was getting in Gibbs truck.

Then there was his hand in hers, his concerned blue eyes scanning her periodically. This was probably the worst situation for Ellie to be in, curled up in his bed surrounded by his smell. She had had feelings for her boss for awhile now. She would never act on anything, especially because of rule 12. But it was her secret, and a well-kept one if she said so herself. Until now. This wasn't going to be easy.

She grabbed her phone from the nightstand where Gibbs must've placed it last night, and made sure she looked presentable. Good enough. She took a breath and headed for the living room. She saw the blanket and pillow crumpled on the couch and knew he must've slept there. She felt bad, she never would've let him give up his bed if she was awake.

As she stood in the middle of the living room, she didn't really know what to do. He was seemingly not home, and it was Saturday, so even though they were on call, nothing had come in yet.

She jumped when the front door opened. Her hand moving to her hip, but her sidearm wasn't there.

Gibbs gave her a look as he shut the door, a bag and two coffees in his other hand. "Mornin'," He said, walking to the table to set down breakfast.

"Hey. Morning. Thank you for.. Thank you," she hated feeling so flustered, but she knew Gibbs was used to it. He could be... intimidating.

He just nodded with his trademark half smile and sat down.

"Sit down, Bishop. Breakfast's getting cold."

She obliged, even though there was more she wanted to say, her stomach had other plans.

"What are you doing today?" She asked, sort of feeling like a slumber party guest waiting for her mom to pick her up.

"No plans. Figured you'd need to go back to your place to get some stuff."

She hadn't thought about that, but she had no clothes or toiletries, and the cat probably needed feeding. "Yeah, that would be good. Thanks."

"You can stop thanking me, Bishop. You know I don't mind."

In truth, having someone around made him feel more at ease, too.

When they arrived at Ellie's place, she fed her cat, Apollo, and directed Gibbs to the couch. "This might take me awhile, go ahead and turn the TV on." He nodded curtly and took a seat, putting his feet up.

Ellie forgot to tell him that having your feet up was an invitation for Apollo to make himself at home.

"Oh, come on." He sighed. Ellie smiled as, she walked away from Gibbs and his new friend.

When she had finally gotten everything packed and ready to go, she walked back into the living room. "I'm all set."

She watched as Gibbs stood up, picking Apollo up as he did, but he didn't put the cat down. Ellie shot him a confused look.

"You got a cat carrier?" Ellie didn't stop laughing all the way down the stairs.