You Are Not Alone

A shot drabble, inspired by the last episode (Lockdown). Spoilers for lockdown and Incognito.

Summary: Jake has been traveling a lot, what would happen when Ellie finds out that those trips are not business? Who is gonna be there for her. A tag fic to Lockdown, with spoiler to Lockdown and Incognito.

Disclaimer: I own nothing!

"Another night by myself…" Eleanor Bishop, probationary NCIS special agent, sighed as she enter the apartment she lived in with her husband, NSA agent Jake Malloy, well at least when he is home.

Jake called Ellie that day while she was at a crime scene with her team. He was leaving on a business trip, again! He only came back the day before and he had been traveling a lot lately, Ellie just wanted her husband home. And the fact she can't even know where he goes every time just makes it harder.

Ellie couldn't fall asleep that night, she had a bad feeling the same one she had every time Jake wasn't home the last couple of months which was most of the time.

Look at the clock she so it was 2230 hours, it wasn't too late and Ali decided that she is sick of not knowing anything. So she picked up the phone and found Chelsy's number, one of our friends from NSA, and her former boss.

"Hey Ellie, is..." Chelsea started but was cut off by Ellie.

"Hey Chelsy, umm i know you probably can't tell me where or why, bit can you at least tell me when Jake is coming back?" Ellie said quickly when Chelsy answered his phone.

"Ellie, why would i know where your husband is? Let alone when he is coming back?" Chelsy asked confused.

"What do you mean 'why would you know'?" Ellie asked confused, Chelsea is his boss, isn't she supposed to know where he is and when he comes back?

"Ellie, jake is on a 3 months personal leave, he hasn't been to work for almost 2 months now, and I thought you took that long waited honeymoon, you have been talking about."

"What!? "Ellie exclaimed. "But he said he had business trips for the past 2 months!"

"Ellie, honey, I don't know what he had been telling you but he hadn't been to work for the past nine weeks and he has another five of vacation."

"Oh... okay, thank you Chelsy, I'm sorry for the late hour." Ellie said, and Chelsy could you in a voice that you were worried. "I I'll talk to you later, good night." Ellie said and hung up, not even waiting for a response.

She looked at her phone for a few seconds not knowing what to do, but then she realized what it was, so she found Jake's number and called him.

"Hello." She heard the voice of a woman answering her husband's phone.

"Umm who is it?" Ellie asked. "Where is Jake?"

"I'm Izzy, and Jake is in the shower, can I take a message?" The woman on the other line asked, by now Ellie realized who that woman was. Just tell him Allison it down any would get papers when you back! Ellie said angry and hung up . Only after hanging up she allowed the tears to make an appearance. She couldn't believe he would cheat on her, he said he loved her. Well maybe the past tense is the key.

Ellie spent the next few minutes crying but stopped once she realized he doesn't deserve her crying over him.

And so she got up and went to the bathroom, there she washed her face, and once she so she could finally sleep she lay down in her bed and try to sleep, but safe to say nothing helps, and when the alarm clock rang, allowed to her it's time to get up and get ready for work, the agent and less than an hour combined of sleep as every time she closed her eyes she could see Jake with another woman.

But even with barely an hour of sleep, Ellie got up and went to get ready for work. putting extra make up around the eyes to hide the black circles that were caused by the lack of sleep.

"You are late Bishop!" Gibbs growled when he heard Ellie entering the bullpen.

"Sorry Gibbs." She said and her teammates could hear that there was something wrong.

"Everything is okay Bishop?" Tony asked seeing the gloomy face of his teammate.

"Yeah! Everything is great!" She said sarcastically. "I mean why wouldn't everything would be great? My husband has been lying to me for the past two months, telling me he is going on business trips while his boss told me he is on personal leave! And when I called him some woman answered and told me he was in the shower! So what do you think Tony? Is everything okay? My husband is lying to me and probably cheating on me, and I can barely sleep because I just feel so alone!" She said, she kept raising her voice with every word she said until she reached the last few words, which she said so quietly that you could barely hear them. The last word was barely audible as sobs filled the agent voice.

Tim McGee just stared at his sobbing teammate and jumped to catch her when he saw her about to fall on her knees. For few seconds he just held her there, sitting on his lap as he sat on the bullpen's floor. Suddenly he felt her calming down and her breaths became slow and steady. When he looked at her face he saw that she had fallen asleep. He looked up at Gibbs and the older man quietly told him to take her to Abby's lab, so she could rest on the cot there. The young agent nodded and picked up the small blonde in his arms and went to the elevator.

"McGee," Gibbs started when Tim reached the elevator. "Abby has something with the nuns today, so she won't come, stay there until Bishop wakes up."

"Yes Boss." The agent said and entered the elevator.

"TIM!" It was less the ten minutes since McGee put Ellie on the cot when he heard the shout. He jumped from his seat in front of Abby computer and ran to the place Ellie was laying. He saw her trusting and turning, tears streaming down her face. He knelt next to her head and tried to wake her up.

"Bishop." He said, shaking her gently, but no response, the blonde just kept on trusting. "Ellie!" He said louder, and shook her a bit harder. This time she did wake up.

"McGee?" She asked quietly when she saw who it was that waking her up.

"Hey Ell, you had a nightmare I think, you were crying in your sleep." he said gently, as he moved a strand of hair from her sweaty forehead lovingly. Tim had had feelings for her for a long time, and the undercover work they did the month before was like a dream coming true, getting to kiss her and act as if they were together, he hated it when it was over, but he knew it had to end at some point, she was married, but now, maybe it would be his chance. However, since his mother raised a gentleman, now he would be there for her as a friend, he wouldn't try to come after her when she is the most vulnerable.

"Really?" She asked quietly.

"Yeah, wanna tell me what it was about." He asked, pulling . By now they had changed their positions so that they were sitting together on the cot, side by side.

"It was about the fight with Hudson, I have had nightmares about it ever since it happened."

"Oh Ellie, why didn't you tell me, Tony, Abby or even Gibbs? We could have helped you."

"I don't know, I mean, I told Jake, but he didn't care, he was just mad that you kissed me. And I didn't want to burden you." She said shyly.

"First of all," He started lifting her face to look at him with two fingers under her chin. "You are never a burden! You are family and families help each other. And second of all Jake is an idiot, he can't be mad at you for us kissing, we were undercover, as married couple, it didn't mean anything!" He said, swallowing as he stated that kiss ment nithing, it meant the world to him, but he won't drop that bomb on her now.

"What if I want it to mean something?" She asked him, still shy and put her head down. "I mean, I know you are dating Delilah and that I am technically still married, but I am going to file for divorce." She rumbled.

Tim moved his hand to cress her cheek. "Ellie, sweetie, I broke up with Delilah a couple of weeks after she came back, I am in love with you!" He said, even though he didn't mean to tell her that day, but oh well… He was about to continue and say that they have to wait but was cut off by lips pressed to his.

After a few seconds of kissing, they pull away slightly, pressing their foreheads together. "Look, as much as I want to kiss you and hold you forever, we can't do it now…"

"But you just said that you and Dalilah broke up!"

"Yeah I did, and we did, but you are still hurting, you need to heal, and while doing that, you need friends, not a relationship." He said gently.

"But…" she started but he cut her off.

"I would be your friend and I would be waiting for you, for when you would be ready." He told her, putting his arm across her shoulders and kissed her head.

"You are a good friend Timmy." Ellie said, leaning in to him, and they sat like that for some time in quiet.

"Ells, you know that you are never alone, right?" Tim asked breaking the silence.

"I know now, thank you Timmy." she said, tilting her head up to look at him and kiss his cheek.

"Come on, let's go before Gibbs come looking for us." He told her, getting up and offering her a hand.

That day marked the start of an amazing journey. Less than two weeks later Eleanor Bishop and Jake Malloy were divorced, and a month later Ellie and Tim finally got together, and moved together six weeks in to their relationship. A week later they told Gibbs, the older man just told them to keep it out of the office.

On the 18th month mark to their first kiss, back in the lab, Tim went down on one knee and the rest is history.

But what NCIS Special Agent Eleanor Bishop McGee Never doubt again, ever since that day in the Lab is that she is NEVER alone.

THE END