Talk to Me

Author's Note: I will admit that I only wanted "High Tide?" to be a 2-part story, and I wanted to leave the ending in all of your imaginations, but I kinda felt like I should write what I thought would happen after that. So, here it is. Part 3. Please remember to review, as some of you were a bit desperate to get the 3rd chapter. Please do not reupload my stories onto any other site and pass them off as your own. Thank you!

Disclaimer: I don't own NCIS or the Characters, just the plot ideas.

"Walk in at different times?" asked Nick softly.

After they had awaken in bed together, Ellie had barely spoken to him, and had ignored him all morning.

"Yeah." mumbled Ellie, before looking down. "You first then."

"Oh. Okay." replied Nick, shrugging. "I just, I don't know, I kinda wanted to walk with you."

Ellie raised an eyebrow. "Did you?" she asked, skeptically.

"Okay fine. I just wanted to talk to you." he admitted.

Ellie walked past him.

"Did I say something?" murmered Nick curiously, pressing the button to the elevator after they had gone through security.

"It's not you. It's me. It's always been." mumbled Ellie. "I just... don't know if it's too soon. I don't know what I'm doing. I don't know..."

Nick flashed her a sideways grin, a bit hopeful at her words. "Well, whatever you decide... I'm here for you."

"You always have been." mumbled Ellie, before stepping into the elevator.

"Whatever happens next... we'll still be friends?" asked Nick hopefully.

"Yeah." said Ellie, before looking down again and shuffling awkwardly in her black combat boots.

DING!

The elevator opened, and Nick and Ellie stepped out into the squadroom, where Gibbs and Vance were standing.

"Sh*t." grumbled Nick, "I liked it when they were here last night way more."

"Nick, shut up." hissed Ellie, before smiling weakly at her two bosses, as she and Nick walked into the bullpen.

"Agent Bishop. Agent Torres." said Director Vance sharply. "My office." he said, gesturing up.

"I didn't know Vance had a no agents dating rule too." muttered Ellie nervously, following Director Vance and Nick up the stairs to his office on the 2nd floor.

"Just hope that we don't split up." mumbled Nick. "I'd hate for that to happen."

"Where's Ellie and Nick?" asked Tim, walking into the bullpen, yawning. "Sorry I'm a few minutes late. Delilah couldn't get Mo to stop wriggling and I had to help her. She's all action. Mo that is. She's really grown. She's a bit smaller than John, but she really likes to move and wriggle. Reminds me of a little worm." he said, smiling.

"Parenthood." said Gibbs fondly. "And for Torres and Ellie, they are up in Director Vance's office."

"What did they do now?!" asked McGee, scrunching his eyebrows out in confusement.

"What do you mean, now?" asked Gibbs, curling his lips. "Have they done something that I don't know about, Tim?"

Tim smiled nervously, before taking deeper breaths. "No... of course not!"

Gibbs glared at him. "Tim..." he said.

"Okay, FINE!" squeaked McGee, shaking. "Nick has a crush on Ellie but Ellie might be or maybe isn't over Qasim and then they've been going out to dinner for a while and then last night after, after dinner he went to Ellie's apartment and they spent the night and then they woke up together and-"

"ENGLISH, McGee!" shouted Gibbs. "Slowly. And from the beginning."

"Nick likes Ellie. Ellie doesn't know if she likes Nick. They are building up a friendship. They spent the night together." said Tim breathlessly.

"And how would you know that they spent the night together, McGee?" asked Gibbs skeptically.

"Well uh... Nick kinda... I don't know. Honestly. I swear." fumbled Tim, before grinning awkwardly. "I don't know too much about them." he mumbled.

"Yeah, well. Okay. Get to work. Finish that paperwork." said Gibbs, slapping a case file down on his desk before jogging away from the bullpen, and up the stairs, and into Sloane's office.

"Agent Bishop. Agent Torres. Sit down." said Director Vance sharply.

"Director, I just want to ask that you-" pleaded Ellie.

"Agent Bishop, you are not in the terms of negotiation right now." he retorted, before sitting down in his chair.

"This is exactly what I didn't want to happen!" he exclaimed at the duo, who were staring at each other in confusion.

"Uh...?" asked Nick, "What."

"I don't know if you guys can keep your personal life and your work life seperate." said Director Vance coldy. "I have known many partners to have broken their trust and their love with each other, through a breakup. If you guys break up, the odds of it being mutual is 100,000 to 0, and that means you both are not mature enough to handle it!"

"Um, we can." said Ellie, sharply. "I have done it before."

"And how did that turn out both times, Agent Bishop?" sneered Director Vance, who was clearly not pleased with the thought of two of his best agents possiby entering a relationship.

"Don't you dare mention Jake." spat Ellie, "That was not my fault. And how dare you say that after Qasim." exclaimed Ellie furiously. "I can't believe you."

"Ellie." said Nick, softly. "Calm down."

"Do you know what happened to Tony DiNozzo and Ziva David? And Gibbs and Director Shepard? And so many other partners, who's relationships ruined their career and their work relationship with their people?!" exclaimed Director Vance, "Do you?!"

"It won't!" protested Nick. "Ellie and I know when to keep it professional."

"I can't stop you both from dating, but I can split you up." replied Director Vance. "You have two choices. Split up to different teams, and you can date, or let Agent Gibbs decide."

"Hey cowboy." said Jaqqueline Sloane, opening the door. "What brings ya to my office?" she asked, gesturing to her chair and desk, which was to the left of the door.

"Ellie 'n Nick." said Gibbs gruffly, before sitting down.

"What about them?" asked Sloane, before taking her black reading glasses and sliding them onto her face.

"Well... they like each other, don't they?" asked Gibbs.

"Well..." said Sloane, grinning, "That's not up to me. That's up to them. Personally, I think that Nick has these feelings for Ellie, but it's a bit early for her to start dating again. You mentioned that her fiance had died, less than a year ago?"

"Yes." replied Gibbs, "And she was cheated on, and then divorced just at the beginning of last year."

"Sounds like Agent Bishop has had a bit of a relationship problem these past few years." noted Sloane, looking at Gibbs curiously, and tilting her head to the side. "Why'd ya ask, though."

"Because. I want to know what's right for them. I don't want them to end up like Tony and Ziva, heartbrokened and alone, because of troubles and heartaches." said Gibbs, feeling a bit of a stab to his heart. He still regreted making Rule 12 sometimes, and his granddaughter Tali was an example of that.

"Well... seems like you already know the answer to that." said Sloane, warmly grinning up at him.

"Maybe." replied Gibbs, sighing. "I don't know what to do though."

"Let them figure it out." suggested Sloane, "This is difficult enough for them, and the last thing they want is critism and hate over their choices. Yes, they are adults, but they are also employees for a federal agency, and their behavior may not be tolerated by Leon, as well as someone else."

"Like me 'n Jenny?" asked Gibbs, looking down.

"You guys were undercover." corrected Sloane, "And that's a bit different."

"Feelings I never acted upon." muttered Gibbs, "Feelings and events I could have prevented."

"A string of failed marriages does not count, Gibbs." argued back Sloane, setting her cup of coffee down on the desk, after taking a sip.

"Then what does?" asked Gibbs, "Deaths? Her death? The..."

"Don't you dare blame that on yourself." said Sloane strongly, a hint of anger in her voice.

"Then what?" asked Gibbs. "What should I do?"

"Follow your heart." said Sloane, standing up, and sending him a pointed stare.

Gibbs rolled his eyes. "Ya know I don't have one."

"You know what to do." said Sloane smiling, before gesturing back to the door. "You always know what to do. Don't stop now, Gibbs."

"What do you want to do?" whispered Nick, who was standing next to Ellie in a corner of Director Vance's office, where they were conversing about what to do with Director Vance's ultimatum.

"Well..." said Ellie, sighing. "What do you think?"

"I know it's still a bit early for you, Ell. And I can wait as long as you want me too." said Nick, shrugging. "Or we could let Gibbs decide."

"Nick, it's not that I don't like you, it's just... I've been through a divorced marriage, I lost my fiance to a terrorist, and now... there's you. You're an incredible guy, and I-"

Nick looked down. "You what." he asked, trying not to show his hurt feelings on his face.

"I..." Ellie burried her face in her hands. "I'm sorry." she muttered.

"Bishop. Torres." said Gibbs, who had walked into the room.

Ellie whipped her head around, and stared at Gibbs in surprise.

He was smiling.

"Ya want 'ta sit down?" he asked, gesturing to the table and chairs.

Nick shot Ellie a confused stare, before following Ellie towards the table.

"First of all." said Gibbs, snorting. "You look very sleepy, Torres. 2nd of all, I'm not mad about what happened last night."

"Nothing happened last night." protested Nick. "We just woke up in the same bed."

"Nick." hissed Ellie, "What are you doing?!"

"And we woke up fully clothed." said Nick, curling his lips.

"Yet you are about to enter a phyical relationship?" asked Director Vance, sending Gibbs, Ellie, and Nick a pointed stare, from his desk.

"Um.." said Nick. "That's yet to be decided, since some people are so eagar to interfere in our personal lives, despite it being not their business." he muttered bitterly.

"I'm just saying, Agent Torres, that if you enter a relationship with Agent Bishop, that it might not work out." he said strongly. "And I have a problem with two of some of my best field agents not trusting each other."

Ellie looked over at Nick.

Director Vance had a point.

No relationship was guaranteed to work out, and the fact that they were working together on the same field team wasn't exactly the best idea.

Nick glanced over at Ellie, who's eyes had turned glassy. "Ell?" he asked, tilting his head. "You okay?"

"Yeah." she said, shrugging.

"Well, seems like you are both responsible adults." said Gibbs, standing back up. "You decide. Don't take our opinions as the Bible. Do what you guys want to do. I'll see you downstairs." he said, winking at Nick, before swinging the door open and leaving.

"Weird." mumbled Ellie, before looking up at Director Vance, who was standing between thet two.

"You both have a decision to make." he said sternly.

"So..." said Nick, shuffling around on his feet. "What do you want to talk about?" he asked, looking at Ellie.

Their slight height difference made it easy for him to stare into her eyes, and he found the way her eyes shifted when she was nervous extremely interesting.

"Did you know that strawberries aren't actually berries?" asked Nick, trying to break the awkward silence that was happening between him and Ellie.

"And bananas are." said Ellie, smiling out of the corner of her mouth.

"Correct." said Nick, shrugging. "You okay?" he asked.

"I guess." said Ellie. "I've been trying to push Qasim's...death... out of my mind. I've been trying to forget everything I had with Jake."

"So you were being your same self?" joked Nick, "Always analyzing and thinking. Smart."

"You trying to make me feel better?" asked Ellie bitterly, "Because you're not doing a great job, right now."

"No... I just. Eleanor." he said softly. "I want you." he whispered, looking down. "And I'm pretty sure you feel pretty annoyed, and really confused but..."

"But what?" asked Ellie, shuffling.

"I really like you." confessed Nick. "You've always been so brilliant, and talented, and fearless, and you're really pretty."

"Thanks?" said Ellie, snorting.

"I'm not joking." said Nick, his face turning serious. "You really are amazing."

"Well..."

"And I want you to know that... I'll do whatever you want. As long as you're happy." said Nick, strongly.

"Well... that was a bit unexpected." said Ellie. "I thought you were going to say something like 'Yeah let's date' or something, but that's not really like you, is it."

"I guess." said Nick. "But Ellie..."

"Well... give it a few weeks." she suggested. "Let's date."

Ending was good? I want you readers to know that I'm not going to write a followup story on this particular one, but you'll see sequels of the other stories (possibly) soon. It really depends on where I am this semester.