General:
A gunshot reverberates down the hall and Nick shouts. Ellie's scream follows. He could hear the one sided conversation from his room and he knew that must have been Dooley's gun.
He begins fighting the tubes surrounding him and finally breaks free. Pulling himself out of bed, he stumbles to the hallway.
At the gunshot, Ellie raises her arms across her face and falls back against the floor in an attempt to save herself.
Ellie feels the temperature instantly drop as the back of her head hits the cool tile.
She hears a loud thud and a weight hits her broken ankle and she screams in pain, using her other leg to kick the weight off.
"ELLIE!" Nick's shout brings her away from the pain and light floods her eyes.
Dooley's body is laying at Ellie's feet, Ellie's form crumpled on the floor, arms across her face.
"Ellie!" Nick shouts again and Ellie lowers her arms. Her face is bloody and Nick begins to sprint to her surprisingly fast for someone who just got shot.
Ellie slowly rolls over onto her stomach and looks up at Nick, who's still coming down the hall.
Her hair frames her sweaty face as her chest rises up and down, making a great effort to fill her lungs.
She begins to pick herself up slowly and painfully. She's on her elbows by the time Nick reaches her. He's wheezing quietly, but bends down, taking his girlfriend under the arm and around the waist, and they carefully help each other back to their feet until they're both standing upright.
Their arms are wrapped around each other, Ellie's face buried in Nick's neck, his arms on her back and tugging her close to him, ignoring the pain in his gut.
The warmth from Torres' body warms Ellie again, and she breathes out slowly, trying to calm again.
All the noise around the couple muffles, so all they can hear is each other's heavy breathing and heart beats. Ellie gives an extra tight squeeze and Nick kisses her hair again.
Suddenly another shot fired through the hall and Nick reacted immediately. He grabs Ellie by the back and head and twists while dropping to the floor. His hand cushions her head as he lands on top of her, shielding her from any harm.
They lay on the ground motionless for a few seconds, bracing themselves, but no more shots fire.
After a few more seconds they open their eyes and look at each other in confusion. Ellie picks up her head and Nick looks behind him.
Gibbs.
Sighing heavily in relief, Nick rolls off of Ellie and splays in his back on the floor.
Ellie sits up and watches Gibbs as he approaches them.
"Am I... interrupting something?" He asks sarcastically and Ellie smiles.
"No!" She pants. "No, you got here just in time. I'm assuming you uh..." she takes a deep breath, her ankle causing her severe pain. "You killed Dooley?"
Gibbs nods and reaches a hand out to her. Hoisting her to her feet, Ellie hops over to the wall for support. Once Nick is on his feet too, the alarms stop blaring.
"Finally. Was givin me a d**n earache." Gibbs grunts, rubbing his ear.
"Why'd you shoot at us?" Nick asks.
"I didn't. I shot the stupid alarm." Everyone looks up to see the second alarm in the hall indeed had a bullet hole in it.
"But how'd you know we needed help? Nick said there wasn't any reception." Ellie puts an arm around Nick's shoulders and they begging limping together back to Nick's room.
"Rule 39. There's no such thing as coincidence."
"Right." Ellie sighs out, wiping the sweat off her forehead. "Oh- I'm bleeding."
Ellie and Nick both sit on the bed and Gibbs grabs a paper towel, handing it to Bishop.
Suddenly there's a commotion at the door and Jack and Nurse Broder burst into the room, Vance, McGee, Tony, Ziva, Jimmy and Kasie on their heels.
"My god Bishop! How much trouble can you get into in 48 hours??" DiNozzo yells.
"Gibbs! What happened?" Jack exclaims.
"Are you guys okay?" Kasie asks.
"You're bleeding!" Both Jimmy and Broder say.
"How much trouble did you get into and do I need to write any checks?" Vance inquires.
"Guys! Can you calm down?!" Ellie screams and everybody looks at her in surprise.
"You're overwhelming us with your questions!" She says frustratedly.
"Right. Are you all okay?" Jack asks.
"We've been better." Nick responds.
Ellie recites what happened and everyone falls silent.
"Well... Agent Torres got one thing right. I would not have condoned that. But, you did do a good job Agent Bishop." Vance says.
"Actually, Director, she said Gibbs wouldn't condone it." Jimmy smiles.
"Okay, I think you know the drill by now. Out." Broder says, then turns to Bishop. "I'll show you to your new room."
"Seriously?" McGee whines and within 30 seconds, Nick is alone in the hospital room.
YOU ARE READING
Ellick "Painless"
FanfictionBetween surprise visits from former coworkers, arguments with father figures and unwelcome coordinations, it's a miracle Ellie and Nick are able to stay as close as they are.
