Close

Trouble

***

A warrior doesn't give up and they don't back down. So pick up your sword and your shield and fight.

***

Maya took the stairs up two at a time and saw Torres in the squad room. He saw her too. McGee wasn't there and Gibbs was gone too. "Maya," he said, smiling. She gave him a look. "I mean... Director."

She stepped into the squad room, "what's up, Torres?"

He was still smiling with his big, brown eyes. "So did you mean to call me?"

Maya rolled her eyes, "I think you know the answer to that." She walked off and went up to her office. She didn't feel like talking to him about trivial things. It would never matter how long she'd been in the job, things would still get to her and some more than others.

"Hey, are you okay?" Nick asked, she must have walked off less composed than she thought she had. "You're crying." He closed her office door behind him.

She wiped her eyes quickly, "I'm fine."

"Well, we both know that's not true," he says, "what's going on?"

She shakes her head, "nothing you have to concern yourself with."

"Wow, okay," he mutters, turning to go.

"Nick?" He stops and turns, "thank you for caring. I would just rather not talk about it. I'll be fine. This sort of thing happens more than I would like but that's the job."

"Is this about special agent Victor Hughes?" Nick says, his eyes holding sympathy. Maya said nothing and just nodded slightly. "I get it. Time doesn't always callous how we feel and how we react to things." She smiled sadly at him because he got it, he understood how she was feeling. "I'll let you alone now. Let me know if you need anything." Maya said nothing but nodded and he left without another word.

She cried harder now, letting herself really feel the loss of an agent and wishing that Nick would have stayed to comfort her. She mentally rebuked herself for thinking such things because she was still his boss and there were rules but she just couldn't helo herself. She didn't understand why she was like this. She couldn't understand why she couldn't get past the thought of him. 

***

Maya and Abby had just finished their meal together. They left separately because Maya had to use the bathroom and insisted that Abby didn't need to wait for her, but she should have let her. Maya's guard was down as she walked to her car. Her gun wasn't on her and she was on her phone replying to an email. She had no idea that someone was following her. She didn't even think much of it when a car pulled into the parking lot though the restaurant had been locked up for the last twenty minutes. She couldn't defend herself against three men that she wasn't expecting and had noticed. The last thing she thought before blacking out was how could I have been so foolish?