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Bowl of Cherries

Good Things Take Time

***

Nick and Maya drove into the office together, Nick was holding her hand at a traffic light. "I was thinking we could go to Paris," he paused, "I've never been there as a tourist."

She looked over at him, "we would have to wait until the cast comes off."

He smiled, "maybe we can go in the middle of next month?" Maya nodded absent-mindly. "Are you okay? Nervous about telling everyone?"

"A little bit," she admitted, which caused him to squeeze her hand.

"It'll be fine," he told her, pulling into the NCIS parking lot. "You said it yourself that they already guessed something would happen so they won't be surprised."

Maya nodded, "you're right." She pulled her hand away and went to get out of the car because Nick had parked, but he stopped her. He leaned toward her and was inches from her face as she turned her head toward him. He planted a kiss on her mouth before popping out of the car. She quickly got out and followed him.
They got into the elevator and soon enough were walking toward the gang. They were all there too. "Guys, I have news to share. The first thing is that come Monday, I will be taking a leave of absence..." she trailed off.

"And the second thing," Nick said, putting his hand in hers, "is that we've been seeing each other."

"Congrats," Gibbs said, "we have a body in Norfolk." Then they were off, walking by her and Nick and giving them smiles and 'congrats' as they went.

"That went well," Nick chuckled, grabbing his pack, "I'll see you later." He pecked her on the cheek and jogged after his team.

***

Two weeks past quickly and next week the doctor estimated that he cast could come off, Nick had booked their tickets to Paris they were set to leave in two and a half weeks. They would be gone for 12 days, work-free on Nick's end. Maya was excited and was waiting anxiously for their trip. In the mean time, she was volunteering at the local police station since she was put on paid leave.

Maya woke up late on a Tuesday morning, Nick had gone into work and the only thing she had to look forward to was lunch with Nick at 12:30. Maya rolled out of bed and jumped into the shower. She got ready quickly, throwing on high waisted jeans and a floral top. Then she headed to the office and when she walked in, her phone went off. "The elliot virus has infected your device." Maya glanced at her phone and some sort of malware had gotten on her phone. She saw her team and could hear all their phones saying the same thing. "What the hell?" Maya asked.

"We all got hacked because of the admiral," Tim said, frustratedly, "I need everyone's phones." Maya put it on his desk and went to sit in Nick's chair. Everyone gave McGee his their phones.

"Maya, what are you doing here?" Gibbe asks, directing his attention to his daughter.

"Nick and I were going to do lunch today," Maya explains, swirling around in Nick's chair, "will he have time with this malware stuff going on?"

"McGee and I will talk to Vance whenever the admiral gets there," Gibbs paused, "you guys can go now, but I need Nick back in an hour. Okay?"

Maya nodded, glancing at Nick, "ready?"

He nodded, "let's go."

"Can you guys bring me a coffee back?" Ellie asks.

"Yeah," Maya said, getting up and following Nick to the elevator. When the doors closed, Nick threw his arm around her neck.

"You look beautiful, baby girl," he said, pecking her neck. She smiles and reaches her hand up to touch his cheek. "I am so ready to that trip to Paris. I could use a break from work."

"Me too," she said, "life is so boring without work."

"When did SECNAV say you could come back to work?" Nick asks, at this point they had made it to his car and he was driving to Chester's, a burger place.

"She didn't say," Maya said, "she said she would talk to me again in two months and get a report from the NCIS counselor." Nick nodded and pulled into a nearly empty parking lot. "I am so glad we picked this place." Maya got out of the car and walked toward the entrance followed by Nick.

He opened the door for her and they were greeted by a receptionist, "welcome. Just two?"

"Yes, ma'am," Nick says with a smile.

"Follow me," she smiles back and grabs two menus before guiding them to a booth. "Your waitress will be with you a minute."

Maya and Nick sat down across from each other. "Keep me updated on this malware stuff, will you?" Maya asks him.

"Of course," he said, "what are you going to get?"

A waitress with platinum, blonde hair walks over to their booth. "What can I get you to drink, cutie?" She asks Nick without looking over at Maya. Maya laughs which causes the waitress to look over at her and Nick raises his eyebrow at Maya.

"I'll have a vodka tonic," Maya says, taking advantage of the waitress looking at her.

"Can I see an ID?" The waitress asks.

"How flattering," Maya responds, pulling out her ID and giving it to the waitress. She gives it back, having barely looked at it.

"And you, sir?" The waitress turned, the radiating smile back on her face.

"Just water," he tells her, still amused by what had just occurred.

"I'll be right back with you drinks," she says, walking away.

"What was that?" Nick asks.

"She's crushing on you," Maya laughed.

"Are you jealous?" He smirks.

"You wish," Maya laughs, "and to answer your earlier question, I think I'm going to get to the barbeque burger. What are you going to get?"

"The chipotle burger," he tells her.

They got their burgers in a little over ten minutes and Nick had started a story from his childhood a few minutes before, "I kid you not, when I was 10, I thought it was a good idea to sneak out of the house to tp my teachers house because I was mad that he called me out in class." Maya was chuckling, "I got caught and I not only got detention for three weeks, I had to volunteer every Saturday for the rest of the school year, and I got grounded for 6 weeks. It was really dumb." He laughed with her.

"That was really dumb," she agreed before they both started eating their burgers. She took a bite, "mm, I love this place."

"Me too," he said, "I take it the barbeque burger is good."

She nodded, "how's yours?"

"Really good," he says, "I'm never disappointed when I'm here."