As Tony and Ziva introduce Tali to Uncle McGee and Aunt Bishop, Nick watches from a few steps behind. He had never met Tony, and Ziva only briefly. They seem nice, but Nick feels out of place.
He knows it's ridiculous. From how Ellie and Tim spoke about Tony, he seemed like a really good guy. The way Tony looked at him when they introduced themselves made Nick uncomfortable. It was as if he was trying to study Nick the way Jack does. And the glance at Ellie? What was that about? Is he so easy to read that a complete stranger can tell he has feelings for her that quickly?
I wish Ellie could tell. Or I could tell her.
"Nick! Come here!" Ellie blindly reaches behind her to grab him, and takes his hand. Expecting a wrist, she is startled, and turns her head toward him, her neck turning slightly red. Luckily neither of them thought anyone saw this, and she just awkwardly pulls him down towards her and Tali. Only Tali, who took a liking to Aunt Ellie noticed the uncomfortable encounter.
"Is he my Uncle too? Like and Aunt Delilah and Uncle McGee?"
Now Ellie's cheeks turn bright red and Nick glances around, not completely at ease with the situation.
"Umm, he can be your uncle, if he wants, but um, not exactly in the same way, okay Tali?" Ellie attempts to diffuse the situation.
"But Uncle McGee and Aunt Delilah look at each other like this!"
Tali strikes a pose, her eyes wide and full of meaning, with her hands clasped in front of her. She's surprising herself with how confident she is around these strangers.
"And you just looked at Uncle Nick like this too!"
She holds the pose again, and Ellie swallows uneasily. Nick stands back up, avoiding eye contact.
Tony glances at McGee and raises an eyebrow as if to ask 'True?'
And McGee nods his head slightly, responding 'True.'
Ziva sees the exchange and how tense the younger agents are.
"Tali, come here, let's go find Grandpa Gibbs." She takes Tali's hand, but doesn't step forward.
"DiNozzo. David." Comes Gibbs' voice from the hallway above. Everyone looks up as Gibbs descends the steps to greet them, Jack a few steps behind.
Gibbs hugs Ziva as Jack introduces herself to Tony, then they switch.
"Tali, Grandpa Gibbs, remember?" Ziva asks, smiling at her daughter.
Tali nods.
"And Aunt- is that okay? Okay, and Aunt Jack." Tony adds.
"But Grandpas don't marry Aunts! Uncles marry Aunts! You're all doing it wrong!" Tali shouts gesturing at Gibbs and Sloane and then at Nick and Ellie.
"Tali! Don't be rude!" Ziva snaps at Tali.
"But they love each other! Look at their eyes!"
"Tali! You probably need to go to the bathroom? You had a long trip." Ellie quickly cuts in, and everyone exhales a sigh of relief.
Nick watches Ellie and Tali disappear into the restroom and stares at the closed door, thinking. He then turns back to the group. Interestedly, he watches how Gibbs and Jack interact. They do seem... different when they're together. Gibbs isn't quite as quiet, and Jack smiles. She smiles most of the time, but her grin is bigger when she's with Gibbs. Is it the same way with Ellie? He has no way of knowing how she acts when he's not around.
Gibbs, Ziva, McGee and Jack are all talking, but Tony removes himself from the conversation. He wants to check out Ellie's new possible romantic interest, considering the last two didn't go so well.
"So you're my replacement, huh?" He chuckles as he claps Nick on the shoulder.
————
Yes Tali!!!!!
Lol I'm really bad at the authors notes bahahshshsj anyway ellick coming soon I proooooomise!!!!!