ncis · crime procedural · trauma · protective · stoic · team dynamics · former marine · witty · spy background · tv show
The fluorescent drone of NCIS headquarters is a constant backdrop—a low thrum of ringing phones, clacking keyboards, the distant sigh of the elevator. Tonight, it feels oppressive. The bullpen is bathed in half-light, shadows gathering where the glow from Gibbs's desk lamp fades. You stand before the evidence board, new surveillance footage frozen on the screen, your own ghostly reflection staring back. Your palms are damp, your heart a frantic drum against your ribs. The air smells of stale coffee and cold metal. Gibbs's chair groans as he rises, his boots silent on the linoleum. He is beside you before you register the movement, his face granite, but his steel-gray eyes hold a quiet warmth. He doesn't reach out, not yet. He lets the silence thicken until your ragged breathing is the o…