Summary: Jimmy Palmer x agent!Reader -> You and Jimmy aren't known for getting along, but when he helps you out, things start to change.
Disclaimer: Mentions of accidental knife wounds to hands, firearm shots, elements of NCIS, reader is an agent and Jimmy helps patch her up, blood, dislike to friends to lovers, an almost kiss, a real kiss, a happy ending. This is my first time writing for NCIS so forgive me if this is terrible.
It was safe to say you and Ducky’s medical assistant, Palmer, didn’t exactly get along.
You’d been hired after a letter of recommendation was sent to Gibbs from your former boss at the FBI. You’d met Palmer a week after you started and there was just…something between both of you.
You never seemed to get along.
Whilst the conversations between yourself and the rest of the team were friendly, your conversations with Palmer were direct. Blunt. Highly work oriented.
You didn’t talk to each other unless it was absolutely necessary.
“Hey, Ducky?! Abby’s threatened me so I’m- Oh.”
Palmer turned around from where he was standing at his desk. “Ducky’s not here. He’ll be back in a couple hours if you want to wait.”
“Uhh, no. No, it’s fine. I’m just gonna-”
“Hold on.” Palmer’s voice was direct. “You said Abby threatened you?”
You shrugged. “No, I didn’t.”
“Yeah, you did. I heard you.”
“No, I-”
“What did you do to your hand?”
Quickly, you placed the bloodied hand behind your back. “Nothing.”
Palmer sighed, putting down his pen and walking over to you. “What are you doing?”
“Show me your hand?” He asked, holding out his own.
“What? No! There’s nothing to-”
Palmer was calmer than usual. “Show me. Your hand.”
You still didn’t move. So he added, “Please?”
Weighing up your options, the fear of Abby and the pain in your hand won over your hostility towards Palmer. So, with a reluctant eye roll, you showed him your hand.
You hissed as he took hold of it. “Careful.”
“I am being careful,” he pointed out. “What the hell did you even do?”
“The coffee machine. The filter dish thing got stuck so-”
“So you used a machete to get it open?”
“No.” You sighed. “But I did…use a knife.”
Palmer hummed. “A sharp one at that. Sit down.”
“Excuse me?”
Palmer sighed, again. “Clearly Abby sent you here to get it looked at. We have the supplies and I do know what I’m doing. So, take a seat.”
Again, the pain in your hand won, so you took a seat.
The first five minutes were spent in silence. Until the feeling of Palmer being so close to you, you could smell his cologne, started sending your head through loops you didn’t want it going through.
“I still can’t believe you cut it this deep.”
“Well, I can.” On instinct you tried to tug your hand away, but Palmer had a surprisingly steady and strong grip.
“Stay still.”
“Can you blame me? It hurts!”
“If you stayed still, it wouldn’t hurt as much.”
You bit your lip to hold back the small groan of pain. “Ah.”
“Almost done.”
A quiet tension settled over the room as Palmer got closer to your hand to finish off the stitches. Your fingers flexed on their own as he adjusted his hand in yours. And then he spoke.
“Your heartbeat’s really fast.”
“What?” The question came out short and shocked.
That was when you noticed two of Palmer’s fingers gently holding onto your wrist. “I said your heartbeat is really-”
“I know what you said.”
Then Palmer smiled at you for a brief moment. “You sound nervous.”
“No, I don’t,” you replied, sounding nervous.
A breathy chuckle left him. “Don’t tell me the NCIS agent is afraid of a little blood?”
Oh, thank god.
“Palmer. I am a woman,” you pointed out. “So…no.”
Palmer shrugged. “I suppose dealing with the one guy on the team you don’t like could also be a cause? I can practically hear you screaming to leave.”
You laughed. “You got me.”
“Well, no need to scream,” he told you. “Because you’re all done.”
You looked at his handy work. “Thanks, Palmer.”
He held a hand on his chest. “I think that’s the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me.”
“Don’t let it go to your head.”
Palmer chuckled again, turning away to clean his supplies and put them away. “You can tell Abby you’re not in any imminent danger.”
Despite him helping mend your hand, the next time you and Jimmy spent time talking wasn’t for a couple more weeks. And it freaked the entire team out, including Palmer and even Gibbs.
You’d wanted to try and be normal with him since he’d helped patch up your hand, but it took a while to work up the courage.
It was slow, at first, the change.
You went to the medical labs a few more times, per Gibbs orders. You said hello to both Ducky and him. You replied to his comments over the case. Days passed and you started replying to his ‘good mornings’. Then you needed a check up for your hand.
“Healing very nicely,” Ducky smiled. “Well done, Mr Palmer.”
Palmer smiled as he looked over his shoulder. And when he directed that smile towards you for a moment, you returned it.
The days bled into weeks and eventually the hostility had turned into an atmosphere of friendship.
That got blown up after a newly regular morning for both you and Jimmy.
After officially becoming friends outside of work, you found out you both went to the same coffee shop a couple of blocks from work. So, after his morning run and your early starts that didn’t mean having to be in the office, you’d meet up an hour before work and share a coffee.
Except, one morning you were running a little late and, whilst accidentally running into Jimmy outside of the cafe, you also happened to be hit with a blast from the past.
You cut off Jimmy’s morning ramble by yanking his arm and pulling him into the small alley beside the building.
“Uhh, what are we doing?”
You hadn’t noticed how close you were standing to him, with your hands firmly on his chest. He could smell the scent of your shampoo and it was…intoxicating. It filled every inch of his senses.
“Shush.”
Jimmy lowered his voice. “Y/n?”
However, as he covered one of your hands with his own, he felt you tremble a little. “Y/n? Is everything-”
“It’s my ex.”
“What?” Jimmy tried to look, but you pulled him back around the corner.
“No, don’t move.” You finally looked up at Jimmy. “I’m not moving.”
“Okay, it’s okay. We don’t have to move.” Then he asked, “Why aren’t we moving?”
“Because I don’t want to accidentally run into him or talk to him or even see him. And I don’t want him to see me and-”
Jimmy bent his knees a little to look at you at eye level. “Hey, you’re panicking. It’s okay. Just take a breather.”
You did as he said and felt a little calmer. “Okay. Great. Do you mind asking me why you’re so…”
“Freaked out?” You asked and Jimmy nodded. “He, uh, well, he proposed to me on the same night I was about to confront him about cheating on me. He thought I didn’t know and we had this massive fight. And then he blamed me for cheating and a lot of words were said – mostly from his part. And I know, I know, they’re not true but when you’ve been together for nearly two years it kinda messes with you and-”
“Okay, okay, okay. Well, first of all, he’s an asshole. You deserve so much better than that.” Jimmy said. “Second, you shouldn’t be the one hiding. You did nothing wrong. He should be the one hiding, that…that weasel.”
You felt yourself chuckle a little. “Thanks, Jimmy.”
He smiled at you. “Anytime. But, if you want to keep hiding, we can.”
You nodded, lightly, peering around the corner. Your ex was leaving the dry cleaners across the street and heading straight for his car. “He’s leaving.”
“Okay.”
As you stood back with Jimmy, you realised just how close you’d been standing to Jimmy and you didn’t exactly feel like moving. Especially with the feeling of his hands over yours. “But…a couple more minutes…”
“Couldn’t hurt?” Jimmy asked, his voice low.
You felt yourself swallow a little nervously, then you nodded. “Couldn’t hurt.”
No kiss took place, but that didn’t matter. Because between the stolen breaths, the intense feeling of holding his hands in yours as you felt his heartbeat quicken in his chest; everything had changed.
The tension between you and Palmer was no longer hostile, but it was also no longer friendly but awkward.
Incredibly awkward.
Nervous chuckles, wanting the floor to swallow you whole, when you both got caught trying to pass each other in the hallway. Jimmy accidentally dropped casefiles whenever you walked inside, you helped him but being unable to maintain eye contact with him for longer than three seconds made the others aware something was going on. Or had already happened.
The others also noticed the secret gazes. Jimmy would look at you, but the minute you looked back, he'd look away, and visa versa.
But it wasn’t until a final shoot out at the end of a case, weeks later, that things truly changed.
You’d caught two in your vest and one had just grazed your arm. You were still bleeding when things wrapped up and when you finally got some air back in your lungs, only one thing was clear to you.
“Go,” Gibbs had told you when you called his name. Without another word, you hopped into your car and drove straight back to work.
Ducky had left the office twenty minutes early and Palmer had been cleaning up for a fresh start in the morning when he heard your boots running from the elevator.
“Hey,” he smiled. Until he saw the blood on your arm. “What happened? Did you get shot? Is the team okay? Wait, why aren’t you at the hospital?”
“Shut up,” you told him, rushing over to him.
Surprising him, you reached out and pulled him in by his scrubs before kissing him. It didn’t take him long to start kissing you back, holding you in at your waist.
But suddenly, he pulled back.
“You’re still bleeding,” he pointed out.
You shrugged. “It’s just a flesh wound.”
You kissed him again, and he kissed you back. It took most of his mental strength to try and stop kissing you. “Sweetheart, I really don’t like the idea of you bleeding from a gunshot wound.”
Trying to steady your breath, you nodded. “Okay. Maybe you’re right.”
“We both know I’m right.” Jimmy smiled, holding your hand that lay beside his neck where your thumb unknowingly traced his skin.
Leaning in a little, he kissed you three more times. “Take a seat.”
Sitting down, you smiled and watched Jimmy move around the lab, gathering what he needed to clean your flesh wound.
In the quiet hum of the lab, you told him everything that you could about what had happened. All the while, he cleaned you up and checked the bruises that lay on your chest and abdomen.
“They’ll heal,” he told you. “They’ll be sore for a while, but they’ll heal.”
When his eyes met yours again, you smiled before kissing him. Though you both may have got off on the wrong foot when you first met, there wasn’t a single part of you that doubted your feelings for Jimmy.
Hi it’s me again!! I was wondering if I can request Palmer from the thing dating hcs please and thank you 😽😽
Dating Palmer Would Include..
Omg anon I love you I love you I love you there's another Palmer lover out there with you and I know he's gonna go wild for these too LMAO
Divider by @/strangergraphics
One of those relationships where you just seem to slip into dating without ever having an official conversation about it. Late nights watching game show reruns and talking shit turned into waking up the next morning slumped together, still in yesterday's clothes. He collapsed onto the couch and settled in with his shoulder against yours one time, and it became a habit practically overnight.
If you ever get around to sitting him down and asking the dreaded, "What are we," question...
"I dunno," He mumbles with a shrug, pulling his legs up and propping his heels against the edge of the cot, "Never really thought about it."
"Yeah, but do want that kind of thing?" You push, drawing your legs to your chest and letting your head loll to rest your temple on your knee, "I don't know, I just figured I should ask before it got too weird."
"Was it weird before you asked?" He posits with a wave of his hand, the smoldering joint between his fingers trailing smoke.
"Well... no."
"Then it won't be weird later. People get so hung up on this kinda shit, man. The label's not important. Are you havin' a good time?"
He's doing his best to look blasé and philosophical, but his eyes keep darting toward you while he waits for your answer. He licks his lips and busies himself with taking another drag. He's pinching the joint too hard- the paper is crumpling between his fingers.
"Yeah." You admit, readjusting to lean against the mechanic.
He switches the joint to his off hand and wraps an arm around your shoulders. You feel the weight settle on you when he tips his head over to rest on top of yours. He hovers the joint just shy of your lips as an invitation.
"Wanna have an even better time?"
It's said that you can tell an addict by the quality of the substance they use- true addicts aren't looking for a certain taste of alcohol or a certain kind of high, they just want to leave the world behind. Palmer? He smokes weed at the same frequency Childs smokes cigs, and it isn't shitty leaf, either. He knows everything there is to know about different strains and their uses. Sure, he always has that musky undertone typical of any stoner, but it's sharper and cleaner- almost citrusy. It clings to him like his own personal fog. You're sure if life were a cartoon he'd look like Pig Pen from Peanuts.
If you haven't smoked before meeting him, he's happy to be your trip sitter! Has a stash of "beginner stuff" that he was saving for Windows cause he's sure that Windows high has got to be less high-strung than Windows sober, but uh... he thinks it'll be more worthwhile to give it to you.
So casually and openly affectionate all of the damn time. Flops onto the couch and immediately throws an arm over your shoulders. Shoves his hand into your parka pocket and weaves his freezing cold fingers with yours. Snorts and whines, "What? 'm fuckin' freezin', here," if you call him out on it, one side of his mouth pulling into a lazy smirk.
Comes in for a kiss kind of like a bumblebee trying to land on a flower. Hovers near you for a moment and then very slowly starts to lean in. Adjusts his trajectory as he goes, and the result is a clumsy sort of circling motion as he tracks your movements and tries to correct accordingly. Always tilts his head to the left. When he finally comes in for a landing, the kiss is a lazy, open-mouthed thing. He's not going to make out with you in front of the guys, but he's very firmly pressing his mouth to yours and just lingering for a moment like he's savoring the taste of you (he is).
Has a similar approach when shotgunning, but he stabilizes himself with a hand on your shoulder or the back of your neck. Can't waste precious weed, y'know. Exhales very slowly to let the taste sink in. Lingers millimeters away from you while you hold the breath he just gave you. Doesn't care if you blow smoke in his face- he's fixing you with a lopsided grin and going in for a very sloppy, very giggly kiss.
This man has wandered into multiple blizzards with no gear on. That 60s acid damage did a number on him, and he's convinced that nothing can kill him. He's an official member of the 100 and 200 Club, and if you don't keep an eye on him, he might inadvertently try for 300. Be ready to trail after him and grab his parka on your way out the front door.
Please play board games with this man. He can cheat like a motherfucker, and Mac's pretty fun to cheat against when the pilot isn't completely smashed, but actively trying to play a game honestly after years of rigging the system is surprisingly challenging for him. Additionally, if you bring a game he hasn't played before, you'll have this guy in your back pocket in no time. He's surveying the board state with wide, eager eyes and already reaching for his pieces without having read the instructions. He'll figure it out as he goes. That's the best way to learn, anyhow.
God forbid you bring anything even vaguely war or strategy related (Risk, Battleship, Pandemic) with you to the station. He's taking at least five minutes per turn to explain the logic behind his moves and exactly what effect they'll have. Or, if you're not careful...
"They really did that, y'know."
"What?"
Palmer sets his cards aside and gestures to your part of the board, "Dumped experimental drugs on some of our guys. There was this thing called The Ladder, like PCP on steroids, and our own government sent it over to Vietnam..."
It takes him another ten minutes to explain the experiment to you, and by the time he's done, you're slumped back in your chair and slack-jawed.
"So... does that mean I made a good move? In the game?"
"Oh sure, but I already know how the whole conspiracy works, so your ass is grass."
Can fall asleep in literally any conditions. You'll feel the weight of his head on your shoulder while the chopper is actively bobbing and weaving through turbulence. He can sleep sitting straight up in a steel folding chair and not fall out of it.
Likes to sleep with you in a sort of haphazard pile. Falls asleep on his back most of the time and pulls you on top of himself like his own personal blanket. Doesn't care if you're on your stomach or laying with your back to his chest- he'll throw one arm around your waist and tuck the other under his pillow. You're in charge of the blanket if you want to be covered- he's already asleep once his head hits the pillow.
Doesn't move the entire night and doesn't snore, but he talks. He talks a lot. You'll wake up at two in the morning to him speaking in full sentences, and it takes a while for you to figure out that he's not really talking to you.
summary . . . Sitting on the beach watching the sunset with Cole, you realise that you still have a lot ahead of you, and that you don't have everything figured out. He assures you that it will be fine, and you two watch as the sun disappears down the horizon
request . . . yes! based on this request
word count . . . 611
warnings . . . none!
prompt . . . "i know we don't have it all figured out yet, but i think we're doing just fine."
alexavia yaps . . . AHH LOVE THIS!! also i had to add the innit like i could NOT resist :sob: part of summer event with eve! border by @deltamel !
. . . The sound of crashing waves overlapped with the sound of your thoughts, the beach breeze flipping your hair around, making you inhale the salty aroma that fills the air surrounding you and Cole.
You two have gone to a trip by the beach, a simple date where neither of you needed to speak, where there was a comfortable silence settled between you. He was sitting beside you, his hand brushing yours every once in a while, his shoulder touching yours.
The sand stuck to your skin, the blanket underneath you doing nothing to protect you from the small grains. Cole opened the cooler sat behind you, and grabbed two cold drinks, handing you one. The chill from the bottle made goose bumps rise on your skin, the neck of it running with water droplets from the high humidity.
You opened the bottle, taking a long sip as you stared at the water beneath you, the breath taking cliffside view making you sigh intently. The ocean was beautiful, the waves rising high then crashing down, splashing the rocks of the cliff that you were sitting at the top of.
Orange, yellow and pink light reflected off the water, casting a soft glow on your surroundings, but your mind was elsewhere. You tried to focus on the beauty around you, the peaceful rhythm of the waves, but the uncertainty in your chest kept nagging at you.
You took another sip, trying to drown the thoughts swirling in your head. Thoughts about the future, about where your life was headed, about whether you were making the right choices. You glanced at Cole. His profile was bathed in the warm, golden light, his expression serene.
He seemed so sure of himself, so in tune with the moment, but you…You didn't feel the same. It was like you were polar opposites; him, so calm and sure. And then you, so worried, so overthinking.
"I don't know if I'm ready for everything that's coming," you said, your voice quieter than you intended. "Sometimes it feels like I'm just… drifting along, not really knowing where I'm going."
Cole didn’t look at you right away. Instead, he tipped his head back, eyes narrowing as he studied the sunset. The silence stretched between you, but it wasn’t uncomfortable. Just… calm. Finally, he turned to you, his expression soft. But he didn't speak, instead he stared at you for a few moments, taking in your features.
After a few moments, he finally said something. "You know," he began, his voice steady, "I think that's okay. That we don't have to have it all figured out, innit?"
You looked at him, waiting for him to elaborate, but gave a small smile at the ending.
"We're figuring it out together," he continued, "And honestly, that's all we need. You're not alone in this."
His words settled around you, and for the first time in a while, you felt the tension in your chest start to loosen. He reached over and took your hand, his fingers warm against yours.
"I know we don't have it all figured out yet," Cole said, his gaze meeting yours. "But I think we're doing just fine."
The sun finally sank beneath the horizon, casting the sky in deeper shades of purple and blue. The world was quiet, save for the sound of the waves and the steady beat of your heart.
You sat there with him for a long time, letting the silence fill the spaces between your words. And in that moment, everything felt just right.
Maybe it's for the better that you didn't figure everything out yet. Maybe that was how it was supposed to be.
To preface this, I will write no smut, no self-harm, and no sa. This is down to personal issues, but I will not hate on anyone who chooses to write these topics.
Now, onto the characters!!!
NCIS
Timothy McGee
Tony DiNozzo
Jimmy Palmer
Ziva David
-
Marauders Era
Remus Lupin
James Potter
Sirius Black
Regulus Black
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Criminal Minds
Spencer Reid
Aaron Hotchner (x sister!reader)
-
The Inheritance Games
Grayson Hawthorne
Jameson Hawthorne
Xander Hawthorne
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Top Gun; Maverick
Jake "Hangman" Seresin
Bradley "Rooster" Bradshaw
Robert "Bob" Floyd
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MacGyver (2016)
Angus "Mac" MacGyver
-
White Collar
Neal Caffrey
-
Along with any of my own original characters that I will post stories for on here along the way!
Hi there! I LIVE FOR PALMER CONTENT FROM THE THING! I love your writings! If it’s not too much trouble, can I please ask for something with him? I love angst! Maybe hurt comfort or whatever you’re up for! Headcanons are neat too! If not him then Pinhead from Hellraiser would be neat! ALSO If you ever want me to write something for you, don’t hesitate to ask! I love horror too and you seem really cool! I’d be down to do like, a writing trade(?) kinda like an art trade but with writing! If not that’s cool too! I still love what you do! Keep it up!
Palmer - The Thing: Headcanons, Pinhead - Hellraiser: Headcanons
Pairing(s): Pinhead x Reader, Palmer X Reader
Characters: Pinhead, Palmer
Link: The Thing, Hellraiser
⚠️ Warnings!: References to sex, death
A/N: Hello! I really appreciate your kindness. I am super behind in my writing and I am trying to play catch-up right now. I hope you enjoy this piece of work. It has been a while since I've written anything so I might be a bit rusty. I tried for angsty HCs, but I'm not sure how well I did lol.
You don't have to write me anything if you don't want to (especially since this req is a year late 😥) though I appreciate the offer <3
__________________________________________
Palmer (The Thing 1982)
General Headcanons
✨Palmer has had a rough go of it. He's took this job in the middle of the freezing cold in order to make ends meet after stagnation in his work life.
✨The job at the outpost was paying way above whatever he'd made and he'd wanted to save up in order to get out of the endless spiral of debt he's in.
✨He acts like he doesn't really care about much, but he has a brother at home who he sends money too. The Walkman he has was his brother's which he gave him as a gift to keep him sane in the Antarctic
Pairing Headcanons
✨Palmer struggles to get close with someone as he has been disappointed a lot in the past. He wants to care for someone, but is torn between his obligations and his fear of rejection.
✨He often doubts himself, and doesn't understand why anyone would be interested in him when there are a lot of other more attractive men (in his opinion) at the outpost.
✨When/If you die at the hands of the Thing Palmer will be distraught. He will not be able to trust anyone and get more and more unstable until he meets his eventual demise.
Elliot Spencer/Pinhead (Hellraiser)
General Headcanons
✨Pinhead has lost all faith in humanity, with not much empathy left. It is what makes him such a good cenobite.
✨When he was human he once believed in emotions like compassion and kindness, but witnessing the horrors of war warped him. This sent him on the path right to the lament configuration.
✨ Though Pinhead talks of the pleasure and pain of the dimension which the cenobites hail from with such reverence, he is often very lonely. The empty spaces of his universe, can't even be filled sufficiently by other cenobites for him.
✨ Being trapped with only the vague memories of the past and the everlasting pain of both physical and mental proportions stops Pinhead from wanting to pursue any kind of meaningful venture.
Pairing Headcanons
✨ Pinhead is a creature of horror and wonder, a man turned monster. Thus his ability to show affection or humanity will be limited.
✨ He's guarded when it comes to the more sensitive sides of a romantic relationship. He's more familiar with carnal acts, both physical and emotional.
✨ It will take a lot to remind Pinhead of his humanity, and even more to get him to express it.
✨ Although if his partner is able to get him to remember the past he long has forgotten, confronting that trauma. He will end up forming a bond with them that will last over many lifetimes and dimensions.
Let me preface this by saying that hanging out with Palmer is always a fun time
On lazy days, he would sprawl out on the couch with you while the two of you pass the blunt back and forth and watch reruns of game shows.
It’s okay if you don’t smoke though, he still likes you.
The way he sees it, more for him that way.
He’s extra, extra huggy with only you specifically when he’s high. You’re his best friend, so good luck getting him off of you.
If he’s not feeling so lazy, he’ll take you for a spin in the chopper. (The real question is if you trust him or not, he hasn’t had his pilot’s license long)
Basically, use discretion when flying with Palmer. Is he SOBER?
He loves arcade games. If you’re hanging out with him outside of being at the outpost, he has a ton of them back home and WILL challenge you to beat his high score at Pac-Man.
“Yeah, I’ll rub your feet or something if you win.”
He’s a spicy food connoisseur (not really) so try out a bunch of different hot sauces with him. Its stupid, and he might throw up if he eats too much… but you’re both having fun, right?
Palmer has two pet skunks back home, Bozo and Lee Harvey Oswald.
He’s pretty fun to be around on his own, but Bozo and Lee Harvey make it even better somehow.
Help him walk them, feed them little insects, and give them baths.
He even dresses them up. Time to go skunk shopping.
He literally does everything with you. He’s not exactly the type who gets close to a lot of people, so you’re a very special exception.
Summary: Jimmy Palmer x fe!Reader -> Jimmy is there for you when you need him, and as time goes on, things start to develop.
Disclaimer: Part one is here. Some swearing, brief appearance from shitty exes, the team being a family, mutual pining, yearning, friends to lovers, might do a part 3, domestic fluff, fluff, and an elevator kiss.
You woke up to a bright light behind a warm curtain.
Taking a couple of minutes before you rolled from your side onto your back, you felt like you’d been given a breath of fresh air. You had been a lot more exhausted than you’d realised.
You hadn’t even spent twenty minutes overthinking about your day, your life or even the fact that you were sleeping at Jimmy’s.
Jimmy.
Suddenly you could register the feeling of the soft cotton t-shirt you were wearing, as well as the shorts; both belonging to him. The bedsheets, as well as your clothes, smelled of him.
You hadn’t realised just how…comforting it was.
But your ability to remain calm disappeared for a few minutes when you heard a loud clatter coming from his kitchen.
Tearing the covers from you, you rushed across the soft carpet, down the runner of the hallway and down the staircase. “Jimmy?”
It wasn’t until you were in the kitchen that he heard you.
“Shoot.”
“Are you okay?” Tucking your hair behind your ear, you crouched down to help him pick up the random pots and pans that had seemingly fallen out of the cupboard.
“I didn’t wake you, did I?”
You shook your head, “No. No, not at all. I woke up, like, twenty minutes ago. What happened?”
Standing with Jimmy, who you noticed was also dressed in his pajamas, you handed him the different pots, pans and lids you’d picked up.
“I was looking for the- ah.” Jimmy held it up. “The frying pan. I kind of did a deep clean a few days ago. It helped me clear my head.”
You chuckled a little. “Why did you need to clear your head?”
“Uhh,” Jimmy was hiding something, that much you knew. “Nothing important. Just…general stuff. Are you sure I didn’t wake you?”
You nodded, “I’m sure.”
After all the commotion to start the day, Jimmy hadn’t noticed just how…well you looked in his clothes. For a moment, he thought it had awakened something primitive in him; some kind of cave-man needed to see you in his clothes and only his clothes.
If any clothes, at all.
Clearing his throat, he averted his gaze from the beauty of your morning glow and turned back to the stove. “Well, now that you are, fancy some breakfast?”
You smiled. “Love some. Want me to make coffee?”
“Sure. Coffee grounds are-”
“Found ‘em,” you announced, finding the clear air-tight container. Within a few minutes, the coffee machine was letting out a deep hum and the smell of fresh coffee.
From Jimmy’s end of the kitchen, you also got the fresh smell of cooked bacon and eggs.
Over morning breakfast, Jimmy shared his morning newspaper with you. And after a rather blissful shower, he drove both of you back to work.
“You are kidding!” You were laughing, walking beside Jimmy as you both stepped off the elevator.
Jimmy was laughing, too. “I wish I was. But it gets worse-”
“Oh, my god! How?”
“Well– oh.”
Suddenly, the little bubble you and Jimmy seemed to have created burst.
Inside the bullpen, you found both your ex and ex best friend standing by your desk. Meanwhile, Ellie, Nick and McGee were standing in a row, giving them evils.
And you instinctively reached out for Palmer.
“Want me to stay?” He asked, quietly.
You hummed, quietly, whilst gently squeezing his hand.
“I’m right here,” he assured you.
“Thank you,” you told him, both quickly and quietly, before walking past the dividers of Ellie’s desk and to the main walkway of your team’s area.
“Hi,” Sarah, your ex best friend, smiled.
You looked to the other three on your team, internally grateful they were there first to greet them.
“Can-can we talk?”
“Sure. We can talk here.”
Both Sarah, and your ex, Matt, stood there looking at each other before looking around.
“They’re federal agents,” you told them both. “I’d be telling them anyway, but even if I didn’t, they could find out.”
You watched as Sarah wiped down her hand before smiling in Jimmy’s direction.
It was the first time in your life you’d felt true…anger? Jealousy? All you knew is that you didn’t want her smiling at your friend.
“Hi, I’m-”
“Why are you here?” You cut in.
Matt smiled at you, and it made Jimmy’s back tense. “Always straight to the point, Y/n.”
“Considering you left her for her liar of a best friend,” Ellie cut in, standing by your side. “She should have buried you in a very deep grave. Be lucky she’s even letting you talk at all.”
From behind her, Nick gently pulled her away. “Sorry,” he apologised to you before turning to the couple standing behind him. “I hate you, both.”
As Nick placed Ellie at her desk, Mcgee sitting on the desk with them, you turned back to the couple.
“I won’t ask again.”
Sarah stepped forward a little. “We wanted to apologise again. And also ask you something.”
You looked between the couple. There could only be two reasons they were in an NCIS building, looking for you, in order to ask you something. One was that they needed something investigating, and the second was glaringly obvious on her hand.
You prayed to God it wasn’t either.
“We were hoping to,” Sarah reached back and held Matt’s hand, lovingly. “Get your official blessing. Matt has asked me to marry him.”
From behind you, you heard Ellie gasp and stand before Nick placed a hand on her shoulder and pushed her back into her seat. They were in a federal building; there could be no blood shed.
“And I was hoping you would say yes to being my maid of honour.”
From behind you, there were four very loud questions of, “What?”.
You could only stare at them in disbelief. What the actual fuck?
But, as a million different responses ran through your mind, your body fell into one very odd reaction.
You started laughing. Bent over, gasping for air, tears rolling down your face, laughing.
“You’re asking-” You laughed. “For my blessing?”
You really couldn’t stop. It was just too hilarious.
“I’d ask where was that question when you left me on our wedding day,” you told Matt. “But…Jesus, I can’t help but think how fucking lucky I am to dodge your fucking bullet.” You motioned between the pair of them to clarify.
“And where the hell do you get off by asking me to be your maid of honour?” You laughed.
Sarah seemed a little put out. “Every girl dreams of her best friend being at her wedding.”
You nodded. “Sure they do. But things change when she learns that the same best friend was sleeping with her husband-to-be at least three months before the wedding.”
The laughing had subsided slowly, but there was still a slightly psychotic edge to the look in your eyes and the tone of your voice. A part of you still wanted to laugh.
“Sure,” you agreed. “You have my blessing. Get married, live your lives. Get married and have lots of children and tell them how you guys met! Tell them your oh-so-great love story. Get married to the lying best friend, get married to the cheating scum of my ex-fiance who proposed on the honeymoon we were meant to go on.”
“How did you know-”
You smiled, “Get married, live your lives!” Then you added, as the laughter disappeared and the tension in the room tripled, “Just don’t ask me to be a part of it. Ever. Again.”
A short silence settled over the group before the smell of Gibbs’ coffee wandered through your senses.
“I suggest you two do as she says,” Gibbs said. “Before I turn my back and let her and her family do what they’ve been thinking about since you both betrayed her trust.”
Sarah seemed to get offended. “But her family love-”
“That’s not the family I was talking about.”
Looking around nervously, Sarah and Matt took in the sinister glares of the team around you. That was when Matt noticed you were holding Jimmy’s hand.
“You moved on?”
Suddenly, a hand connected with the back of his neck and Gibbs forced Matt to look at him. “You don’t get to ask her that. Now leave. Mcgee?”
“Already on it,” he said. “Security is on their way.”
Matt and Sarah didn’t seem to move. Even when the security turned up.
“Leave.” Gibbs repeated only once and they made their escorted exits out of the building.
As they finally did leave, Ellie immediately walked over to you and hugged you tight. Which was quickly followed by Jimmy, then Tim and Nick.
As the group hug dissolved away, Gibbs looked at you before hugging you. “You okay?”
You nodded. “I think I actually am.”
“They’re assholes. You deserve better.”
You smiled a little as the hug ended. “I already have better,” you said, looking around at your family. “Thank you for your help.”
“You didn’t need it,” Nick told you. “You’re kind of a psycho badass."
“But you’ll always have it,” Ellie added. Nick and the others agreed.
It wasn’t long before another case came across the team’s desk and you all got back to work.
And, oddly, it was nice.
After the morning you’d had with Jimmy, followed by the baffling but cathartic encounter with your past, and getting back to work; you felt free, again.
Steadily, over the following months you got back into dating (although none went past more than a couple of dates), finished renovating your home to be exactly how you wanted it, and spent more time in the labs with Jimmy (and Ducky).
As Ducky was starting to give you another impromptu history lesson – ones you’d come to appreciate more over the last few months – you found yourself zoning out.
You didn’t really know when it had begun. There were moments that stood out in your mind but some you didn’t want to fully accept because it meant they were also scarred by bigger emotional feelings at the time.
But you’d taken a deep interest in Jimmy Palmer.
Your co-worker of…however many years. And close friend, the same.
You knew Ducky knew about your work crush as, by the time you zoned back in, he was giving you the same look he’d been giving you for weeks.
A rather English look of; “I know you haven’t been listening to me, and I know why.”
“Sorry, Ducky.”
“Miss Y/l/n.” Oh, god, you were in trouble. “If you wish to stare at Doctor Palmer, might I suggest you try taking a picture. I’m sure it will last a lot longer.”
Your eyes widened as you looked between him and Jimmy who was busy with something on the other side of the room. Ducky had kept his voice quiet, intentionally.
“My dear, if I can clearly see how you look at him, then so should he. All you have to do is simply ask.”
“Ask him what?”
“I think you know.”
“Got it!” Palmer exclaimed across the room before jumping into his explanation of evidence.
As he made his way back to you, you could barely look him in the eye as you took the file from him. Clearing your throat, you excused yourself to go back to the bullpen and tell the others what the medical team had found.
“Ducky, can I ask you a personal question?”
“Of course, my boy.”
“Do you think everything’s okay with Y/n?”
He smiled to himself. Yourself and Doctor Palmer were two of the brightest minds he’d ever met. And yet, somehow the pair of you seemed to only have one brain cell.
“It’s just…we usually hang out and talk and stuff but she’s been kinda…distant?”
“She is a lady, Doctor Palmer.” Ducky told him. “And also an Agent of this establishment. I’m sure she’s just got a lot on her mind.”
“I don’t know.” Jimmy chewed the inside of his cheek as his hands came to his hips. “Something just seems…off. I’ve seen her in the field. I’ve seen her when she’s upset and when she’s happy. I’ve even seen her when she’s still trying to figure out what to feel.”
“Your point, Doctor?”
“This feels different.”
“Perhaps it feels different, because it is.”
If Ducky was a gossip, he would tell people – especially Palmer – that he’d seen the look in your eyes when you were in your last relationship. And he’d also seen the look in your eyes every time you looked at Jimmy, long before you even recognised it yourself.
Only one of those looks were true to your soul, and it wasn’t when you looked at your ex-fiance.
A day or so later, Jimmy asked you if everything was okay between both of you. He’d managed to catch you in the elevator as you left work. You’d replied happily enough, but something was still niggling at him.
Like looking at a picture and knowing something was out of place.
It took two long weeks of that same feeling, and you being unable to make eye contact for longer than three seconds with him, before he finally figured it out.
“Hey, heading home?” He asked you as he stopped by your desk on the way to the elevator.
Another case had just been wrapped up and the others had gone home around ten minutes before he reached your desk.
“Yeah,” you said, packing away your belongings. “I can finish my paperwork tomorrow. I can practically hear my bed calling me.”
Jimmy smiled and replied ‘goodnight’ when you said it to him. But, before he could think to stop himself, he called out after you.
“Actually, do you have five minutes to talk?”
You looked around. There wasn’t anyone left in the office. Just yourself and Jimmy.
“Sure. What’s up?”
“I need you to talk to me,” he told you.
You were a little confused but nodded. “Okay?”
“No, I mean–” Jimmy took a breath. He hadn’t really planned what he would say to you when he finally caught up to you. “I know you said everything was fine between us, but my gut has been screaming at me for three weeks that something is…off. And I want you to talk to me. Has something happened?”
“Jimmy.” You were at a loss for words, really. You’d been racking your brains for months trying to figure out what you would say to Jimmy if you ever felt brave enough.
“If I’ve done something, or if I’ve upset you in anyway-”
You shook your head, “You’ve not upset me. No, it’s-”
“-then I’m sorry. But please just tell me. Please? Because…because I miss my best friend–”
“-It’s nothing you’ve done–”
“-And if it’s a girl thing or you don’t feel comfortable telling me–”
“-Jimmy, would you let me–”
“-then please talk to Ellie? Because I know she’s getting concerned, too and-”
A hundred different options flicked through your brain as yourself and Jimmy talked over one another, worried about hurting the other’s feelings. And yet, despite those hundred different options, your brain seemed to pick one for you.
Suddenly, you kissed him.
And everything fell silent.
Pulling away, you slowly removed your hands from his face and stepped back just as panic started to set in.
“Sorry,” you apologised. “I shouldn’t have-”
“Did you just-”
“-kissed you.”
“-kiss me?”
You swallowed. “Ohh, my god. I didn’t– I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have…I didn’t even know I was going to do that. I’m sorry.”
Jimmy managed to find a few words to speak with. “Is…is this why you haven’t been yourself?”
“I-I should probably just…” You hitched a thumb over your shoulder, willing your body not to flee the scene in the most drastic way possible.
“Please answer me?” Jimmy didn’t move from the spot where he was standing, but he did reach out.
For a moment, and only for a moment, everything didn’t seem to dire. The building didn’t feel like it was on fire or that the floor was about to collapse from underneath you.
But, as you tried to explain it to Jimmy, those feelings started creeping back up.
“Yes,” you blurted out. “I-I don’t know when it- the feelings. I don’t know when they started. I’m guessing a couple months, but it could also be longer.”
“A couple months?”
You were worried he was angry.
“I-I know. I know, and I’m sorry. And I’m sorry that I just…” You have to wave your hand between yourself and Jimmy, unable to say the word ‘kiss’. “It was unprofessional and also just completely stupid on my part. We’re friends– well, I guess we were friends before I just…screwed it up. Is it-” You pulled at your collar. “Is it getting hot in here? They really need to fix the AC in this place, right?”
You were laughing out of nerves as your legs carried you backwards.
“Look, you can just…forget about the whole thing. I-I will find a way to get rid of them. I’m sure it’s just a silly, little, work crush and-”
You were starting to back away towards the elevator. “-And if you want to ignore me for the rest of your life, feel free to do so. I-I’m sure it’ll help. There’s probably a study on the proximity of co-workers causing stupid work crushes, right?”
You felt hot from your toes to your head.
“So-so-so I’ll just…I’ll just go and we can…we can move on? Sounds like a plan, right?”
Jimmy nodded a little as he watched the elevator doors close on you. “Sounds like a plan.”
As the doors closed tightly and the elevator started moving to the ground floor, you leaned against the rail and held your head in your hands.
What the hell were you thinking? Why did you kiss him?! How many times did you have to say ‘crush’? You felt like you were fourteen again – awkward and nervous and terrified and more awkward.
He kissed you back, your head told you. But you tried your hardest not to listen. It was wrong. There was no reason for him to kiss you back. No reason at all.
But he did. He probably felt pressured. His hand held your waist. By accident.
As the elevator hit the ground floor, you tried to get yourself together.
Which worked for about three seconds.
Because, as the doors to the elevator opened, Jimmy was already standing there. He was completely out of breath, but his posture seemed controlled nonetheless.
“What are you-” The question started slipping out of your mouth before you could fully register Jimmy had run down the stairs to get to you.
He shook his head as he entered the elevator, reaching out to hold you.
“I don’t want to ignore you for the rest of my life,” he told you, quickly, before kissing you as the elevator doors closed once again.
Summary: Jimmy Palmer x fe!Reader -> When you go missing on your wedding day, Jimmy is the one who finds you.
Disclaimer: Mention of crappy wedding days, secret yearning, fluffy moments, Jimmy takes care of reader, might do a part 2, friends to eventual lovers.
The last thing you expected was to be spending your wedding day hiding out in a medical examiner’s lab, but you didn’t really have much choice.
“Here,” Jimmy came to your side, laying down the tray of canteen food. “Ellie said you haven’t eaten anything this morning so I got you some hearty lunch and,” Jimmy shook the bottle. “Electrolytes.”
“Thanks.”
“I know it’s kinda stupid, but are you feeling okay?”
You let out an uneven sigh as you started tearing open the disposable package for utensils and started preparing your lunch bowl.
“I don’t know,” you admitted. “It’s not every day you spend fourteen months planning a wedding that, on the day of said wedding, you find out your fiancé has been in love with someone else.”
“Do you want to talk about it?”
“Yes,” you said. “And no. I-I think it hurts more that the person I’d be talking to about this…is the one he’s run off with.”
“Do you…do you want a hug? Or I can find you a dart board? I’m sure Tony kept one somewhere. Maybe Mcgee can print out their photos and you can start throwing darts.”
For the first time in several hours, you laughed. “Thanks, Jimmy. That…that sounds like a good idea. But I’m not ready for that yet.”
You were still in the transition of your feelings. The minute you’d found out, you’d barely reacted. You simply…let him go. And then you left.
You left the wedding venue and headed to the one place that you knew nobody would come looking for you; The NCIS medical lab.
You did well in the field, but the whole cold lab, dissecting bodies thing didn’t exactly make you feel calm. You knew it would be the last place people looked for you. And you…needed time.
You needed time to think over everything. How you felt, how to feel, what to do, what to say; all of it.
You were angry, of course. Your best friend and your fiancé were in love and your boyfriend proposed to you in the hopes it would stop his feelings for her.
You were frustrated you hadn’t seen it. Were you selfish for not having noticed it? Or were they? Were you both?
You were upset that your best friend and fiancé didn’t think to come to you and just tell you. Instead, your fiancé proposed, helped you plan the wedding, and then only thought to admit the truth an hour before you were supposed to walk down the aisle.
A small part of you felt relief; but it was only small. At least he told you before you walked down the aisle, and in the privacy of the waiting room you were being held in.
You were, frankly, baffled at his audacity to cry to you about how sorry he was. That he does love you, but he simply loved her more.
From the shock, when he had told you, you’d paused for a long time. You had a thousand questions but you knew you weren’t emotionally ready to accept the answers. So, you asked him to wait.
Then you left.
“But I’ll take the hug, though.”
Jimmy nodded, stepping closer to wrap his arms around you. And, for a short while, you stayed like that.
“You know, it’s okay if you want to cry.”
“I know.”
Your voice was shaking, but you weren’t ready to cry yet. You felt like you needed to process something before you could cry.
You just didn’t know what that something was.
“Want me to call Ellie? Or Abby?”
You shook your head. “No. Not yet.”
Jimmy stepped back as you moved from his hug, but he kept a steady hand on your upper back.
“Can you stay?” You asked him. “I-I don’t want to see anyone right now, but I also don’t want to be alone.”
Jimmy nodded, his voice soft. “Yeah. Yeah, of course.”
Pulling up a chair, he sat adjacent to you as you started picking at your lunch. Although, due to the time, it was more likely to be considered your dinner.
And whilst you ate, you asked Jimmy a few questions to distract your head for a while. You asked about his morning and the others.
And he told you. But he did leave a few details out.
When he’d arrived at the wedding venue, it was just as Ellie and Nick pulled up, too. They seemed excited and when Ellie went to find you, she soon came out with one of your bridesmaid’s who said she hadn’t seen you in over an hour.
The others heard from your mother about the wedding being called off. And also how she hadn’t seen you.
Gibbs and McGee started asking questions and apparently one of the florists had spotted you getting into an Uber around the back of the venue.
So, the bride-hunt started.
Abby and McGee headed to your apartment. Gibbs and Ducky headed to one of your lesser known spots; a place he’d found you a couple of times when a case became too much. Ellie and Nick went…everywhere else.
Your mother and other bridesmaid’s were handling the wedding venue and the guests, in the meantime.
“And you came here?”
Jimmy shrugged. “All I could think of was that you needed time. And space. You know all of us. You freakishly know where Gibbs is at all times. Abby thinks you might be a witch.”
You and Jimmy chuckled a little as he mentioned Abby. There had been more than one time where she had proudly accused you of being a Witch, and you took it as a massive compliment.
“So, I’d know you would go somewhere we wouldn’t look for you. Which was…here.”
You smiled a little at Jimmy. “Well, I’m glad you found me.”
Jimmy gave you a reassuring smile as he reached out and took your hand.
Then you cried.
You cried in pain, and in loss, and in hurt.
The man you’d loved, the man you wanted to marry, had been in love with someone else. He’d lied to you. He’d betrayed you. He didn’t even have the decency to tell you when it happened.
He waited until all your family and friends, on both sides, were waiting patiently for you to walk down the aisle. In the dress that took you five months to pick and eight months to alter.
To him, dressed in a tux that took him three months to pick.
“I just thought he wanted it to be perfect,” you sniffed.
You and Jimmy had been sitting in the lab for a couple hours. He’d texted the others that you were safe and would call them when you were ready.
“We planned it together,” you said. “He wanted…he said he wanted to be my husband. That it would be a partnership. And then he just…”
It was another hour before you started to feel the cold of the room through the tight fastenings of your wedding dress.
“Here,” Jimmy laid his suit jacket over your shoulders and you politely smiled.
“Thanks.”
Then an idea popped into your head. “Actually…do you have any spare scrubs?”
“Uhh,” Jimmy thought about it for a moment. “I think so. Do you want to change?”
You nodded. “I don’t feel right wearing this anymore. And, it’s kinda uncomfortable now.”
Jimmy stood quickly, heading to the storage closet. You called out your size to him to make it easier for him to find.
The train of your dress followed you as you padded across the room to join him.
“Here we go,” Jimmy handed you a neatly folded packet of green scrubs.
“Thanks.”
Jimmy left the storage room free for you to get changed, but it was only thirty seconds before you were opening the door again. “I need your help.”
“With what?”
“The dress,” you told him. “I can’t…round the back. Could you?”
“O-oh, yeah! Yeah, sorry.”
You smiled a little once more, before turning around and letting Jimmy’s fingers carefully unhook the buttons down the back of your dress before slowly pulling down the zipper.
The room was quiet, save for the faint buzzing of the overhead lights and your shared breath with Jimmy.
“There you go.”
“Thank you.”
Carefully turning, you felt a little nervous before looking at Jimmy. “I-I’ll just be a minute.”
“I’ll be…right out here. If you need me.”
You nodded, politely, before entering the storage closet once more and changing out of your wedding dress and into the spare pair of scrubs Jimmy gave you.
That evening, Jimmy drove you home. He offered to stay with you, or to even take you home with him, but you’d kindly rejected his offer.
If your newly ex fiancé was home, then you took it as the universe’s sign that you were meant to hash it out with him.
But he wasn’t.
It was another two days before he came back and answered your questions.
It was another two weeks before your ex best friend was brave enough to face you.
As much as you hated her for what she had done, you had to hand it to her; showing up at your place of work, in front of your team who were ready to chuck both her and your idiot ex fiancé out of the nearest window, was a brave move.
And it was two months before you decided to move out of your apartment, unable to properly sleep without thinking about all the moments you thought they’d been there for you and with you.
Instead, they’d just been there for each other.
Before you knew it, six months and a dozen cases had passed.
“Hey, wakey-wakey,” you felt a gentle hand on your back, shaking you a little.
It took you a few moments to come around, remembering where you were and why your back was sore. You’d been asleep across your desk since…
What time was it?
“Just after one in the morning,” Jimmy’s voice told you. “Come on, I’ll drive you home.”
Carefully standing, Jimmy helped you put your jacket on before leading you out of the bullpen and towards the elevator.
“What are you still doing here?” Jimmy asked.
“Paperwork,” you yawned.
“Ah, jinx.” Jimmy took in your tired frame that started to sway as you stepped into the elevator. “Have you been sleeping?”
You yawned. “A little.”
“In bed?”
You shook your head. “I missed my delivery date. They’re sending it again in two days. I’ve been sleeping on my sofa.”
Jimmy tutted and shook his head. “I’m taking you home with me.”
“Jimmy-”
“I’ve got a spare bedroom with fresh sheets and a comfortable mattress. There’s nothing wrong with it. Use it. Stay with me until your bed arrives. You need a decent night’s sleep,” Jimmy told you. “We all do.”
You were about to tell him it was a kind offer, but then you thought about your sofa. Despite its comfort to sit on, it wasn’t exactly the best night's sleep you’d had.
Or been having.
Which was how you found yourself accepting his offer.
“I know it’s not your own, but they’re clean and warm from the dryer.”
You smiled, taking the medical conference t-shirt and shorts from Jimmy. “Thank you, Jimmy.”
