Out On the Table.
Words: 720
Couple: Nell Jones and G Callen
TV Show: NCIS: Los Angeles
Disclaimer: All characters/quotes that you recognize belong to Shane Brennan, I just made it all feel Nalleny.
AU.
Spoilers for Season 4 Episode 22 'Raven and Swans'
Established Nell/Callen.

…

"Where's Nell?"
"She had to run down to the armory."
"For what?"
"She didn't say."

G Callen was three steps in front of his partner, knowing that Nell Jones being in the armory without him or Kensi generally meant she was checking to make sure their operations manager's dirty work wasn't spilling over the edges.

"G, slow down man," Sam murmured, his strides becoming longer so he could keep up with him, "Is something going on with you two? Honeymoon period over?"
"The honeymoon period has been over for months Sam, we've been dating longer than you think."
"What I mean, is there something bad going on here? You came in separately, she looks rattled."
"I don't know Dr. Phil, you tell me," he smirked, shooting his partner a look before they entered the armory.

They stopped, watching her as she closed the draw Henrietta Lange was accustomed to using when hiding something, entering the code for the door to roll down. The intelligence analyst turned around, feigning shock to find them there.

"Watcha doing?" he asked, eyebrows raised as he looked past the act.
"Just, uh, inventory."

His knowing smirk only grew, the insufferable and stubborn women in front of him was a terrible liar. She could lie if it saved her ass any other time, but she had faltered under the knowledge that they were going to find out any way.

"What's missing?" Sam questioned.
"The Derringer and her arm-rig," she answered, knowing when she'd been defeated.

The partner's shared a look, one knowing that there was more, the other still confused as to why.

"Plus her 32," when they reverted her gaze back to her, Nell sighed and gave in, "Three knives, pepper spray and a steel baton."
"What, no hand grenade?" Sam answered, wondering when the list was going to end.

Callen frowned, looking back at his partner as he said he was going to check with Eric to try and find the mysterious women before leaving the armory. Wiping his hand down his face, he looked to her only to find her fidgeting uncomfortably. Between the two of them, they were tense, and he knew it was something that would come to interfere with their work. That was something he couldn't let happen.

"We're going to talk about this," he told her sincerely, meeting her eyes with his own, "Not right now, but we will."
"You know why I didn't tell you G-"
"Nell."
"This isn't a conversation we can just leave hanging, you know it. We can say we're going to talk about it, and go back to work but it'll still be there, it'll stil be there making us treat each other differently."
"Not now," he repeated.
"When?"
"When this is over."
She shook her head, trying to hide a smile, "This case? Because another one will come up, and then it'll be prolonged, then we'll get home one night and it'll just blow up."
"I promise, it won't."

When she looked back at him, he could have sworn he could hear a pin drop on the silence.

"We say that, but you and I both know it's a possibility," Nell whispered.
Stepping towards her, he cupped her cheeks before pressing a lingering kiss to her forehead, "When this started, I promised that I was all in, and I am. I'm not going to let this blow up in our faces Nell," he assured her, tipping her chin up so she met his eyes again, "Right now, we can't talk about this. I'm still trying to process it myself, being honest."
"I should have said something, huh?"
"Maybe," he shrugged, "Won't be the last time this happens, for either of us."

The phone slipped into the back pocket of his jeans began ringing, pulling him away from her to answer it. Callen watched as she went back to fidgeting nervously, listening to Eric Beale update him.

"Hetty and our mystery women are in the boat shed," he told her, "I'll see you in ops, okay?"
Nodding she stuffed her hands into the pockets, "This is all going to be okay, right?"

He knew exactly what she meant. Everything with Hetty, the team, them. It was all strained with everything that had been going on.

"Yeah," Callen assured her, "We always get past this."

…

So let's set a timeline here. Okay.
This is after 'Not at Home' and 'Trusted My Training'. I guess this is the one that sort of rounds it all off, but after this I've got a plan for something that sort of follows this but I don't know.

I know I've been really vague with what's going on, but everything else I wrote felt off, and eeeeer.

One more thing. Let's just forget when he said "Not at the moment" I have a plan for that c:
Which does involve writing some more, but if it gets me out of Graduate Program, I am 100% fine with it! Aha c:

This is where I promise that I'm working on the last part of 'Everything In Between' but my computer crashed just before I got to publish the chapter and it was like 3am and I hadn't gotten a chance to save it since I had begun writing it two hours earlier. So. That sucks. But it will be up soon!

Thank you!

All mistakes made are absolutely mine.

Review?