A Secret Past
Everyone has a past. Some never want you to know it. If you're lucky you will get to keep your secrets. But in the world of espionage, terrorism and national security, your skeletons often emerge from the closet. Nell's past is not all pretty and it is coming back to haunt her.
Chapter 1
A/N – I recently read a spoiler about Nell for Season 8 and it gave me a bout of inspiration. It indicated that we would find out she is a bit of a badass, so I decided I would attempt to give her some sort of badass past. So this is what I came up with, I like the idea, I hope that you enjoy it too.
I don't own them, I'm just borrowing them like the rest of us. I have no BETA so all mistakes are mine.
Like my other story I am really nervous to post, so please don't be too harsh. Constructive criticism is more than welcome.
So please read and review.
Nell was in line at her local coffee shop waiting for her morning caffeine fix when she saw it, the black sedan. At first she thought that she was just being paranoid, but this was the fourth time they had crossed paths. It didn't follow her to work but she kept coming across it. She didn't know who was behind the wheel because the windows were blacked out. Now that she was almost convinced it was following her she finally gave in and surreptitiously photographed the number plate on her phone to try and find out who it was and if she really had reason to be worried.
Deciding she would get a head start on the day she made her way to the office, taking a roundabout route and making sure to check that the suspicious vehicle did not follow. To her relief it stayed put.
When she entered the mission she was pleased to find that it was almost empty, only a few of the night staff loitering about.
She quietly made her way up to the empty ops centre and signed into her station. Wasting no time, she entered the cars details into the DMV database to try and determine its owner and put to rest what she hoped was just her overactive mind. Frustratingly it came back with no match.
Before she could make any more inquiries into the matter she was interrupted by the arrival of her partner.
"Morning Nell, you're here early." Said Eric.
With a smile she stealthily shut down her search window and replied
"I've only been here for about ten minutes so really the same could be said for you. What brings you here early?"
"I have to catch up on some of the work that I didn't get done last night,"
"Well I guess that we had the same idea then."
Eric nodded and then turned his attention toward his own terminal.
Turning back to her own computer her mind drifted back to the strange car. Getting no result on a search while unusual was not unheard of. Maybe she was just paranoid, this job could make you that way sometimes and it wasn't like she was without enemies.
Sighing she put it out of her head and started to read through the latest intelligence reports to get up to date on the most current information. She really didn't have any work to catch up on and now with Eric here she couldn't continue her search for answers so she made herself look busy so as to not draw his attention.
It was a long and boring day at work. There were no new cases so everyone was pretty much stuck behind their desks catching up on the dreaded paperwork side of their jobs. It was a big relief when Hetty entered the bullpen late that afternoon.
"Since everyone is now up to date on their paperwork you are free to leave. Have a good weekend." She said before returning to her office.
A chorus of 'Thank-you Hetty' was heard before everyone quickly began to pack up their belongings. It wasn't often that they got an early reprieve so no one was going to stick around and let her have a chance to change her mind.
"Who is up for some drinks?" asked Deeks.
"If you're buying" said Sam.
With an exaggerated sigh he replied
"I suppose the first round can be on me."
"Then I am in" said Sam.
"Me too," said Callen quickly followed by Kensi and Eric.
"What about you Nell?" asked Kensi.
Realising that she had zoned out and all eyes had landed on her, she quickly replied.
"Sure, why not." Figuring a drink might be a nice distraction, she followed the group out of the mission.
They were all squashed into a booth at one of their favourite bars. The night was filled with light hearted banter. A relatively crime free couple of weeks had everyone feeling as carefree as a group of federal agents could be.
Whilst Nell joined in on the fun as best she could she just couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong.
Her unusual behaviour didn't go unnoticed by Callen.
He gently nudged her arm and asked in a concerned tone
"Nell, Is everything alright? You seem a bit distracted."
With what she hoped was a reassuring smile she replied
"Everything's fine Callen, just getting a bit tired I guess,"
He raised his eyebrows a little in disbelief. He opened his mouth to reply when her phone indicated an incoming message.
Nell looked at the screen and frowned slightly at the message she had received from an unknown number. It was BLANK.
"That's strange," she murmured to herself.
"What is strange?" asked Callen.
"It is just a blank message from an unknown number," she paused and with a shrug continued "guess it is just a wrong number".
Callen looked her seemingly unconvinced. She looked back at him and said "Nothing to be worried about,"
He reluctantly conceded and re-joined the groups discussion. But his questioning looks during the rest of the evening didn't go unnoticed by Nell.
After a night of drinking, a spontaneous group dinner and good company they all headed home with the promise of seeing each other bright and early again on Monday.
The remainder of Nell's weekend was uneventful. No more car sightings and no more strange text messages. She was feeling much more at ease when she arrived at the mission again on Monday. And it remained that way for another blissful, few weeks. But at the beginning of August this all came crashing down around her.