I do not own NCIS:Los Angeles or any of its characters, i'm just borrowing them
#1
"It's amazing what we take for granted… the simple things like being able to enjoy a fine meal, or the ability to smell a flower… or even just the gift of sight"
"So am I to assume that you have a new found appreciation for these things, Callen?"
"Oh yes, definitely"
….
"So I dropped her off at her place and just went home. Worst date I've had for a while"
"Come on, G… that wasn't a date"
"Well it wasn't just a meeting for casual sex, Mike!"
"Fair 'nough… But at least be honest… you only went out wi' her in the hope o' seeing what her bedroom looked like"
Callen stared back at Mike, not saying a word, not wanting to confirm Mike's assessment
….
"… Mr Callen and Renko will go with you , for security"
"I'm more than capable of protecting myself, Hetty!"
"I don't doubt that my Dear… but it's better to be safe than sorry"
….
2 Weeks Later
Callen, Nell and Mike had been staying in a hotel above a bar just outside Glasgow, while Nell was working with counterparts working for the Royal Navy Police.
Callen and Renko had not had much to do while Nell worked with british analysts, Simply having responsibility to drive Nell back and forward between the naval base and where they were staying.
The Hotel was a very nice facility, with the rooms accessible from the car park or through a corridor from the bar that was on the ground floor.
Nell had been given a room of her own, while Callen and Renko shared a room
"You see that blonde over at the bar, she's been giving me the eye for a while now. I don't 'spose I could convince you to make yourself scarce for a few hours, brother?"
"Yeah, sure Mike. Just send me a text when you're all finished. I'll be down here"
Callen watched Mike approach the woman at the bar, and could only imagine the chat up lines he was using…
Mike did this every night for the first week while they were in Scotland, somehow managing to find a new willing woman each night.
Callen spent his evenings nursing a pint or three, while Mike was off with his latest conquest.
One night, while enjoying his pint, he spotted Nell at the bar, looking very uneasy at the attention she was attracting from a local. He got up and left his table, wanting to help his younger colleague out of the situation she was finding herself in
"You all right, sweetheart?" He asked her, getting between Nell, and the man that had been bothering her, and kissed her temple to try and convince the man that he and Nell were closer than they actually were
"Excuse me!, I was just buying the lady a drink!"
"Thanks, but we're all right" Called said, directed at the man
"I've got us a table. Shall we go over?" he said, directed at Nell
Thankful for an excuse to get away from the man, she followed Callen over to his table, obviously still slightly shocked by how Callen had greeted her.
They were only colleagues and she had never thought of him otherwise, not since her first few months working at OSP.
At the time she thought he would be good for a night (or long weekend) of fun behind a bedroom door. But she had long since convinced herself that he would never look at her as anything but a colleague and friend
"Thanks, Callen. He just wouldn't accept no for an answer"
"No problem. Do you want something to drink?"
"Sure. I'll have whatever you're having"
….
"You didn't!?"
"I did… I honestly thought she was Macy's grandma"
Callen and Nell both had a good laugh at his story about his first day at OSP
"Looks like your 'boyfriend' still has eyes for you" Callen said, indicating at the guy that had been hitting on Nell over an hour ago
"I think I'm gonna go up to my room"
"You want me to go up with you, in case lover boy follows?"
"Would you mind?"
"Not in the least"
….
After walking Nell up to her room, Callen returned to the bar for another drink, passing time till Mike text him.
It was almost midnight before Mike text him to let him know it was safe to head up to the room
By that time the bar had really quietened down, with only maybe a dozen folk still there.
Callen finished his drink and left the bar via the back door to grab something from the car before heading up to his room
Just as Callen had opened the entry door to the hotel section he had the feeling he was being followed… but before he could do anything he was attacked and repeatedly hit over the back of the head with something metal
After the attack, Callen was left laying by the hotels back entrance…
….
Mike chapped on Nell's door, and waited for her to answer
"Morning" he said, sounding very cheery when she opened her door
"Morning Mike"
"You haven't seen G, have you?. He never came back to the room last night"
"No? he walked me to my room about 11 last night, and then said he was going back down to the bar. Something to do with you whoring yourself out to yet another woman"
"What can I say… I'm irresistible" said Mike, with a wide grin plastered on his face
….
Mike and Nell had just walked into the hotel bar to have their breakfast, when the proprietor rushed over to them, followed by a pair of police officers
"Ms Jones, Mr Renko… these police are here asking about your friend…"
Alarm bells started ringing for the pair, as they started to worry…
One of the officers approached the pair, while the other stood talking with the owner and his wife
"Mr Troutbeck said you booked in here with a Mr Callen, is that correct?" he asked
Nell nodded, and Mike said yes, asking why they were asking
"I'm afraid your friend was attacked at some time during the night. His body was discovered this morning, and was rushed to the local hospital"
"Is he all right?" Nell asked, sounding a bit panicked
"I don't have any information at the present time. If you can answer some questions about your friend, we'll take you down to the hospital, where they will be able to help you"
….
"We're here about someone… G Callen is his name. We were told he was admitted this morning?"
The receptionist started clicking on her computer, trying to find any information
"are you family?"
Mike looked down at Nell, knowing full well that if they said they were just friends or colleagues, that the hospital staff couldn't tell them anything
"Yes, she's his wife"
Nell didn't react to Mike's reply, instead she stood wringing her hands
….
"I'm afraid your husband seems to have been attacked. When he was admitted, he had a Cerebral hemorrhage, we've operated, and managed to remove it. He's still unconscious, but we'll be checking on him regularly in the coming days. If you leave your details with reception, we'll contact you if his condition changes"
"Can we see him?" Nell asked in a very quiet voice
….
"The local police are investigating, but even they admit they don't have any leads. There was no CCTV covering where Callen was found"
[…]
"We've told them that Nell's his wife, it was the only way we could get any information from them since neither of us are family"
[…]
"Right-o, Hetty. Just let me know when he will arrive"
….
"Nell?" Mike asked, as he walked into the hospital room, noticing that Nell was holding Callen's hand "That's Hetty informed. We need to get you back to the base…I know it's not great timing. But that's what Hetty's instructed. Sam'll be arriving tomorrow with G's medical records"
"We can't just leave him here" Nell could barely be heard saying as she still had her back turned to Mike
"We don't have a choice for the moment"
Nell still didn't move, or let go of Callen's hand
"Come on. They'll take good care of him. We can come back and see him tonight"
….
Mike watched Nell carefully for the rest of the day, since she didn't seem her usual self. He had almost had to drag her away from Callen's bedside. Mike wished that Kensi had been there, as she would be able to get her to talk. Mike freely admitted that he didn't know Nell that well, since he was normally on long term undercover duties, only usually running into the young woman at the odd briefing or at team nights out.
Nell seemed to be on autopilot while she was working with her british counterparts. Only speaking or volunteering information when pressed for it.
The young woman didn't know how she was meant to react to the situation… she had never been in the position previously… the closest she had come was while watching some trashy soap opera on TV.
She hadn't wanted to leave Callen's side… she didn't want him to be alone.
Mike wasn't any happier about the situation, but he knew that the best thing he could do was to try and keep the young woman occupied for as much of the day as possible…
….
A few days later, Callen was still unconscious, Nell still had to almost be dragged out of the hospital each morning to go to work, and had to be dragged out of the hospital at night to be taken back to the hotel to sleep…
By this time Sam had arrived in Scotland, and collectively they made sure that one of them was with Callen during the day, while Nell was working, The other kept an eye on Nell.
Normally Sam would be the one to wait with Callen during the day, while Mike would drive Nell to the navy base at Faslane, and keep an eye on her between work periods
….
"I'm not going back… Not while Callen's here"
"Come on, Nell… be objective… we're not abandoning G. I'll be here with him until the doctors say he can be medevaced back to LA"
"But…" Nell started, before Sam interrupted her
"Look… I promise I won't leave him. But Hetty wants you back at OSP ASAP. Eric's good… but he's not an analyst"
….
"Hey" Kensi said, greeting Mike and Nell as they arrived in LAX "How was the flight?"
"It was fairly smooth. But we've not had any sleep" Mike replied, only to mouth 'Worrying about G' to Kensi
"Come on then, let's get you both home"
….
Several days later:
"…So what are you telling me?"
"Quite simply, he hasn't been showing any increase in brain activity. At this stage, I would suggest turning off your friend's life support"
"No. No way… we're not giving up on him, not yet anyway… it's too soon!"
"Very well. But at some stage, you will have to accept your friend's condition"
The doctor left the room, leaving Sam to think about what he had been told
….
Nell had not been throwing herself into her work like she normally would have.
She found herself being distracted by thoughts of Callen, and what would happen to him.
"Nell?, Did you hear me?"
Suddenly brought back to reality, Nell looked up and asked Eric what he had said
"I said do you want to go get a coffee… take a break. I'll cover for you?"
….
"Very well, Mr Hanna. I'll have Ms Jones make the arrangements"
[…]
Ending the call, Hetty slid open a desk drawer and dropped her cell phone into the drawer, only to close it.
Leaving her office, she made her way upto OPS
Not finding Nell anywhere in sight, she instructed Eric to make arrangements to have Sam and Callen flown back to LA on a chartered medevac flight, as well as asking where Nell was.
Eric advised Hetty th\t he had suggested Nell take a break, to go and grab a coffee as she had seemed distracted.
Having thanked Eric, Hetty left OPS and went down stairs seeking out the young analyst
….
"Ms Jones, Are you with us?" Hetty asked, as she stood in the doorway to the break room
Once again Nell found herself shaken back to reality, and responded to the aging spy
"Mr Hanna is going to be flown back home in a few days time, along with Mr Callen" Hetty replied, glad that the younger woman hadn't been too lost in her own thoughts
"I'm not feeling all too great. Would you mind if I go home?"
"I'm sure Mr Beale can manage without you for the rest of the day. Go home"
….
Kensi had been worrying about Nell for the past few days. Hell, Nell hadn't been acting like herself since she arrived back from Scotland.
So Kensi had grabbed a few bottles of wine and went round to Nell's apartment, and knocked on the door…
When Nell didn't answer, Kensi knocked again, harder this time, determined to get her young friends attention
After knocking a few more times, Nell eventually answered her door, and invited Kensi inside.
Kensi sat the bottles of wine on Nell's coffee table and went to the kitchen to grab a pair of glases and a corkscrew.
"Penny for your thoughts?" Kensi asked, as she started pouring the wine into the glasses
"I'm just thinking about Callen. Being alone in that hospital room"
"He isn't alone though, Nell. Sam is with him"
"I know, but Sam can't be there all the time"
"You know, I've seen the way you look at him when you think no one is looking"
"What way?" Nell replied, sounding a bit confused
"Come on, Nell. You like him!"
"Of course I like him. He's my friend"
"Not like that, Nell. You LIKE him, like him"
"I don't. He's just my friend" replied Nell, sounding less than convincing
"It's all right, Nell. When I first started working with him… well, I had a bit of a crush on him"
"You didn't?"
"Yeah, I did. But we got close and it passed. And he's like my brother now. But you… you really like him, don't you?"
When Nell didn't answer, Kensi waved her hands in front of her young friend to get her attention "Hey, it's okay. Callen'll be okay. He's always okay"
….
"So what's wrong with Nell-Bell?"
"She's just worried about Callen" Kensi told Marty, "Just like we're ALL, worried about, Callen"
"Yeah, totally… but there's probably nothing to worry about… I mean, it's Callen. He'll wake up and just walk it off"
"I hope so"
….
"I don't know what to tell you Ms Lange. He is in a persistent vegetative state. Frankly, I'm amazed that his wife hasn't turned off the life support already"
"Yes, well… his wife isn't at that stage, not yet"
….
"Can we see him, then?"
"Indeed you can, Ms Blye. Although it has been indicated to me that the doctors don't feel that there is anything more that they can do for him. So it may be fair for you all to say your good byes"
….
"No… you can't!"
"Mr Callen hasn't shown any sign of improvement. I fear that we are at the stage where we must consider switching off his life support"
"But he'll recover… he just needs more time, Hetty"
"I Care for him deeply too, Ms Jones… but he wouldn't want this"
….
"Are you gonna be okay?"
"I honestly don't know, Kens. I never thought that Hetty would ever do this… that she would… kill him"
"Come on, Nell. She's not killing him… you know how much he hated being in hospital, and he's been like that for weeks now, with no sign of improvement. I honestly think you should go and… say good bye"
….
Nell had slowly walked passed the nurses station, and into Callen's room.
Hetty had finally put a clock on how long until she would have his life support turned off. Nell still hadn't felt upto saying good bye… even though she had been to see him every other night since he had been flown back to LA, facing upto the fact that he wouldn't be here for much longer. Nell had honestly believed that Hetty wouldn't follow through on her threat… too bad Nell had been wrong
"Hi… Just me again. I don't know if you've been told what is going to happen to you… Hetty's said that your life support is going to be turned off in the morning. I guess I've not dealt with it too well. I just want you to know that I... well, I really care about you, and appreciate everything you've taught me. I just can't imagine going into work, and never seeing you again… it's been really hard…" Nell said, as she held onto his right hand
"… so, now would be a great time for you to wake up." She continued, as she began to softly weep
….
Nell had eventually fallen asleep in his hospital room, still holding onto his right hand
She had gradually started to wake, when she felt something… she felt her hand be gripped back
It took a few seconds for her to register what she was feeling.
Having registered that her hand was being gripped back, Nell got on her feet and looked down at Callen
Nell spoke to Callen, to see if he'd respond "Callen? Can you hear me?"
When he didn't respond to her voice she called out for a doctor or one of the nurses to come and check on him.
As the doctor and one of the nurses rushed into his room, Nell left, quickly pulling out her cellphone and dialling Hetty
