Here it is! This is the sequel to our first fanfiction: Saved. If you haven't read it, I suggest you do. This story will definitely
make more sense if you do.
So...I am sooooooooooooo sorry about the really long wait for this one! It took a while to figure out where this one was going.
However...it is up now. I'm hoping everyone enjoys this first chapter.
Disclaimer: K and I do not own NCIS LA or the characters, we are just borrowing them.
Chapter 1
Nell got out of the shower Monday morning. She slowly put on a knee-length flowery pink skirt and a pink tee-shirt. She looked in the mirror and let out a quiet shiver. All of the bruises on her arms stood out on her pale skin. She grabbed the first think she could and put it on. It was a light pink knit sweat jacket. She gave a small smile, dabbed on some make-up to hide her sleepless nights, then went out to her car. She drove to work in silence.
Eric woke up, alone, in his bed, in his own room. It felt...weird to not have Nell by his side all the time. He missed her company. He went to his kitchen and ate 2 toaster waffles, before leaving for a quick surf before work.
Nell parked at Ops, got out, and went inside. She wanted to quickly make her way up to the Tech room, but Hetty spotted her.
"Ah, Miss Jones, Welcome back."
"Thanks."
"How have you been doing?"
"Fine." Nell lied quickly.
"If you say so. But, Ms. Jones, I know how much your...ordeal...affected you. We are all here to help you. If you want to talk, we will all listen."
"Thanks Hetty, but I'll be fine."
"Do not keep this all to yourself. For your own sanity."
"I've let it all out. I'm good." Hetty nodded reluctantly.
"Oh, don't forget Ms. Jones, you have to speak with Mr. Getz soon."
"I'm perfectly fine Hetty. I don't need Nate." With that, Nell hurried up to the Tech Room. She saw the darkness and hurried over to the panel and turned on every single light.
After his surf, Eric quickly changed into shorts, tee shirts, and flipflops. He got in his car and drove to OSP. Before entering, he made sure to shake the sand off his shoes, knowing how mad Hetty got when he tracked sand in.
Nell went to start the computers, but just as she was about to hit the button, the Tech Room plunged into darkness. Nell bolted for the doors and out into the hallway. She trembled a moment, wrapping her arms around herself. It's just the lights...The bulbs burned out, that's all... She thought. Eric jogged upstairs and smiled
"Hey partner! Welcome back!" He said happily, until he noticed she was upset. "What's wrong?" Nell gave him a small fake smile.
"Nothing!" She answered quickly. She paused. "The lights all blew...I was going to find someone to fix..." She trailed off, giving up.
"I'll fix it." He gave her a knowing, gentle smile. He replaced the bulbs and the lights came back on. "There, all fixed." Nell blinked.
"Thanks." She said quietly. She walked back in and started the computers. She sat in the chair and sighed. Eric walked over and sat beside her. Kensi ran in the room.
"You're back!" She hugged Nell gently and smiled.
"Yea, I'm back." Nell hugged her back. She gave a small smile. Kensi slowly released her.
"How are you doing?" She asked. Eric sat back and let them talk.
"Fine, for the moment." She paused. "I'm avoiding Nate for right now. Hetty said I have to talk to him soon. But...I'm hiding."
"Just keep telling him excuses of why you can't talk. It will get you out of it for while. It worked for me."
"I'll try it." Nell gave a small nod.
"Do talk to him eventually though. It does help." She left Ops to find Deeks. Eric looked at Nell.
"Are you really fine?" Nell thought. She wanted to lie and say everything was perfect...but it was Eric. He was with her through everything and she couldn't just lie to him.
"I want to say yes." She paused. "But...it's the completely opposite. I'm trying to move on. To just get over it. And then I see a bruise or I jump at something. Then I realize...deep down...I never even got away from it. At all." Her voice was soft.
"It's going to take time Nell. You're still coming to terms with everything that happened." Eric said gently.
"I just want to get over it." She said quietly. "You got through it pretty quick..." She gave him a small smile.
"I talked to Nate for a while when I first came back to work. It helped a lot. Plus helping you remember...It made me push my own fear aside. You will get over it."
"Ok." She gave him a small smile. "I just don't want him to make it all come back again. Once I remembered it...I guess I buried it."
"Burying it isn't going to help you. You need to deal with it, not suppress it." He understood why she didn't want to deal with it. What she went through...what both of them went through was horrible. Remembering it just brought on nightmares and pain. Nell sighed.
"I will talk to him...eventually. But right now...it's just too much sometimes."
"I know what you mean." He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, his finger lingering on her cheek longer than need be. Nell smiled, her cheek warm where his finger had lingered. His hand slowly dropped from her cheek as he smiled. She kept her smile.
"So how have you been the last few days?"
"Alright. Gotta admit, it was pretty boring without you. What have you been doing to keep yourself busy?" Eric asked. Nell shrugged.
"Cleaned. Got groceries because my cupboards were completely empty. That's all I guess." Eric nodded.
"Good, you got to relax." Nell nodded.
"Kind of. At least my house is spotless now." Eric chuckled.
"I bet it is." Nell nodded.
"Completely." She yawned.
"I'm guessing you haven't been sleeping well?" Eric commented. Nell let out another yawn.
"Maybe an hour a night. Two at the most."
"Nightmares?"Nell sighed, then nodded.
"Yea... mostly every night." She admitted. Eric gazed into her eyes.
"You should really talk to Nate..." Nell blinked.
"I just don't think that calling Nate at 1 in the morning will stop my nightmares..."
"You'd be able to talk about it though. That would help. If you don't call him...then call me." Eric said gently. She gave him a small smile, until Nate walked in.
"Ah, Nell, welcome back."
"Hi." Nell whispered.
"Ready to talk?" Nell gave him a look.
"I just got here...and I have a lot of stuff to get done."
"Just spoke to Hetty. You have nothing to do for now.
"Fine..." She muttered. She followed him slowly to his office. Eric watched Nell leave, then sighed. He stared straight at the monitors, before typing an email to Abby. He hoped that Nell was actually talking to Nate.
Kensi sat in the bullpen, bored. Deeks was late. Sam walked into Ops and went over to Kens.
"Nell's back today!" She informed him happily.
"Yeah, I know. I'll go see her soon. She and Eric are probably talking right now." Sam smiled. Callen followed Sam in, nodding.
"I'll go up and see her later." Deeks finally walked in, late.
"Good morning everyone!"
"Morning!" Kensi said, grinning.
"Someone is cheery this morning." Sam commented.
"Isn't Deeks always cheery?" Kensi replied. Deeks laughed.
"Haha. Just a good morning for me. I brought coffee and donuts!" Deeks set the coffee tray down. Callen quickly snatched a coffee quickly.
"Donuts!" Kensi grabbed a chocolate one quickly. She pecked his cheek as a thank you.
"Thanks Deeks." Sam said, taking a coffee. Deeks smiled.
"No problem." He grinned. He took a donut and his coffee. Callen smiled and drank his coffee. Deeks ate his donut quickly. Kensi leaned back and ate her donut.
"Ugh...paperwork." Deeks complained.
"Can't avoid it forever, Deeks." Kensi chuckled, looking at her own stack of work.
"Are you sure I can't? Because I want to."
"Well, if you don't do it, I'm sure Hetty will come after you with her letter opener." Kensi smirked.
"Damn it." Deeks muttered. Kensi grabbed the top paper from her pile.
"Expense reports." She mumbled, starting to fill it out.
"Those were due last week." Sam said. Deeks picked up his first paper.
"Really? A case report from a month ago?" Callen laughed as Deeks sighed. Sam chuckled. Kensi shook her head, finished the paper, then leafed through the rest of her work, picking her next report. They worked on their paperwork. Kensi tapped her pencil on the desk, bored. She hated slow days like this one. She grinned as she made a paper football and flicked it at her partner's head.
"Goal!" Sam smirked, holding back his laughter. Deeks kept going on his paperwork. He saw Kensi pouted slightly, smirking when he threw it at her as she got out her laptop.
"Haha! Got you!" Kensi set the football down as she sipped her coffee.
"Nell, have a seat." Nate said, sitting at his desk. Nell sat down slowly.
"How have you been sleeping?"
"Fine." she answered quickly.
"You are lying." He sighed.
"No." Nell said slowly.
"Yes you are." He stared at her. "And you are not leaving until you talk to me. And stop lying about it."
"Nate, I am fine!" Nell snapped.
"You have a bunch of emotions stuck inside of you. Talking helps release them." He paused. "Tell me what happened." Nell glared at him and finally explained what happened. After she finished, she swiped at the tears on her cheeks, glaring at him.
"Why did you have to make me remember? Why?" She demanded.
"Because you need to talk about it. The nightmares won't stop if you don't get help-"
"Of course not! If I talk about them, they come back worse!" She glared.
"I helped Eric, Nell. He had nightmares too. About everything they did to you. Everything. He was there with you...if it helps...talk to him instead. But talk to someone."
Nell bolted from Nate's office. She practically ran past the bullpen to go up to Tech Ops. Deeks and Callen spotted her.
"Nell, hey, you ok?" Deeks asked, about to get up.
"Leave me alone." She snapped. She kept walking up the stairs quickly. Sam frowned, glancing at the team after Nell had gone by. They could clearly tell she wasn't in a good mood.
"I think she talked to Nate.." Kensi said quietly. That would be a good reason why the redhead wasn't in a good mood. Callen sighed.
"Oh God...she did not need that." Deeks whispered. "Especially not today..." He added. Kensi propped her arm up on the desk and rested her head on it.
"It's too much for her." She said quietly.
"Just coming back was a lot to deal with." Sam added. Deeks nodded.
"She went up to Ops, so at least Eric's with her.
"That's good." Callen said.
"Yea, he will help her." Kensi nodded.
"She just can't be alone right now. At least she shouldn't be." Callen said. Deeks nodded. She needs someone to be there for her. She needs Eric. He's the one she truly trusts." Kensi murmured.
"Definitely." Deeks said quietly. He started back on his paperwork. Kensi drank more coffee, then got up. Sam glanced at her as she walked to Nate's office. She sat on the couch and watched him.
"Kensi Blye...in my office...without being forced or ordered. Uh oh. What's up?" Nate asked.
As soon as she entered Tech Ops, she sat in her chair and stared at the screen. She tried to stop the tears from falling down her face. Eric laid a hand gently on her shoulder. "Nell...talking about it isn't easy. I know. But it needs to be done. It will help you." She slowly blinked.
"Well...it's not helping right now." She murmured. Eric nodded slowly.
"Just try to forget about it for now." Nell shut her eyes. Eric gently wrapped her in his arms. His hands soothingly rubbed her back. Nell leaned to him and tried to relax and stop crying. Eric kissed the top of her head softly. Nell blinked up at him and gave him a small smile. Eric smiled back at her. "Ok?"
"A little bit.." Nell blinked slowly as she whispered. Eric nodded, pausing as he heard her sigh. He looked around, then went over to his bag. He pulled out a bag of oreos and went back over to Nell, a smile playing on his lips.
"I know Hetty said no food in Ops, but she doesn't have to know." He knew she liked oreos, and was deeply hoping it would cheer her up. He handed them to her after he opened them, then sat back down.
Nell caught sight of the oreos.
"Oreos?" she whispered.
"Yeah, oreos. I figured your day could use a little happiness." Nell smiled.
"Damn straight." She took one and ate it. He laughed, eating an oreo. Eric's computer beeped, and he sighed.
"New case." He began pulling up the info. Nell ate a few more oreos, then began at the computer. He gave Nell a few extra moments of peace by working slower.
"We gotta hide the oreos." Nell said, she ate 3 more oreos, before finishing. She shut her eyes for a moment, then glanced at him.
"Ready?" He asked, putting the oreos in his bag.
"Ready."
Kensi smirked at Nate's statement. "It's about Nell. Just curious why you made her talk to you today."
"Because the longer I wait, the busier you all become. And she wasn't busy." He paused. "You know talking helps, the sooner the better. It's been a month." He added.
"But she still hadn't really come to terms with what happened. I mean, talking about it after all that time she spent repressing those memories is like tearing open the wounds. She does need to talk, but I think it's just too soon still." She sighed.
"Unfortunately...she needed it. The more time she buried it...the worse it gets and the more painful it gets to talk about. Besides, Hetty told me to fit her in this morning. Otherwise, I would have probably given her til at least the afternoon." Kensi nodded. She put her feet up on the couch.
"I''m guessing badgering Hetty about it would not be a good idea." Nate chuckled.
"Probably not."
"Figured that much." She smiled. "So...any chance you'll tell me about you latest mission abroad?"
"Well...just consulting this time. That's all I can really say." He said quietly.
"That's a very vague answer." She got up. "You know we worry about you going off on your own." She hugged him. "But I know you'll be careful. See ya later Nate." She went back to the bullpen and sat at her desk.
"Hetty's decision, not Nate's."
"Of course it was Hetty's." Deeks said.
A whistle pierced the air.
"No more paperwork!" Kensi said gleefully.
"Once the case is over, you'll have even more paperwork." Sam said. He made his way to the stairs. Kensi went over to Deeks and waited. Deeks smiled.
"Let's go." He said. Callen followed Sam up the stairs. Nell spun to face them. Kensi followed. Eric stood beside Nell. Deeks stood beside Kensi.
"Meet Kari and John Reuben. Found murdered this morning. Cause of Death...torturing cuts-" She gulped, pulling up the photos. "All over their bodies. They bled out." She looked back at the team, after glancing at Eric. "Kari was an analyst at Camp Pendleton. LAPD sent this one over right after they realized where she worked. 2 other files were included. Natalie and Jacob Johnson. Wilma and Tom Yacht. Same COD as the Reubens." Eric looked at the pictures and froze up. His mind wandered back to when he himself was tortured the same way.
"The other coupled have ties to the navy too?" Kensi asked. She looked at Eric and realized he wasn't paying attention. The COD was very personal for him. "Eric?" He snapped out of it and looked at her.
"Sorry Kensi. What did you ask?"
"Other couples have ties to the navy?"
"Uh...yeah." He would have added more but he was still kinda lost in his thoughts. Sam looked over the files.
"Mainly family ties. Jacob Johnson was the son of Commander Johnson from the USS Washington." She shifted closer to Eric, after shrinking the pictures a bit. Callen blinked.
"What about the Yachts?"
"No connection that I found." Nell said. He nodded.
"They had to have something in common."
"Credit cards. I can run them, see if anything matches up." Eric pulled up the credit card history for Nell.
"They all took advanced dance classes at Jasmine's Dance Studio." He said.
"Dancers? Interesting." Kensi said. She didn't understand why a killer would go after dancers.
"So...that's the connection? Dancing?" Deeks said in disbelief. Hetty walked over to the front of the room.
"Jasmine's studio is one of the most popular studios in LA, so we need to get this killer caught immediately." She pulled up the ID pics of Kari, Natalie, and Wilma. Deeks eyes widened. They all looked like... "Ms. Jones, Mr. Beale, I hope your bags are packed."
SO...I hope everyone enjoyed the first chapter, it's actually pretty long. Hopefully it made up for the long wait!
K and I are asking for your help. Currently, this is story is called "Back to Work". We believe this isn't a good title, but we need your help! Anybody that has a better title for the story, please recommend it!
Please review!