Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS: Los Angeles. If I did, I'd know what the 'G' stood for.
A/N: Please do not flame this, and please do enjoy!
Callen yawned as he slung his duffel bag near his desk. Across from him, Kensi's head was down on her desk, her brown ponytail splayed out across the back of her neck. Deeks, sitting beside her, looked downright perky as he chugged a Red Bull. Sam stared at him, looking disgusted.
"Do you have any idea how much caffeine is in that thing?" he asked.
Deeks glanced at the nutrition facts on the can, shrugged and continued downing it.
"Enough to keep me awake," he said in between slurps.
"Yeah, and crash later," Sam muttered.
"Well worth it," Deeks assured him, tossing the now empty can into the trash can that, Callen noticed, already held several Red Bull cans.
"How many of those have you had?" he asked.
Deeks started counting in his head.
"Um…"
Callen shook his head and stood up.
"I'm getting coffee," he announced, nudging Sam. "You want some?"
"Yeah, sure," his partner answered, looking sternly at Deeks, whose quiet count was somewhere around "six". "You are gonna have a heart attack someday, you know that?"
As Deeks protested that he exercised regularly, Callen headed out of the bullpen area and to the break area. To his surprise, Nell was already there, stirring a cup of something, her back to him.
As always, the analyst looked cheerful and fully awake. Callen wondered what on earth she did to stay so alert. He nodded to her, reached for the coffee.
"Hey Agent Callen," she chirped, smiling at him.
"Morning Nell," he replied with a yawn. "Cofee?"
"No thanks," she replied, holding up her mug. "I've got my cider."
Callen raised an eyebrow.
"You drink cider?"
"Every day. Well, cider, tea or hot cocoa. Coffee's too bitter."
Nell's nose wrinkled and Callen smiled. Of course anything bitter would be dissatisfying to the sweet but sassy analyst.
"Well, if you need a Red Bull, Deeks bought out their entire supply," he told her, nodding back towards the bullpen.
"Ugh, Red Bull's give me jitters," she said with a shudder. "Trust me, it is not fun to see me on an energy drink."
Callen chuckled as he tried to picture her even more hyped up.
His coffee mugs ready, he picked them up. Nell noticed – of course she did, she was almost as bad as Hetty – and smiled at him.
"Well, see you later, Agent Callen," she said before spinning around and heading back towards the Ops center. Callen watched her go, amused, and wondered how on earth they'd survived for so long without the red-haired pixie in the office.
He took the coffee back to Sam, who was still complaining about Deeks' Red Bull addiction.
"'Bout time you got back," he told Callen. "He's on another one."
"Come on," Deeks reasoned, waving a can in the air. "They're so good."
He suddenly froze, his grin fading. "And I've had a lot of them. Crap."
He scrambled up and sprinted towards the bathroom, nearly bowling over Hetty in his haste.
Callen and Sam laughed and clinked their mugs together.
"What in the name of Gucci was that about?" Hetty exclaimed, motioning towards Deeks.
"He drank a lot of Red Bulls," Callen explained.
"Does he want to have a heart attack?" she asked.
"Apparently," Sam replied, standing up and going over to Kensi and gently shaking her. "Come on, Kens, up and at 'em."
With a groan, the brunette lifted her head, blinking tiredly at them.
"Coffee?" she asked hopefully.
"Better," Hetty said, coming forward and handing her a cup of tea. "It'll give you some energy without the crash that Mr. Deeks is certain to have in a few hours."
"Thanks, Hetty," Kensi said gratefully, taking the cup.
Callen nodded to her and then turned to Hetty.
"Any new cases?" he asked.
"Today has been declared a Catch-Up day," she informed him. "Unless there's an extreme emergency, you'll be staying here and catching up."
"Catching up on what?" Deeks asked, rejoining the conversation.
Hetty wordlessly pointed to the boxes of unfinished paperwork that sat near each desk. Callen's was, by far, the largest.
"The clock's ticking," she announced before turning and walking away.
Everyone groaned and grabbed one of their boxes.
"Another day in paradise," Callen sighed.
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