This little story began as a nugget of an idea for a ficlet. It was a strange little nugget, but it wouldn't go away until finally I gave up and started writing it. And then it grew bigger and stronger and decided it was by way of a birthday present for my very favorite Nell/Nallen fan, otherwise known as MioneAlterEgo aka Jenn. So, Jenn, this one's for you, though it is a teensy bit belated. Happy birthday! I played around in your sandbox for a couple of days, and I enjoyed it thoroughly. But I'll soon be back to my beloved Densi. :)

She'd almost made it.

Ten steps away from freedom. A few seconds from escape.

She was this close.

But with a sense of foreboding—impending doom, even—she turned around to face her destiny.

"Miss Jones? Must I repeat myself? I need to see you." Hetty's voice had gotten even more enigmatic if that was possible, but Nell knew that wasn't necessarily a good sign. Or a bad one. With Hetty it was always hard to tell, even for her, and Nell felt sure she knew the operations manager as well or better than anyone else at OSP. She walked over to Hetty's desk, bag still thrown casually over her shoulder.

Tonight, of all nights, she was going to get home at a reasonable hour. After all, it was the start of Birthday Week.

She'd deliberately kept the date of her birthday from the rest of the team. At first, she hadn't wanted a fuss made about her. She'd known that the other agents had looked askance at her when she'd first transferred over. Even as she'd recognized that she'd been a little (or, okay, maybe a lot) abrasive when she'd first begun working with them, she'd been unable to stop herself from trying too hard and pushing too much. That was her nature, and for her nervousness tended to mask itself with over-confidence when faced with an unknown situation. But even after she'd settled in and bonded with the team, she'd not let on when birthdays approached. It had seemed gratuitous then, and even a little pushy. She'd felt just a hint of self-righteousness and nobility of character at the idea that she was sacrificing for the sake of the team, as illogical as that may have seemed if she stopped too long to think about it. So she didn't think about it.

Instead, she created Birthday Week.

Birthday Week was an entire seven days within which Nell could do whatever she chose, no matter how silly or trivial or self-indulgent. She could eat an entire pint of Chunky Monkey at 2 am, or she could talk in pig Latin for a solid afternoon. She could watch a twelve-hour marathon of Real Housewives of New Jersey or she could run through the sprinklers in her neighbor's lawn. She could hog the good trampolines at Jump Street no matter how many big-eyed waifs stood there in their sock feet looking pitifully at her as she soared closer and closer to the sky.

Or, her very favorite Birthday Week indulgence of all, she could watch the best movie ever made, the animated Beauty and the Beast (c'mon, Belle was Nell, and vice versa) while chowing down on several pounds of movie-style popcorn drowning in butter and a couple of gallons of highly sugared beverages.

Which was exactly what she had on the agenda for later this evening, assuming she made it home before midnight.

"I'm sorry, Hetty," she said as she stood near the operations manager's desk. "I was almost out the door already, and I…"

"….have something very important to do, I'm sure." Nell tried to look casual even as Hetty's voice became smooth as silk. "Much more important than what takes place within the four walls of this building."

"Of course not. I….I was just… Well, I meant to say…" Voice faltering, Nell tried to explain herself. "You see, today is a sort of special…. I…"

Finally taking pity on her, Hetty got to her feet. "Please come with me."

With a heavy sigh, Nell followed Hetty towards the staircase and then up to Ops.

She was so not going to get home at a reasonable hour tonight.

Once upstairs, Hetty paced the length of the room, pausing by the far console where Nell usually sat. She stared at Nell's chair for a moment, leaning one hand against the rubber-lined back support before making her way towards the door where Nell was still standing.

"Miss Jones," she finally said, coming to halt directly in front of Nell. "As you probably know, I take a far more personal interest in my agents than many of my peers and colleagues."

She paused, looking up into Nell's eyes, and the younger woman nodded, feeling that a response was expected.

"I don't often interfere," Hetty continued. "I am aware of what goes on, be it personal or professional of course, but I try to…mind my own business, as it were."

Nell nodded again.

"But there are times when I feel that action is warranted." Hetty brought both hands in front of her and crossed her arms. Her voice when she spoke next was both kind and unyielding. "This is one of those times."

"Excuse me?" Nell asked, not sure exactly where Hetty was going with this line of thought. "Do you mean me?"

"Yes. Yes, I absolutely do mean you." Hetty moved slightly until she was standing next to Nell's side, then waved expansively to indicate the interior of Ops. "What do you see before you, Miss Jones?"

Nell looked around the room, taking in the equipment, the technology, the very heart of operations at OSP. It was more than her workspace, more than her office. More than a place she earned her living. It was where she'd found herself in many ways, where'd she'd discovered what she was and what she could be. Not just professionally, although that was a part of the process. She'd always had confidence in her ability, in her talent and her skill and her intelligence. But beginning with her early schooling and the several grade levels she'd skipped, she'd always had a hard time fitting in. Talent and skill and intelligence don't always make for an easy time getting along with those around you, especially when you're the junior by several years.

But here….here was different. Once she'd settled in, she'd been accepted by the others here. More than just accepted. She'd become a part of this band of misfits and outsiders who together formed the best team in the building. (She believed that, and she thought maybe Hetty did too.) She was one of them. She was family.

No, this wasn't just her workplace. This was her home. She opened her mouth to reply, but Hetty spoke first.

"This is not your home." Hetty's voice was firm, and Nell started, wondering wildly for a second if she'd already spoken out loud, or if maybe Hetty had read her mind. "Oh, I know this is more than just a regular desk job, and by the very nature of our experiences we are drawn closer together than office mates. But that does not eliminate our need for a life outside these four walls. For you in particular, Miss Jones."

"Why me in particular?" She felt defensive, almost protective of her contributions to the team. "I'm needed here, and I know I make a difference. Without me, it would be…"

"Oh, I don't mean to negate your input. You were a significant addition to the team, and I daresay without your able assistance we'd still be working on some of the cases we've solved." Hetty's voice was almost soothing now, as if she realized she'd hurt Nell's feelings. "I only meant that I'd like to see you experiencing more than just the joy of a case well-solved and a criminal brought to justice. You deserve more than that."

Hetty waited for a moment, but Nell didn't respond.

"And to those ends, I've taken the liberty of ensuring that you get to see a little of what exists out there in the great unknown."

"Excuse me?" Nell said for the second time. "I'm sorry, you did…what?"

"You are taking a vacation, Miss Jones." Hetty began walking towards the door, and, too stunned to do more than follow helplessly, Nell began stumbling after her. "I've looked at your personnel records, and you haven't had a day off in almost four years. You are allotted vacation days for a reason, you know. Our particular line of work necessitates a certain amount of down time, and if you don't take the time to rest and recover mentally and emotionally you will ultimately burn out. Then you'd be of use to no one." She paused at the bottom of the stairs. "And you mean far too much, to the team and to me, to allow that to happen. So off you go."

"But where am I going?" Nell's voice was pitched a little higher now, and her heart had started beating just a trifle faster. A vacation? She didn't want to go on vacation. Given Hetty's guidance, she could end up walking next to the Seine, or she could end up trying to explain to a native why she didn't want to eat monkey brains. And for Nell, both of those possibilities were less than appealing. Or…maybe she could spend a little more time at home, or go to visit her family for a few days. Oh, please let that be what Hetty meant. Time with my parents sounds just fine.

But the thought wasn't even fully formed when Hetty responded. "You are going on a cruise," she said, crushing Nell's fleeting hope.

Nell started shaking her head as Hetty stepped up behind her desk. "Oh, I don't think a cruise is for me. I'm not really what you'd call a poolside kind of gal. I mean, sure, I may have the occasional drink with a paper umbrella, but for the most part I prefer to spend my time in more…traditional surroundings, not in places where the outfit du jour involves two coconuts and a grass skirt."

"Then it's settled. Departure is in less than twenty-four hours, so you'd best get home and begin packing." Hetty smiled kindly, but Nell was almost positive there was a wicked gleam in her gaze. "Trust me, Miss Jones. I know what's best for my agents. Always."

And so it was that Nell found herself standing on the wooden deck of a cruise ship without quite knowing how she'd gotten there. The other passengers were excited, waving happily to friends and loved ones standing on the quay as the giant ship pulled slowly away, but she stood quietly, knowing that no one on the far side of the channel could even see one solitary intelligent analyst. Certainly no one cared. Her parents had been thrilled when she'd told them about the trip, but flying all the way down to California just to see her off was both expensive and impractical, and she hadn't had time to really even talk to anyone at OSP to let them know where she was going. Trying to pack and prepare for a cruise into international waters took much more planning than Nell would ever have dreamed. The list she'd printed off from the cruiseline's website indicating all that she'd need to take had been three pages long. Single-spaced. Even with the full twenty-four hours she'd had to prepare, Nell was sure she'd forgotten something, and probably something critical. "It is what it is," she murmured to herself, trying to be philosophical about her odds of being able to locate toothpaste or deodorant twenty miles out in open water. "I'll make do."

She turned and began making her way through the thickening crowd, ducking under this person and behind that one. More and more people flocked to the rails, celebrating the beginning of a fabulous vacation or a honeymoon or anniversary trip. Feeling more lonely than she'd felt since she'd arrived in Los Angeles, she wandered through the corridors towards her own cabin. There was nothing more isolating and forlorn than being stuck on your own in the middle of a crowd, and having it happen on your birthday made it that much more distressing.

Some Birthday Week this was turning out to be.

Finally reaching her cabin, she slipped in and let the door shut quietly behind her.

She was glad later that she'd opted for early seating for dinner. It had been a toss-up when she'd had to make the choice. The perky little purser had been going through a list of options and decisions she'd had to set at the start of the cruise, and between dinner times and excursions and shipboard amenities she'd been overwhelmed with all that was available. But looking around now, she realized she was with the right crowd. Clearly the young and hip had opted for the later seating, because her tablemates and pretty much everyone else visible was retirement age or older. Which suited Nell just fine, because sitting across from honeymooners staring soulfully into each other's eyes or a couple celebrating their anniversary together would have been about two inches past the line of what Nell was able to take without resorting to some kind of violence.

The seat next to her was empty, but she introduced herself quietly to the rest of her tablemates. As she'd suspected, they were all enjoying life after retirement, and also all happily married for decades.

Just my luck, she thought, her mouth taking a downward turn. Not a single divorcee or widow in the bunch. Even in the over-sixty crowd I'm the lone singleton

She missed Los Angeles. She missed her apartment, and her houseplants, and her sweet-but-aloof kitty, and the oversized mutt who just about outweighed her but thought he was still a puppy, and her friends, and even Hetty, who was responsible for her current situation. She missed them all, and she wished rather desperately that she was back home and that this wretched, wretched trip was over. She wished she was at work. What she wouldn't give to hear herself being called up to ops to start working on a new case.

"Nell?"

For a moment, she thought her own fervent wish had created the sound of her name being called. But then she turned, and her eyes met electric blue. Her heart almost stopped beating, and then a smile broke out over her face.

"Callen?" Nell couldn't believe it, couldn't believe that she was looking at a familiar face. "What are you doing here?"

He shrugged a little, his eyes crinkled as he smiled back at her. "I'm here on orders from Hetty. Something about getting out and taking some downtime. She knew I hadn't taken a vacation in a few years, and she felt like I needed to get outside…."

"….these four walls," finished Nell. "And trust her because she knows what's best for her agents."

"Always," they finished in unison, and then Callen smirked and Nell giggled and relaxed shoulders she hadn't realized were tightened and tense."Well it looks like she got both of us. Which really shouldn't come as any great surprise. " He gestured to the chair next to her. "I think this is my seat."

Really? Ten days of meals spent sitting next to Callen? Her heartbeat picked up a bit, and a pleasant flutter suddenly began in her belly. The team leader had always been a fairly enigmatic person, aloof almost to the point of detachment. But she had seen him come alive on a couple of occasions, usually when someone on the team was in danger. And it was that Callen, the Callen whose eyes blazed and whose fiery passion threatened all who stood between him and his goal….it was that Callen who had intrigued and fascinated her. The Callen who took down the Chameleon, who defended Kensi's honor when the world was stacked against her, who knew that Sam was in trouble and was willing to go to any length to save him. The Callen who gave up his career and almost his life and went to Prague when he knew that Hetty needed him.

Spending the next ten days trying to find that Callen seemed like a pretty pleasant way to spend a vacation.

He pulled out the chair and sat down, and she shook her napkin out, laying it across her lap as she tried to hide a smile. Maybe this vacation wasn't such a bad idea after all. Maybe Hetty was right. Maybe she did need to spend some time outside the office. Time in the sun, time relaxing, time where she had nothing to do and nowhere to be except exactly where she chose to be.

"So." Callen leaned over, his voice dropped to a near whisper that sent a pleasant buzz through Nell. "I hear there's a great little piano bar two decks up. Want to check it out after dinner?"

"I'd love to," she whispered back. "But keep it on the downlow. I have a feeling the crowd we're sitting with is just waiting for an opportunity to par-tay."

He took a quick glance around at their companions, then snorted a little. "My lips are sealed."

He leaned back in his own chair, and she picked up her fork, but the pleasant little buzz remained as she contemplated her immediate future.

This might just be the best Birthday Week ever.