"I think we need a new fish tank," Deeks said.
It had been a quiet day in OSP, and all the team members were in the bull pen working on paperwork.
I groaned and stifled a smile, rolling my eyes at my partner. Sam just chuckled.
Actually, Sam had been a lot nicer to Deeks since they'd been back from… but I couldn't let my mind go there. We were finally getting a sense of normality back - at least as normal as it could be with the undressed elephant in the room - and I was grateful for that.
"New fish?" Eric asked sounding intrigued. "What were you thinking?"
"Well, I think the armored catfish works well for Sam," Deeks said, completely serious, "so we'd probably have to stick with that. Besides," he continued, flashing a smirk in Sam's direction, "Sam doesn't do well with change."
I instinctively held my breath, but I needn't have worried. Sam laughed.
"No, I just don't see any reason to change something that works." Sam shot back good-naturedly.
"Callen, any ideas for your fish?"
"What," Callen said with a smirk, not even looking up from his paperwork. "The first tank wasn't enough?"
"Well, I think I'm more… exotic than a gold fish."
I couldn't help the snort that slipped through my act at that comment.
"Ouch," he shot at me with his usual cheeky grin. "Anyway, I'm thinking Eric and Nell can be the kissing fish again, but I'm not sure about you, Callen."
Eric blushed bright red at Deeks's words, but Nell just narrowed her eyes dangerously. Deeks didn't seem to notice, but I definitely did. Then, Nell's expression became dangerously sweet. It worried me immensely.
"Actually Deeks," Nell said. "I think, if we're going on recent events, then there's another couple who should be the kissing fish."
Deeks's eyes went wide, and I audibly gasped in shock.
Nell knows? How does Nell know?
I shot a panicked look over at my partner only to find him already staring at me.
At the same time, we seemed to realize how she knew. We'd been wearing coms when he'd kissed me, after all. I just couldn't believe Nell had used this against me. I thought we were friends.
When I finally looked away from my partner and back at Nell, she was studying us. When I met her gaze, I saw understanding light up her eyes, and she immediately looked sorry. But the damage was done
My gaze darted out to see Sam looking at us curiously. Even Callen had looked up from his and was staring at us.
I looked back at Nell, and silently begged her to say something to draw attention off of this. Deeks was paralyzed, so he wasn't going to be much help.
"Who, Nell?" Callen asked.
"Uhhh, hmmm…. Sam and Michelle, duh!?" Nell said, her voice only a little too high pitched. "I just thought, since Sam's a part of our team, Michelle should be too! I mean, since all that's… happened? With, you know, and I just thought that… well, we should include… because our team is, uh…"
"You know what?" Deeks cut in, and I couldn't've been more grateful. "Maybe it's not such a good idea. I mean, last time they all died, so maybe it's like… a sign or something. Besides," he added with a smirk, which I was pretty sure seemed real to everyone but me, "apparently kissing fish aren't actually kissing, so there's no love there."
His words made Sam, Callen, and Eric laugh, but Nell and I heard the underlying meaning there.
Nell shot me a look, clearly asking me what it meant.
I just shook my head. Her eyes widened as she realized Deeks and I hadn't talked about it.
"I think I'm going to go get lunch," Deeks said, looking away from me. "Any requests?"
He asked it more as a formality, as he didn't stick around long enough to hear. He was out the door before anyone could make a request.
"Wow," Sam said with a chuckle. "He must really want fish tacos."
I sighed with relief.
Nell looked over at me and met my gaze meaningfully. I got the message.
Go after him. TALK to him.
And in that moment, I made my decision.
"I'm going to, uh, go with him," I said, grabbing my bag. "Someone has to make sure we have edible lunch."
And with that, I raced out of the mission after my partner.