A/N: Gellen. G Callen and Nell. Not exactly a popular couple, but there are hints, nonetheless. Just give it a try, I promise it won't be that bad. No talking, just sort of a ramble, although some character thoughts. Rated for some words which don't count as 'bad'. I know everyones life is so busy, so review if you can.

-DAR

~NCIS:LA~

She was new, nobody liked her. That's how it always went. People don't like change. It means new rules, new restrictions, and of course, adapting. No one liked that.

Except G Callen.

He was used to it. Never stayed in the same house for too long, everything was always changing for him. So it wasn't hard for him to accept Nell into their messed up family. Sam was protective of this family. If anyone so much as laid a hand on Kensi, he would kick their asses, no doubt. Deeks was new himself, so to him it was a relief to not be the new guy anymore. Kensi was pretty accepting of everyone, especially another girl, so she didn't really have any problems with Nell. Eric, on the other hand, hated her from the start. Eric is not a very hating person, but it was plain to see that he was at his limits with this new analyst, ever since the first whistle.

Not anymore. There was something growing between the two techs, and Callen didn't like it. He saw the way Eric looked at her. He saw the way Sam laughed at her jokes. He saw how Kensi and Nell had a bond, since they were the only girls, except for Hetty, but does that really count? He remembered how Deeks had taken her aside after her first week there to give her some pointers on being new, ways to successfully annoy the team, and what to stay away from. The way she giggled or cocked an eyebrow when he made a joke at her.

Callen didn't fit into any of these bonds. He wasn't a jokester, he wasn't a girl, he wasn't new and he didn't speak tech nerd. He wished there was some way for him to have an excuse to be with her, but they didn't share much in common.

The only thing he could desperately think of connecting them was their pasts. No one knew Callen's past, not even Callen himself. Everyone knew about Kensi's father, Sam's past was no secret either. Deeks's childhood had been exposed only recently. Eric was the only other questionable one, but Callen had a pretty good idea. Nell, on the other hand, was a mystery. None of the team knew much besides her name, except maybe Nate. It's funny, Callen thought, how we're the agents, supposed to be secretive, and yet the ones we know the least about are the techs.

So he wondered about this mysterious girl with golden hair, who flounced around the Mission like there were no video cameras watching the agents when they did what they did. Like she didn't see what they saw; the killing, the gore, the pure horror. But of course she sat right next to Eric during every operation, yelling out numbers, descriptions, and addresses to the team through the earpiece, while they got shot at and blown up.

Yet despite her seemingly innocent attitude, Callen noticed a deeper, hidden part of Nell, almost yet to be discovered, that he knew was most certainly what the innocence was covering up.

Then again, Hetty wouldn't have hired anyone without "life experience".

She didn't want to say anything. At first she tried to deny it herself. Push it back down the bastardly whole of nonsense it came from, but it still kept coming back. There was something about G Callen that made her wonder about that man. It had even kept her awake at night sometimes. How he knew next to nothing about himself, his past, who he was, and yet he still came to work every day, joked, and laughed, and he seemed perfectly fine. She wished she could just figure him out.

Every time she stared into those icy blue eyes, they revealed nothing, and yet everything. She had never seen eyes like that before, they could seem so gentle when he was kind, like when he was talking to her, but they also had a dark side. Staring down someone in the interrogation room, or when he was on an op, they were the opposite of gentle. If looks could kill, there would be no need for the interrogations. He looked as if he could stare into their soul, as if he knew every time they lied, and he was just playing along. Yet whether he was chasing a suspect or laughing with Sam in the bullpen, his eyes never changed. It was the facial expressions that made all the difference, obviously, but she had expected his eyes to be colder, harder in interrogation rooms, and softer, warmer when he was joking around. They stayed the same, unchanging. Deep, but unrevealing. Gentle, but with a cold side. She was mesmerized.

So that thought that came to her, that she tried to deny, she finally gave in and let herself accept that she had feelings for him. Of course, she would never say it out loud. He kept to himself; she doubted that he even could have a real relationship. There was that run-in with Tracy the one time, his supposed ex-wife. She didn't believe that was real. Callen even told everyone, it was just part of an undercover mission. Sam announced that he had his doubts that it was strictly and undercover relationship, but Nell knew it was. Or at least she hoped. There was another person, though, that Nell was wondering about Callen being with, and that was Sam. That time she walked in on them and they were "wrestling", well, that was a good laugh, but she still wondered. She could see them being together, it wasn't too far-fetched.

It was amazing how G Callen was still a mystery, not just to her, but to everyone. She contemplated asking Nate more about him once, just being honest with him and saying she was curious, that he interested her. Nate would understand. They were pretty close; he was practically her brother, up until recently, that is. He would still help her out though. She didn't ask him. Maybe she would, some other time.

As much as she feared Callen going into a relationship, she worried about Eric, too. Not about him, but about him liking her. She knew he would always glance over at her, although it seemed she didn't notice. It was only a matter of time before he asked her out, she was sure of it, and she didn't want to. She wanted Callen.

So the two who could be Gellen, weren't. And maybe they would never be, because of each of their own fears. How was the other supposed to know, if both were hiding it? So they remained separate, secretly thriving on the moments they were together. Because it was as obvious as the sun in the sky, her pixie red hair, his icy eyes, they could never be.