Testing Loyalties
Her loyalty was always torn. Torn between the work and people she had known her entire life, and the man that she always loved, though swore to never speak of it. Now, her loyalties are put to the test. Who will she pick? Her work or her love, G Callen?
Disclaimer: Sadly, I don't own NCIS: Los Angeles or G Callen…
Chapter One:
Four shots rang out in the air as bullets sliced through paper. She put the gun down and slammed her fist against the button next to her, sending the paper target her way. She looked at the target, four bullet holes; grouped neatly together in the center stared at her. She took the target down and put another in its place, before sending the target back to its original place. Reloading her gun, she raised it, aimed, and emptied her clip into the thin piece of paper.
Without hitting the button the target came towards her. She glanced to the side and saw a man standing beside her, his hand hovering over the button. She took off the ear protection that she wore and turned towards him.
"Richard and the others have requested you. You have a new assignment" he said surveying her work before turning on his heel and walking out the door.
She reloaded her gun, placed it in its holster at the small of her back, and then followed, heading up towards the conference room.
She pushed her way through the glass doors and looked at the group of men that were sitting around a mahogany table in front of her. She made her way towards the top of the table where an empty leather seat was. She sank into it, propping her booted feet up on the sleek wood. She brought a knife out of the pocket of her black cargo pants and twirled it around in her fingers. Several men in the room watched her cautiously.
A man in his mid-forties with thinning chestnut brown hair and a five o'clock shadow dressed in a charcoal grey suit sat at the head of the table, watching her. He put his briefcase on the table and opened it, the sound of the latches clicking out of place echoing in the silent room as the rest of the men watched the exchange between the man and young woman.
He reached in, with a ring adorned hand, and pulled out a file. Flipping through it for a moment, he then sent it sliding across the table towards her. She stopped it and placed her feet on the floor, now intrigued by the assignment that had caused all of these well trained men to go silent.
Opening the folder she looked down at the two photos that showed her targets. A small smile played on her lips. The older woman was a legend, people from all over trembled in fear when they heard her name, the toughest men cracked under the small woman's intense gaze within minutes. She was well known here, and she thought it was a pity that the woman had to be killed. She could have learned so much from the older woman, if she didn't have to kill her. But she would have too. They were on two completely different sides. It really was a shame, to waste so much…talent.
The other woman, much younger than the other, she didn't know, but she could tell that she had talent, and given some time, would become quite talented, but she was considered a threat, and threats had to be taken care of. What the client wanted, the client got.
Her eyes traveled further down the page and she stopped. A familiar name jumped out from the pages that sat in front of her. She immediately continued on, knowing that Stevens would be watching for any moment of hesitation. Of course, he saw it.
"Is this going to be a problem Nicole? You are threatening the people he cares about; he will not let you get away with it. You may have to kill him. I do not want your personal feelings getting in the way of this assignment" Stevens said.
Her hand tightened around the handle of the knife that was in her hand, not only at the thought of having to kill the man she once loved, but at the man who was now speaking to her. James Stevens was a man who thought that he knew everything, when in reality, he sat behind a desk. He knew nothing about the work they did, sure, he was trained, same as everyone else who ever entered their line of work, but he hadn't put his skills to use in many years, and at their best they were rusty.
She twirled the knife around in her fingers. "This isn't going to be a problem" she said standing up, taking the file with her.
"Are you sure? The last time your feelings got in the way, things happened that were a disgrace to all of us. They cannot get in the way this time, there is too much riding on this" Stevens said. She looked at him, wondering if it was appropriate to send the knife hurtling towards his head.
"This will not be a problem" she promised and she started to walk out the room.
As James Stevens opened his mouth to say something else, a blade with a sleek wooden handle landed with a thud in the wall, mere inches from his head. He snapped his mouth closed before he could say anything else. Nicole Hanson was wicked with a blade, or really any type of weapon, and he didn't want to be on the receiving end, at least, not anytime soon.
She left the blade where it was and continued on out the door towards her home to grab the overnight bag she always kept ready for assignments like these.
As she boarded the plane that they always had at their disposal, she dropped the file on the table and it fell open. There staring at her, was a familiar pair of blue eyes she would never forget.
"Ready or not, here I come G Callen" she said softly as she took her seat and the plane climbed into the air taking her away from Moscow, Russia and towards Los Angeles, California.
Okay this is a little something I had written long ago, and I know, I know, I shouldn't start another one, but this one is actually complete. I'll post the rest soon, along with another chapter of The Start of It All, oh, and four more days before summer! I'm excited. Then I can get back to writing more than I am. Let me know what you think.