Disclaimer: Still do not own NCIS LA

So this is the second chapter, which has Tori and Callen bonding a bit as well as focuses on Nell's past a bit. Hope you enjoy.

Tori, getting tired of the awkward silence hanging above them, decided she was at least going to get some answers. "So you're a federal agent? What agency?"

Callen raised an eyebrow. "How do you know I'm allowed to tell you that? After all, your sister didn't even tell you she was an analyst."

Tori smirked, plopping down beside him. "Well, since I already know my sister is an analyst and you're a federal agent, there's no reason to lie about the agency. It's like lying about the restaurant you work at when I already know you work at a restaurant."

Callen tilted his head, conceding the point. "NCIS." He said, looking at her.

Tori blinked before bursting into laughter. Callen stared at her, not quite expecting that reaction. "Is there something funny about NCIS?"

Tori shook her head, wiping her eyes. "N-No it's just, our brother Blake works for Naval Intelligence and he believed Nell when she said was a TV editor."

Callen smirked, finding the humor in the fact a Naval Intelligence Officer didn't know his sister worked at an agency that investigated the agency he worked for.

A thought passed through his head and he glanced over. "Are you mad your sister didn't tell you what she did?"

Tori bit her lip, pulling her knees up to her chest and resting her chin on them. "I guess, when I first learned who you were? Yeah I was mad."

She turned her head to see him staring at her intently, waiting. "I'm used to being lied to, my mother works at State Department in a pretty high-profile position so any work she does is 'classified' or 'need to know only'."

"Two of my most hated statements." Callen commented, causing the girl to giggle. "Yeah, I'm not a big fan of them myself,"

She shifted, bring her knees to rest under her. "And Blake really can't talk about his job either, but Nell? She was always the person who told me the truth, if one of our siblings got hurt or Mom was working something dangerous and we needed to be more cautious than normal she'd always tell me point blank what was going on."

Callen leaned back, he could see Nell being like that. A big sister, making sure her little sister knew what was going on so she wasn't left in the dark and scared.

"Out of curiosity, how many siblings do you have?" Callen wondered, looking over at the girl who tilted her head.

"Excluding me, Blake, Julia and Nell? Eight."

Callen, who had been taking a sip of the water left for him, began to sputter and spill some of the drink on himself.

"Eight? That means there's twelve of you in total?" He questioned as he stared, taken aback. Tori couldn't help but giggle at his expression.

"That's pretty much the normal reaction I get when I tell people how many siblings I have," She stated, grinning at him before it vanished. "But it's not that bad, we never actually lived under the same roof at the same time and even now it's rare we're in the same place."

"But you and Julia are here now." Callen pointed out, sounding confused.

"I attend a boarding school here in LA, so sometimes I come here if I want to escape my roommate," She began, smiling softly. "And Julia was here for a photo shoot, she leaves tomorrow for Brazil."

Callen wondered what that was like, having siblings but never seeing them except for a few times a year if you were lucky.

"If you don't mind me asking, there seems to be a rather large age difference between you and your sisters."

Tori laughed at that. "You think Nell and Julia are a lot older than me? My eldest brother Mason is thirty-eight."

Callen chuckled. "That is a fairly larger age difference. I'm assuming there's a reason for that?"

She nodded. "Like I said, all of us never really lived under the same roof at the same time. Actually, the only sibling I ever lived with was Gemma and she's in her first year of university right now."

"I'm technically the only one who has our mother's name, because I was only a few hours old when she took me in," She explained, watching as Callen's blue eyes seemed to darken with an emotion she couldn't read.

"You were abandoned?" She nodded absently, her hand coming up to play with the locket she had around her neck. "Uh huh, I only had this on me, didn't even give me a name."

Callen was silent, staring at her as anger bubbled in her chest. At least he had a real name, he just didn't know what it was.

To know that your parents gave you up, only hours after you were born, and didn't even take the time to name you? He was suddenly filled with an intense feeling of hatred towards Tori's biological parents.

"Anyways, we were taken in by Mom at different times," She continued, not wanting to linger on the thought of her biological parents. "Mason, Ian and Katherine were the first and by the time Diego, Peyton and Liam were taken in they had already moved out."

She ticked off names on her fingers, which Callen watched her do with amusement on her face. "Then there's Blake, Nell and Wyatt and finally there was Julia, Gemma and me."

"So you're the baby of the family then?" Callen couldn't help but grin when the girl turned a death glare on him. It was amusing to see a tiny girl try to intimidate him.

"I still have access to pillows you know," She pointed out, holding one up threateningly. "I'm sure if I let my grip accidently slip…"

"First Julia, and now you? What is with you guys and abusing my poor pillows?" Nell wondered as she re-entered the room. She couldn't help but smile at the scene however.

Her boss, who was normally so distant with strangers, was grinning cheekily at her rather irritated looking sister. Callen was also her friend, and to see him comfortable with her sister made her pleased (and also gave her a funny feeling that she wanted to go away).

"Well, it's a school night so I should probably head to bed." Tori announced, jumping up and heading towards the spare bedroom she was staying in. She turned to grin at her sister over her shoulder. "Don't do anything that will make me want to pour bleach on my eyes."

Nell, flushed a bright red, reached out to smack her sister which the girl dodged with a laugh before bouncing away. She turned to face Callen, who was smirking at her.

"Someday I'm going to disown her…" She muttered under her breath, not meaning it at all. Callen raised an eyebrow. "That sweet little girl? How could you be so cruel?" He asked mockingly.

Nell snorted. "Sweet? Remind me to tell you about the time she pushed me into the ocean. In February."

Callen shook his head, moving over so she could sit beside him. "So, you were a foster kid." He heard Nell release a heavy sigh.

"I didn't keep it from you on purpose you know," She turned pleading eyes on him. "It's just… I didn't want to sound like I was trying to gain sympathy."

She leaned back, putting her head on his shoulder. He reached an arm up and put it around her shoulder, bringing her closer. "My parents died in a car crash, and they couldn't find any relatives to take me in so in the system I went."

Her hazel eyes took on a blank look. "I was twelve at the time, and I was in five different foster homes before I met Mom. The last home, one of the older boys scared me to the point I ran for four blocks straight before I realised I was lost."

Callen tightened his grip on her shoulders, his blue eyes dark as she continued. "Eventually Mom found me sitting under a tree and crying. She listened to me, made a phone call and then held out her hand and told me that if I wanted to come live with her, I could. And that was that."

Callen turned his head so he was smelling the strawberry scent of her hair. "She sounds like a great woman."

Nell nodded, feeling a bit choked up. "She is, she was through the system herself and was pretty much alone until she was adopted by the Sanders when she was thirteen. She went to Yale, made a name for herself in the intelligence community. By the time she was forty she was well-known at the State Department."

Callen looked at her. "I'm glad you had someone looking out for you." Nell smiled at him, gently smacking him on the shoulder.

"Now you know why I'm so determined to not let you stay behind your walls." Callen laughed, staring down at her with twinkling blue eyes.

"I guess I got lucky, having a little red-haired pixie willing to annoy me." He felt her smack his shoulder and chuckled, reaching over to tickle her which caused her to begin laughing.

Little did he know that by befriending Nell, he'd be gaining more people in his corner than he thought possible.

So that's the end of this story. Next time I think I'll introduce Nell's older sister Peyton, who actually lives in LA. For future reference, three of Nell's siblings live in LA: Peyton, Tori and Gemma (she attends UCLA). Mason lives in New York, Ian resides in Seattle, Katherine's in Boston, Diego's in Chicago, no one ever knows where Liam is, Wyatt is in Miami and Blake is in Quantico, I'm pretty sure. Their mother lives in Washington. But they all have a habit of dropping in on each other unexpectedly so there is that.

Hope you enjoyed!