Out On the Table.
Words: 597
Couple: Nell Jones and G Callen
TV Show: NCIS: Los Angeles
Disclaimer: All characters/quotes that you recognize belong to Shane Brennan, I just made it all feel Nalleny.
AU.
Spoilers for Season 4 Episode 22 'Raven and Swans'
Established Nell/Callen.
…
Her head fell back against the wall, she could hear the voices rising and almost wished she hadn't have left ops. Looking to her left she found Grace Stevens watching him as he walked away. That women was where this case started and ended, no matter how much Henrietta Lange had tried to make it seem otherwise, this women was the center of the case. Everything was revolving around her.
"Will you, or shall I?" the blonde women asked, moving to join her and breaking her away from her thoughts.
"Leave him for a moment, he'll go down to the armory and put holes in a target, clean his gun, practice his Russian," Nell explained, sighing as she realized that she probably should go after him, "At least here he can't pull the toaster apart."
"You two have a story, how does it fit in with this? With Hetty and NCIS?"
"Uh, I'm not sure that I'm-"
"Don't need to tell me anything Miss Jones," Grace smiled, "But whatever has you not following him, it'll pass."
Nell frowned, left to watch her make her way down the stairs and follow G Callen's footsteps. Clutching the files she held to her chest, she left her hiding spot to head towards Henrietta Lange. The air still filled with tension from her argument with Callen and making her rethink her decision to enter the small office.
"Yes Miss Jones?"
"Recent progress report on the joint-op with FBI," she murmured, placing the file on her desk, "I should be getting details from the agent-in-charge about their plans for another raid by next week."
"Thank you."
The tight smile she received from the older women made everything feel worse. The weight of the last year or so was still on everyone's shoulders and it was making the tension around the ops center thicker than ever.
"Everyone is telling me that things will be okay," Nell said slowly, meeting the older women's eyes as she looked up at her.
"That they will, Miss Jones."
"I just wanted to make sure you knew that."
When the tight smile was replaced with a genuine one the intelligence analyst took a seat.
"I take it Mr. Callen knows about your trip to the doctors."
"It was a false positive."
"Didn't take it too well?"
Shaking her head Nell continued, "He's annoyed that I didn't tell him earlier, it's been a week of awkward passes on our way to work and strained conversations in ops."
"In my experience, Miss Jones, he will always come around, but he's scared."
"Is that what you hope, for what happened just then?"
Hetty shrugged, sitting back in her seat. The intelligence analyst sighed, standing up and tapping the file she'd placed on the desk earlier, before making her way back to the communications center. Massaging her neck and trying to roll the kinks out of it, Nell stopped at the doors when hearing her name called.
"Hm?" she questioned, turning around on the heel of her foot.
Callen came to a stop in front of her, "I've got a plan, it may involve some persuasion out of Hetty though."
"So you want something?"
"Maybe, yeah, kind of."
"You want me to talk to Hetty?"
"I need you for moral support," he answered with a shake of his head, "She may not completely like my idea."
"She won't kill you," the intelligence analyst assured him, "I'm first in line for that."
Nell watched the smile grow on his lips, and reminded herself that it was all going to be alright. Even them.
…
I'm not too big on this one, but I guess it shines some light on the already-probably-super-predictable reason for their argument.
I think I said this in the last author's not, but remember. We're forgetting the whole "Not at the moment" comment, I have plans for that and it strays completely from this c:
Thank you!
All mistakes are absolutely nothing but mine.
Review?