I spent time on this anagram and I'm really hoping that it was worth it! Seriously this could very easily not be worth it.
Warnings: None as of yet, but this is an on-going story so it will change.
TUMBLR INFO: I've had to change my Tumblr account because I got muted. I'm not all that surprised to be fair. Anyway, the name is now SILVERMIDNIGHTWRITE.
If you want to be kept up to date with any upcoming stories or want to ask me to write a story for you please follow me on Facebook or on Tumblr under SilverMidnightWrite! I own nothing.
Licking his lips Callen looked over the space he once knew like the back of his hand. It had only been three years since he had spent any real time there, but it felt like so much longer. Somehow everything looked completely different.
Which was ridiculous. The whole place looked exactly the same as it always did. Sometimes things got moved around a bit, but there had never been a full rehaul of the area. Once upon a time that had brought him a level of comfort that he never looked far into.
At the moment in time it was just putting him on edge. That was a lie. Everything was getting to him at the moment. Which wasn't all that shocking considering he was there because Nell was missing. There was also the fact that Deeks was holding his hand so tightly he was starting to lose circulation.
Not that he could really blame the younger man. If he was having a hard time being there he couldn't imagine just how difficult it was for his husband. The least he could do was let him hold his hand. Anyway it wasn't as if he wasn't getting some comfort from it himself.
At the moment he wanted to have his husband close to him. If it was at all possible he would want his children there as well. They might be safer at home with an agent, but that didn't quiet the voice in his head saying no place was safer than between him and Deeks.
They needed to focus though. Nell was missing. As much as he loved Isabelle and Wesley and wanted them there he knew it would be a distraction that they couldn't afford. For everyone's sake both he and Deeks needed to be the agents that they used to be and not parents.
That was an odd thought to say the least. When he had walked away he had thought that it would be for good, not until they needed him again. Not that he blamed them or thought that they shouldn't have called. He had simply thought he was done.
After spending most of his life as an agent there was no doubt in his mind that he knew what he was doing. He wasn't going to lose that set of skills anytime soon. Especially since all of them still trained together. He was good.
A small prat of him was worried about Deeks. He was different than anyone else and it wasn't just because he was deaf. Callen had watched his husband over the years and knew he was still just as capable and smart as he always was.
The difference was his confidence. They hadn't even started yet and it was clear that Deeks had no faith in himself. That was the last thing they they needed. Getting stuck in ones head like that was never a good thing. Especially in the middle of a case.
This wasn't Deeks world anymore though. It hadn't been for a long time. While there was no doubt with Callen that the man could still fight just as well as he always could there was a lot of concern about everything else that came with it.
No matter what people thought of them it wasn't an easy life that an agent led. It wasn't all shooting and fighting that got them out of situations. It took a lot of thought and planning on the go if they didn't want to end up dead. Right now Deeks looked like he was going to shake out of his skin or take off running.
Callen had already started to try to think of way to get the man out of his head. Most of which involved some time in the gym. A good sparring session might be enough to get him on the right track again. At least he hoped it would.
"Mr. Callen," Hetty greeted walking up to them, "Mr. Deeks. I wish we could have you here under better circumstances."
"I doubt I'd be here if it wasn't a bad situation," Deeks jokingly signed though they all knew it was the truth, "Are there any leads yet?"
"Mr. Beale has found some surveillance videos that he believes might help. The team has just gone up to watch it."
With a nod of his head Deeks turned away from them and started upstairs. Callen couldn't help but sigh at that. He knew that the younger man was simply attempting to act as if he was okay. That was what he always did.
A voice in the back of his mind yelled at him to follow the man and see if he was okay. It was dangerous for Deeks to believe that he had to pretend that he was fine. They had already had to deal with that once.
"Keep an eye on him, Mr. Callen," Hetty said calmly, "He might not be in the right mind space to do this."
"Then why did you want him here?" Callen questioned in confusion.
"Because he will always be a part of the team and we need every hand on deck to get Miss Jones back. Now let's see what they've found."
With a nod of his head Callen followed Hetty up to OPS his mind already racing. When he heard that they were being called in he knew that it would not end well for any of them. He just had no clue what was awaiting them.
All he wanted was to get Nell back. She had become a huge part of their lives after the children were born. She was Auntie Nell. The last thing he wanted to have to do was explain to his kids that they couldn't save her.
Even with all of that in his mind he knew that it had nothing to do with the worry curling in his stomach. Something was going to happen. He had no idea what or when, but he felt as if they wouldn't get out of this unscathed.
"G," Sam greeted walking up to him when he got into the room.
"Hey," Callen muttered his eyes darting around the room before coming to a stop at a man he hadn't seen before.
Standing between Kensi and Deeks was a red-headed man about their age. He had a smirk on his lips as he slowly signed with the other two. It looked as if it had been more than a few years since he had used ASL.
It was then that he remembered Hetty telling him that she thought she had found someone that would work well on the team. The only problem was it would take awhile for him to join them since he was already in the middle of a case. It looked like he was finally free.
"Arlo Turk," Sam supplied knowing that the man needed some answers, "Got in this morning."
"Know anything yet?" Callen asked crossing his arms over his chest.
"Other than the fact he's been flirting with Deeks since he walked in?"
Blinking a few times Callen looked at the small group again and saw that Sam was right. The man was leaning too close to Deeks with a lazy smirk on his lips that couldn't be anything other than flirting. Did the guy really think flirting was a good idea now?
"Eric," Callen barked harsher than he meant to, "What do you have?"
Eric nodded his head putting the tablet in his hands down so he could sign as he talked. He waited a moment for Deeks to move so he could see everyone's hands and they could see his. It was the same thing they always did when they got in a group like this.
"Yesterday Nell went to observe Nikolai Graham," Eric started to explain, "She wasn't going to talk to him or anything like that. We're weren't even working that case. It was a favor for the FBI. All she was to do was just gather some information. She called to say that she had gotten some pictures that she wanted me too look into as well as something else."
"Something?" Sam questioned staring at the tech.
"She never finished her sentence. Her phone started going in and out before dropping altogether. That was the last I heard."
Running a hand over his face Callen stared at the screen reading over the little information that had been pulled up already. Eric hadn't been joking when he said that there wasn't anything there. Outside of a few pictures and things they thought he was involved in they had nothing.
"Eric," Kensi said pulling everyone's attention to her before reading Deeks signs for everyone once more, "Where did we even get this case from? Are we the first to have the case or did we get it from someone else?"
"No," Eric shook his head, "We got the case from the FBI. Graham had just gotten on their radar when they found out that he was in LA. We owed them a favor and they cashed it in. As soon as they found out that Nell had been taken though they handed the case over as soon as they could."
"FBI handed it over willingly?" Turk snorted looking around at everyone, "Since when do they do that?"
"Since they knew they wouldn't win the fight with one of our own on the line," Kensi practically growled out, "They're not stupid enough to think they'd get far."
"Also," Eric continued, "This isn't going to be an easy case. They've been trying to get anything on Graham for years. He's good."
"How good?" Sam questioned.
"With how difficult it is to get close to the man? Very. I don't know how but he seems to be five steps ahead of us already and I don't even know what board I'm supposed to be looking at!"
Staring at the younger man Callen watched as Deeks stepped forward and placed a hand on his shoulder. It was the worst kept secret that Eric and Nell were dating and had been since he was still the one running the team.
"Come on, Eric," Deeks spoke aloud for the first time his voice soft, "Nell needs you to focus right now."
For a moment Callen was pulled away from the case. Every time he heard Deeks speak out loud he felt his heart speed up. It wasn't as if he didn't hear the man speak daily but that was to their kids. It was different than him talking to Eric.
He knew that Deeks wasn't a huge fan of talking now, but once upon a time that had been his favorite thing to do. He never used to shut up. It had always made him feel better when they came home after a long day and he could just hear his husband puttering around talking.
That was how he figured out that Deeks had feelings for him. He had learned a long time ago just how difficult it was to infuse emotions into ones voice if they didn't mean them. Tone meant everything in a conversation.
When Deeks had first started to learn how to talk like he used to it had been strange. He didn't sound anything like he used to. Isabelle and Wesley couldn't know the difference, but the rest of them knew exactly how soft and almost shy he sounded now. It had taken a lot to get used to.
"Mr. Beale," Hetty spoke up drawing attention to her, "You said you had a video."
With a nod of his head Eric gave Deeks a broken smile before picking up his tablet once more. Ocean blue eyes locked with Callen's across the room looking just as sad as the tech did. It took everything in him to remember that they were working and he couldn't just gather in the man in his arms.
"Callen," Eric said staring at him, "Can you translate for me?"
Nodding his head Callen moved to his husbands side. Deeks gave him a confused look before looking down at the older man's hands. A dark look flitted in the mans eyes before he sighed and schooled his features.
"Nell and I have made a little game of finding the surveillance cameras around the city," Eric began to explain, "It's a good way to spend time and it helps trying to figure out the most likely path a suspect is going to take."
"Is that what counts as fun around here?" Turk asked cocking and eyebrow.
"The wonder twins are a rare breed," Callen said out loud reading Deeks signs.
"Good to know."
"Anyway," Eric cut in, "She always joked that it would be a good way to send a message.
"How?" Kensi questioned crossing her arms over her chest.
"Different cameras have different letters and numbers. The system is completely random and only she and I know it. We were still perfecting it so we hadn't told anyone yet."
"You think she's used the system?"
"If she's still in her own car. I have to hope that's what she's doing. Look at this."
Eric began to pull up camera angles all of them showing Nell's car. There were no photos of the driver or passengers though. It was impossible for them to tell exactly who was in the car, but it was all they had at the moment.
"And the letters?" Sam asked.
"Yeah. Umm..." Eric stuttered before pulling up a new document.
"Sparkier Meta Nene? Eric..."
"It means something! I just don't know what yet."
Hearing the techs voice break Callen let his hands drop to his side. For all the years that they had been friends he had never actually seen the younger man break like that. Based off everyone else's faces they hadn't seen it either.
"Eric," Kensi sighed taking a stop forward and wrapped the man in a hug, "We'll get her back."
"You don't know that," Eric muttered.
"Eric," Callen said turning fully to him, "This is Nell we're talking about. If there's one person that would send you a message like that it's her."
"It doesn't make any sense!"
"Then make it. She sent the message to you knowing you'd get it. Don't give up on her now."
The younger man straightened his back a serious look coming to his face as he nodded his head. Callen couldn't help but smile at that. That was the look that he was used to seeing. He just needed to be reminded that he was good at what he did.
Turning around he caught sight of the confused and hurt look on his husbands face. It took a second for him to figure out what had happened only for it to hit him like at ton of bricks. He had literally turned his back when his husband needed a translator.
"Marty-" he tried to apologize.
"Do you know where Graham is?" Sam questioned before he could say anything else.
"I already sent it to you and Callen," Eric answered not looking up from his work, "Just be careful. I don't know how he does it, but he could already know you're coming."