Hi everyone, I hope you all enjoyed the last chapter. Thanks to the anonymous reviewer who pointed out a mistake, I've corrected it. This chapter is another Callen/Joelle one. The next one will feature the Hanna family. Enjoy!
Callen tells Joelle about the team.
Callen was sitting on the sofa in Joelle's living room, Joelle lying down with her head in his lap. He raked his finger through her hair gently as they both dozed after the big meal Joelle had cooked for them. She looked up at him after a while and he waited patiently for her to voice what was on her mind.
"Can you please tell me more about your family?"
He knew she meant the team. Michelle had approached Joelle at school and invited her over for a family barbeque on the Sunday before Christmas. Callen felt excited as well as apprehensive about finally getting her to meet the team.
"Oke, well you know a bit about Sam already. We've been partners for over eight years now. We're both field agents, the other two field agents on the team are Kensi and Deeks. They told me they spoke to you at the mall after you'd been taken hostage."
"Yeah, I remember seeing them at my house that day and at the ice rink too. They seemed nice. He gave me advice on what to buy you for Christmas." She told him sheepishly.
Callen raised his eyebrows at that and chuckled. "That's typical Deeks. And I'm sure Kensi tried to drag him away from you."
"So I guess they are partners too?"
"Yeah they are, they have been for about five years now. That's when Deeks came to work with us. He's a liaison from the LAPD but he's been a true member of our team for a long time. He's crazy, keeps Kensi on her toes and provides much needed comic relief for all of us. But he's one of the most hardworking and loyal guys I know."
"It's nice to hear that. He came across a bit childish to me and he didn't look like a cop at all. Which is stupid because what is a cop supposed to look like? But I can see that he'd be fun to have around."
"He is, and you're not the first to say that. Because of his beach boy look and his making fun of everything people underestimate him or don't take him seriously. He's a smart guy, he was a lawyer before he became a cop. That comes in handy in certain cases."
"I bet he's one of those people who switches from clown to dead serious in a second." She said with a smile. Callen grinned, nodding his head.
"Number four is Kensi, she joined the team a year before Deeks. She's one of the toughest people I know and one of the best agents. She's great undercover too, every undercover team needs a beautiful women." He told her with a smirk, thinking about their latest undercover op.
"So she's the one who has to flirt with the guys and walk around in skimpy dresses?" Joelle asked him, her tone indignant.
Callen shrugged. "It's part of the job, we all do what needs to be done. Besides we all tease each other with our undercover characters. Deeks often goes undercover as a homeless guy, living on the streets for days, I've spent weeks living in prison. Sam and I had to go undercover as a couple once, luckily that op didn't last long."
She raised her eyebrows. "A couple huh?"
"I'd rather not think about it anymore." He told her good naturedly.
Her face still showed her disagreement, he stopped moving his hand through her hair.
"Both Sam and I have been shot to maintain a cover. Sam has beaten me up and stuffed me in the trunk of his car numerous times as part of an undercover op. I'm usually the one being beaten up because I'm smaller, Kensi is the one seducing men because she's a women. We all do what we do best. I don't like seeing perverts eying her up but they often underestimate her because of her looks. If that keeps her safe or gives her an advantage, I'm not complaining."
They were silent for a bit as Joelle processed what he'd told her.
"You care a lot about her don't you?"
"Yeah I do, I care a lot about the whole team, not just those in the field. But Kensi's a bit like a younger sister. I'd do anything to protect her." He told her full of conviction.
He pushed himself to be more open with her and it surprised him how easy that came to him. He found that he liked telling her about his family and that he wasn't afraid to show her how he felt about them. She pulled him out of his thoughts by grabbing and squeezing his hand that wasn't in her hair. She looked at him seriously before speaking.
"We're all very lucky to have you in our lives."
Her words stunned him and he didn't know how to respond. He finally raised their hands to place a kiss on her knuckles before resuming to stroke her hair.
"Nell and Eric take care of the technical side of things. We often call them the wonder twins. Apparently Nell has the highest IQ of anyone working at NCIS."
Joelle raised her eyebrows at this and smiled slightly. He was grateful that she didn't comment on his lack of response to her statement. He smiled back as he continued to tell her about Nell and Eric.
"They're great with computers and they are our eyes and ears when we're out in the field. We definitely wouldn't be able to do most of what we do without them. Nell comes in the field with us sometimes if we need an extra field agent."
"Oke, so you have the fields agents and the techs. I'm guessing there's a team leader?"
"Well, I'm team leader. But Hetty's the one who really runs things, she's the operations manager."
"Wow, team leader huh?" She grinned at him. "I'm getting more and more impressed."
Callen didn't look her in the eye, she let him squirm a bit before taking pity on him. "So tell me about Hetty."
The smile her name brought on his face was the biggest she'd ever seen there. And it was immediately clear to her how much Hetty must mean to him.
"Henrietta Lange" he spoke the name reverently. "Her name strikes fear in almost anyone who's met or heard of her, criminals and drug lords as well as anyone in law enforcement. She's a legend and one of the last surviving warriors who fought in the Cold War. She's tiny, loves tea and she's more like our mother than our operations manager."
There was a pause before Joelle once again said "Wow".
"Yeah, she's something else." Callen replied, laughing. He went on, seeing in her face that she wanted to ask him more about Hetty, but not yet willing to tell her more about her or their relationship.
"That's the main team. Lately Granger has worked with us on a couple of cases. He's an ex-marine and he's now NCIS's assistant director. I'm not too sure about him, though Hetty seems to trust him until a certain extent. He's serious and secretive, I don't think I've ever seen him smile."
To his surprise Joelle snorted when he finished telling him about the team. "I can't wait to meet them now. They sound like one of the strangest combinations of people imaginable."
"Oh we are" Callen told her jokingly "we definitely are."
