A/N: Hooray! So, this chapter's not too late...
I'm busy today, so unfortunately, I am unable to reply my reviews via PM, like I've been doing for the past three posts. However, I would still like to show my appreciation to ChlollieRockz, evershort, Rebel Magnus, SP SVU B, TwilightPony21, and terken for reviewing. Special thanks to ChlollieRockz and evershort, who both reviewed on consecutive chapters even though they actually read the chapters in one shot. It's really rare to find people who actually bother to take the trouble to submit reviews not just on the most recent chapter, but also on every chapter before that. So thanks, you guys.
I would also like to thank Doodle19, evershort (again), Nina.4444, and Itlsky489 for favoriting this fic, and jane laird, mrs seeley booth, and lezzles1956 for putting it on alerts. Thanks also to Tiana-P, who did both of the above. Maybe you guys can progress to reviewing next? (wink)
So, anyway, this chapter addresses the issue of the extra agents - let me know what you think of them. ;)
Chapter 3: Five Days Earlier
Kensi flipped on her TV and settled down with a cup of tea and a bag of chips to watch. She chuckled a little as she took a sip of tea. Nobody would have guessed that she, the coffee monster, actually drank Hetty's favorite beverage fairly often. She still preferred coffee, but she rather liked the calming effects of a good tea.
Truth be told, it hadn't been entirely necessary for Kensi to stay home today. She'd slogged through a full day's work with much worse than a simple cold before, after all. But today, with everything that was going on with Callen, she was glad for an excuse to stay home. And honestly, a day away from Callen had done her a world of good.
Kensi had just started watching a program when her doorbell rang. Assuming it was Deeks come to check on her again after she kicked him out this morning, she rose to answer – though she reflected wryly that Deeks would be more inclined to press the doorbell multiple times just to irritate her, instead of waiting patiently, like he was now. So it didn't come as a total surprise when she pulled open the door and it wasn't Deeks standing outside.
It was a shock to find out exactly who it was, however.
"Nate?" she said incredulously.
The doorbell rang, and Kensi, knowing who would be on the outside, rose to answer it. Sure enough, Callen stood outside, with a bag of Chinese takeout.
"Took you long enough," Kensi commented as he stepped in, out of the pouring rain. "Don't you dare get puddles on my floor."
"Hey, I just endured sheets of rain and an unbelievably long line to get your takeout," Callen said lightly, shaking the bag at her.
"Come off it, Callen. How long could the line have been? It's raining cats and dogs."
"Oh, you'd be surprised." Callen dried himself off and looked around. "So, are we doing this on the coffee or dining table?"
"Coffee," she said at once. "Project Runway's about to begin."
"You watch Project Runway?" he remarked teasingly, handing her her food.
"Why is everyone so surprised at that?" Kensi asked as she accepted the takeout box. "A girl's gotta keep up with the trends, you know."
"Yeah, but you're not exactly the girliest girl around," he pointed out.
"Oh, you'd rather have me talk about clothes everyday?" She cleared her throat and proceeded to imitate a clothes-crazed fanatic. "Oh, my gosh, I just love that outfit! It looks so cool, I wish I had it." She gave him a deadpan look. "Please. Give me a break."
Callen chuckled. "Yeah, you're right," he agreed, as they sat down on the couch. "I really prefer you as you are."
"And I'm glad to hear it." Kensi grabbed the remote and turned the volume up as the Project Runway intro started to play. She leaned closer to Callen as she dug her chopsticks into her takeout box.
"You know, to be honest," she said to him, "I watch this more for the snarky remarks and the drama, and not the clothes."
Callen smirked. "Now that's the Kensi I know and l-" He caught himself. Kensi quirked an eyebrow at him, knowing exactly what he was going to say, but allowing the awkward moment to pass without commenting on it.
The rest of the night passed without event, but, unusually, Callen didn't stay. After Project Runway was over he said goodnight and left for his own house.
It was painfully clear in Kensi's mind that this was the first time since they'd agreed to try a – she wouldn't call it a relationship, exactly – a 'friends-with-benefits arrangement' that they hadn't stayed together at the same place.
"So, what are you doing here, Nate?" Kensi asked casually. "Last I heard you were somewhere in the Middle East – Qatar, I think."
Nate smiled slightly. "That was a misdirection. I never left Yemen."
"Oh." Not the most intelligent of things to say, but this wasn't exactly a normal visit. "So what were you doing there?"
Nate didn't answer, but instead cocked his head and studied her. He didn't bother to hide what he was doing, because they both knew he was here to do precisely that.
Kensi was on her fourth cup of tea by now, but Nate still had yet to reveal the real reason for his visit. Although he'd told her that he was here because he'd heard she was feeling a little under the weather, and wanted to see how she was doing, they both knew it wasn't really the reason – and they'd been making light conversation for the past forty minutes. But Kensi had a pretty good idea of what he was actually here about. She was just waiting for him to mention it.
Sure enough, it wasn't long before Nate inquired, "So what's going on between you and Callen?"
Although she'd been expecting that, she still scowled. "Who told you?"
"Hetty," he said simply. "She called me up yesterday and said she thought I was needed more here at this time rather than in Yemen."
"Hetty pulled you from an op in Yemen because she thinks something's going on between Callen and me?"
"She doesn't think there's something going on; she knows there is," Nate corrected.
Of course, Kensi knew that, but she was still pretending – for Nate's benefit – that there was nothing going on between her and Callen. Nate picked up on this, and looked pained.
"Kensi, please don't pretend you don't know what I'm talking about," he requested. "I think we know each other better than that."
Kensi sighed and dropped the charade. It would be an insult to Nate to keep up with it. "Okay, there is something going on between me and Callen."
"And?" Nate prompted.
"And it's none of your business," she told him firmly, in a tone that said 'keep out'.
Nate, however, was either oblivious to the current in her voice, or he chose to ignore it (Kensi decided it was the latter). "I think Hetty made it my business when she pulled me out of Yemen and all but ordered me to come back."
"Well, it's really none of Hetty's business, either," Kensi retorted.
"Hetty makes everything her business," Nate pointed out.
Kensi had to laugh at that. "True," she conceded. She took another sip of her tea. Nate did the same, and for a while there was silence.
"You're not going to tell me what this is about, are you?" he said shrewdly after a minute or two.
"Nope."
"I'll figure it out on my own eventually."
"Be my guest."
"Okay," he agreed amicably. "Now that that's over with, how about we really catch up with each other, and not just make small talk like earlier?" He tacked on that last bit with a hint of humor.
Kensi smiled at him. "Sure."
At eleven in the morning the next day, Callen and Sam trudged into the bullpen after interrogating a witness in their latest case to find Kensi back at her desk.
"Morning, Sam, Callen." She nodded at them, without even a hint of unease. Callen noticed this and wondered what she'd done on her day off that she was suddenly so comfortable with him and their…thing.
Sam, however, was just happy she seemed to be back to her usual self. "Morning, Kensi," he returned with a grin. "Feeling better?"
"Ah, it was just the flu." She waved it off. "Eric told me we have a new case?"
"Yeah, dead Marine on the beach." Sam sounded dismissive. "We're still looking for leads – Deeks is with LAPD trying to find out more – but it doesn't seem to be anything major."
"What do you know?" Callen asked suddenly.
Kensi rolled her eyes. "I've been here all of two hours, Callen – how would I possibly know anything –"
"Not about the case," Callen clarified.
"Then what?"
"Whatever that other little thing you know is."
Kensi, much to Callen's surprise, grinned at him for what was probably the first time in several weeks.
"Go to Ops and you'll see," she told him. "On second thought," she added as she rose, "I'll come with you."
More than a little puzzled, Callen and Sam followed Kensi up to Ops, where they found Eric and Nell chatting animatedly with a very familiar person.
"Nate!" Sam called with a grin.
"Hey, Sam," Nate returned.
"Still kicking, I see," Callen said teasingly.
"Still kicking," Nate replied easily. However, he was quietly observing the interaction between Callen and Kensi. Callen, being the skilled operative he was, didn't fail to notice this; and in a sudden flash of understanding, he realized why Kensi was acting so normally towards him – she didn't want Nate to pick up on their tension and guess its source.
For the briefest of moments, Callen locked eyes with Kensi in a single glance that communicated volumes of unspoken words; then Kensi dipped her head and the contact was broken.
"What brings you back to LA?" Sam was asking Nate.
"Oh, Hetty just pulled me back for a while," Nate answered.
Callen knew from the way Kensi was acting that that wasn't why Nate was here. In fact, he was quite sure Hetty had brought him back because of the estrangement between him and Kensi – though he had to admit he was somewhat amazed that Hetty would pull Nate from a mission in the Middle East just for that. But he let none of his conclusions – or the emotions resulting from them – show on his face, and instead asked Eric, "You got anything?"
The techie turned back to the computer. "Nothing out of the ordinary. Campbell seems to be a pretty average person. No criminal record, no dubious dealings, no extraordinary service record – and he was fairly young, so no particular distinction as an officer either."
"Uh, guys," Kensi spoke up. "Can I remind you that I have no idea what this case is about?"
"Our vic is Petty Officer James Campbell; 28 years old, no wife or kids," Callen informed her. "He was found dead on the beach yesterday morning."
"Who do we like for it?" Kensi inquired.
"At the moment, no one," Callen answered. "We haven't been able to find anyone with a motive to kill him."
"Wait a minute, I've got something." Nell's words had all of them looking at her. "According to Campbell's history, he has a connection with one Alex Gordon. The two of them went to the same school and were on the same football team."
"And Alex Gordon ties into this how?" Sam wanted to know.
"Well, I thought the name sounded familiar, so I ran a search on it and I came up with this." Nell tapped a command into the computer to display a series of files on the big screen, then rose from her chair, grabbing her portable keyboard. "Alex Gordon is the suspected leader of one of the most notorious drug trafficking gangs in LA. Nothing's been confirmed, but local law enforcement does believe him to be behind several drug rings."
Eric, acting on this information, typed commands into his computer in an attempt to gain more information, but he came up dry. "I've got nothing," he told them.
"I, on the other hand, do have something," said Hetty's voice. Everybody turned to see the short Operations Manager coming into the room. "Mr. Campbell was part of an operation attempting to prove once and for all whether or not Alex Gordon is, in fact, a drug lord. However, the op went south, as I'm sure you can see."
"Which agency organized the op?" Callen questioned.
"We did, Mr. Callen," Hetty replied. "Director Vance supervised the project with one of our top operatives."
"In OSP?" Callen asked.
"No."
"Then who?"
"Special Agent Mike Renko. He'll be here in a few minutes to brief you."
Callen and Kensi sat at their desks in the bullpen, waiting for Renko to show. Nate was still up in Ops with Eric and Nell, Sam was in the bathroom, and Deeks had yet to return, so Callen took the opportunity to speak to Kensi privately.
"Kensi."
She sighed as she turned to look at him.
"We're not good, are we?" he inquired.
"No, we're not," she answered candidly. "The normalcy act is for Nate. Whatever our disagreements, I don't think either of us wants him to find out exactly what's happening, do we?"
"No, we don't," Callen agreed. "But Kensi, we need to talk."
"You've made quite your opinion quite clear already."
"It's not that I don't want to, Kensi…I'm just not ready yet."
"It's been three months, Callen," she said bluntly. "Three months since I told you. If you aren't ready by now, when will you be?"
Callen opened his mouth to defend himself, but before he could get further than, "Kensi…", she threw him a warning glance.
"Sam's back."
Callen sighed and returned to waiting.
A few minutes later, Deeks showed up and took his place at his desk. Not long after, Mike Renko appeared.
After they had finished greeting each other (and after Deeks was introduced to Renko), the agents all made their way back up to Ops, where Renko started the briefing.
"Director Vance put me on the Gordon case a couple of weeks ago," Renko began. "He said the drug ring was getting out of hand and he wanted to move to bring it down. First, though, I had to figure out whether Gordon really is the guy in charge, and not just some scapegoat."
"So you used Campbell to get close to him," Sam surmised.
"Campbell agreed to it. It was supposed to be a low-risk op. He'd just talk to Gordon and try to find out whether or not he led a double life as a drug lord. Neither of us expected it to end the way it did."
"What happened?" Deeks asked.
"I don't know," Renko admitted. "I was running surveillance on Gordon, so the last time I saw Campbell was at his last meeting with Gordon. I can tell you Gordon didn't kill Campbell – but if he really is a drug lord, he could have ordered someone else to do it."
"So we still don't know whether Gordon is a criminal or not," Kensi concluded.
"Unfortunately, no," Renko said apologetically. "Campbell's murder is connected to the drug ring though – so hopefully, when we find his killer, we'll be able to determine whether Gordon is a bad guy or not – and by extension, that will get us one step closer to busting this drug gang."
"Sounds complicated," Deeks remarked.
"And long," Renko added.
"Perhaps there is a shortcut to solving both our cases," Hetty spoke up.
"What d'you have in mind?" Renko asked.
"Well, if we determined for a fact that Mr. Gordon is a drug lord, we would be able to begin preparations to shut down his drug ring – and once we do that, we would have our pick of suspects for the Campbell murder."
"So the first order of business is to prove if Gordon is a criminal," Kensi inferred.
"Indeed, Miss Blye. I believe it is time for an in-depth undercover op."
"Deep cover?" Callen frowned.
"Not that deep, Mr. Callen. Simply a more…detailed cover." She looked straight at him. "I believe you and Miss Blye would be perfect for this."
At once the tension in the room increased and thickened into a palpable atmosphere. Callen and Kensi glanced at each other; Nate instantly locked onto their reactions, studying them intently; Eric and Nell exchanged looks; Sam and Deeks grew noticeably more anxious. Only Renko was unaffected, being the only one unaware of the current strain in Callen and Kensi's relationship.
"Hetty, are you sure that's a good idea?" Sam asked uneasily. "I mean, with everything that's –"
"We need the best for this op, Mr. Hanna, and Mr. Callen and Miss Blye are the best," Hetty cut him off. "I am sure they will perform admirably and professionally." She threw both of them a sharp glance as she said this; they nodded minutely.
"Great!" Renko seemed genuinely enthusiastic. He knew just how good Callen and Kensi were, and he felt that if anyone could uncover the truth, it was them. "Let's get started."
A/N: I don't have much experience writing Renko...scratch that, I don't have any experience writing Renko - but I think I did okay with his character. He shows up so little in the show that he really doesn't have any personal quirks or idiosyncrasies I had to write in. He's actually a pretty generic character.
There is no true episode reference here, but I suppose if you want to get picky, this chapter could be considered to have slight allusions to Disorder (Season 2 Episode 11; it was mentioned earlier) and Harm's Way (Season 2 Episode 18). I say slight because the allusions are virtually nonexistent; they don't tie in in any significant way with any episode.
