A CODE TO LIVE BY
by MioneAlterEgo

DISCLAIMER: They weren't mine the last time I typed one of these. Nothing has changed since then.

AUTHOR'S NOTES: This was one of the first vignettes I wrote, back when the bunnies first attacked! Originally they were all supposed to this length. Ha. It's super-short-practically a drabble-but I think it's fun.

My thanks, as always, to Mel (aka imahistorian) for her suggestions, guidance, and strategic know-how. Also, a shout-out to desnouer for holding me accountable to my posting schedule! Finally, I posted this chapter at the same time as Ch. 3 (Adventurous), so if you haven't read that one be sure you check for it, too. Thanks as always for reading, and hope you enjoy this little short-but-hopefully-sweet installment! :)

BALANCE
For such a serious guy, G Callen is actually fairly laid-back. It takes a lot to ruffle him. Psychotic terrorists with guns pointed at his head? No big deal. Jumping (or being pushed) from a moving vehicle? These things happen. So it simultaneously amuses and confuses him to see Nell get so worked up about things that truly are not the end of the world.

"…and if I can't hack into their system without getting caught, we won't have access to their passcodes. Deeks and Kensi will be working blind, and I know they're good at it and all, but it's my job to make sure they have all the intel they need before they go into these operations, and—"

"Nell."

"—Eric can't do it all on his own. He's still trying to rebuild the servers and encrypt the rest of those secure files from when the mainframe got infected. He's completely swamped! And Hetty still wants me working on that project for Director Vance, but this isn't—"

"Nell."

"—one of those times when I can just drop everything or tell the field agents to buzz off or—"

"Nell!"

"WHAT?"

"Settle. Down."

She shakes her choppy tresses in confusion. "What?"

Callen takes her by the shoulders and gently steers her into a nearby chair before kneeling down to eye level. The LED lights and the artificial glow of the computer screens in the Ops center make his eyes shine even brighter blue than usual. She seems temporarily distracted but he reaches up to cup her cheeks in his hands anyway, just to make sure he's got her full attention. He chuckles a little as the terms "control freak" and "OCD" briefly flit through his mind, but he honestly doesn't like seeing the little worry lines between her eyebrows so he takes a deep breath and does his best to make her see reason.

"Kensi and Deeks will be fine. She once hotwired a Cessna, and what Deeks lacks in tech savvy he more than makes up for in B.S. abilities, so he'll just talk his way in. They'll work around it whether they have the passcodes or not. Eric is one of the best tech specialists in the western hemisphere-he'll have the computer rebuilt in no time. As for Hetty and Director Vance's secret project, if it was that big an emergency he'd have had his people in D.C. do it—they've got a whole department of hackers there."

He can see the wheels turning in her head and she at least gives the appearance of having cooled off a bit. He presses forward.

"What's the most urgent deadline you've got?"

"Probably the passcodes. They'll need those for tomorrow."

"Then focus on that. The rest will get done whenever it gets done." He drops a single kiss on the middle of her forehead before rising. Nell takes a deep breath and turns back to face her computer console.

Okay, let's do this…