Chapter 6 (more to the story)

Nell wakes up to a warm, solid mass under her. She tilts her head just a little so she can see Callen's face. He looks so calm and peaceful. She reaches up to trace his jaw. He leans into her touch, even in his sleep. That combined with the feel of his stubble under her fingers makes her stomach pinch. He starts to move under her, clearly about to wake up, so she moves her hand away, closes her eyes and pretends to still be asleep. She feels a hand on her arm pulling her closer to him and then the hands fingers start to rub patterns on her arm. She doesn't think he's aware of what he's doing and the thought brings another pang to her stomach. His hand slides over to her back and rubs in a soft soothing pattern. A sigh escapes her lips without her say, and suddenly it stops, and she knows that he is awake now.

"Nell?" She hears him whisper, trying to find out if she is awake or not.

"UMM?" She replies, priding herself in how half asleep she sounds.

"We fell asleep on the couch last night."

She pretends to be just waking up, and looks around. "Oh."

He unwraps himself from her and she swallows the sound of protest threatening to come out at the loss of his warmth.

At that same moment Sam walks in.

"I was just about to wake you guys up." Sam says, giving Callen a knowing smirk.

"Hey Sam." Says Callen.

"G."

"Morning Sam." Nell says happily from her spot on the couch wrapping herself in the blanket.

"Sleep well?" He's trying hard to keep the smile off his face, and is doing a good job actually, but if it wasn't for the fact the he and Sam have been partners for years, he wouldn't have noticed it.

There is silence for a short moment, and Callen looks over to look at Nell.

"Yup. Great." She finally says. Sam notices her over enthusiasm, but they all decide to ignore the elephant in the room.

"Well, I brought food and coffee." He says, placing the bags and the drink tray on the island in the kitchen.

"You're a life saver Sam, thanks. I'm starved."

Both the men smile at that, and watch as she get ups from the couch, taking the blanket with her. She sits up on one of the stools by the island and smiles up at them.

Sam gives Callen a look that say 'We need to talk' and Callen tells her, "We'll be over there if you need us." He points in the direction of the door that lead to the backyard.

"Why did you guys sleep on the couch."

"We just fell asleep watching TV Sam. It's nothing."

"Whatever you say G. You guys looked pretty comfy there."

"Do you have anything of actual importance that you'd like to tell me?"

'He's deflecting, that's okay,' thinks Sam.

"Did you find out anything new from her?"

"No. Nothing yet." He looks back at Nell.

Sam recognizes that as Callen's thinking face.

"What are you thinking G?"

"How much money did Nell say she stole again?"

"15 grand."

"To a guy like Sokov, that's nothing."

"You right. That's, what, 5% of what a guy like Sokov makes in a year."

"Exactly."

"Why would he go through all the trouble of going after her, 5 years later just for that? Either she lied to us, or..."

"Or she took something else too." Finishes Callen for him.

When they walk back in Nell is done eating breakfast, even though there is still like half a bagel on her plate, and is nursing her coffee.

"Hey, so any new leads on Sokov and his men?" Nell asks once she sees them.

They must of had a mad news look on their faces, "What's wrong?"

Callen wants to ease her worry. "Nothings wrong Nell. There are just some things that don't add up. We still have a few unanswered questions."

"What did you take from Sokov?" Sam asks.

She looks confused."I already told you,-"

"No, Nell. We know there was something else." Callen says. "We know you're not telling us everything."

Nell looks over at Callen and he nods, urging her to to tell them. "I took some of his drugs,... and,... I,..."

She was struggling to get the words out and her hands were shaking. Callen didn't care what Sam thought. He took her in his arms. She got on her tippy toes and whispered in his ear, "I killed his brother." Callen's eyes widened, and he looked up at Sam who wore a shocked expression.