Hey, sorry that this chapter is late! I had some History work to do, but I still managed to write something for you guys. It's also not very long, since it was about 3 am by the time I actually got to doing this. Sorry again, the next chapter won't be as rushed!
Sam and Callen walked into Ops at about noon, handing Eric and Nell the tapes from Daphne and then heading straight downstairs. They figured they would want to be alone while they watched them – they were obviously stressed and it seemed like they wouldn't want the two NCIS agents hanging over them.
They had been right about the stress. It was really getting to Nell. If only she could just remember… Anything could help, if she just kept trying… If it worked, this would all be over…
But it didn't work, and all she got was a headache. Eric could see her straining and wanted to say something, but he couldn't quite get the right words. He was quite frankly relieved when the agents dropped by with more tapes, since it gave him an excuse to stop her from working. She needed to take a break, but whenever he attempted to tell her that she just muttered something about focusing on this stuff first. That was making him more stressed than not being able to remember – he wanted his partner to stop worrying.
He jumped up and grabbed the tapes from the table quickly. The sudden movement startled Nell a little, making her twitch, but she hid it with a cough and turned to face the big screen. Eric slid the disc into the computer and double clicked to make the video full size.
The red Mini pulled into shot and stopped at a set of traffic lights. The audio was pretty good for a street cam and they could hear most of the conversation in the car.
"Turn left up here, then keep going until the end of the road."
"Alright."
Eric started twisting his fingers and looked over to the driver's seat.
"So, er, what are you gonna be doing this weekend?"
"Probably the same as you – reviewing that." said Nell with a sigh, gesturing to her laptop in the back.
"Oh yeah, our fun little project…"
She chuckled and glanced over at her partner.
"Why do you think he wanted us for this anyway?"
Eric had to think about that for a second, so there was a short pause before he answered.
"Well, maybe it's because he knows us. He must think we're trustworthy."
"Eric, I've only met him a couple of times, remember?"
"Alright, maybe it's because we're the most qualified."
"I don't know anything about rocket science…"
"Yeah, but you know about computer software. Besides, we're missing the obvious reason."
"What's that?"
"We're the best people for the job."
Nell laughed at that.
"Hey, maybe you, but this isn't really the kind of thing I do."
Eric raised his eyebrows.
"Why not? You might be pretty good at it."
"I doubt that."
"You should really stop putting yourself down like that." said Eric with a sigh, tilting his head to the side.
"Ha, why?"
"Because it isn't true. You're the best intelligence analyst I know, but you insist that you're bad at everything."
Nell turned and saw her partner's face. He looked sincere, but he couldn't be. No, he was just trying to make her feel better. She still blushed though, before realising the lights had been green for at least the last half of their conversation and reaching for the handbrake.
"Thanks…"
"It's true."
"But if I'm the best intelligence analyst you know, you really need to talk to the others at work."
"Oh come on…"
Even though this is really late and pretty short, please review?
