A/N - Thanks again for the reviews and alerts etc. Means a lot.
Let the battle (and the ceasefire) begin.
Oh and TXJ - funny that you should mention the gym...
Disclaimer in Chapter 1
Chapter 9
As much as Callen didn't think it was a good idea, he found himself following Kim and Sam to the workout area, that doubled as Sam's gym, later that morning. The challenge was on. He watched as the two of them moved onto the mat, eyeing each other. Kim had a small smile on her face, nothing that would give away her confidence, at least not to the average person but he could see it. She knew she was going to win. How, he wasn't sure. He glanced at Sam and saw the same look on his face, he was confident too. Someone was going to get hurt. He could feel it. What he could figure out was who or how.
"How do you want to do this?" Sam asked Kim.
Callen spoke up before she could reply. "One shot. Whoever takes down the other wins." He wasn't quite sure who he was protecting yet. Sam's pride or Bella's body.
Kim, remember?
"Only one?" Kim looked at him and raised an eyebrow. From the look on her face and the sparkle in her eyes, Callen was sure she was silently laughing at him, which meant that she thought he didn't think she could take Sam.
"Winner takes all," Callen confirmed.
"Agreed," Sam said.
Kim looked away from Callen to Sam. She nodded. "Agreed," that confident smile returning to her face.
No one moved for a moment, both Kim and Sam waiting for the other to make the first move.
Callen chuckled softly. This could take a while. Kim rolled her eyes as she glanced over at Callen, about to say something when Sam made his move, thinking her distracted. Sam found himself flat on his back, Kim looking down at him. Callen would give her this, she was good, he had no idea how she had done that and she didn't rub it in, too much.
Kim reached out her hand to Sam, offering it to help him up. Surprisingly he actually took it. Once Sam was on his feet she said, "You really should keep up with your training Sam."
Callen couldn't help it. He laughed at the look on Sam's face, gaining him a glare from his partner. It was worth it though, because he also scored a real smile from Kim. One where nothing was held back. It was something he hadn't realised just how much he had missed until that moment.
Sam turned back to her. "How'd you do that? That's a Seal move." Something he certainly hadn't been expecting from her. Sam was regretting agreeing to the one-shot deal now.
"Yeah, so?" Kim replied, the smile still on her face.
Sam shook his head. That was too good, it wasn't as if she'd just seen someone do it. She'd been taught, not just the move, but how to avoid the one that he had attempted on her. "Women can't train as Seals," Sam said.
Kim shrugged, "Doesn't mean a Seal won't train a woman."
"Seals wouldn't do that." Their loyalty was to their team and country. Training someone outside of that wasn't part of their make-up.
"No?" Okay so maybe Sam was right about that. In general, they wouldn't. "Probably not. But a husband would," Kim added before she turned and walked away, leaving Sam staring at her back, still shocked that such a delicate little thing had taken him down. It made him acutely aware that Hetty may very well know more, which led to the possibility that Hetty could actually take him down and that idea scared him more than almost anything else.
Callen froze at the word husband. As Kim walked past him on her way out, he said, "You're married?"
Kim wasn't too concerned about the question, but more at the disbelief in his voice. It set her right on edge.
"Just because you didn't want me, doesn't mean someone else didn't," she snapped at him and continued to walk away.
"Bella," he called out to her.
Kim spun around and glared at him. "When are you going to learn the right name?"
Callen stepped closer to her, "We're not on the mission yet." He hoped he'd get it right then. She was Bella, she'd always been Bella to him, at least after that first week.
"Get used to it. Bella isn't around anymore," Kim replied shaking her head.
This wasn't going to work. There is too much history between us. History she can't let go and neither can I.
"Maybe you shouldn't be either," Callen said.
Kim frowned, the anger going out in her eyes quickly. "What are you talking about?" she asked. She was afraid of the answer.
"I think Hetty should ask for another FBI agent," Callen continued.
"What? No!" Kim protested. You can't do this.
Callen frowned. Her attitude had changed completely. There was no trace of anger in her eyes, just desperation and, he wasn't quite sure, but maybe even fear.
"You and I, we don't seem to be able to get it together," he continued. That was an understatement. Sam could see it. He was pretty sure anyone else who had been in the same room as the two of them for five minutes would be able to see it too.
"Please don't," Kim begged him, an emotion he couldn't quite pinpoint, heavy in her voice. He didn't think it was the desperation. It seemed something more than that.
Callen shook his head. He was pushing it, she wasn't the only one he thought might not be able to do this.
"Not willing to take the risk that you can't do this."
He really wanted to ask what had changed. He doubted she'd tell him if he asked her straight out. He turned and walked away.
Kim grabbed his arm and spun him back to her.
"Please G," she begged. "I won't let them down." Kim held onto his arm. She couldn't let him walk away, couldn't let him go to Hetty and follow through with his threat. She needed to change his mind. This was too important.
"Who?" Callen asked.
"The girls. They're just kids. We have to get them back. We have to stop it from going any further with Casey."
Callen looked into her eyes and saw her determination. "I agree. But-"
"Please," Kim begged again. "They say you're the best right?" she asked him. Flattery had never really worked on him, he saw through it too easy, but she wasn't trying to flatter him. It was the truth, what she had been told.
"That's what they say about you too," Callen agreed, still trying to figure out this change.
"We can do this. When it was..." Kim briefly closed her eyes before she continued. "If it was me, I'd want you looking for me."
Callen noticed the pause. She'd been going to say something else. He frowned and wondered what.
Kim stepped closer and pleaded with him, not only her voice but her eyes. "Please G."
He'd always had trouble with that look. He wanted to reach out, touch her check, but he didn't. He just asked softly, "Bella what happened?"
Kim didn't answer his question. "Please, don't take me off this."
Callen did notice she didn't fire up about the name this time.
"Prove it," he said. If they were going to do this, they couldn't let the past interfere interfere anymore.
"What?" Kim frowned, confused. Where was he going with this? What exactly did he want?
"Prove you can play my wife," Callen added. "Convince me that-"
Kim didn't give herself time to think, if she had of, she would have found herself walking out the door and away from the case. She had no choice. She kissed him. Stopped his words and threw everything she had at him. Everything she remembered about how it had been between them, what had worked, what they'd liked. Her arms slipped around his neck, her body moulded to his.
One of his arms went automatically around her waist, the other hand into her hair that was still as soft as he remembered. As he held her to him, he forgot where they were and he returned the kiss, instinctively remembering what worked best. It wasn't hard to remember. The touch of her lips, the taste of her, it brought everything back as if the last time he'd kissed her was five minutes ago. She was still the same. No, she's even more intoxicating and addictive.
It was a kiss that made him forget where they were, who they were, who they had been and how much pain was between them. Right here, right now was all that existed. A kiss that did exactly what he asked of her. Proved she could play his wife. Proved that she could put the past aside and do what she had to do.
Clapping and whistles caused Callen to pull back. He glanced over at their audience of Sam and Hetty, then looked back to Kim. She was still looking at him. He saw the colour in her cheeks, the dazed look in her eyes. He was pretty sure the same look was in his. She'd definitely improved her technique over the years.
She's married remember? Of course she's going to have gotten better.
Kim was breathing heavily and was still in his arms, almost like she'd forgotten where she was. Callen didn't make a move to let her go.
"Well done," Hetty congratulated them.
Kim blinked and shook her head slightly. For what?
Hetty continued. "That was very convincing, right down to the blush on Agent Donovan's face for being caught."
Kim dropped her arms from around his neck and Callen followed, releasing his hold on her. They both stepped back from one another. He glanced at Sam who raised his eyebrows and gave him a lopsided grin.
"Now," continued Hetty, "it's time for you two to get ready to leave. You have an early check in at the hotel at twelve."
They all followed Hetty, Kim dropping back a little behind Callen, needing some space. She must be crazy, surely if she'd thought for a moment, she could have figured something else out to prove to him she could do this.
Sam fell into step beside her.
"Why'd you want to be a Seal?" Sam asked her. He'd been curious about that since Callen had first mentioned it. Even more so now after her performance and ease which she took him down.
Kim glanced at him, "Does it matter?" she asked.
Sam shrugged. "Just curious."
Callen slowed his pace just fractionally, so he could hear easier. He knew the story but he wondered how much of it she would tell Sam. He noticed Hetty did as well, keeping herself next to him.
"Best friend died taking a bullet for me," Kim answered. "He wanted to be a Seal. I wanted to do that for him."
Kim felt the pain of that memory. It was one she tended to pulled it out when things were pretty bad. It motivated her like nothing else. Henry had died because they'd been in the wrong place at the wrong time. Somewhere that should have been safe. He'd jumped in front, taken the bullet that was meant for her. Her brother had gotten mixed up in some bad things. When he hadn't done what he was supposed to, they came after her to make him. He'd run out the back door, a coward. Henry had stayed and protected her. Her brother was four years older, an adult. Henry was just a child really, but he behaved more like a man than her brother. Part of her reason for doing what she did, was someone had to protect those who were innocent. Like Henry had for her.
Sam frowned. "How old were you?"
"Sixteen."
Sixteen. That was young. "He already knew he wanted to be a Seal?" Sam asked.
Kim nodded. "He'd always known." Her voice had softened considerably. "He would have made a great Seal." She blinked back the tears that were forming at the back of her eyes.
A kid willing to die for his best friend at sixteen. The tone in Kim's voice as she spoke of him. The fact that she had wanted to do that for him. All of that spoke volumes to Sam about the kind of man that kid would have turned into. The kind of man he had already been.
He nodded. "I'm sure he would have," Sam said in a serious yet gentle tone.
Kim stopped and looked at Sam. She tiled her head slightly. "I don't have a problem with Seals anymore. Just so you know."
Sam's eyebrows raised. "You thought we were bad?" he asked with a slightly teasing tone. Things had been a little intense so he hoped to lighten the mood, just a little.
Kim smiled. "Not bad, just …" she trailed off. She wasn't quite sure how to explain the feeling. It had been irrational when she was younger to not like any Seal, simply because she hadn't been able to fulfill Henry's dream.
"You couldn't be one so you lumped us all together," Sam concluded.
"Something like that," Kim agreed with a small smile. That would do.
"What changed your mind?" Sam asked, as they started walking again.
"A few things."
"Before or after you married one?" Sam asked, glancing at Callen as he spoke. He knew his partner was listening.
"Both," Kim said as they arrived at Hetty's desk.
A/N - Next up...the mission starts... let the fun begin! ;-)
