Author's Note: Apologies for the delay in this story. The chapters are short, as well, so I'm sure you all wouldn't mind if the updates were more frequent… but, you know…

PART ONE: CALLEN

Chapter Ten: Into the Woods…

"Where'd you stash your gear?" Callen asked, as he rapidly attempted to determine the direction in which they should run. He could hear shouts in the distance... but it wasn't quite distant enough for his liking.

"About two clicks west," Nell Jones answered, looking to him with her big doe eyes, her hand still held in his.

"Where's your transportation?"

"About ten miles North-northwest."

Okay. Okay. Decision time. He didn't know the terrain around where Nell's gear was stashed. He had, however, put some thought into his own emergency stash's hiding place. Also, it was due north, which put them a little more on track to a real escape vehicle.

"Alright," he said, giving her what he hoped was a reassuring smile. "We'll head for my stashed gear. We can also hole-up there if we need to."

He took a moment to orient himself, which was admittedly a bit difficult with the slightly dizzying ache in his head, the smoke billowing along the tree line, the shouts, and the... shit, gunfire! Finding the approximate direction, he tugged on Nell's hand, and began to run... well, more fast-hike, given the uneven ground, which was rife with exposed roots and slippery with leaf mold.

Callen wasn't sure if it was a good thing or a bad one that he hadn't been able to disappear for a long enough duration to place his stash a more solid distance away from the anarchists' camp. It was only a 20 minute walk, which they covered in 15 minutes. After he'd moved the brush cover, and retrieved the well-stocked (well-stocked in his opinion, anyway) pack from the hole, it was time to make the real tactical decisions about their situation. He could hear... not so much shouts, anymore, but the forest being disturbed, branches trampled, birds and rodents agitated. The anarchists would search. They'd be fools not to... but the question was for how long? Sloan was no idiot. If they could find the traitor and the spy and silence them quick, then no harm, no foul. But at a certain point it would be more logical to pack up camp and depart before the wrath of any authorities came down upon them. But how much time would be worth it? If he and Nell booked it for the nearest road, it would still take them, what? Three hours? So say three hours until Sloan called off the search. Knowing the man, though, he also would keep enough men back to begin packing up the operation.

"We have two options, as I see it," Callen said, turning to face the his young, yet apparently quite capable, companion. "We hole up while they get the bloodhound worked out of their systems. Or we keep moving and hope we outpace them."

Nell chewed her lip. "The logical option would be to move his operation, rather than risk it in pursuing us relentlessly. What do you think Sloan would do?"

"I think it might be worth it to him to see us dead, but even just a few hours of searching is overreaching his resources and the benefit of hunting us down, especially since what we know only minimally compromises his plans. I have some water, and we can probably keep moving for several hours, but depending on their search pattern, it might not be as easy as simply being faster."

"Then hiding out seems the smart choice," Nell said, and then oddly enough, smiled. "Doesn't seem your style, Callen."

He shrugged. "Surviving is my style."

First things first, however. He pulled out the SIG he'd stashed in the pack, and one of the three magazines, loading it and checking the weapon, before holstering it and placing it near the mouth of the little hollow where he'd stashed the small pack.

"What you got?" he asked Nell. She checked her Glock.

"Eight rounds."

"Good. Keep it handy, just in case." He pulled out a knife, offered it to Nell, but she shook her head, saying she was no good with them, so he kept it for himself. What else would they need readily available? Water, maybe? A flashlight. The light was waning fast, and it would be full dark by the time they emerged from their hidey-hole. He quickly set aside the items he wanted on hand, and the shoved the pack down into the dark earth.

He'd found the spot after several nights searching, when he'd been able to sneak away after everyone but the sentry was sound asleep. He knew the patterns of the various guys who traded off sitting watch well enough to slip by them. It wasn't as obvious as a cave or crevasse in a rock outcropping, rather it was a gap in the earth where a large tree used to have its roots, the tree which was currently a rotting log two feet to his left him. He'd simply had to drag some brush over, then cover his tracks, and he had a great hiding place for an emergency stash... and now a personnel stash. Except... was it large enough, would they both fit? He was taller and larger, so maybe he should climb in first...?

Nell raised her eyebrows at the intensity of his gaze, as he studied her stature. They should both fit, but...

"This might be tight," he said, placing his hands on the packed earth above the rabbit hole and sliding his legs in. He held out his arms in invitation to Nell, whose eyes had gotten very large indeed. "Hope you're not claustrophobic."

She swallowed visibly. Oh, shit.

"You are claustrophobic, aren't you?" he asked. Okay, maybe this wasn't a good plan.

"Not quite to the phobia stage..." she said. "...Yet."

"You'll be fine, Nell. I won't let anything happen to you." He hoped his voice was as reassuring and confident as he wanted it to sound. "C'mon."

She nodded in that way people do when they're having an internal pep talk. He could practically hear her thoughts. You can do this, Nell. You can do this. You can do this. You can do this. You can... She took a deep breath, and practically got a running start, which made him wince slightly, but she slowed at the appropriate moment, and shifted, and he felt her weight ease down on his stomach. He dared open one eye to find her straddling him, which was oh, so inappropriate. He closed his eyes again, which was probably worse because now he only had the movement of her petite, most decidedly female body against him, as she slid her legs back on top of his and shimmied a little so her breasts were pressing into his stomach and her head was laying on his chest. Unfortunately, their upper bodies were still outside of the glorified rabbit hole. He wiggled and shimmied his way into the space, until his head was barely even with the opening, pulling the few items he'd reserved into the dark space, and then straining to reach the branches of the brush cover to close up the hiding spot.

It was very dark.

And they should've ran for it.

Because Nell Jones began to freak out.

A/N: Yeah, I know it's a cliché. But you have to give me at least the forced cuddles if I'm to continue along my plan/goal of making this primarily an action/friendship story. (There may be deleted scenes of romance/smut posted separately, because I just can't help myself… but then you can choose to read them or just stick the 'friendly' version. I'll let you know how it works out.)

A/N2: I'm not all that familiar with C4... If adhered to a tree, would it cause a fire/smoke? Or is the blast so quick/focused that it would just blow apart some of the tree/cut down a smaller tree? (Oh, the questions that drive a person crazy when lacking an internet connection while writing…) Also, I'm just sort of making up crap about where all of this is going down. So accuracy, obviously, not really happening here. But fun (I hope)!