After finishing lunch, Kensi took some time to prepare herself to head in to OSP. It seemed silly, in a way, to have to mentally prepare herself to go to the place where she spent most of her time - but still, she felt the need to step back and make herself ready to go. She knew it would be difficult to face the team, but she also knew that they needed to see her, almost as much as she needed them, and wanted some semblance of normalcy. At the same time, she wondered what "normal" was going to feel like now.
Deeks had kept Hetty in the loop about Kensi's progress, and messaged her as they headed out the door. He was honestly unsure what kind of reaction Kensi would get from her teammates and how she would react, but he wanted things to go as smooth as possible. Upon arrival, he glanced at his nervous passenger to see how she was feeling, but she had put up her walls and was doing her best to appear unaffected by what had happened.
Entering the buliding, Sam and Callen called out their greetings cautiously. While they could see through the thin veneer of confidence and calm that Kensi had put up, they went with it and treated her the same as any other day. A cup of coffee and a donut were on her desk, which made her smile.
"Thanks guys. Deeks isn't letting me have enough coffee. This is awesome." She grinned as she took a huge gulp.
"Just trying to keep you from going stir crazy, princess" Deeks retorted. "You've got enough energy without the caffeine. You'd be climbing the walls if I let you have your usual five cups a day!"
Kensi was about to turn and stick her tongue out at him, but was interrupted by a familiar voice.
"There she is. And even on time, despite Deeks driving! Will wonders never cease." Nate teased gently as he came down the stairs. Kensi smiled at him.
"I just want to go say hi to Eric and Nell, then we can go to your office?" She suggested, but Nate blocked her way.
"They're pretty busy right now." He said cautiously. "Why don't you check in with them a bit later."
Kensi gave him a look, and then turned to Callen and Sam who were doing their best to appear relaxed, but she saw past the facade.
"What aren't you guys telling me?" She asked, glaring at her teammates then turning back to Nate. Deeks felt the urge to make a joke about angry Kensi making an appearance, but wisely held his tongue.
"Mr. Beale has been up all night following a lead, with Ms. Jones' help. They should be finished by the time your appointment with Mr. Getz is done." Hetty said as she silently appeared.
"Let's go upstairs to talk." Nate said, gesturing in the direction of the second staircase, away from Ops. Kensi looked back at her coworkers once more before following Nate, with Deeks close behind. Nate's office had been aired out after months of being unused. Kensi and Deeks sank down into the couch, while Nate took a seat across from them, taking a deep breath. He looked at Deeks first and the two exchanged a look, which didn't go unnoticed by Kensi. She glared at Deeks then at Nate.
"Spill it. Now. Or I'm going to Ops, because Eric can't lie worth beans." She said.
"Your attackers copied information from your phone. They sent a threatening message to Nell last night, indicating she was next." Nate started to explain. A look of horror crossed Kensi's face.
"Oh, God, no. Not Nell. Is she ok?" Kensi choked
"She's fine, Kens." Deeks reassured her. "She's really up in Ops, helping Eric follow up on it."
"Wait, copied from my phone... are we compromised? They didn't get anything classified, did they?" She continued, sounding panicked.
"Kensi, stop. All they copied was Nell's number, and our tracking program. We are ok." Deeks said, grabbing her hands. "Nell is ok. OSP is good. But we need to focus on you." He said firmly. When she calmed down and started to focus, Nate continued.
"I'm sorry Kensi. But there's more. And there's no easy way to say this. Your attackers didn't just send Nell a message. They also sent her a video." Nate paused, allowing the information to sink in. Deeks squeezed her hand, watching closely. "The video was of you. They recorded part of your attack."
The colour drained from Kensi's face, and Deeks once again felt helpless. Nate watched and waited, unsure what kind of a reaction to expect. The silence in the room was tense - verging on smothering - as Kensi tried to process what she had heard and form a reaction. Her face twisted through a range of emotions before settling on a combination of anger and horror.
"Who watched it?" She finally managed to ask, glaring at Nate. It was Deeks who responded.
"Kens, is that important?" He asked, quickly realizing that was the wrong thing to say as she flew into a rage.
"YES!" She screamed as she stood up. "It's important. It matters. After what I went through the last thing I want is for anyone to WATCH it. Let alone people who know me, or respect me. I don't want anyone to think of me like THAT." She continued yelling, storming around the room. "So yes, it's important. I want to know who watched it, because I want to know who will be thinking about it every time I see them." She glared at Nate. "Who. Watched. It." She demanded.
"Kensi, no one is going to judge you or think less of you. And your team knows you are so much more than what happened to you." Nate tried to reassure.
"Who. Watched. The. Video." Kensi demanded, standing over Nate.
"Eric watched the first few seconds when Nell received it. As far as I know, Nell hasn't seen it. Callen and Sam reviewed it for evidence, and Eric has been editing the screen captures for facial recognition. And Hetty asked me to watch it so that I would have a better idea of how to help. But that's it." He told her rapidly. For a moment, he thought she was going to punch him, but instead she turned suddenly and glared at Deeks.
"How long have you known about this?" She asked him, her voice cracking with anger and sadness.
"When I called this morning to talk to Hetty." He admitted, hanging his head. "I know I should have told you, but I didn't know how. And I wanted you to enjoy this morning." He told her, pleading. She glared at him a moment, before storming from the room.