Custody of the Heart - Chapter 3

45 minutes ago

Marty Deeks jerked awake at the sound of an atrocious techno song projecting at the highest volume his smart phone could accomplish. The pain his head pulsated with each beat of the song, one of his partner's favorites. A ring tone that he would change. He hated that particular song more so in this moment for it penetrating his dreams. He looked around the pitch dark room for a millisecond before he realized he was home in his bedroom. He groaned in a mixture of pain and annoyance as he rolled over in the bed to blindly reach for his smart phone on one of the bedside tables. He knocked the device off the table.

The sound continued. Deeks dived halfway off the bed. Dangling over the right side of the large bed he blindly searched for it. He sighed heavily as he clapped twice to activate the bedroom light. He searched for the phone with his tired blue eyes. Still unable to locate it, he glanced under the bed.

"A-ha," He exclaimed as his fingers touched then grasped the device. He pressed the accept option as he lay back unto the bed. He greeted the caller, "Deeks."

"Hello, Detective Deeks." The voice was kindly professional. "My name is Sergeant Cherilyn Straw. Our officers have encountered someone on your red list. I thought it best to contact you immediately."

Deeks instantly woke up. He jumped out of the bed. Hurriedly, he grabbed a grey hooded sweatshirt off the dresser before he slipped on a pair of sandals by the door. Out of clarification, he asked, "Which one?"

Sergeant Cherilyn Straw promptly replied, "Nell Jones."

He froze in the threshold of his bedroom door. His heart skipped a beat as his stomach fluttered in nausea. He had expected it to be Callen or possibly Hetty. A few hours ago, Callen had dropped Sam, Eric, Kensi, and himself off at their respective homes. Callen had been stone-cold sober whereas he, Deeks, had been slightly buzzed. The other three had been plastered which was out of character for papa seal, Sam.

Setting aside his emotions he felt toward his friend, Nell, he slipped into detective mode.

"What happened?"

She answered, "Officers French and Frye encountered an automobile with a female driver parked in the emergency lane..." Once Deeks comprehended that Nell had not been in an accident or caught in a dangerous situation he stopped listening to the sergeant that he had once made the mistake of calling Sergeant Cherry Straw. As the Sergeant continued to speak, he attempted to figure out why Nell whom had forgone a night out with the team due to a migraine was now parked at four in the morning on the side of the highway. As he walked down the hallways, he slipped the grey hoodie on. It became clear that the Sergeant had become aware that he had either stopped listening or had lost signal. She said, "Detective? Detective?"

Deeks answered as he began to walk down the stairs of his home, "Yes, I'm sorry. Can you repeat the question?"

"No problem, Detective, I understand I awoke you so I will not keep you much longer." He retrained from the laugh that he wanted to make. She had never treated him with much respect or reverence before he had become the LAPD Liaison for the NCIS Office of Special Projects; before the transfer to NCIS, she would have given him a tongue lashing for not listening to her every word. "Miss Jones has not broken any laws nor does she appear to be experiencing mechanical issue with her car. Officer French hypothesizes that she pulled over due to the heavy rain. There is no due cause to approach her legally, however both officers are concerned for her safety due to recent car hijacks in the area. They will abide by your direction. Do you want them to approach her?"

He grabbed a pen as well to make quick notes on the back of his left hand. Normally he could remember all of the details, but he was slightly buzzed, still. He didn't want to risk forgetting anything. He knew that he should contact Callen for two reasons: he was the Agent in Charge of the team; he is Nell's boyfriend. However, his gut told him not to call Callen; Deeks would trust his gut regardless of whether he was sober, buzzed, or drunk.

"No, let her be. I'll check on her." Deeks replied as he grabbed his car keys from the table to the right of the bottom of the staircase. "What highway is she on?"

He paused writing the information that Sergeant Straw provided. His brow furrowed as he switched the phone from one ear to the other. "Thank you, Sergeant Straw."

As he disconnected the call, he tilted his head in confusion and contemplation. What in the world was Nell doing on the opposite side of Los Angeles? She was nearer his house than her and Callen's house.

Callen.

Deeks clenched his jaw before he inhaled deeply and exhaled slowly as he secured the home security alarm and locked his front door. He grimaced at the rain and the situation his friend had found herself. He pressed the alarm button on the key chain to deactivate the automobile security system. The rain soaked a great portion of his body as he ran to the vehicle. His bare feet inside the sandals felt icky while the sandals felt squishy. He bit the inside of cheek as he opened the driver side door of his vehicle. He dialed Nell's phone number with one hand as he buckled his seat belt with the other.

The call was answered after three rings. Unable to conceal his disappointment and confusion, Deeks asked in a bitter tone, "Nell Bell, what the hell did Callen do this time?"

Instead of Nell's voice replying to the question. It was Callen whom retorted scornfully. Deeks' gut instinct not to call him seemed to be correct as it appeared that he was the cause for her being on the side of the road.

Callen propped his left elbow on the windowsill of the driver side door of his parked Mercedes. "Why do you think that I did something to her?" Sorrowfully, from under an underpass safe from the downpour, he watched the parked mini-cooper parked several miles down the dark road get pelt with rain. "I think the real question is why you are calling Nell in the middle of the night." As if he tried not to cry, his voice cracked. "You two got something on the side?" He laughed mockingly at Deeks and himself. "I wonder what Kensi would think."

Momentarily, Deeks was caught off guard that Nell did not have her phone. She did not go anywhere without some form of technology on her person. He listened to Callen and analyzed what he said. Called was pissed, hurt, and surprisingly jealous. For someone who was usually in control of his emotions, Callen was not during this conversation. Deeks pressed buttons on his steering wheel to switch the call from his phone to the Bluetooth of the vehicle so he could safely talk and drive. Upon hearing Kensi's name, Deeks rolled his eyes. Angrily, Deeks sped his tires more so than necessary as he backed out of his driveway. He was angry that Nell was on the side of the road without her phone and for the implication that Callen had made about Nell and himself. The label of being a cheater, he could handle; he knew it wasn't true as well as he hoped that Kensi knew. He had cheated before albeit because of an undercover operation. Nell Jones was not unfaithful.

"I will repeat," Deeks stated, firmly. "What did you do to her?

Author's Note:

There are no words or pleasantries or excuses or reasons to give to make it acceptable for how long of a delay in update this and other Nallen stories have had.

Six years is an inexcusable amount of time to not update regardless of reasoning's. Most readers had probably given up on an update a long time ago and I regret that. I'm sorry, truly. Although, I did not update this or other Nallen stories, I never totally gave up on them. I had hoped to return to them even if sometimes that hope was a flicker.

I know this one is a shorter chapter, but I promise the next one will be longer…and you won't have to wait six years for an update. I hope to update Friday or Saturday of this week.

- Bren