Sorry for any mistakes it is crazy late and I didn't proof yet I will try and do that tomorrow sometime. Thanks for all the great replies keep em' coming I hope you enjoy this chapter.
It was early and thankfully no one was there yet. This gave Nell the chance to sit in Ops and think…not about a case but what happened 2 nights ago. She still could not believe Callen had kissed her and not just a friendly peck; not a heat of the moment lustful passionate kiss; it was a loving kiss…caring and meaningful. Nell just wished she knew what they meaning was. After the kiss neither really knew what to say and it was late so Callen gave her a smile and a gentle squeeze on the arm before taking off for the night….unfortunately he wasn't in work the next day and hadn't heard from him since.
"Where is Callen," Nell heard Kensi ask from the bullpen?
"Undercover."
"Callen is undercover," Nell asked coming down the stairs?
"Nell you're here early," Sam stated.
"Yeah I was doing some research for Hetty. I didn't know Callen was undercover…what assignment? Shouldn't we be tracking him?"
"It's more of a stake out…he is in no danger and LAD is back him."
Sam was clearly not concerned and confident Callen was not in any danger. Nell knew how fiercely protective Sam was of Callen and their whole Ops team so she took a little comfort in that but still did not like being left out of the loop.
"Ms Jones a word," Hetty said appearing before the group. "Everyone else up to ops we have a case."
Sam, Kensi and Deeks filed upstairs leaving the young analyst behind. Knowing she would not need to initiate the conversation Nell waited for Hetty to address her.
"Have you spoken to the psychologist yet?"
Hetty nodded her head after getting no response from the woman before her.
"I see well it is a good thing I scheduled you for another appointment today since you missed her one yesterday. You will meet with him before you return to ops."
Nell wanted to protest and explain to Hetty that she was fine and she didn't need to talk to anyone but knew that would get her nowhere.
"Before I go can I ask you why I didn't know Callen was undercover? I mean we should be tracking him, making sure he is ok and not in any trouble."
Hetty just smiled and started heading for the stairs.
"Don't be late for your appointment Ms Jones," Hetty said with a smile.
Nell watched her leave suddenly racking her brain wondering if Hetty knew about the kiss. For a fraction of a second Nell relaxed knowing there was no way Hetty could have known about the kiss…but then she remembered it was Hetty who somehow knew everything…even the impossible.
She spent the next hour with the psychologist and while he was no Nate she found it actually beneficial to talk to someone about being kidnapped and held at gun point. She was able to learn a little about herself and some useful tools on how to deal with situations in the future. She was even able to learn some quick relaxation techniques to help her in her everyday life….which with this job and this team she would probably use on a daily basis.
By the time she made it to Ops the team was already out in the field and Eric is busy typing away at his computer. It looked like it was going to be one of those days….maybe she would get to use those relaxation techniques sooner then she thought.
Being one man down made things a little harder on the team and they had to be extra careful with everything they did. Nell had been in overdrive mode all day and after the arrest was made just after midnight she was finally able to head home. She wanted nothing more than to crawl into her bed curl up deep under her covers and get some much needed sleep. Her brain was almost too tired to ever ponder the kiss right now…something that had been in the back of her mind all day but was able to put her professional face on when needed.
"Uuughhhhh," Nell groaned peeking her head out from under the covers looking at the large red numbers of her clock that read 2:03AM.
She blindly reached for her phone her mood going from annoyed to a giddy school girl seeing Callen's name flash across her screen at the incoming text.
"I am bored what are you doing," she read?
Nell rolled her eyes.
"You know not everyone is awake at 2am practicing Russian and taking apart toasters."
Nell nearly jumped out of her skin when instead of a return text her phone started ringing.
"доброе утро"
"Hmm it is not morning yet G…I just went to sleep an hour ago," Nell said still half asleep even though she is excited to be talking to him.
"Yes and since we were a man down it took a little more work…we got him though."
"I am glad everything went well….trust me I rather be there then here."
"Where is here exactly? I didn't even know you were going undercover."
"I am not really undercover more on a stake out…I just needed a backup plan in case I needed it but so far it has been quiet. Yeah nothing little sitting outside a seedy bar for two days waiting for two guys to show up at the same time….and really why must everything happen in the middle of the night. One guy showed up last night around 1am the other guy shows up tonight just after midnight but left before the other guy showed up again at 1am."
"You ever think they have a go between inside?"
"Yeah they have LAPD on the inside and so far nothing. Tomorrow is my last night if it doesn't go down."
"Good I don't like you undercover without the team as back up."
"LAPD is here."
"They aren't NCIS," Nell said firmly.
Callen got a small smile on her face.
"Are you…are you worried about me," Callen said the smile growing by the second?
"What," Nell asked laughing nervously. "No I am not worried about it," she added sputtering.
"Ms Jones I believe you are lying."
Nell could hear the playfulness in his voice and knew she was busted.
"I don't like we don't have your back."
"Trust me there is no one I want more having my back then this team and you," he added making sure to single her out.
Suddenly Nell remembered the kiss they shared a few nights ago and realized they still hadn't talked about it.
"I would much rather be there with yo….
Nell jerked the phone away from her ear hearing what she could only assume were gun shots followed by an explosion and then nothing.
"Callen….CALLEN," she yelled into the phone realizing it was dead.
She quickly tried to call him back and it went straight to voicemail. Nell went from half asleep to fully alert and on the move in less than 60 seconds. She dialed her agent alert number as she was flying towards the ops center breaking probably every motor vehicle law out there.
Everyone arrived within minutes and Nell was already briefing them on the explosion that could involve Callen. She was triangulation his last call and getting a location on him. She sent the info to Sam, Kensi and Deeks and they were on their way. Eric was bringing up every street camera in the area but it being night time it was a little difficult to get a good idea of what happened. It was clear there was an explosion, the smoke only adding to the difficult visual conditions.
"Mr. Beale being up the cameras from about 2am."
"2:13am," Nell clarified.
Eric paused for a moment giving her a questioning stare before loading the video. Mere seconds after rolling the pop of gun fire could be seen and a few short seconds after that the explosion.
"Callen could be in anyone of these cars…it's too dark to get plates and after the explosion it is hard to see where the people are emerging from if it is the cars or the neighborhood or both," Eric explained.
Nell was trying her best not to break down right now but she knew that would do no good. Callen was one of the best and he was probably fine…however Nell didn't like probably she wanted certainty. The scene was only 10 minutes away but it felt like hours before they could see Sam, Kensi and Deeks arrive on scene. Nell had been pacing Ops jumping from computer to computer trying to get any additional information she could on what she didn't know…anything to keep her mind busy.
"Why haven't they called us to let us know what is going on?"
"Nell they have only been there a few minutes…Callen was not the only one in the area a lot of LAPD were around…we will hear as soon as they know."
Five minutes went by then ten minutes and fifteen and still nothing. Eric, Nell and Hetty all watched the team the best they could through the grainy feed.
"What is Sam doing," Eric asked?
Sam was looking all around and finally found what he was looking for he focused in on one camera and gave the thumbs up.
"Thumbs up we are good right," Eric asked hopeful?
"All good Mr. Beale."
Nell let out a sign of relief. She hadn't seen Callen yet but knew if Sam gave the thumbs up then everything was all right.
"Mr. Callen," Hetty said answering her phone.
Nell couldn't stick around long. Now that she knew Callen was safe and she had a minute to think about things her emotions came flooding to the surface. She could feel the tears burning her eyes trying desperately to hold them back. Quickly she grabbed her things and raced out of ops.
…No Mr. Callen I don't care if you say you are fine you are to get checked out by the medical personal. Don't approach Sam and remain undercover…get checked out then get out of there….And Mr. Callen I would recommend making a pit stop on your way home and not to the office," Hetty informed before ending the call.
Nell got back home at 4am and even though she only had an hour of sleep the adrenaline coursing through her she could have run a marathon. There was zero chance she was going to be sleeping tonight so she got a pint of rocky road ice cream and plopped down on the couch. It only took seconds for the tears to burn her eyes again but this time she had no reason to hold back.
It wasn't until almost an hour later when there was a knock on her door. Nell didn't know how much more she could take today and hoped this wasn't the bearer of bad news. She wiped the tears from her cheeks and answered the door. Her breath caught in her throat when she saw Callen standing there.
Nell just stood there praying this wasn't a dream. Callen wasn't sure what to do after seeing her. He played out exactly what he was going to say the whole ride over but after seeing her with tear stains on her cheeks that all flew out the window. She wasn't saying anything and he thought briefly that she was mad at him…mad at him for not telling her she was going undercover…mad at him for getting shot at and almost blown up….just mad.
Almost unprepared for it Callen stumbled backward as Nell jumped into his arms wrapping her arms and legs around him tightly never wanting to let go.
"Stay," she whispered into his neck.
Callen stepped into her apartment shutting the door behind him.
