A/N: Thanks to redmangan23, Rebel Magnus, terken, evershort, ChlollieRockz, and DizzyDrea for reviewing! Thanks to evershort and onlytennis for adding this story to favorites, and thanks to LoveSucks VampiresBite for subscribing to story alerts, story favorites, author alerts, and author favorites.

Now, this chapter has a bit of a twist at the end...I say 'a bit' because it's not very twisty. Hope you enjoy it just the same.

Chapter 5: Three Days Earlier

Nell hummed to herself as she worked on her computer in Ops, quickly gathering appropriate intel for the various operations that were currently active in OSP. Nate, walking in and seeing her, allowed himself a small smile.

"You haven't changed," he noted, coming to sit by her.

Nell glanced up briefly and smiled when she saw him there. "Did you expect me to?"

"Well…" said Nate. "A lot can happen in five years."

"A lot did," she reminded him. "But not to me. You, on the other hand…" She looked at him with a hint of pride. "From the boy next door to psychiatrist to operational psychologist to NCIS field agent."

"And you from my sister's best friend to intelligence analyst for OSP," Nate added. "How's Renee these days?"

"She's doing okay," Nell replied. "Works as a nurse for Pacific Medical. Brother and sister, both doctors." She paused for a while before asking, "Haven't you told her you're in LA?"

Nate exhaled. "No. She doesn't know I work for NCIS, of course. She thinks I'm a psychologist in Utah."

"Hm," Nell mused. "She thinks I'm an IT worker. In LA, though – if I told her otherwise she'd want to know what I was doing in the city every time I happen to bump into her."

"How often does that happen?" Nate queried.

"So far, it hasn't," Nell admitted. She sighed. "It's funny how you and I ended up working for the same agency, isn't it? And how because we work for the same agency I'm closer to you now than to her."

Nate nodded. "Life has a way of surprising you." He shared a glance with her. "But you'll always be like a sister to me."

Nell smiled. "And you'll always be my big brother." She hesitated, then asked, "When do you have to go back to Yemen?"

"Whenever Hetty tells me to."

"And that would be…?"

"I don't know," he admitted. "Soon. But not till this op's over."

"And not till Callen and Kensi have sorted things out between them?" Nell said shrewdly.

"That too." Nate glanced at the screen that was broadcasting live from the Carmels' apartment. "What time does Gordon get there?"

"In a bit," replied Nell. "Eric went down to eat before the action starts up. Sam's running patrol, and Deeks and Renko should be here any moment."

Just then the doors slid open to admit those same two agents.

"Right on cue," said Nell.

"Hey," said Deeks. "What time does the show begin?"

"Soon," Nell replied.

A few minutes later, Eric returned and sat down in his chair. "You ready?" he asked Nell.

"Yep," she replied, enlarging the video footage just as Gordon rang the doorbell of the apartment.

"All right," said Renko. "It's go time. Let's find out what this guy's hiding."

"Dinner is excellent, Alison," Gordon complimented as he swallowed a mouthful of chicken and mashed potatoes.

"Thank you," Kensi said, "But I can't take all the credit. Jacob helped. Surprisingly, he actually can cook." This last was said with a twinkle in her eye that was directed at Callen, who was sitting next to her.

They whiled away the next several minutes with casual dinner conversation, waiting for their cue to begin phase two of the plan.

"Sam, time to make the call," Eric alerted him.

"Got it."

A few seconds later, the OSP operatives in Ops watched as Callen excused himself from the table to answer a phone call.

Callen walked over to the cabinet to answer his ringing phone. "Hello?"

"G, you're on."

Callen faked a surprised, and somewhat worried, look, making sure to lock eyes with Kensi for a few moments before saying into the phone, "Yeah, hang on a minute." He covered the speaker with his hand. "I'm sorry, I have to take this call." Then he retreated into the next room.

Kensi, meanwhile, playing her part perfectly, made a show of looking anxious, before excusing herself to follow after Callen, leaving Gordon at the table. She entered the room to hear Callen speaking rapidly into the phone with just the right hints of worry and anxiety to sell the act.

"What do you mean you can't find…I see. Well, did you even try…no, of course I haven't…that was uncalled for."

"Keep talking, G," Sam told him from the other end. "Nate says Gordon's on the point of coming after you."

"You'll let me know if you get it?" Callen asked.

"Yeah," Sam replied, understanding his real meaning effortlessly.

"Okay, then how about…" Callen paused again and pretended to be listening. "No, no that won't work."

"Okay," said Sam, "Gordon's right outside the room; he can hear everything you're saying. Time to wrap this up."

"Yeah…no, I got it. Sure. Guess I'll have to get it. All right. Bye." He ended the call and looked at Kensi, communicating with his eyes. She nodded.

"Emma again?" she asked quietly – but still making sure her voice would carry to Gordon, just outside.

"Yeah." Callen sighed. "She needs more drugs."

"Jake, maybe this isn't the best idea…" Kensi began.

"You haven't seen her withdrawal, Alison," Callen said, beginning to pace. "It's really bad. The only way to do this is to wean her off the drugs gradually, and since the doctors won't approve that idea and prescribe them for her…"

"Yeah, but maybe we shouldn't be purchasing the drugs illegally for her," Kensi argued. "I don't want us to get in trouble. I'm sure if we explained it carefully to a doctor…"

"We've done that!" Callen said, raising his voice and imbuing it with believable anger. "They won't listen!"

"Jacob…"

Callen sighed. "I know you don't like this, Allie. Neither do I. But Emma's withdrawal is a real bitch. She suffers so much if she doesn't have the drugs…"

"I know it hurts you to see her that way, but Jake – if we keep this up, the cops are gonna find out. That won't do us or Emma any good."

Callen seemed to think about it. "Okay," he said. "You're right. One more package."

"Jake…" Kensi started.

"Just one," he promised. "One more package of the drugs, and then we stop buying them for Emma. She should be weaned off by then, anyway."

Kensi sighed. "Okay, but where are we going to –" She broke off midsentence as she 'suddenly' caught sight of Gordon listening outside. "Jacob…"

Callen looked to where she was pointing and his eyes widened. He cornered Gordon and demanded, "How much did you hear?"

"Enough," Gordon replied, unfazed by Callen's proximity.

"Please don't tell anyone," Kensi pleaded. "We're not bad people, really – we just want to help Emma."

Gordon held his hands up. "I'm not judging you," he assured them. "I know what it's like to have to make hard decisions because of someone you care about. However," he added, "if you're really serious about getting the drugs to help this Emma, I know where you can get them."

"You do?" Callen asked.

"Who are you?" Kensi demanded.

"I'm someone who can give you what you need," Gordon said. "Remember I said I ran my own business? This is my product."

"You're a drug dealer?" Callen questioned.

Gordon looked pained. "I prefer to think of myself as an unregistered pharmacist," he disagreed. "Now, do you want my help or not?"

Callen and Kensi exchanged glances, pretending to think about it, before Callen answered, "We're in."

"Yes, we are," Renko said gleefully when he heard Callen's response. "Ha! We'll be busting this drug ring before the week is out."

Eric and Nell high-fived each other. Callen and Kensi had just accomplished their objective – proved that Gordon was a drug lord, and gotten into a deal with him in order to uncover more facets of the drug ring. They'd done it again.

He was doing it again. He was keeping things to himself, excluding her, not telling her anything about what he was doing. She'd tried to be understanding, tried to put up with it – Callen was Callen, after all, and he was a secretive person by nature – but this was going too far – especially after all that had happened in Prague.

She had half a mind not to let him in when he knocked on her door that night, but she wanted to have a very serious conversation with him, face-to-face.

"Callen," she greeted, opening the door.

"Hey, Kenz," he returned with a smile – a smile that faded once he saw how frosty she was. "Aw, come on – you're not still upset about today, are you?"

"Callen," she said in a quiet, deadly voice, "I hate to say this, but you did it again."

"Did what?" He seemed genuinely puzzled.

"Kept a secret that affects the team!" she exclaimed, raising her voice. He took a step back at the anger in her voice.

"Kensi…"

"No, don't 'Kensi' me," she interrupted. "Callen, we've been over this over and over again – and you still don't get it. Everyone has a right to their secrets, I know – and I'm not begrudging you that – but your secrets have a habit of taking you away from the team when we need you. And we need you more now that Hetty's on medical leave."

"Kensi –"

"Sam and Deeks and I were on our own because you took off looking for your past again!" she almost shouted at him.

"You're saying I shouldn't search for my past?" he asked, getting angry. "For who I am?"

"I'm not saying that, Callen…"

"Then what?" he demanded.

"I'm saying you shouldn't put your past ahead of the present – the future – you have," she told him. "Damn it, Callen – I know you want to find out who you are and where you come from, but can't you see it's not worth losing your future over?"

"My past determines my future, Kensi!"

"No, it doesn't," she disagreed. "Your past is just that – your past. What's important is what's happening here, with people you know now."

"You don't understand, Kensi," he said. "I know nothing – nothing – of my family or where I come from…you don't know what that's like, growing up with no one…"

"Funny," she said acidly, "I seem to remember spending the majority of my teenage years without my father."

"That's different!" he argued. "You lost your father at fifteen – I lost mine before I ever knew him. Same thing with my mother. But you…"

"Don't go there, Callen." Something in her tone had changed; it was suddenly low, and brimming with warning and defensiveness. The sudden quiet was deafening.

It was enough to make Callen rethink his words. "Kenz?" he asked uncertainly.

She walked away from him, her back rigid, her shoulders stiff. Callen began to feel like he was missing something.

"Kensi…"

"I never told you what happened to my mother, did I?" she said quietly, still not looking at him. "Everybody just assumed I had one, that the only tragedy in my life was my father."

A sense of foreboding made itself known inside Callen's gut. "What are you saying, Kensi?"

She finally turned back to him, her brown eyes distant and guarded. It reminded him of the time just before she'd opened up to tell him about Jack, that night when their relationship had taken such a personal turn.

"My mother," she said, "left me and my father three weeks after I was born. I never knew her; I grew up without a mother, just like you."

Callen's breath left him like a ton of bricks had just smashed into his gut. He saw now that he'd made a horrible mistake in thinking that Kensi wouldn't understand – he'd always assumed she'd had a mother, even after her father died…never once did it cross his mind that she might be in his same situation in that way. And he'd accused her of not knowing, because she'd always had her mother…

"Yeah, that's right," she said, noting the way his eyes changed as he realized what she was saying. "I never had a mother, Callen. And the worst thing was, she made the decision to leave me. She chose to leave me and my father. Your mother never did that. She didn't leave willingly. Mine did." Her tone was neutral, detached; but Callen knew that on the inside she was hurting – and it was his fault for bringing it up.

"Kenz, I'm sorry," he apologized, coming to stand beside her. "I never knew." He cautiously laid a hand on her shoulder; she shook it off.

"I don't even know why I'm getting so upset," she mused, almost to herself. "It's not like it's a new thing for me…getting left behind by people I care about."

"Kensi, no – hey, look here." He turned her face towards him. "I warned you that I'd be taking off sometimes, remember? But I promised I'd always come back. And yes, I left today, but I came back – and I'll come back the next time, and the next, and the next. You hear me, Kenz? I'll always come back."

"But that's just the thing," she told him. "I don't want you to come back. I want you to be there for me, when I need you – or even when I don't. I want you to be here, Callen, with me."

Callen didn't like where this was going. "So you're saying…?"

Kensi sighed, bracing herself to say what had been on her mind. "I'm saying, Callen, that I want…I want more."

"What we have isn't good enough?" he questioned.

"It's a good thing that we have, Callen," she said earnestly, "but it can be better. And that's what I want. I want…I want a real relationship, and not this half-and-half arrangement we have." She looked at him with pleading eyes.

Callen shuffled his feet, uncomfortable. Why did it have to come to this? He'd been happy with what they had – why couldn't she be, too?

"Callen?" Kensi queried softly.

""I can't Kenz," he said finally. "I know you want more, and I know you deserve more – but I just can't give it to you. I'm sorry."

She nodded, refusing to let the tears that prickled at the corners of her eyes spill over.

"Kenz, I'm sorry," he said again.

"No, it's okay, Callen," she said. "I really shouldn't have expected more. I mean, I know you. You're the lone wolf."

"Kensi…" he began.

"I think you'd better go," she told him, backing away.

Callen tried again, though. "Kenz…"

"Callen, please." She glanced up at him, and he saw her brimming tears. "Please just go."

He nodded. "Okay, Kensi. Goodnight." He left, closing the door behind him.

And once he was gone, Kensi sank to the floor, curled herself up, and allowed herself to cry.

After explaining to Gordon that Jacob Carmel had a niece who was addicted to cocaine whom they were trying to wean off slowly, and after working out several business deals until settling on one they liked, Callen and Kensi bade goodnight to Gordon and saw him out. Then they started on washing the dishes, spending several minutes in silence before Kensi spoke.

"Callen, what happened between us?"

Callen paused midway wiping down a plate to consider her question. Before he answered, he asked her a query of his own with his eyes; she replied in the negative. No, there aren't any cameras in the kitchen.

"I'm not entirely sure," he confessed. "But I think…disregarding all the other issues we had…our main problem was that you deserved more than I could give you."

Kensi considered his honest answer; one fact struck her. "You're talking as if the relationship is already over."

Callen raised an eyebrow. "Isn't it?"

"No, I don't think so." She placed the last dish on the rack and stepped closer to him. "I think we still have a chance. I still want to give it another try, if you're willing…if you can try to give me what I want."

Callen stared at her. "Kenz…"

She took it as a good sign that he was using his nickname for her for the first time in weeks.

"First time we decided to try, you convinced me," she continued. "Now I'm the one doing the convincing."

"Kensi, it didn't turn out well, remember?" he reminded her. "It didn't work."

"But maybe it's different now," she pointed out.

"What if it's not?" he countered. "What if it turns out exactly the same way as last time?"

"I don't know," she admitted. "But we'll never know if we don't try."

"Kensi, I can't promise you anything," he said, almost desperately. "I really don't know if…if I can give you what you're asking."

She simply sidled even closer. "As long as you try – really try – that's good enough for me."

Back in OSP, Nate watched in stunned amazement as Callen and Kensi came back into view of the living room camera. Something had changed in their dynamic – something that tipped Nate off and alerted him to what was really going on.

"Oh, my God…" he breathed in shock. "They're a couple."

"What?" Deeks asked.

"Callen and Kensi," explained Nate. "They're together."

A/N: All right, I'll admit it - my whole purpose of bringing Nate back was so he could observe Callen and Kensi and identify what has changed in their relationship. Being a psychologist, he's trained to notice these sort of things. And by the way, I have good news: I've finished writing the story, so I can now tell you that there will be twelve proper chapters, in addition to the prologue. So that leaves seven more chapters plus the epilogue.

Episode references of the flashback allude to Lockup (Season 2 Episode 14), Imposters (Season 2 Episode 23), Familia (Season 2 Episode 24), Lange, H. (Season 3 Episode 1), and Cyber Threat (Season 3 Episode 2).