Hey everyone! Time for Chapter 12! Sorry, it took my a bit to get this typed up, but the end of school is approaching in a less then a month, and I've been veryyyyy busy! So...I hope everyone enjoys this chapter, and hopefully I'll be able to get the next chapter up even quicker this time! And K and I are soooooo
thrilled with the reviews we got last chapter, they were amazing! Please keep it up, we LOVE to know what everyone's thinking!
ENJOY!
Disclaimer: I wish I owed them all...but I don't!
2 Days later...
Nell woke up and blinked awake. She rubbed sleep from her eyes, then blinked over towards Eric, remembering that she had retreated to his room after her last nightmare. Eric rolled over, feeling the bed shift as Nell moved. He yawned, opening his eyes. He gave her a gentle smile.
" 'Morning."
"Hi..." Nell said, yawning.
"Did you get any sleep?" He noticed that she still looked exhausted. Her nightmares had probably kept her up a lot, just like his had kept him up late.
"A little bit...not much..." She could tell he was exhausted too. Eric nodded.
"Nightmares bad last night?" He knew when they were bad, she came and slept next to him. Nell nodded, shuddering.
"You had nightmares too."
"Yeah... I did." He answered quietly.
"I...I heard you...You were trying to be quiet, but I heard."
"Did I wake you up? I'm sorry if I did?"
"No, you didn't. I couldn't fall back asleep and I heard you." Eric got out of bed and stretched. He grabbed clothes and went to the bathroom to change. He came back out and went over to Nell.
"What would you like for breakfast?" He asked, changing the subject quickly. He didn't want to think about his nightmares.
"Bagels...Bagels with cream cheese. If that's ok with you."
"Sure, that's fine." He smiled, then went downstairs to get breakfast ready. Nell went and changed into jeans and a long sleeve t-shirt, before she joined him downstairs. Eric put the bagels on the table with drinks. He pulled out Nell's chair for her, then sat down after she did.
"Thanks." Nell whispered.
"You're welcome." They started eating, and Nell sipped her juice. Both were silent. Nell spoke first.
"I...I had a good dream last night...W-We were playing Mario-Kart on a giant TV screen. Then Deeks and Kensi came in. They called it...Ops. What's Ops?"
"Ops is where we work. We work for a division of NCIS called OSP, or Special Projects, and Ops is our tech center. There's lots of computers and a huge touch screen. That's the TV you saw." He chuckled a little. "Hetty doesn't like when we play video games on it. But we've done it before."
"Oh...ok." She blinked. "W-When you were hurt...d-did I beat them up? Because...that was a nightmare I had..."
"Yeah...you did. You tried to protect me." He answered. "So...what would you like to do today?"
"You know...it helps to talk about it..."
"I'm fine Nell. I don't really want to talk about it." Nell blinked, then silently ate her bagel.
"I may not fully remember yet...but you don't look...fine..." Eric rubbed at his legs. The stitches were starting hurt really bad. He went into the kitchen and took a painkiller before going back to the table.
"Alright...I'm not fine. But I still don't want to talk about it." He finished eating, absentmindedly rubbing his ribs.
"Ok." She finished her bagel and juice in silence, then went upstairs to the room she was using. Eric sighed, then cleaned up the dishes and stood in the kitchen thinking. He knew he had upset Nell by not talking to her about his nightmares when she always tells him about hers. He went upstairs to her room and stood in the doorway.
"You really want to know? I dream about being tortured. I remember the feel of the knife cutting across my skin. I remember you fighting back to try and protect me and getting hurt for it. That...That's what my nightmares are about." Nell went over to him and gently hugged him.
"We're ok, Eric. We are..." He put his arms around her and let her closeness comfort him. She smiled gently at him. After a few moments, Eric finally released her and their gazes locked. Nell blinked.
"Can...can we go see Ops? It might help me remember."
"Sure, if you want to then I guess we can." They went downstairs and he grabbed his cell phone and car keys. They went out and opened the car door for her. Nell got in and buckled. Eric got in and put on his seat-belt. He was silent as he drove. Nell sat there quietly. Eric got to Ops and parked.
"I...We work at...an abandoned building..."
"Uh...yeah. It was condemned after an earthquake. It looks really bad on the outside, which keeps nosy people away, but on the outside, it's a great place." He opened the door and led her inside.
"Whoa." Nell said, walking inside. Eric chuckled, smiling. Kensi saw Nell and Eric, and immediately smiled.
"Hey!"
"Hey!" Nell looked around. "This place is huge." Eric laughed again.
"Yeah it is. Come on, I'll show you the Ops room." He laid his hand gently on her back and led her upstairs. Nell walked after him.
"I...I think I really remember this place..." She looked around the room, then walked over to a chair. "I think this is my chair..." She sat down and spun a bit.
"Yeah, that's your chair." He smiled and sat down in the chair beside hers. Nell looked around, and Eric watched quietly. "This place holds so many good memories."
"I wish I could remember them all."
"I'm sure someday soon, you will be able to."
"I hope so." She paused. "Tell me about one..."
"Alright." Eric thought for a few minutes, contemplating which one of the may would be the best to tell her about."
"2 weeks ago, you got to go undercover for the first time. Everyone was really nervous you, especially me. But Hetty said you'd be fine, so of course you were. Hetty's always right about those kind of things."
"Why was I undercover?"
"We needed intel about an organization, and we needed someone with computer knowledge, so Hetty sent you inside. You also knew a lot about the company."
"Oh...ok." She smiled a little. "You ever go undercover?"
"Yeah. One time. I don't plan on doing it again anytime soon. I prefer staying at OPS and being the eyes and ears for the agents, and not being in the action."
"I...This word keeps popping up in my mind...frelting?" Eric chuckled softly.
"Freeze-melted...frelted. And yeah...I was almost frelted. Not a good experience."
"Ouch. For such a cool sounding word, it sounds...painful."
"The word was Deeks' idea. He always comes up with the strangest stuff. But yeah, it was pretty bad."
"How were you frelted?"
"Well...the case started out with Ollie Drewett being murdered. He was in charge of a space technology center, Drewett Space Technology. He apparently got locked in a satellite testing chamber and "frelted". I went undercover as FAA Agent Gary Clay so I could get a closer look at the chamber and how it worked. The chamber apparently went down to 0 degrees, then up to 400 degress. I went to check out the chamber, and got lost inside. I was knocked unconscious after a few seconds. Callen and Sam saved me. It's because of them I wasn't completely frelted."
"Oh God...yea...that would have been bad." She paused. "If that was an Op...then I must have watched you almost get frelted..." She shuddered.
"Yeah. You did. You were the one who noticed I was stuck in the chamber."
"Oh." Nell blinked. "I'm glad you didn't get frelted."
"Yeah...me too." He smiled slightly. Nell hugged him gently. Eric held Nell close. He lightly kissed the top of her head. Nell smiled a bit and leaned to him.
"So, how do you like it here?"
"It's really cool. And...I like it. A lot." She smiled bigger. Eric smiled back.
"That's good. So, what would you like to do now?" Nell thought for a moment.
"Visit an old friend..."
SO...Did everyone enjoy this one? I promise more Nell and Eric moments in the next chapter! I really do! And head's up everyone, K and I had an idea over the weekend, and we've been attacking it since...so hopefully by the weekend, We'll have up our first One-Shot, called Cupcakes! So check that out when it's up, it's going to be hilarious!
Before you go...please...hit that nice button down there! I'd love to read some more reviews!