Callen gets somewhat of a lecture from Sam about his relationship with Nell. Does Sam approve of their relationship? What does Callen think about Sam's nosiness?

For the translation of the Romanian, see the end of this chapter.

I only own my own characters which include Stefan and Mark in this story.

Anything in italics within single quotes is a quote from my one-shot "Can't Stay Away". Anything in italics and double quotes is thoughts.

Nope…no matter how hard I wish, NCIS LA nor any of the characters on the show are mine. And sadly, they never will be. I keep asking for Deeks as a Christmas present, but I must be on Santa's naughty list for some reason because I never get him.

Reviews are always welcome. The last chapter got several very nice reviews which made my day and saved my toes from injury. Thank you bjq, blue dogs rock, Aquamarin28626 and Guest. If you are enjoying this story, especially this chapter, or even if you're not, leave a review on the way out and tell me why.

Enjoy.

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CHAPTER 13: Devil's Advocate

The object of the team's investigation had heard from some contacts that they might be able to find out where Callen lived, but he had been waiting all night and not heard back from them. He was becoming not only impatient but angry as well. He knew something had gone wrong…again. "De ce este faptul că al naibii de american atât de greu să-l omoare ? Am de gând să aibă de a face loc de muncă mine ?" He tried to distract himself from the slowly passing time by scrutinizing his plans once again, going over them to find any flaws, but couldn't concentrate he was so frustrated. "De ce durează atât de mult le să raporteze înapoi ?"

When he finally heard back from the team sent to see if they could find where Callen lived, they had nothing to report. All he was told was that the team had tried to stake out the house that might be connected to Callen, but someone had already beat them to the location. They had taken out the two-man team in place, but before they could find out if the information was correct, first a single person had arrived and entered the house and then additional people began arriving. They knew they would be discovered if they stayed, so they slipped away into the night. Then, when they went back the next morning, there were till too many people around for them to try to break in. They had not seen Callen in all of the people around the house. They had waited while watching people come and go, never seeing Callen himself. Once everyone was gone, they finally broke into the house but found nothing to tie the site to Callen.

The big black man, what was his name again Stefan thought "Oh, da Sam Hanna" hadn't been killed in the ambush, but at least he could take some comfort in the fact Callen had been wounded. That should slow him down and make him an easier target. He was still monumentally angry that Sam hadn't been the one shot. He hadn't yet decided what he was going to do about it but when he did, heads might roll.

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Callen had trouble sleeping in the safe house. He tossed and turned for hours before giving it up as a lost cause. By 7 am the following morning, he had taken the coffee maker apart and put it back together again. He had already drank move coffee than he wanted so moved on to some tea he found in a kitchen cupboard and was contemplating taking the coffee maker apart again when he heard someone knock quietly on the front door. He raced to the door and looked through the peephole to see Nell standing there with donuts and her laptop. Opening the door he pulled her inside and kissed her before saying "Hi Nell. Did you get any sleep last night?" He kissed her again. "I missed having you next to me. I sleep better when I'm with you." He ushered her into the kitchen and offered her some tea hoping Sam wouldn't wake up.

Nell accepted the tea gratefully. "I missed waking up with you too this morning, G"

"You look tired. I hope I didn't wear you out last night" he before kissing her once again while gently leering at her. "Sam's asleep in one of the bedrooms so we have to be quiet" he continued as he pulled her into his arms and continued kissing her passionately. "Last night was incredible and I can't wait to get some more 'exercise' like that."

"Why, Mr. Callen, I do believe you're propositioning me" Nell smirked as she returned the kiss holding him around the waist. "And no, you didn't wear me out. I'm ready for more exercise, as you so quaintly put it...any time, any place."

"Yes, I am propositioning you, little spider. I'm completely caught in your web."

Unknown to both Callen and Nell, Sam had heard the knock on the door. When he realized it was Nell, he stayed in the bedroom for a couple of minutes before slipping down the hallway toward the kitchen. He already had his suspicions about the two of them and wanted to confirm them before he confronted Callen. If he was right, he was happy for both of them, but he was definitely going to give Callen the big brother interrogation along with some much deserved teasing. He was mentally rubbing his hands together in anticipation. When he decided he had waited long enough, he began getting ready to surprise both of them. Keeping out of sight, he heard their conversation and gave a mental cheer before striding into the kitchen "Am I interrupting something?" he asked with a knowing smirk on his face.

Both Callen and Nell blushed furiously and had embarrassed looks on their faces as Sam just continued grinning at them. "I see. It's like that is it? Well, well, well. I think its time I have a private conversation with G. Nell, will you excuse us for a couple of minutes?"

Nell could see the glint in his eyes and knew Callen was in for some major league teasing. She looked at Callen with a question in her eyes. He nodded his head so she took her tea with her "I'll be in the living room. Don't be too long, I'll get the OPS center here set up and as soon as everyone is here, we'll can go over everything we have so far."

"We'll be there in a minute Nell" Sam stated while staring at Callen with a stern look on his face.

As soon as Nell left the room, Sam looked at G with his eyebrow raised waiting for the man to speak up. He was going to enjoy this! Callen looked at Sam, then down to his tea cup, back up to Sam, down to his tea cup and then heaved a sigh. "What do you want to say to me Sam? Just spit it out okay."

"What are your intentions toward our analyst G? Are they honorable?"

Callen sputtered "What…honorable?…what! That's none of your business Sam. Do I question you about your relationship with Michelle?"

"So there is a relationship between you and Nell then? Glad to hear it and I know how long it's been going on for too."

"Are you sure, big guy?"

"I'm sure, I'm not stupid you know. It's been going on for, oh…3 months or so, I would think" Sam smirked.

"How…how did you know it's been that long…no don't answer that, I don't want to know," Callen sighed. "Yes, as I already told you in the car, Nell and I have been seeing each other for a while now. We're taking it slow because I don't want to screw this up. I like her Sam…I like her a lot. And for some reason, she feels the same about me. I tried to stay away…I really did. I thought I was too old for her…but she doesn't agree. She may be small, but she sure has a mind of her own. Do you know she actually gave me hell when I said that to her?"

"Said what to her?"

"That I was too old for her. She said I wasn't and that she was an old soul anyway."

"That sounds like our Nell. What about Eric? Does he know anything about this? I thought he and Nell had a thing."

"No they don't have a 'thing'. They're friends, nothing more, but I didn't know that until recently. That's why I waited so long before I asked Nell out. I didn't want to come between them. You're the only one who knows about us. We're trying to keep it quiet and maintain a professional relationship at work."

"I'll bet Hetty knows" Sam retorted.

"Well, yeah…she probably does. She's Hetty after all. But she hasn't said anything to me or Nell, so if she knows about us, I guess she's okay with it. I think we've proven that we won't let it affect our jobs. Sam, I've never felt like this about anyone before. It's new to me and I've got to admit somewhat scary. But so far, it's working. I think I finally know how Deeks and Kensi feel. For the life of me, I don't know how Deeks coped as well as he did when Kensi was in Afghanistan."

"Neither do I, G. He put on a very good show. I don't think he wanted Hetty to know how much her sending Kensi away hurt him. I think he's lost the trust he had in her too. One of these days her machinations are going to come back and bite her in the butt and I for one, want to be there when it does. Are you happy?"

"Yeah I am…I really am. She means the world to me and I don't have to lie to her about what I do for a living."

"Good. And just so you know, I know you've done more than 'take it slow' but that's none of my business. But if you hurt her, you and I…" Sam pointed between him and Callen several times, "…you and I will have words. I think of her as a little sister and I want what's best for her. If that's you, great." Sam decided to change the subject. "How's your arm?"

"Better" Callen replied. He just had to continue though, he owed Sam a little payback. "I am the best for her, at least that's what she says. And just so you know..." Callen returned the pointing between him and Sam to make his point. "...what you just said about what you would do to me if I hurt Nell? That goes double if you hurt Michelle."

"You wound me G! I would never hurt Michelle. How can you even think that?"

"Well, I won't ever hurt Nell either so I guess we have nothing to worry about, do we?" Callen snickered at the look on Sam's face.

"You were messing with me? Don't mess with me, G. Payback's a bitch."

"Yes it is, isn't it" Callen chuckled at the look on Sam's face. "Coffee?"

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Translation of the Romanian:

"Why is that damned American so hard to kill? Am I going to have to do the job myself?"

"What's taking them so long to report back?" and

"Oh, yes Sam Hanna"