Prompt: Can you do a Drabble where someone from the team scolds Hetty for what she put Deeks and Kensi through in the past like their separation?
A/N: Oh look, a chance to unload some feelings. Fair warning, this is probably quite different than what you imagined, contains a bit more than a scolding, and is fairly dramatic.
Title adapted from one of Nell's lines in "Mother". This also takes place sometime post "Mother".
Nell set a completed set of files to the side, checking over her list. She'd signed off on all the month's expense and mileage reports while Eric ran some searches, and if she timed it right, she just might have a chance to warm up her coffee before tackling yet more paperwork in between fielding calls with Eric.
She offered him a smile as she held up her half-full mug of cooled coffee, and marched downstairs. Luckily, there was still a fresh pot (god bless Eric) and she filled her cup up, adding a healthy pour of cream.
"Ah, Miss Jones, just who I was looking for," Hetty said, appearing behind Nell unexpectedly. Nell turned just enough to acknowledge her, picking up her mug of coffee and a stack of files she grabbed along the way. "I need you to find something for me."
"I'm a little bit busy right now, Hetty," Nell responded evenly.
"I understand that, but this is important."
"So is all the work I have waiting for me in OPS.
Hetty leaned back slightly, eyes widening behind her glasses. Nell thought she looked particularly tiny in her tailored suit.
"Have I done something to offend you Miss Jones?" she asked softly.
"Oh no, nothing at all. You just left me in charge, again, without any position real authority while you go off to who knows where," Nell said ruthlessly, fingers clamped so tightly around her mug, ached. "Do you think you can just pop back in whenever you want and expect nothing to change?"
"I only give as much as I think my agents can handle, Nell. You must know that I care about you and would never do anything to purposely harm you.
Nell made an incredulous sound and spun around. "You've spent years manipulating all of us and yet you have the audacity to act like the benevolent parent. Do you even know the damage you've caused? The last three years alone, you've just disappeared without warning, leaving messes behind, then returning to cause more chaos."
"Unfortunately, some being a leader requires difficult decisions," Hetty replied with the same sense of confusion and patience one might reserve for a petulant child. It enraged Nell even more.
"Really? So, when you separated Kensi and Deeks while he had just started to recover from what Sidorov did to him kept you up at night? You let them believe it was because of their relationship. Was that done with good will?"
Without realizing it, her voice had risen steadily, loud enough that anyone walking by would hear, but she didn't care.
"Let's not even get into sending Kensi to Afghanistan without telling her why, which ended up in her being kidnapped and tortured."
Hetty's mouth dropped open slightly, and Nell felt a dark pleasure at her discomfort. She took a step back as Nell advanced on her.
"What about what you did to Callen and all those other children. Akhos tried to destroy you and everyone around you." Her voice trembled, now a whisper as he jabbed her finger at Hetty. "Does that keep you up at night?"
Inhaling shakily, Nell crossed her arms over her chest, in a futile attempt to quell the tremors running through her body. In front of her, Hetty hunched, and defeated. Nell expected to feel a certain vindication, but any satisfaction had evaporated.
"I didn't realize it had come to this," she said with a shake of her head. "There was one time when you wanted to be like me."
"That was when I still trusted you. When I still believed that you had our best interest in mind. When I was hopelessly naive."
"I am so very sorry that I made you feel that way. I don't suppose there's anything I can do to earn your forgiveness." Hetty gazed at Nell, her expression suggesting she already suspected the answer.
"No," Nell told her simply. "This is the price you pay when try to play God, Hetty. You lose everything."
Hetty sighed heavily, the closest she ever came to regret, shining in her eyes. "I see. I will let you return to your work, then."
She turned, moving slowly towards her desk. A heaviness settled in her chest, but she ignored it. "I'm sorry too," she whispered, sad for what used to be and what could never be again.
A/N: As I said, this one got away from me and took an entirely different route from the prompt. It just worked out to give this one to Nell, who seemed so very disillusioned with Hetty.