So I know it's been an eternity since I posted for this story - writers block is a bitch! Anyway, here's the final installment and I will have new stories soon. Thanks for all your time reading and reviewing this story, I really appreciate the support! Zoe.
It had been three weeks and four days since G Callen had seized the day and taken Nell out on a real date. But a full three weeks and four days later and they were still to actually finish their first date. While disappointed that they were interrupted by work, Callen and Nell fully accepted that the nature of their job meant they didn't work a 9-5 like a lot of people, and being called in on the weekend was not unusual or something either of them complained about. What Callen complained about, albeit to himself, was that in the three weeks and four days since that night, not only had they not been able to keep a date, they hadn't spent a single night together or had so much as a clandestine kiss. Something always came up which would force them to cancel the movie they were going to see, the dinner they were going to have and even prevent them from just being together. Callen felt like the Powers That Be were conspiring against him, that someone somewhere didn't want him to be happy.
xxx
It had been three weeks and four days since Nell had pushed every doubt out of her mind and gone on an actual date with G Callen. But all that time later and she was still waiting for the date to finish. Having been interrupted by a hot lead on a case, they had to abandon the romantic dinner Callen had arranged and what may have happened afterwards. Nell was disappointed but she knew what she was signing up for when she chose NCIS over all the other offers she was made when she graduated college. But she hadn't expected her work to so radically alter her private life. She and Callen had made numerous plans after that first date but each time something came up and they were forced to cancel. And thanks to the only rule they applied to their new situation, even a stolen kiss in the office was out of the question. They had agreed to the 'not at the office' rule to protect themselves and whatever it was they were embarking on, but three weeks and four days later Nell was frustrated in more ways than one.
xxx
It was Friday night and Callen was watching the clock on his laptop with nervous anticipation. There were four minutes and thirty six seconds left before he could leave for the weekend. Just a couple of hours ago he had been with the team solving the murder of a Navy Lieutenant and with the associated paperwork complete, he and Nell would be free and clear to go to dinner as planned. Callen tapped his pen on the desk, watching as the seconds ticked by. He glanced anxiously around him, looking for Hetty approaching with something that would once again interrupt his plans. Finally the clock ticked over to 6pm. Callen shot out of his seat, grabbed his bag and with barely an acknowledgement to the rest of the team, he headed for the door. Nothing was going to stop him from taking Nell to dinner that night.
Callen had only gone a few steps when the earth beneath his feet began to shudder. He glanced around him and saw the overhead lights swinging and the partitions around the team's desk area sway back and forth.
"You have got to be kidding me." He grunted as he lost his footing and fell against the stone wall under the arch as the ground wrenched underfoot.
Callen had experienced many quakes in his time in Los Angeles, but this one was big. Everything in the office began to move. Desks shifted from side to side, the lockers tipped over and the partitions finally snapped from their fixings and toppled over. Callen braced himself against the wall, waiting for the quake to cease. Suddenly there were some bright flashes and all the lights in the office went off, a darkness taking over.
"Seriously! Do you not want me to be happy?" he shouted to the universe.
xxx
In the basement of the office, at the back of the archives room Nell Jones was halfway back down the ladder after storing several old case files when she felt the tremor. As the shelves around her began to shake violently, she hurried down to the ground. Making her way down the aisle, she dodged falling boxes as she tried to get to the door, a small part of her worried that the shelves themselves were going to topple over and crush her. She had felt one or two small quakes since she came to LA but this was much stronger than anything before. All she could think of was the advice she had been given when she told her parents she was moving to LA. Stand in a doorway or get under a table. There were no tables so she knew she had to get to the doorway.
As Nell drew closer to the door the quake seemed to subside slightly. She reached for the handle and wrapped her hand around it but just before she could open the door, the lighting cut out and she heard a worrying click in the locking mechanism. She pulled on the handle trying to yank the door open but it was no use. Trying to still the beating of her racing heart Nell assessed the situation. Clearly the building had lost power and until it was restored, she was going to be stuck in the archives room going nowhere, least of all on her date with Callen.
"Really?" she said to the heavens.
xxx
Power to the whole OSP building was out and the office was in near darkness. Only a small amount of light from the setting sun filtered through the dirty windows but it was enough for everyone to see the mess around them.
"G?" Sam looked around for his partner.
"I'm good." Callen sighed heavily as he made his way the few feet back to his team. He watched as Kensi and Deeks crawled out from under her desk, where Deeks had pushed her when the quake hit.
"Kensi? Deeks?" Sam asked.
"Good." They replied in unison as they stood up and looked around.
"Hetty?" Sam asked finally.
"I'm quite all right Mr Hanna." Hetty replied as she walked over to the team.
"Those survival kits aren't looking so ridiculous now, are they?" Kensi teased Deeks.
"Guys!" Eric came bounding down the stairs. "How cool was that!"
"Cool?" Callen glared at him. "That was not cool. That has just ruined…" Callen caught himself before he revealed more that he wanted to. "Never mind. "
"Wait, where's Nell?" Eric asked as he looked around.
"She isn't with you?" Callen asked, suddenly a little worried.
"She went down to the archives about twenty minutes ago to store some file boxes before she went home." Eric explained. Callen immediately pulled out his cell and tried her number. It rang for about twenty seconds before a breathless voice answered.
"Nell? Are you alright?" Callen asked, mindful of his audience.
"I'm fine, but I'm trapped inside the archives room." She told him. "When the electricity cut out, the secure door locked and I'm stuck inside." She explained.
"Alright, hang in there, we'll get you out soon." Callen hung up and turned to Hetty.
"Nell's stuck in the archives." He explained with a heavy heart, knowing their date was cancelled. It didn't really matter how quickly they got Nell out, sorting out the mess in the office would keep them all busy for the rest of the night.
"Alright. Mr Beale, perhaps you can see about restoring power." Hetty instructed. "Mr Callen, Mr Hanna, go down to archives and see if you can do anything to get Ms Jones out. Mr Deeks, Ms Blye, do something about….this" she gestured to the mess around them.
"Come on Sam." Callen urged his partner who threw him a curious look before following him.
xxx
Outside the archives room, Callen banged on the door.
"Nell?" he called loudly.
"I'm here." She replied. She had never been so grateful to hear his voice.
"You okay?" Callen leaned in towards the door.
"I'm fine. Just get me out, please."
"Eric's working on it." Callen told her. "Maybe some brute force?" he looked at Sam.
"Seriously? You want to try and break down the door?" Callen just shrugged, took a step back and kicked at the door. It didn't budge. Sam threw him an 'I told you so' look before giving it a go himself, this time using his shoulder but suffering the same result. A solid steel door with a triple electronic lock was not just going to pop open.
"Well, clearly that isn't going to work." Callen sighed heavily and planted his hands on his waist.
"I'll go see what Eric needs to get power up." Sam said.
"I guess I'll keep Nell company." Callen said, trying to sound nonchalant. He watched until Sam had left the area before he spoke again.
"It seems our plans have been thwarted again." Callen sighed as he leaned against the wall.
"You can say that again." Nell sighed from the other side of the door as she slid down to make herself comfortable on the floor. "This whole dating this Callen, it isn't really working out for us is it?" She said, sounding defeated.
"Don't say that Nell, we've barely given it a shot." Callen replied.
"How many dates have we cancelled?" she asked.
"I don't know." He lied.
"You do."
"Okay, so it's been seven."
"Seven dates Callen. Seven times we've tried to make plans and seven times we've had them interrupted by our work." Callen wished he could see her face so he could work out exactly what was going through her head, because from the sound of her voice she was rethinking getting involved with him.
"Nell, are you giving up on…us?" he asked.
"I'm just saying that when we agreed to give dating a shot instead of jumping straight into…the R word, I don't think we really thought about how hard it would be."
"Nell."
"If we can't even get out on a date, what does that say?" Nell waited for his response but there was none. "Callen?"
"I don't want to give up on us Nell." He told her. "I won't give up on us."
"I never said I did either."
"It sounded like you did."
"I guess I'm not explaining this very well." She sighed.
"What is it you're trying to say Nell?"
"I'm saying…We stop trying to date and just…just be together."
"In a relationship?" he wanted clarification.
"Yes, in a…relationship." She was beaming a smile on her side of the door, now that she had spoken what was on her mind.
"And we tell everyone?" Callen raised an eyebrow at the thought.
"I don't want to have to sneak around. If we're doing this, we do it right." She told him.
"You know, I wish this door wasn't in the way." Callen laughed.
It was as if the universe were just waiting for them to come to their senses and realise they needed to simply be together because the moment Callen spoke, the lights flickered on and the electronic door lock lit up. Callen leapt to his feet and heard Nell scrambling up on the other side. With just a momentary hesitation, Callen pulled down on the handle and pushed the door open. Nell stood on the other side, her hands nervously clasped in front of her as she rocked on her heels.
"Hey."
"Hey." She replied.
xxx
When the power came back on, Sam, Kensi, Deeks, Eric and Hetty headed down to the archives room to check if everything was alright with Nell. When they walked down the hall they could see the door was now wide open and Callen was no longer waiting outside. But what they saw when they entered the room shocked them; Callen and Nell were locked in a tight embrace, their arms wrapped around each other as they kissed passionately.
"What the…" Deeks looked confused. "Did you? Did anyone?" he looked to the team to see if they knew what was going on. "I mean I know I'm glad to be alive after that quake but really…kissing Callen?"
"They look so cute together, don't they?" Kensi grinned at Deeks.
Callen and Nell broke apart, suddenly realising they weren't alone. Nell held onto Callen's arm and stood behind him a little, embarrassed at being caught out.
"Huh, so this explains the flowers." Eric nodded.
"Do you two have something to tell us?" Hetty asked.
"Actually, we do." Callen smiled. "Nell and I are together."
"Together, as in, you're a couple?" Deeks asked.
"Yes." Nell replied. "We're…in a relationship."