So I've been feeling a little bit productive lately, and after watching "The Watchers" the other day, this little oneshot came to mind. Enjoy. Zoe :)

Special Agent G Callen was pretty sure Nell Jones was pissed at him. Only, he had no idea what he had done to invoke her fury. Well, it was a lot less fury and more that she had barely uttered a word to him since the case started. He usually had no problem when someone was ticked at him, it came with the role of Team Leader. But with Nell, he felt unusually uncomfortable that something he might have said or done had upset her.

"Hey Nell." He greeted her cheerfully as he walked into the ops room, having deliberately sought her out. After the drama of Assistant Director Granger showing up, Callen didn't need any more going on in his life, particularly with Nell, so he had decided to talk to her, hoping maybe it wasn't actually him she was upset with and now that the case was closed she would be back to her old self. He was wrong.

"Callen." She barely regarded him, causing his heart to sink a little.

"So, we're all headed out to the Geisha House, dinner is on Hetty." He smiled at her but she just sucked her cheeks in, pursed her lips and kept her attention on the computer screen in front of her. "Are you coming with us?" he asked hopefully.

"I have plans." She replied quickly. Callen realised this was going to be more difficult than he had thought. Clearly when Nell put her mind to something, like giving him the cold shoulder, she followed it through.

"Not even for a drink?" Callen tried to persuade her. "To celebrate."

"What's there to celebrate?"

"Your successful undercover work, for one." Callen took a few steps closer to her, trying to read her to figure out what was going on.

"Like I said, I have plans." She told him as she closed down her computer and rose to her feet. She brushed past Callen and started towards the door, leaving Callen shaking his head as to why she was being so cool with him.

He jogged down the stairs in time to see Nell heading for the exit, her jacket in her hand and her bag thrown over her shoulder. He hurried down the last few steps and caught up with her down the hall.

"What are you doing?" she glanced up at him as he fell into step beside her.

"Walking you to your car." He shrugged.

"Thank you, but I don't need to be walked to my car." Her voice was neutral and calm, but Callen could sense there was definitely something bubbling under the surface and damned if he couldn't stop himself from trying to get the bottom of it.

"I'm leaving anyway." He said as he stuffed his hands into his jeans pockets. "Meeting the others at the Geisha House." He reminded her. "So, how did you like being undercover?" he asked as they exited the building and headed round the corner to the alley leading to the back parking lot.

"It was fine." She replied.

"Just fine?" Callen asked.

"Uh huh."

"It was the first big undercover operation you've worked. I thought you might have been a little more excited about getting out the office."

"Why? I'm an intelligence analyst, not an agent." She spat, her cool demeanour finally breaking.

"Nell?" Callen was confused.

"Ugh, you don't get it." She turned away from him and stalked over to her car.

"Well maybe you could explain it to me Nell, because I'm in the dark here. What have I done?" Nell looked at him and she could see from the confused look in his eyes that he really didn't understand.

"I like what I do as an intelligence analyst. I don't have any desire to be an agent."

"Okay?" he looked confused.

"But I am weapons trained. I've had training in undercover work and self-defence." She stood tensely, staring at him.

"Nell, I'm not following." Callen admitted.

"You were too quick." She sighed and her body relaxed a little.

"Too quick?"

"When Assistant Director Granger told you he was sending me in, you were too quick to remind everyone I'm just an intelligence analyst, not an agent. Clearly, you don't have much faith in me." She opened the door and tossed her jacket and bag onto the seat before slamming it shut and turning back to Callen.

"Nell." Callen said softly. "That's not the reason."

"Oh no? You didn't make a fuss when Eric went undercover when we were investigating the death of the rocket engineer." She reminded him.

"Do I need to remind you about Eric nearly getting frelted?" Callen said pointedly.

"Look, I know I haven't been here as long as everyone else, but I thought I had earned your trust." She looked at Callen and he saw the anger was gone from her eyes, only to be replaced with a sadness that tugged at his heart. He was responsible for that, unintentionally, but responsible none the less.

"Nell." He reached out and rested a hand on her shoulder. "I do trust you...with my life. I trust you to do your job and have my back in the field." She looked at him expectantly as he continued. "And I never doubted that you could do what Granger asked of you."

"So why?" she asked, her eyes never leaving his face.

"Out there, we're vulnerable. We can have all the back-up in the world but things go wrong and people get hurt. Sometimes it's the simplest of operations that turns deadly." He spoke from experience. "You were going in there alone and I didn't want you to get hurt." His voice was low and almost a whisper. He took a step closer to her and moved his hand from her shoulder to cup her cheek, his thumb brushing lightly across her skin. He didn't really understand what possessed him to do it, but having this conversation with Nell was bringing to the surface feelings he didn't know he even had.

Nell was startled by the intimate move Callen made and her breath caught in her throat as she stared at him. The way he was looking at her was new and she couldn't read the expression on his face.

"Callen." She whispered. The simple utterance of his name snapped Callen back reality and he pulled his hand away.

"Nell, I uh, I'm sorry I upset you with what I said, it wasn't my intention." He took a step back, putting a safe distance between them.

"I believe you." She nodded and glanced away, the intensity of the moment causing her heart to pound.

"Am I forgiven?" he asked, trying meet her gaze.

"Of course." She finally lifted her eyes back up to meet his. "I really need to go though." She opened the car door and slid into the seat.

"I'll see you tomorrow?" Callen gripped the car door and leaned in as he spoke.

"Tomorrow." Nell nodded, before Callen closed her door and stepped away from the car.

Watching her leave, Callen thought about how his own feelings had surprised him. He hadn't realised the true meaning behind his comment to Granger until he explained it to Nell. He had a feeling that his life could be about to get a lot more complicated. But what was his life, if not complicated?

Thanks for reading - I hope you leave a review. Zoe.