Title: Cure for the soul
By: GirlOfSpring
Pairing: Nell/Callen
Summary: It all started with a certain intelligence analyst who needed her music and a certain special agent who was disturbed by the noise. A Nallen story
Disclaimer: Don't own, don't own, don't own! And you folks should check out the CD, it's awesome. And I don't own it either!
Notes: This part of the story was actually the first idea I had gotten before writing this. Anyways, I am not too sure about it, but just let me know what you think. Then, I have two things to say:

1: Those reading this who have also posted stories on FF, I think you can imagine my reaction when I get a review. They seriously make my day (no, that's not just something we authors say, it actually happens!) but I up until now only a very small number of the people that read this story have bothered to leave a review. I know some of you think that just saying 'I like!' or something like that doesn't make such a difference, but it does for me, so after reading you can make a stranger very happy by just typing a few words and telling me what you guys thought. Those of you that have already reviewed, thank you very much!

2: So, I was thinking about writing one of the next chapters with a dream. I just don't know whether I should do it from Callen or Nell. So I thought you people could help me decide. Who do you want to have a dream, Nell or Callen? (Yes, I have different scenarios, I just don't know which one to choose..)

And now I am going to shut up! Enjoy!

~~~|G|O|S|~~~

Callen was sitting in the only chair he owned in the living room of the house he was more or less forced to buy by his boss. He staired at the wall at the other side of the room, his mind empty for the first time that night.

He had barely slept. The evening before, it had been late when he finally unlocked the door and went inside, doing the quick sweep without really being aware of his own movements. He had been so incredibly tired and, within a few minutes, he had disappeared in his bed, thinking he would at least sleep for an hour or three.

But sleep hadn't come. Every time he closed his eyes, his brain roared in protest and started bombarding him with images. Within five minutes, he was up again, walking through the house and practicing one of his languages.

After a few minutes of trying to ask for a screw driver in German, he just couldn't concentrate anymore. So instead, he sat down with his gun and started taking it apart for some cleaning, only to get frustrated when there was a bit that just wouldn't get clean. And like this, the night went on. He would try to sleep a bit, wouldn't be able to and for the following hour he would walk around and start different things, only to stop doing them because he was too distracted or too frustrated.

Details of the case they were working on were some of the things that would keep him awake, such as theories that could have given them a different outcome in the end. It was unusual for him to be this obsessed with an investigation. He was an undercover operative, he worked with a lot of dangerous people but their cases usually involved people that tried to hurt big groups of people or to sell information or weaponry. They didn't involve children who were brutally murdered for some until now unidentified reason.

It was wrong. You didn't hurt children, they couldn't really protect themselves against adults. It was just wrong.

The rest of the night went like this, until he ended up in his chair and in the end his thoughts were empty. Slowly, the wall became brighter with the rising sun, but at the same time is eyes slowly fell shut.

In the end, he slept for two hours.

~~~|G|O|S|~~~

Nell was the first to be in the office that morning. She had decided to go for an early start, doing some of the other work for Hetty before the actual hours would start. The other day had ended quite late, without a lot of progress. Finally, they had hit a dead end and Hetty had decided to hand the case over to another unit.

The decision hadn't been received well. After all, they had been working on the case since the beginning, but the argument their tiny boss gave was that they had other work to do, work that demanded their full attention. And above all, they were the "A-team", there seemed always to be some guy trying to make their lives complicated.

Nell shook her head while prepping the computers for the day. It you happened to be in as early as she was, you got to start a lot of the programs they would be using throughout the day. She pushed a few buttons and listened while the machinery softly buzzed to life. It was always a sound that would give her the feeling that there was work that had to be done.

While she waited, Nell returned downstairs to make herself a cup of coffee while she had to wait. It was her second cup of the day, but she couldn't resist the delightful brew. While watching how the dark liquid filled her cup, she was greeted by a voice.

"Good morning, Miss Jones. You are here quite early" Nell looked up to see their boss standing next to her, filling the kettle for her tea.

"Yes, I just wanted to get started on time." Nell smiled while picking up her cup and adding some sugar.

"I have the files ready you will have to work through as well"

Nell nodded again and had a first sip of her still hot coffee while the kettle sounded the alarm to say that the water was ready. Hetty used a first bit to just run some water through her teapot, before refilling the kettle and reheating the water.

"Why do you think those men took Natalie Holden and killed her?" Nell asked after a few more seconds of silence. She turned her eyes towards her boss, searching for an answer in the eyes of the older woman.

Hetty didn't reply immediately. Instead, she waited for the water to boil again and then refilling her teapot, adding tea and preparing it just the way she wanted it.

"It is always difficult to understand the full reasoning behind another person's actions, Miss Jones. Where they forced to do this or was this something they liked to do? Was it a game for them, to see if they were capable of taking a girl and killing her, or was this as we could call it a 'testdrive' and are we to expect more murders like these. At this moment in the investigation, it is very difficult to be certain of any number of details, more so with the little information we have."

"But what do you think?"

"I think.. I think that it isn't important what I think, Miss Jones. We have to work with the facts that we have and not invent them in our minds to obstruct our investigation. But, this is not your case anymore. Your energy would be spent better on one of your own cases"

Hetty smiled and took her plateau with the teapot and teacup with her to her desk.

"If you would follow me Miss Jones, I will give you the files you need to get started" She called over her shoulder.

Nell quickly took a few more sips of her coffee, before leaving the empty cup next to the machine and following her boss.

Hetty had a strange smile, always had. It could be friendly or reassuring, but Nell always had the feeling that there was something else that Hetty was thinking of at the same time. She wouldn't even be surprised any more of she would be thinking of five different things at the same time.

The smile reminded her most of all of the Cheshire cat.

Shaking her head, Nell walked to the desk were the small woman had put down her plateau. There was a small pile of files on the desk which Hetty gave to the intelligence analyst.

"This should be everything you need."

"Thank you."

Nell took the files and walked back upstairs to the command centre where by now the computers were buzzing and filled with life. She sat down in her chair and slid a bit to the side, putting the files down on the desk.

She took the top one, stamped confidential, and opened it only to be greeted by a piece of papier with text typed on it. She recognized the original of a file she had been looking into last week, but which had been completely blacked out because of confidentiality.

The case was about ten years old and involved the brothers she had been researching. One of them had worked with the CIA on a case that may be of significance.

Humming, she got to work.

~~~|G|O|S|~~~

After the two hours of sleep, Callen had woken up and decided to go for a jog. After this, he took a shower and walked outside of the house were at the same time Sam drove up to go to work.

"Morning, Birthday-Boy! Or maybe I should say Birthday-Man" Sam grinned at him when he sank down in the Challenger.

"How old are you now anyway?"

Callen just shrugged while making himself comfortable.

"Does it really matter?"

"Well, I guess it doesn't. Here" Callen looked up when Sam put something heavy in his lap. It seemed to be a rectangular box, wrapped in brown paper. Callen frowned and looked sideways to his partner.

"Happy birthday" The other man just said, concentrating on the road in front of them.

"I know you don't really celebrate your birthday, ever. But every year I still get you a present. So if I wouldn't buy one this year, I would break a tradition. And we can't have that."

Callen just shook his head before ripping the paper from the box. It was made from wood, a deep brown color that shimmered warmly in the rising sun.

Slowly he opened the box, revealing the inside were he could see an old, decorated revolver. He carefully picked it up and turned the wapen between his fingers.

"It is an original from the fifties, it took me some time to find it but there it his" Sam made a gesture with his right hand while talking before speeding up when the lights turned green again.

"And tonight you are coming over for dinner."

Callen shook his head, a small smile on his lips.

"I wouldn't dare not showing up. I think your wife would hunt me down and then force me to come over for dinner."

The entered the street with the office and Callen closed the box again before putting it in his bag.

He didn't want people to see it, to know about his birthday. People, people in general, they had this obsession with birthdays. They had to buy a present, throw a party and somehow they always had to start talking about the past.

He didn't want this. He was fine all the other days of the year, living on and doing his work. He didn't want to think about the day that he would get another year on his meter.

Normally, he didn't do anything, but for the last five years he had had Sam as his partner and after a while the other man had found out about his birthday, so ever since he had been given a present for his birthday. He was grateful though that Sam hadn't told the others about it.

He preferred to be left alone on his birthday.

~~~|G|O|S|~~~

G. Callen

Nell was staring at the paper she was holding. It was about Callen, picture and everything. He was a lot younger but his blue eyes were exactly the same, with a set gaze of determination staring back at her. Quickly, she scanned the paper, reading information that was mostly concerning the case.

Then, she noticed a couple of numbers. The date of his birthday. Nell frowned slightly and looked up, doing some quick calculation in her head. Then she looked back at the paper. Today? Was his birthday today?

She bit her lip and put the paper down. She had been working in the office for at least a year, and she didn't remember them ever celebrating Callen's birthday. Nobody ever talked about it either. They all had gone for drinks on Deeks' birthday and she had gotten a present for Kensi. Hetty's birthday she remembered quite clearly, this being in her first week at NCIS, and she also knew the birthdays of both Sam and Eric. Callen was the sole exception of the friends she had made here.

Maybe they didn't know because Callen didn't like his birthday. As a matter of fact, she couldn't see him as a person that would eat a colorfully decorated birthday cake with all of his friends around him. Come to think about it, he seemed a lot more like the broody type that would go for a drink and tell nobody.

Nell sighed and shook her head. She wouldn't be surprised at all, but now she knew it was his birthday, she had at least to do something about it.

~~~|G|O|S|~~~

Callen stretched his arms before putting down the pen he had been using to make a few notes. At the moment, he was the only person sitting at the four desks. Sam had taken both Kensi and Deeks into the training hall to do some hand-to-hand combat training, which left him in the quiet to finish his work.

The silence was however interrupted by footsteps and a few moments later, he saw the young intelligence analyst standing next to his desk with a small, paper bag in her hand. She seemed to be a bit uncomfortable, but she smiled anyway before setting the small bag on his desk.

He frowned slightly. This was starting to look an awful lot like a birthday-present and the strange two minute talk he didn't like.

Instead, Nell made a small gesture at the bag.

"I guessed that you wouldn't like the balloons raining down on you, so I went with something a bit more simple."

Before he really knew what was happening, she had come even closer and her lips touched his cheek in a soft kiss. He felt his skin burn were she had touched him, but he didn't move away. Instead, he slowly turned his eyes to her. She had a slight shade of pink on her cheeks while stepping back.

"Happy birthday G." She said quietly, before pretty much fleeing.

Callen blinked a few times. Did that just really happen? Did Nell Jones just really give him a present, kiss him on the cheek and, most of all, call him G? He knew G wasn't really a name, but she hadn't called him Callen, as she had done before.

If he was a normal person he knew his first name, which would have been something like George or Gabriel of Geoffrey, she would have called him that, but he didn't think he would have felt the same shiver running down his back.

There were so few people that actually called him G, and Nell had just put herself on that very short list. He shook his head and turned to the paper bag.

What could it be? Now, he was seriously curious. Another thing he had seen at other people's birthdays was the 'weird-gift-event', which often just ended in awkward conversations. His fingers lingered for a moment, before opening the bag.

He felt the casing of a CD and frowned slightly. It didn't feel wrapped so he pulled it out in one swift movement, revealing a red CD casing. He turned it, so he could see the front of the cover which was red with in black the silhouette of a woman.

Deleted scenes from the cutting room floor by Caro Emerald.

He frowned again before turning the casing again. On the back was a list of the tracks, but he didn't recognize any of the names, nor had he recognized the name of the singer of the name of the CD.

What was this?

Then he saw a post-it, stuck to the back of the casing. It was glued to the plastic just under the second track, covering the third. Nell had written something on it, with a small arrow pointing up to the second track which was called Just One Dance.

Slowly, Callen felt his lips twitch into a smile.

Happy Birthday G!
I think you will remember this song
X Nell.

~~~|G|O|S|~~~

Those of you that don't remember, Just One Dance was the song Nell was dancing to when Callen walked in in the first chapter.

Thanks for reading and let me know whether you want Callen or Nell to have a dream!