Chapter Thirteen

Meanwhile, Deeks placed his tongue in between his top lip and top row of teeth. A look of severe frustration crossed his features until a quick look of contemplation then realization replaced it. "Maybe," He answered. He looked at Kensi and tipped his head toward the door. Quickly he walked out of Ops, Kensi followed a look of confusion on her face, but she trusted her partner; just outside the automatic double doors, he turned around and looked at Hetty then Callen, "I'll get back with you when I've got something." He looked at Nell and exclaimed as he held one thumbs up, "You are a rock star!"

As he and Kensi walked down the hallway, they immediately saw Assistant Director Granger briskly walking toward them, then past them without indication that he had seen them. Deeks turned around to see where Granger was going. When he saw Granger enter Ops, Deeks glanced at Kensi, and they shared a meaningful look, "That can't be good," He stated, before he asked, "Do you think we should go back?"

"Nah," She replied, not wanting to deal with Granger, if she did not have to. She had faith that the team would handle Granger with or without them, "They can handle him. Let's focus on finding whoever it is that we're going to find. You've got someone in mind, right?"

"Of course," He replied with a mischievous grin, "But I've got to drive, Princess. Aintin Sorcha lives in an area that you and your driving skills are unfamiliar with"

She sputtered, "Wh-wh-what? My driving skills are spectacular."

"Ri-i-ght," Deeks agreed, sarcastically. His blue eyes pierced her brown as he extended his hand out in the air, palm upward, expectantly. "Give me the keys, sugar bear."

She looked away from his expectant gaze and stubbornly stared at his palm for several seconds, before she rolled her eyes and sighed. Reluctantly she dropped the keys in his palm.

He grinned as he dangled the keys beside his head, teasingly at Kensi, "Now was that so hard, Kens?"

His grin fell and he exclaimed in pain, when she legitimately punched him in the bicep before walking away, her destination the parking lot.

While Kensi and Deeks searched out the aunt of one of Eddie's friends, Callen consulted Tara, or rather; Tara consulted alternatingly him and Sam, on their wardrobes. Hetty was in her office, taking calls, making calls, and vetting candidates temporarily to replace Nell, though Hetty feared she would have to settle for another tech to assist Eric instead of an Intelligence Analyst, as she had not the patience to break in a new Analyst. They had been extremely lucky when they had acquired, Nell Jones. She had been and still was a hot commodity and asset.

Mike had stayed in Ops after the team consultation. As Eric and Nell tied up the loose ends of backstories and investigating the Doyle organization further, Mike read over what Eric had complied thus far including what the FBI and JAG had sent. A little after an hour of reading material on a tablet, Mike was still not close to finished; there had to be several years' worth of material in the file; there was, at least a decade. He rubbed his eyes, because after reading nonstop without a break for that hour, his eyes strained to see clearly. He hated paper work whether it actual paper or digitalized. He would prefer to be in and stay in the field, a trait that he shared with Callen. Years ago, there had been an office pool on whose inbox was the most behind, who would first be verbally reprimanded by Hetty then Macy before he and Macy had been transferred in the summer of 2009, after Callen had been shot five times; when Hetty had been reassigned to OSP. It was not that either man was incompetent, lazy, or even procrastinating, on the contrary, it was that they craved action; preferred to be in the field than at a desk for even the little time it would take to finalize the paper work had they kept up with it.

The prepping stage of a long term Operation was always what he dreaded, because more often than not, there was much office work whether it paper work or simply waiting. He hated the waiting. He wanted the Op to start, because then he would not feel as helpless or restless. He would feel more in control, once an Op began, even though he might not be the one with the actual control. Yes, Mike Renko had an inner control freak that peaked out occasionally, but mainly, especially around Callen, it stayed dormant, because Callen was always in control of a situation, even when it seemed he did not. It was easier to allow Callen to take control than argue or fight with him.

"So," Mike broke the awkward silence that had fallen. He realized that he was the cause, because Eric was a multi-tasking talker. He talked while he worked and what he had heard of Nell, she was a talker, too. He almost felt sorry for Eric for being placed in the middle, though Mike could not understand why Nell was now giving him the cold shoulder. She had done a 180 degree turn in her interaction with him compared to earlier at the boat shed. When Eric looked at him and Nell continued to work, Mike asked, "Why does Granger have it in for Team Callen?"

"Your guess is as good as mine," Eric replied with a shrug of his shoulders.

"He is intimidated," Nell replied simply as she continued to read and log information.

"What?" Mike asked, not understanding how or why an Assistant Director of an Agency could feel threatened by a team of Field Agents and a couple of Support Staff, no matter how excellent those individuals were.

"Actually, I believe that he is intimidated by Hetty," Nell corrected and elaborated. She stopped working, swiveled her chair so that she looked at Mike as she talked with her hands, a nervous tick of hers that she could control, most of the time, this was not one of those times. Mike unnerved her, because he was mostly unknown to her, but he knew everything about the team, except for her, or perhaps even she, Nell was uncertain. It even appeared that he knew about Deeks, someone who had joined Team Callen long after Mike had transferred. Nell felt like the odd one out and she hated that feeling. It did not help that she had noticed the antagonist vibes that he sent her since he had returned from sparring with Callen. "Look, Granger knows that whatever happens with Hetty, Callen won't be far behind, he has her back, where Callen is, the team is." She paused, considering her words, "It's a chain reaction that Granger knows will happen, which is why he wants to separate the team, he believes if he divides the team, he'll conquer, Hetty, but it doesn't work that way. Granger does not understand the loyalty we have for Hetty, Callen, for each other. If he were to separate the team, it will only end worse for him, because the determination to unite against him, will ever be stronger. As you can attest, you've been gone from Team Callen, how long, and still considered Team Callen? I've been here close to three years; you were assigned elsewhere when I came on board." Nell paused, again, though in realization of something that she had subconsciously considered, but had never vocalized, "Team Callen, isn't a team, it's a family."

"How true," Mike agreed. He glanced at his watch; it was nearing three o'clock. "Hey, Eric how about you take a break, get lunch, coffee, Oreos, or something? You've been going non-stop for hours."

Eric pursed his lips and twitched them to the right as he, out of the corner, of his eye glanced at Nell whom had returned to logging information, before his eyes landed on Mike, his brow furrowed, undecided whether to take the offer than he really wanted to, he was hungry and thirsty. Hetty's rule about no food or beverages in Ops was torture some days. Apprehensively, he smiled, "Sure," He answered as he stood. "I'll be back in thirty."

"Nah, man," Mike replied, just as Eric stepped in front of the automatic double doors, "Take your time, after all, this is probably the only break you're going to get today."

Eric nodded as he left. Once the doors had closed, Mike settled his eyes upon the back of Nell's head, and asked genuinely interested. "So, Nell, are you prepared for your first field work assignment?"

Nell trailed her tongue across the roof of her mouth, her lips parted as she chuckled in disbelief that he attempted small talk, she bitingly retorted, "It won't be my first time in the field."

Sardonically he replied, "Really, how'd those field trips go for you? Ever need a 'personal assistant' during 'em before?"

She flinched and he felt not one ounce of regret. What he had observed in the short time that he had been around the team, as the team prepared for the upcoming Op, was that every member of Team Callen, including Hetty and Callen, more so they, had sugar coated the reality that she would face during the Op in the attempt to protect her. He felt that the wool needed to be pulled from her eyes now, before she entered the field so not to freak the young girl out or put her in unnecessary danger. She continued to work and ignored him successfully for fifteen minutes while he tried to engage and taunt her into small talk.

"So, looking forward to playing house with Callen?" He asked, knowing that it would finally get a response out of her. He felt bad for targeting whatever feelings she held for his friend, but he needed to test her, see what her boundaries truly were, because in the field, those boundaries constantly were tested.

"Stop being a jerk." She stated through clenched teeth, "Neither you or Callen need to be jerks to me. I understand that I'm not the best candidate to go out in the field, but I can't help that I am going. I don't have any misconceptions about my ability. I will be the weakest link in the Operation and that both angers and frustrates me. I am used to being the best at what I do, but out there, I will be the worst, so please do not insult my intelligence by mocking or taunting me. Because they have assigned you my bodyguard, yes, I am not as stupid to believe that you will simply be a personal assistant, we need to at least act like we like or at least tolerate each other, if not for anything else, but for Callen, because he sees you as a brother and I am one of his friends. I have no problem with you other than your need to belittle me and bad vibes you have sent me the past few hours. I don't know what I've done to you, but whatever it is, I apologize now for it. Let us both be professional about this and approach this Op as we would any other, except any other Op, I would stay here with Eric."

"Sweetheart," He drawled, as he arched an eyebrow, impressed with her. "I am not being a jerk to be a jerk. For some reason, your team believes you incapable of what has been assigned you. They're sugar coating what's going to be expected out of you. You are going to be in danger every second of every day. You are going to be under scrutiny. You are going to have to do things that you'd never thought you'd have to do. Are you prepared to hurt or kill someone?"

She did not respond for several minutes and he allowed her to mull over it, because it was a key question that he needed an answer.

"What does that have anything to do with anything?" She asked, although she had secretly thought about his question several times since joining NCIS.

"Everything, you're going to be in every sense of the word, Callen's partner, I'm there as your back up. At times, it's going to seem like a three-way partnership, but it all comes down to you, what you will be able to handle, because Callen and I've got this, it's just another high stakes Op." He replied, "I need to know that if I'm not there, if Callen is not there, that you will be able to protect yourself. That if something happens to either of us, that you will get out alive. That if there is a choice between you or us, that you'll always choose yourself. Always have at least two back-up plans to your back-up plan. What can go wrong in the field normally goes wrong, especially in long term Ops such as this one, we're not playing with some smalltime drug dealer or even a Mom and Pop arms dealer, Doyle is an international terrorist who has connections into every Government, including our own. One slip of the tongue or wrong action and you're burned, once you're burned, you're screwed, once you're screwed, you're injured or dead."

She blinked several times throughout his response, but he gave her credit for not flinching. She cleared her throat and firmly answered, "I can't guarantee that I'll always make the right decision, that I will do everything perfect to your standards or even Callen's or Hetty's, but I can guarantee that I will not intentionally do anything that will jeopardize the safety of either you or Callen, or Sam, or Kensi and Deeks. I can protect myself. I am acceptable at both practical and tactical defense and I know my way around a firearm."

He nodded, though not completely persuaded that she could protect herself. He stated, "You seem to be a smart chick, from what I heard the smartest that Callen has ever met, and he's met some smart ones. Apparently, you're smarter than Tracy…" As soon as he had said the name of Callen's ex-wife, Nell immediately interrupted him.

"You know about Tracy?" Nell asked, though the tone of her voice was lower than it had been, but higher when she spoke the name, Tracy.

"Nell," He sighed not wanting to betray Callen's trust, but he felt that he needed to answer her question. He settled for a veiled truth, "I knew about Tracy years before that ridiculous stunt she pulled at the Naval Recruitment Center."

"Oh," She quietly murmured as she quietly analyzed what that meant.

He rubbed his right hand over his face, before he said, "Nell look at me," When she finally did, he continued both firmly and seriously as he held steady eye contact with her, "Don't be like Tracy. Don't break his heart."

She blinked, opened her mouth, and closed it several times, but just as she was about to retort, the automatic double doors opened, and she refrained from countering.

Eric looked back and forth between his best friend and a man he considered a brother. He knew before he had left that there would be things said, but he had not realized that the atmosphere would feel several degrees colder than it had before he left.

"It's not been thirty minutes," Mike stated.

"No, twenty-four actually," Eric replied, before his blue eyes settled on Nell, "You okay?"

"Yes, why wouldn't I be?" She answered a tight smile on her face.

Eric studied her for a moment before he looked at Mike, "Tara is ready for you, but if I were you, don't mention Sam, because she is highly peeved at him."

Mike's brow furrowed, "What did he do?"

"Long story," Eric replied as he sat in his chair.

"Give me the short version." Mike stated. "So that whatever it was that he did, I don't do it."

"That won't be a problem," Eric assured, "Unless, of course, your role in the Op has changed."

"What do you mean by role in the Op?" Nell asked, before Mike could ask for clarification.

"Well," Eric stated, balancing a pen between two fingers, "Deeks called Callen, said something about it would be fruitless for Sam to try to infiltrate the staff of the Starship, so they went with plan B."

"What's plan B?" Nell asked, because to her knowledge there was not a plan b, although both Callen and Sam were pros at working on the fly, creating plan after plan, when plans failed one after the other.

"Sam is going in as Callen's Chief of Staff and personal bodyguard." Eric replied. "Which means a different wardrobe is needed for bodyguard Shawn Samuels than drifter bartender Shawn Samuels. Tara's peeved, because she spent better part of the day arranging for bartender Shawn's wardrobe, because she didn't have anything appropriate to fit Sam. So," He drawled, "I would totally make sure that I was going in as a personal assistant or whatever, before I got to Tara. 'Cause Tara's scary." He paused, as if suddenly remembering something; he ignored Mike's laughter, and looked at Nell as he told her, "Oh, and when I first went to lunch, Callen told me to tell you to find him once I got back. Him and Sam are supposed to brief you on something." He glanced at Mike who was laughing so hard he was holding his abdomen. Confused, Eric asked, "What is so funny?"

Mike laughed, "Tara's five-one and buck twenty soaking wet, dude. She's as dangerous as a fly near a fly trap"

A look of terror crossed Eric's face as he glanced at Nell, his eyes widening and his lips pursing, then back to an amused Mike.

Nell arched an eyebrow and stood, her good hand on her hip, her wounded wrist resting against her abdomen, as she verbally challenged Mike, "Is that supposed to be some sort of a short joke? Because I assure you that myself and Hetty are quite dangerous even though we are more vertically challenged than most."

"Tara is no Hetty." Mike retorted as he continued to laugh.

Nell blinked and clenched her jaw as she exited Ops. Eric furrowed his brow at Nell's name omitted from what Mike said. Nell had realized that no matter what she had said to Mike about her being able to protect herself he would not believe her. He thought her to be a helpless damsel in distress waiting to happen. She was not sure what angered her most; that Mike had confirmed his opinion of her or the insinuation that Callen shared that opinion.

Author's Note: The start of the Op is approaching. Thank you all for your readership, alerts, favourites, reviews, and patience. I appreciate it all!