Chapter Fourteen

"Ay, Tara," Sam exclaimed in a pleading sort of tone with his arms extended in a surrender gesture as the Wardrobe Coordinator passed the bullpen with a look mixed with determination and irritation on her face, "It ain't my fault, sweetheart."

As Callen sat his desk, he signed his alias's name on several forms while he sniggered. He arched his right eyebrow in amusement as he glanced ever so often to watch Sam stand in the middle of the bullpen and apologize for the misunderstanding concerning his wardrobe.

Sam shot him a look that was supposed to have made him stop sniggering, but it only caused him to snigger louder. Sam rolled his eyes as he walked to his desk and sat in his chair. He leaned back and shook his head, "Go ahead, G, laugh it up, but you aren't the one that's going to be wearing clothes a half a size too small." He leaned forward and loudly whispered in a nasally voice, "Just a twinge too small in some places, causes lots of issues, man."

Callen shook his head and grinned.

Sam narrowed his eyes and said, "That's wrong, G, so wrong, a man does not laugh at another man's issues. That's against both the guy and partner code."

"Sam," Callen said, but had to pause to gain control of his laughter. "I'm not laughing at your issues, man, I promise." He laughed again, before suddenly his face became serious, no trace of laughter left, and he stated as serious as he could, "When you use your nasally whisper it reminds me of Ms. Eleanor."

Sam glared, as he pouted not appreciating the comparison to his loveable, but busybody Great Aunt.

Callen started laughing again as he leaned back in his chair tilting the swivel chair as far back as it would go. He pointed at the sour look that Sam gave him, "Now that reminds me of your daughter," He looked toward wardrobe, and loudly in between laughs, hollered, "Hey, Tara give the big guy a break," Callen grinned at the look Tara sent Sam, "Come on, for me?" He placed his hands on his heart as he continued to grin, "I'm the one going to be stuck with sulk face."

Tara nodded as she once again glared at Sam before she went to the back of wardrobe, out of sight of the bullpen, which made Sam throw his hands up in the air, "She acts as if I did this on purpose. How was I supposed to know that Doyle no longer hires regular Joes?"

Callen shrugged as he continued to grin, the amusement sparkled in his blue eyes, "My opinion is that she likes you and doesn't know how to approach you. One minute you're a cuddly teddy bear the next a raging Grizzly."

Sam arched an eyebrow, smiled ironically, and said in a singsong voice, "Hello pot, my name is kettle; it is very nice to meet you…again."

Callen glared, before he meaningfully said, "Hey, Nell."

Sam gave him a look that they would continue this later. He smiled and turned around to greet Nell, but seeing her tense body language as she walked down the final two steps, his smile faltered.

Callen sat straight in his chair and his brow furrowed as he registered that Nell was angry. Angrier than when he had messed with her while they had talked with Hetty, and he knew that she was furious with him for taking such liberties in front of Hetty, though besides anger there was another emotion in her eyes that Callen could not place. He asked concerned, "What happened?"

She forced a smile that made her look even more furious, she answered tightly, "Nothing that I can't take care of, Eric said for me to find you, that you and Sam would brief me on something."

Sam shot Callen a confused look as to ask what briefing.

Callen returned the look with on that said to go along.

Sam subtly nodded.

"Well?" Nell asked, her right eyebrow arched, her arms in front of her, her unharmed hand holding her opposite elbow.

Callen stood and walked around his desk. He stopped in front of her and nodded his head toward wardrobe, "We've got to get you an outfit for our meeting with the realtor tomorrow. We have two decoy houses set up to look at tomorrow and one on Thursday. Thursday is the one beside Doyle's estate. Wednesday, you have a field readiness evaluation."

"So, we're going shopping?" Nell asked; her voice perked up at the thought of leaving the office, leaving thoughts of both Granger and Mike behind. She was not concerned with the realtor or the houses as those were simply means to an end to start the Op. She had never failed a test so she was not worried about the evaluation; she knew the basics and excelled at them.

"No," Callen said, drawing the word out, his brow furrowed, confused at Nell's behavior, he continued slowly as if the answer should be obvious, "We're going to wardrobe."

"Okay," Nell replied, glancing at the staircase behind her. Sam and Callen shared a look that had Sam questioning what was wrong and Callen not knowing what it was. She stated quickly, "Come on, let's go, we've got to hurry."

"Hurry?" Callen asked, but once he saw Mike start walking down the stairs, Callen closed his eyes in realization. "What did he say?"

"Hmm?" Nell asked innocently. "Who?"

"Nell," Callen stated impatiently, "Save us all the time and stop playing that game. What did Mike do or say? Eric was supposed to tell Mike to go to wardrobe for his fitting. You don't want to go to wardrobe; it doesn't take a genius to realize that something happened."

Nell inhaled deeply and set her jaw in defiance, "Nothing happened that I can't handle."

Callen pursed his lips in irritation, before calling out to Mike, "Hey, come here."

Nell's eyes widened and looked at Sam as if he would help her.

Sam gave her a weak smile as if to say that she was on her own.

Nell rolled her eyes.

"What'd you need?" Mike asked as he stopped directly beside Nell.

Nell exhaled and forced another smile.

"What did you say to her?" Callen bluntly asked.

Mike dryly chucked, "I should have known."

"Known what?" Callen asked.

"For the record, I did not go running to him." Nell growled, realizing what Mike referred to knowing.

"You did say something to her," Callen stated in disappointment, he had not wanted to think that Mike had done anything, but he knew Mike.

"Mike," Sam stated, "Just tell him what you said, please; it'll save everyone a lot of time, and me a headache."

"I am not a damsel in distress waiting to happen!" Nell exclaimed quietly in a strained voice.

Sam's eyes threatened to pop out of his head; his lips forming a small o, as he softly whispered and crossed his arms, sitting back in his chair.

Callen tilted his head and focused his attention solely on Nell, "You aren't what?"

"I did not say that," Mike stated, recognizing the early warning signs of a Callen meltdown.

"What did you say to her?" Callen repeated his earlier question without looking at him, still focusing his attention on Nell. Stubbornly, she refused to look away from the intense look Callen gave her, although she very much wanted to.

"All I did was made her realize the severity of the Op." Mike answered.

"That did not answer my question," Callen stated as he looked away from Nell to Mike.

"Look, man, she needs to understand that," Mike firmly shut his mouth and looked straight ahead, as Callen interrupted him.

"No," Callen stated holding up a hand to stop Mike, Callen looked at Nell who was glaring at Mike, "Nell," She reluctantly looked at him, he continued, "Go to wardrobe, Tara already has a few outfits for you to try on, I'll be there in a minute."

Nell narrowed her eyes at him before turning on her heel and doing what he said, because that got her away from Mike. Once she was out of hearing range, Callen looked at Mike, took three steps toward him, only a few inches separated them, Mike met eye contact and refused to step back by doing so he non-verbally challenged Callen.

"Mike, you need to understand that whatever Nell needs to understand, she'll hear it from me." Callen again cut off what Mike was about to say, "You will not undermine her or tell her things that she is best off not knowing."

"Like what?" Mike challenged, arching his right eyebrow.

Sam placed his arms between the two men and separated them. Neither Callen nor Mike had seen or heard Sam approach them.

"You two will play nice, you're friends, and whatever happened with Nell does not and will not affect that friendship." Sam mediated and spoke as if he was talking to his daughter and one of her friends, "But, Mike, we need to know what you said, so that Callen can fix it."

"I told you, I made sure she knew the severity of the Operation, I questioned whether or not she could handle it, would she be able to protect herself." Mike truthfully answered.

"No," Callen said, tilting his head to the right as he watched Nell talk to Tara. "Something else was said, it was how she looked at me, like she was mad at the both of us instead of only you," He paused as he realized what other emotion he had seen in her eyes, "As if she was disappointed in me. What did you tell her about me?"

"Noth-" Mike tried to say nothing, but Callen interrupted him.

"Mike." Callen growled, "I see you as a brother, but I swear to God, if you aren't straight with me, right now, I'm going to kick your ass and finish breaking your arm."

"I told her not to be like Tracy," Mike admitted, Callen made a protesting sound in disbelief, but Mike continued regardless of Callen's attempt to interrupt him, "And I might have implied that you share my opinion that she won't be able to protect herself."

"You what?" Callen exclaimed, he took a deep calming breath and closed his eyes, but neither stress relieving trick worked. "Sam," He growled as he motioned toward Mike, "Do something with him, but make sure he doesn't go to wardrobe until after Nell has left it!"

"Where are you going, G?" Sam asked as Callen walked away.

"I'm going to try to fix what he broke!" Callen replied, angry with Mike for overstepping his bounds, for hurting Nell, regardless of what his intentions were.

"I didn't break anything," Mike told Sam exasperated at Callen's behaviour. "I didn't hurt her; I pissed her off."

"Man," Sam said in a regretful tone, "You did both, by trying to help her, protect her, you might have broken the trust she has for Callen." Sam sighed, "She has to trust Callen for any of the Op to work. If she does not trust that he trusts her, how is she supposed to trust her body or life with him?"

Mike exclaimed an obscenity as he placed his palms on Kensi's desk and balanced his weight unto them. "I might have been too harsh on her, but Sam, if she can't handle what one of us does or says, how is she going to handle what the other side will dish out?"

"I've known Nell for a while, Mike," Sam stated, half leaning, half sitting on the edge of his desk with his arms crossed, "And I have faith in her. She is tougher than what she looks. She really is a capable person and an excellent Analyst. Is she the best in the field, no, but everyone starts somewhere. She is mini-Hetty, dude, perhaps not as dangerous, but close as it gets, I think that if we were around when Hetty was young, we'd see how much Nell is like her. It was unreal last year when Hetty was healing from her gunshot wound, Hunter was the acting Operations Manager, but Nell was the one that truly managed the office."

"So, honestly," Mike stated as he mimicked Sam's pose, though leaning against Kensi's desk instead, "Do you think that she could hold her own against someone?"

Sam hesitated. Mike pointed an I-thought-so look at him. After thinking it over, Sam answered, "I think that she could outwit most any day. If it got physical, I don't know, but what I do know is that the sorry son of a bitch wrote and signed his death warrant once they touched her, because G. will kill him, and if that is if me, Kensi, Deeks, or you don't get there first. It might be a great idea for you to drop this, whatever it is, that you have about Nell being able to cope whether mentally or physically with this Op; let Callen worry about it." He paused, considering how to word, his confession, "There are very true reservations that everyone, including Callen, has about Nell going in the field, but that's why they brought you in, man; an extra person to stand between them and her. If we all do our jobs, she won't ever be in danger of finding out exactly what she can and can't handle."

Mike could not argue with what Sam said, but he was prevented from asking another question by Hetty's voice.

"Oh, Mister Hanna!" Hetty called out, her voice travelling to the bullpen from her office. "I do believe it is tea time."

Mike raised his eyebrows, smiled, and motioned his hands toward Hetty's office. He found it amusing that Sam still reacted the same to Hetty's declaration of tea time.

Sam slightly grimaced before he plastered a smile on his face. He took a step and paused, glancing over his shoulder at Mike, Sam ordered, "Whatever you do, do not go to wardrobe until you see Nell leave it."

Mike nodded as he continued to smile, "Sure, I don't want to agitate Callen right now, I like my arm and ass the way it is, thank you very much."

Sam nodded and walked reluctantly to Hetty's office. Even after seven years of working with her, Sam still hated tea, but he drinks it anyway, because it is Hetty, after all.

Thank you for reading and to all who have reviewed; individual review replies will be sent out this weekend. I appreciate all of the readership, alerts, favourites, reviews, and constructive criticism. Quick question, though, do y'all prefer chapters with a length of 2000-2500 words that are quickly updated or 3000-4000+ words that are updated every 2-4 days? Just curious, because I'm working on a schedule to post this story, and would like your input on which you like more. :-)