Nell nearly fell off Eric's lap in her rush to return to her own chair. Eric had frozen, but the moment the beeping resumed, he got back to work. It took several hours before the hacker gave up on his attempts to invade the NCIS servers, and several more before Eric and Nell were satisfied with the upgrades to the security system. When they finally left to go home, the sun was beginning to rise. They met Hetty on their way out, who smiled at them and suggested they take the day off.

"I believe the two of you have much to discuss." She added. "I'll see you on Wednesday."

They remembered Granger's threat, and the relief they felt at being finished for the night was replaced by exhaustion.

"I guess I should head home." Nell finally said as they reached Eric's car.

"Yeah. I'll drop you off." Eric said miserably, getting into the driver's seat. After a few minutes of driving he spoke again. "This sucks." Was all he managed to get out before he noticed a tear on Nell's cheek.

"I'm sorry. It's all my fault..." She began.

"No, it's not. It's Granger's fault." Eric insisted. "But Hetty's right... I guess we do need to talk."

"We can't risk it. I know I want to be with you, and you want to be with me... but I'm not going to risk Granger sending one of us away." Nell said. "We just need to go back to the way that things were. We're friends, and nothing more." She said firmly. Eric sighed.

"You're right." Eric eventually conceded. "But it doesn't mean I have to like it."

"Maybe it's for the best." Nell finally whispered as they pulled up to her apartment.

Over the next several weeks, everyone noticed that both Eric and Nell had slipped into a depression. Hetty was at her wits' end trying to understand what had gone wrong. She found herself consuming far more tea than usual, and she had begun pacing - a nervous habit she had abandoned as a young agent. She contemplated asking the two what had gone on, but she didn't want to pry. The relationship had to be handled delicately - she couldn't risk the two being unable to work together, and she certainly didn't want to ruin any chance they had at a future reconciliation. So instead she paced, she drank tea, and she tried to imagine every possible scenario that could have caused the change in her two youngest team members. Nothing reasonable came to mind.

Everyone pretended not to notice the tension in Ops, or the awkwardness during cases. They were patient when Nell snapped at them, or Eric was less focused than usual. No one pointed out the elephant in the room, they just hoped it would eventually sort itself out - but it didn't.

Eric found himself constantly distracted. He spent far too many hours reliving the weekend he and Nell had spent together, and at times began to wonder if it had all just been a dream. But then he and Nell would lock eyes for a second, and he'd know it had happened - and it had come crashing down. Every moment in Ops with her was awkward. He wanted to reach out and touch her - brush the hair off her cheek, wrap her in a hug, kiss her senseless... but whenever the thought came to him, he was brought back to reality by the thought of where Granger might send them.

Deeks had done his best to get Eric out of the house, but he didn't want to go. He spent his evenings up late every night playing online games. On the rare occasion he was up early enough to surf he would go out and meet Deeks - but he kept silent, unsure what to say. He and Nell had made a pact not to tell anyone what transpired between them. It was hard enough without their coworkers giving their opinions. Eric was also afraid how it would affect Kensi and Deeks if they knew what Granger had threatened... and he didn't want to be responsible for problems between them, as their lives were literally in each others' hands day in and day out. So even though he occasionally joined Deeks for surfing, he never said a word about what was going on.

Nell, too, was struggling. Kensi and Deeks would not let up on their attempts to get her to talk, but she remained stubbornly silent. After the first week, Kensi showed up at her door with chick flicks, ice cream and Oreos and Nell couldn't send her away. For the entire night they indulged in far too much junk food and wine, warm comfy pjs and classic girly movies. Not once did Kensi push or question - she was just there, and Nell appreciated it. But when Monday rolled around, she realised that as much as their night of indulgence had soothed her at the time, it would do nothing to help in the long run when she had to work in close proximity with Eric - all the while keeping things platonic. So she couldn't help it when she ended up crying in the ladies room every now and then. Everyone noticed the tension and sadness remained, and that's when the questions and offers of a listening ear began.

Deeks took to checking in with Nell often at work, ducking his head into ops with a joke or to tease her, hoping to make her smile. As time wore on it was more difficult to get her to crack a smile, and she started glaring and asking him to leave. He asked how he could help and what was going on, but she refused to admit that anything was wrong.

Like clockwork, Kensi showed up at Nell's once a week with wine, movies and treats... But the depression she was sinking into always returned with vengeance the next day. She started to wonder if it was even worth it to fight to stay at OSP.

It was Callen who finally spoke up and did something about it. After the end of a particularly frustrating week, he called everyone to the bullpen.

"Team Bonding. Tonight. No excuses. Be back here by 7." He informed them. Hetty watched from her office, and smiled. As everyone left, she invited Callen back to her office.

"Tonight is on me. Please see if you can figure out what is going on between them or what needs to be done. Things cannot continue like this." She told Callen, her frustration evident. She opened a drawer and retrieved one of her well known black credit cards. "$50 000 limit. Should get in you in anywhere you like. But please, do be reasonable with it." She asked. "Feel free to make use of wardrobe as well, should you choose." She added, wanting to offer her assistance in any way possible.

"Thanks Hetty. I'll let you know how it goes..." Callen promised.