AN: One more chapter after this one (I think). THANK YOU to all reviewers. Hearing what you have to say about each chapter means the world to me. Everyone else reading this, you have also made me very happy.
XXXXXX
Nell spent the rest of her weekend thinking up worst case scenarios for the coming week. Callen had her mostly convinced that everything would be fine – he'd talked to Hetty at length, and she was on their side (as usual). However, that meant nothing when it came to Assistant Director Granger or NCIS. Nell was of the opinion that Hetty could deal with them for now. She'd simply avoid Granger, though he had an uncanny habit of lurking around –
"Good morning," Granger said, stepping into her path from a partially obscured alcove near the stairs. He noticed her surprise. "I always stand there. In the mornings."
"When you're waiting to ambush people, sir?"
"Ambush? Interesting choice of words. Do you not want to talk to me?"
Was that a trick question? "No, that's…what I meant to say was good morning." She tried to keep walking and he took another step to block her.
"How was your weekend?"
They both knew where the conversation was headed. Best to stay vague while she thought of a way out of it. "You know, the usual."
"The usual. Sounds fascinating." He didn't sound fascinated. He sounded skeptical and a bit disdainful.
"I have things to –"
"I heard you had an interesting Saturday night."
Her heart started to race and she looked around for any kind of rescue she could find. Aha, Deeks and Kensi were bickering nearby.
"Hey guys!" She tried waving them over, but once they saw she was with Granger they both fled in the opposite direction. So much for a rescue.
"Saturday night," Granger reiterated.
"Could you be more specific?"
"Why did Agent Callen pull you into a field operation without prior approval when he is well aware of the ground rules we established?"
"Oh. That." Nell cleared her throat. She should have feigned illness today, she knew it.
"Am I to take your silence as an indication that he had no reason except his usual disregard for the rules?"
She clenched her hands so tightly that she felt her nails dig into her palms. It would be easy to pin the blame entirely on Callen and beg Granger's forgiveness. However, she couldn't do that (even if he deserved it) which meant it was time to spin like there was no tomorrow.
"Sir, I'm sure you're aware that Agent Callen was going on a potentially dangerous meeting and certain unforeseen circumstances necessitated that I bring him some important information. On the way there, further events – completely out of our control – meant that if I took Agent Blye's place, we would have a much greater chance of completing the operation successfully. We all want to bring Salvatore Donatacci down, right?"
Granger blinked. "Obviously. No one is arguing that. The issue is –"
"Sir," she risked interrupting him to avoid another lecture, "I must add, with no disrespect intended, that Kensi should have been with Callen or at least at headquarters in case anything went wrong. It was her absence that largely led to the events of Saturday night. I don't regret stepping in when I was asked, and I am determined to perform the role as well as Kensi would have." She thought about it, and then threw on another "sir" for maximum impact.
"Owen!" Hetty was an unexpected savior as she walked briskly toward them. "Just the man I was looking for, I think we need to talk." She nodded at Nell to get the hell out of there, and Nell wasted no time obeying.
She headed up the stairs and found Sam and Callen on the landing. Sam grinned at her, somewhat maniacally. "Granger was responsible for Kensi's absence, which means you just pinned the entire events of Saturday on him."
"Don't worry, he'll rationalize his way out of it soon enough." She folded her arms and stared them down even though they were both taller than her. "You two stood here listening and didn't come help me?"
"You didn't need help," Callen insisted.
"How lucky are you to have me?" She demanded.
Callen shrugged. "It's not like he was being that hard on you. I probably could have come up with the same argument, given enough time."
She knew he was trying to lighten the mood, and it was the exact opposite of what she wanted to hear. "I joke around as much as you, but I am honestly thinking about pushing you down these stairs."
"Tread lightly, G." Sam didn't know if Callen was immune to Nell by now, or if he always knew when she was pissed off and secretly enjoyed it.
"Please, 'tread lightly' is my middle name."
Nell was losing her patience. He reached over to take her hand and she wrenched herself away in a quick move that had him stumbling back a few steps. "Your lack of gratitude is astounding. Tread lightly away from me," she snapped.
"Did you just push me?" He was incredulous. "Workplace harassment. Sam's a witness."
"I saw nothing." Sam headed down the stairs, a firm believer in letting Callen fix his own problems.
Nell knew it was time to leave the conversation before she did something she'd regret. "I'm going to work, you know, that thing some of us do in this building from time to time?"
It wasn't her words that clued him in; it was her tone. She'd made it up three steps when Callen grabbed her arm and turned her around to face him. They were at an even height this way, which was strange, though not unwelcome.
"Look at me," he ordered, waiting for her to meet his eyes. "I. Do. Appreciate. You."
She bit her lip because she wasn't an emotional person, and she refused to do something silly in front of everyone like cry.
Thankfully, he didn't wait for an answer. "I also know that you know I couldn't do this without you."
She tried to compose herself. "It's not your fault I'm on edge. It's…everything."
"The next thing on my list is to find Granger and explain. I got this."
That was cause for alarm. "Please don't do anything to justify him sending you, or me, to Siberia."
"Do we have an office there?"
"Also, make sure you respond to everything he says with a sarcastic comment or joke, he loves that."
"Stellar advice, as always." He kissed her cheek in appreciation as Deeks and Kensi started down the stairs toward them.
"Is this an episode of Love Connection?" Deeks asked as he stopped next to them. "Keep it out of work, you two."
"Are we back in 1985?" Callen asked, as Kensi pinched Deeks on the arm and he winced.
"What's love without pain, am I right?" Deeks held up a hand for Callen to high five. When he wouldn't, Deeks awkwardly lowered it. "Besides, everyone knows the classic game shows. Don't tell me your memory's failing you already?"
Kensi herded Deeks down the stairs before the situation could escalate, and the two of them almost collided with Hetty and Granger.
Hetty told Nell they needed to talk and pointed at her desk.
"Conference room, Agent Callen," Granger ordered.
"If I don't come back, remember me," Callen told everyone as he left.
"Always in our hearts," Deeks promised, placing his hand over his chest. "Wait, we have a conference room?"
"How long have you worked here?" Kensi asked.
"I only use about three rooms in this building." He thought about it. "Do you know how many private conversations I've had in the hallways with random people walking by? A conference room would come in handy."
While Sam and Kensi lectured Deeks on knowing his environment better, Nell took a seat at Hetty's desk. She correctly guessed that Hetty wanted to talk about Granger, and listened to Hetty's version of their conversation. To sum it up, and state the obvious, he wasn't happy. Nell didn't know how to fix that, and Hetty had fairly simple advice: do not fail.
"That's easier said than done," Nell pointed out. She actually had confidence they could do it, but she hated being threatened in the event things went wrong.
"Remember, no one can deny that your team has a proven track record of achieving results, even if it means going off-book. Those results matter; if you get things done, people tend to look the other way. If you fail spectacularly, suddenly everything you've ever done comes under scrutiny."
"I know how the game is played," Nell sighed. "Unfortunately."
"What I'm telling you now is more or less what Owen is telling Mr. Callen. Perhaps in less pleasant terms."
"That's great. Callen reacts well to threats."
"It would do him some good to remember not everyone is as easily swayed as I am."
"Ha! Since when are you easily swayed?" Callen asked as he walked over, catching the end of Hetty's words.
"Mr. Callen, I trust it went well? We haven't heard any yelling, or furniture being thrown…"
"Hetty, you underestimate me. I don't resort to dramatics."
"This from the man who once threatened to quit altogether?"
"That's different, that was for a good cause," he winked at her. "Besides, every talk with our Assistant Director's the same. I swear he has a script he reads from every time I make minor adjustments. Overall, he's fine with our new plan."
For the first time since this started, Nell felt hopeful. "Really?"
"No!" Callen exclaimed. "Have you met Owen Granger? I thought he was going to have a stroke. At one point, he threatened to drag me out back for the sole purpose of throwing me off the dock."
Nell crossed her arms, distinctly unamused. "Maybe he should have," she informed him, and then walked away.
Callen turned to Hetty. "What's that about?"
"She's your wife Mr. Callen," Hetty told him, with more than a hint of sarcasm, "go figure it out."
"She has been acting a little off."
"Maybe she thinks you're not taking this seriously?" Hetty suggested.
Upon reflection, he realized that was the most likely reason. "I'll talk to her about it. I was mostly joking about how upset Granger was. Although he did say he'd drown me."
"He can follow through on some of his threats if you won't listen to him, Mr. Callen. Believe it or not, he's trying to protect you and keep your team intact. At times you make it extremely hard for him."
He did feel slightly bad about that. "It's not on purpose. I'm trying to make the best decisions I can, and they're not always popular. If I go too far one day, then so be it. I don't think that day's here yet."
"I hope it never comes." She pointed in the direction Nell had gone, and he took the hint.
Deeks had stopped Nell at his desk, and he waved Callen over.
"Eric finished your paperwork." He gestured to the folder Nell held in her hands. "New license, passport, credit cards, library card – for those who still use it. Helpful hint: everything works, including the credit cards. Charge whatever you like."
"Definitely worth being fired," Kensi added.
"I made this up especially for you." Deeks flipped a card at Callen.
He glanced at it. "A Medicare benefits card. How thoughtful. Because I'm definitely 65."
"I know, buddy. Couple more years, I'm thinking ahead for you." Deeks jerked out of the way when Callen pretended to throw it back at him.
Kensi couldn't help herself. "Watch out when you go home. He had your house wired for Life Alert."
"Kensi, that was supposed to be a surprise newlywed gift! You ruin everything." He turned to Callen, explaining, "That company provides a valuable service."
"Yeah, for senior citizens!" Callen tried not to yell, but it was a near thing.
"And you don't qualify?" Deeks asked
"This is what you do with the spare key I gave you for emergencies?"
"That was your first mistake," Kensi informed him. "Trusting Deeks with anything of personal value."
"Some thanks I get for the $29.95 a month I'm paying for your safety," Deeks sounded appalled. "I'll expect reimbursement for that."
Nell ignored them as she flipped through the folder. It was pretty strange to see the name 'Nell White' on everything. It made her think of a life where that really was her. Maybe a typical, middle-class American who loved to check out books from the library, and who charged slightly too much on her credit cards. Her husband probably argued with her every week about her spending habits. Oh, and she laundered money for a living.
Callen took the folder, breaking her out of the daydream. "Can we talk?"
She followed him to a secluded part of the hallway where he told her about his exchange with Granger, and that they'd come to an agreement to allow things to continue as they currently were.
"I'm sorry if you thought I was taking this lightly," he explained. "I know he's trying to do his job, I can't fault him for it. Still, I've gone against him before and I've always won."
She couldn't help asking, "What if you don't win next time?"
"Then I don't, and I'll find a new job. I don't see it coming to that, Nell. I have a few tricks left."
"I don't know if you're making me feel better."
"You'll come around to my way of thinking, trust me."
She tilted her head from side to side, considering. "It's debatable."
"See? This is what marriage is about, give and take. Working through our issues. You realizing that I'm right every time."
"Keep it up and I might take Granger's side."
"That's practically treasonous."
She valiantly tried to contain her smile and knew she was losing. "I'm not afraid."
"You should be." They met each other's eyes, and for a moment he was all she could see.
Deeks interrupted with his uncanny sense of timing. "Hey, guys! Having a private conversation in the hallway? Should've gone to the conference room. No really, show me where it is."
"It's out back," Callen told him. "Go to the boatshed, then jump in the water and swim a half mile out. You'll find it in no time. It's on your left."
Deeks scratched his head. "That doesn't sound right."
"I'm sure Granger will be happy to show you." Callen turned Deeks back toward the front of the building. "Let's go find him."
"I'm suddenly not interested." He tried to back away, and Callen wouldn't let go of his shoulder.
Nell decided to let them fight it out on their own.
"Have fun! Remember, I love you both, so if one of you doesn't come back, the other one will regret it."
"That's sweet," Deeks called after her, as she mock saluted and walked away. "Hear that, Callen? You can't hurt me."
"You've got it backwards. It's far more likely that one day you'll need me to protect you from her."
"Which is funny because you're usually the one infuriating her."
"I can't help it that she refuses to acknowledge when I make compelling arguments."
Deeks rubbed the back of his neck. "Hey, I've been thinking. We both know this operation is dangerous, yet you brought Nell into an active role."
Callen heard his unspoken question. "She can do her job as well as any agent in NCIS."
"Trust me, I know." Deeks would never argue otherwise – she'd saved him a number of times. "I'm only wondering if you're really okay with her being in the field."
It was a hard question, one which Callen had thought about often. "The only thing that matters is if she can do the job, and I know she can. My personal feelings about it can't come into consideration. This isn't a unique issue, Deeks. Each one of us knows how much danger everyone else is in during a typical day. You have to deal with it as much as I do, and it's not like we're going to wake up one day and magically stop caring."
He was right. It never got easier. "I still don't know how you do it."
Callen didn't have a great answer for him. "Some days? Neither do I."
XXXXXX
It took another two weeks of negotiations before Salvatore Donatacci said he was ready to come to an agreement. Callen and Nell waited outside Bella's for him to arrive, hoping they'd be able to finalize the details of their plan once he showed up.
"Why do we have to go somewhere else? Why not talk in the restaurant?" Nell was equal parts freezing and hungry, and it irked her because the Donataccis actually had a fantastic restaurant. It was kind of sadistic that they were supposed to meet the owner outside when they weren't eating there tonight.
"I told you to eat before we left."
"And I didn't listen to you, did I? You know I can't eat when I'm nervous." She kicked at a pebble on the curb. "Sorry if I'm not looking forward to driving around the city in the middle of the night with this guy." Back-up was going to follow them in the form of Sam, Kensi, Deeks, and other personnel. For some reason, the meeting didn't sit right with her.
"Donatacci's paranoid. For good reason, I might add. Wouldn't you rather finalize a plan like this in your own limo if you had the choice? Easy getaway."
"Yeah, except we're stuck in there with him!"
"That's when he throws us out of the moving car," Callen sounded far too practical.
"Your ability to reassure me is severely lacking at the moment."
"No, it's my sense of humor that you aren't getting. Laugh, Nell, and it'll lighten the mood."
"Oh, I laugh about our potential murders. Sorry, didn't realize."
"You're forgiven," he allowed.
"Why did I agree to this? Never mind, I didn't agree to this." Nell pulled her coat tighter around herself to try and stifle the chill. The night had gotten far colder than expected.
"Yet you did agree to this," he reminded her. "Forever."
She shot him a scathing glance, and he smiled in return, pulling her into his side. Nell sent up a prayer of thanks for the wool coat she'd taken with her tonight, and pretended she wasn't grateful for Callen's warmth next to her. "I want a divorce."
"Sorry, I refuse."
"You would drag it out into a lengthy court battle to spite me."
"I sure would, but not to spite you," he paused, she assumed for dramatic effect. "It's because I can never let you go."
She was slowly becoming numb from the wind. "You realize how crazy you sound, right?"
"We're never going to survive unless…" He started humming.
She grinned. "Don't do that."
"Isn't that one of the reasons you married me? My extensive knowledge of classic soft rock has to be appealing."
"Yeah, I can see the women falling at your feet." She deliberately looked around the empty street.
"It's too cold out now. Wait until spring and you'll see. I can't believe you'd deny this inherent fact about what turns women on."
"Where did you learn your knowledge of women?" She challenged. "From Deeks?"
He couldn't believe she'd sink that low. "That's brutal, Nell. I'm going to pretend you didn't say that."
Deeks saw fit to respond over the comms. "I'll have you know I get plenty of women. Plenty. In fact –"
He was cut off by the sounds of a scuffle, and then Kensi came over the line. "Don't worry guys, it's under control."
"Try to limit communication to emergency only," Callen ordered, then turned back to Nell. "Where were we?"
"Your astounding knowledge of women, music, and how you combine the two to become irresistible?"
He nodded. "You have a way with words, I couldn't have said it better myself."
"I think you're letting nostalgia cloud your memories. I don't feel quite the same, considering I wasn't around for all of the 80's. Those were your college days, right?"
He was prepared to deny it, then realized she was right. "Only half of them! The other half were in the early 90's. Thanks for making me feel ancient. I probably should have kept that Medicare card."
"I love you no matter your age," she swore, standing on her tip toes so she could kiss his cheek.
"Good thing you make me feel young again."
She shook her head in astonishment. "Now that line makes you sound like you're pushing 60. And it's way too cheesy. I give it 2 out of 5 stars." She always had fun grading him. "It might work better on other women. Ones in your age bracket, perhaps?"
"Don't worry. You're all I've ever needed…baby, you're the one."
"Fond memories of my middle school years. Ah, the early 90's."
"You would be the fifth grader with an easy listening station on the radio while doing your homework."
"I was an old soul back then," she said, and couldn't resist adding, "as opposed to, you know, just old."
"With age comes experience," he threatened, casually putting his arm around her neck.
She didn't fall for it, and after a brief fight, she broke free. "Youth wins out every time."
He waited until she glanced down the street to see if any cars were coming, and then lunged for her.
She shrieked and jumped backwards. "Don't do that."
"Why not? Thought you won every time."
"When you don't trick me," she clarified. "At least it's warming me up. We're living the dream, aren't we? Freezing to death on a street corner…" She deliberately exhaled to demonstrate how her breath froze in the frigid air.
"That's strange," Callen told her, "because I actually feel hot. You could say…just like an oven."
She was very, very tempted to shove him into the street. Thankfully, she didn't have to because the limo they'd been waiting for pulled up at that moment. Nell wasted no time diving inside, and sighed with relief at the warmth.
"It's fantastic to see you, you've saved me from relentless nostalgia." Donatacci sat across from her and Callen, with two men flanking him. She vigorously rubbed her hands together. "And frostbite. I was in danger of losing some of my extremities."
"Why didn't you wait in my restaurant?" He asked, confused.
Nell hit Callen on the shoulder. "Yeah, why didn't we wait inside?"
"Didn't occur to us?" He took her hands and rubbed them between his own in apology.
"Shame on you," Donatacci clucked his tongue. "Letting this beautiful woman suffer such discomfort."
Nell allowed herself the moment of flattery. "You certainly have a way with words."
"Be careful of this one," he warned Callen. "She might get stolen away from you by someone more deserving." He reached over and took one of her hands to kiss it.
Nell shot him a flirtatious glance. "Thankfully you came along to rescue me."
Callen didn't sound too happy when he broke into their conversation. "My wife is very dramatic, at times. Forgive her."
Donatacci waved him off. "Nothing to forgive. Such is the weak nature of women, am I right?"
Nell's good mood instantly evaporated as the two men shared a laugh at her expense. Apparently frostbite made her the weaker sex. Fine, she could live with that as long as the warmth of his limo meant she retained the use of her fingers. They started discussing the deal, and she stopped paying attention. She already knew the ins and outs; they'd gone over it a hundred times. She focused on trying to remember the turns their car made, though she eventually had to give up.
"We're all set. Right, Nell?" Callen asked as Nell abruptly tuned back in to hear that she was supposed to be prepared to do her job.
"Everything's in place," she easily lied.
"Glad to hear it." Donatacci smiled at her. "I'm slightly envious of your husband."
"I do what I'm supposed to," Nell reassured him.
"She more than earns her keep," Callen agreed. "We can get started as early as tomorrow, after we get our fee."
"About that," Donatacci began, "I'm more comfortable if you transfer my money first. Once I see this isn't a scam, we can discuss an ongoing arrangement."
Callen didn't like the sound of that. "That's not the way this works."
"Transfer my money, and if I'm satisfied, you'll get paid. That's the only way this will happen."
Callen and Nell both noted the abrupt shift in tone, and Donatacci's two associates didn't appear any friendlier than he did. Apparently, he no longer trusted them (if he ever had in the first place). Callen learned forward, spreading his arms out to appear as non-threatening as possible. "What's wrong? What happened?"
"Nothing in particular," the man said, and though his words were amicable, his tone lacked any of its previous warmth. He pulled out a gun and turned it around in his hands casually, as if it weren't a direct threat to them. "In the spirit of openness, I have to admit that I find it hard to conduct business with strangers. Let's be honest, despite the few weeks we've spent talking, you two are strangers to me. Who's to say this isn't an elaborate scheme to steal from me? Better safe than sorry. You know how it works."
Callen glanced over at Nell, and she was sure her face betrayed her fear, no matter how much she tried to hide it. He reached over to take her hand in comfort.
To make matters worse, they hadn't heard from anyone over the comms. Surely they'd heard things were going south, and were on their way? She had to consider the possibility that the limo had a signal jammer, or they were out of range. She hoped it was simply a case of the others staying too far behind and that they'd catch up. For the moment, she and Callen were alone, and he knew it, too.
"Where are we going?" Callen asked.
"Don't worry about it. As long as you do what I ask, you'll be perfectly fine."
The vehicle stopped, and Donatacci motioned for them to get out.
"We can renegotiate," Nell tried. She didn't want to speculate on what it might mean that he wanted them to exit his limo in the middle of nowhere.
The older man said nothing, and Nell figured she couldn't talk their way out of it.
Callen lowered his voice, though he knew the others could probably hear him. "Nothing is going to happen to us, I promise."
"You can't promise that," she whispered.
He reluctantly got out, reaching back for Nell who hadn't moved. "I'm promising anyways. I know you believe me."
He was right. She always did.
She took his hand and followed him out of the car.
XXXXXX