AN: Thank you all for continuing to follow and review on this story! Yes, I am still working on it, but I had a couple rough months. My laptop's charger port completely disintegrated and fell out, so I had to save up money to get a Chromebook, though soon I'd like to get a new laptop as the Chrome just isn't quite the same as a traditional laptop. Then I hit a writing block, and well...you know how that goes.

Anyway, enjoy the next chapter. I'll try to get another up in a reasonable amount of time, but no promises! LOL

Chapter 11

Nell sat staring at the photos on her screen, a strange sensation building in her chest. She couldn't stop thinking about the victim.

Julie. Her name was Julie, and she was 27.

Her dad was a naval captain and her mom was a teacher. She had two brothers, both working in construction. Nell wondered if they had heard yet, if they were right now making funeral arrangements. She could picture that scene - Mom trying to relay her daughter's wishes but getting too emotional, so Dad, stoic as ever, has to step in and take over.

Nell gazed at the woman's face, feeling tears burning at the back of her eyes. Had things turned out even a little differently, she could have been Julie. Or, Julie could have been Nell. She wondered if she had been afraid, and then decided that she had. Most people were afraid when they knew their life was in jeopardy. When death was staring them in the face.

Nell had been. And as many times as she wished for death to come to her there in that warehouse, she had only wished it for Callen's sake, so he couldn't be tortured another time. But at the same time, she'd known she had to fight to stay alive, for people like Julie.

"Nell," Callen said, shaking his good leg to keep the blood flowing in it, "look at me."

She lifted her eyes to do so, and though Callen could see a lovely bruise over her right eye he pretended not to notice. Her lips turned down in a frown as she refused to fully meet his gaze, her cheeks reddening in shame. How could she look at him after what he had just witnessed? "Callen..."

"I'm gonna get you out of here. You believe me, right?"

She nodded, though a small part of her knew she was only doing it for his benefit. "I know."

"You have to stay strong, okay?"

Though her whole body hurt, she pushed herself into a sitting position and tried not to see the blood on the tarp underneath her. "I'm not like you, Callen," she muttered. "I'm not..."

"I have faith in you. We're gonna walk out of here together."

Now she scoffed. "They shot you in the leg."

Callen grinned despite the pounding in his head. "There she is."

"I wasn't joking."

"Neither was I."

He had been right; she was strong. Some days she felt it more than others, but it was there.

Glancing once more at her screen, she clenched her fists.

She had to do something. Something more than sitting here behind her computer and hiding from the world. Sure, she was afraid; she was terrified, and she knew that when Callen found out what she was about to do he would be more than a little upset. But she knew she could help, and to her, to sit and do nothing felt almost as bad as what these monsters were doing.

Thankfully, Eric had run off for a bathroom break, so with a quick glance around and a deep breath, Nell got up and escaped Ops to find Hetty or Granger.

She found them both together in Hetty's office, and though that idea amused her in a way, it only strengthened her resolve. Marching up to the desk, Nell cleared her throat and waited for them to acknowledge her.

"Miss Jones?" Hetty asked without looking up from the file she read. "What can I do for you?"

"I have an idea on how to get into PATH," she said.

Now, the Ops manager did look up, though her gaze went to Granger rather than Nell. Reluctantly, she asked, "Oh?"

Nodding, Nell slid into the chair on the other side of the desk, her hands curled around the top edge. "It's dangerous, but I think it's doable."

Casting another curious glance at the assistant director, Hetty finally shifted her eyes to Nell and said, "Go on..."

"Absolutely not!" Callen shouted, his arms unfolding from his chest to hang at his sides, his hands clenched into fists. Looking at Nell, he frowned deeply as he asked, "Why would you even think I would be okay with this?"

"I can..." she began, but he was already turning to face his superiors.

"And you two...you're insane."

"Mr. Callen..." Hetty said, but her voice was drowned out by Granger.

"Jones' idea is the only way we can quickly gain access to this operation."

"She could be killed!" Callen cried. "Why am I the only person in the room who gets that?"

"You're not," Nell put in. "But I can help. I need to do this."

He shook his head. "We need you here."

"Eric's here. He's just as fast as I am, if not faster."

From the back of the room, Deeks, Kensi and Sam watched silently, each wondering how this would go. They all had experience with Callen's tenacity, as well as his strong desire to protect those around him. But they also understood that they needed a way into PATH, and Kensi acted and looked too much like a cop - her cover wouldn't last half as long as Nell's would.

"I won't let you do this, Nell," he finally said, his voice low with warning, but she just shook her head.

Her eyes cutting toward Hetty, she told him, "It's not up to you."

Even from where they stood, the others could hear his teeth grind together as his jaw clenched, and Kensi heard Deeks make a nervous sound in his throat.

"Nell..." Callen began, but she was already shaking her head again.

"You need someone who looks innocent, who's never seen the underside of LA."

"You can't. I won't be there..."

"To protect me. I know," she told him. "I'll be okay."

"You can't promise that!"

"And you can't protect me all the time. You have to trust me."

Callen's eyes misted with tears, but he turned away from everyone so they wouldn't see. "It's not you I don't trust."

Nell smiled wryly. "I know. But you told me something a few years ago that I've never forgotten - trust my training." She moved in front of him and put her hands on either side of his face. Her hazel eyes wide, she said, "I learned from the best, and I don't intend on letting him down."

"I can't, Nell. I can't stand by and know that you're alone and in danger...Just the thought of it is making me crazy."

"She won't be alone," a voice said from the doorway. Callen turned to see Sterling there, his face solemn.

"Agent Sterling will be going undercover as a potential buyer," Hetty explained. "Anything he finds, he will report directly to you."

"Why?"

Her eyes widened, then narrowed. "Why, what, Mr. Callen?"

"Why can't I be the buyer? I've got experience with trafficking..."

"As do I," Sterling said, though he kept his voice soft. No sense in pissing off someone who was already feeling threatened on his turf.

"You are already much too close to this. What would happen if I sent you there and you discovered that Nell were injured?" Hetty asked.

"You'd tear the place down with your bare hands," Granger told him. "We all know that."

"And," Hetty added, "Mr. Sterling has given his word that he will do his best to ensure Nell's safety."

He looked around, and no one could miss the betrayal in his eyes. Hetty certainly understood; he felt totally outnumbered and not in control of the situation, a sensation she knew he did not enjoy on a good day.

"If anything happens..." he said, his voice breaking at the end. He was looking at Nell, but Hetty knew who he was really talking to.

"Yes," Hetty replied with a nod.

Without waiting to be dismissed, Callen turned and stalked out of the room.

Only when the doors hissed shut did Nell let out the breath she'd been holding.

Hetty reached out and took Nell's hand. "He will be fine, dear," she promised.

"I hope so. I don't want to do this to him, but..."

"I'll go with him," Sam assured her. "Make sure he doesn't do anything stupid."

She smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes. "Thanks, Sam."

"I found the number of one of the executives of World PATH," Eric said as Sam left. It was clear by the frown on his face that he was less than thrilled about this plan, but he wisely kept his reservations to himself. "His name is James Sheridan. Nell should call him, posing as a college student interested in volunteering with the organization on their next trip, which according to their website, will be to El Salvador."

"Last chance to back out, Short Stack," Sterling told her with a soft smile, but she shook her head.

"I've got to do this. These people need to be shut down."

With a nod to Eric, she waited as he dialed the number, then counted three rings until a man's voice said, "World PATH, this is James."

Panic threatened to close her throat, but she swallowed against it and said, "Hi, James. My name is Holly Gilbert. I heard about your organization from a friend of mine, and I was interested in maybe volunteering with you guys."

"You did?" He asked genuinely. "Which friend, if you don't mind me asking?"

Staring at the picture on the Smart Board, she said, "Julie Paget. We work together."

"That's great," James told her. "Well, we're having a sort of informational meeting tomorrow at the community center on La Brea. If you'd like to join us we'd love to have you."

"Yeah," she replied with a giggle everyone in the room could see was totally fake. "I will absolutely be there. What time?"

"Four thirty. Room Six."

"Room six," she repeated, sounding as if she were writing the information down. "Okay."

"Oh, and Holly?"

"Hmm?"

"If you have any other friends you think might be interested, please invite them along. We're always looking for volunteers."

"Yeah, I bet they are," Deeks muttered under his breath, and Kensi slipped her hand around his arm and gently squeezed his bicep.

"I'll ask around," Nell lied. "See you tomorrow, James."

After Eric disconnected the call, she said, "Well, at least we've confirmed that Julie was connected to these people in some way."

"He didn't mention that Julie's dead," Kensi noted. "Could he not know?"

Sterling shrugged. "Maybe. Or maybe he does and figures Holly hasn't found out."

"So he plays dumb to reel you - Holly - in," Deeks added, looking at Nell.

She nodded. "Either way, it doesn't matter. Time til the op is 22 hours."

"And we have much to do to prepare you," Hetty said. "But first, you should rest."

"I'm fine, Hetty," Nell insisted, but the manager shook her head.

"That is an order, Ms. Jones. Go home, all of you."

"C'mon," Sterling told her as he laid a hand gently on her shoulder. "I'll walk you to your car."

Sensing she would get nowhere arguing further, she said, "Thanks," and followed him out of Ops and down the stairs. He slowed to match her pace, walking beside her as they made their way out to the parking lot. He nodded to many of the people they passed, and his easy demeanor relaxed her almost at once.

"So," he said after a short silence between them, "Don't be nervous about tomorrow. You'll be wired up so we can hear everything."

She tossed her hair over her shoulder. "I'm not nervous," she replied, though that was only slightly true. "I'm just worried about Callen."

"You really care about him, huh?"

"He's..." she wrinkled her nose as she realized she had been about to reveal much more to him than she would even to Kensi.

How did he do that?

"I knew he would take this hard," she muttered, "but I worry that it'll be too much for him. He's been through so much lately; it's not fair to put more stress on him."

"But like you said, we don't have many options left if we want to take this operation down."

She nodded. "Right. But part of me thinks I'm only doing this to prove that I can."

"To who?" Sterling asked. "Yourself? Or Callen?"

"I don't know," she replied honestly. "He thinks I'm not ready to come back. But if I don't face my fears now then I never will."

As they reached her car, Sterling said, "Y'know, you mentioned that Callen's been through a lot."

"Yeah."

"But you didn't put yourself in there, too. Any reason for that?"

"I didn't..."

He lifted an eyebrow and leaned against her passenger-side door. "I don't know all the details and I don't need to, but I know enough. You keep trying to shift the focus onto him, hoping everyone will get distracted, and with most people it's working. But not with me. Why don't you want anyone to pay attention to you?"

"Because I don't need pity," she said. "I don't need 'poor Nell's or constant 'are you okay's. I need to move past it, not relive it."

Sterling shook his head. "Nope. That's not it."

Nell's eyes darkened. "Are you saying I'm lying?"

"Are you?"

"No."

Rather than reply, he continued to simply stare down at her, his green eyes calm but calculating, watching her reaction. It felt to Nell as if he were surgically dissecting her, reaching deep inside her for the truth, and she was helpless to stop him.

"I'm terrified," she finally admitted. "I wake up every day in a cold sweat, afraid that I'll find that I'm back there with those terrible men. So many times in that place, I thought I would die, and sometimes I welcomed the thought. But then I would look up and see Callen there, and I knew I would make it. I knew we would get out."

"Why?"

"Because he would die trying to save me. And I had to try for him, too."

"Because you love him?"

"Yes," she said with a nod. "And I know how that sounds and I don't care."

Sterling shrugged. "Makes no difference to me."

"I'm not supposed to. He's my superior..."

"Not directly."

"No, but still..."

He sighed and shifted his weight onto his other leg. "You're limiting yourself again." Nell just peered at him, so he explained. "If you really didn't care what others thought, you'd make it obvious how you felt."

"But he would never..."

At the roll of his eyes, she frowned. "Nell, I've been around a while. I also happen to be the same gender as Callen, and for someone so brilliant you can sure be dense. I've seen the way he looks at you, and if there isn't something more there than a general concern for your well-being, then I need to have my eyes checked."

"It's just because we were together in the warehouse, and..."

"You're telling me that he almost had a full-blown panic attack up in Ops just because he thinks of you as a member of his team?" Sterling asked incredulously. "Girl, you are blind."

"So what if does feel the same way?" She returned. "Now isn't the time to bring this up."

He looked down at her, noting her clenched fists and heaving chest. She was angry.

Good, he thought. Better angry than afraid. At least when she was angry, she wasn't second-guessing her every move. Now, if he could somehow ensure that she stayed this way through tomorrow, their plan might go off without a hitch.

Pushing himself off her car, he simply shrugged and said, "Maybe not. But if not now, when?"

With that, he strolled away through the parking lot, whistling softly as he went.

TBC...