History has a way of repeating itself
FAITH AND BELIEF
Mission Ops
"As much as I hate to admit it, Mr Callen, you are right. We will need Arkady's help on this mission" Hetty said to the faces on the screen showing the boatshed.
"How soon can we leave?" Callen replied.
"Given enough time to make the preparations, I would say noon tomorrow" Eric explained.
"We have basic backstops for you but they need to be expanded on." Nell finished.
"Go home, get some rest, and put your affairs in order. We will meet tomorrow morning to brief before your flight." Hetty said. The rest of the team nodded and closed the connection.
"It's been a long day. You can work on the backstopping in the morning." She turned to Eric and Nell.
"I've got a few minor things to take care of before we go." Eric said. Hetty gave them both a nod and left Ops.
"I need to do some cleanup so I'll meet you downstairs." Nell said, patting his arm.
"Ok. See you downstairs." Eric said, taking her hand and squeezing it.
30 min later
Eric came down the stairs, slinging his bag over his shoulder. He waved goodbye to Hetty who gave him a curt wave back. He looked around the bullpen and couldn't see Nell. Usually they would wait for each other in the bullpen before leaving for the night.
He looked in the tech area and couldn't find her, she wasn't in the armory, nor was she in the gym.
Eric walked down the hallway and opened the door to the burn room and saw her standing there loading a pile of papers into the oven. She closed the door and turned it on, the fire casting a warm glow on her face.
"Hey Nell." Eric said. She made no movement, not even acknowledging his presence. She just stood there, staring at the fire with her arms wrapped around her stomach.
"Nell?" He said again as he softly closed the door behind him.
"Nellster? Nellorama? Nellarino?" He said slowly walking up to her.
She still didn't say anything. The light of the fire reflected moisture in her eyes.
"If you don't give me something here I'm going to have to go into Deeks territory." He said, gently touching her shoulder.
That got a reaction out of her. She gave a small laugh and closed her eyes, dropping her head and cracking a smile.
"You already did with the Nellarino one." She said quietly.
Eric slid up behind her and wrapped his arms around her stomach, pulling her against him. His thumb slowly stroked her arm as he placed a gentle kiss on her head. They stood there for minutes, watching the fire consume the pages and slowly die down.
After dead silence she finally spoke.
"I don't want them to leave." She said.
"I know you don't" He said, resting his chin on her head.
"First Prague, then Afghanistan, now Moscow." She said.
Eric didn't say anything. While the whole team knew Nell struggled when the team was overseas Eric was the only one who knew how much. When the team was in Prague Nell appeared on his door step one night, her eyes red from crying. They spent the night on his couch, his arms wrapped around her providing her comfort. Afghanistan was worse because of what they all thought happened to Kensi.
He softly squeezed her against him. "They will come home, alive and in once piece. You and I both know that." He said.
She tried to push off "No, you don't know that." She said.
He overpowered her and pulled her back. "No, I do know. Do you know why?" He asked.
She just hummed in response.
"Because this is G Callen, CIA wonderboy and undercover legend. This is Sam Hannah, the Navy Seal who two months ago was described by a certain red headed beauty as being 'as tough as they come'. This is Kensi Blye, the only woman tough enough to eat nails and ask for seconds. This is Marty Deeks, the man who is a lot stronger, a lot smarter, and a lot better than we all give him credit for."
He couldn't see but he knew she was smiling. "And they aren't going in alone. Arkady may be a character but he has proven on occasions that we can trust him. And you know that Hetty will have something up her sleeve." He said.
"You think so?" She said.
"This is Hetty. She always has something up her sleeves." He said.
He turned her around to face her.
"We have to believe in them. We have to have faith that they will return. Because they always do." He said.
She looked up at him starting into her eyes.
"Now, dry those eyes. Because at my apartment there is a deep dish pizza with sausage and black olives, a two liter of Mountain Dew, and a Playstation 4 with Ultra Street Fighter 4 with our names on it." He said.
She grinned. "That sounds good to me." She said.
"I promise I'll go easy on you tonight." He said.
"Oh really? You think you can survive my Zan'ei Shadow Fist?" She said, playfully taking a snake stance.
"Just as much as you can survive my Raging Demon" He said, taking a fighting stance himself.
"Now that isn't fair. You know those two attacks cancel each other out, right?" She said.
"What, really?" He said as they left the burn room.
"Yea. In Street Fighter Alpha both Gen and Akuma fought. Akuma tried to use the Raging Demon on Gen but he survived it because he found the secret. You have to empty your soul..." She said as they walked down the hallway and out into the parking lot.
I'm breaking my rule and going off of something new (I usually wait at least a week before I post any episodes related to new content). Tried to add a little comedy toward the end with their converstation.
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