One man takes a step in a direction he never thought he would take, or wanted to

WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE

Mission Ops

Eric sat, typing away on his keyboard as Nell lean down behind him.

"Hey, I'm done for the day. How about you?" She asked.

"Almost but I have a few other projects that I have to finish so I'm going stay late tonight." Eric replied.

"Want some help?" She offered.

Eric shook his head. "Nah, I got it. Thanks though."

"Anytime. I'll see you tomorrow" She said, giving him a quick peck on the cheek.

Eric smiled. It was something that started between them over the past few months. Sometimes it was friendly, other times it was romantic. But the best way Eric could describe it was that it was very…them.

"Good night." Eric replied as Nell left the room.

Eric let out the breath he was holding and looked at his hand, which started to shake. He was nervous, and the fact that Nell didn't pick up on that surprised him. The door opening took him out of his thoughts.

"Mr. Beale. Everyone has left for the day." Hetty said.

"Thanks, Hetty." Eric said as he powered everything down. She stood by the table, her hands folded behind her back.

"Are you ready for this, Eric?" She asked him.

"Truth be told, Hetty, no, I'm not." Eric said.

Hetty nodded. "I understand. You would understand my surprise when you came to ask me about this." She said.

They started walking around the upper level, giving Eric a chance to calm his nerves.

"Who all knows about this?" Eric asked her.

"Only the people in this building currently. And it will remain that way until you decide otherwise." Hetty said.

"I just don't want people to have the wrong idea." Eric said.

"There is no need to feel embarrassed about this, Eric." Hetty reminded him.

"I know. It's just the last year has changed everything. This place used to be safe. It doesn't feel like it anymore." Eric said.

Hetty nodded. "No security protocol is perfect, Mr. Beale. This was bound to happen eventually."

"Yea, but I never expected to have a fire fight where I work. The bad guys were always supposed to be out there. Not in here." Eric said.

Hetty laid a hand on his arm.

"Matias had you and Nell pinned down. I was up in Ops. I could have ended it." Eric said.

"The last thing I ever wanted was to put you in that kind of position, Eric. I promised you that you would never have to carry a gun." She said.

"You and I both know that was not a promise you could keep, Hetty. I'm not mad at you." Eric said.

"Does Nell know?" Hetty asked him as they walked down the stairs.

Eric shook his head. "I don't know how to tell her."

"I would recommend you do, soon. It's bad form to keep secrets between partners and friends." She said as they made their way to the armory.

"I will." Eric said as they opened the door to the firing range. Sam was setting up at one of the lanes.

"Hey, you ready?" Sam said as he turned to Eric.

Eric nodded. "Ready as I'll ever be." He replied.

"We are going to start you on a .22 gun. Low recoil so you can get used to the feel. Go ahead and step up here." Sam said stepping away from the lane.

Sam picked the gun up and showed him where the Safety was, the slide release, the magazine ejection.

"Go ahead and load it, then release the slide." Sam said, Eric following his instructions.

"Now the gun is hot. Go ahead and aim at the target. Take a deep breath and hold it, then gently squeeze." Sam said.

Eric took in a breath and squeezed the trigger. The gun fired surprising Eric slightly but not as bad as he thought. The target had a mark on his shoulder.

"Not bad for your first shot. Keep going" Sam gently patted Eric on the shoulder. He replaced his ear muffs as continued to fire the gun.

This is based on the teaser for the new Season that just recently came out (Wont let me post the link so just search NCIS Los Angeles on Enstarz). I actually had an idea similar to this but never wrote it out so it works out in the end.

I imagined this as an episode ender so you can imagine a fade out at the end.

Thank you for Reading, Reviewing, Favoriting, and Following

To the Guest Reviewer who (again) asked me for more Kensi/Deeks episodes I (again) refer you to Episode 38. I clearly state my case and make it abundantly clear that those types of episodes are rare.