He had been one of the few that kept his peace, until now
BROKEN FAITH
LA Mercy General Hospital, Room 2301
Eric sat in the recliner that the hospital staff graciously brought in for him after the 3rd day straight he spent in this room. The beeps of the machines hooked up to her showed her heart was beating, her lungs were breathing, and she was alive. The only thing that mattered to Eric was she was alive.
Eric heard the door open and close. He set the book down and focused on Nell's face. Her soft cheeks, her nose, her lips, and her ears.
"I hope I'm not disturbing you." The familiar voice spoke.
"And if I said you were?" Eric said, not looking at the small woman standing at the foot of Nell's bed.
"Say the word and I will leave." Hetty replied.
"You think coming here is going to make everything all right? Are you that delusional?" Eric said, the hate in his voice starting to seep out. Eric reached out and gently took Nell's hand, finger ghosting over the ring on her finger.
"Mr. Beale…" Hetty began before Eric cut her off.
"Save your cue card rhetoric, Hetty. It's not going to work this time." He said, not holding the hate in his voice in check anymore.
"You and I both know the intel was bad." Hetty said.
"It doesn't matter about the intel, Hetty. It was about our lives. You sent her in with no backup, for Christ sakes." Eric said, his voice starting to raise before he was able to reign it in after seeing Nell's eyes flicker.
"We trusted you. All of us. That is why the 4 of them dropped everything and went to follow you to Prague, that is why the team risked getting caught in a Russian consulate to get our technology back, that is why we all stood up to the DOJ for you. Because we trusted you. But then you started playing God with our lives. You sent Kensi halfway across the world, you had us hunt down Callen like a common criminal, more and more you see us as expendable. And this is what happens." Eric said, waving his hand to Nell.
"Mr. Beale…" Hetty tried to say but he cut her off again.
"No, Hetty. I want nothing to do with your attempt at an apology. I am her husband and next of kin and right now your presence is not welcome here. I am asking you to leave, now." Eric said, finally tearing his eyes away from Nell and right into Hetty's. It was plain to see the rage in his, but very subtle was the hurt in hers.
"I will forever be grateful to you for brining her into my life, Hetty. But I will never forgive you for almost taking her away from me." Eric said.
Hetty could only nod, her face ironclad as she turned and left. Before opening the door she stopped for a second and did something that many joked was not possible.
She wiped a single tear from her eye
She then opened the door and stepped out into the hallway before closing the door after her.
Eric took a few moments to calm himself before he turned back to Nell. He gently brushed some of her hair out of her face before placing a kiss on her forehead. He sat back down and grabbed his laptop out. He opened up a word processer and started to type out
To: Henrietta Lange, Owen Granger, Leon Vance
From: Eric Beale
Subject: Resignation
Dear Miss Lange, Assistant Director Granger, and Director Vance
This letter is to inform you of my intent to resign from my position as Technical Operator for the Office of Special Projects for the Naval Criminal Investigative Service. My reasons are personal and are best not discussed. My resignation will go into effect two weeks after receipt of this letter.
Sincerely
Eric Beale
"Mmmm. What is that?" He jumped slightly when he heard her voice. He looked over and saw Nell had one eye open. He set his laptop down before turning to take her hand.
"Hey. How are you feeling?" He said in a low voice.
"Tired, hurting. You know, everything that usually happens after getting shot 3 times." Nell said, giving a weak smile.
"You scared me." Eric said, gently brushing his thumb on her forehead.
"What were you yelling about earlier?" Nell said.
Eric went silent, his body language obviously betraying the internal conflict he was having.
"Eric, tell me, please?" Nell said, gently squeezing his hand.
"Hetty was here." Eric said.
Nell nodded gently. "And I take it by your voice it did not go very well?"
"That depends on your definition. I had some choice words for her." Eric said.
"So what were you typing just now?" Nell said, pointing to his laptop.
Eric took a few seconds before taking a breath.
"My resignation." He said.
Surprisingly she didn't react the way he thought she would.
"I see." She said, giving him a smile.
"You don't have to leave with me, Nell. I know how much the job means to you. I can easily find work in my field no problem." Eric said.
"Eric, Eric, Eric. There is no way you are leaving me behind." She said, reaching up and stroking his cheek.
"I don't care how we make our money. All I care about is that my husband is with me, always." She said.
"Always." He repeated, leaning down and kissing her gently.
"I love you." He whispered.
"I love you, too." She whispered back.
"Put my name on that too. Then call the team here and we will tell them together." Nell said.
Eric nodded before sitting back down. Nell closed her eyes, falling back asleep as Eric pulled up the letter again.
To: Henrietta Lange, Owen Granger, Leon Vance
From: Eric and Nell Beale
Subject: Resignation
Dear Miss Lange, Assistant Director Granger, and Director Vance
This letter is to inform you of our intent to resign from our positions as Technical Operator and Intelligence Analyst for the Office of Special Projects for the Naval Criminal Investigative Service. Our reasons are personal and are best not discussed. Our resignations will go into effect two weeks after receipt of this letter.
Sincerely
Eric and Nell Beale
I really wanted to go down a more angsty and dark road with this one. Specifically I wanted to see some anger from Eric. We don't really get that much in the show except for a few episodes and I would live to see something similar to this where he finally reaches his breaking point and just snaps.
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