He still had things he needed to say

LIKE-LIKE

Nell's Apartment, Early Evening

Nell stretched out on the couch reading a book her sister had recommended to her. She enjoyed these nice quiet nights at home, away from the hustle and bustle that came with living in a giant city like Los Angeles. As she turned the page a soft knock came from her door. She set the book down and swung her legs over off the couch as she sat up. Closing the silk robe over her pajamas she tied the rope as she walked to the door. Opening the door her eyes caught in the blue eyes of her partner.

"Am I interrupting something?" He asked.

"Just some quality time with a novel." She said with a slight smile.

Eric nodded. "I'm sorry to bother you." He apologized.

She shook her head gently. "You aren't." She reassured him.

They stood in silence for a few moments before he found the courage to speak again.

"Listen, Nell. I'm sorry about how I acted today." Eric began.

Nell smiled and chuckled gently. "Eric, you already apologized for today. I said it's OK." She reminded him.

"I know, but I didn't say what I needed to say then." He said.

"And what is that?" She said, opening the door and leaning against the door jam.

Eric took a look at her in the robe he remembers her buying. Even as she was he still couldn't fathom how beautiful she was. Taking a deep breath, he slowly let it out, letting the nervousness follow the breath exhaled from his lungs.

"I'm sorry for what happened today. I'm not sorry for defending you. But I just find it so hard at times to not. I know you can take care of yourself. But when the thought of Granger questioning you popped in my head I couldn't stop myself." Eric said.

Nell smile grew.

"You are the greatest thing that has ever happened to me, Nell. I honestly don't know how I would have ever made it over the past few years with everything that happened if you didn't come into my life. And I'm afraid that I screwed it all up. I like you, Nell. Like, really like. I like-like you. Not in the little pancake looking enemies from Legend of Zelda. Not that pancakes aren't awesome, but not as awesome as you…" Eric just trailed off in a series of non sequitur sentences before Nell decided to have pity on him. She reached out and took his hand in hers, intertwining her fingers in his.

"Eric. It's OK. I like-like you too. And that hasn't changed at all. I appreciate what you did. I really do. But there is a time and a place for that. When we are out on the beach and some guy starts hitting on me because he thinks I'm an easy score then that reaction is warranted. Doing it in Ops in front of our boss is not. We need to keep things separate from work. The team have their hands full with Kensi and Deeks. We can't complicate things more for them. It's not fair to Sam and Callen to deal with two couples." Nell explained to him, softly running her thumb over his hand.

"You're right." Eric nodded.

"I have no intention on losing what we have, Wolfram. You are stuck with me through thick and thin." She said pulling on his arm to bring him closer. She cupped the back of his neck and pulled him into a kiss. Eric cupped her waist with his hand, holding her against his chest. They broke the kiss a few moments later, just staring into each other's eyes.

"I better let you get back to your reading. I'll see you tomorrow." Eric whispered to her.

"We should get pancakes before work tomorrow." She whispered with a smile.

"See you at 7?" He said.

"Deal." She nodded.

"Good night, Rockstar." He said, pulling away.

"Night." She said, pulling him back to gently kiss his cheek before letting him go. She closed the door, locking it again as Eric stood, contemplating their conversation. After a few moments he turned and got on the elevator, getting back into his car, and heading home.

Sorry about the long wait for a new episode. My life went nuts the past few months. I got laid off from my job in Jan and just now started working again. I know I missed the Year deadline for Wolfram but it is still in the works. Fear not. I am trying to go into a more case based story (which is something I struggle with) so that is why its taking its time.

Until then I had to put this small little episode out based on the events of "Exchange Rate". Seriously, that was one of the better Nell/Eric episodes even with just those small scenes they had. Really in my opinion all 4 shows (NCIS, NCIS: LA, NCIS: NO, and Scorpion) all had great episodes this week.

For those who have never played the Legend of Zelda series Like-Likes are these Slime pillar style enemies who will eat your shield. In the very first game for the NES the animation made them look like stacks of pancakes to me.

Keep an eye on the Tales from the Mission soundtrack on Spotify. New tracks will be added soon once the new music based episodes come out (which I recently had a great idea for one that is going to be completely narrative, no dialog what so ever in it.

Thank you for Reading, Reviewing, Favoriting, and Following.