He carried a secret with him for years, shared with no one, not even the one most important to him

YOU ARE A GOOD MAN, MR. BEALE

Boatshed

Kensi and Deeks walked out of the interrogation room. "Well, she is not going to give anything up." Kensi reported to Sam and Callen

Sam leaned over, his chin resting in his hands, watching the monitor closely. "There has got to be something we can use to convince her to cooperate." He said.

"We've tried everything. She is stubborn. More so then Callen buying furniture." Deeks said.

"I will have you know I own a couch now." Callen said, eyeing Deeks.

Sam, not looking away from the monitor, said. "It's a discount store futon and you know it."

"We are running out of time. She is our only lead on where Shepard has gone." Kensi reminded them.

"Let me talk to her." A new voice came from the doorway. Everyone's eyes moved over to see Eric standing with Hetty.

"She will talk to me." Eric continued, walking in, not taking his eyes on the monitor.

"Are you sure about that?" Callen asked him.

"I'm positive. I'm the only one here she will." He said, reaching for the file without asking before walking down the hallway toward interrogation.

Callen looked over to Hetty. "Do you have any idea what is going on?" He asked her.

"I'm as much in the dark as you are, Mr. Callen. But he was quite insistent that he could get through to her and we don't have much of a choice, do we?" Hetty replied.

Eric stopped at the door and took a deep breath, steeling himself before opening the door and stepping inside.

Eric felt his muscles freeze as he saw the long blonde hair. Memories upon memories.

"I told you people I have nothing to sa…" She said as she turned around and froze. "Eric?" She whispered.

"Yes, Amanda. It's me" He said in a low voice. Amanda's face brightened as she ran at him, wrapping her arms and planting a large kiss on his lips.

"Oh! I'm so happy to see you!" Amanda said. Eric, blushing with embarrassment due to knowing she had to be watching from Ops, gently pushed Amanda away.

"Yea it's been a long time." Eric said, brushing his shirt.

"What are you doing here? I thought you were in jail?" She asked.

"I work here. Have been for years." Eric said as he sat down. Amanda's mood shifted.

"What? All this time and you never had the decency to call?" She sat down in a huff.

"You have every right to be upset…." Eric started before he was cut off.

"Upset? Who's upset? Certainly not I, when I find out her father is not in jail like I thought and could have provided for her!" Amanda said, looking away from him.

Out in the man area the faces of everyone present registered the shock of that little revelation.

"I'm sorry, Amanda. But I couldn't go back to that life. If I hadn't taken this job then I would have been in jail, or worse." Eric said.

"That is no excuse. You are her father, Eric. She is as much your responsibility as she is mine." Amanda said.

"That is why I kept depositing into your account. I had no idea if you were still using it but I figured it was the best I could do." Eric said, reaching out and taking her hand.

"You of all people know I wouldn't just abandon her, or you." He continued.

"I always thought that was Shepard." She said.

"I'm sorry, Amanda, but Shepard doesn't care about you or anyone else. He took us in when no one else would. He made us think that he cared for us but he betrayed me and left me out on my own after the Carnivore hack. My only saving grace was my boss, who stepped in before anyone else did." Eric said.

"But he always said he would watch out for us." Amanda replied, her eyes glistening with moisture.

"I'm sorry, Amanda. But Shepard used us. He always used us for his own ends. Every one of our little hacking family. And now he has to be stopped. The information he stole could hurt a lot of people. I can't take him down on my own. We need your help…I need your help." Eric said, squeezing her hand before grabbing a box of tissues nearby and handing them to her.

After giving her a moment to compose herself after her entire world was broken they sat in silence for a time.

"So…how is she?" Eric asked, his voice barely able to form the words no matter how much he swallowed to quench his dry throat.

"She is with my mom in San Jose. I see her every few weeks." Amanda said, grabbing her phone and opening up the pictures. She handed him the phone and he scrolled through the pictures of a little toddler with familiar blonde hair and blue eyes, his chest tightening with every picture. Tears started to roll down his face before he set the phone down.

"Does she know about me?" Eric asked.

Amanda shook her head. "No, I never told her about you. I couldn't" She cringed, worried about his reaction.

"It's probably for the best. We have to keep our real lives secret because of how dangerous our work is." Eric said, his voice quiet.

"What happens now?" Amanda asked after another bout with silence.

"I don't know but I promise you that I will do whatever I can to help. But only if you help us find Shepard. Are you willing to do that?" Eric said.

Amanda nodded her head and Eric nodded in response.

"Agent Blye and Detective Deeks will take your statement. You'll be turned over to LAPD once this is over." Eric responded standing up and gathering the file. He was just about to exit the room when she called out to him.

"Eric….is there…..someone in your life?" She asked in a quiet voice. Eric turned.

"Yes, there is. My partner. She is an amazing woman. I think you would like her." Eric said, smiling.

"Maybe sometime I can meet her." Amanda said.

"I'd like that" Eric said as he opened the door and left. He walked down the hallway back into the main room. He handed the file to Kensi.

"She will give you everything you need to know about Shepard." Eric said. Kensi nodded before gently patting him on the shoulder and walking down the hall. Deeks followed her, clapping Eric on the shoulder as well.

Eric let out the breath he was holding as Callen and Sam stood silent.

"What is going to happen to her?" Eric turned to Hetty.

"Short jail time maybe. Probably probation since she is willing to cooperate." Hetty said.

"I will testify, give a statement, a deposition, anything." Eric said.

Hetty gently laid her hand on his arm. "We will cross that bridge when we get there, Mr. Beale." She replied, giving him a reassuring smile.

Eric hung his head and exhaled again.

"Come. I'll take you back to Ops." She said, making her way toward the exit.

"Actually, Hetty, I'm going to walk back. I need some time alone. If you don't mind, that is." He replied.

Hetty nodded. "Ok. Suit yourself."

Eric moved around the table, Sam and Callen giving him reassuring pats on the back as he walked to the door. Before he opened the door he heard her voice.

"You are a good man, Mr. Beale. Don't ever think otherwise." Hetty called out to him.

He turned his head and gave a weak smile. "I won't" He replied before opening the door and stepping out into the daylight.

When the door closed Hetty pulled out her phone and pushed a few buttons. After a few rings she heard the telltale voice "Yes, Hetty?"

Mission Bullpen, 30 min later

Eric pulled the door open and stepped inside. He walked a few steps down the hallway, his eyes downcast, before he looked up. Freezing in place he found himself looking straight into her eyes. Her eyes were filled not with anger, but with love. Eric didn't notice that she had her bag and his bag with her.

He walked the last few steps, trying to find something to say to her.

"Hey, Nell. Listen…I…." He said before he was cut off by her index finger placed over his lips, her thumb caressing his chin.

"Shhhh" She said in a low voice, before removing her finger to caress his cheek. She pulled his head to hers and placed her lips on his in a gentle, loving kiss.

She pulled away and looked him in the eyes.

"We will talk about this. But not right now. Right now we are going to go home, cook dinner, catch up on Season 2 of Daredevil, and enjoy a relaxing night. I've taken care of everything else so here is your bag," She said as she handed him his bag. "And Hetty says to take the rest of the day off." She finished as she took his hand, smiling at him.

Eric felt his body loosen from all the tension that built up as she explained their plan.

"Ok. Lead the way, Rockstar." She said, squeezing her hand as she walked down the hallway, gently pulling on his arm as they left the building.

This one was rolling around in my head for awhile but I finally was able to get it out in the open. Eric is a really fun character to write for because we know very little about him so there is so much you can do.

As always check out the Tales from the Mission Soundtrack if you have Spotify. If not then you can always search YouTube for the songs that I list in the music oriented episodes since I always make it a point to list Track and Artist.

Thank you for Reading, Reviewing, Favoriting, and Following

Post Update

It came to my attention that I was a little more vague then I had intended and it left readers more confused then anything so I added some to hopefully clear up the confusion.