She had grown tougher through her experiences over the years but at the end of all there was only one place she felt content

IN HIS ARMS

Eric's Apartment, Early Evening

Eric stretched out on the couch watching some TV as he grabbed a chip from the plate on his coffee table when he heard the door unlock and open. There was only one person who had a key to his apartment and after the events of the past week it didn't surprise him when the short red head turned the corner into his living room. What did surprise him was her walking to him and without saying a single word laid down on the couch facing him and wrapped her arms around his waist, squeezing herself to him.

Eric knew that she came there for a reason and she would talk when she was ready so he just responded by wrapping her protectively in his arms, placing a kiss on her temple as he ran a hand up and down her back. Even that he could feel her muscles were like rocks there was so much tension in them.

He tuned the TV out and laid his cheek on the crown of her head, continuing his soft caress as he slowly felt her start to relax in his arms.

"Everything is so wrong right now" She finally said in a low voice. He kept his silence, choosing to let her vent.

"We need Kensi back. We need this team back. I miss us being whole." She said, her voice muffled against him.

"I know. I miss my partner with me." Eric said, giving her a reassuring squeeze.

"What if Kensi can't come back? What if she has to retire? What about Deeks? Would he say or would he leave too?" Nell started asking question after question before Eric gently shushed her.

"It will be ok, Nell. Everything will be back to normal soon. Kensi will come back better than ever and everything will be right in the universe

The muffled sigh made it clear she didn't believe him.

After a few moments of silence he decided to try a different tactic.

"At the very least I won't write down questionable words related to topics I want to talk to you about for people to see." Eric said.

"Huh?" Nell asked, thoroughly confused.

Eric started telling her about making the list of topics he wanted to talk about with her while she was gone but didn't realize the connotations of the words "Spanking", "Whipped Cream", and "Domination" in the same sentence could have looked like.

That had the effect as Nell burst out laughing. Her entire body shook as laughter echoed throughout the apartment. Eric couldn't help himself and started laughing too. Finally after a few minutes the laughter died down and silence returned.

"Ow. That hurt." She said between giggles.

"I thought you would find that hilarious." He said.

She settled into him, her body far less tense then when she had arrived. She nodded against him.

"Just be glad Deeks wasn't there or you would have never lived that one down" She said.

A comfortable silence took over as Eric turned the TV off, drowning the room in darkness now that the sun had gone down.

"Are you Ok?" He asked her. She nodded against his chest gently.

"I'm getting there" She said.

"I know what could get you the rest of the way. Go grab you Go Bag and take a nice warm bath. I'll get some tea made and then we'll spend the rest of the night in each other's arms. How does that sound?" He whispered to her.

She finally pulled her head away enough to look up at him and look into his eyes.

"That sounds amazing." She said as she leaned up and kissed him. He let go of his grip around her as she stood up and fetched her back from the entryway.

And he was right. The bath and tea were nice but the one thing that made everything ok was spending more time in the only place she ever felt content.

Lying in his arms.

This combines elements from a few things I was working on based on recent episodes. I had something in mind for before Kensi woke up but now that she has I decided to change things up to incorporate last nights episode (which had one of the best Eric/Nell scenes I had seen in the entire series. I loved the subtle look on Nell's face when he hugged her. She went from fine to not fine pretty quick and I hope they build on that)

I have a few new ideas including a Geek meet crossover from many different series so once I hammer out the details look for that one. I will warn you I also have a depressing one in the works based on some music I listened to recently.

Thank you for your continued Reading, Reviewing , Favoriteing , and Following. I know I haven't had much activity lately but the fact that you keep coming back makes me feel good.