The locker room door clicked softly as Kensi left, leaving Nell alone with her thoughts, her finger still lightly pressing the ice pack against her swollen lip. Kensi's words echoed in her mind, the weight of them sinking deeper than the ache in her face. It's because it's you.
Nell stared at her reflection in the mirror, the bruise on her lip looking more pronounced now, as if it had a story to tell. And maybe it did. She'd been through missions, dangerous situations, and physical pain before, but this—this was different.
She wasn't just another agent on the team. She wasn't just a pawn in some bigger game. She was someone Callen cared about.
The realization hit her hard, like a wave crashing over her, and for a moment, she wondered if she even understood what that really meant. Callen, the man she'd been working beside for so long, had always been a bit of a mystery. Stoic. Closed off. The kind of person who pushed people away. But there had been moments. Fleeting ones. When his guard had slipped, just for a second. When his eyes lingered too long, or his voice softened in a way that made her heart skip a beat.
But this? This was different. Callen had hurt her, not out of malice, but out of necessity. And yet, he couldn't face her now. Because he cared. Because maybe, deep down, he was terrified of what that meant for them both.
She set the ice pack down on the counter and glanced at her phone. No messages. No calls.
Give him time.
Kensi's advice was simple enough, but time was never a luxury in their line of work. There was always something else—another mission, another threat, another crisis to deal with. Time didn't wait for them.
But maybe she could. Maybe she could give him space. And maybe, in that space, they could both figure out what came next.