[fic] Paperwork ("In Between" series)
Mar. 10th, 2012 03:17 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
danakateFandom: NCIS: LA
Title: Paperwork
Pairing: G Callen/Nell Jones
Rating: PG
Spoilers: Post 02x08 - Bounty
Word Count: ~1200
Disclaimer: These characters belong to CBS, Paramount, et al. No copyright infringement is intended.
Summary: A post-episode moment. Part of the "In Between" series. The "In Between" series is intended to take place in between the scenes (which includes immediately before/after an episode) of every episode of NCIS: LA since 02x04 - Special Delivery, when Nell Jones is first introduced. Covers season 2.
Also available on FFN, LJ, and AO3.
Note: So, this was originally going to be something else and then it turned into "Paperwork." Again, this episode didn't really give me too much to work with directly, so I had to go the indirect route. I'm so sorry. :D Many thanks to vegarin who does a fantastic job of pointing out the little things. (Once again, I put a little episode summary at the end.)
~~~~~
Nell looks up as Callen enters Ops.
She almost drops the file she’s holding.
“What happened to you?” she asks, eyes wide as they take in Callen’s injuries.
“They’re not real,” Callen assures. “Well, I might have a Sam Hanna knee-sized bruise on my chest later but this,” he explains, gesturing to his face. “Not real.”
“It looks real.”
Nell puts her file down on the big table and steps up to Callen, looking at him. This close, she realizes he’s right. It may look like he’s been hit in the face a few times, but only someone standing right next to him would be able to tell it’s some cleverly applied paint.
Without realizing what she’s doing, Nell reaches up and turns Callen’s face to the side. “You really did a fake number on yourself, Agent Callen.” When he doesn’t respond, Nell’s eyes lock with his and that’s when she notices just how close she’s standing. She drops her hand suddenly and takes a step back. “Um.”
Callen’s expression turns into a smirk. “Let’s just say I’ve had the misfortune of having to perfect being beat up by Sam nine times, now.”
“You keep count?”
“Have you met Sam? He claims to have a light touch, but trust me, he likes to make it look ‘convincing.’”
Nell can’t help but smile a little. Before she can say anything else, though, the Ops doors whoosh open and Sam strolls in.
“Brought you a present, G,” he calls out, throwing something at Callen.
“Some people get flowers, I get a rag. Thanks, partner.”
Sam just shakes his head. “Clean yourself up before you get any fake blood on your clothes.”
“Perish the thought,” Callen mutters as he starts wiping at his face and ear.
Nell looks up just in time to see Callen send an exasperated look Sam’s way. She smiles at the partners’ banter and idly wonders if she’ll ever reach that kind of camaraderie with Eric. He’s not really her partner--he’s not a fellow analyst, per se--but they do work together often.
Sam turns to Nell. “Where’s Eric?”
“Downstairs with Hetty.”
“You know what would have gone well with this rag?” Callen interrupts.
“Flowers?” Sam answers sarcastically.
“A mirror, Sam, so I know what I’m cleaning up.”
“You missed a spot.”
Nell notices that Sam is positioned on the other side of the main table but she doesn’t miss Callen’s eyes sweep across its surface, clearly looking for something to throw at the other agent. But then she gets distracted by the spot Callen missed.
“It’s by your ear,” she offers, pointing on her face where he missed.
She watches in fascination as Callen wipes at every spot except the part he needs with the rag. She shakes her head at him and Nell can hear Sam sigh.
Callen makes another couple unsuccessful swipes with the rag before Nell gets fed up. She takes the rag out of his hands, and banishes the spot of fake blood once and for all. Then, she grips his chin in her hand and turns his head to the other side just to make sure.
“There.” She smiles up at Callen and is caught off guard by the odd expression on his face.
Nell doesn’t have any time to react, though. Eric strolls through the doors, tapping on his tablet and throwing pictures up on the big screens. Her previous task finished, Nell puts the rag on the table and moves to the side screen, sifting through the various photos Eric’s dumped there.
She totally misses Sam’s raised eyebrow at Callen and Callen’s shrug back to his partner.
~~~~~
It’s late and Callen knows he should go home, but he also knows Hetty and despite her being delighted at the tea they brought back, she’ll have his hide if their expense reports aren’t completed in a timely fashion. After collecting receipts, he’d sent Sam home to his family hours ago. His partner doesn’t like to be away any longer than he absolutely has to.
Callen’s just started slogging through the forms, slouching further and further into his chair, when he hears Hetty’s voice.
“Good night, dear.”
He looks up, but she’s not referring to him and he can’t see who she’s talking to. When she passes into his field of view, Hetty merely nods at him before departing for the evening. A few moments later, he’s surprised to see Nell Jones walk past, a file folder open in her hands.
“Burning the midnight oil, Nell?”
Nell walks towards him, giving him a tired smile. “I could say the same of you.”
“My reason just walked out of the building.”
“Mine is in your hands.”
Callen looks down, then back up. “You’re not seriously going to wait for me to finish these forms, are you?”
Nell’s face breaks into a grin. “Nah. The credit card data won’t be processed for another couple days anyway, but Hetty wanted me to start learning the ins and outs of expense reporting.”
Callen’s silent a long moment while he regards Nell. “She’s going to make you hound me for this until it’s done, isn’t she?”
“You better believe it.”
He shakes his head and laughs softly. “And international travel always has just that extra layer of bureaucracy, too.”
“She said it’d be a good example,” Nell agrees, nodding enthusiastically. “Oh, and she said to make sure you could account for all the petty cash.”
Callen rolls his eyes. “Of course she did.”
“I do find it amusing that she trusts you guys enough to travel halfway across the globe to apprehend Khan but not to fill out your expense reports accurately.”
“The many mysteries of Hetty Lange,” Callen muses, tapping his pen on his desk. “She’s a master of fieldwork and paperwork. She knows where our strengths are.”
“And knows you’d skip out on the paperwork if you could get away with it?”
“Got it in one, Miss Jones.”
Callen smiles at Nell’s laughter. It’s a pleasant sound and one he’s glad to hear after a gruesome case and two back-to-back long flights.
“Why isn’t Sam helping you with this?”
“The joys of being the team leader.”
“But, it seems like he’d do pretty well with the forms and stuff.”
“That’s kind of why I don’t let him do some of the paperwork,” Callen hedges. “He’s a little obsessive about it.”
“Oh,” Nell says, eyes cast up to the ceiling as if in thought. “Come to think of it, his field reports do seem to always win the weight test.”
Callen snickers. “I’m convinced the only reason his reports aren’t hardbound novels is because Hetty would never approve the cost and we have other cases.”
“So, Hetty doesn’t trust you to do the paperwork correctly and you don’t trust Sam to do it, either?”
“Something like that.”
“But you trust him with your life.”
“Absolutely.”
Nell’s quiet for a moment and Callen wonders what’s going through her mind.
“Well, at least it seems like you guys have your priorities in order,” she finally says with a wide smile.
“If, at the end of the day, the only thing we have to worry about is finishing up paperwork, I think we’re doing okay,” Callen agrees.
“Indeed. Well, I should get going.”
“Have a good night, Nell.”
“You, too, Agent Callen. Oh, and I’ll let you know when the card data comes in.”
“My life, or at least my expense report, won’t be complete without it.”
~~~~~
End Part
Episode Summary
Thomas Booth sends a birthday card to his estranged son, Brandon. Thomas is later found dead. He’s former Delta Force and his group used to take out terrorists they found via tips from various sources. He’s retired, but he’d gotten one last tip on a Taliban bomb maker. Turns out his brother-in-law, Jafar Khan, killed Thomas to keep the bounty for himself. Interesting things that happen: Deeks and Brandon bond over father issues. Deeks reveals he’s never lived further than 2 miles away from his childhood home. Callen indicates this is the 9th time he and Sam have done the “agent betrays his partner” routine, implying Callen’s always the one being betrayed. Deeks and Kensi have some trust issues - Deeks won’t let her use his gun much less touch it. Hetty spins a tale about how Callen and Sam learned to trust each other involving an Armenian mob and Callen having to shoot Sam (the gun wasn’t loaded). At the end, Deeks explains why he likes his gun (the manual safety of the Barreta 92FS saved him when a junkie grabbed it once and he knows he can put a bullet in a chamber to use if the magazine jams) and offers it to Kensi but she declines. Sam and G go to Afghanistan to intercept Khan and they were only able to on the promise of tea for Hetty.
Title: Paperwork
Pairing: G Callen/Nell Jones
Rating: PG
Spoilers: Post 02x08 - Bounty
Word Count: ~1200
Disclaimer: These characters belong to CBS, Paramount, et al. No copyright infringement is intended.
Summary: A post-episode moment. Part of the "In Between" series. The "In Between" series is intended to take place in between the scenes (which includes immediately before/after an episode) of every episode of NCIS: LA since 02x04 - Special Delivery, when Nell Jones is first introduced. Covers season 2.
Also available on FFN, LJ, and AO3.
Note: So, this was originally going to be something else and then it turned into "Paperwork." Again, this episode didn't really give me too much to work with directly, so I had to go the indirect route. I'm so sorry. :D Many thanks to vegarin who does a fantastic job of pointing out the little things. (Once again, I put a little episode summary at the end.)
~~~~~
Nell looks up as Callen enters Ops.
She almost drops the file she’s holding.
“What happened to you?” she asks, eyes wide as they take in Callen’s injuries.
“They’re not real,” Callen assures. “Well, I might have a Sam Hanna knee-sized bruise on my chest later but this,” he explains, gesturing to his face. “Not real.”
“It looks real.”
Nell puts her file down on the big table and steps up to Callen, looking at him. This close, she realizes he’s right. It may look like he’s been hit in the face a few times, but only someone standing right next to him would be able to tell it’s some cleverly applied paint.
Without realizing what she’s doing, Nell reaches up and turns Callen’s face to the side. “You really did a fake number on yourself, Agent Callen.” When he doesn’t respond, Nell’s eyes lock with his and that’s when she notices just how close she’s standing. She drops her hand suddenly and takes a step back. “Um.”
Callen’s expression turns into a smirk. “Let’s just say I’ve had the misfortune of having to perfect being beat up by Sam nine times, now.”
“You keep count?”
“Have you met Sam? He claims to have a light touch, but trust me, he likes to make it look ‘convincing.’”
Nell can’t help but smile a little. Before she can say anything else, though, the Ops doors whoosh open and Sam strolls in.
“Brought you a present, G,” he calls out, throwing something at Callen.
“Some people get flowers, I get a rag. Thanks, partner.”
Sam just shakes his head. “Clean yourself up before you get any fake blood on your clothes.”
“Perish the thought,” Callen mutters as he starts wiping at his face and ear.
Nell looks up just in time to see Callen send an exasperated look Sam’s way. She smiles at the partners’ banter and idly wonders if she’ll ever reach that kind of camaraderie with Eric. He’s not really her partner--he’s not a fellow analyst, per se--but they do work together often.
Sam turns to Nell. “Where’s Eric?”
“Downstairs with Hetty.”
“You know what would have gone well with this rag?” Callen interrupts.
“Flowers?” Sam answers sarcastically.
“A mirror, Sam, so I know what I’m cleaning up.”
“You missed a spot.”
Nell notices that Sam is positioned on the other side of the main table but she doesn’t miss Callen’s eyes sweep across its surface, clearly looking for something to throw at the other agent. But then she gets distracted by the spot Callen missed.
“It’s by your ear,” she offers, pointing on her face where he missed.
She watches in fascination as Callen wipes at every spot except the part he needs with the rag. She shakes her head at him and Nell can hear Sam sigh.
Callen makes another couple unsuccessful swipes with the rag before Nell gets fed up. She takes the rag out of his hands, and banishes the spot of fake blood once and for all. Then, she grips his chin in her hand and turns his head to the other side just to make sure.
“There.” She smiles up at Callen and is caught off guard by the odd expression on his face.
Nell doesn’t have any time to react, though. Eric strolls through the doors, tapping on his tablet and throwing pictures up on the big screens. Her previous task finished, Nell puts the rag on the table and moves to the side screen, sifting through the various photos Eric’s dumped there.
She totally misses Sam’s raised eyebrow at Callen and Callen’s shrug back to his partner.
~~~~~
It’s late and Callen knows he should go home, but he also knows Hetty and despite her being delighted at the tea they brought back, she’ll have his hide if their expense reports aren’t completed in a timely fashion. After collecting receipts, he’d sent Sam home to his family hours ago. His partner doesn’t like to be away any longer than he absolutely has to.
Callen’s just started slogging through the forms, slouching further and further into his chair, when he hears Hetty’s voice.
“Good night, dear.”
He looks up, but she’s not referring to him and he can’t see who she’s talking to. When she passes into his field of view, Hetty merely nods at him before departing for the evening. A few moments later, he’s surprised to see Nell Jones walk past, a file folder open in her hands.
“Burning the midnight oil, Nell?”
Nell walks towards him, giving him a tired smile. “I could say the same of you.”
“My reason just walked out of the building.”
“Mine is in your hands.”
Callen looks down, then back up. “You’re not seriously going to wait for me to finish these forms, are you?”
Nell’s face breaks into a grin. “Nah. The credit card data won’t be processed for another couple days anyway, but Hetty wanted me to start learning the ins and outs of expense reporting.”
Callen’s silent a long moment while he regards Nell. “She’s going to make you hound me for this until it’s done, isn’t she?”
“You better believe it.”
He shakes his head and laughs softly. “And international travel always has just that extra layer of bureaucracy, too.”
“She said it’d be a good example,” Nell agrees, nodding enthusiastically. “Oh, and she said to make sure you could account for all the petty cash.”
Callen rolls his eyes. “Of course she did.”
“I do find it amusing that she trusts you guys enough to travel halfway across the globe to apprehend Khan but not to fill out your expense reports accurately.”
“The many mysteries of Hetty Lange,” Callen muses, tapping his pen on his desk. “She’s a master of fieldwork and paperwork. She knows where our strengths are.”
“And knows you’d skip out on the paperwork if you could get away with it?”
“Got it in one, Miss Jones.”
Callen smiles at Nell’s laughter. It’s a pleasant sound and one he’s glad to hear after a gruesome case and two back-to-back long flights.
“Why isn’t Sam helping you with this?”
“The joys of being the team leader.”
“But, it seems like he’d do pretty well with the forms and stuff.”
“That’s kind of why I don’t let him do some of the paperwork,” Callen hedges. “He’s a little obsessive about it.”
“Oh,” Nell says, eyes cast up to the ceiling as if in thought. “Come to think of it, his field reports do seem to always win the weight test.”
Callen snickers. “I’m convinced the only reason his reports aren’t hardbound novels is because Hetty would never approve the cost and we have other cases.”
“So, Hetty doesn’t trust you to do the paperwork correctly and you don’t trust Sam to do it, either?”
“Something like that.”
“But you trust him with your life.”
“Absolutely.”
Nell’s quiet for a moment and Callen wonders what’s going through her mind.
“Well, at least it seems like you guys have your priorities in order,” she finally says with a wide smile.
“If, at the end of the day, the only thing we have to worry about is finishing up paperwork, I think we’re doing okay,” Callen agrees.
“Indeed. Well, I should get going.”
“Have a good night, Nell.”
“You, too, Agent Callen. Oh, and I’ll let you know when the card data comes in.”
“My life, or at least my expense report, won’t be complete without it.”
~~~~~
End Part
Episode Summary
Thomas Booth sends a birthday card to his estranged son, Brandon. Thomas is later found dead. He’s former Delta Force and his group used to take out terrorists they found via tips from various sources. He’s retired, but he’d gotten one last tip on a Taliban bomb maker. Turns out his brother-in-law, Jafar Khan, killed Thomas to keep the bounty for himself. Interesting things that happen: Deeks and Brandon bond over father issues. Deeks reveals he’s never lived further than 2 miles away from his childhood home. Callen indicates this is the 9th time he and Sam have done the “agent betrays his partner” routine, implying Callen’s always the one being betrayed. Deeks and Kensi have some trust issues - Deeks won’t let her use his gun much less touch it. Hetty spins a tale about how Callen and Sam learned to trust each other involving an Armenian mob and Callen having to shoot Sam (the gun wasn’t loaded). At the end, Deeks explains why he likes his gun (the manual safety of the Barreta 92FS saved him when a junkie grabbed it once and he knows he can put a bullet in a chamber to use if the magazine jams) and offers it to Kensi but she declines. Sam and G go to Afghanistan to intercept Khan and they were only able to on the promise of tea for Hetty.
