Mission 101

Chapter 45- A Winner Is A Dreamer, Who Never Gives Up

Nell's POV

We were in ops, trying to find a location on where Deeks and Kensi were, when the door opened and Deeks, Kensi and Joelle's sister came walking in. Joelle's sister was in the middle of Deeks and Kensi, with an arm around each of their shoulders, supporting herself from falling. I don't know why they didn't get an ambulance when they were there, but I was assuming that her injuries weren't that bad.

Everyone turned their heads to look at them and as soon as Joelle saw her sister, she ran up to her and hugged her carefully. "Oh my god! Stephanie! Are you okay? Did he hurt you? What happened?" Joelle questioned, taking Kensi's place, while Callen took Deeks'. They sat her down on a chair. Joelle kneeling down next to her, holding onto her hand and looking into her eyes. "Jo, I'm fine. I think my eyes are playing up though, because at one stage, I thought Max had been cloned, in fact I'm still seeing his image, right over there next to that girl." She informed pointing to Deeks, who was sitting next to Kensi on the other side of the room. Deeks looked incredibly stressed, a face full of mixed emotions. Kensi was trying to comfort him.

Joelle giggled, looking at Deeks. "It's okay, you're eyes are quite fine. That is one of Callen's friends, Deeks. Apparently he is Max's twin brother. Don't worry, he's cool. Nothing like Max." I smiled as Callen called Sam over to look over Stephanie, tending to her cuts and wounds. She only has a few cuts and bruises. Nothing too serious.

Callen stood up and looked around, seeing Kensi and Deeks. He walked over to them and smiled. "Deeks, are you okay? Thankyou for what you did today. I know it must have been hard and I'm sorry you had to go through that." Deeks looked up, with slight tears in his eyes. "I'm fine, Callen. I just want to go home. Kens? Do you mind giving me a ride?" Deeks replied. Kensi nodded and they stood up and went to walk out of the room, when Hetty stopped them. "Not so fast, Mr Deeks. You disobeyed my orders. I asked you to tell us where you were going, which you did not. However, considering you managed to get Miss Taylor to safety, I will let it slide. Don't let it happen again. Where is Mr Brandel?"

Everyone looked at Deeks, as his head dropped and a frown made its way across his face. "Max is dead. I shot him. He was going to kill Stephanie. I couldn't let that happen. It's better that way. Now if you will excuse me, I need to get out of here." Deeks replied, pushing past everyone, out of ops once again. "Miss Blye. Take care of him. If there is anything I can do, please let me know. Now go. He will need a friend. Thank you for what you did today." Kensi nodded and walked out of ops, after Deeks.

"I'm going to go home and get some rest. I'll see you in the morning, guys." I stated, grabbing my bag. They nodded and said goodbye. I went to walk out, but stopped when I noticed Eric wasn't following me. "Eric? Are you coming?" I asked, looking at Eric, who looked like he was going to fall asleep any second.

Eric quickly jumped up and scrambled around, adjusting to his surroundings. He picked up his glasses that he had accidentally knocked off his face and got up, grabbing his bag and following me out, waving at the team, not being bothered by saying anything. I smiled. He was so cute when he was tired.

We got out of ops and headed to the car, I went to get in, when Eric grabbed my arm and spun me around, so that I was facing him. He kissed me hard on the lips, only pulling back when air became necessary. We looked into each other's eyes and smiled at each other. "What was that for?" I asked, curious as to why all of a sudden he felt the need to kiss me so intently. "That, Nell Jones, is for being an amazing girlfriend." He replied, making me smile widely. "Ohh, well in that case..." I started, before leaning in and crashing my lips into his. He picked me up and sat me on the boot of his car. I wrapped my legs around his waist and pulled him into me, deepening the kiss.

"Okay, ew! I did not need to see that! Gosh man, can't you want until after you get home to do that? That's just gross!" Sam yelled, walking out of ops, using his hand to cover his eyes. I giggled nervously, turning to see Eric standing there his face hot red from embarrassment. "It won't happen again." Eric replied, helping me off the car and walking around to his door, getting in. I smiled nervously at Sam, who looked at me with regret in his eyes. "Did I hurt his feelings or something?" He asked. "No, he's fine. Just embarrassed. I'll see you tomorrow, Sam." I informed, getting into the car.

"Eric? You okay?" I asked. He nodded. "Yeah, fine. Why wouldn't I be?" I could tell he was lying by the sound of his voice. "Eric, I know you're not fine. What's wrong?" I urged. He looked at me and a sad smile covered his face. "It's just. I love you, Nell. I don't want to have to wait until we are alone everytime, to be able to show that. Even then, you never know when someone's going to walk into the room and start saying things like what Sam just said." I smiled and took his hand in mine. " Eric, if you really love me, you shouldn't be worried if people say those things. They're just jealous. You shouldn't let other people hold you back from getting what you want." I stated. Eric looked down at our hands and smiled back. "I know, you're right. Hey, do you think Deeks is going to be okay?" He asked, changing the subject. I frown, but play along. "He'll be okay. He's gone through a lot worse. He's got Kensi there to help him get through it, so I'm sure he'll be fine."