Trust Your Training

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A/N:  I'm so sorry it took so long for this part, but thanks for reading and voting! As always, I own nothing.

Back in OPS

Eric glanced at the clock for what felt like the millionth time since Nell had left for the restaurant. She had never called him saying she found anything and her scheduled check in had come and past.  He desperately wanted to call her, but he was forced to wait since the rest of the team had all just come in to figure out why Cisneros would be in Los Angeles.  He put his worry for Nell in the back of his mind so he could focus on the task at hand, but he couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong. 

Granger walked in not long after the others to join in the investigation.  "Who's watching Inman?" Callen questioned the assistant director.  

"I cut him loose," he responded, "I left enough overwatch residue on him to spot him from outer space."

Eric checked for the overwatch signal on his computer and found that Granger's story was true, "Confirmed. We've got Inman, and he's on the move."  

Granger looked at Callen with a smug look, "Told you you might learn something."

Eric continued following Inman's signal to see what he was up to, and found that he was en route to a very familiar place. 

"Guys, Inman's headed back to the TRP's Kill House facility," he informed the team, turning around to join in on the conversation at hand.

As the others talked around him, Eric couldn't help the nagging feeling in the pit of his stomach that something was very wrong with everything that was going on.  He desperately wished that Nell was sitting next to him to reassure him that everything was fine.  But she was out doing field work, something she loved.  Eric would always support her in everything she did no matter what, even if he worried every time she left the safety of the OPS center, because that's what friends did.

But is that really all they were? Just friends?  He had secretly felt like they were something more for quite some time, but he could never tell.  

In the beginning, it had taken time for her to even accept that they were partners, but now he couldn't think of anyone else he trusted more than Nell.  She's the person he wanted to spend all his time with and who he thought about even when they weren't together.  

He thought back to that special moment two months earlier at Christmas when Nell had kissed him under the mistletoe, and how he wished that kiss had never ended.  Granted it was probably just her last ditch effort at getting him into a pair of tights for the elf costume, but he had thought about it almost every day since.  Deep down inside, he knew that Nell had to have some kind of feelings for him beyond that of two good friends.

Eric had become so lost in his own thoughts that he shook his head to refocus on the discussion going on around him.  The other agents had come to the conclusion that Inman had been leaking sensitive intel to Cisneros and the Molina Cartel the whole time. But had he been working alone?

Deeks was the next to speak, "Alright, we've seen these guys profiles.  They're tight.  If one of them is in on it, they probably all are."

"We still have to prove that Inman killed Parish.  Has Nell found any evidence on the TRP's camera network?"  Callen asked.

Eric's heart sped up at the mention of Nell's name.  

"No I haven't heard from her," he replied honestly, the worry from earlier creeping back to the top of his mind.

"Well get her on the phone right now," Granger commanded, and Eric didn't have to be told twice.  He quickly swiveled his chair around to face his computer and typed in Nell's number, which he knew by heart.