Inferno

Chapter 3

3. Chapter 3

=)=)=)=)=)=)=)=)=)=)=)=)=)=)=)=)

Monday morning || Hollywood Hotel

Nell was hyperventilating at the thought that Callen had read her files and knew everything about her, just like Hetty.

"Nell, slow down! Take deep slow breaths!" Callen ordered. "Match my breathing," as he grabbed her by her shoulders and started his own exaggerated deep breathing to help her calm down. He started to wonder what was in the intelligence analyst's background that would upset her that much. Evidently, there was so much he didn't know about her.

Slowly her breathing was returning to normal. After a few moments of staring at her hands in her lap, Nell looked up at him and said softly, "I'm sorry. It's just that I have done things that I'm not proud of. Things I would rather no one knew about. Because it would change how people would look at me and act toward me if they knew."

"Nell, we all have our demons we have to fight. I have so many of them myself. I have no clue of what yours are, but they can't even begin to compare with mine.

Nell said nothing to him. Instead, she turned her head aside, as the tears started to well in the corners of her eyes.

"Nell, there is a reason that Hetty assigned you to this case instead of Kensi. Do you know why she did that?"

She nodded her head in the affirmative.

"Do you want to tell me why she assigned you? I presume it's not because you are short and smart and adorable."

"You should call her and ask her," Nell said, trying to deflect his question

"I don't want Hetty to tell me. I want you to tell me. This could be a dangerous mission that we are on. I want you to be able to trust me completely. Just as much as I trust you when you are up in Ops."

Her eyes widened, questioning his words.

"You provide us with information out in the field that allows us to complete our jobs. And all those little insights when we are interrogating people that helps us to get the confession. I know we don't tell you this often enough, but we trust you with our lives. And I will need for you to trust me that much when we go up against these human traffickers."

Nell was surprised how much he valued the work she did in Ops.

"Do you think you can do that?"

Nell looked at his deep blue eyes and saw he was telling her the truth. "I will try."

Then, can you tell me why you think Hetty assigned you to this case."

"My sister and I were in the system when I was a child,"

"I would have never thought that. I knew Deeks was the moment he first came here. It's just something that is in the eyes. You never showed it."

"The two of us were not in foster that long, at least I wasn't. We were placed in two foster homes. The first was nice...until they had their own child. The second one was hell.

"You were abused there? Callen asked softly.

Nell just nodded her head.

"Can you tell me what happened?" he asked

"No, but I can show you." she said in almost a whisper.

Nell got up and started to unbutton the cardigan sweater she wore. Slowly she pulled one arm out of the sleeve, then pushed up the short capped sleeve of the dress she was wearing, exposing all of her scars on that arm.