DOUBLE TAKE

Chapter 9

Callen was still watching Nell and Charlie, when he felt a hand on his arm. He turned to see Hetty looking at him. "Yes, Hetty, what did you say?"

"When did this happen?"

"When did what happen, Hetty?" Unaware of him revealing his feelings while he was watching Nell.

"You and Miss Jones?" Callen looked sharply at Hetty, and began to stiffen.

"She's not a field agent, Hetty. There are no rules in NCIS to prevent us being together."

Hetty shook her head and sat down again. "No, George there isn't. However, it may complicate things for this operation."

"Hetty, what are you saying?" Callen's muscles tensed, as worry crossed his face.

Hetty sighed and asked Callen to join her sitting back down again. "Please sit, George," she pleaded.

Callen did as she asked.

***

Sam watched on from the bullpen, he was curious, and began to wander over to Hetty's office.

"I wouldn't go over there, Sam." Kensi came up behind him. "They need some space to talk."

"What do you mean, Kensi?" Sam creased his brow at her. "What the hell happened over the holidays? And what is going on now?"

"I'm sorry, Sam. You need Callen to tell you." Sam could see Kensi was serious.

"Is G okay?"

Kensi smiled in reply. "Yes he is, Sam. So you can stop worrying so much. Okay?"

Sam nodded. "Okay!"

***

Hetty began to ask Callen about his relationship with Nell Jones. "How long has this thing between you and Miss Jones been going on?"

Callen looked back at Hetty. "Well it's hard to pinpoint when it all really started, to be honest. But officially, Nell and I have been a couple for four weeks." He let out a breath he had been holding. "So how is our relationship going to affect this op?"

"I'm sorry, George. But I have been instructed by SecNav and Director Vance for you and Charlotte to go undercover as husband and wife, and for Miss Jones to be your daughter." Hetty practically breathed the words out, as it was hard to say it.

"No way, Hetty. She's not cut out for undercover work. We can use Kensi." Callen's face tensed again, and Hetty could feel it radiating off him.

"George, please sit down and for goodness sake, calm down."

They were getting looks from the other members of the team over at the bullpen. Callen looked around and saw Nell's look of concern.

"She's not trained for this, Hetty. You have to tell SecNav and Director Vance we'll use Kensi."

"George." Callen turned around to face Hetty again. "Actually, Miss Jones is trained for this role. She's trained in using a weapon for self preservation, and is very good at pretending to be someone else. Remember, both she and Eric have already been undercover out at the airport as security staff."

"Yes I know that, Hetty, but her life was not in danger then. And how can I pretend to be my cousin's husband?" Callen had lowered his voice to almost a whisper. "You do realise what you are making us do, don't you, Hetty? Live in a house together as a family, but my girlfriend as my daughter? So instead of sharing a bed with Nell, she'll be in the next room, while I'm sharing a bed with my cousin. Hetty, we can't do it that way. She's not young enough to be my daughter, you know that. She may look it because of her size, but she's closer to me in age than people realise."