INFERNO

Summary: G. Callen is not the only one with a host of secrets. How will Nell react when she has to go undercover with Callen to bring down a particular sadistic ring of human traffickers? Will she be able to turn her mind off to accept the role she is expected to play? Or will the memories and shame be too great for her to ignore, and will she stay safe in Ops.

A/N: This is for G & S, who didn't want the Blaze die down and the Embers put out, but wanted a happy ending. Again, not another chapter, just another story. I apologize to those that have been patiently waiting for more chapters of Quinn. I made the mistake of reading the reviews of "Blaze" and the plot bunnies attacked again.

A/N 2: This story is rated M for sexual content, strong language, and the hints of sexual sadism.

Disclaimer: The characters and sets of NCIS:LA are all owned by CBS, Donald P. Bellisario, and Shane Brennan. I only own a copy of the DVDs from season 1-5. I do get to play with everyone, but they all have to be home by curfew.

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Inferno

Friday evening || OSP Mission Headquarters

Nell Jones was the last to leave Ops. There haad been no new cases that week. All the paperwork had been completed. Hetty had given everyone the afternoon off. Usually her partner, Eric Beale, was the final one to depart. He considered all the computers in the room his babies and fussed over putting them down to sleep just as a parent would their little child. But tonight Nell remained to see if she could get any results from two programs she was running.

Finally, she transferred the last of the computer programs to the weekend crew and shut down all the equipment up in Ops before she shut off the lights. The whoosh of the sliding doors sounded loud in her ears as she rounded the corner railing of the balcony and started down the stairs.

How quiet and empty this place is when everyone is gone, she thought to herself. As she reached the last step, a voice seemed to boom out of the semi-darkness, although Nell knew its owner would never shout.

"Miss Jones, a word before you leave?"

"Ahh, sure, Hetty," Nell answered as she changed her direction from the exit to Hetty's open walled office.

"Please sit down, my dear. I took the liberty of pouring you a cup of tea." Hetty waited until Nell sat in the proffered chair and sipped her tea.

"Chamomile. Something tells me, Hetty, that I am not going to like what you have to say if you are offering me chamomile tea, even before we start talking." Nell said apprehensively.

"No, my dear. I have something to ask you. I know that you eventually want to become a field agent. I have an undercover assignment that was handed to OSP. There are some unique aspects of the case that you alone fulfill. Because of the sensitive aspects of the case, I will not order you to accept this assignment. I will give you the details and let you think about your decision this weekend. You can tell me your preference on Monday morning."

Nell's sense of foreboding increased. She wondered if she should say anything, or just let Hetty continue telling her what the mission was all about. But Hetty just sat there and sipped her tea.

Knowing that the two of them could keep up the battle of silence all night, Nell finally asked, "Is it really that bad an operation? You know I have been cleared to carry and use my gun after I killed that man at Dovecote. I am just as willing to face physical danger as any of the other field agents."

"Nell, it's not the physical danger I worry about with this case. There will be some, but I am sure that you will be able to handle it. If you decide to accept this role, you will have to bare your soul, to your undercover partner, maybe even to your whole team. I have grave fears of the mental anguish that might give you."

"Wh...what do you mean by that?" the younger woman asked. She set down her teacup for fear she would start shaking and spill the remaining contents.

"This assignment deals with human trafficking. We know that the Navy is working with the Philippine government to use Subic Bay as a support and servicing facility in the near East. That is not the only thing that is being worked on there. We have evidence that young women are being shipped out through Subic Bay International Airport to LAX, where they are processed and sold to people suffering from SSD, Sexual Sadism Disorder. The girls are hurt, and there are rumors that some of them have died. Navy personnel are involved at both ends. We need to shut it down."

"And how do you propose doing that?" Nell posed the question, but Hetty could already see that her mind was at least three steps ahead. The young woman was getting more and more worried about what her role in this could be.

"We need to infiltrate their group at this end."

"I realize that, Hetty. But I could never go undercover as a sexual sadist."

"No. I would never ask that of you. The role I see you playing is that of a victim of abuse."

Nell gasped. Did Hetty know her secret? Of course, she did. Hetty knows everything. "How long have you known, Hetty?" she wondered.

"I knew about it before I offered you the job here at OSP. I found out that Brandon Rogers abused you by cutting you and leaving all your scars. His wife, Dianne, should have protected you, but she chose her husband instead of you. When Brandon went after your sister, Jessica, to inflict the same torture on her, you killed him and went to prison for it."

As each one of her secrets were laid out on the desk in front of her, Nell felt another stab to her heart. She had looked at her NCIS files, and she knew that there was no evidence of what Hetty just told her in them. Of course, Hetty could find out almost anything, and Nell was certain that there was some record that would finally surface someplace. She just didn't think it would be this soon in her career.

"So, what are you saying, Hetty? I do this assignment or I forever stay up in Ops. Or will I be fired if I refuse to do it?" Nell's mind was already racing to try to figure out what else she could do.

"Nell. Look at me. Do you remember me telling you that I would not order you to take this assignment? I know you have hidden your secrets well from the people you encounter. I will not divulge them. If you want to keep those secrets then you can refuse the assignment, and no one will ever know."

"But would it be held against me, especially in consideration of my trying to get field agent status?" the young woman asked.

"No. Nothing will go into your record. It will be as if we never had this conversation."

"With whom would I be partnered," she asked, in a very quiet voice, already knowing the answer, but praying she was wrong.

"I thought that Mr. Callen would be the best person for that job." Hetty answered, confirming Nell's fears.

Special Agent in Charge, G Callen, the man she had a super crush on from the first day that she met him, the man that set her heart racing every time their fingers would touch as she handed him a file, the man whose picture would be next to the definition of "bad boy" in any one's dictionary, this was the man with whom she would be teamed.

Nell had recently walled off all her emotions for him, telling herself that the fifteen year difference in their ages would always make her look like a little girl. And now Hetty wanted her to provide him with more reasons to look down on her. This day just couldn't get any better for her.

"I would have to tell him everything. I would have no more secrets to hide." Nell's mumbled these words into her lap, having bowed her head.

"Virtually everyone connected with this operation would know. I could keep that number to a minimum while you are working the operation. But the moment that we want to pull the plug on what they are doing, everyone involved in the takedown will recognize your part. That would mean all the members of your team, your friends, who would do anything for you."

"I'm not so sure, Hetty. I would feel ashamed for them to know. They would look upon me with pity. Or fear, because I killed a man in cold blood."

"You were what, ten years old? I talked with the judge that sentenced you. He told me that he would have let you off with a plead of self defense or even justifiable homicide, but you kept telling everyone that you had planned it and carried it out the way you had planned."

"Well, that was the truth. I did plan to kill him if he would ever touch Jessica. He did, and I did." Nell said succinctly.

"Dear, dear Nell, you did it to protect your sister from a sexual predator. How many sisters can you protect, if we take down this human trafficking network?" Hetty asked in a gentle tone.

"I cannot promise anything, Hetty, except that I will think about it." Her voice had become dull and lifeless. This was not an area of her life that she wanted to revisit.

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Friday evening || Nell's apartment Westlake, California

Nell parked her car in her assigned space and walked up to The Medici, her apartment complex. She had stopped at Langers deli for the hot pastrami sandwich she had been craving all week. Taking the elevator to the third floor, she got out and walked toward her apartment.

Mrs. Flores passed her in the hallway, rushing on her way to work at the hospital. She was running late again, because she rushed by without saying anything. Nell liked talking with the older lady and listening to her tell stories about the family she still had back in El Salvador. It was one of the ways that the younger woman kept up her conversational Spanish.

Unlocking the door, she set the sandwich on the table, went to the fridge and grabbed a beer and ate her evening meal. She then went into the bathroom, started to fill the tub, dumped in the jasmine bubble bath she loved so well and took off her clothes. She took a long, hard look at herself, as she stood in front of the mirror, waiting for the tub to fill.

She was wondering why this case had to come up now. The sexual abuse that she had suffered was so long ago, but it still was defining her person and her actions. After so many years of dealing with psychiatrists and psychologists, she was finally beginning to feel good about herself.

She was starting to allow her hair to grow longer, instead of the pixie cut she wore since before her trial. She remembered how Brandon Rogers loved to run his fingers through her long red hair, and how it used to cause her to tremble. He always used to do that before he would cut or burn her. Just thinking of it again almost made her want to cut it short again.

Running her fingers over the scars of the cuts and burns on her upper arms and legs, she again saw them as her marks of failure. When Brandon first started to abuse her, she failed to stand up to him by reporting him to her case worker. Instead, she believed him when he told her it was all her fault he was doing it. She had to be taught to obey his rules, even if she got hurt.

Jessica was another one whom Nell had failed. Sure, Nell removed the immediate threat by killing Brandon when he first touched her. She didn't suffer the scars that marked Nell's body. But they were separated after her arrest. Nell could no longer protect her, because they took Jessica away from her. To this day, Nell had no idea what had become of her sister. Everything that she did to try to find her ended up in failure.

Could this operation even begin to redeem her from her failures? Nothing could restore her relationship with her sister until she found her and begged her forgiveness.