NCIS: LA/The Avengers (movieverse) - "The Stuff of Nightmares" (3/?)
Title: The Stuff of Nighmares (3/?)
Author: jedimasterstar
Fandom(s): NCIS: LA/The Avengers
Character(s) (in this chapter): G. Callen, Nadia Vadim (OFC), Phil Coulson, Clint Barton, Tony Stark
Rating: PG-13 (FRT)
Warnings: Coulson lives in my series. That's your only warning.
Disclaimer: I don't own either NCIS: LA or The Avengers. But I do own Nadia.
A/N: If you want to picture Nadia, think of Katie McGrath from Merlin.
Summary: It is the their first mission as partners. But what Callen and Nadia do not know is that everything is not what it seems. It is just a small, quiet town, right? Maybe they just need to stop underestimating these sorts of things.
Chapters:
One; Two
The next morning turned out to be an almost early one. They - well, Nadia at least, Callen hardly - slept in until eight; which was when Coulson decided to call and yell at them for not checking in on time. “We’re supposed to be on our honeymoon,” complained Nadia, throwing a fake smile towards Callen’s direction.
Callen laughed. “Yeah, Coulson. Can’t we have a little privacy?” he chimed in as Nadia finished setting up the screen. He started to remember how much he hated video conference calls.
Coulson just rolled his eyes in response. “Just report,” he ordered.
“Nothing much. Town’s as creepy as some ghost town,” started Nadia.
“Except it’s occupied by creepy people who probably should be ghosts,” Callen chimed in.
“It’s way too quiet here. No laughing, no loud talking, no noise whatsoever,” she ended.
That was when Callen realized something. “I can’t believe I haven’t thought about it before,” he murmured.
Coulson looked at him and asked, “What is it, Agent Callen?”
“The children,” he replied.
“What about them?”
Callen looked at his partner and asked, “Haven’t you noticed anything about the children?”
Nadia stared at him for a moment before he saw the light of realization in her eyes. “Oh my gosh,” she whispered.
“What about the children?” asked Coulson, confusion evident.
They both look back at the screen. “We’ve only been here one night but we have not seen any children playing outside,” explained Nadia as Callen looked out the window. “And if they are outside, they’re quiet. They don’t play, they just…”
“Do nothing,” ended Callen. There was something very wrong here. He could not put his finger on it; but something was there.
Before he could muse on it, Coulson said, “Continue looking around and let me know what’s going on.” And with that, he cut the feed.
Nadia stared at the screen and said, “I don’t know if he’s gotten crankier or mellower since the attack.”
“Is he always like this when it comes to missions?” asked Callen.
“Depends on who the annoyance of the week is,” she replied. “Clint, Tasha, and I tended to rotate that spot. There were a few times that it was all of us at once.”
“So he’s easily annoyed.”
“Pretty much. You’re safe for now because you’re still new. But give it time.”
Callen just shook his head. This was still a lot to get used to. Well, not the undercover part; but the new employment…still hard to get his head around. But his new partner was still a mystery to him. And he wanted to see if she knew anything about his past. “I’ve been meaning to ask…”
“What do you want to know” she asked.
He sighed. “Do you know anything about my family?” He asked as he sat on the edge of the bed.
Sighing, she sat next to him and said, “I don’t know much. But then, my parents really didn’t care about the family business that much. They were more interested in government work. Mostly the program that they were trying to help create,” she replied.
“What program?”
She turned to look at him and said, “I can’t tell you yet. Nothing personal. I just don’t know you yet.”
He nodded. He could understand that. “So what do you know?”
“Probably what Hetty told you - and she did tell me she talked to you the last time we communicated - but I do know that your father was someone close to the family. But I don’t know if he’s related or not. Father and Mother never liked to talk about the family. They never really agreed with them about a lot of things.”
“Yeah, but don’t ask me who,” said Nadia as she laid back on the bed. “But, if you want, we can make it into a field trip. Fury tends to let me, Clint, and Tasha do side projects as long as it doesn’t interrupt official work. I’m sure he would let you to if I’m with you.”
“If you’re with me?”
“You’re still on probation. This little assignment is probably meant to see how well you can do.”
“I’ve done undercover work before.”
“Yeah, but not for S.H.I.E.L.D. We do much more interesting things.”
Callen gave her a look. “More out of the ordinary work?” he wondered, remembering the conversation that they had with Clint a day or two ago.
“Pretty much,” she said as she looked over at him. Callen could see the worry in her eyes, as if she thought that it may be difficult for him.
He looked away from her. “I think I can handle it,” he replied to the unasked question. She just smiled.
But before they could say anything else, the computer suddenly lit up. “What the hell?” wondered Nadia as she sat up. The video screen came on and the duo was surprised to see Clint on the other end. “Clint, what are you doing?” she asked, faking an annoyance that was evident in her voice.
“What? I can’t say hi to my friends?” the archer retorted as he rolled his eyes.
“Not without reason.”
He returned her annoyed look. “I just wanted to see how you guys were doing,” he said.
Deciding to prevent her from saying anything else, Callen said, “We’re doing fine. Nothing to too unusual to mention.” He then looked at his partner and asked, “Safe to assume we work for a bunch of worriers?”
Nadia snorted and replied, “You can say that. Though with Clint, he’s probably bored and can’t annoy Tasha anymore without getting something cut off.”
“I thought that was your thing,” mumbled the archer.
She smiled at him. “Tasha and I share certain ideas when it comes to people - especially annoying ones.” Clint just glared at her. “Where are you anyway?” she asked.
Before Clint could answer, another face popped into the camera. “My lab,” said a dark-haired man with a familiar goatee. “He decided that I can use the company.” Callen immediately recognized Tony Stark. The agent never paid attention to gossip magazines; but he had read what reports he was allowed to read on what happened to the man in Afghanistan.
“Stark,” Nadia greeted curtly, giving the billionaire a glare.
“Nadia, darling,” he greeted, purposely ignoring the glare. “Haven’t seen you in while.”
“I wonder why.”
“Hey, I haven’t done anything to you in a while.”
“You said the key words.”
“You are such a spoilsport,” he grumbled. His eyes fixed on Callen. “So this is your new partner?” he asked. Realizing that the man’s attention was now on him, Callen just stayed quiet, not wanting to reply. “Doesn’t say much, does he?” Tony asked with the sound of insult in his voice.
Nadia rolled her eyes. “Callen, I think you know who this idiot is. Stark, this is Callen,” she said as she introduced the men.
“What? No first name?” asked Tony.
Callen smiled. “I don’t tend to go by my first name,” he replied. Clint snorted - the archer knew that Callen did not know his name. But no one was about to tell the industrialist that.
Tony was about to say something else, but Nadia interrupted with: “We gotta go, guys. Coulson wants more info and we still haven’t gone over much of the town yet.”
Clint nodded. “Good luck and call if you need anything,” he said. Nadia and Callen nodded.
“And bring him by the Tower so I can meet him in person. I don’t like it when three teammates met the newbie already before I do,” said Tony.
“We’ll see, Stark,” said Nadia as she hit the disconnect button. After the screen went dark, she turned to her partner. “Well?” she asked. “Do you want to go look around again?”
“I think I can go for another walk,” replied Callen. They grabbed their stuff and left the room, unaware that they were being watched.
Author: jedimasterstar
Fandom(s): NCIS: LA/The Avengers
Character(s) (in this chapter): G. Callen, Nadia Vadim (OFC), Phil Coulson, Clint Barton, Tony Stark
Rating: PG-13 (FRT)
Warnings: Coulson lives in my series. That's your only warning.
Disclaimer: I don't own either NCIS: LA or The Avengers. But I do own Nadia.
A/N: If you want to picture Nadia, think of Katie McGrath from Merlin.
Summary: It is the their first mission as partners. But what Callen and Nadia do not know is that everything is not what it seems. It is just a small, quiet town, right? Maybe they just need to stop underestimating these sorts of things.
Chapters:
One; Two
The next morning turned out to be an almost early one. They - well, Nadia at least, Callen hardly - slept in until eight; which was when Coulson decided to call and yell at them for not checking in on time. “We’re supposed to be on our honeymoon,” complained Nadia, throwing a fake smile towards Callen’s direction.
Callen laughed. “Yeah, Coulson. Can’t we have a little privacy?” he chimed in as Nadia finished setting up the screen. He started to remember how much he hated video conference calls.
Coulson just rolled his eyes in response. “Just report,” he ordered.
“Nothing much. Town’s as creepy as some ghost town,” started Nadia.
“Except it’s occupied by creepy people who probably should be ghosts,” Callen chimed in.
“It’s way too quiet here. No laughing, no loud talking, no noise whatsoever,” she ended.
That was when Callen realized something. “I can’t believe I haven’t thought about it before,” he murmured.
Coulson looked at him and asked, “What is it, Agent Callen?”
“The children,” he replied.
“What about them?”
Callen looked at his partner and asked, “Haven’t you noticed anything about the children?”
Nadia stared at him for a moment before he saw the light of realization in her eyes. “Oh my gosh,” she whispered.
“What about the children?” asked Coulson, confusion evident.
They both look back at the screen. “We’ve only been here one night but we have not seen any children playing outside,” explained Nadia as Callen looked out the window. “And if they are outside, they’re quiet. They don’t play, they just…”
“Do nothing,” ended Callen. There was something very wrong here. He could not put his finger on it; but something was there.
Before he could muse on it, Coulson said, “Continue looking around and let me know what’s going on.” And with that, he cut the feed.
Nadia stared at the screen and said, “I don’t know if he’s gotten crankier or mellower since the attack.”
“Is he always like this when it comes to missions?” asked Callen.
“Depends on who the annoyance of the week is,” she replied. “Clint, Tasha, and I tended to rotate that spot. There were a few times that it was all of us at once.”
“So he’s easily annoyed.”
“Pretty much. You’re safe for now because you’re still new. But give it time.”
Callen just shook his head. This was still a lot to get used to. Well, not the undercover part; but the new employment…still hard to get his head around. But his new partner was still a mystery to him. And he wanted to see if she knew anything about his past. “I’ve been meaning to ask…”
“What do you want to know” she asked.
He sighed. “Do you know anything about my family?” He asked as he sat on the edge of the bed.
Sighing, she sat next to him and said, “I don’t know much. But then, my parents really didn’t care about the family business that much. They were more interested in government work. Mostly the program that they were trying to help create,” she replied.
“What program?”
She turned to look at him and said, “I can’t tell you yet. Nothing personal. I just don’t know you yet.”
He nodded. He could understand that. “So what do you know?”
“Probably what Hetty told you - and she did tell me she talked to you the last time we communicated - but I do know that your father was someone close to the family. But I don’t know if he’s related or not. Father and Mother never liked to talk about the family. They never really agreed with them about a lot of things.”
“Yeah, but don’t ask me who,” said Nadia as she laid back on the bed. “But, if you want, we can make it into a field trip. Fury tends to let me, Clint, and Tasha do side projects as long as it doesn’t interrupt official work. I’m sure he would let you to if I’m with you.”
“If you’re with me?”
“You’re still on probation. This little assignment is probably meant to see how well you can do.”
“I’ve done undercover work before.”
“Yeah, but not for S.H.I.E.L.D. We do much more interesting things.”
Callen gave her a look. “More out of the ordinary work?” he wondered, remembering the conversation that they had with Clint a day or two ago.
“Pretty much,” she said as she looked over at him. Callen could see the worry in her eyes, as if she thought that it may be difficult for him.
He looked away from her. “I think I can handle it,” he replied to the unasked question. She just smiled.
But before they could say anything else, the computer suddenly lit up. “What the hell?” wondered Nadia as she sat up. The video screen came on and the duo was surprised to see Clint on the other end. “Clint, what are you doing?” she asked, faking an annoyance that was evident in her voice.
“What? I can’t say hi to my friends?” the archer retorted as he rolled his eyes.
“Not without reason.”
He returned her annoyed look. “I just wanted to see how you guys were doing,” he said.
Deciding to prevent her from saying anything else, Callen said, “We’re doing fine. Nothing to too unusual to mention.” He then looked at his partner and asked, “Safe to assume we work for a bunch of worriers?”
Nadia snorted and replied, “You can say that. Though with Clint, he’s probably bored and can’t annoy Tasha anymore without getting something cut off.”
“I thought that was your thing,” mumbled the archer.
She smiled at him. “Tasha and I share certain ideas when it comes to people - especially annoying ones.” Clint just glared at her. “Where are you anyway?” she asked.
Before Clint could answer, another face popped into the camera. “My lab,” said a dark-haired man with a familiar goatee. “He decided that I can use the company.” Callen immediately recognized Tony Stark. The agent never paid attention to gossip magazines; but he had read what reports he was allowed to read on what happened to the man in Afghanistan.
“Stark,” Nadia greeted curtly, giving the billionaire a glare.
“Nadia, darling,” he greeted, purposely ignoring the glare. “Haven’t seen you in while.”
“I wonder why.”
“Hey, I haven’t done anything to you in a while.”
“You said the key words.”
“You are such a spoilsport,” he grumbled. His eyes fixed on Callen. “So this is your new partner?” he asked. Realizing that the man’s attention was now on him, Callen just stayed quiet, not wanting to reply. “Doesn’t say much, does he?” Tony asked with the sound of insult in his voice.
Nadia rolled her eyes. “Callen, I think you know who this idiot is. Stark, this is Callen,” she said as she introduced the men.
“What? No first name?” asked Tony.
Callen smiled. “I don’t tend to go by my first name,” he replied. Clint snorted - the archer knew that Callen did not know his name. But no one was about to tell the industrialist that.
Tony was about to say something else, but Nadia interrupted with: “We gotta go, guys. Coulson wants more info and we still haven’t gone over much of the town yet.”
Clint nodded. “Good luck and call if you need anything,” he said. Nadia and Callen nodded.
“And bring him by the Tower so I can meet him in person. I don’t like it when three teammates met the newbie already before I do,” said Tony.
“We’ll see, Stark,” said Nadia as she hit the disconnect button. After the screen went dark, she turned to her partner. “Well?” she asked. “Do you want to go look around again?”
“I think I can go for another walk,” replied Callen. They grabbed their stuff and left the room, unaware that they were being watched.