A/N: Thank you all for your awesome reviews! I'm trying something a little different with this story, in terms of my writing/editing style; I'm glad to see it's well-received. Just to clarify, this is *not* Nallen, just more like platonic affection between Callen & Nell. :)

By the time Callen's turn to keep watch over Nell came, he had hardly slept. He had been plagued with the same nightmare every time he drifted off: Nell's death. Though it changed form, it was no less horrifying to him: in one, he cradled her body in his arms as she breathed her last. In another, he watched as the team tried in vain to comfort a heartbroken Eric. Each time he awoke, he checked his phone to ensure that no one had tried to call him with the terrible news that she hadn't made it through the night.

Finally, he got up for good around 2am. After a quick shower to try and soothe his frayed nerves, he dressed and left his house. Stopping at a 24-hour gas station for a cup of coffee, he made his way to the hospital, arriving at a quarter to three. The hospital was eerily quiet; usually, Callen was more used to seeing them bustling with activity, but he had to remind himself that it was only normal for it to be quieter during this ungodly hour.

He entered her room to find Sam reading on his tablet at her bedside, facing the door. The room was dark, aside from the soft glow emitted by the machines she was connected to. Sam looked up as Callen entered the room.

"How is she?" Callen asked softly.

"Fine. She woke up briefly when the nurse came to take her vitals. Said her pain level was okay. She knew I was here, and just went back to sleep. Nurse said everything looks good." Sam explained.

Callen nodded and sad gingerly on the end of her bed. He looked at Nell and felt a new stab of guilt; if he had only had her back better.

If only he had been better….

Sam read his thoughts as only Sam could. "Don't go there, G."

Callen clenched his jaw momentarily before answering. "I'm not." He lied, keeping his eyes fixed on Nell's face. No matter how good of an undercover agent he was, he could never lie to Sam's face, no matter how hard he'd tried.

Sam gave him the "I smell bullshit." Look. "Bullshit, G. Don't lie to me; I can see it in your eyes. What happened was not your fault."

"But it shouldn't have." Callen whispered back, trying to hold back the emotion behind the words. "You, me, we can take it. Not her."

Sam raised an eyebrow at the last two words. "G, something you wanna tell me here? Something going on between you two that I somehow missed?"

At this, Callen looked at him. "No, it's not like that at all. I mean, she's adorable and all, but Anna's much more my type."

Trying to break the tension, Sam joked. "You mean, hot as hell, but can still knock you on your skinny ass?"

It worked; Callen smiled before replying. "Yeah, something like that."

Relieved that the mood had lifted at least a modicum, Sam stood from his chair and stretched. "Well, on that note, I'm gonna go. I'll see you in the morning, G."

Callen nodded and stood to take Sam's chair. Sam bumped Callen's shoulder with his fist in a brotherly departing gesture and left. Callen took over his vigil, but the mood shifted back to darker thoughts. For over an hour, he lost himself in analyzing what went wrong, and what he needed to fix in his own practices.

His attention was suddenly diverted when Nell began to stir in the bed. She grimaced and moaned softly, putting a hand to her wounded shoulder. Callen sat forward in his chair and put his hand on her left arm.

"Easy Nell. It's okay. You're safe now." He soothed.

She opened her eyes and blearily looked around until she found the source of the voice. Even though she was clearly in pain, she smiled a little at him. "Hey Callen."

He smiled back; it alleviated a fraction of the guilt to see that she at least was still happy to see him. "Are you okay? Do I need to get the nurse?"

"Um, no, you can help me. I just need to, uh, use the facilities." She said, trying to sit up, even though Callen could clearly see it hurt her to do so.

"Oh, okay. Um, yeah…here." He said, offering his hand for her to use with her good arm as leverage, given that her left one was useless and in a sling. She took it and managed to get up, swaying slightly as she stood up for the first time in several hours. He gently held her steady until the dizziness passed.

"I'm good." She said with a reassuring smile. Still holding his hand for support, she nodded toward the stand with her IV bag. "Can you-"

Callen grabbed it with his other hand without waiting for her to finish. He got her to the bathroom and stood outside it while she finished. When she was done, they made it back to the bed and he got her situated. By that time, he could see that the exertion had not only tired her, but that she was in a significant amount of pain. This time, he didn't ask if she needed the nurse; he just pressed the "Call" button near her bed.

"You didn't have to do that, Callen." Nell said through another grimace as she tried to adjust to alleviate the now constant pain in her shoulder.

Callen rolled his eyes at her. "Just because Sam and I get to be Superman and Batman doesn't mean you have to try and be Wonder Woman.

Nell looked at him in surprise. "Did you just make a Justice League joke? You, G. Callen, made a comic book joke?"

Callen smirked and shrugged. "Yeah, well, my home might be spartan, but that doesn't mean I don't watch movies."

Nell smiled. "I suppose it's safe to say Deeks might be Aquaman…but who would be the Flash?"

Callen thought for a moment. "I dunno…I think Deeks might actually fancy himself as the Flash…but I see where you're going with the 'surfer dude' persona…"

Before he could continue, Nurse Helen came in. "How you doin', Sweetie? You hurtin'?"

Nell tried to play it down as the nurse came around to the other side of the bed. "No, not really." But Callen caught Nurse Helen's eye and slyly gestured the opposite. Nurse Helen pursed her lips in acknowledgement.

"Uh huh. Well, I'm gonna give you another dose of painkillers, 'cuz your face is tellin' me otherwise." She prepared the drip into the IV line. "No need to try and be Wonder Woman, ya know…"

At this, Callen snorted, trying (and failing) to hold back his laughter. Nell just scowled at him with mock annoyance.

"Alright. You'll be feeling it any second now. Try to get some rest, so you can be discharged on time later today." Nurse Helen gave Callen a pointed look, the meaning of which was not lost on him, and then left.

"Well, you heard the good nurse; you need to rest." Callen said.

"But-"

"No 'but's. You'll have to finish our superhero debate later, most likely with Eric; I get the feeling he'll have a better analysis than I would, anyway."

Nell's eyes were feeling heavy, anyway. Reluctantly, she acquiesced. "Oh, alright." She sighed as the meds kicked in, making her much more comfortable. "Thanks, Callen." She said through slightly slurred lips.

"For what?"

"For….being….you."

Callen started to ask what she meant by that, but he could tell by the change in her breathing that she was back to sleep. He looked at his watch; it read 4:53am. One more hour to go until Kensi would arrive for her shift. While he was relieved that she didn't seem to be angry at him or blame him for her injury, he still couldn't shake that niggling feeling that it was all his fault…