5. What’s your favourite headcanon you use in fics?
Besides everyone being super-competent at their jobs (which doesn’t mean things go smoothly all the time, just that everyone is the smart, highly-trained operative they are supposed to be), I’m a fan of most of the characters having lives outside of the jobs. Lives where they lie about what they do but live comfortably in those lies.
Sam coached/coaches his kids’ sports teams and he’s active in their schools even if everyone thinks he’s a medical supplies salesman. He helps elderly and/or infirmed neighbors if the need work done around their homes or someone to pick up groceries. He’s the guy on the block everyone turns to when something goes wrong.
Kensi has Kat, Mindy, Mandy, Tiffany and Tiffany to do things with when she’s not working as an office staffer at one of the movie studios (an alias Hetty set up after the art gallery debacle). Deeks has friends from all different places – kids he grew up with, people he went to college with, folks he went to law school with, mostly guys he surfs with, even a few buddies on the force. He’s got different stories for them – half think he’s still a lawyer, the ones who know he’s a cop/liaison officer think it is all paperwork and coordination. More than a few have met his movie studio office staffer girlfriend just as most of her friends know Marty the lawyer.
We heard about all of Eric’s friends from all the different organizations he belongs to this season. They think he’s a tech services guy for the government. Nell has her own friends in the cosplay and drone building communities who, like her family, think she works in cable news. Nell is in awe of Eric’s rock star status at the RenFaires but won’t admit it. Eric is in awe of Nell’s rock star status at cosplay conventions and revels in it.
Hetty hangs with Hollywood royalty after decades of working in the movie industry. She dines regularly with old studio heads, famous directors and producers as well as movie stars. They think she’s living well on her investments but she’ll still take an occasional make-up assignment if someone is being honored at a big awards show.
Granger’s real life is on the East Coast where he has an ex-wife, a nice woman but things didn’t work out, who he is still friendly with. Her kids from her second marriage consider him their cranky Uncle Owen, a term he loathes as much as he really likes the kids. If anything happens to him, the kids get his money to put to college.
No life outside of work until recently – Callen. I can see Callen now travelling to Russia or having his father travel to see him. There was always a relationship with Arkady which Callen used to help whatever agency he was working for but now there is also Anna. Being more settled means he’s trying more things. He’s not sure he likes all of it – Anna is a lot more social than he is – but he is making an effort. Anna’s friends think he works in the finance industry - something so dull nobody ever asks him a single question about it.
