The Only Exception
By Shaz1
Disclaimer- none of the recognised characters belong to me, so please don't sue…
This is a sequel to 'Do They Know' and follows on about three months later. I would really appreciate all of your thoughts on it, so please leave me a little review! Not as much action in this as the previous two stories in the series- I hope you don't mind!
The Only Exception
Special Agent G Callen winced as his damaged leg made itself known to him yet again. He had been out of hospital for over three months and despite two surgeries to repair his leg he was still left with almost constant pain and stiffness. He had been told to give it time and intensive therapy would help it heal and allow him to return to his normal duties. His sick leave was driving him crazy- allowing him far too much time alone with his own thoughts. He had repeatedly practiced his French and his Russian and completed three new courses of Czech- but his mind still wandered where he feared it to.
The latest case had caused far too many memories to rise to the surface and in his weakened state he was struggling to supress them. He knew that the team were worrying about him, wanting him to talk to them to show them he was all right- but he lacked the strength or the inclination to do so. He knew that his 'lone wolf' tendencies drove his partner crazy- but it wasn't in him to be any other way. With a final sigh he shrugged his bag over his shoulder and limped out of the door- time to move on- he wasn't running away from anything, he knew all too well that you could never run from the thoughts in your head or the pain in your heart.
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Sam Hanna was exhausted- there was no other way to describe it, the last twelve months had been draining for the entire team. His partner had just returned to work from being almost fatally gunned down- only to then be struck down with Botulism that had again nearly cost the man his life. The team had just been recovering from that when someone from Callen's past had come out of the wood work- causing devastation that none of them would ever fully recover from- least of all the team leader. The injured man had reluctantly stayed with Sam during the first two weeks of his release from his long stay in the hospital- before finally having enough and leaving to return to his solitary home, Sam had not seen him since and was now beside himself with worry. His partner did exactly this to him before when he was recovering from his gunshot wounds nearly 18 months prior, preferring to recover in privacy and not have to talk about anything that involved letting down his walls.
He was trying his best to continue with work as usual- but the distinct lack of contact from his partner was beyond worrying for the older man, and it was affecting the team in more ways than he thought possible. Even Hetty stated that she had not heard from her team leader in over two months, only receiving medical reports on her agent's progress. For all intents and purposes G Callen had done exactly what he had always done best- become a ghost.
Kensi was quiet- the bubbliness missing and the office feeling an emptier place for it. Deeks was trying to remain strong for his partner- not wanting her to be off her game and risk harm. Even Nell and Eric were different since Callen had disappeared. Each of them were hurt that the agent felt he needed to push them away, hoping that his trust issues had finally begun to improve and then the latest betrayal pushed him back years.
He had constantly refused to talk to any of them about what had happened, not even mentioning whatever had occurred in the past- Sam knew that it was shocking by the few vague details he had seen in the file- yet he did hope that one day his partner would feel able to tell him- of course he would have to find him first. He was dragged out of his thoughts by a holler from above him signifying the start of a new case. Listlessly he dragged himself to his feet and headed up the stairs to ops.
"What have we got Eric?" Sam asked with a sigh, his arms folded across his muscular chest.
"A kidnapped marine out of Pendleton" Eric replied, flicking the images up onto the screen.
"The marine is the nephew of an undercover NCIS agent in Chicago" Hetty interjected. "We need to ensure that there is no connection to the ongoing operation Sam- there are many lives at stake here" she told them softly. Sam nodded as he looked at the collated information.
"Anything else on Callen?" he asked softly.
"Nothing Sam" Eric replied- knowing that the senior agent would not like the response.
"How can we not find him? We have the best technology in the world! He can't just have dropped off the earth" Sam ranted, his frustration carrying his tone.
"Because Mr Callen has done what he does best Sam- he has become a ghost. He will be found when he is ready to be" Hetty stated, and Sam found he had no argument for her statement.
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Hetty hung up the phone feeling no better than she had five minutes ago- despite her reassurances to the team she was beyond worried about her lead agent. She hated that he pushed away the people that cared about him, refused point blank to let anyone penetrate the carefully built walls that he had erected over the years. She had hoped that his partner would manage where everyone else had failed- and to an extent her hopes had been realised, Sam had managed to build up a solid partnership with the solitary agent and Callen certainly trusted the older man more than anyone else he had ever worked with, but somehow even Sam was only ever allowed to know the minute details that Callen allowed. And now the team leader had disappeared, even the director of the agency hadn't been able to find the missing agent and Hetty did not like it one bit.
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Callen slipped the sim card into his latest burn phone- he wasn't avoiding his friends, he just needed time to gather himself together. He couldn't allow his team to see him as the weak and vulnerable child that the files depicted- couldn't bear for them to look at him with the sympathy in their eyes. It was bad enough them suspecting that his childhood had been less than stable and happy- but to have the abuse catalogued in such detail nearly killed him. He didn't discuss his past- the little that he knew wasn't worth talking about and to dredge it up forced him to relive the suffering that he had worked all of his life to protect himself from.
He had stayed at NCIS longer than anywhere else in his life, finally had people that he knew cared about him- worried about his distance and genuinely tried to protect him, but he also knew that they respected him as their team leader. Knew that he would move the ends of the earth to look after them and get the job done- he hated that his team had got an insight into his childhood- and even worse that he had no say in the matter. In all honesty he doubted if he would have ever told them- why would he have? Sharing the information wouldn't make the weight of it any less, it wouldn't change the past- but now it had changed the way that the team viewed him, and he wasn't sure if there was any going back from that.
End Chapter One
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