AUTHOR'S NOTES:
Title: All The Tea in China
Rating: M
Story Premise: Sequel to Surrepitious.
After a clandestine assignment in China, G returns home a changed man. While G is gone Sam vacillates between his ex-wife Marilyn and Jada.
Category: A romance/hurt/comfort novel.
WARNINGS:
Slash: G/Sam
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder or PTSD: Crap happens to G abroad.
Squick: M-preg G Callen; Squick: Sam has four children in three relationships. Sam is separated from his wife. Jada is in a relationship with Sam.
Whumpage: AG Callen whump and a Sam Hanna whump story.
DISCLAIMER: NCIS: Los Angeles and its characters are owned by CBS and the producers of it. I do not own anything, but if I did I would torture G Callen more and make him cry and suffer and have plenty of angst. I am grateful to CBS and the producers of NCIS: LA for their contribution to the world of entertainment.
My stories are a work of my imagination and I do not ascribe them to the official story canon. This is a work intended for entertainment outside the official storyline owned by CBS and the producers of NCIS:LA. I gain no profit from the creation and publication of this story.
Pain
Chapter 1
Sam rushed around the house, getting everything ready to pick up his partner at the airport. He had taken care of their son Gabriel for three months without G. It felt as if a year had passed. No communication of any kind, not even an email, had passed between them for those months. Sam longed to kiss G. He longed to hold him in his arms. And he longed to make love to him.
A knock on the front door alerted Sam to the babysitter's arrival. He rechecked everything before answering the door. "Jada, so glad you could come at the last minute." Sam welcomed the lanky and sultry black woman with a slightly protruding abdomen into his home. It was not the last minute though. Sam wanted to spend time with her, enjoying her presence. Not that it was a good idea.
He rejoiced in Jada's new relationship and the man's proposal for marriage. Sam hoped this time she followed through with the man's offer. The thought of making out with her while his partner was gone on an ops had occurred to him more than once. He sensed her desire for him too. Sam had to remind himself to keep his hands off the babysitter and his former lover more than once. He loved her long, straightened hair and often took in whiffs of the fruity and musky scent of her perfume and shampoo. The combination sent him running to the bathroom to jerk off.
Three months without G was too long.
Jada was a sexy and now pregnant woman in love with the new man in her life. She asked Sam to scrutinize the guy to make sure he was up to his standards. He ran every kind of background check on him possible and found nothing but a single parking ticket which was contested and dismissed. The guy proved to be squeaky clean. Hetty would have said he was NCIS material. Sam was happy she was not around to find out about the extensive background check on Jada's newest fling.
He wished Jada would settle down, thereby making her unavailable to him. He needed less distractions from outside prospects.
She sat on the living room sofa and Sam sat next to her.
"Gabriel's still asleep," he said.
"What time do you have to be at the airport?"
He glanced at his watch. "I've got about four hours before I need to leave."
She inched closer to him.
Sam took the hint, reaching out to touch her bare thigh where her shorter than usual skirt rode up revealing more skin than necessary.
Jada placed her hand on his, caressing it.
They turned to each other and gazed into each others' eyes.
Sam made the second move. He slid his free hand along the side of her face, drawing her closer to him.
Jada kissed him, at first a peck on his full lips. She could not hold back any longer and enveloped his mouth, pressing her tongue inside and swiping it across his teeth.
Sam returned the fervent kissing, forcing his tongue inside her mouth, claiming her, and owning her, and wanting her. He pressed her backward onto the sofa, kissing her nonstop. The hand on her thigh slid higher, finding the outline of her panties.
Jada undulated her hips, wanting her lover to do more. She moaned out her frustration that their lovemaking was going too slow. Jada pulled away from the kissing, breathless and needing him. "Please, I need you, now."
Sam raised her sweater.
Gabriel cried.
On hearing his baby crying down the hall, Sam awakened with a start. He rolled onto his back and noticed that his member was rock hard. His mind drifted back to the hot wet dream. He wished Jada's apparition in his dream had been real. Sam hoped there would be one last time with her. Sex with Jada steamed up the bathroom mirrors in both their homes. He brushed his hand across his erection and turned back to his side, glancing at the digital clock radio on the mahogany nightstand.
It was six hours before he picked up G from the airport. Jada would be here in three hours. He planned to ravish his partner at a luxury hotel for two nights before taking him home.
Sam got out of bed and dressed in his chocolate brown polar fleece bathrobe and stepped into a pair of cozy brown fleece slippers. He plodded down the hallway to his son's bedroom. "Daddy's here." Sam switched on the night light and turned it up a notch. The walls glowed with a soft tuscan amber tone. He lifted his son into his arms and cuddled him. "You're okay." Sam brought him out into the kitchen to fix a bottle of breast milk for him.
At birth Gabriel's hair resembled G's when he was a child; light blonde and a full head of hair. Now his son's hair took on his own appearance. At close to five-months-old Gabriel lacked any hair not even fuzz. Sam thought about giving it a shine with some oil. He wondered if his partner would complain about it and decided against it.
G pumped his breasts for the month prior to going on the ops. Together they had prepared and frozen numerous bottles of different sizes for their baby. The convenience of ready to eat meals for Gabriel helped Sam settle into an easy routine with him.
After warming a small bottle in a water bath, Sam settled down on the easy chair in the living and fed his son. He rocked the chair in time with the sucking noises his son made. By the time the bottle was finished, Gabriel was asleep once more.
He walked back into the bedroom and settled Gabriel into his crib, afterward checking to see if he was wet. Dry. Good. Sam plodded back down the hallway to his bedroom, undressed, and slid under the covers. His cellphone in the mahogany nightstand's drawer vibrated. Sam took it out and read the caller ID. G. He sighed and answered it.
"Sam," G said.
Sam swooned hearing his lover's voice. "I missed you, damn, I missed you."
"I love you."
He was shocked to hear his lover's declaration so soon in their conversation. "I love you too."
"I want you. I need you. I want you to make love to me."
"I plan to just as soon as I pick you up from the airport."
"No, right now." G walked into the bedroom.
Sam leaped off the bed and took his lover into his arms, kissing him over and over on his face, mouth, and neck. He started stripping off his lover's shirt.
"Can I at least put the cellphone down?"
Sam grabbed it from him and tossed it on the bed with his. He unbuttoned G's shirt and sucked on his nipples. Sam stopped and gazed into his lover's cerulean eyes. "Wait a minute."
"You want to know what I'm doing home so early."
"Yes."
"I took an earlier flight because I couldn't stand another minute away from you." Not exactly the truth but for now it would have to do. Wetness formed in his eyes.
"What are these tears about, love?"
"I… can't talk about it."
"The ops?"
"Something like that." G reached out and smoothed his hand over Sam's chest. "I've missed this."
Sam started to take his lover's shirt off.
"No. Stop." G pulled away and stepped back from him.
"What's going on—"
"Stop this." He turned and left the room and sat down in the dark living room.
Sam sat near him on the sofa, waiting for him to speak. "You wanted it."
"I'm nervous about it."
"Why?"
G allowed his shirt to fall from his body and turned his back to his lover.
Sam turned on a lamp. His jaw dropped open. He gasped. "I want to make this better." He closed the gap between them. "I love you and I don't care what happened and how your skin looks."
"It's all over me."
"Everywhere?"
"All over my backside."
"You were tortured."
He nodded.
"Hetty never said why she left on an ops and where she was going."
"Negotiations."
"Let me take care of you," Sam whispered into his lover's ear. "You can tell me all about what happened when you're ready." He stood and offered G's his hand.
G took it and tried to raise off the sofa. The pain overwhelmed him and he collapsed, stifling a scream.
Sam helped him off the sofa and guided his lover into the bedroom. "Shower?"
"I could really use one."
Sam took him into the master bathroom and settled him down on a teak shower seat. He crouched down and removed his lover's work boots and socks. Next he helped him to stand again and removed G's belt and unzipped his loose fitting dress slacks. "You wearing these because they're loose."
"Lost weight."
Sam nodded and tugged them off G's hips along with his boxers. He took his lover's clothes out of the shower and put them in a hamper.
G settled back down on the shower seat. "Stuff in them."
"I'll check them out later." He sat next to his lover and turned on the handheld shower head. "Turn your back to me."
"I can do this." He grabbed the shower head.
"Come on, I know you're not feeling well, let me do this."
G kept his backside away from his partner's eyes.
"I'm not here to judge or—"
"No, I'm doing this myself. Get out now!"
Sam remained seated next to him. "Let me help you."
His eyes moistened with tears. "Can't do this." He dropped the shower head and stood, steadying himself with both hands on the shower wall.
Sam stood beside him and guided him back down onto the shower seat.
"Don't."
"I'll be outside by the sinks," Sam said, "if you need my help just give me a yell." He handed his lover the shower head and exited the shower.
G stared at the handheld unit in his hand. "This isn't going to work." He sighed. "I don't have the physical strength."
Sam glanced around the corner. "Acquiescing?"
"Yes, surrendering to you."
He stepped back into the shower and sat next to his lover. "I'll repeat myself. I love you. No strings attached."
G sighed again and handed his lover the unit. He presented his back to his partner.
Sam gawked at G's back. Not only was it beaten with a whip of some kind but it was burned with some type of device. Bruises filled in the spaces between red and purple lines which criss-crossed his back. "I think you need to tell Hetty about this."
"No."
"Come on, G, your back is a mess."
"She… not ready."
"I take it she has no idea about this."
"Correct."
Sam shook his head. "This might need more care than I can—"
G glanced over his shoulder. "Not going to a doctor. Not going to a hospital. Not going to the ED."
"Got you." Before washing G's back, he examined the wounds closer. Some were too deep for washing. He turned off the water and set the unit aside. "I need to call Hetty about this." He stood and left the shower and returned with his cellphone. Sam sat on the shower seat next to his partner.
"I told you I'm not—"
"And this is serious, G, too serious for a shower and a massage." He autodialed Hetty's number. "She's back?"
"Yeah, she's back." He frowned.
"Mr. Hanna, how's Mr. Callen doing?"
"I need you to come over here ASAP."
"You mind telling me why."
"You'll see soon enough." He hung up before she could question him further. "Let's get you into a bathrobe."
"You want her to look at it."
Sam helped him up and guided him back into the bedroom, taking a few towels with him. "Lie down on the bed, and I'll take a few pictures."
"Is that your excuse?" G asked, glancing over his shoulder and smiling.
"I'd love to jump on your body."
"But?"
"I know you're in pain."
He sighed. "I won't lie."
Sam slipped his hand into this work briefcase and removed his camera and started snapping pictures. "I missed this ass."
"Not the rest of me."
"Everything." He leaned over and kissed his lover's buttocks. "Every square inch of this sexy body." Sam trailed kisses up G's sides, skirting the marks on his lover's backside.
G moaned. "Feels good. Those hormones are helping the pain."
"I'll finish after Hetty leaves." He helped G to stand and dressed him in a bathrobe.
G pushed his feet into a pair of slippers and winced.
Sam took him by the hand into the living room. "Tea?"
He cringed.
"What is it?" He saw a look on his partner's face. It was one he never saw before. "You okay?"
"Peachy. Water."
Sam brought his lover a glass of water and plopped down next to him on the powder-blue microfiber and brown leather sofa. "Water's an unusual request for you." He grasped G's hand, brought it to his lips, and kissed it. "I hope you tell me what that was about."
"Classified."
"That's all you're going to—"
"I can't disclose anything more," G said. "It's part of the ops. Until Hetty gives me clearance to share it with you—"
"You don't need to explain any further."
Hetty walking into their living room unannounced startled them both.
Sam observed his partner cringing when she came closer. Maybe it was what she wore or the look on her face. Hetty's attire proved to be more attention worthy than usual. Her bright red pant suit with a stark black scarf caught his eye. No matter, he would ask him later. "Easy," he whispered while stroking the back of his lover's hand.
"What's this all about, Mr. Hanna?" she asked with an edge to her voice.
"G's back is a mess."
"Some dirt is to be expected in this—"
"Hetty, I'm not talking about dirt."
"Then what?"
"Injuries."
"Let me see them, Mr. Callen."
G sighed and turned his back toward her, lifting his bathrobe to expose his back.
Hetty's jaw dropped. She edged closer to him. "May I examine this further?"
"That depends on what you have in mind," G said. "Nothing too strange for me."
"Maybe you want to see him lying down," Sam said.
"I'm not disrobing in front of my—"
"I suggest you do what she asks." He stood and helped his partner off the sofa.
This time G was unable to hold back a response to the pain. He winced and yelped.
"Mr. Callen, you're in pain."
"It smarts a little."
Sam took his partner back into the bedroom and eased him down on the bed. "I can get a sheet so he's not completely exposed."
"You mean if I have a problem with seeing my agent naked."
He got a sheepish grin on his face. "Okay, here we go." Sam pulled the bathrobe over G's head, giving Hetty the complete picture.
She stared at her agent's back with her jaw completely slacked open.
"Done?"
Hetty nodded. "Did you take pictures?"
"Just before you arrived."
"Did you get ones of his feet?"
Sam glanced at her sideways.
"Check them."
He covered G with the bathrobe and crouched low at the foot of the bed. The same marks covered the bottom's of his feet. "How did you know?"
"I'm playing a hunch," she said. "You need to see a doctor."
"I'm not going that route."
"I'll send someone over to the house."
Sam grabbed the camera again and snapped numerous pictures of G's feet.
"I need a private moment with Mr. Callen." She eyed Mr. Hanna.
"Got you, Hetty." He left the room and closed the door.
Hetty lowered herself into a chair near the fireplace and faced away from her agent, staring at the lit fire. "You have permission to disclose the ops to Mr. Hanna."
G rose up and stood near the fire, but not close enough that he saw her face. "Anything?"
"Whatever you wish on one condition."
"I knew there was a catch."
"I need to know how you got those injuries."
G sighed and eased himself down on the other easy chair facing the fire. The heat felt good on his pained body. Words failed to describe the level of pain he had lived with for the past 72 hours. "As soon as you had me released this happened."
"What? Mr. Callen, what happened?" she asked with a more pressing voice.
"They… you know…."
"No." She faced him, gazing into his cerulean eyes. "I was not informed about anything which happened to you inside that… horrid place."
"Tortured me with whips and chains and… other implements… can't… talk about this right now."
"Why on Earth didn't you tell me before we left that despicable place?"
"I thought you were privy to the event."
Hetty stood and faced the sliding glass doors which looked out onto a walled garden area. "This is not good. It needs to be documented. Understood? Everything. The time. The date. The inciting incident. Everything." She raised her voice. "This is more than a violation of you. It is a violation of the Geneva Convention." Hetty flipped on her heels and faced her agent.
G had raised the footrest and leaned back in the chair. He was fast asleep, mouth slightly agape with his head resting on an upturned hand.