A/N: Guys I'm so sorry. I just couldn't let this go after last night. In "The Seventh Child" Hetty is in the first Ops scene and then not seen again for the rest of the episode. And the only conclusion I could come up with is that Granger locked her in a closet somewhere so she couldn't interfere. And then this happened and I just couldn't not write it. So just enjoy this little piece of crazy. I promise something better and Densi related is coming your way soon!
"Twins. What an ingenious plan."
Granger only half listened to Hetty's babble as they walked down the hall. The day that Leon Vance had sat him down in the DC Navy Yard to offer him the position of Assistant Director, he'd known it came with a four foot nine inch tall catch. A catch that he had quickly come to regret.
It had become clear to his superiors at NCIS that the old bat was slowly losing her marbles, but there was simply no way to force her out. Henrietta Lange didn't go anywhere quietly, which she'd made abundantly clear over the years, even as her ability to make appropriate decisions for her agents became more and more suspect. Granger had been asked to leave his perfectly good, safe, comfortable job to Hetty-sit.
"I know. Twins. Very shocking," he said calmly.
"One we could handle but two? Two boys?" she continued to ramble on half to him, half to herself.
He'd tried to steer her in the right direction during his time in LA. Kept her away from the more urgent cases, gave orders behind her back, undermined her authority. It hadn't been perfect. The woman was wily and influential and had friends in the strangest places. There had been more close calls than he would have liked on his record but he'd always managed to get them back on course with minimal damage.
This time, however, they were talking about eleven year old suicide bombers. There was no room for error. Too many lives were at stake, agent and civilian. And based on some of Hetty's more recent decisions he simply couldn't risk it.
"Right in here Henrietta," he held open the door to the Burn Room and she stepped inside.
"We need a plan of action immediately," she told him, apparently unaware of the trap he'd just led her into. "Split up the teams and have Sam go with Kensi and Deeks with Callen. It will keep them on their toes, more focused on the case."
"I'm sorry Henrietta," he told her and with that he closed the Burn Room door and locking it from the outside.
"Owen! What is the meaning of this?" Hetty's voice was muffled through the wood of the door that was now in between them.
"You're a liability Hetty. There's tea on the table. Agent Conners here will keep you updated on the case. Just relax and enjoy some time off." He turned to the agent standing by the locked door. "No one in or out."
"Yes sir," the agent nodded.
Owen could hear Hetty hurling insults through the door but he felt liberated as he walked away. He should have delegated this problem to another agent years ago.
"Where's Hetty?" Nell asked as he entered Ops.
"She had urgent business with a cup of Oolong," Granger told them.
Both techs paused, looking at him quizzically, and for a brief moment the Assistant Director wondered if they were more attached to their meddling boss than he'd thought.
"Oh thank god." Eric gave an audible sigh of relief and turned back to his desktop.
Nell gave the assistant director a curt nod of understanding. The meerkats were on board.
Granger felt a curmudgeonly smile lift the corners of his lips. Time to get some real work done around this place. "Tell me what you've got so far."
A/N: Leave your love in the reviews! Also, Linda Hunt I really do love you! I just can't stand Hetty!