"Something you need, Mr. Callen," Hetty asked, having just sat at her desk when the lead agent hurried up to meet her.
"What is the status on Amanda Carrell's protective custody?" he asked. "She's in the boat shed now but I want to get her moved before dark. She's had to deal with far more today than any 10 year old should ever have to see."
"I quite agree," Hetty replied, nodding as she picked up a file from her desk to quickly scan its contents.
"Well?" Callen asked after a moment, his hands coming to rest on his hips.
Hetty looked up at him over the rim of her glasses, sensing his agitation. She set the file back on the desk and folded her hands in her lap.
"I'm afraid we will have to wait for Nell to finish the paperwork from Children and Youth Services. Once that…"
"You're putting her in the system?!" Callen shouted, causing the other agents across the mission to cease all conversation.
Hetty stalled a moment, taking the time to check her rising emotions before answering calmly. "It is the best place for her right now. And to make sure…"
"It is the worst place, Hetty!" Callen interrupted, slamming both hands on the desk. "You of all people should know that!"
"Mr. Callen…" Hetty began slowly, one hand rising to try and calm her lead agent down…but it was to no avail.
"Kids get lost in the system! Or is that what you want? Lose Amanda so she isn't a problem any longer? Give her to Children and Youth since her admiral father and mother are dead? Just an easy way to get NCIS out of the picture by putting one more orphan, something we don't 'normally deal with,' in the hands of the foster care system."
"I suggest you withhold any further comments before you say something you'll regret," Hetty replied lowly. Her hands moved to grip the arms of her chair, knowing she had better keep herself in check when all she wanted to do was scold the grown man in front of her as she would a little toddler.
"Regret?" Callen pushed away from the desk, his hands crossing in exasperation. "You're one to talk about regret!"
"I understand that you are..." Hetty began, but there was not stopping this tirade.
"You think she'll be protected in a foster home? Just like you protected me from the Comescu's by shuffling me from home to home, Hetty? How about the emotional…verbal…the physical abuse? That didn't come from any Comescu…that came from the system! Regret that, Hetty?"
Whipping around, he glared at the small woman who remained eerily silent behind the desk.
"Well?!"
She didn't answer…she knew she couldn't….for any response she gave right now would set him off. He was too angry and nothing other than time could cool him off.
"Come on, Hetty! You know you are throwing Amanda in to a horrendous situation!"
The shouting was only gaining in volume and the whole mission could now hear, word for word, Agent Callen's defamation of their Operation Manager's plan. And as Assistant Director Owen Granger came out of his office, finding all activity stopped and Henrietta Lange's lead agent vocally belittling the woman in front of the whole office, he knew something had to be done.
"Mr. Callen, if you would let me finish…" Hetty tried to begin after Callen finally let her get a word in.
"You know," Callen interrupted with a scoff, "it's a good thing you never had any of your own children, Hetty. Because if you treated them like the pawns you think we all are, they'd be six feet under by now."
Grisha Callen had seen many things in his lifetime but never had he seen Henrietta Lange grow as pale as she did in that moment. He knew he should not have gone so far, shouldn't have said what he did, but he couldn't help himself when he was this angry. And now…now he couldn't take it back, though the look of absolute shock and hurt crossing Hetty's face made him want to desperately.
"Agent Callen! My office…now!"
Callen spun around, face to face with a stone cold Owen Granger. His partner, Sam Hanna, was only a few steps behind, a look of confusion on his face as he stared down the lead agent.
"I have…"
"I said now!" Granger shouted, turning and marching down the hall to his office.
Callen had no other choice but to follow. He passed by Sam, stopping briefly at his partner's shoulder.
"Too far, G. You went too far," Sam whispered.
Callen shook his head, saying nothing as he followed Granger down the long corridor.
Sam looked back, seeing the anger on Granger's face and knew his partner was in for a long lecture. Sighing, he turned back to Hetty, looking extremely pale and defeated, her handshaking as reached for the phone.
"Miss Jones….my office."
Sam moved forward as Hetty set down the phone.
"Hetty, are you…?"
"Agent Hanna. Please go to the boatshed and pack up Miss Carrell's things. She will be going to her new foster home with parents, Mr. and Mrs. Waring. You will transport her to the foster agency first where there will be some paperwork to sign and she will meet the Warings. Then, you will follow them to their home to make sure Amanda is properly settled. Eric has sent the agency's address to your phone."
"Waring?" Sam asked, thinking a moment due to the familiarity of the name. "Waring…that…"
It clicked. The case where they had to smoke out a Russian sleeper agent a few years back….Kensi and Deeks had gone undercover as a married couple in a well-to-do neighborhood. And barring their endless debates over who did the laundry correctly or who could cook better, they had done a fine job of pulling off being happily married.
"...Is the alias Mr. Deeks and Miss Blye will be using while they care for Miss Carrell," Hetty answered. "Miss Carrell will still be considered a part of the true foster care system of California, to be protected by the state and federal governments as any other orphaned child would be in this situation. But, I do not wish to throw her to the wolves. This is still our case, and we still have an obligation to bring in the terrorists who murdered her parents. To that end, Mr. Deeks and Miss Blye will go undercover as her foster parents, to make sure we are doing everything we can to protect Miss Carrell until we can bring these men to justice."
"Hiding in plain sight with two undercover agents. Not bad at all, Hetty," Sam answered genuinely, smiling warmly at her.
"Here," she said, handing him a file across the desk, "this, along with what Nell is bringing down, should be all you will need. Gather Mr. Deeks and Miss Blye and then when Miss Carrell is ready, you can be on your way."
"Sure," Sam said, turning to find the technical analyst walking down the stairs towards Hetty's office.
Nell hurried forward, seeing Sam standing with the file in hand. "Sorry, took a little while to print this out. Everything is ready to go," she said, taking the last few steps up in to Hetty's office.
"Thanks," Sam replied, sticking the paperwork in to the folder. "Hetty…about Callen…"
"Time is of the essence, Agent Hanna," Hetty answered tiredly, her hand coming to rub across her now pounding forehead.
"Right."
He cast a look of concern to Nell, nodding his head towards Hetty, hoping the younger woman might understand and check in on their boss. Nell, still a bit confused, nodded to Sam and took a tentative step towards Hetty's desk as Sam left the office.
"Hetty…is there anything else I can do?"
"Thank you for getting everything together so quickly, Nell," Hetty answered, her hand dropping from her forehead to gather another file from the end of her desk. "Please see that the Assistant Director gets this tonight."
"Sure," Nell answered, taking the large file. "Are you…?"
"I have an appointment this afternoon outside the city. I won't be back in town until Monday morning. If anything urgent comes up, the Assistant Director is first call."
"Right," Nell responded, wondering why this was the first she was hearing of Hetty's trip. "Is there…?"
"My phone may be off due to some bad reception in this little town," Hetty interrupted, placing both hands on her desk to stand, "but I will try to check in."
Now Nell was worried. Hetty looked absolutely defeated…what had happened since she last saw the Operations Manager an hour ago? They were celebrating finding Amanda alive…and now…?
"Um…should I let anyone know you'll be gone?" Nell asked, not sure what else to say.
"The Assistant Director will know where I am. Need to know appointment, I'm afraid. But he will have a way to reach me if something comes up," Hetty explained, taking her purse from the bottom drawer and locking it.
As she came around the corner of her desk, the enormity of what Callen had said hit her again. Stumbling, she quickly grasped the edge of the desk for support. Nell hurried forward, taking Hetty by the arm.
"Hetty?"
Hetty shook her head and took a deep breath, swallowing her welling emotions.
"Fine, Miss Jones. Just a headache. Now…" she answered quietly, looking up and forcing a smile for the worried technical analyst, "…I leave OPS in your capable hands."