AN: I have messed about with the timelines and have given an alternative beginning and ending to a televised episode

Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS LA or make any profit from these stories. The characters are owned by CBS, Shane Brennan, Scott R Gemmill and I thank them for letting me have fun with them.

Chapter 1

Standing in the Ops room at the centre light table, Special Agent Callen looked around at the faces of his team in turn as he outlined the plan. Their expressions were all serious, and all nodded in agreement. Whilst they had questioned him about specific aspects of the operation, which he answered, no-one had disagreed with him. Even Deeks, who usually made a joke out of everything, remained quiet, and silently nodded his approval. However there was one person who was not convinced, the expression on her face spoke volumes. Henrietta Lange, known to all as Hetty, was the Operations Manager of NCIS Operations of Special Projects Office in Los Angeles and Callen knew that she was going voice her opinion.

"That is not going to happen, Mr Callen" she said vehemently.

Callen tried to persuade his diminutive boss that it was a valid option and one they should take, but she cuts him down. "No, Mr Callen. I said No and I mean No! I will stand you down if you defy me and Mr Hanna will take the lead on this case."

The tension in the Ops room could be cut with a knife. Workers who didn't have to be there, hastily left whilst others kept their heads down, concentrating on the job at hand trying to ignore the argument raging around them. Kensi and Deeks looked nervously at each other and between their team leader, whose eyes were dark and threatening, his jaw clenched in an attempt to control his anger, and their boss, who was glaring at him, openly challenging him to defy her. Nell and Eric shuffled uneasily watching the battle of wills raging in front of them. Sam was unsure what to do. The plan Callen had come up with was sound and viable. He would be the first to disagree if it wasn't. He knew that sometimes the team weren't party to the overall picture but Hetty's behaviour seemed to have little to do with the case and more to do with her feelings for Callen. However, he didn't want to intervene and make matters worse for his friend.

Owen Granger, Assistant Director of NCIS, walked into the Ops room and overheard the argument. "Agent Callen, discuss this further with your team and include Miss Jones and Mr Beale. If you can come up with another option, fine, but if not we'll run with your first idea".

Callen tore his eyes away from Hetty and turned his attention to Granger who was now the subject of Hetty's glare. Granger held her gaze and Hetty stormed out of the room. Still reeling from Hetty's words and threats, trying to stem his anger and save face in front of his team, Callen answered "Fair enough." As Callen turned to his team and Nell and Eric, Granger added "And bring it to me, Agent Callen," leaving the next words unsaid. When Callen nodded his understanding, Granger turned away from the team and left Ops.

The team looked between Callen and the departing figure of Granger. Seeing the questions in their eyes, Callen shook his head sadly "I don't know. I can't do anything right since they thought I'd gone rogue. It's not you guys – it's me she's got a problem with. I've tried but I don't know how to fix it."

Sam knew Callen and Hetty shared history but not all the details. Whilst Callen had told Sam a great deal over the time they'd worked together, he knew there was much more to be disclosed. However, Callen was a very private and solitary, almost antisocial, person. Whether that was because of his upbringing in the social care system, something Callen seemed ashamed of, or the fact that Callen knew little of his early life, only recently finding out about his mother and his connections to Romania, he wasn't sure. Sam knew that when he was ready, or had the need to, Callen would confide more. What Sam was certain about was Callen's feelings for Hetty, whom he thought of as a mother. Sam had recently found out that Hetty had rescued Callen from juvenile hall and had offered him a home with her.

Sam touched his shoulder, a gesture Callen had come to recognise when Sam wanted to know if he was OK. "I'm fine, Sam. Really. C'm on. Let's see if we can come up with another plan."

Owen Granger stood at the top of the stairs and looked towards Hetty's office, where she was sitting, a look of thunder on her face. He came down the stairs, purposely walked over to Hetty's office and confronted her. "I don't know what's going on between you too, but it's got to stop" he said.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Owen" answered Hetty

"I think you do, Henrietta. The tension between you is affecting the team's performance." Hetty tried to interrupt but Owen held up his hand. "They are deeply loyal to you both but they don't know which one to follow, their boss or their friend and team leader. Though I'd say if push comes to shove, they'd choose Callen. You haven't been making it easy either, overruling him like that in front of them. That's not like you. You used to trust him and even if you disagreed, you'd speak to him in private away from the others. It's got to stop, Henrietta."

Hetty opened her mouth to speak, to explain but Granger cut her short. "It's not open for discussion, Henrietta. I don't care how you do it or what it takes – just fix it! And do it before I make the decision for you. Believe me, no-one will like the outcome." With that he turned and strode away leaving Hetty staring after him speechless.

Hetty knew Owen Granger was correct. Damn him! Her relationship with Callen, the boy she had taken in at 15, and whom she had come to love as a son, hadn't been the same since she'd tasered him when Granger thought he'd gone rogue. At the time, the team had been worried but not overly concerned, nor had she. She knew they all went off on their own at times to run down leads before bringing it to the team. Callen just happened to do it more often than the others. She knew Sam had kept a close eye on Callen as always and had saved him from getting killed but had let him have his space until he was ready to share what he was investigating.

It was Granger and his superiors who had been worried that Callen would start an international incident by poking around the Russian connections. It was his insistence that Callen be brought in – whatever it took – that culminated in the situation they were in now. Hetty fervently wished she had followed her instincts and trusted her Senior Agent instead of acting on Granger's orders.

She knew that Granger was also correct in the assumption that she'd done nothing since to improve matters. When Callen came to her to apologise that he'd kept her in the dark, she slapped him down. When he tried to explain that he'd been protecting the agency and her with plausible deniability, she'd told him she didn't need his protection, just his loyalty and his trust. She knew he'd been angry and deeply hurt by her actions and when he said that she used to trust him, she cut him down again with a flippant comment and refused to have a drink with him, something they always did at the end of the day. She had taught him not to leave on an argument but to talk it out. She was well aware that she had broken that rule and in a moment of undisguised anger, she had reinforced any rejection he felt.

Hetty also knew Callen didn't trust easily because of his upbringing and it had taken her years to instil in him that it was OK to trust her and his team; they were his family and family did not judge or condemn, just supported one another. In one fell swoop, she knew she had damaged, if not destroyed, that belief and whilst she knew he was desperately trying to seek forgiveness from her, she continually stonewalled him. Since then, Callen's attitude towards her had been coolly professional. He did as he was ordered, would offer his opinion if the mission or the safety of his team was in jeopardy, but he shunned all personal contact with her. She knew it was his defence mechanism to try and prevent any further pain and the fact that she was the cause of it, hurt her deeply.

Over the months, one or other had tried on different occasions to bridge the gap between them, but some flippant or callous remark, usually from her, would stop any progress that had been made and put them right back where they started, still estranged. It broke her heart and she didn't know how to fix it. Lately Callen had rejected every attempt she had made for reconciliation and she was at a loss to know what else to try. She had lost the one person who meant the most to her because of her pride and her need to be in control. And now Owen Granger had undermined her authority in front of her team and had also given her an ultimatum.

Back in Ops, the team, after further discussion, had formulated an amended plan based largely on Callen's original idea. They called Granger to Ops to share it with him.

"That's good. Whilst your original plan was good and would've worked, this one is better." Granger said.

"What about Hetty?" asked Callen.

"Leave Henrietta to me. Go get ready" countered Granger. Callen nodded and the team followed him out of Ops.

From her desk, she watched Callen and the others come downstairs and into the armoury. She knew that Granger had authorised the mission without consulting her. She was angry but under the circumstances, she understood. She was surprised, therefore, when Callen came to her and stood at the steps to her office, not venturing inside to sit in his favourite chair opposite her as he would normally do.

"Granger has agreed an amended plan of action. He says he'll update you. I'm sorry he used his authority to overrule you – no one likes that". Without waiting for a response, he turned away from her.

Hetty was distressed to see the sadness in her boy's eyes but didn't miss the barbed comment which was a disguised 'now you know how I felt'. She called after him "Mr Callen, please be careful". He stopped momentarily but didn't turn round. He nodded to Granger as they passed. As Callen joined Sam he hoped he didn't notice the tears in his eyes. Knowing Sam he would have but he wouldn't say anything, not yet anyway. Granger watched Callen and Sam leave before walking over to Hetty. Without being invited, he sat down in the chair opposite her.

"Mr Callen told me you've approved an amended plan. When were you going to tell me, Owen?"

"Right now, Henrietta. It's loosely based on Callen's original plan and while I agree this one is better, there was nothing wrong with the first one. I don't know what your objections were but this team is considered to be the best NCIS has, they are well equipped to pull this off without a hitch."

"That's as may be but they are my team. It should be my decision if I'm sending them into danger" countered Hetty.

"I'm well aware of your job title, Henrietta. But as your superior, and Assistant Director of NCIS, I am better placed to make such decisions." Softening his tone slightly, he continued. "I know you are attached to the agents under your care – and I know how much Agent Callen means to you. I also know you've had to make hard decisions in the past. Your style of management works for this office. I don't want to have to make changes which will alter the dynamics of the team but you need to consider carefully what we discussed earlier and make the right choice."

Hetty sat in silence while Granger waited. Finally she said, "I know I've made some bad decisions regarding Mr Callen recently. I justify them by saying they are for his protection. But I'm only fooling myself. The truth is I don't want to lose him. But my actions may have pushed him towards the outcome I wanted to avoid. I want him to need me because I'm afraid that if he finds out about his past, he'll also discover all the information I've kept from him and then he'll hate me."

"I understand what you say, but he's a grown man, Henrietta. He's not that broken boy you took under your wing all those years ago. Under your guidance he has learnt to cope – to a certain extent – with not knowing his background and this unique upbringing makes him an excellent field agent, especially for undercover work. That is unlikely to change even if he does find out about his past. Yes, he'll be angry with you but he'll get over it. Once this case is over, do what you have to to make your relationship better. Has Dale Farmer been in contact with you following the murder of Potter?"

"No. But I presume he's contacted you?" answered Hetty.

"Yes. He suggests that we go to a safe house under his team's protection along with Brown until the CIA can figure out who's behind this."

"No, I'm not going into hiding and I'm certainly not about to trust the CIA to protect me. Why can't our team do it? You've just said they are the best we have"

"You know this is likely to be repercussion from missions when we were with the CIA. They aren't willing to air their dirty laundry in public or let NCIS take the credit."

"What happened to inter-departmental co-operation?" countered Hetty. "Alright but I'm not happy about it. What do we tell Mr Callen and the others?"

"Nothing, they shouldn't get involved. And don't tell Miss Jones either. Just get a few things together and we'll leave. Farmer will be waiting at Casa de Nogales for us. He's sending a team to collect Brown and take him there. We're to get there as soon as possible."

Nodding, Hetty left her office and went to the armoury after Granger left. If she was going into hiding she was taking some weapons with her like her derringer which she put safely into a bag ready to take with her. Whilst she was there, she took the opportunity to open the box where she kept some sentimental mementos. She took out the picture taken years ago in Karachi showing Brown, Potter, Granger and herself sitting at a table. So many years ago, she mused. She sighed, put it back in the box and locked it away. Closing the grill, she felt a presence and, smiling to herself, said "Did you want something, Mr Callen?"

Callen stepped into the open. "I thought you'd like to know the mission was a success. Bad guys in custody and no injuries."

"Good. Now if you'll excuse me, I have an appointment." She was colder than she meant to be.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to disturb you" said Callen in a tone as cold as hers and he turned to go.

Hetty cursed herself – I'm not making this any better. "Mr Callen, I'm sorry. I'm a bit pre-occupied. We'll talk later I promise" she said, her voice softening.

He turned and looked at her and she could see the mixture of emotions he was struggling with – anger, hurt and concern. He smiled tentatively, and said "OK." He made to go but changed his mind. "Is everything alright, Hetty?"

"Yes, yes of course, everything's fine. Now run along I'm sure you have work to do"

Satisfied but not entirely convinced, she knew, Callen nodded and left her. She sighed. She was desperate to make amends and show how much she trusted him by telling him what was going on. However she didn't want to put him in any more danger as she had no idea who was after her. Reluctantly she got her things together and careful that no one saw her, left to meet Granger.