Callen just broke my heart at the end of this episode. I really wish I could have just given him a hug.

Callen drove through the dark streets for a long time after he dropped Alex off. He'd lost his father again, this time very likely for good. As grateful as he was for the time they had spent together, there had still been more that needed to be resolved between them and he knew the chance of that happening was practically non-existent. Finally, he decided he needed to go home. His tears were falling fast and furiously as he entered his house. He went into the kitchen, grabbed a six pack of beer from the fridge then sat in the dark living room just allowing his emotions to be set free. He cried as he hadn't cried since he was very young, cried for his lost childhood, his dead mother and sister and now his father who would very well end up dead now as well. Part of him didn't understand why he had even been allowed the opportunity to experience a family again, only to have it yanked away from him so soon.

The ringing of Callen's doorbell caused him to hold his breath. He was pretty sure it was only one of two possibilities, Sam or Hetty.

"G? Come on, I know you're in there."

It was Sam. "Yeah, my car is in the driveway," Callen murmured sarcastically. "It doesn't take a genius to figure that out."

He didn't want to talk to Sam, didn't want his partner to try to make him feel better. He didn't deserve to feel better. At the moment, he just wanted to wallow.

"G, please…I know you can hear me…I just want to talk."

Callen didn't budge. He just didn't have it in him for a long, drawn out, emotional conversation with his partner. He almost always gave in to Sam's wishes, but not this time.

There was a long silence before Sam spoke again. "Okay…you know where I am if you need me, G…any time…I'm really sorry about what happened."

Finally, Sam left and Callen allowed a fresh flurry of tears to escape as he opened up another beer and began to gulp it down.

xxxxx

After a while and countless beers later, he realized he was chilled and he pulled down the throw from the top of the couch. He burrowed under it then sobbed himself to sleep, another thing he hadn't done since he was a very young child. He didn't sleep well though. He kept waking during the night and would remember all over again what had happened then lose control of his emotions all over again. The next morning, he awoke shortly after dawn, basically feeling like crap. He had a headache, felt nauseous and was totally exhausted. His thoughts immediately went to the previous day and he felt bereft all over again. He really didn't know what to do with the strong emotions that were bouncing around inside of him. They seemed to be too strong and powerful for him to simply put aside and ignore as was his usual choice for dealing with such things. He thought about heading to his bedroom to sleep in the comfort of his bed, but the effort it would take to do that seemed too daunting to him and he simply allowed himself to fall back asleep on the couch once more.

At 10 a.m., the doorbell began ringing but this time it didn't stop. "Dammit to hell," Callen growled as he struggled to get up off the couch then almost tripped on one of the many beer bottles scattered over the living room floor. "What?!" he yelled at his partner once he had opened the door.

"Good morning to you too, G," Sam said, looking at his partner with a fair amount of concern in his eyes. "Can I come in?"

"What if I said no?" Callen asked.

Sam shrugged. "I'm not really sure," he admitted. Callen turned away from his partner and walked back inside towards the living room while Sam followed him, closing the door behind him.

"Don't even think about punching me in the stomach," Callen warned, glaring at his partner. "If you do, I'm going to hurl all over you."

"I'm not going to hit you, G," Sam said softly.

Callen slumped down on the couch as Sam began to pick up beer bottles from the floor. "I don't need a housekeeper," Callen stated. "Just leave them."

"You need something, G," Sam said as he paused in his cleanup to gaze at his partner. "I'm just not sure what it is."

"Wow…that is profound, partner," Callen said with a smirk. "What else you got?"

"Come on, G… just talk to me…"

Callen remained silent. Sam went into the kitchen and got a bag for the beer bottles then proceeded to finish picking them up. "You want some breakfast?" Sam asked as he sat down on the couch beside his partner.

"No. You can go now, Sam. You made your little pity visit or whatever this was supposed to be. Now you can go back to your boat and have a nice rest of the weekend."

"Cut it out, G…" Sam snapped. "This is not a pity visit. You know better than that."

"Do I?" Callen asked. "No one wants to spend time with me unless they have to…what makes you any different?"

"You're my best friend, G."

Callen just looked at him, neither confirming or denying what Sam had said.

"You still have Alex and Jake…" Sam began.

"No…No, I do not have them," Callen retorted. "Alex doesn't want anything to do with me. She's too afraid that something will happen to me and it will break Jake's heart. So I lost all of them, Sam. My whole family. Gone in one fell swoop."

Sam ran his hand over his face. Damn. This really wasn't good. He already knew his partner's abandonment issues, but this? "I'm sure it's only temporary, G," Sam said. "Just give her some time to come to terms with what's happened. You've got to admit, it was quite a blow."

"I tried to get him to run," Callen said, beginning to ramble now. "At the boathouse? I wanted him to escape. I was going to go with him, Sam. I was going to go on the run with my father." Tears were now streaming down his cheeks. "Father and son…on the run… what could be better than that? He said no. He didn't want to do it. Even he didn't want to spend time with me."

"Damn it, G. He didn't want you to throw your life away. That was the best decision as a father he's ever made," Sam said. With all the questionable things Garrison had done, this time he actually earned Sam's respect. "No decent father would ever want their child to give up everything for him. I would never want my kids to do that. He was being selfless. I know you understand that."

Callen just bowed his head as he continued to sob. Sam finally put his arm around his friend and hugged him tightly. "It's going to be okay, buddy…I know you don't think so now, but it will…"

"How? How can it be okay?" Callen turned his head to gaze at his partner, blue eyes filled with tears and pain. "I…I never resolved things with him, Sam and now…now it's just over, just like that…"

"Not just like that. Nothing's over, G…no one is giving up."

"What do you mean?" Callen asked, staring at his friend uncertainly.

Sam couldn't help but think that he resembled a lost little boy. All he wanted to do was make everything all right for him. "I mean, the team has already discussed it. Eric and Nell are going to try to get a location on your dad. When they do… when the time is right…we'll make our move. We'll head to Russia to try to rescue your dad. We'll do everything we can to bring him home to you."

"But…"

"He's your family. Nothing's more important than that. I know we lost the upper hand this time, but now we'll have time to put together a solid plan. We'll do what we do best, G. You deserve at least that much."

Callen wasn't sure what to say. He just gazed back at Sam as he took in everything his partner had said to him. Maybe there was still a chance. He was almost afraid to hope, but maybe…

"Why don't you go take a shower," Sam suggested. "I'll whip us up some breakfast."

Callen nodded as he got up from the couch and slowly trudged out of the room." Sam sighed as he watched his friend go then shook his head. He really hoped they could be successful and find a way to help him get his dad back. G had lived through a lifetime of pain. He needed this to happen. He needed his father to come home.