Security
Though she had been there once before she still listened to her phones map instructions to take her to her destination. She followed the same route as before and as she turned into the no exit street she had a moment of deja vu. She ended the phones audio instructions as she reached the end of the street, parking in the same spot as last time. She grabbed her phone from its holder on the dashboard and put it in her bag as she climbed out of the car. She crossed the street and walked to the door of the boat shed, before she opened the door she stopped and listened to see if anyone was inside. Hearing nothing she walked in and made her way to the main room, as she walked in her mind flashed back to the last time she had been there. She pulled out her wallet as she walked up to the table, she pulled out the old, worn envelope and dialled the phone.
"Izzy." Nell greeted her as she and Eric appeared on the screen.
"Is something wrong?" Eric immediately followed up before Izzy could speak.
"No, I'm okay." She assured them.
"Izzy, Hetty is…" Nell began but then trailed off unsure of how much she should tell her.
"I know she's missing, that's why I'm here. I need to talk to the team, I have information." She told them.
"Oh, okay, well you're in luck, they're not on an active case right now so we'll send them over." Nell smiled.
"Thanks." Izzy returned her smile. She watched as the screen went dark then wandered slowly around the boat shed admiring all the nautical paraphernalia adorning the walls. Able to really take it all in for the first time she realised there was a second floor, she was instantly curious about what was up there. She made her way over to the stairs, she looked up them but decided against indulging her curiosity and did not go up. She went back, grabbed her bag from the table and made herself comfortable on the couch.
Callen, Sam, Kenzie and Deeks walked into the boat shed and Izzy looked up from her phone, as she put it away in her handbag the four team members couldn't help but stare at the woman who bore a slight resemblance to their boss.
"Hi." She greeted them as she stood.
"Long time no see." Deeks smiled.
"Ten months." Sam did the mental math on how long it had been since Izzy had last stood in the the boat shed. He then glanced at Callen, who was staring at Izzy surprised to see her again.
"How have you been?" Kenzie inquired.
"Pretty good. My shoulder's all healed and life's back to normal." She smiled.
"You told Nell and Eric you have information about Hetty." Sam mentioned steering the conversation to the point.
"Yeah, you see, Aunt Hetty and I have a system. I have a number I call her on to talk or arrange lunch but if there's an emergency or I can't get a hold of her on that number, there's a second number which I'm supposed to call and leave her a voicemail. Usually after that she gets back to me within a few days but sometimes she can't and I get one of these." Izzy reached in to her purse and pulled out a postcard with a picture of a tropical island on it, she handed the postcard to Deeks as he was closest.
"Izzy, wish you were here. Anne Heddy." He read the message out loud.
"Anne Heddy?" Sam asked as the postcard was passed around the team.
"It's a family joke, when I was little and first learning to talk I had trouble with the letter t, so Aunt Hetty became..."
"Anne Heddy, so only you know it's her." Deeks put it together and Izzy nodded.
"I've had a few of those postcards over the years and after I get one she always gets back in touch, eventually. I got that one months ago and I haven't heard from her since. This morning when I went to check the mail, I found this." She told them as she produced a second postcard from her bag and handed it to Deeks.
"It's the whole story of Anne Heddy's holiday in Maui." She summarised for them.
"And you've never got a second one before?" Callen checked as the second postcard got passed around.
"Nope, always just the wish you were here one then she gets back in touch." She confirmed.
"I wasn't sure what to make of it at first but then it dawned on me. She knows I know you guys now, that I can get a message to you. That's why I brought it here." Izzy finished.
"You did the right thing." Deeks confirmed and they shared a smile.
"She's probably hidden a message in it, we'll get Nell and Eric on it." Callen decided upon examining the postcard.
"You should probably hurry." Izzy suggested and the team looked at her.
"If she used the niece you guys didn't even know she had until recently to get a message to you, I'm guessing things are pretty bad." She outlined.
"We'll find her." Callen reassured her and she smiled.
"I know. She told me she got to hand pick her team so you guys must be the best."
"We are pretty great." Deeks boasted and everyone chuckled.
She finely chopped the last sprig and as she slid the pile of herbs from the chopping board into the pan she heard the front door being unlocked. Izzy grabbed the next ingredient and began to chop, the front door opened then closed and several seconds later she felt a pair of strong arms wrap around her waist. She smiled leaning back against the warm torso behind her but continued to chop.
"Hi." Callen smiled as he gently pulled her hair back and placed a kiss on her neck.
"Hi." She replied her smiling growing bigger.
"How was your day?" He asked as her peered over her shoulder to see what she was doing.
"Good, finally finished off a project at work, how was yours?" She answered as he let go of her.
"It was fine. The weirdest thing happened though, my girlfriend turned up at my work in the middle of the day." He explained as he moved to stand beside her and leaned his back against the counter.
"Wasn't it nice to see her?" Izzy played along.
"Yeah, of course. The thing is, I had no idea she was coming, she didn't tell me. We got up this morning, we had breakfast together, I kissed her goodbye before I left for work and she never said a thing." He continued.
"First of all, I only got the second postcard this morning, when I went and checked the mail after you'd left. Secondly, given that our relationship is a secret, I thought you being surprised to see me might more convincing if you were, you know, actually surprised to see me." She smiled as she added the last of the ingredients to the pan.
"You know I go undercover for a living, right?" He pointed out and she looked at him.
"Are you mad?" She asked unable to tell if it actually bothered him that she had surprised him.
"No." He smiled and watched her stirring the sauce in the pan.
"Have Nell and Eric made any progress with the postcard?" She inquired.
"No, Hetty likes to bury her hidden messages deep." He admitted, he then watched her expression change as she stirred.
"You're worried about her." Callen guessed reading Izzy's expression.
"Well, yeah." She rested the spoon on the edge of the pan and turned to face him.
"It's like I said earlier, if she's using me to get a message to you then she must be pretty desperate." Izzy sighed, Callen gently pulled her close and she rested her arms on his shoulders.
"Hetty is the toughest woman I know, she can get through anything. Besides, the team is on it and as you said, we are the best." He smiled.
"I shouldn't have said that should I? Now you've gone a got a big ego." She grinned.
"Nah, I always knew I was great." He bragged. She laughed, he smiled and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. He leaned in and kissed her, she kissed him back and he pulled her against him.
"Ugh, get a room." Mia teased as she entered the kitchen, Izzy and Callen broke apart.
"Hey Mia." Callen greeted her as Izzy turned her attention back to cooking.
"Hey Callen." Mia smiled as she set about making a cup of tea.
"How far off is dinner?" Mia asked Izzy as she waited for the jug to boil.
"Hmm, about twenty minutes." Izzy estimated.
"Is that with or without him distracting you?" Mia joked giving Callen a look.
"You could make your own dinner." He retorted smiling.
"Hey, you two play nice." Izzy grinned.
When Izzy awoke the next morning she felt Callen's arm resting on her. She smiled, rolled over to face him and was unsurprised to find him wide awake.
"Morning." She mumbled as she scooted closer.
"Morning." He replied rolling on to his back.
"You're still here." She stated happily as she placed her head on his chest and laid her arm over him.
"Seems like." He smiled as he wrapped his arms around her.
"So you really have the day off? A day off day off, not a have to go into work day off." She questioned him. He chuckled and they both lay there quietly seeing if Callen's phone would ring, they waited for several seconds but the room remained quiet.
"Yup, a real day off." He confirmed and then rolled them both over so he was on top.
"We should make the most of it." He told her then started kissing her neck. She grinned as he made his way down her body. He had just begun to slide up her pyjama top when they were interrupted by her phone ringing.
"Tell whoever it is to go away." He told her. She reached out, picked it up off the bedside table and looked at the screen.
"It's my Dad." She informed him.
"Say it politely." He grinned and she laughed.
"Hey Dad." She answered as Callen stopped what he was doing and lay beside her.
"Hey honey, how are you?" Callen could faintly hear her Dad's side of the conversation.
"I'm good, what's up?" She asked.
"Well, my lunch plans fell through so I thought I'd see what you were up to." Her dad explained.
"Oh, so I'm your plan b, gee thanks Dad." She joked and Callen could hear her dad chuckle.
"If it makes you feel any better when my plans fell through I thought of you first."
"Aw, that's sweet. Well I don't think Callen and I have any plans so…" Izzy started.
"Oh he's there is he? The mysterious boyfriend I've heard so much about. Well, why don't you bring him with you, it's way past time I met this guy." Her father suggested.
"Um, hang on a sec." She replied then lowered and covered the phone with her hand.
"So, how would you feel about having lunch with my dad?" She asked Callen nervously.
"I'd love to." He confirmed smiling.
"Really?" She looked at him surprised.
"Yeah. You know, if it takes any longer for me to meet him he's going to think I don't exist." Callen pointed out.
"Oh, he already thinks that." She told him and he laughed.
"Go on." He said encouragingly looking at her phone, she nodded and put it back to her ear.
"Sure Dad, we'd love to come over for lunch, what time were you thinking?" She asked.
"How does 12:30 sound?" He suggested, she looked at her alarm clock and saw it was already 11.30.
"How about 1.30?" She countered.
"You're still in your pyjamas aren't you?" Her father guessed.
"No." She lied and her father remained silent.
"Okay, yes." She admitted and he chuckled again.
"Alright, I'll see you both at 1.30." He confirmed.
"Cool, bye Dad."
"Bye." He replied, she ended the call and placed her phone back on the bedside table.
"How long does it take to get to your Dad's place?" Callen questioned.
"About twenty five minutes." She approximated and Callen glanced at her alarm clock.
"We have time then." He grinned and moved back on top of her. He picked up where they had left off before the phone call, she laughed as he finally got her pyjama top off.
"Callen." She spoke his name to get his attention as he moved on to her shorts. He paused and looked at her questioningly, she put her arms around his neck, kissed him then grinned suggestively.
"In the interest of time management, why don't we move this to the shower?"
Callen followed Izzy's instructions on the drive to her dad's house, when she told him they were on her dad's street he couldn't help but notice it was in a very upperclass neighbourhood. As he got to the driveway she had pointed him to, he slowed the car and took in the palatial house they had arrived at.
"Wow, this is your dad's place." He commented as he pulled the car into the driveway.
"Yeah, my dad's in IT, he did really well in the dot com boom and got out just at the right time. You can park over there." She explained as she pointed to the right.
"So you lived here." He remarked as he brought the car to a stop.
"Yeah, but only for about five years then I went to college." She confirmed as they both climbed out of the car. Callen followed Izzy up to the front door then watched her take her keys out of her bag, she used one of the keys to unlock the door and they went inside. They entered into a large foyer, Izzy's heels clicked as the made their way across the room. They had barely made it across the foyer when two little kids, a boy of five and a little two year old girl came running into the room calling Izzy's name and immediately wrapped themselves around her legs.
"Hey guys!" She grinned when she saw them.
"This is my nephew Ethan and my niece Amelia." She enlightened Callen.
"Can you guys say hi to my friend Callen." She encouraged them, they both just looked up wide eyed at him.
"Hi." He smiled down at them. Amelia raised her arms and looked at her aunt expectantly, Izzy smiled, lifted her up and put her on her hip. As she did this a man and a woman Callen recognised from photos to be Max and Jen walked into the room.
"Hey." Max and Jen greeted Izzy.
"Hey, what are you doing here?" Izzy immediately questioned her brother.
"I called Dad to ask him something, he mentioned you were coming over for lunch and bringing the boyfriend we've all heard so much about and yet somehow haven't met." Max explained.
"So you invited yourself." Izzy gave Max a look.
"I think I have a right to meet the guy dating my sister." Max responded defensively.
"Oh sorry, Callen this my brother Max and his wife Jen. Max, Jen this is Callen." Izzy quickly introduced them when she realised she had forgotten.
"It's nice to finally meet you." Callen smiled and offered his hand, Max and Jen each shook his had and smiled back.
"It's nice to meet you too, I was beginning to think Izzy made you up. You wouldn't be the first boyfriend that didn't actually exist." Max smirked at Izzy.
"I was fourteen." Izzy countered and Callen laughed.
"Come on, Dad's got lunch set out the patio." Max gestured to the hallway he and Jen had just come through. Ethan raced ahead and Callen and Izzy followed Max and Jen through the kitchen and out onto the patio.
As they stepped outside, Callen took in the picturesque view of the ocean that could be seen from the patio. Scanning the backyard he saw Ethan kicking a soccer ball around the garden and a man around Hetty's age sitting at a table laid out with food, as he watched the man get to his feet Callen was taken by his strong resemblance to Hetty. He then followed Izzy as she made her way over and put Amelia down.
"Hey Dad." Izzy smiled as they shared a hug.
"Hey Iz." He replied as he let her go.
"Dad, this is my boyfriend Callen. Callen this is my dad, Edward." She formally introduced them.
"Everyone calls me Ed." Ed smiled and extended his hand to Callen.
"Nice to meet you." Callen smiled back as he shook Ed's hand. Ed gestured for everyone to sit and retook his seat at the head of the table. Max and Jen sat on one side and Izzy and Callen the other, no sooner had Izzy sat down than Amelia started trying to climb onto her lap.
"Come here." Izzy chuckled as she scooped up the little girl and placed her on her lap.
"I think she likes you." Callen joked and Izzy laughed.
"Well, it has taken quite a long time but we finally get to meet the infamous boyfriend." Ed commented smiling.
"Dad." Izzy groaned.
"That's my fault, with the hours I work it's been next to impossible for Izzy to arrange for us to meet." Callen explained apologetically.
"That's alright, Izzy told us that you do highly classified work for the government that keeps you very busy. So, what do you like to do in your free time?" Ed inquired.
"Unfortunately, I really don't have much. When I'm not working my favourite thing to do is spend time with Izzy so, I mostly do that." Callen replied and everyone smiled approvingly.
"He's good." Max grinned giving Izzy a look and she chuckled.
"What about you Ed, what are you into?" Callen asked.
"Well now that I'm retired I spend most of my time sailing." Ed's face lit up as he talked about his passion.
"Dad's always had boats." Izzy interjected.
"Right now I have a ketch, she's beautiful, fifty one feet..."
"Dad." Max moaned interrupting his father.
"The kids never did get as into it as me." Ed sighed.
"That's because it's boring." Max frowned.
"It is when you spend the whole time sitting in the cockpit pouting." Izzy shot Max a look.
"I liked it, helping Dad with the ropes and the sails, he even used to let me steer once in awhile." She recalled fondly.
"Daddy's girl." Max teased her.
"Complainer." She shot back.
"Are they always like this?" Callen asked Ed.
"Pretty much." He confirmed.
"You get used to it." Jen smiled. As Jen spoke Ed felt a tugging on his arm, he looked down to find Ethan standing between him and Izzy.
"Grandpa?" Ethan asked shyly realising he had gotten the whole tables attention.
"Yes?" He smiled at his little grandson as Izzy hooked her arm around Ethan and gently pulled him closer.
"When are we having lunch?" The little boy asked.
"Soon." Ed replied as he got to his feet.
"Are you hungry E?" Izzy asked as she ruffled the little boy's hair while Ed headed inside, Ethan nodded enthusiastically.
"What are we going to do?" She grinned and tickled his tummy, Ethan squealed with laughter and wriggled out of his aunts grip. As he got free Ed returned with a plate of burger patties and handed them to Max.
"Callen, why don't you give me a hand with these." Max suggested as pushed his chair back and took the plate from his father.
"Sure." Callen smiled and stood too.
"Give us a chance to get to know each other." Max told Callen while smirking at Izzy.
"Be nice." She warned Max as he and Callen headed off to the barbecue.
"And don't bore him to death." Izzy called after them unable to resist. As she did Jen quickly got up and moved to the chair beside her.
"So, that's Callen." She commented and Izzy smiled.
"He's hot." Jen grinned conspiratorially.
"He is." Izzy chuckled.
"He seems nice." Jen continued her assessment as the women watched the men walk over to the barbecue.
"He is." Izzy agreed.
"Am I going to get anything more than two word answers?" Jen smiled.
"Probably not." Izzy smirked and the women laughed.
"Aunt Izzy?" Ethan asked as he reappeared by her side holding his soccer ball.
"Yeah?" She smiled at her nephew.
"Will you play with me?" He asked holding up the ball.
"Sure kiddo, Amelia do you want to play too?" She looked down at the little girl presently admiring her necklace and Amelia nodded, Izzy scooped her up and followed Ethan to the garden.
"We can play until your father burns the burgers." Izzy told Ethan loudly enough for Max to hear, he and Callen looked over at her and chuckled. Max's eyes returned to the grill for a moment before he looked over at Callen and saw him staring adoringly at Izzy.
"You got it bad, don't you?" Max teased, Callen smiled and nodded as his cheeks went slightly red. Callen's gaze almost immediately drifted back to Izzy, she kicked the ball to Ethan and then tickled Amelia to make her laugh. As he watched her interacting with her family he found himself falling for her even more, though given how much he already felt he wasn't sure how that was possible, Max noticed Callen's expression and became curious.
"So you're serious about her then." He commented.
"Yeah...I've never met anyone like her." Callen revealed his eyes remaining on Izzy.
"She certainly one of a kind." Max smiled, glad to see the man in his sister's life was so smitten with her. After a couple of minutes Callen heard a hissing sound as the meat was flipped, he tore his eyes away from Izzy, looked down at the grill and saw some slightly blacken patties.
"Izzy wasn't kidding." He smirked and Max went a little red.
"I like them well done."
Ed came outside carrying more drinks to hear Max was regaling Callen with another story from Izzy's childhood.
"So I jump out of bed and grab my sword off the wall." Max recounted as Ed topped up everyone's glasses.
"Your sword?" Callen raised his eyebrows.
"Oh I had a replica of a sword from a role playing game I played at the time." He clarified.
"Still plays." Izzy coughed and everyone grinned.
"Anyway, I get out into the hall and find Dad wielding a frying pan like a baseball bat, he'd also heard the noise. We make our way through the house, hearts pounding, we get to the foyer and I turn on the lights. What did we find? Izzy, sprawled on the floor in the entryway. Turns out she'd been trying to sneak back in after curfew, walked right into a table and knocked the whole thing over. It's hard to be stealthy when you're drunk, isn't Izzy?" Max grinned at her as everyone else laughed.
"Wow, at seventeen?" Callen looked at her surprised.
"I went through a rebellious phase." She tried to explain.
"You mean your teens?" Max teased her.
"You're just jealous because you never got invited to parties in high school. It might of had something to do with being the kind of guy who owned a replica of a sword from a role playing game." She grinned back.
"Well, I think nerds are sexy." Jen came to Max's defence.
"Thanks babe. You prefer bad boys, right Izzy?" Max smirked at her and she grumbled.
"Max why don't lay off your sister for awhile." Ed suggested, Izzy grinned at Max triumphantly.
"We need to save some stories for next time." He added with a grin, Max cracked up and Izzy sighed. At the natural lull in conversation Ed began to put everyone's empty plates into a pile, Izzy and Max saw him and started helping to clear the table. As the three of them were about to make their first trip inside Callen's phone started ringing, Izzy paused as Callen stood and pulled it out of his pocket.
"Work?" She asked as Callen looked at the screen.
"Sam." He smiled, Izzy smiled back and headed inside, Callen walked to the far end of the patio before taking the call.
"Hey Sam." He answered as he put his phone to his ear.
"Sup G. How are you enjoying your day off?" He could hear Sam smirking as he assumed Callen was sitting at home doing nothing.
"It's nice, very relaxing." He replied and Sam chuckled.
"Right. Anyway do want grab a late lunch?" Sam asked.
"I've already eaten." Callen told him.
"You can just have a drink." Sam countered.
"I'd love to but I've got errands to run." Callen declined the offer.
"Errands." Sam repeated seemingly amused by the idea.
"Yes Sam, errands. Contrary to popular belief I do actually have a life outside work." As he spoke Callen heard Izzy approaching and turned to look at her.
"Whatever you say G." Sam chuckled again.
"Actually one of these places closes at four thirty on Saturdays so I'd better get going." Callen added as he smiled at Izzy.
"Okay, later G." Sam signed off.
"Bye Sam." Callen replied and ended the call.
"You know, you're very good at that." She mused as he slipped his phone in his pocket.
"Lying?" He questioned.
"Coming up with excuses on the fly." She couched it more kindly.
"Comes with the job." He smiled.
"I still don't understand why you don't just tell him." Izzy wondered aloud.
"The less people who know about us the better." He advised her.
"Are you really that afraid of Aunt Hetty?" She raised her eyebrows.
"It's about keeping you safe. In the same way you can be used against her you can be used against me now." He told her, she saw he was serious and nodded her understanding.
"And giving I'm putting her niece in danger just by being with her, yes, I am that afraid of Hetty." He added grinning and she pulled him into a hug.
"I'll never let her hurt you." She promised and laughed as he hugged her back. She released the hug but Callen kept his arms around her so she rested her arms on his shoulders.
"So, when are you going to give them the speech?" She asked as she looked over and watched Max and Ed return to the table, Callen followed her gaze for a moment then looked back at her.
"The speech?" He queried.
"You know, like the one you gave Mia when you first met her. The one about how because of your work, for my safety she can't tell anyone we're dating, she can't talk about you to anyone, never take any photos etcetera etcetera. It's was a version of the one you gave when we first got together, don't tell anyone about me, I change my number every few months, no photos, don't keep any texts, don't call me I'll call you. The standard 'rules of dating a special agent' speech." She clarified.
"You know I have to." He sighed.
"It's okay, I keep telling you, I know what I signed up for." She smiled reassuringly.
"You have to deal with a lot being with me." He stated, wondering how he'd gotten so lucky.
"It's worth it." She grinned at him then her eyes wandered back to her family.
"I wanted to say thank you." She started, after moving her eyes back to him.
"For what?" He asked a bit thrown.
"I know it would have been easier to never meet them, it would have kept the risk low, but you knew it's what I wanted, and here you are. Thank you." She smiled, he stared at her stunned that after everything she had to do and put up to be with him here she was thanking him for doing a simple thing like meeting her wonderful family.
"Some risks are worth taking." He told her as he gently stroked the side of her face, tilted her chin slightly and kissed her. After several seconds they broke apart and he let go of her.
"So, the speech." He exhaled heavily, readied himself to give it, then went to go back to the table.
She reached out and took his hand causing him to stop, he turned back and looked at her.
"It can wait until after dessert." She smiled. He nodded, interlocked their fingers then slowly walked with her back across the patio.
Callen sat in Izzy's bed as he typed the last of the search parameters into his laptop, as he hit enter and results began to fill the screen he heard the en suite toilet flush. He slowly began scrolling the results, his eyes wandered upward away from the screen as Izzy entered the room.
"Your family took needing to keep me a secret pretty well." He reflected as she sat on the end of the bed and slipped off her shoes.
"They're used to Aunt Hetty weird rules and secretiveness, I think that helped." She put forward as she put her shoes away in the closet.
"And they want me to be happy." She added as she turned back around and smiled at him, he then watched as she rounded the bed and grabbed her pyjamas from behind her pillow. His search results were all but forgotten as he stared at her taking off her jeans and putting on her pyjama shorts.
"I'm going to sell my house." He blurted out of nowhere as she lifted her t-shirt up over her head.
"Really?" She looked at him, a little thrown by the sudden change in topic.
"That house means a lot to you, are you sure you want to do that?" She questioned him as she took off her bra and pulled on her pyjama top.
"It does, but the reality is it's compromised and that's not going to change no matter how long I stubbornly hold on to it." He told her as she put away her clothes.
"Living above a bar not all it's cracked up to be, huh?" She smiled at him in the mirror as she sat down and took out her ponytail.
"Don't get me wrong, easy access to alcohol is great but it doesn't outweigh…everything else." He confessed and she chuckled, the room then fell quiet as he watched her remove her jewellery and brush out her hair.
"So are you going to buy another house?" She probed while plugging her phone in to charge.
"Yeah, but I realised something today." He began as she turned off the main bedroom light.
"What's that?" She asked as she walked back across the room and climbed into bed next to him.
"No house is ever going to feel like home unless you're living in it with me." He told her and her face lit up.
"Are you asking me to buy a house with you?" She checked to make sure she really heard what he had said.
"Yes, but you need to know it won't be straight forward. The deed to the house will have to be in the name of one of my aliases, one that's been fully back stopped. The mortgage will have to be paid from an account set up in…" He started to explain.
"Nothing is ever straight forward with you, is it?" She interrupted still smiling, but for a moment he wondered if he was asking for too much.
"The answer is yes." She confirmed beaming, he stared at her once again surprised by the extent of agreeableness.
"I love you too." She chuckled before he could get the words out, he smiled, leaned forward and kissed her. He turned, quickly brought his laptop's screen back to life and retyped his password. He lifted his arm up, she saw it and tucked herself underneath it, as his screen unlocked she saw a page of search results on a real estate website.
"You don't waste any time do you?" She grinned as she rested her head on his shoulder. They sat together and Callen slowly scrolled through the first page of the search results, it didn't take long for Izzy to realise that all the results had something beside the location in common.
"Three bedrooms." She murmured identifying the commonality.
"Room to grow." Callen replied casually, Izzy lifted her head from his shoulder and looked up at him.
"Thinking about your future?" She inquired, her eyes twinkling as she raised her eyebrows at him. He lifted his eyes from the screen, turned his head, looked down at her and smiled.
"I'm looking at it."