Hello to whomever is reading this!
This will be my third fanfic and I am so excited to actually put this up on the site because I have been working on it for so long! That's right, I have more chapters ready to be updated for this story, but it will be up to you readers to determine how fast I do update! The quickest way would to leave me a review about what you think about this.
Also this does not really correspond with the plot of NCIS: Los Angeles television series other than taking place after Season 2.
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters mentioned in the following chapters except for my OC who you will be meeting shortly! (Although I do own the first two seasons of NCIS: Los Angeles on DVD)
Thanks and enjoy,
crzychigurl343
Who?
Agent G Callen was in the middle of a murder case; a murder case that involved the death of a Marine, of course, and the Marine's brother. Both were brutally slaughtered in the Marine's home. Everyone on the team was slightly disturbed by the torture that was inflicted on the victims and then the way the bodies were posed… let's just say that their top priority was to put this sick bastard away and quick.
Callen was on his way to the ops center when he bumped into someone he has never met nor seen in his life. She was his height with three-inch stilettos and had model looks. He wasn't referring to obvious good looks and curves like Kensi, but the models that the fashion industry loved. The ones that weren't overtly beautiful; the woman had strong features that could hold make-up and had a thin frame that could fit into practically any piece of clothing. He could tell that she didn't hold much curves compared to Kensi by the way that her pencil skirt and tunic top exaggerated her body frame.
The tunic was an eggshell white, although Callen couldn't tell that from regular white, that clashed magnificently with her almond skin and raven black hair. Her hair was about five inches longer than Kensi's and straight. She had big pouty lips that were probably amazing to kiss and eyes the color of brandy. All in all not a bad looking woman, she was decent on his scale, but then again Callen has been with more beautiful women.
"Can I help you?" He asked wondering how a civilian got into OSP headquarters.
"Ah, yes thank you. I am looking for Ms. Lange." She replied and his interest in her rose.
"You know Hetty?" She smiled at him this time. He noticed how pretty her smile was and mentally shook his head away from where his train of thought was going.
"Obviously… She called me and told me to meet her here at her office. Could you point me in the right direction?" Callen wondered why Hetty would do such a thing. She, above all else, was the one who drilled into their brains that OSP headquarters' location was to remain secret, that outsiders were not allowed. But this woman seemed to have Hetty's approval if Hetty truly did invite her, so that was good enough for Callen.
"Sure, but first I need a name." He replied and received an amused look from the woman.
"Amelia Bennett." She didn't look like an Amelia. Then again he wasn't sure what her name should be but definitely not Amelia.
"Nice to meet you Amelia, I'm Callen." Surprisingly enough she didn't push the fact that he didn't tell her if it was his first or last name but just shook his hand with an easy smile. So, he motioned her to follow him and headed to Hetty's office. As expected, his boss was sitting behind her desk drinking tea from her favorite cup waiting for the two of them.
"Thank you Mr. Callen, you may now go back to work." Hetty dismissed him quickly as she stood up to greet Amelia Bennett. He nodded and left the two mysterious women to go solve this murder case. The way he figured it, if he was lucky maybe Eric and Nell would be quick with what they found and Amelia might still be here for him to escort her out of OSP headquarters.
"Go Eric." Callen commanded as soon as he entered the tech center. Everyone was giving him curious looks as to why it took him so long to get there but he ignored them.
"Alright, say hello to petty officer Thomas Ryans and his brother, the accountant, Elijah Ryans. Both are actually native to Washington D.C along with their sister, Marissa Ryans, but the three siblings made the big move to Los Angeles to stay close to Thomas since their parents died when they were young. Neither of them have any criminal records or connections to anything illegal that I could find." Eric remarked and Nell continued all the while the two brought up pictures of two Chinese Americans, the victims.
"While petty officer Ryans has no wife or children, his brother, Elijah, was married with two kids. But that wasn't his first marriage." She explained.
"What happened for you to say that in that tone, Nell?" Deeks teased and the entire team was relieved to have a possible lead to go off on.
"Elijah was married for two years that ended in a messy divorce settlement where Elijah insisted on not being in the same building, let alone in the same room, as his soon-to-be ex. He claimed that she would kill him if he was left alone with her." Nell chirped.
"Maybe he was right to be worried." Kensi replied. All the men in the room knew the saying, 'hell hath no fury like a woman's scorn,' at one point or another. In fact, they exercised such caution when it came to Kensi, Nell, and especially Hetty.
"Are you going to keep us in suspense or are you going to tell us who suspect number one is?" Sam asked and Eric brought up a picture Callen least expected to see.
"Meet Anne Marie Smith-" Eric began but Callen stopped listening and abruptly left as soon as he recognized the picture. He heard protests to his actions from his teammates but all he could think was that their potential murderer was drinking tea with Hetty at this very moment. As he bolted down the stairs he saw Amelia Bennett, aka Anne Marie Smith, storm out of headquarters.
"Mr. Callen there is no need to chase after her. She will be back in a few hours; she just needs to gather her wits." Hetty stopped him from pursuing her and the team finally caught up to him, asking him what's wrong.
"Hetty, you just let our suspect walk out of the building. How do you know she isn't going to hightail it out of the country?" He turned on his boss, angry at himself for not questioning further why Amelia, or Anne, or whatever her name is, was here at OSP. He cursed himself for being lured into a false sense of security when he noticed her and her petite frame. Callen knew better that it doesn't matter what a person looked like, a killer is a killer.
"Because Mr. Callen, she didn't kill the Ryans. If you wish you may join me when I question her about the situation. But until then, work on finding new leads." Hetty quieted him and went back to her desk. Callen and his team had no choice but to do as they were told and wait for their suspect to grace them with her presence, or at least until Eric and Nell tracked her movements so Callen could apprehend her. She did not come back at all the rest of the day.
When he brought that up Hetty asked him for twenty four hours. If the woman didn't come in by then, he and the team could hunt her down and do as they see fit. But Hetty was right as usual when around ten the next day Amelia/Anne walked into OSP headquarters where Callen intercepted her once more but this time with his team in tow.
"So who are you today: Amelia Bennett or Anne Smith?" Callen asked smugly and waited for the surprise to set in her features: it never came though.
"Nope, it's Scarlet Woodhull." She replied softly. She pushed past him and walked towards Hetty's office without even looking back. Callen gaped and Sam snickered.
"I would like her if she wasn't a murder suspect." Sam explained when Callen gave him a look of incredulity.
"Too bad, she is totally cute too." Deeks muttered sadly and Kensi scoffed at him.
"Yeah, if you like dolls." She replied and the three of them went to the ops center to watch the interview between Callen, Hetty, and the woman. He walked over and took up a spot leaning against the wall behind Hetty so he could have optimal position of reading the woman's reactions.
"It is so nice to see you after so long Annie." Hetty cooed to the woman and handed her a cup of tea.
"Annie?" Callen asked. The woman gave a small, forced smile at this but it quickly vanished.
"Her nickname is Annie, Mr. Callen. As you have probably found out, she has many aliases, perhaps even more than you." Hetty commented and he stared at the woman in front of him. What Hetty said made sense from the background search Eric and Nell pulled.
The woman in front of him has at least seven active aliases in counting. From the background search, she married Elijah Ryans under the name Anne Marie Smith. In that alias she was an FBI agent for five years until the death of her partner, but anything in her early adulthood was sealed and needed clearance higher than even Hetty.
"Yes and why is that?" Callen pushed wanting to know what type of woman he was dealing with.
"Well, as soon as I graduated from high school I was recruited to the NSA and was with them until I married Eli." The woman answered in the same soft tone she used earlier ago.
Callen noticed that her brandy eyes were puffy and red as if she had been crying ever since she left Hetty almost twenty four hours ago. She wore black skinny jeans and an over-sized maroon t-shirt with a vest that gave her torso some shape. From what he could gather about her sense of style, it was a bit more frazzled than her normal attire. As if she wasn't thinking about her appearance and she had this over all sad aurora surrounding her. Callen actually felt bad for the petite woman in front of him and wanted to comfort her against his better judgment.
"So your birth name is Anne Marie Smith?" This time he used a gentler tone that even surprised himself.
"Yes, but I prefer Annie. Anne is so blah even if it is a slight variation of it." Annie replied but kept looking into her tea cup. "I'm sorry I left so abruptly Hetty, I just- When I heard about Eli, I just couldn't handle it."
"It's alright my dear, I completely understand." Hetty leaned over her desk and squeezed her hand. Annie looked up this time and attempted to give a smile but even Callen knew that it was forced. He then had to remind himself that this woman could be the murderer even if every nerve in his body was saying differently.
"You still love your ex-husband after not even talking to him for almost six years?" Callen questioned. He both applauded and hated himself for the cool tone of his voice he was using with her, the same voice he got from years of interrogating suspects.
"Yes and no. Yes because he was the one who wanted the divorce, not me. But I have moved on from my relationship with Eli. So while I wouldn't want to renew my vows with him at this moment, it still hurts to hear that he and his brother were murdered." Annie replied evenly enough, knowing that he was just trying to do his job and stay emotionally distant. He was grateful for that because it made his job easier if she didn't take any offense to his line of questioning.
"When you broke up he feared for his life, saying that you would kill him. Was that true?" Callen pursued and Hetty shot him a look but didn't say anything.
"No, I would never kill Eli. I shudder just at the thought of it." She answered and put her cup of tea back on the desk. He noticed her hands were trembling but she hid them under the desk as she spied him staring at her hands.
"Then why would he think that?"
"Because Eli knew that when I met him and throughout the time we were dating, I was working for the NSA while doing gigs with CIA and Interpol. The movies don't really help with his imagination at what I can do and what I did while I worked for them. When we got married I transferred to the FBI for him but still worked dangerous jobs. Plus I was young and very emotional about the whole ordeal." Annie explained and Callen could understand.
"Why did he want a divorce?"
"Eli thought that I was cheating on him with my partner." He saw a flare of anger mold with the grief in her brandy colored eyes.
"Were you working with Special Agent O' Riley at the time?" Hetty asked this time and Callen wondered who this Special Agent O' Riley was to elicit such a question from Hetty and reaction from Annie.
She paled a little at the name and her grief seemed to increase dramatically. Then it dawned upon him that Agent O' Riley was her partner that was killed while on the job from what his team read from the summary report of her career at the FBI. He felt sympathy for her and suppressed the urge to shudder at the thought of Sam dying while they were working one day. But Hetty's question confused him as to how Annie's partner played in their divorce. There was more to that side of the story that seemed pretty obvious but for now Callen would let it slide.
"No I wasn't Hetty. I was working with a Special Agent Roberts. He was notorious for being a flirt and sleeping with almost every woman in our division of the FBI, not including those in other branches. Eli thought because I spent so much time at work I was sleeping with Roberts behind his back. I wasn't, we all know that being a federal agent is hard and involves a lot of hours at work, but Eli didn't understand that. So he wanted a divorce even though Special Agent Roberts and other coworkers of mine attested that I was indeed working and not sleeping around behind his back with rock solid evidence." Annie's voice trembled with anger as she relived the experience in her head.
"So there were hard feelings during the divorce trial between you and Ryans?" Callen pushed.
"Of course there was, Agent Callen. Would you let the person you loved accuse you of adultery and file for a divorce?" She countered and he conceded to her point. So far her answers to his questions seemed genuine and she looked less and less like a murderer to Callen. But this last question would make or break this case if she was indeed the murderer.
"Where were you two days ago?"
"I was on a plane coming back from India. I landed yesterday morning around ten." She replied and Callen knew that Eric or Nell was probably checking this right now. If this was correct then there was no way Annie was the murderer. At this thought he felt oddly relieved.
"What was your business in India?" He couldn't help but ask and he could see a hint of amusement light up in her eyes.
"How is that pertinent to this investigation Agent Callen?" Annie called him out and he struggled for a good reason.
"How do we know you didn't order a hit man?" He replied easily enough and Hetty chuckled after he said that. Both turned their curious eyes to the older woman he called his boss.
"If Annie was going to kill anyone it would be by her own hands, not an assassin." She explained and Annie nodded slightly in acknowledgment that it was true. Callen felt his pocket vibrate and he discreetly checked the screen.
"So what did Mr. Beale and Ms. Jones find?" Hetty asked and Callen wondered how she knew it was them. But then again, how did Hetty know anything that was happening in OSP when she wasn't looking?
"Annie's alibi checked out. They have her on camera grabbing her luggage at ten thirty yesterday morning." He announced as Hetty and Annie smiled serenely, already knowing what the answer would be.
"Very good, I guess that means you are cleared my dear." Hetty exclaimed delightfully as the two women got up from their perspective seats.
"Thanks Hetty. Good luck finding Eli and Tom's murderer, I truly hope you nail the bastard." Annie said as her farewell before leaving headquarters. Callen vowed silently to himself that he would, just to give peace of mind to Annie. He wasn't sure why he thought such a thing but it just popped into his head at the moment. It wouldn't be the last time she unexpectedly came to mind for Special Agent G Callen.