Disclaimer: I own nothing, except my own creations.
It seemed so long ago since she'd been walked up the Spanish hacienda steps and into the control room looking for somebody. Hetty-enforced maternity leave had commenced a week and a half ago, but she'd been bored at the house and decided to pop in for a visit.
As Kensi Blye grunted and released her breath, the air leaving her lungs in a heavy whoosh, she returned her gaze forward. Focusing her attention, she concentrated on reading the lips of the two men on the large black-and-white screen before her.
Why hadn't she listened to Hetty and stayed home?
Or at the very least, visited on a different day. Within seconds of her stepping into the control room, the NCIS headquarters had suddenly gone into lockdown. The electricity had gone out, and she'd found herself locked in a room with Dom and Eric.
The control room being his personal space, Eric had managed to bring up the internal cameras on a source of power that she didn't want to know came from. Getting the cameras up and running – no audio available – had been the best that they could do. Dom had had pushed and pulled at the steel door, but they were locked in.
Her first thought had been that some trainee genius had tripped the system, but as Eric brought up camera after camera, the humour left the situation as a sweep of the headquarters foyer had revealed three bodies lying prone on the ground.
With a sinking feeling, the three agents looked at the screen before them silently, searching for any signs of life. It wasn't until the large room that had once served as a banquet hall and now functioned as their storage facility, that they found movement.
The angle was awkward, but it had been easy to see that four men were in the room: Sam and Callen were two of them. The other two unidentified intruders were both men with military hair cuts, decked out in black and armed with some heavy weaponry.
They'd obviously felt confident that their blanketing of the headquarters' electrics and cameras had worked, as one man turned to the camera and actually shrugged his shoulders before turning back to his partner. Eric pulled that camera onto another screen as he brought up the last few cameras, but to no avail.
They couldn't find Nate or Hetty anywhere.
Processing all that had just happened, Kensi found both men turning to her for guidance. Marvelling that she had to do everything herself, she spoke. 'I don't know what the hell has happened, but we need to do something. Eric, see if we can get any type of communication out. Get Director Vance on the line. Dom, get that pen and paper ready, I'm about to send information your way.'
The young dark-skinned man looked at her in confusion before she began to speak and he realised that she was attempting to lip read. 'He's talking about Lotus… Guard?' Struggling to find the right angle to lip read as Dom ran around looking for pen and paper, muttering Lotus Guard under his breath, Kensi felt a pain rip across her abdomen.
'Damnit,' swore Eric. 'They've got something blocking the cell phone reception. Give me a moment and I should be able to get something going.'
'I think we might have bigger problems than that,' stuttered Dom, now with pen and paper in hand as he stood near Kensi.
'How could we possibly have bigger than this Dom?' said Eric, holding his phone and pointer arms out in a 'what?' gesture.
'That's how,' said Dom, pointing his finger at the bent over woman. Kensi had one hand gripping the island table and one covering her belly. Looking up at her two horrified workmates, she prayed aloud. 'The first kid is supposed to take longer right?'
Dom and Eric exchanged petrified looks before Dom swiftly responded to Kensi's following question. 'Don't they?'
'Ah yeah, sure,' he answered in a less than convincing tone, Eric's head already burrowed in his phone once again.
The pain easing off, Kensi stood cautiously for a moment before, feeling no more pain, she turned to the screen once again. When she winced the next time, it was because one of their intruders – Chimp, as Dom had labelled him (the other branded Chief) – had backhanded Callen.
The fact that she possibly had just gone into labour firmly pushed to the back of her mind, the three of them watched as their two fellow agents were tied up in back-to-back chairs. But that labour business came back to the forefront of her mind very quickly though when another pain hit her.
This set the pattern for the next two hours: watch, lip read, note and get through the pain.
Eric had finally managed to get a weak signal out of his cell phone and had gone straight for NCIS' resident lab rat, bypassing Vance. When Abby answered with a 'speak and ye shall be heard minion', Eric bypassed his usual snappy byplay and got straight to the point.
'HQ takeover. Two men. Run their faces,' fired Eric.
'Ooh, I like a man that gets straight to the point,' laughed Abby, even as her head dropped down and her fingers clacked across her keys. Looking at the image on an image – Eric's camera phone weakly recording the big screen before them – Abby squinted at the shocking quality.
'That the best you can do?' asked Abby dubiously.
'Sorry,' apologised Eric, but the upbeat goth chick bounced back. 'Never fear, I shall make do. Keep me on the line and…' Her next words were interrupted when a scream could be heard over the speaker. 'What on earth was that?!' asked Abby incredulously. 'It sounded like a cat dying!'
'Near enough,' laughed Dom, quickly schooling her features. 'Kensi's gone into labour,' provided Eric.
'Is she okay?' asked Abby in concern, flapping her fingers to get Eric to turn the camera. The thick man finally acquiescing, she spotted the young woman swearing under her breath on the small screen.
'She will be when this is all over and this baby is finally born,' gritted out Kensi, speaking in third person as she rocked backward and forward.
'Anything I can do over here?' said Abby rapidly. 'Yoga? Meditation exercises? Stories to take your mind off the excruciating pain you're about to face?' Abby's spiel halted suddenly when she turned to the side. 'I'm not in any pain my silver haired fox,' said Abby before she turned back to Eric and then spun off screen again to throw her arms around the unsuspecting man. 'Gibbs! You're here!'
Kensi could hear the conversation flying backward and forward between both sides, but she heard none of it as it felt like she was going to pass out from the pain. Nobody had said it was going to be this bad!
In response to Abby's furious explanation about what had happened, Gibbs had stepped forward and squinted at the grainy image on Abby's screen as she began tapping away furiously, looking to identify the unknown intruder.
'Don't bother,' said Gibbs. 'That's Sergeant Payne.'
'They're talking about guns,' panted Kensi, knowing that this information would be vital. 'Shalakov.'
'Keep them on the line,' ordered Gibbs as he pulled out his own phone. 'Tony, Ziva, McGee, get down here.'
With very little to be done except wait, Eric and Dom looked at Kensi. She was now gripping the desk before her, rocking her body backward and forward as she yelled through another contraction.
Dom stepped up to place a hand on her shoulder in comfort, but when Kensi turned and snarled at him, he backed off quickly and hit the table. Stumbling, his elbow knocked the fire alarm. As the klaxon sounded throughout the hacienda, everything seemed to happen at once.
As Chimp and Chief looked around their room wildly, wondering where the noise was coming from, Sam and Callen simultaneously dropped the ropes that had held them together and lunged forward as one.
The military men were quick to move in response, and Sam and Callen were soon standing with their hands clasped behind their head, their impromptu attack having failed.
It was far from over though as a closet door on the left came flying open and the tall form of Nate tumbled ungracefully out, sprawling on the ground. Both Chimp and Chief turned at the sudden action, but in a split second, Chimp's gun was now trained on the psychologist, Chief's on the two agents. (If Kensi had been watching the screen at that moment, she would have lip read the next comment clearly: This is really starting to piss me off!)
The split second distraction that the lanky psychologist had provided was all that Hetty required.
The small woman jumped from an air vent in the ceiling, landing squarely on Chimp's shoulders, one hand immediately on a pressure point. The well built man flailed at the sudden burden he now held – and at his inability to breathe – as Sam and Callen jumped forward and lunged for Chief once again.
For what was no doubt a massive op for these two men, it was all done and dusted in a number of minutes, the systems back on track within seconds with the disablement of the powerful interfering device found on Chief's belt.
Ten minutes after her timely arrival in the storage facility, Hetty stepped into the control room, speaking with an unseen person behind her. 'Think you could perhaps keep your backyard spats out of the office?' said Hetty dryly before she crossed the threshold. 'Now, what is so important that we needed to come up here immediately?'
Dom and Eric turned and pointed in unison as Kensi keened. 'That.'
Taking in the sight of her pregnant agent panting through a contraction, Hetty snapped into action as Sam and Callen entered into the room behind her. Kensi eyed the new arrivals and actually whimpered.
Callen looked at his team-mate helplessly as she rocked her body back and forth. Eric and Dom were still wisely backed away.
It's Hetty who snaps into action as Kensi roars out in pain as another contraction rips through her and sweat pours down her face. She rocks backward and forward again, her knuckles white where they grabbed the table. She was beyond caring what her mates thought at her outbursts.
'How long has she been like this?' asked Hetty, demanding to know. Dom ventured forward to answer. 'A while. It started pretty much straight after the bad guys arrived.'
'Right,' said Hetty in an all-knowing, no-nonsense tone. 'Mr Vaile, get an ambulance on the line. It probably won't get here in time, but what the hell. Mr Hanna – hot water, towels and everything I'll need. And for God's sake Mr Callen, go settle her before she hurts herself.'
Kensi was sobbing as she moved around in her short pain-free reprieve, begging for the pain to stop. She pushed Callen away when he reached his arms out to take her into his arms. He didn't back down and manhandled her to himself. She was ready to push him away when another contraction hit her. Instead, she gripped him and rode it out, her head buried into his chest as she tried to breathe evenly as she could, valuable air being used up in her screams.
Hetty had made a little space on the floor and gestured Callen forward to seat their crying charge there. Kensi was beyond caring – the pain seemingly endless – as she sat down panting. She was coherent enough to grip Callen's arm when he made to stand up. 'Don't leave me,' she whimpered.
Callen thought about it for only a moment before he eased down behind her.
It would be noted later how comfortable he had been around her, how easily her head fell back to his shoulder and how the whispered words soothed (somewhat) the exhausted, distraught woman in pain.
The paternity of Kensi's child had been a closely guarded secret – Nate couldn't even get it out of her – and Kensi was holding it close. That same enquiring man had now just stepped into the room and was surveying all before him awkwardly as Sam dashed by him with his arms full.
Dom willingly took hold of the kettle and dashed for a corner to boil it in. He was more than happy for father Sam to take his place as Hetty's little helper.
Kensi was positioned back against Callen's chest, her hands gripping his upright knees as Hetty began to peel down the soaked stretchy pants and underwear. 'It's going too fast,' sobbed Kensi.
'Nonsense,' reassured the Hetty as she threw the clothes off to the side. 'It just means that everything is going fine.'
Dom and Nate looked away awkwardly as Eric just goggled through his video camera trained on the miraculous event. In his nervousness, Nate had taken to reciting the latest research on parenting, but found a less than enthusiastic audience.
Callen was adjusting her full length pale blue shirt when Kensi's eyes fell on the video camera. 'Eric Jonathon Dane!' she blasted out. The techie took a step back in surprise and a little fear at the outburst. 'Get that bloody camera away. If I see it again, it'll be shoved up where the sun don't shiiiiiiiiiine.' The last word was in conjunction with a scream, the shout only petering off as she buried her head into Callen's neck with a sob.
Eric wisely dropped the camera, but Kensi wasn't to know until later that his back up cam was still rolling.
Nate, Dom and Eric were useless as Hetty, Sam and Callen got down to the business of delivering Kensi's child.
It was bloody, it was loud and it was painful. As they hit the home stretch, the contractions were coming with no break between them. Callen had given up on all pretence of supportive friendship and was urging Kensi on with whispered endearments as he alternated between brushing her sweaty hair from her face and running his hands over her rippling belly. 'C'mon sweetheart,' he encouraged.
Kensi whimpered in response. It was Hetty's demand of 'Push. Now.' that had her screaming even louder than before. Sam and Callen were encouraging as Hetty declared that she could see the head. Dom was beside himself and Callen sent him a glare when one excited exclamation diverted Kensi's attention.
She was now sitting up almost vertically and with three more pained pushes, Kensi gave birth to a crying baby. She felt the absence immediately. The child was covered in mucus, blood and other assorted liquids, but she had never seen a more beautiful thing in her life. The new mother was caught between laughing and crying as Hetty cut the umbilical cord and Sam wrapped the squalling baby in a fluffy white towel. Pushing out the afterbirth was nothing as she laughingly sobbed, leaning back against Callen's chest.
Callen had a tear or two in his own eyes as he pressed a sudden kiss to the side of Kensi's head. Hetty was expeditiously mopping up Kensi's lower regions as Sam handed the baby to Kensi with a broad smile on his face. 'It's a girl,' he declared.
'I know,' whispered Kensi as she ran a finger over the red scrunched up face of her baby.
Her daughter.
Callen assisted in easing off Kensi's non-breastfeeding friendly shirt before Kensi guided her crying baby to her soon exposed nipple. The baby snuffled around unseeingly before she latched on and suckled hungrily. Kensi ran her fingers over her daughter's small thatch of damp fine brown hair. She looked happily to Callen, the man still seated behind her, holding her upright. Breaking with her own code, she pressed a kiss to his lips. Callen's surprise was only momentary before he responded.
The kiss was fleeting before she turned back to her nursing child. Hetty pulled a sheet – obtained from who knows where – up over Kensi's legs for modesty as all gathered around. 'What's her name?' asked Sam.
'Sinead Blythe Callen,' announced Kensi proudly, her finger tracing her daughter's small face, unable to stop touching her little miracle.
'You mean Sinead Blythe Callen Blye right?' asked Dom in confusion.
'Nope,' said Kensi happily. Looking at her, you would never guess that she had just given birth in under three hours.
'I know he helped and all, but what's with giving him your last name?' asked Eric in bewilderment as he pushed his glasses up his nose.
Hetty ahh-ed knowingly as Kensi declined to respond. 'Congratulations on the birth of your offspring Mr Callen, Ms Blye,' she said in her usual I-know-something-that-you-don't tone as she ushered her gob smacked colleagues over to the other side of the room in front of the big screen. 'Shoo, shoo. We have someone important to speak with.'
'But there's no one to talk to!' said Dom in confusion. This was the same man that jumped when the big screen suddenly flickered to life and Leon Vance filled the screen.
Abby was jumping up and down in the right hand corner, searching for any sign of Kensi's child. Gibbs rested his arms on her shoulder and told her to settle – 'you'd think you'd never seen a baby before Abs' – as Vance enquired over the health and status of their Los Angeles agents.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the room, Callen was running a gentle finger down the side of his daughter's cheek. He looked wondrously at the little miracle that he had helped create. Whilst not planned, and with the baby only minutes old, he couldn't imagine it any different. 'Hey Shia,' he uttered softly.
He exchanged another look with Kensi, both set of eyes happily reflecting their joy. Their lips came together in a kiss as Shia continued to feed.
The remainder of the team listened to Vance on the big screen, Callen and Kensi hidden away unseeable, as the director relayed the information that they had discovered about the 'Chief' Mr Zackary Djokovic and the 'Chimp' Mr Niall Payne, partners in crime under the orders of Loker Gerrard.
'Pass on my congratulations to Ms Blye,' said Vance wrapping up his monologue. 'And I'd like a word with Callen please.'
Hetty didn't move an inch as she made the apologies for her agent. 'I'm sorry, Director Vance, Mr Callen is otherwise occupied at this exact moment.'
Dom did turn his head though and was greeted with the sight of two of his workmates kissing, Callen's arms enclosing Kensi's and the small bundle that she held. How had they managed to hide that?!
The slightly surreal feel in the control room was interrupted when ambulance officers burst through the door shortly after. Marvelling that there was a great number for a little matter, it soon came to light that Abby too had dispatched an ambulance to the headquarters, Eric's call a short while later also having resulted in a dispatch.
After the ambos tried to offload the assignment, and then both accept it, Officers Bail and O'Connery left for the hospital with Kensi, Callen and baby Sinead in tow.
'All in a day's work,' declared Hetty much later in the wee hours of the morning as she placed a photo frame on the desk.
Resting back in her chair, she clasped her hands on her stomach. Removing her glasses as an afterthought, she closed her eyes. Opening her right eye a crack, she smiled as she looked at the photo once again before closing her eye.
As Hetty fell into a light slumber, it was silent in the hacienda at last. A ray of moonlight had somehow filtered through and it splashed across the photo frame.
The black and white picture lit up, the minutes old little family frozen in the spotlight: the arms of her most experienced agent surrounded the mother of his child and his daughter. Even in her sleep, an all-knowing smile graced Hetty's façade.
She bet they didn't know how she got this one.