5 times Sam hugs Callen, and the one time Sam needs a hug
Summary: The title says all...there will be six chapters. Each one of them will contain a story where the day ends with a hug.
This chapter refers to Callen´s first day back at work.
Chapter 1
Callen sighs. It has been a very long day. A very eventful and exhausting day. Now that he is back at the ops center, G thinks that it would have probably been better if he had not come back to work just yet. He should have used those four weeks that were left of his sick leave.
Even though he is cleared for work, physically and mentally, his chest still hurt sometimes and all those fights this day did not make it better. It is not like Callen is afraid of guns, but when Perez pointed his gun towards him just about an hour ago, G felt his heart punding faster and all he could think was: Not again...
But fortunately Dom called him on his phone, and that was enough for a distraction to disarm and take down Perez.
Considering the circumstances, G also felt kind of good about what he accomplished on his first day back; the girl Emma was save and sound back with her mother and he even saved Sam.
The longer Callen thinks about the day, the more convinced he becomes about his decision of coming back...besides, what was he supposed to do at a motel all day long ? He was already getting bored after he was released from the hospital. His job is everything he has and he is good at it. Not having anything to do, to preoccupie himself with, makes him nervous.
One can hear small footsteps approaching the table where Callen is packing up his things. It is the Operations Manager Hetty Lange.
Callen hears rustling of papers and looks down...something red-coloured is thrown onto the table. Paper work?
"You know exactly what this is Mr Callen, don´t you... Expense accounts. And you are six months behind." -Hetty´s voice sounds a bit harsh, but deep down G knows that his boss is also hiding her amusement behind that specific tone. She already knows form the three years he works for her, that he hates paper work.
"What did you do all those months you had off for recuperation? I thought that you would have caught up on your paper work, but I should not have been surprised by this...You have never been punctual and thorough with this part of the job. But you must know..."
-Callen interrupts Hetty: "Please tell me you are kidding me Hetty..."
He looks annoyed and Hetty sees that her Senior Agent is exhausted. It was a tough day and he even received a new wound. She can see a dark bruise forming on his left cheek.
"Do not interrupt me Mr Callen. First of all, I am not kidding, I could tell you that I am, but that would be a lie. Well, expense accounts are very important. What kind of Operations Manager would I be, if I would not respect the bureaucracy?"
Callen lets out an annoyed sigh.
Hetty then points toward the red folders on the table. " No rush, tomorrow is just fine."
With that last sentence she walks away again and leaves a speechless Callen behind. He then wants to grab his bags, that are on the chair, to put them on the ground, when he hears Hetty´s voice again, coming totally unexpected from somewhere around the office... "I do not want to remind you again, to not unroll that disgusting THING on MY floor, Mr Callen..."
How does she do that?
Yet another sigh escapes G´s mouth...he sits down heavily and takes up a pencil with his right hand and one of the many red folders with the left one. I better start now, otherwise I will never finish this...so much for resting...I won´t get any sleep tonight.
The lights in the new office are dimmed and it is really quiet, but then a voice calls out: "Good night." It is Dominic, or Dom, as Callen calls him. The young Agent comes downstairs, ready to go home. Kensi and Nate are following him closely.
G looks up and looks at the group and then answers "Night Dom... Kensi, Nate..." He nods and sees Kensi and Nate waving back at him. Dom is still green,eager to prove himself to the other Agents of the team. He has to learn a lot, but Callen knows that he will be a good Agent.
Finally Callen starts with the paper work and then he thinks about his past again, when he has to fill in his name. G... That´s all...Will I ever be able to find out what the letter stands for?
Right in that moment he is interrupted again...this time it is his best friend and partner Sam. Sam greets him wiht a simple Hey and then offers him a place to stay. "The guest room is for free at my place." ( I know that Sam offered him the couch but lets just pretend that there is a guest room at the Hanna household. )
The man at the table looks up, smiles and answers "Too loud." referring to Sam´s wife, who is always up early to make breakfast and everything...and then there is Sam´s daughter. He really enjoys spending time with Sam´s family, but he does not want to bother them again...He already was a burden to them, when they took him in for some time after he was released from the hospital.
Sam shakes his head with a light smile on his lips, and then holds out his fist to G, who bumped his against it.
Then he shoulders his bag and leaves, feeling quite uncomfortable with leaving his friend there alone. You are not my mother... Yeah, but you could need one...Sam Hanna is still worrying about Callen... G was confident on the case and if it were not for him, everything could have played out differently, for the worse, but it might have been too early to come back...normally his partner would not be so exhausted after a day at work...G has recovered remarkably, but he still is not fully back to his old self 100 percent.
After finishing up with at least some of the expense reports, Callen changes into his normal clothes and sits down on the couch in the office...to his surprise it is really comfortable... he then closes his eyes and clears his mind off the events of the day.
Hetty turns off her laptop and prepares to leave. She climbs onto the small ladder to retrieve her handbag, turns off the lights and then steps into the hall. She notices that Callen still has not left the building...She did not even think about it this morning, whether he had a place to stay at for the night or if he would sleep at the office, when he came in with his bags and sleeping roll.
She then sees him lying on the couch, and when she approaches him, he suddenly speaks without opening his eyes "I just wanted to rest, I will finish the expense accounts later..."
"Mr Callen, you need a bed and a good night´s rest... the reports can wait. Mr Hanna told me that you took some hits today... and I cannot have one of my Agents having back-problems and collaps on a case, because he was already sore form a fight and then sleeping in an unhealthy position on a couch. Pick up your belongings and then I will see to it, that you will take a cab to Mr Hanna´s house.
It is already really late when Callen arrives at Sam´s house. He thinks about leaving again, checking into a cheap motel for the night, but then he sees that the lights in the Hanna´s living room is still on. With a deep breath he knocks onto the door and only seconds later, it opens to reveal his friend Sam, who looks relieved to see his partner standing on his front porch.
" Hetty..." that is all Callen says...
Sam shakes his head and puts a comforting hand on G´s shoulder and kind of pulls him into the house.
Michelle is joining her husband to see who it was, who knocked at their door so late. When she sees her husband´s partner, she smiles and immediately hugs him. "I am so glad that you came. You are always welcome here. Sam told me about what happened today. Are you okay?" She eyed the nasty bruise on Callen´s face.
"I am fine, Michelle... I didn´t want to disturb you guys but Hetty, more or less, dragged me into a cab and then I saw that the lights were still on... I had nowhere else to go at the moment."
Michelle sends Sam to prepare the guest room and she leads Callen into the kitchen. She gets a first aid kit and applies a special cream on his swallen cheekbone. She even makes him a sandwhich.
When Sam returns she wishes both a good night and she is off to bed to leave Sam and Callen alone for some time... Michelle knows that the men need to knows that Sam is still pretty upset about the fact that Callen came back to work one month earlier after his near fatal shooting.
"Do you want a beer?" Sam goes to the fridge and takes out two beers. He then sits down accross from Callen on the kitchen table and they sip their beers. Neither one of them feels like talking at that moment. They are glad that the other one is okay.
But Sam then notices his friend unconsciously rubbing his chest where he got shot all those weeks ago.
"Do you know what really scares me, G ? Losing my partner... and I almost lost you four months ago. It was not easy for all of us... for the team. Even though you can be really annoying, you are like a brother to me...and I was scared back then. I was so angry when you told me that you wanted to come back to work, even though you were not due back for a month...I just didn´t know how to react to it... and the case today was pretty rough... when Perez pointed the gun at you...that was ( Sam did not know what to say ) ...scary...
And I know that you were thinking the same thing... You can´t hide anything from me... I know that you are not as okay as you say... but I am really glad that you were with us today... you saved my life out there. I thought it was over, but then you shot this guy. You did good today."
Callen was moved by what Sam said. His partner never usually talked about his feelings like that.
"I don´t quite know what to say Sam. You are right... but I love my work and I can´t stay away from it any longer." and with a smirk he ads "and I will try not to get shot again. Besides, you will have my back..."
"Always...as you have mine, partner.
It´s late, we should go upstairs. I have already put your bags into the guest room. And as Michelle said, you are always welcome here. As long as you do not run around, taking the kitchen utensils apart..."
This lightens the mood.
When they go upstairs, Callen stops to say good night before entering the guest room...
"Thanks Sam...for everything."
Sam steps closer and tightly hugs his best friend. Callen does not usually do hugs, but Sam knows that his partner needs this right now, and he feels the smaller man relax in the embrace... the events of the day finally forgotten...the words that were left unspoken all day long since the morning finally said out loud...
It was a very long day and every once in a while everyone is in the need of a hug.
Sam will always be there for G...
And Sam Hanna knows that his partner will be okay.
This is a hug that helps G Callen heal.
THE END OF CHAPTER ONE
THANKS FOR READING
PLEASE LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK... IF I SHOULD CONTINUE WRITING THIS STORY.
