I don't own NCIS Los Angeles! My native language is Dutch and I'm dyslectic so sorry for any mistakes.

It's a short chapter but I wanted a chapter to show how the rest of the team was dealing with it.

Chapter 2

Callen was looking at his wall. It was filled with pictures and papers about Damian's case. And still they were getting nowhere. All that information was worth nothing but yet again it was all that they had. He took a sip from his bear and sighed.

The first half year had been hopeful. They were getting more and more information and sometimes they even got a location on Mark, given by one of Hetty's many contacts. But they hadn't caught him Still the team had had hope.

After one year there had been less hope but it was still there. The team looked over the case for the thousand time but they got nothing new. But still the team didn't give up.

After two years hope was fading and fading quickly. They all knew the chances. Callen saw it with his team members. Sam would call more often with his family, making sure that they were okay, Eric was spending his free time inside Ops behind a computer, Deeks was constantly watching Kensi and she lost everything. Her smiles disappeared and she had nothing to tell them. She would just sit behind her desk, doing her job and after a workday she would leave without saying goodbye or offering to buy them a beer. She turned into a vague colleague instead of his friend.

After three years it was like there was no more hope. They had realized [it all but still they would look. They would talk again with Mark's sister and his friends, look for his car and look at the things they got. And they had still nothing to go on. Eric had put a picture of Damian in an aging program and that had been the hardest moment for everyone. To look at the almost four-year-old Damian, knowing there was little chance little chance to meet him.

And now after four years it was like never before. The team had fallen apart. Callen and Sam would banter less and they talk about serious things and Kensi and Deeks weren't like they use to be. They all changed and would stay like this. It was like they had become colleagues instead of a family and friends.

Callen put his empty beer bottle on the ground and took another one. Once again he sighed while looking at his wall. Yes, Mark had messed up their family.

'At what time will you be home?' Sam asked Aimee who was packing her stuff. 'And will you call when you're leaving Amber's home?'

'Yes, dad,' Aimee answered, slightly irritated. 'I'll be home before dinner, like always. Will you please relax? Not every child goes missing!' Nina looked up. Aimee had put her hands in her side and looked provokingly at her father, who was looking worried. Nina walked over to Sam and put her hand on his arm, letting him know that it was enough.

'She'll be fine,' she assured him. 'She has got her phone and she promised to call when she leaves. You know it will be okay.' She watched Sam take a deep breath and it looked like he was staying here with her. But just when she wanted to let him go, he started to walk towards the door.

'I'm getting the car!' he said.

'Sam!' Nina yelled after him. 'She'll kill you when she finds out you followed her to Amber's house. You need to trust her.' Her words seemed to reach Sam and he stood still in front of their car. He stood there so defeated that Nina could feel his pain in her heart. She hated to see her husband like that. She was walking towards him when she saw that he was talking. Turning her head she saw Leo standing.

'I'm not going anywhere, buddy,' Sam told Leo. 'Why don't we play a game? You can pick the game.' Nina smiled. It weren't the easiest times but they were pulling through as a family. But yes, Mark Harris had messed up their family.

Eric had never hated his job. Computers could always tell him what he needed to know. But by now he knew that computers didn't have all the answers. He was tired of seeing 'no match' appearing on the screen. Unfortunately that was all that he could in Damian's case, no matter what he tried. He had called Nell, hoping that she would be able to do more but she couldn't help him. They had tried everything that had thought of together but came up with nothing. Or at least nothing worth telling the team. Why would they need to know that Mark bought dog food in 1997 when he was watching his sister's dog? That wouldn't bring Damian back to them.

Eric missed Nell more and more now that the team was all coping with the disappearance of Damian. He would call her several times just to be able to talk with someone. They had met a few times whenever they could find time with both their jobs. It had been nice to be able to talk with someone who understood. It had been nice to talk to Nell but it wasn't like before. It made him miss the old time. Mark had messed up their family

Hetty walked through one of her houses, thinking about how little it meant to her. It was just her house like she had more of them. Home was at Ops with the team. But that had been destroyed. She would watch the team sometimes and she saw that it had all changed. They weren't like before. The disappearance of Damian had affected them all.

All the contacts she had made over the years meant nothing. Most of them stopped looking, only few were still looking but they all had nothing. Hetty didn't understand how that was possible. All those people but still Mark could escape them.

Hetty saw how the team fell apart. And this time she couldn't help or stop it. Only getting Damian back was going to bring them back together. She had to watch each one of them to make sure they weren't losing it. She had sent Kensi to the therapist to be able to keep Kensi working. To the others she had suggested to see a therapist but as expected they didn't take her offer. They were dealing with it on their own. In times like this Hetty wished she hadn't sent Nate away. He would definitely be able to help the team coop.

All that Mark was good for was messing up her family and no one messes with Hetty's family.

TBC

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