"Everyone okay?" Callen called.
"I'm good," came the response from Kensi, Deeks and Sam.
"We need help. Reid has been shot," they heard an agent call.
"Eric, we need an ambulance, agent Reid has been shot," Callen spoke through the com.
"On it's way."
The ambulance was there in no time and they took Reid to the hospital. It looked like he would make it. He was shot in the shoulder. The others stayed behind at the scene. All the perps had been shot and killed. They found materials to make more bombs. They took everything they could find there and hoped they could find some more on it about the UAA and maybe shut them down for good. They at least had gotten a huge part of it. In total there were ten dead UAA members. Not bad for a day's work. With everything wrapped up there they went back to the office. The investigation into the UAA would continue but this part of the case, which involved the OSP team, was completed.
The team finished up their reports before going home.
"Can I go over to a friend's house tonight?" Clara asked as they were having dinner. "It's Friday so I don't have school tomorrow."
"Sure," Callen replied. "Be home by 1am."
"Come on dad, it's not a school night."
"I know which is why it's 1am otherwise it would be 11pm. Don't make me change it to 10pm."
"Okay fine."
After dinner Clara and Jamie helped clean up before Clara went to change for her night out. A little later she came downstairs and grabbed her things and was about to leave when Callen stopped her. Clara was wearing a pair of hot pants and a short top.
"You're not going out like that."
"Come on dad, everyone wears them."
"Not my daughter, go upstairs and get changed, now. You're not leaving the house dressed like that."
"Fine," Clara spoke and dragged her feet upstairs.
Callen sighed. It was not easy raising a teenage daughter.
"This better dad?" Clara spoke sarcastically when she came back down again, dressed in a pair of short jeans and a top that fell over her waist.
"Much better, have fun tonight. Remember 1am."
"Yes dad."
Clara went outside and got on her bike and drove to her friend's house. Jamie was upstairs in his room playing video games. Just after 11.30pm Jenny went upstairs to bed, Jamie was already asleep. Callen stayed downstairs, he would wait for Clara to come home.
It was now 1.30am and Clara still wasn't home yet. Callen had shut off all the lights so when Clara would come home she would think she could get away with sneaking in. Callen worried that something had happened but Callen decided to wait a little while longer before calling her or searching for her.
Just past 2am he heard the backdoor slowly opening and closing and being locked. Quietly Clara snuck into the house and through the living room to get upstairs.
"Where have you been?" Callen's voice was heard in the darkness, startling Clara. Callen turned on the light and stood up. "Where have you been?"
"Dad, hi."
"It's an hour past your curfew. Where have you been?"
"At my friend's house, like I said. We were all having a good time so I forget the time."
"Is that alcohol I smell?"
"So I had a few drinks, big deal."
"You had more than a few drinks by the smell of it." Callen could tell that Clara was drunk. "Go upstairs now, we'll talk about you being grounded in the morning."
"Grounded? What the hell dad?!"
"Upstairs now, we'll talk in the morning."
Clara walked upstairs and into her bedroom. With a sigh Callen shut down the lights and went upstairs too.
"Is Clara home?" Jenny asked half asleep when Callen got in the bed.
"Yeah she is. Go back to sleep honey."
Callen gave her a soft kiss and took her into his arms and together they fell asleep.
It was just after 11am the next morning when Clara came downstairs. She went into the kitchen and grabbed herself some coffee. Callen was sitting at the kitchen counter. He could tell that Clara had a hangover. He didn't want to be the evil dad but he needed to make sure to Clara that this was unacceptable. Callen got up and mixed a few things in the blender.
"Here, this will help," Callen told Clara as he put the glass in front of her.
"Thanks dad and I'm sorry about last night."
"You're still grounded. You were home way past your curfew and you drank way too much. You're grounded for a week."
"A week?! Come on dad. It was just one time."
"No it wasn't. This is not the first time you came home past your curfew. Don't think I didn't notice the times before. Now stop complaining or I'll make it two weeks."
"Fine, whatever."
"Everything okay in here?" Jenny asked as she walked into the kitchen after hearing the commotion.
"Clara is grounded for a week. She was home too late last night and she drunk way too much."
"I can see that. Be glad it's only one week Clara. Next time you do this it'll be a month."
"But mom…."
"Don't test me lady. If you want to be a federal agent just like your dad you can't go off partying and drinking every weekend. It takes discipline and sacrifice. And as long as you're living under this roof you will life by our rules. And it's not like we don't let you do anything. You're seventeen so we're giving you enough slack I think but sometimes even you cross the line. We're just worried about you Clara. You know the work me and your father do and the dangers that come with that. So when you're home later than your curfew we are worried that something happened to you."
"I understand mom and I'm sorry. We were just having a lot of fun and I forgot the time."
"This is not the first time it happened Clara."
"I know mom and I'm sorry. I'll try to be home on time the next time."
"Alright, just know that we love you and we care about you."
"I know mom."
"Good."
…
That Monday they had a day off because it was Memorial day. As always on this day Jenny pulled on a black dress after breakfast and headed to the cemetery. She parked her car and walked over the her mother's grave. It had been so many years since her mother had been killed while on duty but it never got any easier. She still missed her mother terribly. Jenny cleaned up the grave and put fresh flowers on it.
"Hey mom," Jenny spoke to the grave. "It's memorial day again. I still miss you very much. I wish you wouldn't have been killed in the line of duty."
Jenny thought back to the moment she found out the exact circumstances behind her mother's death.
..
Jenny's face popped up on the screen in the boatshed.
"Hi guys," Jenny announced.
"Hi Jenny," Callen said.
"Did you find out anything from him?"
Callen had this look on his face. He was not sure what to say to Jenny, because if this guy was right her mother wasn't killed in the crossfire but by one of her own.
"He was the one that hacked into our system and also the one had put that file on the flash drive," Sam told her.
"So he knows about operation Black Swan?" Jenny asked and she saw that Callen had this look on his face as he looked down trying not to look at here. "What is it G?" Callen looked up. "G, if this guy has information about my mother's death I need to know."
"He said he was there the day your mom died. He also said that he knows what really happened that day. He said that it was Captain Thomas who shot your mother," Callen answered.
Jenny's face filled up with anger. "He said that? You think he's telling the truth?"
..
Jenny remembered going to the boatshed to find out what had really happened the day her mother died. Jenny was about two months pregnant with Clara at that time.
..
Eric opened the account and looked at the data. He found all sort of data, from pictures to reports. Then he found a video of the day that Jenny's mom died.
"Oh my god," Eric said as he watched the video.
"What is it Eric?" Jenny said.
"I found a video. It is from the day your mom got shot. Someone filmed the ambush."
"Play it Eric."
Jenny, Callen and Sam watched the video. She couldn't believe her eyes. She saw her mom getting shot and she saw who shot her mom. Jenny's face became red with anger. She stormed into one of the interrogation rooms and picked up the guy and pushed him against the wall holding him tightly by the collar of his shirt.
"How could you do this?!" Jenny yelled at him.
"How could I do what?" Olsen replied, playing dumb.
"Don't play dumb with me. I know you shot my mother. I saw the video. How could you! And then to sit here and look me in the eye and saying someone else did it! How could you!"
Jenny was so angry that she was about to pull out her gun and shoot him. At that moment Callen came in the room.
"Jenny! Stand down. Jenny! It's okay, just let go of him."
Jenny let go of him.
"She's crazy man."
"Watch your tone before I change my mind and let her shoot you! Get him out of here Sam."
..
Jenny was so angry at that moment when she found out that her mother had been killed by a fellow soldier. She really wanted to put a bullet in his head right then and there. If Callen hadn´t stopped her she probably would have. But that would have been too easy for the guy. He was rotting away in Gitmo right now.
"I wish you could have met G mom. I think you would have liked him. I'm so happy with him and our two kids. You would have liked Clara and Jamie. They are both teens now so it's tricky every now and then. I sometimes wonder how dad managed, without you there, when we were teens. Clara said she wants to be just like G. I'm not sure what to think of that. I don't want to see my daughter get hurt. But she's just as stubborn as her father so I don't think we can talk her out of this. But honestly I've seen her train with G and I think she'll make a good agent. Jamie on the other hand wants to be like me, a tech. He's insanely good with computers. If he comes to work with us I think Eric will like him. Anyway mom, it was good to talk to you again. I will see you later. I love you mom."
Jenny walked back to the car and took a deep sigh before getting into the car and driving home. In the afternoon Callen, Jenny, Jamie and Clara went to see the Memorial day parade. After that they went to the Hanna household for barbeque. Aiden had returned from his mission a couple days ago. He was a SEAL now just like his father. Kamran was in her late twenties. She was working as a teacher at an elementary school.
The two families has a lovely time. It was just past 10.30pm when the Callen family went back home. They all had to work or go to school tomorrow.
….
Both kids were busy with their homework. It were the last couple of weeks of the school year and they both has exams to study for. For Clara it would be the last. She was graduating high school this year. She had passed her exit exam already, now she just needed to get good grades in the exam weeks.
Clara was really studying very well for her tests. She would hear about two weeks after her last exam if she graduated or not.
"What exam do you have today?" Jenny asked as they were having breakfast.
"I have English, math, American literature and biology," Clara answered.
"Okay. Good luck."
"Thanks mom, but I think I got it. I feel like I studied very well."
"That's good. And what do you have today Jamie?"
"I have English, biology, algebra, history, computer repair and math."
"Good luck to you too."
The next two weeks were stressful around the house. Both kids were doing their best to study for their exams. In addition to English Clara also had exams in Spanish, French and German. Since Callen spoke these languages he helped her with studying.
Jamie was following a computer course route already so he had exams in computer graphics, programming and keyboarding.
Both kids were really happy when the two weeks were up. The unofficially had vacation now. They didn't have to attend classes anymore but they still had wait for the results of their exams.
On the day that Clara would get her results Jenny had taken the day off.
"Please let me know you when you've got the results," Callen said before he left for work.
"I will dad."
"Good luck. I will keep my fingers crossed."
"Thanks dad."
Jamie had already heard that he was going to the next year. He didn't have final exams so it didn't take that long with him.
Clara was impatiently waiting to get her results. If you didn't graduated they would call you between noon and two pm. Clara sat on the couch by the phone watching TV hoping the phone wouldn't ring.
..
"So Clara is getting her results today right?" Sam asked as he and Callen were on their way to the suspect.
"Yes. Between noon and two pm they would call if she didn't pass."
"I'm sure she passed. She's a smart girl."
"I hope so too."
"Don't worry G. I'm sure she did. She's gonna become an agent just like you?"
"Yeah she got accepted into the school so if all goes well she will be an agent."
"Well if she's anything like her father I'm sure she will make a good agent."
"Do you ever worry about Aiden when he's out there on a mission?"
"Of course I do. I always worry about him. They are our kids G, we'll never stop worrying about them. But we can't change if they really want to do something. Aiden is a very good SEAL but of course I worry about him when he's on deployment and it won't be any less for you the moment Clara becomes a field agent."
"I just hope she'll be alright."
…
It was just past 2pm and Clara didn't get a phone call yet. She would wait until 2.30pm in case they had ran late with calling everyone. Clara didn't know in what order they would call but if it was alphabetically she probably would have gotten a call already if she hadn't passed.
Jenny's phone chirped. She saw that she had a message from Callen.
'Any news yet?'
'No nothing yet. So it's looking good. She's just waiting a little longer in case they ran late. But I think she passed.'
'Okay.'
By 2.30pm Clara still hadn't hear anything. She picked up her phone and called Callen.
"Hey Clara, and did you pass?"
"Yes dad I did!" Clara replied happily.
"That's great! Congratulations sweetie."
"Thanks dad."
"Thanks for calling but I've gotta get back to work. I will see you later tonight."
"See ya dad."
"Congratulations sweetie," Jenny spoke and she gave Clara hug.
"Thanks mom. I was so afraid they would call."
"I knew they wouldn't. You worked really hard."
Clara's phone was beeping a lot. She got one text message after the other from friends. All her friends had passed too.
At 4pm Clara had to be at school to get her result list. The graduating ceremony was scheduled in three weeks since they were a few students that perhaps needed to do a repeat exam.
Just after Clara came home Callen got home too.
"Hey Clara, congratulations."
"Thanks dad," Clara responded and Callen gave her a hug.
"I'm proud of you."
"Thanks."
They looked at her result list. She had gotten all good grades. Mostly A's and B's, only one C.
"Well done Clara."
That evening the family went out to dinner to celebrate Clara's graduation and Jamie's 'graduation' of this school year.
…
Today was Clara's graduation ceremony.
"You look beautiful Clara," Jenny spoke as Clara came downstairs in her graduation robe.
"Thank you mom."
Jenny took a few pictures at home before the family left for school. The Hanna family, Deeks, Kensi, Eric, Nell, and Hetty had come too along with Jenny's family. Everyone took their place on the seats as Clara made her way over to the other students. The principal spoke a few words and so did the class presidents before it was time to hand everyone their diploma.
Clara waited in line to get her diploma.
"Clara Hathaway," the principal called and Clara stepped onto the stage.
Her family and the others clapped as Clara was handed her diploma. Jenny took a few pictures of Clara getting her diploma. Clara quickly waved to them before stepping off the podium. She was now a high school graduate.
"Congratulations sweetie," Jenny spoke and she gave her daughter a kiss on the cheek.
"Thanks mom."
The others came to congratulated Clara as well. They stayed at the school for a few more hours, enjoying the party before everyone went back to Callen and Jenny's house for a barbeque.
"So Ms. Callen," Hetty spoke as she sat down next to Clara. "Do you still want to be a federal agent?"
"Yes ma'am, I do. I've applied for the school already and I got accepted."
"That's great. Maybe one day you'll be working for NCIS as well."
"Perhaps. But I have a long way to go before I'm even close to the federal agent my dad is."
"Well if you've got the same talent as your father I think you will learn quickly."
"Thanks Hetty."
"I've heard Mr. Callen is helping you with your languages."
"Yes, dad's been very helpful. At school I had Spanish, French and German and dad is helping me speak Russian and Romanian."
"That's very good. Those will come in handy if you want to be a federal agent."
"Yeah I figured. I've been also practicing my fighting skills."
"She's gotten quite good at it," Callen spoke, joining the two women. "She's even beaten my ass a couple of times."
"Very well Ms. Callen," Hetty spoke with a smile. "I think she will become a very good federal agent, Mr. Callen."
"Yeah I think so too. Not sure if I'm happy about that," Callen spoke with a smile.
"I'm sure it'll be fine Mr. Callen. And I know you can't talk her out of it. I can see where she gets her stubbornness from."
Callen wanted to say he wasn't stubborn but he knew that Hetty was right. Clara was just as stubborn as he was.
Everyone really had a nice time. It was just past 11pm when everyone left. Callen and Jenny cleaned up before going up to bed.
….
Callen was sitting in the bullpen behind his desk when he got an email. He opened the email but it was very weird. He couldn't make anything out of it. The sender on the mail he didn't recognize. Wondering what was going on he walked upstairs to OPS.
"Hey Jen," Callen spoke as he walked into OPS.
"Hey G."
"Can you check my email please? I just got a very weird email."
"Sure."
Jenny typed a few keys on her keyboard and Callen's email popped up on screen.
"Which one it is?"
"The last one."
Jenny opened the email and looked at it.
"Hmm this is weird. Not sure what to make of it. It almost seems like it's coded or encrypted or something. I'll look into it. Let you know what I find."
"Great thanks."
Callen went back downstairs and Jenny went to work in the email.
"Could it be a treat to Callen or NCIS?" Eric asked, having heard the conversation.
"I don't know, perhaps."
"I'll help you look too."
"Great thanks."
Eric and Jenny went to work on the email. After about an hour Jenny found a hidden file in the email. It was coded. They needed a code to get in. They looked through the email to see if they could decipher the code.
"Who would send Callen and encrypted email?" Eric wondered.
"I have no idea."
Eric and Jenny tried every code deciphering method they could think of. Eric was focusing on a code word while Jenny was focusing on a code with numbers. Everything they did didn't open the file.
"What if we need to translate the code word into numbers or vice versa? Like the number or letter it represents in the alphabet," Jenny suggested.
"It's word a shot."
"Alright, read me the code words you've found."
Jenny translate the words into numbers and put them into the code box. At the word family she got in.
"I'm in. It's a video file."
"Play it."
Jenny put the video on the big screen and played it. Her eyes widened with shock when she saw the video.