Thanks to all of you who have been reading and commenting on this story. Your thoughts are very much appreciated. To those of you reading FTS, I'm hoping to update that in the next few days. For whatever reason, I've been more focused on this one this weekend.

xxxxx

Callen eventually sobbed himself out and just sat in the car, staring off into space, as the time ticked by. As much as he didn't want to, he knew he needed to return to work. Deeks had been so good to him over the past couple of days and he didn't want to cause the younger man to worry. He sighed softly to himself and slowly continued the drive back to the office. When he arrived, the first person he saw was Kensi. From the look on her face, he knew the cat had been let out of the bag. She immediately approached and wrapped her arms around him, hugging him gently. "I'm so sorry, Callen," she whispered.

He allowed her to hold him for a few moments and then pulled back, managing to keep himself in control. "Thanks, Kens," he said softly. "Welcome back. How was your trip?"

"It was good," Kensi replied, looking at him in confusion, not wanting to talk about the conference after what had happened to him. "But…how are you, Callen? Is there anything I can do for you? Anything at all?"

He shook his head. "Everything's been taken care of, Kens, but thanks."

He felt a light touch on his lower back and turned to see Hetty looking up at him, her eyes filled with compassion. "A word, Mr. Callen?" she asked as she guided him towards her office.

Callen silently walked along with Hetty and then sank down on the chair in front of her desk, inwardly trying to ready himself for the condolences he knew were about to come.

"I can't begin to tell you how sorry I am," Hetty said after a few moments of silence.

Callen nodded. "I know you are, Hetty," he said, his voice breaking slightly. "Thank you."

"Mr. Deeks has informed me that you don't wish to inform Mr. Hanna about what's happened?"

At the mention of his partner's name, Callen felt himself begin to tear up and he stared down at the floor. Since when was he this dependent on his partner? He really needed to get himself together. "He'll be home in a couple of days anyway, Hetty, so no, I don't want to tell Sam about this."

"He is your family, is he not? What if the situation was reversed? Wouldn't you want to be there for him?"

"It's not a true comparison, Hetty," he said, looking up and facing Hetty across her desk. "Of course I would, but I…I don't have a wife and children. It's just not the same thing. He's on a family vacation…I don't want to ruin it."

Hetty nodded and decided not to push him anymore. He looked to be on the verge of breaking down and she wouldn't do that to him. "You look exhausted," she finally commented after some more silence. "I think it would be beneficial for you to get some rest. Perhaps you'd consider staying with me at Dovecote for a few days?"

She fully expected him to reject her suggestion, but instead was pleasantly surprised when he nodded. "Alright, Hetty…thank you," he said quietly. "I…I'd like that."

"I'm pleased to hear it," Hetty said with a faint smile. "Now, is there anything I can do for you? Surely, there's something that you need?"

Callen slowly shook his head. "I don't think so," he said. "Alex and I have taken care of everything… The service is set for the day after Sam returns home."

Hetty nodded, glad that Callen had thought to include his partner when planning the services. If he hadn't, she would have called Sam herself. She knew that not being included would not have gone over well with the other man. "And did your father have life insurance?"

Callen shrugged. "I don't really know, Hetty," he admitted. He felt the beginnings of tears again and took a few moments to compose himself. He really wished this would stop happening to him. It made him feel weak and he didn't like feeling that way. "I…I haven't looked through his things…" It wasn't something he particularly wanted to do and he couldn't even really think about that yet.

"Well, do you need any help with the financial aspect of his arrangements?" she asked. "I would be more than happy…"

"No," Callen said, quickly cutting her off with a shake of his head. "I'm good with that."

"And Alex?"

"I'm not taking any money from Alex, Hetty," Callen said. "She's supporting a child on her own. How can I? Besides, it's not like I spend a whole lot. It won't prove a hardship to me, but it would to Alex. I can't do that to her."

"Well, please let me know if you change your mind about accepting my help. You know it wouldn't be a hardship for me either and I would very much like to do that for you."

"Thank you, Hetty," he said. "I appreciate that. I…I'll just let you know if I need any help, okay?"

Hetty nodded, looking at him sympathetically. "And for right now, why don't you take the rest of the afternoon off? Go to Dovecote and get some rest."

Callen hesitated before shaking his head. "I'd rather stay here for the rest of the day."

Hetty sighed softly. "Well if you won't leave, then I insist you lie down on the sofa for an hour, whether or not you are tired. And this is not a debate. Either do that or head to Dovecote now, Mr. Callen."

"Fine, Hetty," Callen said reluctantly. He could tell she wasn't going to take no for an answer, and he just didn't have the energy to fight her on it anyway. "I'll do that." He then headed over to the sofa and stretched out on the familiar piece of furniture. Within five minutes, he was sound asleep.

xxxxx

"You and Mr. Callen did a very nice job getting these case files sorted out," Hetty said as she stopped by Deeks' desk. She glanced over in her team leader's direction and was pleased to see that he appeared to be sleeping peacefully.

"I was happy to help but it was really mostly Callen," Deeks said.

"Don't sell yourself short, Mr. Deeks," Hetty said with a smile. "I'm sure you did your fair share of the work. And as a reward for a job well done, why don't you and Ms. Blye take off early today?"

Deeks grinned, but then he looked over at Callen who was still asleep and the smile slowly faded. "What about Callen?" he asked.

"He will be staying with me," Hetty stated.

Deeks looked at Hetty doubtfully. "Did he actually say that or is that just what you want to happen?"

"What exactly are you implying?" Hetty asked the young detective. "Is there some reason why he wouldn't want to stay at my home?"

Deeks shook his head. "No, of course, not Hetty. It's just that…I thought Callen and I got on pretty well yesterday and I would have thought he would have wanted to stay with me again, that's all."

"I don't believe Mr. Callen would want to be a third wheel in your and Ms. Blye's reunion, seeing as it is her first day back," Hetty explained.

"But he wouldn't be. It would be fine."

"You know…" Kensi said, interrupting the discussion. "You two sound like you're fighting for custody of Callen."

"That sounds like a book or a movie," Deeks said, "Custody of Callen…It's too bad his father hadn't had custody of him…his life would have been very different. He wouldn't be feeling as incomplete as he does now."

"Well, that's a discussion for another day," Hetty said. "I really don't think he needs to hear us talking about this. He's upset enough as it is."

"I don't suppose you had any luck convincing him to call Sam?" Deeks asked.

Hetty shook her head. "No, but Sam will be back the day after tomorrow. I don't think it makes any sense to call him at this point. He did put off the funeral until after Mr. Hanna has returned so that's the important thing."

Deeks nodded. "Yes, I suppose you're right." He looked past Hetty over at Kensi's desk. "Kens? What do you say we get out of here? "

Kensi nodded as she stood up. She was already all set to leave. "Do you need us to do anything else?" she asked Hetty.

Hetty shook her head as she turned to Kensi with a smile. "No dear, I'm all set and don't either of you worry about Mr. Callen. I assure you, I'll take good care of him. You two enjoy the rest of your day."

"We will, Hetty, thanks." Deeks said as he packed up his things and he and Kensi left to head home. In the meantime, Hetty quietly walked over to where Callen was soundly sleeping. She pulled the blanket down from the top of the sofa and gently covered him as she had done many times in the past. She then left him to get some much needed rest and returned to her desk to catch up on her paperwork.

xxxxx

Callen slept for about an hour and a half before awakening. He felt, at least, a little bit better and he sat up and stretched as his eyes went to the empty bullpen. He folded up the blanket, which he assumed Hetty had covered him with, and put it back in place on top of the sofa. He then got up and headed over to Hetty's desk. "Did Kensi and Deeks leave?" he asked Hetty ask she looked up from her paperwork.

Hetty nodded. "Yes, I sent them home and I really think I should do the same thing with you."

"Why? Are you leaving?" he asked.

"I'm not going to stay too much longer," she said. "Tomorrow is another day."

"Okay," Callen said as Hetty gave him a surprised look. "What?" he asked, "I'm not entirely unreasonable, Hetty." Truth be told, he was just worn out. "Maybe I should leave now and pick up some clothes at home, then meet you at Dovecote?"

Hetty hesitated, not sure that she liked that idea. "You're okay with that?" she asked softly. "Going back to your house alone?"

"I have to do it sometime," Callen said with a slight smirk. "It'll be fine, Hetty. Don't worry.

But Hetty did worry and she wasn't sure if this was a very good idea at all, but how could she ask him not to go? "You could always call Mr. Deeks and have him meet you there."

Callen smiled and shook his head. "Come on, Hetty…I'm not going to call Deeks. It's going to be fine. I'm going to be fine. I'll see you at Dovecote soon, okay?

"I'll see you soon, Mr. Callen," Hetty said with a nod. "Godspeed," she added in a whisper as she watched him walk towards the exit.

xxxxx

Callen sat in the driveway staring at his home while making no move whatsoever to get out of his vehicle. He had no idea what was going on with him or why he was acting this way. It was absurd and he knew it was absurd, but that didn't seem to matter, nor was it spurring him into any kind of action. With all the things he had seen in his childhood and in his career, the kind of feelings he was currently experiencing just didn't make sense, but telling himself that wasn't helping at all.

"Go in there Callen," he told himself sternly and he finally made the move to get out of the car. He walked up to the front door and nervously licked his lips before putting his key into the lock and turning it. He stepped inside the entryway and quickly went to his room then packed some clothes in his duffle bag. He zipped it up and flung the strap over his shoulder then headed for the front door. Just before he got to the door though, he stopped short. Hetty's question about the life insurance was in his head and he couldn't help but think that if there was any, it could be a nice thing for Alex and her son. He dropped his duffle bag by the front door and started to slowly walk towards Garrison's room, his heartbeat speeding up with each step that he took.

When Callen reached the door, he slowly turned the knob, experiencing a sense of déjà vu of the moment when he had opened the door and found his father, lying lifeless in bed. He entered the room and immediately flicked on the light switch on the wall. The sudden light filling the room helped to calm his nerves a little bit. He inwardly steadied himself and walked towards Garrison's dresser. The first three drawers mainly contained clothing. It wasn't until he opened the bottom drawer that he found what he was looking for. There was a large tin box which he pulled out and then brought into the living room. He didn't want to stay in his father's room any longer than necessary.

Callen sat on his chair and placed the box on his lap then slowly opened it. The first thing he found was a sealed envelope from a life insurance company. He passed by it though and went through some of the other items. His attention was immediately caught by a bunch of black and white photographs of his family, taken when he and Amy were very young. His eyes filled as he slowly went through the pictures and he had no idea why Garrison hadn't shown them to him. He wondered if he had ever been planning to share them. There were other miscellaneous papers and receipts which he didn't take the time to go through, but then, at the very bottom of the box he found two sealed envelopes, one marked "Grisha" and the other marked "Alex." Swallowing what felt like a huge lump in his throat, he replaced everything in the box the way he had found it and slammed the lid shut. He then returned it to his father's room and left, feeling totally unable to cope with whatever was written in the envelope bearing his name.