Chapter Nine

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Chapter Nine

"You have got to come home G" Sam urged his friend softly at the words the younger man had spoken.

"I am home Sam" Callen responded with a shrug- his stubborn streak in full swing.

"Come on man, if they come looking for you you're like a sitting duck here" the former seal stated.

"And where exactly do you expect me to go Sam? My house is a pile of dust in case you had forgotten" Callen argued raising his voice as the previous few months again ran through his mind. Sam cursed himself as he absorbed his friend's words. He had momentarily forgotten the sheer impact of Peters' actions over the festive period- and couldn't help the well of anger that once more rose in him.

"Come and stay with me" Sam suggested carefully.

"I don't need a babysitter Sam- I am just fine where I am" Callen stated as he sat back down on the sofa.

"Mr Hanna- there have been no attempts on your partner's life and since we struggled ourselves to find him with all of the technology that the US government have to offer, I would suggest it would be very difficult for them, whoever they are, to locate him" Hetty stated from her seated position. Callen shot her a look of gratitude at the unexpected support. Sam sighed, knowing that he was beaten he merely nodded begrudgingly in agreement.

"Right well then- what do we do now?" he asked with a sigh.

"Does Craig know that his nephew is missing?" Callen asked softly.

"Not as yet Mr Callen- they didn't get the opportunity to update him at his last check in" Hetty responded.

"Don't notify him- not yet. He needs his concentration for the case- whilst he is undercover he should be safe from the threat. Focus the efforts on the nephew being returned home safely" Callen instructed.

"Agreed- now might my team leader be interested in helping in those efforts? Hetty asked carefully. Callen sighed and closed his eyes against the question- doubting his own strength was not something he was used to doing, but after everything the last two years had thrown at him he was struggling not to. Craig had been a good friend and he owed it to him not to let him down- but could he really help his old friend?

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"Have you found anything yet?" Deeks questioned his partner tiredly. The two younger team members had been looking through redacted CIA files for over three hours and they were getting nowhere.

"Nope, nada, zip" Kensi responded. "They are so sanitised there is hardly anything left to read into" she explained. "We need someone with higher access than this to actually be able to show us the full files" she added with a sigh as she poured them both yet another cup of coffee.

"And who could that be? Hetty has already told us that it goes above her clearance levels, the director knew nothing about it and Callen himself isn't exactly renowned for sharing" Deeks commented as he accepted the drink gratefully.

"It depends on how well he knew Samuels- if it's the difference between saving the mission marine then he'll share- just nothing beyond that" Kensi defended her team leader carefully.

"I know that- but since we don't even know where he is that could be more difficult than it appears" the LAPD detective reasoned with a sigh, and his partner had no argument for that.

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Mark Samuels shivered as another bucket of cold water was thrown over him, his shackled wrists throbbing as he flinched.

"I can't tell you what I don't know" he whispered as his captors continued to stare at him in silence. "I don't know where Uncle Craig is" he jerked as a hand struck the side of his face and caused his head to clash with the wall behind him.

"What about this man?" the large man asked showing a photo.

"I have never seen him before" the marine responded.

"His name is Peter Sullivan and he was a friend of your uncle- although your uncle used the name Tony Child then. They will pay for what they did- if I can't get them then I will use you" he stated.

"I don't know either of those names and I don't know what you are talking about. My uncle is a clerk- nothing more!" he stated closing his eyes and the men once more advanced on him- fists clenched and tensed ready to make contact with their target.

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"Are you sure about this Hetty?" Sam questioned his ops manager carefully.

"Of course I am Mr Hanna. You said yourself that you were worried about your partner, this gives you a chance to keep an eye on him and Mr Callen something to focus on" Hetty reasoned.

"You know he will push himself and push himself until something gives" Sam warned.

"And that is where you and I will be there to catch him" Hetty added. Sam sighed, knowing that he was beaten- but unable to hide the worry that he felt for his partner. "Now make sure you collect him in the morning for his appointment with the doctor and then we can get started on finding young Mr Samuels" she told him as she left him at his car and headed back into the office.

"She makes it sound all so easy" Sam muttered to himself as he pulled out of the car park and set off heading home himself.

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Callen cleaned his SIG for possibly the fifth time that evening as he reflected on his conversations with his colleagues, was he doing the right thing? He hated himself for surrendering to his own insecurities- he should have bolted whilst he had the chance, but now he was committed and he couldn't walk out on helping his friend. His friendship with Samuels had meant too much to him. He paused as his cell phone chirped beside him; he had finally given up and turned his regular phone back on- knowing that there was no point in hiding any more, despite him hating the thought that that had been what he was doing.

He was dreading returning to the team, and he hated the feeling. The thought of them looking at him with pity and concern turned his stomach. He was their leader- a senior agent who had seen and done things that they would never think of in their wildest dreams and there was no way in hell that he was going to let them see him as anything other than that, no this would be just like any other mission- only this time his alias was himself.

End Chapter Nine

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