It has been a very long time since this has been updated and I am sorry about that.
"My brother," Lily whispered. "They have my brother." She tried to fight against the terror and despair that threatened to overwhelm her as the world started to contract to a small black spot. Lily pushed against the darkness knowing that she needed to think and not panic. Unfortunately, she was not successful and the next thing she remembered was sitting on the edge of the bed with Tim's arm around her. She took a deep, if shaky breath and pulled herself together. Callen did not need panic – he needed people to think rationally. "How?," she managed not to make it sound like a croak.
Sam took a breath and started pacing around the small room. "They had him in a wheelchair and were going to take him down the elevator. I was going to go with him, but there were a couple of gurneys, so they told me to get off. I told Callen that I would meet him downstairs, but when I got downstairs, he was not in the elevator. One of the nurses told me that he and his 'nurse,'" Sam used air quotes, "...that they got off on the second floor. I ran up there to look for him, but it was too late. The second floor has an exit ramp to the garage – they had a car waiting."
"I think its safe to say that this is the Comescu's work," Tim said, grimly. He had not released Lily's hand and she was grateful for the human contact.
Sam nodded.
"So when are we going in to get him out," Lily asked. Tim looked over at her and was shocked by the change. She was completely calm, but it was her eyes that truly caught his attention – they were as hard and cold as agates – he had never seen her like this before.
"The rest of the team is on the way," Sam said. "We will definitely be going to get Callen. The question is how."
They all gathered in Callen's room. Deeks, Kensie and Hetty were already there, along with another man whose natural expression seemed to be a scowl. "Lily," Hetty spoke up, "this is Director Granger."
Lily looked at the man and extended her hand, "Sit," she said. Granger shook her hand, his expression not changing.
Granger started. "The Comescu's have Callen. Obviously this will not stand and we will get him, the question is how."
The room was quiet for a while as they ran various scenarios through their heads. Armed assault? Probably not – Callen would be dead before the cleared the front door. Some type of covert operation? Possible – but since they did not know where Callen was, the danger to him was almost as great.
Lily listened quietly for a while and then she spoke up. "What they want are the last two remaining Callens," she said. Everybody stopped talking and listened. "They already have one one and now all the want is Sophia. What if we give them Sophia?"
"Keep talking," Granger said gruffly.
"Do you have somebody with a facility with computers?
"Oh yes," drawled Deeks. He grabbed his phone and dialed a number. "Nell. Eric. I got somebody who needs to talk to you." He put the phone on speaker and laid it in front of Lily.
"Nell? Eric? My name is Lily Tomoshenko...but it used to be Sophia Callen."
She heard a young woman's voice. "Thank you, Agent Tomoshenko for what you did for Callen."
Lily nodded, but batted it away. "I need your help and so does Callen. How long would it take you to create an identity? About five layers deep. It needs to be pretty convincing, but these people are not experts."
Silence as the two talked and then Nell spoke again, "About three hours for an identity so real you would swear you met and had dinner with. Who do we need to create."
"Sophia Callen. I need you to create the identity for me."
Another moment of silence, but this team was sharp and they caught on quickly.
"Ok." Lily heard the man speak up and assumed it was Eric, "tell us the details."
"Born?"
Hetty provided the date which was different to what Lily always considered to be her birthday.
With a nod of gratitude, Lily continued. "I am assuming that there is a Social Security number so lets just use that. Orphaned and adopted...," she paused, "...adopted as an infant by a couple from...," Lily thought, "...have them live somewhere in Virginia. A nice, small, inconsequential town." When Tim looked at her quizzically, she explained. "My accent is East Coast so it will be one thing I will not have to change."
"OK," Eric said over the sound of frantic typing.
"Local schooling. Give her transcripts from University of Virginia. Give her a job as...," a pause as Lily chewed her lip,"...a veterinary technician." This time all the team looked at her. "A kindergarten teacher seems so cliché," she said with a little laugh.
"Got it," Nell said. "Give us a couple of hours and Sophia Callen will be as real as you and me."
"As real as me," Lily echoed. All of a sudden, she was not really sure what 'real' meant.
There was nothing to do until Nell and Eric called or until the Comescu's called. The team stayed in Callen's room, drinking coffee, talking, checking phones and generally trying to not think about what was happening to Callen.
Lily must have drifted off because she was jolted awake by a cell phone. Deeks grabbed it, "Yah?" He listened for a few minutes. "I'm gonna put you on speaker." He laid the phone down. Lily sat up to listen.
"Agent Tomoshenko?"
"I'm here," Lily said.
"We are ready. Sophia Callen is officially a person."
Lily took a deep breath. "OK. Then all we need to do now is wait for the Comescu's to call."
"To that point," Nell continued. "We created a phone for you with a Virginia area code. It will ring on your current cell phone."
Lily smiled. "Nell. You are a treasure." She heard the woman laugh.
"Yes. I. Am. Thank you for noticing."
More waiting. Nobody wanted to leave to get food, and finally agreed to order pizza. Several boxes soon arrived and continued to sit on the table as nobody really wanted to eat. The time crept forward toward late afternoon. Lily was beginning to wonder if her theory had any merit at all. She was lost in thought when the rining of her phone made her cry out and actually jump.
She looked at the number, took a deep breath and picked up. "This is Sophia Callen."
The room was so quiet that they all could hear the speaker on the line.
"Miss Callen. This is Anatoly Comescu. I believe we have some things to discuss."
We will get to more action shortly. I hope that you enjoyed this chapter and that it is a good set up for what will happen next. Lily is really going to have to step up. I think that she is a great agent with experience under cover, but this is personal and that may color her view and impact her abilities. I would love to know what you all think of this story. I love and so appreciate reviews so thank you in advance for the time you take to read this story and tell me your thoughts.
