Illusionist

Disclaimer: NCISLA characters belong to Shane Brennan. All original characters and this story are mine.

Chapter 10

Los Angeles

Henrietta Lange entered the sliding doors to the Operations Centre of the Office of Special Projects. Her Technical Operator and Intelligence Analyst were engrossed in whatever they were doing, unaware of her presence.

"Miss Jones, may I have a word?" Nell looked up surprised and nodded. She and Eric had been going through anything they could find on Michael Lancroff who had tried to hold Hetty up inside one of her many houses. So far neither had found anything to help them understand who this man was and why he had entered her home, armed. But they gathered the feeling that Hetty knew him and they hoped that she would soon explain it to them.

Eric watched Nell follow Hetty out, curious as to why only Nell was required by their Operations Manager.

Nell sat opposite her boss at the carved oak desk and wondered why she had been summoned. "Is everything okay, Hetty?" She inquired. She hesitated as she saw concern in the older woman's eyes.

"Unfortunately it is not, Miss Jones." Hetty truthfully replied.

"Have I done something wrong?" Nell's mind ran at fast speed thinking over everything she had done and come up with zilch.

Hetty gave her a small smile and shook her head. "No, Miss Jones. On the contrary. I need to…" Hetty paused, unsure of herself anymore. She looked back at her protege and realised the young woman had no idea why she had been summoned. "As you know I personally hand pick my staff in this office for a reason. They are usually brilliant at what they do, but that is not all. I seek out people who show exemplary desire to be good. To choose to do what is right, even in the toughest of situations. The cases that come into this office are not easy to say the least, but together this team have brought about the impossible, when all the odds were stacked up against us."

Nell tilted her head trying to listen carefully to Hetty, as she was well known for double meanings in her words of wisdom. But still she had no clue on what she was leading to.

"This case that I have brought to the team is one of those impossible tasks, Miss Jones. We are down two senior agents and an Assistant Director." She continued, hoping that if she went slow enough, she would not lose Nell. Although she was well aware of her high IQ, her intelligence was not what she was concerned about. Hetty needed to tread lightly to ensure Nell had all the variables to make the right decision. One she would hope be for the good of the team.

"You want me to go out into the field again?" Nell asked her, thinking this is what she wanted from her.

Hetty raised her hand. The girl was speeding up fast in her response to only part of the problem. She still needed to go through so much more.

Nell furrowed her brow. "You don't want me to go out into the field? Hetty I'm confused. Why have you brought me down here?" She was not known for her patience, but rather for her lack of it.

"Miss Jones, please let me finish. Then we can get to what I need from you."

Nell nodded.

Hetty pursed her lips and wished she had a pot of tea ready at hand. She licked her lips and continued. "One of our members is in danger. Has been since he was very young. But he has survived against all the odds."

"Callen." Nell knew everything with regards to this team eventually led to the team leader. She had felt for him from the moment she knew he had a hard life. No name, no family and enemies that crept out of the cracks to kill him, either for a previous operation he had worked on, or because of a blood feud he had no knowledge about. She had to admit, she was in awe of the man who in a moments notice could become whoever he needed to be to get the job done. She saw his determination and heroism, but he never sought for any glory. He would shrug it off and say it was just part of the job. Whenever she was in need of his assistance, he had always been willing to help her and provide her with skills to be a better field agent. He'd shown her great concern whenever her life had been in danger. She never had any ill thoughts towards him. "Who is after him now? The man in the boat shed?"

Hetty shook her head. "No, not him. But the man who sent him. He wants Callen's father dead. Which means Callen is also at risk." She observed the shock that spread on Nell's face as she took in her words.

"But Callen doesn't know who his father is, Hetty." She eyed the older woman and realised that this mustn't be true. "How long has he known?" Realisation that Callen had found answers and hid it from the rest of the team brought a mixture of emotions. Happiness that he had indeed finally found his father after all of these years. But she also felt betrayed that he hadn't trusted the rest of them with this news.

"This is where it gets difficult, my dear Miss Jones. You see, this enemy is on our side. An American, who through jealousy, became determined in his resolve to seek revenge," Hetty continued.

"NCIS?" Nell was shocked at the thought that someone inside their own agency would be a threat to Callen and his father. Nothing made sense.

Hetty shook her head. "No, not NCIS. CIA." Nell wracked her brains to try to think why someone from the CIA would be after Callen and his father.

"Why are they after Nikita?" Nell spoke of the only name she knew associated with Callen's father. "Is it because he was KGB?"

"Miss Jones, I pray that you will be patient with me." She looked into Nell's hazel brown eyes and began to unravel the mystery. "Callen's father's real name is Nathan Rede. I knew him back in the day before he went undercover as Nikita Reznikov."

Nell's eyes widen at the news. "He was CIA?" she asked, shocked that this information had been kept from them. But of course Hetty would know. The woman was a riddle, wrapped up in mystery, inside an enigma, after all. She realised she had so much more to learn before she could ever take over from Hetty.

"That he was, Miss Jones. A dear friend of Owen Granger, and he fell in love with Callen's mother Clara Callen, while they were both undercover in Europe. They went against protocol and married and had two children. They went underground from the CIA for ten years, moved about in Europe with new identities wherever they went. Callen had numerous aliases before he was even five years old. But they all had one thing in common. They all started with the letter G," Hetty revealed.

Nell was speechless. Her eyes remained wide from the information Hetty told her. But she still couldn't understand why she was there on her own being told this. Why wasn't Eric, Kensi and Deeks here also? Surely they should be told this too? But instead of asking her questions that rummaged through her synapses, she kept her mouth shut and waited for Hetty to continue.

"This man in the CIA who is out for revenge was in love with Clara Callen. He became jealous of the fact that Nathan had stolen his woman, although there was no indication from Clara that she was even remotely interested in this man. But that didn't stop him. After ten years of searching for them, he decided to burn Nathan's alias to the KGB about his people smuggling, to get him out of the way. But it all backfired, which resulted in Clara being killed and their children vanished." Hetty sat back and folded her fingers together and waited for Nell to absorb it all.

"How did Callen and his sister arrive in America, Hetty?" Nell was curious to know so much more to this story.

"I never knew how until recently. But I cannot tell you that either, Miss Jones. You see, there is a complication that I never saw coming until today. This man who tried to hold me at gun point, Michael Lancroff, told me why this man is after Callen's father, which is what I just told you. But only today did I discover who that man is."

"Who?" Nell's heart pumped fast as the adrenaline kicked inside her body.

"Barnaby Jones."

Nell rocked back into her chair and gripped the armrests firmly. She shook her head. "No! It cannot be?" Tears welled up in her eyes as her emotions over her uncle kicked in. "Uncle Barnaby owns his own wine importing company. He never worked for the CIA, or could ever want to kill anyone. You must be mistaken, Hetty!"

Hetty sighed as she saw grief in Nell's eyes. "I am so sorry, my dear Nell, but it is the truth. I worked with your uncle for many years. I knew when I invited you into this team who you were, but I had no knowledge of his jealousy over Nathan. That he would send Michael to find me, hoping I could tell him where Nathan is." Hetty walked over to the other side of her desk and placed her hand on Nell's shoulder for comfort. "If you cannot work on this case or on this team anymore, I completely understand, Nell. I will not think any less of you. But I must stress to you that you can never tell anyone in your family that you ever worked for me or NCIS."

Nell wiped the tears from her cheeks and looked over at the woman who meant the world to her. She shook her head. "You want me to decide between my family and the team?" She couldn't believe that her life had come to this. She had kept her work life secret from her family to keep them safe. But now she realised that by doing so, she had kept Callen and his father safe from her uncle.

"I believe that your uncle thinks that you really do work for a television station, otherwise he would have used you to get to Callen and not Michael. I appreciate the efforts you have gone to, to keep this team safe. But we both know that this case is too personal for you to work on. I will give you time to decide, but I have to insist that you go home and call me later.

Nell shook her head. "No!" It came out more harsh than she intended. "I am part of this team, Hetty. I will stay here and work on this case. Callen needs all of us to do our jobs."

Hetty smiled at the young woman. "Are you sure, Nell? This could get ugly?"

Nell pushed herself out of the chair and stood before her boss. "Maybe, just maybe my personal relationship with my uncle might save Callen and his father."

"Yes, dear. That was what I had hoped to hear from you." Hetty hugged Nell, pleased with the results. "Now I need yourself and Eric to go to the boat shed. I need to brief you all in on this case. And we need to find where Mr Callen is hiding—-we need to get word to him about this latest development.

Nell nodded and climbed the stairs. She hesitated before she triggered the sliding doors to open. How would the rest of the team feel towards her, knowing that their latest threat was her uncle? Heck, she had no idea how she felt about it herself. She shook her head and entered, ready to face her team. She just hoped that after all of this was over, that Callen could find it in him to trust her again.

Boat Shed

Kensi and Deeks watched their suspect pace the floor of the interrogation room in the boat shed. "Do you have any idea who this man is?" Deeks asked his partner.

"No, I don't. I've never seen him before," Kensi replied. They had been there for an hour, waiting to see what Hetty wanted for them to do next.

"Nothing either of you need to worry about either." Hetty's voice startled the junior partners as she entered with Nell and Eric behind her. "He's always been harmless, his best skills is tailing people and not being traced. Which is why he managed to allude me and follow me home." She sat at the table and signalled for them to follow.

The four of them sat opposite their Operations Manager and waited. Nell sat back not eager like the rest of them, after her previous chat with Hetty. "Michael Lancroff is CIA." Eric, Kensi and Deeks raised their brows at this news. "He was sent by an old colleague to find someone he's not seen since the mid 1960's. I didn't see this latest threat coming due to the facts of many previous events were hidden from me. However Michael enlightened me on many things that now make sense and have filled in a lot of gaps. The best thing for me to do is to tell you all what I know and for no interruptions." Hetty's eyes diverted to her detective, which resulted in an elbow nudge from his partner. He glared at her but remained quiet. Hetty smiled at their little dual. "This is going to require trust and team work. But one of our own is at risk."

Eric's eyes diverted to Nell and noticed she had her arms crossed over her chest. He frowned, puzzled over his partner's body language. Hetty noticed too but chose to ignore it.

"None of what I am going to tell you is going to be easy for you to hear. This case is going to test you all on your trust for one another in this team. And this will lead us to an unknown location. But we hope that a repeat of the clash with the Comescus will not occur.

They all listened, eyes widened, mouths agape at the information Hetty delivered to them. Deeks went to speak many times, but Kensi rescued him with an elbow jab after Hetty's earlier warning. Eric kept looking over to Nell and worry began to form in his stomach over the news that the man was Nell's uncle. He swallowed hard many times and fidgeted with his fingers under the table. He was nervous that someone in her family was a threat to Callen and his father. They continued to be shocked over the news that Callen knew who he was and had kept it all from them. But once Hetty explained how Callen had taken on the responsibility of protector and continued to live in unloved homes to keep safe from the CIA making him an asset; they began to understand the real man that their team leader was. Unselfish, protector, hard working, loyal. They shook their heads when Hetty revealed Janvier's part in burning Clara to the Comescus, which resulted in her death, and how he taunted Callen deliberately because of something he did when he was only four years old.

When Hetty finished, the boat shed remained silent. An eeriness hovered over them that this case was going to be their greatest challenge yet. They still had to find Callen, Sam and Granger. They hoped they were all together, but yet had no way of finding them to warn them, let alone protect them.

"I have tried to update Director Vance on this latest development, but it seems he too has gone dark. I hope nothing has happened to him, but until I hear otherwise, this does not go outside of the five of us. Now I know you are eager to find out where Callen has gone with Sam and his family, and where Callen took Granger last week. But any searches we do may be hacked into and lead Barnaby to them." Hetty turned to Eric and Nell. "What I need from you is to trace Barnaby's steps, where he's been over the past month, everyone he's been in contact with, every phone call he's made and received and his bank transactions. If there is anything that stands out, I need to know."

Eric and Nell nodded before they left the boat shed. Eric kept looking over at her, but didn't know what to say to her.

Nell stopped and turned to face him. "Say it, Eric." She demanded more forcefully than she intended, but her emotions were running rife within her.

Eric raised his hands and took a step back. "Nell, you're scaring me."

Nell looked down at her feet. "I'm sorry, Eric." She turned away and ran towards the mission alone, tears streaming down her face. What had gotten into her that now her own partner and best friend feared her?

When Eric arrived, he scoured the place searching for her. He finally found her in the broom closet on the top floor. "I'm sorry, Nell. I never took into consideration how you must be feeling over this." He knelt down beside her. "Do you forgive me?"

Nell peered over her knees with tears streaming down her face. "If you don't trust me, Eric, how are the rest of the team going to?"

"I do trust you, Nell, it's just this news has been a shock," he admitted.

"Me too. I had no idea he worked for the CIA, let alone wanted to kill someone from jealousy, for the past forty-nine years. That's a long time to hold a grudge over someone. I thought he was an importer of Australian and European wine. He even had me fooled," she revealed to him.

Eric wrapped his arms around her. "Just like your family believe you work for a television station."

Nell looked up and nodded. Both realised how much their own lies to their friends and families impacted on those around them.

"I don't know if I can do this, Eric." Nell brushed her tears away, now that her emotions settled from the comfort Eric gave her.

"I'll be by your side every step of the way, Nell. Pinky promise." Eric held up his little finger, which made Nell laugh.

"Thanks, Eric." Eric helped her to stand and led her to their stations in Ops. They sat side by side and typed away on their keyboards. Silence hung in the air as they searched for every piece of intel on her uncle. Both shook their heads with shock evident in their expressions, as secrets that Barnaby Jones had kept from his colleagues and family were revealed to Eric and Nell.

Arkday's mansion

Henrietta Lange pulled up outside the former Russian KGB's home in her Jaguar. She climbed out and braced herself for greeting the man she knew Nathan had trusted with his life. He was the one who had rescued Nathan out of Russia, and she knew he could be trusted. He was her only way in finding Callen undetected.

"Henrietta. What brings you to my home?" The two had never had dealings with each other outside of Callen's welfare, which had come to a head recently when Vasile Comescue came after Michael Rhinehart.

"Arkady Kolcheck. I'm afraid I need your help."

Arkady raided his brow, surprised. "You need my help?" Don't you normally send Callen here to do your bidding for you?" He welcomed her inside and took her out to his patio. "Please sit." He motioned to one of his bodyguards to bring out a pot of tea, knowing his guest preferred this beverage over any other.

"Callen has disappeared along with his partner. I need to find them before it's too late." She could see confusion and concern flash across the Russian's face. "Someone from his father's past is after him. I know that Callen is where Nikita is hiding out. I cannot go through my normal channels incase our systems are hacked into, and whoever is after them finds them through us. I cannot risk it."

Arkady rubbed his hand over his face as he thought over the situation. "Who is after Nikita? I thought all of his enemies were dead by now." Concern for his old friend and his son was evident in his voice, although he tried to hide it.

"Someone who shouldn't be hunting him down," Hetty revealed.

"Someone in the CIA is after Nathan even now? I don't understand?" Arkady slipped up over Nathan's real name. He saw the look Hetty gave him. "Yes I know who he really is Henrietta. He revealed his true identity to me many years ago. He wouldn't have trusted me with his son, if he had any doubts over my loyalty. I just had no idea Callen knew all of this until he told me last week."

"Neither did I, Arkady. Callen has proven his talent well. But now he and his father are in danger. I need to find them to warn them," Hetty urged.

"But they've been safe for over thirty years in this location, Hetty. What makes you so sure they still aren't safe there? If we go probing into finding them, we will place them in the danger that they aren't in. Let this lie. If there is anything you can do it's take this man down, so Callen can return to his family for good. It's not been good for him to be away from them so much. It has broken my heart to see him fight off the bad guys, just so he can be there if any danger comes out of the woodwork after his family. What he needs is to be home. Not risking his life for a country who doesn't appreciate him. They neglected him in the welfare system. And they continue to use him now. No, I will not help you." Arkady stood. "I am sorry Henrietta but the subject is closed." He walked away leaving her to be led out of the house by one of his bodyguards.

Hetty thought over the conversation she's just had with the Russian. The man knew far more than he was telling. He was certain they were safe where they were and he revealed they had been in the one place all of this time. Maybe Arkady was right. She returned to the mission feeling at a loss on what to do. She sat down at her desk and placed a call.

"Director Vance's office!" The woman on the other end of the call greeted her.

"Tara, it's Hetty. I need to speak urgently with Director Vance," she told her.

"I'm sorry, Hetty, but Director Vance has gone on vacation with his children and will not be back in the office for a few weeks."

Hetty broke the hp pencil in her hand at the news. Nothing was going her way. She looked up and saw Kensi and Deeks arrive back in from the boat shed.

"Thank you, Tara." She disconnected the call and walked over, trying hard to keep her emotions reined in.

"Mr Deeks, Miss Blye. Could you please check out Mr Callen's home to see if there is any evidence of where he's gone to."

Deeks and Kensi gave each other a worrying look. "You want us to break into Callen's house and snoop around?" Deeks stuttered. "Callen's not going to like that at all, Hetty." He tried to worm out of going.

"He's not here, and we are left with no other choice. Now go." She pointed her hand in the direction of the door, urging them to go immediately.

Deeks gripped the steering wheel as he drove around the block many times before pulling up in a nearby side street. "Callen is not going to like this at all. This is wrong on so many levels."

"I agree. But we have a job to do and we need to do what it takes to look out for one another," Kensi replied, as she focused on Callen's back door. She unpicked the lock and entered through the service room next to the kitchen. "Callen needs better security. I got in in less than thirty seconds."

"But he's got nothing to steal," Deeks added. He looked over at the mantel and headed for the old tea box.

"Don't, Deeks. That's Callen's treasure box where he keeps his personal items about his family," Kensi warned him.

"But now we know that was an illusion, Kensi. He fooled all of us that he had no memory of his family nor who he was. This box is an illusion of being his most treasured items. This is what he wants everyone to think this is all he has. But the reality is, he has his father hidden somewhere safe and goes to him whenever he can," Deeks reasoned with her.

Kensi stopped and looked over at him. "You're right, Deeks. It explains a lot. Like why he's never made this house a real home with furniture and pictures on the wall. Because this is not his home. I bet when we find him, we will find him living in a home with pictures and furniture. A real home." Kensi smiled at the thought. It was what she had always wanted for their team leader.

Deeks caught the smile. "You're happy for him aren't you?"

"Yes, I am. We all should be. This is what he's wanted the most. What I've wanted for him," she admitted.

"But he had it and hid it from us," Deeks argued.

"For a very good reason too." Kensi searched every room for a loose board but found nothing. "I'll check out the garage." She exited the door they had come in through, and unpicked the door through to the rear of the garage. She turned on the light and searched around the work benches and tools. Deeks followed her in and was taken aback at all the gear Callen had.

"Whoa! Whoever knew Callen had all of these tools in here?" He moved over to a tool box and opened the lid. "Nothing." He moved it and a rear wooden board came loose. "What have we here?"

Kensi's curiosity piqued, she walked over to where he was. She smiled as she saw Deeks open a secret cavity behind the work bench. Inside was a hidden cell phone. Deeks turned the cell on and looked through recent calls. "Whose Al?" He continued on. "Am?" Creative names in here. He continued on through the contacts. "Na." He scrolled down. Oh this beats them all. "Lim."

Kensi furrowed her brow. Her eyes sparkled as she worked out the names. "I'm not sure who Al is…" she paused. The name was familiar, but she tried hard to wrack her brain on why. "Am could stand for Amy. His sister. But she died when she was eleven. So that doesn't even make sense." She shook her head. "No, it couldn't be?" She looked up at Deeks. "Could Amy be alive?"

Deeks shrugged. "No idea. I was undercover when you found Hannah Lawson. But if everything else we're known about him isn't real then perhaps her death was faked?"

Kensi smiled. "I hope so." She saw Deeks return her smile. They liked what they had discovered so far. "Na could be Nathan, his father's real name. Lim could be for the limousine we saw him take Granger from the hospital in?"

Deeks nodded. "I think we've found Callen's burn phone that he uses to call home." He handed the phone to Kensi. "Let's take it to Hetty. See if the wonder twins can find a location to the people on his contact list."

Kensi nodded and placed it into her pocket. They locked up behind them and walked to their car, scanning around them as they bantered, incase they were being watched. Satisfied they were in the clear, they jumped into the silver SUV and headed back to the mission.

Hetty looked up and saw smiles on her agent's faces. "I hope that means you've found something?"

Kensi handed the cell to their boss. "Deeks found it in a hidden cavity behind the workbench in Callen's garage. It's a burn phone with calls to four people."

Hetty raised her brow as she became curious to who the four people were on it. She frowned. "Al, Am, Na and Lim. Either Mr Callen is in contact with some Chinese people, or they are codes for someone else," she mused.

"I have a theory," Kensi explained. "I'm not sure on Al, but for some reason I think I should know who that is. I'll keep thinking on it though. But the other three I think I've worked out. "Am is Amy, Na is Nathan and Lim is the limousine company Callen used to get Granger away from the hospital."

Hetty nodded. "I think you are right, Miss Blye. And I agree, Al is familiar. But Amy died when she was eleven…." She looked up at Kensi and Deeks and saw hope in their eyes. "You think Mr Callen has kept this hidden from us as well?"

They both nodded.

"Let's hope so. I could do with some good news. The other two I agree. I think we have found our only hope in contacting Mr Callen. Thank you." She stood and walked up the stairs with her agents behind her. Both Nell and Eric turned to face them as they entered.

"We've found a lot on Barnaby, Hetty. Dad's going to be furious if he ever finds any of this out. He looked up to his brother. I can't ever let him find out," Nell breathed out.

"You may not have a choice, my dear." She looked up on the screen and scanned the intel her two operatives discovered. "Well, well, well. Barnaby has been a very naughty boy." Hetty turned and faced them all. "Mr Deeks found this cell at Mr Callen's home. We believe this is the only way we can contact Mr Callen. However, we must not put a trace on this call when I make it. If Barnaby has someone hacking into our systems, it's imperative that we don't lead him to them. "I'm calling it a day. Let's go out for some drinks shall we? Down by to Santa Monica Pier perhaps?"

All four of them nodded, and although they were confused by Hetty's change in behaviour, they followed her anyway.