AN: Sorry for the delay! To make up for it, I should be able to post three chapters (including this one) tonight! Hope you're all still enjoying this story...I have another two in the works, as well as a bunch of one-shots and short stories that I am disciplining myself to keep from posting until this one is complete...and that is a LOT harder than I ever thought it would be! LOL

Anyway, thanks for sticking with me and drop me a note and tell me what you think!

Chapter 10

The bullpen didn't feel the same without Callen there, and it put Sam in a bad mood. He sat at his desk and stared at his partner's abandoned spot, a frown etching lines on his face. All he could think of was what Callen had looked like the last time he'd seen him - drawn and tired - and his hatred for those responsible grew. Picking up a random object from his desk, he hurled it across the room, missing Eric by mere inches. The tech slowed his pace after that, edging into the room as if expecting something else to come flying at him.

"Sorry," Sam told him.

"That's okay," Eric replied. "We're all going a little nuts."

"Tell me you got something."

"Possibly." Eric came closer and handed Sam a printout of a police report from 2010. As he scanned the page with his eyes, Eric explained, "Five years ago another naval officer, Captain Anthony Henderson, was mysteriously poisoned with oleander. He survived, though, as it wasn't even close to a lethal dose."

"Henderson?" Sam asked. "That's..."

"The same name, because they're related," Eric revealed. "The Captain is Petty Officer Michael Henderson's uncle."

"Says here the suspect was caught, but charges were never filed." Sam frowned. "The Captain wouldn't press charges? Why?"

"Don't know. He even made sure the suspect's name was redacted from the police report. That's not exactly easy to do."

"There's only two reasons he would do that - either the suspect's a relative, or someone whose career would be in jeopardy over this."

"What, like, a General or something?" Eric asked.

Sam nodded solemnly. "Exactly."

"So what's next?"

"Now," Sam said, getting up and casting a last glance at Callen's empty, paper-strewn desk, "we pay a visit to the Captain."

"Not without me, you're not," a man's voice said from the doorway.

Sam blinked in disbelief as he saw who was standing there.

"G? I thought..."

"I got bored laying around. Thought I'd see what's up here."

Beside him, Beth rolled her eyes. "You badgered me to bring you here until I caved just so you'd be quiet. Thanks to you, I now have a huge migraine."

"Hetty's got something for that," he replied with a smirk. Turning to Sam, he said, "So, we goin', or what?"

"Where' we goin'?" Kensi asked as she and Deeks strolled in together, each carrying a paper coffee cup from the shop down the street. When she saw Callen there, upright and no longer so pale, she set down her coffee and hugged him. "Oh, my God! It's so good to see you looking better!"

"It's good to feel better," he told her. "Thanks, Kens."

Deeks gave him a bro hug, as was their custom, and said, "Glad you're back." Lifting his chin to indicate Beth, he asked, "She treating you good?"

Callen nodded. "She is."

"Good. Cause if she went 'Misery' on you I'd have to send her on a long voyage in a leaky boat."

Beth stared at him in mock-horror. "You wouldn't!"

He only shrugged, though the corners of his lips twitched in a smile. "Guess we'll never know."

Sam just shook his head. Looking to Callen, he asked, "You sure you're good, G?"

Callen nodded. "Yep."

"You see Hetty?"

"More or less."

Sam rolled his eyes. "G!"

"What?" He asked innocently, though his eyes were full of mischief. "I saw her. She just...didn't see me."

"This is what I've been dealing with," Beth told Sam. Patting his arm, she added, "Good luck."

"You're not comin'?"

She shook her head. "My head's killing me. Besides, you two need time to catch up."

With that, she started for Ops, which was where she had last seen Hetty.

Deeks chuckled. "Maybe I should've asked if you were treating her good."

"She's fine," Callen said with a shrug.

"We better get going," Sam told him, and he nodded.

"See you guys later," he called to Kensi and Deeks as he and Sam left, and they both waved in reply.

When they had gone, Deeks turned to his partner. "Should we tell Hetty Callen's back?"

Kensi shook her head. "She already knows."

"How..."

"This is Hetty we're talking about, Deeks. If she didn't want Callen getting out, she'd have put armed guards around his house."

He thought about that, then nodded.

"Good point."

"You're quiet," Callen noted as they drove to Captain Henderson's house. "What's up?"

Sam shook his head. "Nothin'. Just glad to have you back."

Callen grinned. "Aww. You really missed me, huh?"

"Yeah. That such a surprise?"

"A little."

"Why's that?"

"Well, you're supposed to be on vacation right now, for one."

"Don't do it," Sam warned.

"What?" Callen asked, though his gaze said he knew all too well what Sam meant.

"You know what," his partner replied. "I told you not to feel guilty about me comin' back. It's not..."

"My fault," Callen cut in. "I know. But a part of me can't help feeling responsible for it. You and Michelle have done so much for me already. I don't know how she puts up with it all. Or how you do. You shouldn't have to. You should be on the beach with your little girl, building sandcastles and burying each other. Not here, with me."

Sam sighed. "G, you're my family, too. Michelle knows that."

"Yeah, but..."

"Shut up and let me finish," Sam snapped, and Callen widened his eyes and obeyed. When he was sure he would not be interrupted, Sam went on. "The minute we heard you were sick, it was Michelle who started arrangements to come home. The moment we got off the plane she almost shoved me into the car - the passenger seat, G - and dropped me off to see you. She didn't want to take a single second away from me being there for you.

"Michelle loves you just as much as I do. We'll always have another chance to go away, but a few weeks ago we weren't sure we'd have enough time with you. So, I'll tell you once - and only once - more. Stop feeling bad and get it through your head that you're important to us. All of us."

Callen sat silently, watching his partner's face for a long moment. Then, he slowly smiled and said, "You love me, huh?"

Sam rolled his eyes. "You're hopeless, you know that? I pour my heart out, and that's all you get out of it."

"Attention deficit."

"I'll give you a deficit."

"Seriously, though, Sam," Callen said. "Thanks."

Sam looked at his partner full in the face. "You're welcome."

Not long after, they pulled up to the curb in front of the Captain's house and got out. As they walked up to the front door, they heard glass breaking inside the house followed by shouting, and they both pulled their weapons. Before Callen could reach for the knob, the front door swung open, and a man darted out between them, running at top speed down the street.

"Sam?" Callen asked with a jerk of his head, and his partner nodded.

"Got 'im."

With that, he took off running after the stranger, and Callen carefully entered the house. He immediately found the source of the shattering sound; a vase was smashed on the hardwood floor in the doorway between the living room and kitchen, blood-smeared pieces scattered everywhere. As he made his way into the kitchen, an older man popped up from behind the breakfast bar with a handgun aimed at Callen's head, his legs protecting a woman Callen guessed was his wife.

"Who are you?" The man asked. "Are you with him?"

Callen shook his head, though his own weapon remained aimed at the man just in case. "Special Agent G. Callen. NCIS."

"Let me see your badge," the man ordered. "Slowly."

Carefully, Callen reached into his pocket and pulled out his badge. "I just came to talk to you, Captain." He tossed the badge onto the counter between them, and Captain Henderson snatched it and inspected it while keeping careful watch of Callen. "What happened here a minute ago?"

Convinced Callen was who he claimed, Henderson lowered his gun and gently helped his wife to her feet. When he was sure she was okay, he stepped around the bar and handed the badge back to Callen. As Callen stowed his own weapon, the Captain explained, "I don't know who he is. We came home to find him tampering with our sink. I pulled my gun, but he grabbed Sandie. She's a good fighter, though, and grabbed a vase. Smashed it in his face, and he took off runnin'."

Callen nodded. "My partner's after him now."

"You said you came to talk," Henderson recalled then. "What about?"

"Five years ago you were hospitalized with oleander poisoning."

Henderson nodded. "That's right."

"You knew who did it, but refused to press charges. Why not?"

Sandie chose that moment to excuse herself. "I'm going to go clean up the mess, if you don't mind."

Both men shook their heads, so she grabbed the broom and left the room. Her husband dropped into a chair at the breakfast bar, his elbows on his knees.

"I couldn't. It would have made things a hundred times harder."

"You even went so far as to redact the suspect's name from the police report..."

Sam returned then, empty handed and pissed off about it.

"Lost him," he growled.

Callen shrugged. "He'll turn up. He's bleeding pretty bad; call Eric and tell him to keep an eye out at local hospitals for someone with his description."

"Already done. Waiting for him to text back as soon as he finds him."

Callen turned back to the Captain. "You said when you came back, our friend was tampering with your sink."

"Yeah. He was trying to remove the filter. Only made it halfway, though."

"Mind if I take a look?"

Henderson shook his head. "Not at all. But I don't understand what it has to do with anything."

Callen checked the filter, but though it was half-unscrewed, it was still intact. Shaking his head at Sam, he explained, "Whoever was here was trying to finish what the suspect five years ago started. They replace the filter with one soaked in oleander oil, then wait 'til enough has been ingested to kill."

"But why?"

"That's what we're trying to figure out," Sam interrupted. "But whoever tried to do this to you managed to get to your nephew - Petty Officer Henderson - and to Callen."

"Michael?" Henderson asked, turning pale. "Is he..."

"He didn't make it," Callen told him. "Sorry."

"But you did."

Sam nodded and softly said, "Barely." Then, he added, "What we need to know is who would be angry enough at you and Michael to try and kill you."

"And how they're connected to me," Callen put in.

The Captain stared up at the ceiling, huffing a sigh. "I've got plenty of enemies, unfortunately. Most of them wouldn't bother waiting around for poison, though. Bullets are faster. And cheaper." He choked up then, tears forming in his eyes. "But not Michael. He was a good kid. Everyone loved him."

"We know he'd been getting threats from various animal rights groups because of his work with sonar," Callen said. "Could one of them have carried out their threat?"

Henderson shrugged. "Maybe. But I had nothing to do with that."

"And that doesn't explain the poisoning five years ago," Sam reminded him. "Or yours."

Callen nodded. "Right. We really need the suspect's name from your attack, Captain."

"I can't. I'm sorry," he replied sadly.

"Captain, this is bigger than an agenda against you now. There could be others in danger."

"I understand, Agent Callen. But things are more complicated than you know. If I incriminate the person it could destroy so much. Too much."

"Your nephew is dead!" Callen shouted. "Isn't that enough damage? Isn't his life worth anything?"

Sam got between them and turned dark eyes onto his partner. "G, calm down."

"Who are you protecting?" Callen asked, ignoring Sam's warning. "Why aren't you protecting your own family, instead of the person who killed Michael?"

Grabbing Callen, Sam dragged him to the door. "That's enough, G. Leave it alone!"

"He's a fool, Sam!" Callen argued.

"Maybe, but right now you look like an ass. Now, stop."

Callen opened his mouth to make a rebuttal, but just then his face paled and his shoulders slumped with exhaustion. Clenching his jaw shut, he stomped out of the house. Sam watched him get into the Challenger, wincing as he slammed the passenger door.

Turning back to the Captain, Sam handed him a business card and said, "If you change your mind, please call us right away."

Henderson set the card down on the counter and nodded. "I will. Thank you."

When Sam got into the car, he sat still for a moment, the keys forgotten in his hand.

Callen watched him, then asked, "Something wrong?"

That got him to speak, though it probably wasn't what Callen wanted to hear. "Sometimes I wish I could tape your damn mouth shut!"

"You're mad at me?" Callen asked incredulously. "He's the one who's protecting a killer!"

"And you attacking him will help, how? Come on, G. Even you know that never works! Whatever chance we had of getting a name outta him just went down the drain, because you lost your mind!"

"Oh, so I'm supposed to just sit there and accept that from him?"

"You mean smile and nod, to win him over? Absolutely. You've gone undercover and made friends with gang leaders and assassins before. Why is this so hard for you now? Because you're personally involved?"

"No," Callen retorted. "I just..."

"See, I think it is. You're pissed that he won't tell us, only because you want revenge. They -whoever it is - got into your house and tried to kill you, and you need to see them pay for that."

"Thats..."

"It has nothing to do with the Hendersons," Sam went on. "This? This whole case...it's all about you."

"You're wrong," Callen replied.

"Uh huh."

"What do you want me to say?!" Callen shouted. "I'm sorry? Fine. I'm sorry I lost my temper in there. But I'm not sorry for saying the truth. The Captain's protecting a killer, and if he doesn't give them up they're gonna kill again."

"And I agree with you. We just have to be a little patient, work a different angle." He took a cleansing breath and added, "Maybe we'll get lucky."

Callen turned to stare out his window. Though everything in him screamed otherwise, he sighed and said, "I hope so."

TBC...