I didn't realize how long it's been since I published a chapter and I have to apologize for that. Writers block and losing my job hasn't helped

This story is a continuation of It's All Relative and Times They Are A Changing but if you haven't read them it's okay as this story is a stand-alone story.

A big THANK YOU to AuggieDeeksNico for her amazing editing skills and don't forget to read her story MMA

Disclaimer: I do not own anything associated with NCIS Los Angeles. I only own my original characters.

Thank you for all your views, favorites, reviews. I appreciate all of them. Love to hear your thoughts.

Chapter 10 – School Dance

Callen had been in many uncomfortable situations in his life and this; right now was right up there. He was dressed in his second best jeans, a blue button down shirt sipping terrible coffee from a paper cup in the gym of the Chester B. Pearson Elementary school.

He, Hetty and the Chief of Police all tried to convince the principal of the school, Eugene Clark, to cancel the end of school dance. However, Mr. Clark is quite stubborn and won't back down. A few of the parents got wind of this and called an emergency PTA meeting.

He glanced at his watch, Sophie was late and so were Kensi and Deeks. He was about to text her when he saw her enter the auditorium. She looked a little disheveled and on her cell phone. But he caught her eye from across the room. She gave him a wave and a nod and moved out of the way of the people still entering. The coffee might be dreadful but the chocolate chip cookies were some of the best he'd ever tasted.

Callen was halfway across the room to meet Sophie when he noticed a short balding man step in front Sophie. From the look on his face, he wasn't too pleased to see her.

"What are you doing here?" His tone was filled with anger, distrust and a little fear.

Sophie ended the call and looked into a face she hadn't seen in over twenty years. Time had not been kind to Eugene, his suit was a little too big and in desperate need of ironing. Sophie met him as a fresh faced new teacher and back then he was handsome with thick dark hair, an athletic build and a newlywed. Now he looked old and tired. His hair was thinning on top and he had a paunch. In fairness, he had been teaching for over 20 years. She also heard that he lost his wife to cancer a few years ago.

"I'm here to see what you do tonight." Sophie tried to step around him.

"What do you mean by that?" He had planted himself in front of her, arms crossed at his chest.

Sophie mimicked the stance and he involuntarily took a step back.

"I'm here tonight for a few reasons. I'm the representative for the complex and ..."

Eugene interrupted her, looking wildly around the room. "What? Where's Kathleen? She was supposed to be here tonight." Panic was growing in his voice and he had started to back away.

"Well she's not, so you'll have to deal with me. Also, I have two kids starting at this school in September. I want to know if you're a better principal then you were a teacher."

That last piece of information stopped Eugene in his track. "No. No all your kids have grown and that Marty too."

"My partner and I adopted two children from Russia and they'll be coming to this school. As a matter of fact Marty will be here tonight too."

"Why is he coming? Does he have kids coming here too?'

"He's a lawyer now. The onsite lawyer for the complex in fact."

"A lawyer? That troublemaker? Unbelievable!" He started to back up again but backed into Callen instead.

"Sophie is there a problem here?" Callen had been watching the exchange as he was crossing the room. He didn't like what he saw but Sophie was holding her own.

"Callen, I'd like you to meet Principal Eugene Clark. Eugene has been teaching here for a long time. He was Marty's fourth grade teacher."

Callen shook Eugene's hand squeezing a little harder and holding it a little longer than normal.

"Nice to meet you, Eugene, I'm looking forward to seeing what your decision will be tonight."

"Well, I don't know ….." Eugene started shaking his head.

"What do you mean you don't know? Eugene really, don't put these kids in anymore danger then they're already in."

"Look, you meddling woman. Stay out of this." Eugene pointed and shook his finger at Sophie. He turned away from them and started towards the other side of the room.

"Wait a minute..." Callen turned to go after him.

She shook her head at Callen, then called "Eugene, remember I'm watching every move you make."

Eugene turned back to say something but saw the look on Callen's face and turn quickly and scurried away.

"Cal..." Sophie laid her hand on his forearm. "Let him go Cal. He'll get what he deserves one way or another."

"I just didn't like the way he was talking to you." He looked down at his arm as Sophie linked her arm into his.

"I know honey, but you can't protect me from every Eugene in the world. Trust me, I deal with people like that every day and I can do just fine."

She gave him a peck on his cheek as she turned him in the other direction. However, Callen was slow to turn still watching Eugene.

"Come on let's find a seat and wait for Marty and Kensi. I want a seat in front so I can see Eugene's face."

They started to the lines of chairs, Sophie greeting a few people and introducing Callen to most of them. They found seats in the front row.

"Who were you talking to on the phone earlier?" Callen inquired between sips of his coffee.

"Inga, I had Marty drop the kids off at home." She opened her purse, rooting around and finally pulled a piece of paper out. "Everything was fine at home. Did you pick up one of these?"

"What's that?" Callen took the paper out of her hand.

"It's a little blurb about why we're here tonight." She went back to her purse, pulling out a pen.

Callen handed the paper back to her and then stood. He reached into his back pocket and pulled out a badly folded paper.

"So that's what they gave me when I walked in. I just stuck it in my pocket."

Sophie took the paper from him. "You mangled it pretty good." Trying to straighten it on her lap.

Callen took it from her and handed her back the other sheet. "I don't really need one anyways."

Sophie rolled her eyes at him and started to read the paper.

"I wonder where Kensi and Deeks are." Callen asked. When Sophie didn't reply, he asked again. After he asked the fourth time, he snatched the paper out of her hand.

"Hey! What are you doing?" She tried to get the paper back but he held it at arm's length and she couldn't reach it. He gave her a saucy smile and tipped his head to the right.

"Oh, you're going to play it that way are you?" Sophie stood up so quickly and grabbed the paper from his hand, it surprised Callen.

"I'm quicker than you think old man." She sat down again, sitting on the paper.

"Old man! I'll show you how quick I am. I'll have that paper out from under you and in my hand before you know it."

Sophie turned and grabbed both his hands. "That sounds like a game we can play later." She gave him a sly smile as she let go of his hand and retrieved the paper.

He looked down at his hands and pulled his own paper out of his pocket. Sophie looked at him out of the corner of her eye and was surprised to see him blushing.

Sophie turned to face the door as the Marty and Kensi walked in hand in hand. Callen was surprised when she reached down and grabbed his hand.

"Trouble, oh we have trouble, right here in River City, with a capital M."

"I believe the line is with a capital T."

"Maybe in the Music Man but here it's an M."

"What does the M stand for?" He looked in the direction of the doorway and saw Kensi and Marty being approached by a tall brunette woman. Dressed more for a dinner party then a PTA meeting she was making a bee line for Marty.

"M stands for Marci De Luca. She was Marty's first serious girlfriend. They circled around each other since 6th grade. By the time they were in grade 9, she pursued him relentlessly until he finally gave in. It only lasted a short time before she got to clingy and he moved on. But she never really gave him up and always seemed to be around. He never seriously dated anyone until he was done with law school but every once in a while she'd show up at the door. I heard she got married around the time Marty was called to the bar."

"Well, she seems to be pretty interested now, this should be interesting." Callen laid the paper on his lap and watched the drama unfold.

Deeks leaned against Sophie's black F150, stretching his long jean clad legs in front of him. He woke up this morning with a Charlie horse and a headache. Breathing in deeply he rubbed his temples. He was able to work the Charlie out but the headache was getting worse. Maybe he slept wrong last night. Kensi had spread out in the bed more than usual last night and he woke clinging to the edge of the mattress in a weird position.

He followed Kensi's progress out of the building. She was crossing the street between the two buildings, her walk slower than usual. He wasn't sure what was going on with her. She'd been crashing earlier at nights but still seemed tired. Plus she was eating everything in sight. He'd asked her several times if she was okay and each time she said yes. The last time he asked she'd bit his head off so he stopped asking. Whatever was going on, she'd tell him in her own time. He found out a long time ago, the more he pushed, the more she dug her heels in.

He didn't stand up as she approached; she grabbed his hand and pulled him away from the truck. She realized he wasn't moving with her. When she turned back, she recognized that look on his face. He was having a panic attack. She took his other hand in hers.

"Marty, let's get you into the truck."

She needed him sitting down and inside the truck as it would also give them some privacy. His breath was coming in short; shallow pants and she knew the first thing she had to do was get his breathing back on track. She scooted him in and climbed in after him. While his unfocused eyes looked out the front window, she turned herself so she sat with her back to the dashboard. Taking his hands in hers again, she softly spoke to him.

"Marty, can you hear me?"

She was glad when he slowly nodded his head.

"Good, 'because we have to get you taking deep breaths. Can you try for me?"

Again he nodded, lowering his head looking at their joined left hands.

"Okay," She placed his right hand on her chest. "Can you feel the way I'm breathing? Deep breathe in and slowly out."

She wasn't sure how long they sat there but she was finally getting his breathing under control and he was relaxing. She was concerned because it had been so long since he had an attack and she needed to know what cause this one.

"Marty, you want to talk about it?" She kept her voice low and while she was calm on the outside, her mind was spinning out on control.

He slowly raised his head and looked into her eyes. She was alarmed at the sadness she saw there.

"Listen if this is about going into the school for this meeting, if you don't want to, I'll text Callen and tell him..."

"NO, no, please don't tell Callen." His voice wasn't more than a whisper. He cleared his throat and continued. "Just give me a couple more minutes and I'll be okay."

"Okay, want to tell me what caused this?" She asked gently.

"I haven't been in the school since I graduated grade 8." The words came out in a rush. He breathed and slowed down his thoughts and words. "I, um, my years here weren't some of my best."

She turned around in the seat, moving to lean into him. She was relieved when he pulled her close into his side, his arm holding her there. She could hear his breathing continue to even out although she knew this was hard for him.

"Before I went to live with Sophie, I more often than not came to school with no breakfast and nothing for lunch." He paused breathing in deeply and letting it out slowly.

"There were days I would steal from the lost and found box because the clothes were cleaner than the ones I had on or to find a long sleeve shirt."

He didn't have to explain to her what that meant. He leaned his head into hers and pulled her in tighter. They sat there for a few minutes before he continued.

"Of course, all that changed when I went to live with Sophie and Rich." He gave a sad little laugh. "It's amazing what food and clean clothing can do for you."

He breathed in and out slowly again. "I didn't think coming here would affect me this much."

Kensi lean away slightly. "Why doesn't going to the YMCA or the Clinic bother you?"

"I don't know, maybe because I didn't go to either until I lived with Sophie."

"You didn't go before?" She gently questioned him.

"No, I wasn't allowed and I wouldn't have gone anyways. I was ashamed of my appearance."

It made sense to her now. He showered and washed his hair every day and he only wore clothes once and then washed them. Every piece of clothing he owned, including socks and underwear, folded precisely and put away as soon as they came out of the dryer. He didn't have the most expensive clothes but he treated them like they were. She always thought it was OCD but now she had a better understanding.

"Do you want to go home?" She noticed his color was better and he was back to breathing normally.

"Nope," He said popping the p. "I'm good now. I need to face this."

He gave her a little push with his upper body. "Let's get this over with."

He leaned in for a kiss, but she moved her head away.

"I had onions and garlic for lunch and haven't had time to brush my teeth." She explained which wasn't a lie. She had a hoagie for lunch but she thru that up before she came out and that's what she didn't want him to find out. He had enough on his mind right now. He would start questioning her why and she would have to disappoint him again this month. All the signs of her getting her period were there again. So, she grabbed his hand and plastered on a smile.

They left the cab of the truck and continued to the school. Just before they entered, Marty paused. Kensi quickly grabbed his hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. He looked down at her, giving a half-hearted smile.

"Let's do this." He said as he pushed open the door.

They walked past several classrooms before Marty stopped in the middle of the hallway. Not sure what was happening, Kensi prepared herself for just about anything, including another panic attack. But Marty was smiling when he turned to her.

"Wow, it looks so much smaller now." He walked over to one of the cloakrooms that lined the hallway.

"Well, you weren't 6'2" when you went here." She walked over to where he was standing.

He turned away and continued down the hall. "No, no, I wasn't. I didn't have a growth spurt until grade 8. Sophie said I grew 5 inches that summer alone. By the time I was in grade 10, I stopped."

"That was some growth spurt."

They stopped outside the gym door. Marty took a deep breath.

"It might have something to do with having regular meals."

Kensi squeezed his hand and leaned into give him a kiss. "You think?"

He kissed her back taking comfort in the quiet assurance she gave him. "Let's go find Sophie and Callen."

Walking, hand in hand into the gym, they spotted the couple across the room. Kensi was about to speak when a woman wearing a dark blue cocktail dress and five inch heels approached them.

"Marty? Good heavens what are you doing here?" She leaned in for a hug and a kiss. When he didn't move towards her, she stepped back quickly.

"Marty, it's so good to see you again. It's been awhile." She smiled and laid her hand possessively on his arm and turned to Kensi. "And who's this?"

He sighed; he knew both women and knew this wasn't going to go well.

"Marci, this is Kensi, my fiancé. Kensi, Marci." Maybe if he kept it simple they could get away quickly.

Marci extended her hand. "Kensi, nice to meet you. Marty and I go way back, don't we?" She smiled and gave Kensi the "if you know what I mean" look.

Squeezing Marty's hand again, Kensi smiled at the brunette. "Nice to meet an old friend of Marty's." She emphasized the old.

Marci ignored Kensi's remark and turned to Marty again. "Do you have children here? I'm sure I would have known. I am the president of the PTA, you know."

"Well, congrats on the PTA and no children here yet." He turned and smiled at Kensi. She could not believe that she actually blushed.

He turned back to Marci, "I'm the lawyer for the clinic."

"Oh, I see." Marci sounded disappointed and Kensi was sure why.

Was it because Marty was obviously with her, he didn't have children or she missed her chance with him. Marty had spotted Callen and Sophie across the room and started towards them.

"There's Callen and Sophie, it was nice to see you again but we have to join my cousin."

Marci stepped in front of him. "Yes, I saw her here. She's the Director of Care at the clinic now isn't she? I got married, you know, to Matt Wilbur and we have a son."

Clearly, she wasn't finished with them yet. Marty was trying to be polite but he wasn't really in the mood for this right now. Still a little shaky from the panic attack, he just wanted to sit down, get this meeting over and go home.

"Yes, our son Tommy is 11 now. He's a star on the basketball court."

Marty looked at Marci not sure what he ever saw in her. Her son Tommy or Tommy the Terrible was a bully on the basketball court and the one that caused Will's broken arm.

"Yes, I remember Matt. He was a big basketball star back in the day."

"Back in the day? You make us sound so old."

Before he could reply, Principal Clarke stepped up to microphone to call for everyone to take their seats.

"Well, Marci it was good to see you again." Marty, again being polite started walking away.

"Yes, it was Marty." Marci placed her hand on Kensi's arm as she walked by. "You know, I was Marty's first."

"From what he told me, you weren't but that doesn't matter now, because I'm his last." Kensi patted her on the arm and walked away.

So against everyone's better judgement, the dance went ahead as planned. Now Callen and his team, or what's left of it anyway, was left to clean up the mess.

Callen disconnected the call with Ops. He closed his eyes and tried to calm himself down. He needed Sam and his calming presence. He needed Jessie, the youngest member of his team who is now recuperating in his and Sophie's spare room. But most of all he needed Eric and Nell. But none of them were available to him right now. He really needed his whole team with him.

Maybe he should try some of the deep breathing techniques Deeks was doing across the room. What he really felt like doing, was throwing his cell phone across the room or punching something, just to get the frustration out. But in the long run he knew it wouldn't help and if anything it would just upset Kensi and Deeks more.

He rubbed his hand down his face. It started out as a bad day, with Olivia vomiting on him as he was getting her up this morning. She warned him.

"I sick." She said in a quiet voice and the next thing he knew...

He panicked, he could handle the blood and "guts" of his job but vomit was another story. When it's someone tiny, helpless that he loved and felt responsible for, and he felt completely inadequate. Sophie, being Sophie and a doctor, swooped in and took care of everything, leaving him and Noah both relieved and a little lost. He took over breakfast duties, but no one really felt like eating now. When he left for the Mission, Olivia was cleaned up and back in bed and Noah was helping Sophie clean up the kitchen. She had called the Clinic to tell them she would be working from home. Hours later, Sophie called to say Olivia was eating dry toast and flat ginger ale and she was keeping it down. Thankfully, Noah hadn't got sick. Sophie suspected Olivia had some food based allergy. She and Noah were tracking what they had to eat in the last couple days to see what it might be.

The day took an even worst turn when he arrived at the Mission. Hetty was waiting for him, Kensi and Deeks to arrive. She informed them Nell had gone into premature labour during the night and had been admitted to the hospital. At present, she wasn't allowed visitors but both her doctor and Eric were keeping Hetty updated. By midday, Hetty had good news; the doctors were able stop the contractions for now but both Nell and the baby weren't out of the woods yet.

It was his plan to visit Nell this evening but then the day hit rock bottom.

Five more children had gone missing during the dance and because of his lack of foresight, two LAPD officers were in the hospital.

Working with the LAPD, plainclothes and uniformed officers were placed throughout the school. Two uniformed Officers were stationed behind the school, one at the back door and another walking the parking lot and playground. Kensi and Deeks were in the auditorium and he was stationed at the front door. Now reviewing the night, he should have been walking around checking in with the officers and Kensi and Deeks instead of taking a post by the front door.

Sometime during the dance, the two Officers in back were knocked out, stripped, handcuffed with their own cuffs and left in a janitor's closet. The kidnappers walked around undetected for who knows how long. At wasn't until the end of the dance and the migrant workers were boarding the bus that it was realized the children were missing.

Mass confusion followed. It was during that time Sarah Montgomery approached Deeks, frantic that she couldn't find Will. During the ensuing search, they came to realize the Tommy Wilbur was missing too. His mother ,Marci Wilbur, had been at the dance but after a couple frosty looks from Kensi, she stayed away.

Now Marci was being interviewed by one of the LAPD and he was feeling the effects of a very long day.