Chapter 12

Callen pulled up outside the cabin that had seen better days. He tried to get there at least twice a year, operations permitting. Finally having left the CIA (Central Intelligence Agency) and having a two-week break before he joined the DEA (Drug Enforcement Administration), he had taken some time off to head up to Santa Clarita.

He stepped out of the car and walked up the three steps to the porch, taking note of second step that was unstable. Mickey was getting older, although she wouldn't admit it. He grabbed the key from over the mantel and opened the door.

"Mickey?" he called.

There was no answer, however there were photos of Mickey's little brother Callum and a few of Callen as a teenager scattered around the family room. A dog bed in the corner with a food and water bowl gave Callen cause to smile. She still had him.

He walked into the kitchen and helped himself to a coffee, dropping his bedroll off in the guest room as he passed by it. As he took a sip of coffee he heard the spluttering of an old Jeep rattling to a halt outside the cabin.

Callen opened the door and smiled as Mickey Halloran climbed out of the driver's side, "G!" she called with a smile on her face.

"Mickey!" Callen smiled and crouched down as a fully-grown Spencer jumped down from the open door and launched himself towards Callen, tail wagging and licking him as he stroked his head. "Spencer, down boy! Yeah I missed you too!" He grinned.

Mickey grabbed her groceries and Callen helped her take them inside. "So you still haven't rehabilitated him?" Callen asked nodding towards the wolf who had climbed into his basket, turned around three times and settled, watching the living room and the two humans within, with tired eyes.

"Hey, you win some, you lose some. How you been G?" Mickey asked giving him a hug.

"Good, got two weeks downtime so thought I'd come visit," Callen said.

Mickey looked at him and smiled, "Callen, you know you are always welcome here. I told you that the day you left with Aileen, but you only come now when you're between jobs. I thought you liked being with the CIA?" Mickey asked.

Callen looked concerned, "You haven't told anyone?" he asked, knowing his job had been confidential.

Mickey laughed, "I don't get visitors out here and apart from when you graduated college and you came up here for that weekend, no one in town ever sees you. I honestly think if I told them the scrawny, annoying kid that lived with me for two weeks eight years ago was a CIA agent, they'd reopen the medical center just to lock me up in it." Mickey laughed.

Callen helped put the groceries away and added to it, the box of food he had brought with him. She smiled when she noticed the small box of chocolates and bunch of flowers that accompanied him.

"Thank you Callen," Mickey said and smiled when she smelled them.

"I dropped some flowers off at Aileen's grave site on the way here," Callen said sadly as he sat at the table and passed her a coffee. "I couldn't make it to the funeral."

"I did. We kept in touch over the years. She became a good friend, and that was your doing Callen. If it hadn't been for you I would have never met her, or had such a good friend in my life," Mickey said with a smile.

"You did? I never knew that. She mentioned you a few times, when she tried to put me back in a foster home," he told her.

"But you went back?" Mickey prompted.

"Once or twice. Okay, another ten times," Callen admitted with a wry grin.

He leaned back and stroked Spencer on the head; "I had a dog for awhile," he admitted changing the subject, "and a wife," he added quietly.

"You were married?" Mickey asked surprised.

Callen smiled, "Three months, undercover op. We had a dog, Buddy. He was a great dog." His mind wandered. "Just got divorced, she left me in a situation while she went home and had tea."

Mickey waited. She now knew Callen's real reason for coming to visit her. "I loved her. Well, I thought I did. I just couldn't work there anymore. They all knew that our marriage was real, including my wife. I was told it was just a cover. You can imagine my surprise when she told me it was real. You had taught me that family and marriage are important so I tried to make it work. I finally trusted someone but she ended up betraying that trust just like everyone else in my life had."

"Hey!" Mickey admonished.

Callen let out a small grin, "Present company excluded of course."

"So you left?" She asked.

Callen nodded, "I start at the DEA in two weeks. Already slated for a job in Saint Petersburg, Florida."

"And that I assume is all you're going to tell me?" Mickey smiled.

Callen nodded, "I just needed somewhere safe to rest before I go undercover again."

"You think you'll stay with the DEA?" Mickey asked hoping he'd finally settle down.

"Maybe, maybe not. You never know what's around the corner Mickey."

"You go rest Callen, I'll make us something to eat."

"Extra sausage?" Callen asked hopefully.

Mickey laughed and watched as the adult version of her favorite boarder walked off to the room he had occupied several years ago, Spencer following closely behind.

The two weeks Callen stayed with Mickey were rejuvenating; he walked in the forest with Spencer, making sure to steer clear of the touristy areas. He fixed up the cabin with the skills he had learnt from an NIS (Naval Investigative Services) Agent he'd worked with in Serbia who'd had a penchant for carpentry, and most importantly, he took time to get reacquainted with himself.

He spent the evenings talking with Mickey, telling her about the years since he had left her, his hopes, dreams and fears. He talked more about how he'd been betrayed by Tracey and one day had literally caught his colleagues laughing at the fact that he didn't know his marriage was real. How he'd been with the FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation) for only a short time before they started pushing him to talk to therapists about his childhood after his boss had found out about his past. It was only a matter of time before he was labeled as a lone wolf. Both of them had looked at Spencer and laughed.

"I made it out of the system alive, went to University, worked hard and established a career as an undercover agent. A good one if I may say so. Then I was expected to relive it all for the sake of more responsibility. It wasn't worth it, so I left.

"Was there anyone you could trust?"

"There was one guy, Tobias Fornell. He was okay until he found out about my past. He wanted to "help me", kept inviting me to his home. His wife was weird. Mind you she was pregnant at the time. Heard she had a girl."

"So what happened?" Mickey asked.

"I didn't trust his wife … she was … I don't know, off. I can't see them lasting and I don't want to get in the middle of that. I still talk to Tobias occasionally," he admitted.

"So then you joined the CIA and then the DEA. You ever thought of coming out here and working for the Forestry Service?"

Callen laughed, "Nope, too many letters to remember. Three is enough for me."

They sat on the porch talking into the night, until it became too cold for Mickey and she went inside for the night. It was at that moment Callen realized how much Mickey had aged since he last saw her. While Mickey needed the warmth of the cabin, Callen found snuggling up with Spencer on the large outdoor sofa was all he needed.

This place with Mickey was his bolt hole. His safety net, where he had come back again and again when the group homes had gotten too tough or he needed to make a big decision. It was the one place where he could completely let his guard down.

He knew that this new job would be tough. He had left his old rooming house and decided while working undercover he wouldn't bother looking for another place to live.

He packed up his meager belongings and with a big stroke to the ageing wolf and a bigger hug to Mickey, he set off for what would turn out to be the biggest test of his career so far.