Callen had decided against calling Sam when he left Kensi's. As much as he wanted to tell his partner, so he would have someone to talk to, he decided it was better for everyone to wait until the morning. He had a restless night and didn't sleep much, and he gave up on sleep well before dawn and went in to work. He spent some time in the gym, beating on the punching bag, but didn't find it as satisfying as his partner did. He went back to his desk to finish up paperwork, which kept him occupied until the others started trickling in.
Hetty was first to arrive. When she came in, she looked mildly surprised to see him - but gave him space and went up to her desk, knowing he would come talk to her when he was ready. And she was right. She had just poured herself her first cup of tea, when he came up and said he needed to talk.
"Is this about Ms. Blye?" She asked, knowing full well it was.
"Yeah. How much do you know?" He asked.
"Mr. Deeks seems quite adamant that this will be his investigation, and is keeping us at arm's length for the moment" She started. "But I reviewed the evidence that came in yesterday and I believe I have an idea of what happened." Callen sighed, and handed Hetty the note that Deeks had scribbled for him on the back of the shopping list. She read it silently, her lips tightening.
"I went to drop off some ice cream for Kensi last night, figured if she were sick it might help. Deeks answered the door and looked ready to kill someone. They let me in, but she's a mess. I've never seen her like this, all her fight is gone. She's just a shell." He stopped, remembering how timid and scared she had looked last night. "Deeks gave me a short list of stuff to pick up, with that note on the back. I got a small smile out of her when I dropped off the milkshake he requested... but she's not Kensi. Whatever happend to her, it broke her."
Hetty had listened quietly. When she saw the evidence come in, she had her suspicions about the assault. By the way Deeks was behaving, and Nell's report, she knew Kensi was in a bad place - but to hear Callen confirm it, and to read what Deeks had written, made her feel ill. She was aware of how protective Deeks was of his partner, and she knew that finding her like this was going to damn near destroy him too. She was glad she had already recalled Nate and he was on his way there. She waited to see if Callen had any more to add to what he had said. When he didn't, she spoke.
"I had a look at the evidence that Nell retrieved. I believe we will need to collect more, but we have the essentials for now. It has been sent for processing, but if you would like to review the photos, I will make them available. There are none of Ms. Blye, as Mr. Deeks felt it would be detrimental to all involved. I assume they have approved you telling us about this?" She asked. His nod was her confirmation. "Then I will have you do so when everyone is here." She said "At which point we can begin an investigation - although Mr. Deeks has made it quite clear we will do things his way, and I have no intention of arguing with him. I believe he is correct that if this is not handled properly, we may lose Ms. Blye as an agent - and Mr. Deeks as well." She stopped, with a sad look on her face. "We need to deal with this quickly and cautiously, Mr. Callen. We cannot afford to lose Ms. Blye. Follow Mr. Deeks lead - but make sure we can catch these miserable bastards."
They were interrupted as the main door swung open, and Eric and Nell came in. Nell looked anxious, and Eric was watching her with concern, Callen observed. When Nell saw Callen and Hetty speaking, she knew they were in for a very difficult day, but couldn't help feeling relief that she could now share her feelings with Eric.
When Eric saw Hetty and Callen speaking, he felt a sinking feeling. First Kensi calls in sick and Deeks doesn't come back to work. Then Nell is keeping a secret that's destroying her, and now Callen and Hetty are deep in conversation, both looking grim. But he knows enough to keep his mouth shut, as he follows Nell up to Ops.
Sam came in last - although he was still an hour early. He had intended to spend some time in the gym, and catching up on paperwork to make up for being two agents down. When he saw everyone had arrived and was looking grim, he knew he wasn't going to the gym first. He exchanged a look with Callen, and they headed up to Ops with Hetty close behind.
When they walk in, Eric immediately turned and directed his attention to Hetty. Nell turned as well, but couldn't bring herself to look up.
"I'm afraid that we have a situation" Hetty began "Yesterday, three men broke into Ms. Blye's house and assaulted her. Mr. Deeks found her when she didn't show up for work. At her request, we waited until now to brief you." She said. Then Callen took over.
"Kensi's in bad shape. But she doesn't want to see anyone at the moment, and we need to respect that. They used her father's knife to threaten her, and she received four stab wounds, all of which were serious. All three sexually assaulted her, but we do not have details and may not get them." He could see Sam was barely containing his rage, and gave him a look. "Deeks gathered evidence to be processed, and it's being done now. When Kensi is ready, someone will need to go back to collect and process the rest of it. Deeks did take photos for us to use, which Nell was to keep secure until now - but they are only of evidence, not of Kensi herself." Eric turned to Nell with a look of shock as he realized that she had been the one to retrieve the evidence, and had kept this to herself. No wonder she had been struggling so much - she had known what happened and wasn't allowed to talk about it. She kept herself blank as she handed him the chip with the photos on it. She hadn't reviewed them herself yesterday, knowing she wouldn't be able to keep herself together. Callen continued. "These pictures are going to be difficult to look at. For now, we need to forget that Kensi was involved and try to be objective. We need to be able to solve this quickly." He said.
When Eric started loading the pictures, they all froze. Nell's hand flew to her mouth as she gasped, prompting Eric to reach over and place his hand on her arm. The bloody knife, the rope, the bedding - it was too much. Nell quietly started to cry, and Sam stormed from the room. Callen followed Sam out, and Eric gathered Nell in his arms as she quietly cried into his chest. Before Hetty left, she turned to Eric and said:
"Do what needs to be done to catch these bastards. I don't care if it's legal. You have my permission to do anything necessary to bring them to justice." And she left quickly.
Eric closed the images on the screen so they didn't have to look at them. Nell had allowed him to hold her as her quiet tears had turned to sobs. He was unsure what to do, but he let her cry and gently stroked her hair.
"We're going to catch them, Nell. I promise. And you know that we'll make them pay." He reassured her.
"I know." She whispered. "But I'm scared we won't get Kensi back. How can anyone recover from this?" She asked him.
"I don't know." He replied. He didn't know if anyone could. "But if anyone can, it's Kensi. And she's got all of us to help her." He said. Nell nodded, knowing he was right. "And you're staying at my place until they're caught" he added as he suddenly realized why she was reluctant to return home. She allowed herself a few more moments of comfort before she sat up and said,
"OK, then let's get to work."
Callen followed Sam as he made his way to the gym. And he stood aside while he watched his partner beat the crap out of the bag. When Sam hit the punching bag so hard that it split, and the chain holding it broke, Callen stepped in.
"It's not going to help her." He said. "She needs us to focus on finding the monsters who did this to her." Sam stepped back.
"I know. But what the hell, G. When did you know, and why didn't you tell me?" He asked, still angry.
"Last night, I went to drop off some ice cream because we thought she was sick." Callen explained. "I picked up some stuff that Deeks asked for, and when I dropped it off she was ready to sleep. I was going to call you, but she needs her space and I knew you'd want to go over there as soon as you knew. And she doesn't want to see us right now."
"We're family. We need to be there for her" Sam said, kicking the bag on the floor.
"I know. But she's not ready, Sam. I saw her face - she was terrified when I came in. And Deeks was acting like a damn pitbull, ready to pitch me out of there without hesitation the moment she said the word. We're gonna have to wait for her to come to us, as hard as that is." Callen knew he was right, but he also knew Sam wouldn't want to hear them.
"Fine." Sam said. "Fine. But I'm going to murder the men that did this to her. They don't deserve a trial."
"I'm with you on that one. But Kensi made me promise she gets first dibs." Callen replied
"I guess I can live with that..." Sam agreed. "But they're not getting away with this." He gave the sad punching bag one last kick, and then they went back up to Ops to develop a plan.