Chapter 14
Archangel stood there, leaning slightly on his cane as both Bates and Jensen looked at him open mouthed.
"Who the hell are you?" Jensen snapped.
"Archangel, why are you here?" Callen asked.
Archangel smirked and ignored the detectives, "You've only been back in Los Angeles a day and you get into this mess?" He said, sitting down and facing Callen.
"I didn't do it!" Callen argued.
Archangel nodded, "I know son, relax." He smiled at him and turned to the men. "Bates, you'll be getting a call from the commissioner to drop this case."
Bates looked over at Callen who looked as confused as he was.
"Just because you have pull, doesn't mean this man is innocent." Bates argued.
"No, but I have a DNA test which proves that the late Antonio Rodriguez is the father of Ms Vasquez's child. Not Mr. Callen. Also, I have video evidence that proves that Callen was not in league with the Rodriguez family at all."
"Why would the girl lie?" Bates asked.
Callen sat there, he couldn't answer that question, because his only answer was something he had promised never to talk about. He looked over at Archangel hoping the man would know exactly what he was thinking.
Archangel nodded and smiled, "Mr. Callen was tortured by the Rodriguez brothers in an attempt to get classified information out of him. He was held for ransom and did not at any time divulge the classified information he was being asked for. I have shown the evidence to the Commissioner who will be telling you that this case is closed. I would assume that Ms Vasquez is trying to get Agent Callen to give up that same information so she can sell the information on."
"Just like that?" Jensen asked. "Just who are you?"
"Someone who is way…. Way beyond your pay grade." Archangel replied.
"What about Maria?" Callen asked.
Jensen shot him a glare, not entirely convinced of his innocence.
"She will be relocated in a mother and child unit and given therapy to recover from her ordeal." Archangel said.
"They won't split them up will they?" Callen asked, worried, he knew how the system worked, especially when it came to underaged mother's. He'd seen the fall out too many times himself as a child.
"They will be taken care of, we are funding a scholarship for her so she can complete school and go to college if she wishes. Don't worry Callen." Archangel said.
"I want to see her, please." Callen asked.
Jensen shook his head vehemently, but Bates' phone rang as he too was about to object.
"Bates." He said, turning away from the group. "Sir? Yes Sir, he's here now… No Sir, Not at all… Of course Sir, anything he needs. Yes Sir." he looked flustered as he put the phone down.
"We'll talk to her social worker, you'll have to be supervised, but if they agree then yes." Bates replied, the look on his face saying he wasn't comfortable with the situation.
"Fine," Callen replied, "Deeks and Archangel can supervise me in here, you lot can watch on the monitor."
"Go." Archangel ordered.
"Yes Sir." Bates replied grimly as he physically pulled Jensen from the room, glaring at Archangel as he went.
For a moment they were alone.
"Why did you do this?" Callen asked, "This wasn't your fight."
Michael looked at his son sadly, he wanted to tell him, but now, here wasn't the time.
"Hetty called, told me everything she knew and how it could compromise Airwolf." He said.
Callen nodded, "I didn't do this, you believe me don't you?"
"Of course." Archangel didn't even have to think about it, "I know what you went through growing up, I know that you wouldn't even think about hurting a child."
Callen sighed, "Most people think if you're broken as a child, you'll do it to someone else as an adult."
"You are a good man Callen and an even better agent I know your parents would be proud of you." Archangel said.
Callen looked at him and wondered, had he known his mother? He was about to ask when Maria came back, with the social worker.
"I will not allow her here, without my being present to monitor her welfare." The woman said.
"Of course, my dear." Archangel said, gesturing to a chair for her to sit on.
He extended his hand, "Archangel." He said.
She raised an eyebrow in surprise at the name, but took his hand and shook it. "Helen Way, Social worker."
"We have discovered that Maria here is not telling the truth about her relationship with Mr. Callen."
Maria stepped back, "I…. I…." She shook her head, pulling Carlos closer to her for safety.
Callen stood up, "It's ok Maria, no one is going to hurt you."
"No, but you hurt him. You killed my Antonio. Who is going to protect me and Carlos now? We just needed that Airwolf... We could have sold it to Antonio's buyer, I could have raised my son." She started crying, "I have nothing now, he will be taken from me and raised by strangers."
"No." Callen subconsciously stepped between the child and the social worker. "You will raise him. You will raise him to be a better man than his father."
Maria looked up at him with hope, "How?" She asked. "I have no home, no money, nothing. How can I raise my child?"
"Archangel has offered to give you a scholarship to school, to fund your place in a mother and child home until you are ready to live with Carlos alone." Callen pulled a chair up to sit next to her and lowered his voice, "I know what Antonio was like, I can imagine what he did to you. Don't let what happened to you define your life. You are a mother now, you have a chance to be something great. Go to college, complete your education and raise your son to be a good man. Be more than what happened to you, win by fighting back, by moving on."
Maria looked him in the eye and saw the pain and the truth of his words. "You do understand." She breathed softly and reached for his hand, "I'm scared Callen." She admitted.
Callen really wanted to talk to her alone, but he knew he couldn't. Instead, he lowered his voice so that only she could hear. "I hit rock bottom at the same age you are now, I ended up in Juvenile hall. I nearly lost everything, then a woman turned up, out of the blue. She told me she thought I had potential for greatness and she helped me out. I see in you what she saw in me. You will be better than others because you have seen the darker side of life, you have been broken and now it is time to slowly fix you. You can do this, I will give you my number and you can call for anything. I remember what you did for me in there Maria, you saved my life. You are a good person, please, don't go down the dark road, be better for your son."
Callen hoped that his impassioned plea would get through to the girl, he knew too many people who had been abused as a child and had not come out the other side in one piece. He knew this was a turning point in her life, he had had Hetty there for him when he had hit that point, all she needed was someone to guide her in the right direction.
Maria sat quietly as the social worker looked on, concerned at the two of them whispering and then Maria's silent tears.
She stood up to intervene as Maria raised a hand.
"Stop." She said, her voice wavering, "Mr Archangel, I will take your offer. I want to be better than I was, I want the same chance you had Callen." She turned to him and smiled, "I will raise my son to be a good man, and will tell him about the man who helped change my life."
Callen smiled, "You'll be fine." He replied as Maria stood up to go.
"Thank you Callen," She walked over and hugged him, "I am sorry." She whispered in his ear.
He nodded and watched as she left the room.
Archangel turned to Callen, as the others left. "You are a lucky man, Agent Callen." he said.
"I wasn't guilty." Callen snapped, He closed the door so Archangel and himself were alone in the room, "I didn't give my DNA, we don't incase we are compromised, how did you get it?" He asked suspiciously.
Archangel watched as Callen eyed him distrustfully.
Archangel wanted to tell him, how he had used his own DNA and had it tested in his labs, he had wanted to use his DNA to prove he was Callen's father and hopefully mend the rift with his son, but he could see that wasn't going to happen.
"I got String to donate some DNA, he wanted to help and we got hold of Antonio's DNA as well. He knew you were innocent and as he doesn't work for a federal agency he could safely donate."
"You shouldn't have gotten him involved!" Callen snarled mad that yet again this man was interfering with his family. He had heard all about what the CIA and Archangel had done to String, keeping him apart from his brother.
"Maybe you should just leave my family alone, and me." Callen paced for a moment trying to calm his temper down. "I know Bates is a good man, he would have gotten to the truth eventually. I mean... Thank you for what you did for Maria, but it doesn't make up for what you did to SinJin or String."
"Well, I hope you'll let me try and make things up to you and your family." Archangel said hopefully.
"You have nothing to make up to me for."
"We could have had you reunited with your brothers earlier." Archangel admitted.
Callen shook his head, "I don't care. I mean, I would have liked to have been reunited with them earlier, but that didn't happen. It's no good spending time on should-a, could-a, would-a's. All that matters is what did happen and how we go on from it. Besides, it's not like you were responsible for what happened in my childhood, and I used that to my advantage to help Maria. The scholarship is a good start, but I will be sending her money for a while, I don't have much. I'm not rich like my brothers, but she deserves a good start in life and someone to watch out for her. She needs a Hetty." He laughed at his own joke.
"A Hetty?" Archangel asked interested.
"A guardian angel, someone who appears at the right time, to help guide you from a bad road to a good road. I had Hetty just as my life was spiralling out of my control, I had no one to guide me growing up, no one to care if I went off the rails and ended up in the gutter. All I needed was one person, one person to say they cared and that I had potential. She did that for me. After all, my mother is dead and my father…. Well, who knows… If he knows about me he obviously doesn't care as he never bothered to try to find me or my sister. If he were here now, I wouldn't even give him the time of day." Callen snapped. He was tired and the events of the day had gotten to him.
Archangel just watched him sadly.
"What if your father was doing something more important?"
"What the hell is more important than raising your family, than being there for them?" Callen sighed, "Look, Archangel, it isn't your problem, is it? Thank you for your help, but I suggest you go back to whatever you were doing before I mucked up your life."
Callen stood up and walked out of the room, leaving Archangel to stand there as Callen went back to his team, his family.
Archangel sighed, he had been right. He'd left it too long, now was not the time to tell him, maybe one day, somewhere the stars would align and he would be able to tell his son the truth.
Right now his son had his aunt and his brothers, and his team. As his name suggested Archangel would keep a watch over his son's life. Be there to pull strings and save him if needed. Anything else would have to wait, he knew that back in the Mission Hetty would have been watching, he turned to the camera as if to say goodbye.
"I'm sorry." He said, maybe to Hetty, maybe to his son. For now... Until he was needed again Archangel took the back door out of the boat shed and left.
Callen watched as Maria, Carlos and the social worker left. He smiled, knowing that she would be taken care of.
"You ok G?" Sam asked.
Callen nodded, "Yeah, I'm good." He replied.
He gave a sarcastic wave as Bates and Jensen left and walked back into the Boatshed.
"You were great Deeks." Callen said, placing a hand on Deeks' shoulder.
"Really?" Deeks smirked. "You only now notice this."
Callen laughed, "Next time I get a speeding ticket I'll call you."
They cleaned up ready to leave the Boatshed, then Kensi asked. "Where's Archangel?"
Callen shrugged, "I dunno." He walked back to the room where he had last seen him. The room was empty, save for a discarded cigar wrapper on the table. Callen walked back out to the main room.
"Er…" Eric face popped up on the screen, "Archangel left already, he's on the Lady H. with Hetty."
Callen nodded, "Fine... Anyone up for a drink?" He asked.
Archangel stepped onto the deck of the Lady H. His knee favoring him as the boat rocked in the water. "You couldn't meet on dry land?" He asked as Hetty turned from the wheel.
"You don't like being out of your depth do you Michael?" Hetty asked with a sly smile.
"Hetty?" Archangel growled.
"You left, you could have stayed and told him. He has questions and you are the only one with the answers."
"You won't tell him, about me, I mean?" Michael asked.
"I am not your lackey and I will not do your dirty work." Hetty said angrily, "However if at any time Mr. Callen asks me if you are his father, I will tell him yes."
Michael nodded sadly, "I have my reasons that I didn't tell him. One day I will, but not today. I have an assignment in…. Well, never mind, it's classified. But I promise, I will keep in touch and when you deem he is ready I will tell him."
"He's ready now." Hetty snapped.
"Ok, when he's ready and I am. He isn't ready to know I'm his father yet. He hates me."
"Have you given him reason not to?" Hetty sighed.
"No... No, I haven't." Michael admitted, "But I hope to make it up to him. As he gets to know his brothers, maybe he'll get to know me when I pop in from time to time. But know this Henrietta, I will be keeping an eye on my boy."
"About time Michael." Hetty said and turned to stare out towards the ocean.
Michael stood up, "Keep him safe for me." He pleaded as he stepped off the boat and walked away.
Hetty sighed, watching the waves on the ocean bob up and down, "I always have, until my last breath I always will." She said to herself, knowing Michael couldn't hear her.
She turned her head and watched as his white limo pulled up and he got inside and drove away.
"One of us has to be here for your boy." She sighed sadly as he drove off. Again he had left his son, alone and unknowing. She hoped that one day in the future that would change, until then her Mr. Callen was a few family members stronger and still a few answers short. But he was a survivor and she knew one day he would find the answers to all the questions he had.