A/N - Well it's official, this story has become my longest one yet. At least in the word count on my computer. And I still haven't finished adding the flourish and details to at least 3 or the remaining chapters.

Anyway, here is another one to enjoy.

Reviews, etc are all support and all appreciated immensely.

Disclaimer in Chapter 1

Chapter 21

Sam drove them to the rendezvous point and they got out of the car, moving to join the group of FBI agents that were surrounding the van.

"Who's in charge here?" Callen asked as he looked around, trying to tell the boss from the others. They were all suited up ready to in.

"I am," came a voice from behind him.

Callen turned around and a fist landed squarely in his stomach, momentarily taking his breath away.

"That is for what you did to the Kid," a voice, familiar from a long time ago, came from above him as he was doubled over.

"Who the hell-"

Callen straightened up quickly, putting a restraining hand on Sam to stop him from retaliating. He looked into the FBI agent's face as he spoke.

"It's okay Sam."

The FBI agent in charge was still focused on Callen. "She was never the same after you. The Kid never came back." There was pain and loss behind his words that Callen could hear clearly.

"I'm sorry," Callen replied, his apology genuine. He could only hope the agent in front of him could understand that.

Sam cleared his throat, frustrated at being out of the loop. Callen glanced at Sam and then back to the FBI Agent.

"Simon Bracken, this is Special Agent Sam Hanna."

Simon nodded at Sam and turned back to Callen.

"How is she?" he asked, concern clearly evident in his voice.

"She should be fine. She's sedated, but doing okay," Callen reassured him.

"She's the only reason I'm working with you right now," Simon informed him.

Callen didn't doubt it, especially after Neil's response to him a couple of days ago. He knew they had cared back then. It appeared nothing had changed and they were still ready to defend her. Do anything for her, even if it meant working with him.

"I'm sure she is," Callen agreed.

"G?" Sam queried. "Gonna fill me in?"

Simon turned to Sam.

"Sorry. Kim is one of my team. Has been since she started with the FBI. Nothing personal with you, okay. That was just between me and Callen."

Sam nodded as the situation finally became clear. Adding Simon and Neil's information and connection to Kim together, Sam figured that if Simon cared about Kim as much as he suspected, in all honesty, G had just gotten off lightly.

"Let's do this," Simon added, as he started to move closer to the van. "We'll be ready to go in two minutes. Grab a vest. Much as I don't care, I'm sure Kim will kill me if you get yourself killed. And I'm not getting on her bad side for you."

Sam chuckled.

Simon looked back at him curiously.

"Sam didn't think she could take him. He challenged her." Callen didn't need to go any further.

Simon chuckled as Callen and Sam donned their vests. "Let me guess, flat on your back?"

"You been there before?" Sam asked.

Simon shook his head. "Haven't been stupid enough to challenge her since I found out she was training with Brendan."

"He didn't know about that at the time," Callen added with a grin.

Simon smiled, almost like a proud father. "That's my Kim. Always something up her sleeve you don't know about." Simon looked at his men, his expression turning serious. More serious than was necessary. This was more than just about getting Casey back for him. Callen could see that. This was about getting justice for Kim, twice now Marks had got her. This was going to end. Maybe not here and now, but Simon would see it through, working with whoever he needed to, to make it so.

"All right, time to move it," Simon ordered. "Let's get this girl home safe." He glanced at Callen and Sam, "You two stay with me. They tell me you are good. Show me."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~o

"It's all clear. Where is she?" Simon sounded frustrated. They'd been through the entire house, taken down the six men in there. No sign of the girl. Unfortunately the six men had all been willing to die to protect their, now dead, boss's secret.

"Maybe your intel was wrong," Callen suggested, feeling just as frustrated as Simon sounded. Simon glared at him.

"G!" called Sam. They both turned and moved quickly to Sam, who pointed down to the carpet. An indent from furniture which had been recently moved showed on the carpet. "There," Sam added after surveying the furniture quickly and pointed to a bookcase a bit further down the wall.

Callen, Sam and Simon quickly pushed the books off and pulled the bookcase away from the wall. Sure enough, there was a door.

Callen opened it and saw a dull light coming from the bottom of the stairs. They moved down slowly and came around the corner and looked around what they could see of the basement. The three of them stopped in shock. Cowering in the corner, huddled together were four young girls. Very slowly Callen moved closer, trying not to frighten them. Simon quietly ordered for some female agents to come down and Sam checked the rest of the basement, making sure it was clear.

Callen looked over the girls and spotted the one he recognised.

"Casey?" he called gently. He saw her eyes widen and she froze. "It's okay. We're here to take you home. We've been looking for you." She still didn't move. He couldn't blame her after what she had been through.

"I'm Callen." He pulled his badge out and showed her, not really knowing is she would understand. "You're safe." He stopped about five feet from the girls, not wanting to scare them anymore. "We'll get you all home soon. Any of you hurt?" he asked. The girls shook their heads and relief washed over him. He heard footsteps behind him and the girls looked away in that direction. He turned and saw the female agents Simon had requested and stepped back.

"Wait," he heard one of the girls call tentatively to him. He looked up and Casey was watching him. "You were looking for me?" she asked.

Callen nodded, "A lot of us have been looking for you." Casey stood up and walked over to him, cautiously. She was two steps away from him when she suddenly sped up, threw her arms around him and sobbed. He held onto her as the other girls were comforted by the other agents. When she had calmed down, he guided her up the stairs and into the car. They were taking them all to the hospital to be checked over.

Callen was about to get in with Casey when Simon came over to him. He stopped and turned to the FBI Agent.

"Good job, you and your partner," Simon said, "spotting that bookcase."

"Thanks. You too," Callen replied. "For what's it's worth," he added, "I left to protect her. She got hurt because of me."

Simon nodded his agreement. "You're right. She did get hurt because of you. But not the way you're thinking." Callen frowned. Simon continued, "She took a bullet because of the mission. She got hurt because you left … She got over the bullet."

Simon stopped there, the silence telling Callen that he didn't believe she got over him.

"The Kid never came back from that mission, Callen," Simon added sadly. "She was different. Colder, harder, distant, even with us. She wasn't tough when she went on it with you. She was by the time she came back."

"I'm sorry," Callen said, knowing it was nowhere near enough to make up for what had happened.

"Tell her that, not me," Simon replied. "Oh, and stay away from Neil. If you thought my hit was bad, his will be worse," he advised.

"I wouldn't have expected you both to still be working with her." Callen had been curious about Neil still being around. Even more so now he knew they both were.

"We are," came Simon's simple statement.

"Why?"

"Because we are," Simon repeated.

Callen frowned. "Just figured someone would have moved on by now," he added.

Simon looked at him for a moment before he added, "Some people are worth sticking around for."

Simon turned and walked away.

When Callen finally walked back into Kim's room, it was about two am. Hetty had cleared it with the hospital that visiting hours didn't matter for Kim. He didn't ask how, didn't care, was just extremely grateful because, now that Casey had been found, he wasn't going to leave.

He walked over to her bedside and looked down at her. She was so pale and still, just like their last mission. But unlike last time, he had no thoughts of running. Fornell looked up at him.

"Did you get her?" Fornell asked tiredly.

"Yeah." Callen nodded. He could hear the tiredness in his own voice as he spoke. "Not just Casey. There were three other girls as well," Callen added. Three others that they hadn't even known were a part of it.

Fornell's eyes closed briefly and Callen wondered if he was remembering when Kim had been taken.

"Thank god," Fornell said softly.

"Where's Gibbs?" Callen asked, it finally sinking in that Fornell was the only one in the room.

"Gone to find some decent coffee. Think I'll go see what's keeping him," Fornell replied as he stood up and walked past him.

"Thanks for staying with her." Callen added. Fornell stopped and turned to face him.

"She's family Callen. Of course I'll be here for her." Fornell glanced over to Kim then back to Callen as he added, "When are you going to realise she's your family too?"

"I have, believe me I have," he admitted. She'd been everything he'd ever wanted in a family and he'd walked away. "I just don't know if she wants me anymore," he admitted. He couldn't keep the emotion out of his voice. He didn't care. Now wasn't the time to hide behind some tough cop image.

Fornell's tone softened as he said, "She always has. Doubt that's changed. Don't leave it too long to tell her."

"I won't," Callen replied as he turned and looked at her.

Fornell walked out and closed the door quietly. Callen went and sat down next to Kim. He took her hand, kissed it and moved closer to whisper in her ear.

"I'm back. We found her, Bella. We found Casey and she's back with her parents. They didn't hurt her."

He looked at her face, hoping to see something, any sign that she knew he was here. That she had heard him. But there was nothing. Remember, she's heavily sedated. It doesn't mean anything that there's no reaction. For once he was appreciative of Nate's reassurance in his head.

Callen took a deep breath, then continued with filling her in on the mission.

"We also found three other girls. Simon's working on getting them back to their families. DEA are searching through everything, trying to get more information about the others. They took down Marks' group. No one knew what to do once he was dead. And he is dead this time Bella. I promise you, this time it is over. We got the Navy personnel involved as well."

Callen closed his eyes trying to hold back the tears, but it didn't help. "We did it Bella. We stopped this," he said, his voice breaking.

"Now you need to wake up so we can talk."