For two weeks, Callen and countless other scoured the Islands in search of Amanda. They all knew that it was just a matter of time before the search was called off and every one of them were sent back to wherever they were stationed. When he wasn't personally looking for Amanda, he sat up all night with Nell, Eric, Gibbs and Sam planning on what area or island to search next. They'd searched all of the eight Islands that comprised the state of Hawaii. Yet he kept coming back to one area on the island of Maui. An area that they'd already searched over and over with no sign of Amanda or Dr. Benson. Hetty offered as much time and resources to them as she possibly could, but had been told by the Director that he needed the Agency back to functioning status.
As much as he regretted the decision to call his Agent's home; particularly those who'd worked, even briefly with Amanda or Callen. He was under an unsurmountable amount of pressure from the Sec. Nav. to get back on track. He'd practically begged for another week, even a day. However the new Sec. Nav. refused. He hated making the call to let Hetty know, like he thought she didn't take it well. Neither did Gibbs when he called him with the deadline.
"Leon, this is Amanda." Gibbs growled.
"You think I don't know this, Gibbs. I've begged and pleaded for every day we've gotten. The Sec. Nav. wants the agency fully functional again. I have no choice, I'm sorry."
"There's always a way Leon, go higher if you need to." He suggested.
"Go above the Sec. Nav.'s head? To the Secretary of Defense himself? If I wanted to lose my job, I could do that."
"This is Amanda. How far are you willing to go to get a friend back?" Gibbs asked knowing the Director always had a soft spot for Amanda for some reason. "You think we don't know that you favored her. Why would you pick her for all of those special assignments?"
Leon signed. "She was a good agent and a good friend. Each one of you have something special. Amanda was good, no one ever expected her to flourish the way she did. For someone who started out at an Intel Analyst."
"Is Leon not was, it isn't over until we find evidence that she's… dead." Gibbs hesitated before saying the one word he never thought he'd associate with Amanda.
"It's been a month, Gibbs. There's no sign of her or Dr. Benson. We lost one of our best because of me. Do you really think she was ready to get back into the saddle?"
"Rule number 51, Leon. We all thought she was. Both Nate Getz and Dr. Cranston felt she was. Sometimes we're wrong."
Leon ran his hand down his tired face and sighed. "We've got the rest of the week. I'll see if I can't get more. If I lose my job over this, I expect you to quit with me because you know Callen won't give up until he finds her. He's going to need all the help he can get."
Callen was sitting in the very spot Logan and Zeke had found her phone. It was the one place, aside from the room she had been staying in, that he felt close to her. Where he gained his greatest moments of clarity and could think about what to do next. He spent hours there praying she'd just walk up the beach and into his arms. His heart was breaking, aside from his job and their children, Amanda was his life. He loved her more he ever thought imaginable. Their life together and her love made him forget everything about his past. Callen was not prepared for the events that the Director had planned for that afternoon.
Miranda and Katherine had arrived with Heather, Madison and the kids earlier that week. David, Roxi and Jason had arrived the night before. Her sisters, of course, chose to stay away. Jason walked down from the house and called ahead to let Callen know he was coming. Immediately, Callen stood and offered Jason a weak smiled.
"Good grief kid, you grow anymore and you're going to give Sam a run for his money." Callen laughed and hugged him. "Thank you for coming. I know Amanda appreciates it."
"You don't really believe she's dead do you?" Jason asked, on the verge of tears.
Callen held Jason gently at the back of his neck. "No, I don't. Has Chris said anything?"
"Chris hasn't been around for about a month, since Amanda's been missing. Almost like he's where ever with her." Jason said almost relieved that she wasn't alone.
Callen smiled, "I hope you're right Buddy, I hope you're right."
"My parents have promised to let me come out this summer if you haven't found her by then. It's almost two months away. I really honestly hope I don't have to."
Callen laughed and wrapped his arm around Jason, leading him back up towards the house. "We've got to find her by then, I'm running out of things to tell Chrissy."
Everyone from his team, Amanda's and Gibbs teams were sitting on the front porch listening to Amanda's family tell stories about her as a child. Chrissy saw them coming and bounded out of Kensi's arms towards him. Callen scooped her up and continued on to the house. Janelle sat on the steps and stood as he walked up, wrapping he and Chrissy in a hug.
"I can't believe they're doing this." She sniffled.
The crowd gathered on the beach, standing or sitting in groups. Callen stood with Logan, Gibbs, Sam and David as they watched the mourners file out of the woods. His resignation letter literally burning a hole in his pocket. As much as he loved his job, he loved his wife more and when push came to shove finding Amanda was everything. He saw Hetty, Granger and the Director approaching and pulled the letter from his pocket, looking at it. Sam knew exactly what was in the envelope and was confident their friendship would continue even if they weren't partners.
"Are you sure about this, G?" Sam asked in a whisper.
"I need to find her and if they won't let us do that, I'm going to have to do it on my own." Callen told them. Sam and David smiled.
The three stopped a couple feet away as they two groups looked like they were going to square off. "Special Agent Callen, I'm sorry." The Director started.
"No Sir, I'm sorry." Callen said handing him his resignation.
The Director looked at it before taking it. "Whenever you decide you'd like your job back, it's yours."
"Thank you." Callen said and shook his hand.
The sun dipped lower and lower on the horizon, finally the Director made his way through the crowd towards the podium. "I'd like to thank you all for being here today. It's very unfortunate we are gathered under these circumstances. We have lost one of our own, an agent who far exceeded everyone's expectations, but proved herself invaluable to our agency. She was first and foremost a friend to many of us gathered here today, but we cannot forget where she came from. Special Agent Rogers-Callen was a daughter, sister, a Marine, an Analyst, an agent, a wife and finally a mother. Amanda's presence and light was far reaching and touched so many lives. I see so many faces here today who knew Amanda on either a personal or professional lever, with Amanda those lines were blurred. And the consensus is that she will be greatly missed."
Callen had all he could do to keep it together. He was going out of his mind, he knew she wasn't dead. Half of the men and women there didn't believe she was dead. It was insane that an agency that valued her so much would just give up on her like that. He felt his phone vibrate against his leg and ignored it. A few minutes later it rang again. Finally after the fifth call, he pulled his phone out to see who was calling. Missing the call, he slowly backed away from the group and headed into the woods to call the number.
He found himself standing at the exact spot, Amanda's spot as Janelle called it, and his phone vibrated in his palm. "Who is this?" He barked.
"I'm sorry to bother you, bro." The man said.
"How did you get this number?"
"Hey Dude, slow down. Are you Callen?"
Immediately Callen hung up and started towards the beach when the phone rang again. "Look Bro, I'm kind of in the middle of something important here."
"Man, I'm trying to help you."
"Help me how?" He yelled. Sam came through the trees looking at him oddly.
"Some woman gave me this number and told me to call you."
Callen's heart nearly jumped out of his chest. "What woman?" He asked grabbing at Sam's chest.
"Man, she was really sick when we found her. We took her to the hospital."
Sam listened intently once Callen had put the call on speakerphone. "What hospital?"
"Maui Memorial Hospital, they admitter her as a Jane Doe." Sam took off running back towards the beach yelling as he went, by the time he and a handful of others got back to Amanda's spot, Callen was gone.