Chapter 21

Detective Marty Deeks' mind was in a whirl. He tossed and turned and only achieved four hours of solid sleep. He needed coffee, and he needed it now. The news that the Campbells' dead neighbour had been protecting Callen and his family, hit home to him. Although they had intel that Callen was being hunted again, there were no signs of a threat to the Campbells in their home. He shuddered at the thought of those masked Russian mercenaries entering their home instead and killed Callen and his family. Memories from Lanz Island where Agent Matthew Dodds held Alice hostage, held poll position in his mind and his heart raced. And Matt had been on their team for five years. His family had been held hostage to force Dodds' hand, and the terror that it could have been any one of them placed into that position rocked him deeply.

He'd held conversations with Sam on this matter over the years since, and every time Sam returned with, "he had a chance to talk to me, tell me about the situation, but he didn't."

Sam was wise, Deeks knew, but he never told the big guy just how much his words of wisdom and encouragement meant to him. To be welcomed into the team and treated like a brother, had meant the world to him. And each time one of them was in danger, he fought like a bat out of hell to help protect them. This time was no different.

It provided him with some relief that his wife and son were safe and far away from Los Angeles. It meant that he could focus on his work and not worry about them. But he still worried about Callen. Someone in the team always appeared to in danger.

"Callen's safe." He said over and over in his mind. He's alive and far away from danger. If danger did find him, he had the confidence that Sam and Gibbs would protect him.

He entered the old water treatment plant at six in the morning and unlocked the door, switching the alarm off. The sky was brightening outside, and he switched on the lights to show him his way inside the deserted building. His footsteps echoed along the tiled floor and he stopped at the bullpen, framed by patterned iron trellising. This had been his home for so long, and three months later, he missed this place so much. It was more the people than the place that he felt deep in his heart, and it felt wrong to be there without any of them. Even Eric who was usually perched upstairs, he missed just as much as the others. His eyes shifted across the vacant area that separated their desks with Hetty's and he sighed. How many times had they seen her desk empty of recent years? They couldn't fool themselves to think she was Yoda and live forever. Even if she'd defied death on numerous occasions.

His eyes lifted up to the recent addition of Mosley's office, the low ceiling darkened their bullpen and sighed. Mosley had vanished with her son, that meant that Shay wasn't around to kick him out. There were some blessings in this situation at least. He needed Deputy Director Ochoa to reassign him back to OSP permanently, and he'd be happy. He belonged here. So why, he wondered as he opened his laptop, why was he contemplating opening up a bar to work in, instead of this place where he considered it home?

The shrill of his cell phone brought him out of the morning cobwebs of his brain.

"Deeks."

"Where are you?" It was Detective Shane Moyles and he sounded too awake to have slept last night.

"At work."

"I know you're not at LAPD. I'm there now. How soon can you arrive here?" He sounded excited, almost out of breath.

"I can be there in twenty."

"Make it ten." Moyles disconnected the call, and Deeks snapped to attention. He had to move quickly. Ten was pushing it, and he had to lock up OSP and set the alarm, his reason for adding time onto his eta with Moyles.

"Crap." He slammed his laptop shut and bolted for the door. As he went to open it, Deputy Director Ochoa entered, giving them both a surprise.

"Detective Deeks. What are you doing here at this time in the morning?" He double checked the time of his watch. He'd caught an early flight to Los Angeles, with the hope of getting in early to catch up on work before the staff arrived.

"I've just received a call from LAPD. A detective who was working the Harper case before it was handed over to us. He has something and wants me over there ASAP."

"I'll come with you. Just in case it's a trap."

"You believe whoever is behind this would even know about me to lure me there? It's where Assistant Director Mosley sent me back for the past three months."

"If this involves development on our case, then yes. We cannot take any chances, especially after the attack on Agent Callen in one of our planes."

Deeks nodded and switched the alarm back on, locking the old wooden door behind him. "I'm driving."

"Good idea, considering you know Los Angeles better than I do."

Deeks drove it in ten minutes and pulled his SUV into the LAPD parking garage. He used his security card to access them into the elevator for the third floor.

His blurred vision blocked the view of his surroundings, but the beeping of the heart monitor was familiar. Memories returned to him in an instant: the quick escape from the plane and his bad landing into the lake. Callen failed to sit up when he realised a halo pinned him on the bed. He began to panic.

"Take it easy, G." Sam soothed his partner. "You've got to stay still."

"Thea!" Callen's voice was rough from a dry throat.

"They're safe where they are. You just focus on getting better."

Callen drifted back into a deep sleep again without much effort. Sam's eyes remained on his partner until his breathing slowed.

"He'll wake up when he's good and ready." Gibbs entered and handed him a large cup of black coffee.

"Thanks." Sam lifted his cup to salute his colleague. "He's already woken up. He's just fallen back to sleep again."

"That's a good sign."

"Is it?" Sam's own frustration rushed through him. "Does he look like he's going to be okay to you?"

Leroy Jethro Gibbs squeezed Sam's shoulder for comfort. His eyes darted over his longtime friend, his own worry evident in his eyes. "It's a precaution. It doesn't mean he'll be paralysed."

"This isn't the first time. He was lucky before," Sam complained.

"You have to be patient with these kinds of injuries. He's alive and receiving the best medical care for now."

"When's he being moved to a larger hospital?"

"He's not in the condition to be moved again for the time being. Trust the staff. No one's going to know he's Agent Callen in here. He's Stephen Campbell—husband, father, and pilot."

"But whoever followed him—"

"Hetty has someone ensuring only our people and the FAA enter the crash site. Not even the FBI are allowed access."

"Is Hetty playing along with his death in the crash?"

"I believe she's swaying to the theory that he's missing in action. Callen's smart. He escaped with a parachute and landed in a lake. He couldn't have planned it better."

"But he fell too fast and landed on a strange angle. You saw his condition." The intense lights reflected off the tears that Sam tried to hide.

"At least he didn't fall onto land. You know he has a good chance of survival, Sam." Gibbs sighed and sat in the vacant chair in the room. "Callen's stronger than most people we know, he'll pull through again."

"I can't afford to lose him."

"We're not going to."

"Mom, what are you doing?" Alice stood in the doorway of the bedroom where her mom and younger brother, Hudson, slept in this large wooden house that sat high overlooking the lake. The sun streaked through in rays and lit up her mother while she kneeled down next to the bed.

Thea lifted her head. The tears streaked her face and she wiped them from her face. "I was praying for Dad to return to us soon."

"You're crying." The questioning she'd bombarded them with at age four weren't so many at seven.

"Yes, I am." Thea rose to her feet and wiped her wet hands over her skirt.

"You looked like an angel with the sun on your head."

"Did I?" Strange, Thea noted. She hadn't noticed the morning sun on her head. It was a new day and she'd spent the night worrying for the greater part on who had tried to kill her husband.

"Is it dad you're worrying about?" She'd figured something with her grandma the day before, and witnessing her mother's tears this morning, she began to draw the threads of the puzzle together.

"Yes." Alice wrapped her arms across her body and held on tight. "Dad will come home. I know it."

"Yes, Alice. He will." She blinked back the tears and gave her daughter a watery smile.

"Where are your brothers?"

"They're with Aunt Kensi and Zander."

"Good. Let's have some breakfast." Alice took her hand and led her downstairs, eager to start the day.

Kensi's eyes met her friend's as she entered the dining room. Pancakes and waffles stacked high on the table. "I was hungry and couldn't wait." Her mouth stuffed like a squirrel made Thea laugh.

"I wish I could take your photo right now and show Marty."

Kensi blushed. "You wouldn't?"

"I would if I could." She sighed and sat across from her. Her eyes darted over to her youngest. Hudson and Zander, were chatting in their own babble. They'd warped the English language into something of their own, although capable of conversing in English with any of them. What amazed her the most was how much they appeared to understand each other in amongst the gibberish.

"They've been like it all morning." Kensi smiled over to her, her eyes shifting to her two-year-old son, and realised that when their second child arrived, he'd appear older.

Thea frowned. "I hope this doesn't delay them in their speech."

"It's not all the time." Kensi reminded her. She didn't see it a problem at this age, but then again, Thea was accustomed to having Alice, who was talking fluently at an early age. Tristan was quieter than Alice, but he would make an incredible scientist one day. This was evident from observing him and how much nature enthralled him.

"Perhaps Hudson and Zander are more like their dads," Kensi added.

Thea smiled. "You know, you're right. I shouldn't be worrying or measuring him against his siblings. Thanks, Kens." She settled back into her chair and focused on breakfast. A smile hinted at her lips, Stephen had wanted a son that was a spitting image of him. She remembered when they were at the hospital in Queen Charlotte.

*"A boy! Just like me." *

Thea shook her head.

"What?" Kensi asked curiously.

"I'm just remembering something Stephen said in Queen Charlotte about Hudson. When we had no idea what we were having, he was convinced it was a boy, just like him. Maybe he got his wish after all." Her eyes darted back to her youngest with his fair hair and cerulean eyes and smiled.

Thea searched for her older children, who'd grabbed their breakfast and sat out on the rear verandah before she continued.

"But he's not going to follow in his footsteps in his profession." She shuddered. Why did it affect her so much at the possibility that her children could end up becoming federal agents like them?

"It still bothers you."

Thea looked puzzled at Kensi's comment.

"You had that look when I placed my kevlar vest on Alice. You didn't want her to wear it, or become an agent."

Thea flushed. "It hit me unexpectedly. I'd become accustomed to us living a normal life, you know?"

"It's okay, Thea. I get it. Really I do. Marty's been talking about it since Zander came along. Seeing you two live a normal life away from the action, you made it look enviable."

"I wish we could live our lives without having to go into hiding all the time, but there's always someone out there lurking, ready to pounce like a cheetah."

"Now that's a great analogy." Kensi gave Thea a warm smile. "I can understand why you no longer want to hide, and wanting to be yourselves again." It had been different for her and Deeks, they'd always been able to be themselves to a point, even if she had to lie about what she did for a living—it was different for Deeks, being a cop.

Her mom had been an amazing help with Zander. She was enjoying this restful time with her son, knowing their lives would become crazier with a second. Yet part of her yearned to be out there with the others, protecting the innocent, and fighting the bad guys. It was in her veins and she couldn't help herself. However now, Marty was talking about setting up a bar, a safe venture so one of them wasn't being shot at every day. After that time of normality for Callen and Nell, she was starting to agree with him. But could she ever hand in her badge and walk away?

"I prefer our lives as a family, even if the names are different. Stephen's enjoyed having a name he could call his own, even now that he has his real name." Worry washed over her face, thinking of Callen's father, wherever he now was.

"I'm sure he's safe where he is. It's a good thing John approached you, otherwise, you'd be worrying over him even more." Kensi noted the change in her friend and suspected it was to do with Garrison.

"But if Stephen doesn't know where he is, why would anyone suspect him to be responsible for his escape? I hate him being hunted again." It was the story of Callen's life, but she wished with all she had, that whoever was after him, stopped or died of a natural death, leaving him alone.

"It doesn't look like his alias has been burned." Hetty entered and poured them a cup of peppermint tea. "I've finished a phone call with your husband, Mrs Deeks."

Kensi met her boss' eyes and held them. "How is he?"

"He sends his love and will call you later. He's extremely busy with Sam and Gibbs protecting Stephen. Running OSP currently."

"Wow!" Thea's eyes widened and smiled at that. "He'd like that."

"That he would." Henrietta smiled warmly to the two younger women before her. "He's been too busy to think about it, and Deputy Director Ochoa landed Los Angeles this morning."

"Surely he's proven he deserves to return to the team, Hetty?" Kensi looked worried about their future.

"I agree with you. But that decision is no longer mine to make." A sadness fell in her eyes and both women understood why. Ever since the Mexico fiasco, her superiors have held short reigns over her. She was fortunate to still have a job.

"I'm sure after this latest case things will settle the way they should." Thea attempted positive thinking.

"I hope so. I miss him when he's not at OSP."