A/N - Thanks for all the great reviews on the last chapter. That was really encouraging and seriously helped me sort out the editing on this chapter, which has been a rather hard chapter to get right. So here goes nothing. Hoping it is good, but it's so far off what I usually enjoy writing. But then so is this story - romantic at heart that I am ;-) But life is full of challenges and since this is a self imposed one, I've only got myself to blame. And all of you who are reading to thank for making this story so rewarding to write, even with it being a challenge.

Oh and it's a long chapter, longest one yet I believe, so maybe time for a cuppa or something.

Disclaimer in Chapter 1

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Chapter 25

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Hetty looked at her phone as it rang. They had just walked into the apartment, barely having time to close the door. All knew it would be Callen or Annabel, no one else had the number.

"Yes?" The tension filling the room could also be heard in that one word that Hetty said. They all waited anxiously to hear the reply, Hetty having answered it directly to speaker.

"Run!" came Callen's voice, before the call was cut off.

For a brief moment, they all stared at each other.

Sam shook his head. "No more running, Hetty," he said as he pulled out his gun and moved to stand by the door, ready. Kensi and Grey followed, Grey pulling Hetty behind him, as they took up defensive positions.

"Sam," Kensi said, her eyes still on the door, "what if they're only after Callen? Not like they've had an easy time getting both of us."

"You think we should go and see?" Grey asked. Kensi had a point. Sasha's comments had suggested that whoever it was, seemed to be particularly interested in Callen.

"If Callen's already running, they're probably following. There might be something left behind to tell us who's doing this," Kensi replied.

There was a small thought that went through Grey's mind that perhaps Callen was running on his own. They hadn't heard Bel on the phone. If she had been taken down, knocked unconscious, maybe she was still in the apartment.

"I agree," Sam said, itching to find G and have them all back together.

"Grey?"

Grey turned to Kensi again. "Is Annabel all right?" she asked.

Grey nodded. "She's alive at least."

Sam looked at Kensi and frowned, confused by her question. The look made Kensi realise that Sam didn't know about Grey and Annabel. She briefly wondered if Callen did.

"Annabel and Grey are twins. They have a freaky thing where they know when the other is in trouble."

Sam turned to Grey, curious.

Grey shrugged. "Don't ask me how it works, just does." He could feel when she was hurt badly or in trouble. Knew when she was dead, a feeling he'd felt once and hoped never to feel again. "Shall we go get this, whatever this is, started?" Grey asked, pulling himself away from that memory.

They all agreed. Grey kept Hetty behind him, as Kensi slipped in between him and Sam. Sam carefully opened the door and checked outside. It all seemed clear.

"Keep the girls in the middle," Sam said, briefly turning his head to Grey as he did.

Hetty smiled at the protective tone from Sam. That, and being called a girl at her age was an interesting compliment. Grey maneuvered Hetty in front and then they were on their way.

It only took them a couple of minutes to get out of their building, run down the almost empty street, and get into the one they had left Annabel and Callen at, barely ten minutes ago. Hetty had no trouble keeping up with the others, though she did notice Sam and Grey shorten their stride just a little, which only encouraged her to pick up her pace. She was exceptionally fast for someone so short and, well not old as such, but she was definitely older than the rest of them.

They arrived at the apartment door to see the lock broken and the door slightly ajar. Sam glanced around at them all, his gaze pausing for just a bit longer on Hetty than the others. He was still having a little trouble seeing Hetty with a gun. Not that he hadn't before, but usually Hetty's weapons were just when she was showing off around the office and they were usually something that definitely looked funny, whilst still dangerous, in her hands, because they tended to be bigger than her. But now, he was seeing a different side of her with a appropriately sized hand gun, and she was holding it just as comfortably and dangerously as G would have been.

Nodding to Grey after a quick check of their surroundings, Sam and Grey went in first, Kensi and Hetty following quickly. They all stopped at the sight in front of them, until a groan came from one of the bodies on the floor. All guns shifted focus to the sound, as Sam went closer to secure their lead. They checked the other two bodies to find them dead, both with two bullets buried in them.

"Grey," Hetty called as she pointed. They turned and looked to see the remains of a grenade in the middle of the room. From the lack of damage, they all assumed it had been one to stun, not kill.

"They put up a hell of fight," Kensi said, taking note of the displaced furniture, shattered picture and the three assailants who had been taken down in some way.

"Won by the looks of it," Sam added. "If someone had taken them, I doubt they would have left his guy behind," Sam commented as he pulled the, still mostly out of it, man to his feet and threw him on the couch. "I wouldn't move, and I'd start talking, cause I'm not worried about putting bullets in you. I'm pretty sure I can get a few in at least without killing you," Sam said to him when he started to get up. He, whoever he was, promptly sat back down again, after noticing the dead body on the floor and the four people surrounding him.

Hetty walked up beside Sam, as Kensi and Grey continued to cover them.

"Riddling him with bullets will not be necessary," Hetty said. "I'm sure we can convince him to tell us what we need to know, in a … civilised fashion."

"I won't tell you anything," the man protested.

Sam stepped forward angrily, stopping only when Hetty placed a firm, restraining hand on his arm. A small hand that was a lot more effective at stopping Sam than anything.

"Allow me," Hetty said. Sam raised his eyebrows in question. Hetty nodded.

"All yours," Sam replied as he stepped back. Kensi looked at him. Sam shrugged and Grey's lips tilted in a lopsided, knowing smile, causing both Kensi and Sam to frown and wonder what had caused that.

"What? Never seen her get information out of someone?" Grey asked.

Both Kensi and Sam shook their heads. "Nope, she usually just knows."

Hetty turned to Kensi, "Pillowcases please," Hetty asked her. She turned back to the man on the couch and folded her arms across her chest as she waited patiently for Kensi to follow her request. "I do apologise for this next part. I never was fond of tying up my victims. Sorry. Detainees."

Sam bit back a laugh at Hetty's words. Hetty never slipped like that. This was deliberate. In the midst of all the drama and worry, Sam had a feeling he was going to enjoy whatever was coming from Hetty next.

Kensi returned with the six pillowcases that she had managed to get off the bed and from the cupboard, having been unsure how many Hetty had actually wanted. Hetty handed them to Grey, who proceeded to tie up the man's feet and hands, securing the feet, at least, to the legs of the couch.

Hetty then went and sat down next to him. Sam and Kensi, both incredibly nervous about how close she was to him, tensed and stepped closer.

"Now, what is it I want to know first?" Hetty mused, her head tilted slightly as she looked at the man sitting restrained next to her. "Who you work for? What happened here that killed your two associates? Who or what exactly you were after? Where you were going to take them? What should I do with you?"

Hetty paused for a moment and looked her detainee in the eye. "Perhaps we'll start with a name. You are..."

Hetty waited. The man didn't say anything, just looked back at her stubbornly. Fury raged through her. Here was a link to Callen and Annabel. Two people who were precious to her and he wasn't co-operating. Ensuring her face was set in a calm, yet menacing and determined fashion she stood up, taking a step away from him.

"Well, if that is the response to a simple question about your name, I guess there is no point. Grey. Knee would be good spot, not life threatening, but rather painful."

Grey stepped forward, aiming the gun in the direction Hetty requested, but before he could pull the trigger the man responded.

"Jo," rushed out of his lips. Hetty smiled and nodded to Grey. Grey stepped back. Kensi and Sam had a feeling that Grey had perhaps even participated in previous incidents similar to this with Hetty, as his response to her command was smooth, with no hesitation.

"That wasn't so hard was it," Hetty praised Jo, as she sat back down next to him and patted his knee in a grandmotherly type fashion, which was such a startling contrast to the vibe she had been putting off just moments before. Kensi and Sam saw the shock and confusion that Jo couldn't hide at the turn around.

"Jo, such a nice, simple, wholesome name. Now, tell me. Why are you here?" Hetty asked.

No response.

Hetty let out quiet yet exasperated sigh. "Do we have to do this with every question? Really, Jo. A few simple answers; no pain, no harm and you'll be able to walk out of this room."

"You're going to let me go?" Jo asked.

"I said walk out of the room, not let you go," Hetty replied, still in that eerily calm voice. "You just tried to kidnap or kill a federal agent or two. Quite frankly, you'll be lucky if you leave prison on your feet given the length of jail time you are looking at. Most likely, you'll have your eyes closed and be in a body bag. However, co-operate, answer a few questions and you might get out in time to retire somewhere quiet in the country, whilst you still have some life left to enjoy the peace and fresh air." So maybe that was a slight exaggeration on the jail term he was facing, but, unless Jo was well versed in jail terms, Hetty doubted he would realise that.

Hetty paused for a long moment, giving what she had just said time to sink in. "Now, why are you here?" Hetty asked again.

"Just a job. We didn't know he was a federal agent," Jo added in his defense.

"So you were just here for him?" The question slipped out before Sam knew he was even speaking. "Sorry," he apologised when Hetty looked at him.

"As my colleague has asked an appropriate question, please answer," Hetty said as she turned back to Jo.

"Yes, just the guy," Jo replied.

"What were you going to do with the girl?" Grey asked, his voice sounding incredibly angry, as he stepped up close.

"Take her out if we had to," Jo replied, his response seeming to slip out without much thought.

"No!" Hetty warned as Grey raised his hand that was holding his gun. "Enough."

Hetty turned back to Jo, after a barely perceptible smile at Grey. Sam glanced at him as Grey stepped back. Grey winked at Sam and Kensi, leaving them both wondering exactly what kind of events these two had shared in their history. This whole interrogation almost had a rehearsed feel to it.

"I apologise," Hetty said, "but you see, he gets rather protective of his women. Honestly, the things he has done because someone glanced at them the wrong way." Hetty faked a shudder. She saw the look change in Jo's eyes at the image she had painted of Grey in his mind; that Grey was even tougher and nastier than she was. "Brings shivers even to my spine, just thinking about it. So, unless you would like me to hand over this inter-" Hetty stopped and cleared her throat, before continuing, "discussion to him, don't play around. Answer the question, don't make me ask twice and we'll all leave happy. Who do you work for?"

Jo glanced between Hetty and Grey, swallowing nervously at the menacing look Grey had returned to his face, and the way Grey was fingering his scar and looking at Jo's face, like he was contemplating putting a matching one on him.

Kensi and Sam were just watching on in awe. Jo hadn't even looked at them except when Sam had asked the question, being entirely focused on the two who seemed to be effectively terrifying him with eerie calmness and orders, and menacing looks.

"I don't know," Jo answered. "We're just guns for hire. Someone called a few hours ago, told us to come here or another place. They gave us a description of the guy they wanted. Told us to grab him, get rid of anyone else and take him to a hotel across town. Told us if we had him there before daybreak, there would be a hundred grand waiting for us on the bed."

A hundred grand? The figure went flashing through Sam and Kensi's mind. They knew there were people out there that would love to get their hands on Callen, but throwing a hundred grand to some guns you'd never met? Who obviously weren't as good as they thought. It reeked of something big, someone big. Someone who was extremely serious in wanting Callen.

"You didn't get a name?" Hetty asked.

Jo shook his head.

"Where were you to take him?"

When the response didn't come quick enough, Hetty turned her head to Grey.

"It's on my phone," Jo rushed out. "along with a number we were supposed to call once we were there. This was supposed to be simple. Especially when he was just with the woman. Damn, she was good. One kick of the door and she had one of my guys down on the floor."

Grey held back a smile at that, remembering the fun of teaching Bel, in her early days at MI6, how to get the power into the kick from such a confined space behind a door to a moving target, and the one time where she'd completely broken it off the hinges and shattered the surrounding frame.

Jo continued. "Moved quick too. I missed."

Grey almost went for him then. His reactions to his missing sister, gaining the upper hand over the controlled but menacing aura he was supposed to be putting out for Hetty. A shake of Hetty's head stopped him.

"Which pocket?" Hetty asked.

"Top left, inside the jacket," Jo answered as he turned his body slightly to let her access it easier.

Hetty smiled and shook her head. "Do you really believe I am that gullible? That I am stupid enough to reach into your pocket myself? I have spent years around people more cunning than someone like you could ever hope to be like." Hetty stood up and stepped away from Jo, who was now looking even more nervous.

"Gentleman, if you please. Check every possible place for information. I have a phone call to make."

Hetty stepped over one of the bodies on the floor, away from where Grey and Sam were searching Jo thoroughly, whilst Kensi stood over them, gun at the ready. Dialing a number she had memorised before leaving the office a few days ago, she held her phone to her ear and turned to watch her team as she waited.

"Gibbs," came the terse, yet very much awake, response.

"Agent Gibbs, this is Hetty. I am need your assistance," Hetty said.

"Hetty," Gibbs breathed a sigh of relief. "Are you all right?"

"In a manner of speaking, though we are missing a few from our original party. I need you to bring a team of those you can trust to where we are. We have some bodies that need taking care of," Hetty informed him as her gaze ran over said bodies, a small ripple of fear going through her at how easily those bodies could have been those of Callen and Annabel.

"Got it Hetty," Sam said triumphantly, as he pulled out the phone from the right inner pocket of Jo's jacket. Hetty nodded.

"Where?" Gibbs asked. Hetty gave him the address. "Is there anything else you need? Are Callen and Kensi with you?"

"Kensi is. Callen, we are currently unsure of his whereabouts," Hetty answered, a small amount of weariness coming through in her voice.

"Is he alone?" Gibbs asked.

"As far as we know he is still with Annabel. How did Eric go?" Hetty enquired, not actually wanting to ask the question of whether he had made it to them. She would assume that he had, because if he hadn't … Well she didn't want to think about that.

"We're all clear, Hetty," came Eric's voice. A voice that she had never expected to find soothing, but she felt a great deal of tension leave her, knowing he had made it safely to them. Eric continued. "It was a plant, they didn't do it. The files were sent to Keelson. The email was never opened. I've deleted it from the server."

Keelson? That suggested this might be connected to Callen's past. Keelson had found out so much about him, had tempted Callen with that information. Except Keelson had gone about it the wrong way and Callen hadn't given in. There had been too much at stake and Callen was a better man than Keelson had counted on.

"Well done, Eric," Hetty congratulated him sincerely. "Now, we have a problem, Callen and Annabel are missing. This is there last known location. We have a suspect that perhaps Agent Gibbs would like to continue to question. Have you had any luck figuring out who might be behind this?" Hetty asked as she looked at Sam and urged him over with the phone.

"Not yet, Hetty," Eric replied. "But I called Graham. He's on his way here. Vance had a letter from someone claiming to know about The Twelve and Callen's connection, warning us to protect him."

Hetty briefly closed her eyes. She had been holding onto a small amount of hope that this wasn't Twelve related. She opened her eyes and looked at Sam, who was now in front of her.

"Do we have an address, Sam?" she asked.

Sam shook his head.

"Oh bother. I dislike mess. Excuse me a moment," Hetty said politely to Eric and Gibbs on the phone. She walked over to Jo, held the phone close enough to his face and pointed the gun right between his legs. "No more. Nice is over. Tell me where, or I put a bullet in an extremely vulnerable and painful part of your body. One chance. The truth. Because a lie will end up with the same effect, just delivered a little later." This time Hetty let the fury and rage at the situation, and the man sitting in front of her, come fully into her tone and her face.

Jo rattled off an address, his face going even paler as Hetty spoke and looked at him, gun held steady and so close, that there was no way she would miss. Hetty's voice told him she was extremely serious; potentially deadly serious.

"Did you get that?" Hetty asked, bringing the phone back to her ear.

"Got it," Eric replied. Hetty could hear the keys tapping furiously as Eric started doing what Eric does when he gets a piece of information; find out more. She could only hope that this lead would give them something more to go on than an address.

"Send someone there, but be careful," Hetty ordered. "It was supposed to be the pick up point for Callen."

Sam held up the phone, showing a number.

Hetty told it to Eric and added, "Trace the calls, see what you come up with."

"We're on our way, Hetty," Gibbs advised. "Twenty minutes max."

"I look forward to it," Hetty replied and disconnected the call.

"Sam, would you do the honours?" Hetty asked him with a tilt of her head toward Jo. "I really don't think we need our detainee conscious anymore."

"With pleasure," Sam said as he stepped closer to Jo.

"But-"

"It's one or the other and I don't think you want the other," Hetty said as she glanced at Grey.

Jo gulped nervously and Sam did what he had to do, Jo slumping on the couch, unconscious.

"You've done this before with her, haven't you?" Kensi asked Grey as she relaxed her hold slightly on her gun and lowered her arm.

Grey grinned and nodded. "A few times."

"She always this effective?" Sam asked.

Grey shrugged and looked over at Hetty. "Actually, this wasn't her best performance."

Kensi looked at Sam. "So why don't we just let Hetty do all the interrogations? She messes with their heads so well."

They both glanced at Hetty, who smiled and replied, "Because then your pay would need to be cut in half. And personally, I prefer 'messing with your heads' rather than anyone else's."

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Seventeen minutes later, Gibbs walked through the door to the apartment, with four other agents, behind him to secure the scene. The agents weren't from his usual team. He still hadn't called in Ziva or Tony, and McGee was still helping Abby and Eric back at the office.

"Hetty? What happened here?" Gibbs asked as he looked over the rest of the team standing around her, pleased to see the lack of injuries.

Hetty felt an unexpected relief at the sight of Gibbs. She didn't have a lot of experience working with him, but she knew from Callen and Leon that he was an extremely capable agent and somehow, knowing he was here, working with them, relieved a lot of the weight that had been resting on her shoulders for the last few days.

"Callen and Annabel put up a fight and ran. We don't know where. We were at another apartment for the night a couple of buildings down. We'd only just arrived there when Callen called and told us to run," Hetty replied.

"Which you didn't exactly do," Gibbs assumed. "Him?" Gibbs nodded to the unconscious man on the couch. The one who had obviously given them the information over the phone just before. "Do you think he knows more?"

"Probably," Hetty replied. "I'll leave that up to you to get out of him though." Whilst Hetty was effective at getting information out of suspects, it was a part of the job she was generally pleased to leave up to others. The earlier session having taken it's toll on her emotional control that she usually prided herself on. It always did, which is why it was only on rare occasions that she allowed herself to do it. Such as before.

"Is there anything we can take from here that would tell us where they went, or how they are?" Gibbs asked, looking around the room, noticing the broken picture and displaced tables.

Kensi stepped over and stood next to Gibbs. "We've check around, haven't touched anything, but we don't think either of them were shot. The bullets in the bodies and the wall match, number-wise, with the casings on the floor. And the blood seems to match with the bodies."

"That's something at least," Gibbs agreed. "How about we get you lot back to the office?"

Aside from the fact that they looked shattered, he wasn't liking having them out here, in the open, when there was the possibility there was someone after them, especially given the information that he had recently acquired on this group of Twelve. Anyone who would go up against them, and the protection that was available to them, had to be extremely well resourced.

"I know there is one particular agent who is desperately waiting to see all of you," Gibbs continued, thinking of Eric and the look that he had caught on his face as they had walked out of MTAC on their way here. He had wanted to come, but knew that he was better off in the office, continuing working on whatever he could find.

They all nodded and started toward the door.

"No one comes in who isn't us. Ducky should be here soon to collect the bodies," Gibbs ordered two of the men. "You two," he pointed to the others, "get him back to the office, then get back here."

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

"Guys!" Eric exclaimed, when he turned and saw them walking through the door to MTAC. He jumped out of his seat and, uncharacteristically, rushed over and hugged the three of them. Sam chuckled slightly at Eric's actions but accepted it. He'd been a little worried about Eric, though he hadn't been willing to admit it.

"Eric," Kensi squeaked out. "Let me breathe." Eric stepped back, a blush on his face.

"Sorry," he mumbled.

"I didn't mind the hug, but so far, I've survived being shot at and jumping out of a soon to be exploding plane. I really don't want to have a hug do me in," Kensi teased lightly.

Eric turned to Hetty. She smiled at him and willing returned his hug. "Well done, Eric."

"Thanks Hetty."

"Eric," Hetty said, turning slightly in the direction of the man Eric was yet to met. "I'd like you to met Grey Mason, MI6. Though I am sure you already know of him if you have contacted Graham."

Eric nodded to Grey, who smiled back. "Thanks for protecting her," Eric said, tilting his head to Kensi. The video shoot out in the car park from LA, still fresh in his mind.

Grey nodded and smiled at Eric."Any luck finding anything on Callen or Bel?" he asked, concern coming into his voice.

Eric shook his head. "Not yet, but we're running street cameras and everything we can get from around there, trying to catch their escape. But being dark, it makes it harder to get a match."

Eric turned and headed back to the computers. They followed close behind. Abby turned and smiled at them.

"Welcome back guys," she said briefly before turning her focus back to the computer. She felt like she was almost on to something and that meant her usual excited hello's were on the back burner for now.

Sam and Kensi gave her a grateful smile, knowing she would have been working just as hard to help Eric out with this. They remembered their brief introduction to her with the Phantom case. Crazy, but brilliant Abby. Definitely someone you wanted on your side.

"Where would they go?" Gibbs asked. "Hetty, you know her. What would they do?"

Hetty turned to Grey.

"Bel will trust Callen. She's not familiar with the city, so she'll follow his lead getting around. As for what she would do, I'm not entirely sure right now. I would suspect that she's looking for a way to get him safely to me. She was doubting everything so much before, this will just have made that worse. But the biggest problem, if Kensi was right and they've given up on getting her, is that if Mitch gets them and figures out what's going on between those two, he'll hand them both over and they'll have what they originally wanted anyway."

"What do you mean?" asked Gibbs frowning.

"There is nothing going on between them," Sam added.

"Are you blind?" Grey asked, turning to Sam. "He's your partner and you can't see it? Callen cares for Bel. Now I don't know him like you do, but I wouldn't be surprised if he wasn't on his way to falling in love with her," Grey replied.

"Callen? In love?" Gibbs shook his head. "How long has he known her? A couple of days? That's not the kind of thing Callen does," he added. It had been a long time since Callen had fallen for anyone. Gibbs had a feeling Callen had shut down that side on himself a long time ago. He'd dated, but that was rare in itself. Never anything serious either, and rarely lasting much more than a month

"Look," Grey said, "I know Bel is in love with him. I've seen it before. I know her well."

Bel had only been in love twice. Once when she was sixteen. The moment she had seen the new guy, Tom, walk into the classroom, Grey knew. He saw it in her eyes, felt it; that freaky connection between the two of them when something big happened. And he hadn't liked it at all. Bel had eventually turned on him and told him if he didn't stop interferring she'd never speak to him again. He'd been trying to keep them apart, and doing a pretty good job of it. The look in her eyes had told him she was completely serious. So he'd stepped back. Watched as the love story unfolded. Tom was a great guy, and he loved Bel. Never hurt her once. It hadn't surprised Grey when six years later, Tom had stopped by his place and asked if it was okay for him to ask Bel to marry him. He'd agreed, so had their father, who Tom had already braved asking. What had surprised them was the phone call they had received late, on the night they knew Tom was planning on proposing. Bel had been frantic. She was at the hospital. Tom had collapsed and she didn't know what was going on. Unfortunately, that love story didn't have a happy ending. Tom had cancer, It had hit Tom hard and fast. Hit Bel hard too, as she'd stayed by his side for the next two months, taking unpaid leave from work to be with him around the clock, watching him go downhill more everyday. Eventually, Tom had told Bel that he'd been planning on asking her to marry him. They'd ended up married shortly after that. Two weeks later Tom was gone and Bel was devastated.

No one touched her heart again until six years later. Daniel. The one who had swept her off her feet, romanced her, gave her everything except the one thing she'd needed. Someone to support her, help her get out of the hell she went through after the torture. Someone to be there for her, like she'd been there for Tom. But Daniel hadn't been the right man for the job. He'd wanted a pretty girl on his arm, one that didn't require much work. Bel didn't fit that description anymore. Now, she needed him, but he didn't want her. Bel had tried to talk to Daniel, but he hadn't really listened and she noticed. Daniel had walked away the first time she'd panicked, the first time he'd seen the terror in her eyes after she'd fallen asleep on the couch and woken up from a nightmare that, even though she was awake, still played out in front of her eyes, keeping her from truly knowing where she was. Daniel didn't come back. He hadn't had the guts to tell Bel to her face that it was over between them, he'd just called and left a message. That nightmare was one of the few moments Grey would never forget, because he'd felt it. It had been the first time he'd felt her terror from that time. When the torture had been happening, he'd only felt pain. Nothing like she would have experienced, but pain it had been; strong it had been and it had scared him like nothing had before. Until that night. It had taken him five minutes to make his way to her apartment that night. A normally fifteen minute drive away but the moment the fear had hit him, he was in his car, breaking speed limits, running red lights, driving on the wrong side of the road. He didn't care. Everything was simply about getting to her as fast as he could. He'd found her screaming in terror on the floor in her living room, a full blown nightmare and panic attack all in one. It had taken him an hour to get her to stop screaming, another couple of hours before the shaking had subsided and she'd fallen into a fitful sleep in his arms. Bel didn't know it but he'd confronted Daniel a few days later. It had taken everything in him, and the firm grip of their friend, Marcus, not to snap his neck when he'd first laid eyes on Daniel. Even now, the image of Bel shaking, screaming, pale and eyes wide was still burned into his mind. He'd made sure Daniel knew that if he ever contacted Bel again, he would indeed rip his head right off his shoulders.

"How?" Gibbs asked, pulling Grey back from his thoughts.

"She's my twin," Grey answered. "Now, whether she'll admit it to anyone is a completely different story, but she is and she will do anything to protect him. But Mitch will see it too. Right now, I'm sure Bel is tired, confused and scared. Everything has gone wrong and she feels responsible. She's never faced anything like this, with all the betrayal that's happened."

It was bad enough in him, the betrayal of Sasha and Mitch, but for Bel it was so much more personal and heart-wrenching.

"She's not responsible," Hetty assured him.

"I know," Grey agreed. "But that's what she'll be feeling. Adding to that, what happened with John is going to be tearing her apart, along with everything about Zoe coming up again. Bel's going to be having a hard time hiding her feelings right now. Everything else will still be working. The processes, the fighting, what to do. The agent role. It's been so ingrained in her, instinct will kick in and she'll do what's for the best, even if it means stepping back and following Callen, because she doesn't trust herself anymore. But emotionally, she is going to be like a childrens book. It's going to be so simple for anyone to see what she is feeling."

Which put them all back to trying to get into Callen's head.

"So what would Callen do?" Kensi asked.

"Find them somewhere safe, keep them moving until he could," Hetty replied.

On the move it would be harder for anyone to hone in on them. Hetty knew Callen could keep moving for a long time, she wasn't so sure about Annabel at the moment though. But she was confident that as long as they were together, they would take care of each other. She had seen some of what Grey had suggested, in the way Callen had turned protective of Annabel over the last few days. The look in his eyes, when he watched her that night, talking about the time Hetty had first met her. The way Callen had been drawn to her when she had gone back to the house, when she'd run up stairs after discovering Mitch was behind it and she'd left the necklace behind. The lack of hesitation getting out of the van at the gas station, and the way he wouldn't let her leave them, had told her he was going with her. It might not be love, though both of them deserved to find something as wonderful as that, but there was a connection, and he did care about her.

"Got something," came Eric's call from the computers. They turned and stepped over as Eric pulled up some street camera footage.

"Abby did a special search which has found two people running, fast," Eric said, zooming in on the screen, after a quick glance and grin at Abby. "They're sticking to the shadows and alleyways. It's not easy to tell, but they started just out the back of the building they were in, so I'm following to see if we can get a clearer shot and I.D them."

"Where are they now?" Gibbs asked starting to walk to the door, Sam and Kensi moving to follow. Grey reached out and put a hand on Kensi's shoulder, stopping her. Kensi just looked at him, raising her eyebrows and glancing at his hand, daring him to stop her going with Gibbs.

"Give me a minute, I'm still trying to catch up." Eric typed away and Gibbs waited, patiently, because he really didn't want another Abby glare today.

"Got them. They stepped into the light for bit. Definitely Callen. Is that her?"

Grey stepped closer to the screen. "Yeah, that's her," he agreed, relief flooding him that she looked unharmed.

"So, Eric, where are they?" Gibbs asked not bothering to hide his impatience this time.

"They've just gotten into a cab. Still playing catch up and working on it, okay." Eric's frustration at being so close, yet still far behind, coming through in his tone to Gibbs.

Hetty smiled slightly, knowing that their normal Eric, would never have consciously used that tone with Gibbs, or with her. It showed her just how much this was affecting Eric, something which, in an odd way pleased her. Eric was the one in the office, behind the scenes, on the computer and in their ear. She'd sometimes wondered if that had made Eric feel slightly less a part of the team, but she was reassured now, that wasn't the case.

"Cab?" Kensi frowned. "Callen's got somewhere in mind to go," Kensi replied. "Where would he be taking her?"

"My place," Gibbs said as realisation sunk in that Callen would trust him more than anything else in this city. He was slightly disappointed in himself to have not thought of that sooner. Gibbs turned, ran up the stairs and out the door. Sam, Kensi and Grey followed quickly and had easily caught him, stepping into the elevator at the same time Gibbs did.

"You move quick," Gibbs commented as he glanced at Kensi and Sam standing on his left.

"It's G," Sam said. "We can move faster if you can." Sam raised his eyebrows and Gibbs was sure that Sam had narrowly avoided adding 'old man' to that sentence.

"You?" Gibbs glanced at Grey.

Grey turned his green eyes on Gibbs. Green eyes that showed the worry and concern that the younger, yet taller man felt for the two people they were trying to find. Even with the words that followed, Gibbs could tell that Grey was also concerned about Callen.

"She's my sister. Move faster," Grey replied firmly.

The elevator dinged, doors slid open and move faster, they did. As they got into the car, Gibbs' phone rang.

"Gibbs," he answered abruptly, pulling out of the parking space as he did, expertly steering the car one handed.

"Cab dropped them off two blocks from your place about twenty minutes ago. Good luck."

"Thanks Abs." He hung up and tossed his phone to Sam, who was in the front next to him.

"Twenty minutes ago they were near my place. Let's hope they're still there. Start dialing," Gibbs ordered as he rattled off his home number. There was no answer, but the machine picked up.

"Leave a message," came his abrupt answering machine message. Sam glanced at Gibbs who nodded.

"G. Come on, pick up …. Man, where are you?" Sam asked and waited. "You know if you are there and aren't picking up, there is going to be hell to pay."

"Hang up," Gibbs said. "He'd have picked up by now if he could." Gibbs floored the accelerator and there was an uneasy silence until they arrived at his house, less than ten minutes later.

Hurrying out of the car, guns drawn, they made their way into the house.

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

A/N 2 - Just in case you are wondering, the information we now have on Annabel puts her age at approximately 35.

Hope you like it.