Chapter 25

"Go fish."

Callen heaved a sigh and threw his hand of cards down in disgust. "This is ridiculous."

Sam glared at his partner. "Go fish."

"I don't need to be here."

Wordlessly, Sam picked up the cards and stuck them back into Callen's hand. "Go. Fish."

Seeing he was getting nowhere, Callen relented and picked up a card, then stuck it in with the others.

"So," he tried again. "I guess I should apologize."

Pretending not to pay attention, Sam asked, "Do you?"

"I know I asked you to do something...I shouldn't have made you leave."

"No, you shouldn't have."

"I just couldn't watch another good agent die because of me," Callen muttered. "Like her or not, Hunter was a good agent. She didn't deserve that. Beth, too."

"No," Sam agreed. "But neither did you."

"Everyone who gets close to me..."

"Trusts you with their life," Sam interjected, all to aware of where that line of thought had been headed. "Now shut up and take your turn."

Callen lifted his arm and rested his right hand on the table. It was wrapped in a thick cast, which even after only two days was already decorated with a dozen signatures - including a get-well message from Sam's daughter Kam. "Be easier if I could use this hand," he grouched.

"Yeah, well, you can't."

Callen pouted. "Got a Queen?"

"Sometimes I feel like I'm lookin' at one. Go fish."

He picked up a card as Sam asked, "Seven?"

He looked down, then huffed and threw the card he'd just picked up at Sam. "Are you counting cards?"

Sam shook his head. "Lucky guess."

"I can go home, you know."

Sam was about to reply when Michelle walked through the living room with a full laundry basket tucked under her arm. She smiled at the two men before disappearing into the hallway that led to the laundry room, and they politely smiled back. Only when she was out of earshot did Sam actually speak. "Not if you value your life."

Callen frowned. "It's not healthy to fear your wife, y'know."

"It's not healthy not to," Sam argued. "Besides, it's not that bad. You're just a whiner."

Callen glanced around the living room. Sam was right; it wasn't bad at all. Their home was warm, inviting, and they always made sure he had everything he needed. Though they could never convince him to take the spare bedroom upstairs, he slept on their couch, which was infinitely more comfortable than the floor, and after a few of his sleepless nights Michelle had learned her lesson and bought him his own toaster for disassembling. His problem was that he didn't like to impose on anyone, but invariably every time something like this happened Michelle insisted that Sam bring him home. Like a lost puppy. He hated feeling helpless, and with his broken hand he couldn't feel any more invalid than if he was in a wheelchair. Which, if Beth had won the argument, he would be in now.

"Seriously, you guys didn't have to do this," Callen said.

Realizing that their game was going nowhere fast, Sam set down his cards and folded his hands on the table. Staring directly into his partner's blue eyes, he simply replied. "You're welcome."

Callen cut his gaze away, but didn't answer.

"You see Beth lately?"

He shook his head. "Not since the day you guys sprung me from the hospital."

"You hiding or something?"

"No. It's just..." He tried to come up with the words to describe what he wanted to say, but came up short. Instead, he shook his head again and then changed the subject. "It feels strange."

"What does?"

"Knowing that Janvier is dead." Now he turned to face Sam. "I thought that moment in the shop was it. He beat me."

"Only because he played dirty. We didn't know he'd escaped. Beth tried to warn us, but he got to her first."

"He would've killed her if I hadn't taken her place."

Sam nodded. "I know. Doesn't mean it didn't piss me off, you pushin' me out."

"I know," Callen acknowledged. "I'm sorry."

Michelle walked back through the room then, and ran her hand over Callen's short hair. "Hey, you. Almost time for another dose of your meds."

Callen nodded despite the grimace on his face. "Yay."

Michelle laughed. "You are such a baby. Trust me, if not for those painkillers that hand would be unbearable."

He looked down at his cast, which he was doomed to wear for at least another six weeks, and frowned.

Michelle noticed his expression and slipped her hand under his chin, lifting his face to look in his eyes. "Hey."

"Yeah."

"Thank God it was just your hand. I don't know how any of us would've handled it if he'd killed you."

Now he managed a small grin. "Thank your husband for that."

She smiled broadly back at him. "I thank God for this man - " she tipped her head in Sam's direction "- every day."

"Me, too."

"So, how 'bout some lunch?" She asked him. "I made soup, and I think there's some leftover cornbread in there."

There was a knock at the door then, and Michelle grinned. "Can't even mention food 'round here," she muttered as she went to answer it. "Like you all got radar or something."

Sam and Callen shared a grin at that. It was true; wherever there was food you could invariably find at least two members of the team.

"You're just in time for lunch," Michelle told the caller as she opened the door. "Come on in."

She took a step back, and a moment later Beth stepped into the hallway. She handed what looked like a foil-covered plate to her hostess and smiled. "Thank you for inviting me over. I brought some cookies, fresh from the oven."

"Invited?" Sam asked. "Really...?"

Realizing she was caught, Michelle pursed her lips as she closed the door. "I figured Callen could use some company. He's been stuck with only us to stare at for three weeks. Had to be driving him crazy."

"Never," Callen assured her, though he was still smiling.

Michelle rolled her eyes. "Let's go and get set up. Those two have a game to finish."

"Go Fish?" Beth asked as she noticed the "river" of cards between the two men. "Really?"

Callen shrugged. "Sam doesn't get to win at cards against me. This is the only game he beats me in."

"It is not," Sam argued. "I won at Poker last night. Twice."

"You cheated."

"I...what? C'mon, G! I did not cheat."

"If you say so. Funny though, how you kept getting aces in every hand..."

"You two are ridiculous," Beth said. To Michelle, she asked, "How do you even put up with them?"

Michelle sighed as they walked into the kitchen together. "Lots of patience. And a secret stash of wine and candy bars."

Beth laughed. "Really?"

"Hey, ain't nothing better when you're stressed than a good Hershey bar and some Merlot..."

Beth glanced out the patio doors and saw Callen lying on the picnic table outside. Quietly, she opened the left door and slipped out, then made her way from the patio through the dewy grass to where he lay, savoring the feel of the droplets dampening her bare feet. The night was quiet and clear, the stars overhead brilliant in the black velvet of the sky. The air was warm, but not stiflingly so, the traffic of LA just far enough away that only the largest semi trucks could be heard.

She reached his side and looked down, and though his eyes were open he didn't turn his head to acknowledge her presence. His chest rose and fell almost as if he were asleep, taking long even breaths that must have hurt his bruised ribs and sore chest muscles. She only knew he was awake because he blinked, his golden eyelashes lighting softly on his face before opening again.

Even so, when he spoke she jumped slightly.

"Do you pray?"

Beth's eyebrows knitted slightly, wondering where this conversation was headed. She decided to humor him. "Sometimes. Do you?"

He only shrugged. There was a long silence, during which she also stared up at the stars. Orion was clearly visible, as was the Big Dipper.

Finally, he said, "I used to. When I was a kid. I used to pray that my parents would come back, that they'd find me and we'd...we would be a family again. Then, when I got older and realized that would never happen, I stopped."

Beth nodded silently.

"But in that shop, Trevor's shop, I found myself praying again. Not for my rescue, though; I really thought I was done. I just begged God to keep Janvier from killing anyone else after I was gone. That he wouldn't be able to hurt anyone else. Nothing else mattered but that."

She put her hand on his chest and stared down at him. "There's nothing wrong with that, Callen. I'm just so glad Sam was there to make sure that happened."

Callen nodded. "Me, too."

She sat on the left bench and wrapped her hand in his. "I know how hard it is for you to be on down time. Action is like, your middle name. But this is good for you. You need to heal."

Callen wrinkled his nose. "Action is my middle name? So, Grisha 'Action' Callen? That's..."

Beth laughed. "It's bad, I agree. I'm just saying, I know you like to be in the middle of things, not just filled in on it afterwards."

"Yeah, about that...Would you do a library run for me? I think I've read all the books in Sam's house."

"All of them?" She asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Well, not Kam's. She's got like, fifty princess books, and I just...some things just shouldn't be explored."

Beth grinned. "So Michelle's romance novels...?"

Callen blushed. "Hey, I told you, I've been bored."

"There's always TV."

He rolled his eyes. "The only thing on TV in the afternoon is 'The Price is Right' and soap operas that are so unbelievable...I mean, come on. How many secret twin brothers can one town have?"

"I will do a library run for you," she assured him. "As long as you sit still and behave. If you re-injure that hand..."

"I know," he replied quickly. "I will."

They let another long pause hang between them, just enjoying the silence of the night.

"I tried to get to you," she told him. "Hetty made me take her car..."

He lifted her hand, still wrapped in his, and kissed the backs of her fingers. "I know. I'm sorry."

She shook her head. "It wasn't your fault."

"He was after me. He drugged you and used you to get to me, because he knew that I wouldn't let him kill you. He knew I'd trade your life for mine."

"Like any good leader would."

Now, he sat up on the table, his legs hanging off the narrow end. "But it was more than that, and he knew it. How?"

"I don't..."

"It couldn't have been Kendra. She didn't know you were NCIS."

"Jose could've been keeping tabs," Beth hazarded. "Kept watch when we were at the hospital, followed us around..."

Callen thought about that. They had assumed at first that Kendra had killed him, and then that he had fled to Mexico. But both of those hypotheses had been wrong; he had been in LA the whole time. It wasn't impossible to think that he might have been spying on them, and with Janvier's guidance and connections, he could have had access to any number of tools and equipment to do it.

"I guess so," Callen relented.

Beth stood up and came around the table to stand in front of him, her hands on his knees. "Hey," she said. "It's over. He's gone. Jose's gone." Her lips turned up in a sultry smile, she said, "It's a perfect night, the stars are out, the moon is full, and it's just you and me out here."

Callen smirked back. Reaching out with his good hand, he snagged her around the waist and pulled her closer. "You're trying to distract me."

"You're way hotter when you're not frowning," she said simply, her green eyes wide and filled with anticipation.

"I think you're lying," he huskily replied.

Rather than refute that, Beth instead pressed her lips against his. She felt his fingers dig into her hip and he leaned forward to kiss her back even harder, and a sigh escaped her as her eyes closed. They remained this way, clinging to one another as they each desperately tried to make the other understand how much this was needed. It had been the roughest month for both of them, but despite all that they were together and never wanted to let go again.

Too soon, however, the lack of air in their lungs won out, and they breathlessly broke their kiss. Callen pressed a gentle kiss on her forehead, then leaned his forehead against it as he caught his breath.

"Okay," he said at last. "I guess you were telling the truth."

Beth grinned. "Always."

From an upstairs window, another pair proudly watched them.

"She's perfect for him," Michelle quietly said to her husband, who stood behind her with his arms wrapped around her. He dropped a kiss on her shoulder and then hugged her tighter.

"She is," he agreed.

They watched as Beth helped Callen off the table and led him to the house, and then they finally turned away from the window and got ready for bed.

As Michelle turned down the covers on her side of the bed, she said, "I gotta tell you, babe. I never thought he would find someone. After Joelle..."

"Don't feel bad about that," he told her. "It didn't work out."

"I know, but I still feel responsible since I introduced them."

Sam smiled and climbed under the comforter. "If it helps, she's met a great guy named Bradley. Insurance agent, I think."

Michelle frowned suspiciously at him. "How'd you know that?"

"G keeps tabs on her every now and then."

"Why?"

"Because he might not love her, but he still cares about her. He just wants to make sure she's okay." He snuggled his wife close to him, hugging her to his chest. "Besides, that was a while ago. He's pretty taken with Beth, now."

"I can tell," she said, remembering the way Callen had been holding Beth as they kissed. It set butterflies in her stomach, and something else stirring deeper inside. Turning over to face Sam, she stared into his eyes with what he could only describe as lust and said, "You're a good man, you know that?"

"I am?" He asked, playing along.

She nodded, her finger drifting down the center of his full lips. "A good man, a good husband, and a wonderful father."

"And a good friend?" He asked.

Michelle laughed. "The best." She shifted closer, her hand now sliding down his broad chest to his washboard abs, and a low moan sounded in his throat.

"You're not too bad, yourself," he rasped, just before he covered her mouth with his own. He kissed her long and hard, taking her breath away, then reached up and switched off the light.

TBC...