Author's Note:

Alright, you all remember how I said I was good at the Hurt and not so good at the Comfort? Yeah, it's true. Oh well, what can you do? On the plus side, I got this chapter done! And I think there's only two or three more chapters left before I've officially finished my very first story! So excited. :) On the negative side, my update time is stupidly (is that a word?) long again. -_- If you're interested in the reason, read my author's note for Chapter 8 of my fic "Servant of the Game," but I'm not going to bother writing it out again here.

Anyway, moving on. Here we have Chapter 26! Yay! Please enjoy and don't forget to let me know what you think!

Happy Reading!

Chapter Twenty-Six

Sam had never known a week to drag by so slowly. The work which usually caused the hours to fly by seemed painfully slow without the playful banter he'd grown accustom to and the fact that no new cases had come across his desk didn't help either. Hetty had refused to give him time off, explaining that she could not have her whole go-to team unavailable at the same time and if she granted his request then she'd have to grant the others as well. Instead, she allowed each team member one extra day off, a different day for each of them, to spend assisting Detective Colby with Callen's around the clock care. The older man had managed what Sam could not and got his request for personal leave approved within a day which had enabled him to spend the past week at the dark skinned agent's home tending to their injured friend.

If he was honest with himself, Sam knew that Hetty had, once again, done what was best for all of them. By refusing them leave she'd ensured that Callen was not over crowded during the day and by setting out a specific day for each person she created a routine, something solid on which everyone could depend. Colby, who was the only person who had seen the younger man like this before, seemed not only willing but also able to handle being a fulltime caregiver and had taken it upon himself to be the constant in Callen's life while the others were at work. Sam had found himself wondering about the older man's ability many times over the past week but had yet to ask where the talent came from, still, it was Wednesday, his extra day off, so he figured he'd have plenty of time.

And speaking of Colby, the detective had just entered the room, tucking his cell phone into his back pocket with a small smile on his face. "Sorry about that," he apologized, taking a seat in an armchair across from his host, "My daughter, anyway, where were we?"

Sam shook his head. "I don't know," he admitted, "Look, I'm going to go check on G. I don't mean to be rude but –" He made to stand up but was interrupted by the older man.

"He's fine, I checked on him when I was up and he's still asleep."

"He's anything but fine, Detective."

Colby took the clipped tone in stride. "I know that, Agent Hanna, but this is Cal we're talking about, as much as we want to help him if we push too hard he'll just shut down."

A groan escaped him before he could stop it. "I know, I know," he said softly, running a hand over his shaved head. He shouldn't have snapped at the older man, they were past the formalities, he knew that but… He sighed, "I've told you before, it's Sam."

The detective gave him a small smile, taking the comment for the apology it really was. "And I'd tell you to call me Jared but nobody does, so just stick with Colby."

Sam chuckled weakly but said nothing. Silence enveloped the two men quickly and the dark skinned agent found his mind wandering once again. Callen's metal state had been akin to a yo-yo for the past week, there were moments when he seemed lucid, albeit confused, and still others when his grasp on reality seemed to slip completely away. This morning had been a bad one. His children, who had been remarkably good at keeping their voices down around their guest, had got into an argument over breakfast and Callen, who was still asleep at the time, awoke in full-blown panic. It had taken him more than an hour to get his partner calmed down and even now Sam was fairly certain it was exhaustion rather than relaxation which got the younger man back into bed. He'd told Colby about the incident when he'd arrived and they'd been waiting for Callen to wake up again ever since.

Shaking himself mentally, Sam forced the memories from his mind. There was nothing they could do right now and he knew it, what he needed was to get himself calmed down. He was no good to his partner if he couldn't even get a handle on his own emotions. "So, that was your daughter on the phone?" he asked, searching for some kind of distraction.

The detective looked up, an odd expression on his face. "My youngest, Josie."

"Does your family know Callen well?"

"My girls have all met him, and my late wife too, but it was really only Josie who spent much time with him and that still wasn't much," Colby shook his head with a sad smile, "Cal was always determined that he wasn't a member of the family and he didn't want to get in the way. I never did manage to convince him otherwise not matter how much I tried."

While the detective's statement wasn't at all unexpected it still caused a pang of sadness to well up within Sam. "That sounds like G," he said softly.

"He had his reasons," the older man sighed, "My family life wasn't exactly easy back then, still isn't really, but I wouldn't trade it for anything. Cal just thought he'd make it harder…" He fell silent, a faraway look in his eyes.

Despite his curiosity, Sam knew better than to push for more information. Colby wasn't a suspect he could interrogate, no matter how much he wanted to know the details. Instead he allowed the living room to fall silent again, leaning back in his armchair with his arms folded across his chest and his eyes closed while heaving a sigh of his own. This was going to be a long day… Maybe this was another reason Hetty hadn't allowed him personal leave, she knew the fact that he couldn't always do anything to help his partner would drive him insane.

The sound of running water rang out suddenly, pulling Sam from his thoughts and causing him to sit bolt upright as he searched for its source. Really, the sound wasn't that loud, nor was it uncommon in a house which normally housed four people, but the fact that at this perticular moment it could only be caused by one person had him on his feet and moving swiftly towards the bathroom with Colby on his heels. They found Callen leaning heavily on the bathroom sink while tap water flowed freely through his cupped hands. A few droplets fell from his chin and nose while a crumpled hand towel lay next to the basin.

"G?" Sam asked gently, knocking on the open door to announce his presence, "You good?"

Without moving from his position other than to rotate his hands under the continuing stream of water, Callen gave a stiff nod.

"What are you up to?" Sam continued when it became apparent that conversation was going to take some prompting, "Washing up a bit?"

The younger man didn't respond right away but after a few moments seemed to pull himself back to the present and raised his head slightly, fixing his gaze on Sam's reflection in the mirror. "Trying to wake up," he said softly.

Sam exchanged a look with Colby over his shoulder. At the very least Callen seemed to be coherent this time around and for that matter relatively calm as well. Of course, that didn't mean he looked good either. He was still leaning most of his weight on the sink before him, his hips and pelvis pressed against the cool porcelain, and a grimace of pain flashed across his face every few seconds.

"Hey Cal, how about we head into the living room and sit down for a bit," Colby suggested, "What do you think?"

The younger man's gaze returned to his hands as he nodded. " 'Kay," he agreed, but even with the affirmation he made no effort to move.

After a moment, Sam stepped forward, moving slowly and carefully so as not to spook his partner even as he reached around him, turned off the tap and handed him a dry towel. "C'mon, G, let's go sit down," he said kindly, hating the condescending tone even as it left his mouth, "C'mon…"

Together the three men made their way back to the living room with Callen shaking off any attempt the others made to help him walk. Still, both Sam and Colby remained close by until their injured friend was settled on the couch, laying on his good side with his head propped on up a pillow and watching them take their seats in the room's two armchairs.

"How're feelin'?" Sam asked as means of an icebreaker, wondering absentmindedly just how many times he'd asked his partner that since this whole mess began. More times than he cared to think about, that much was certain.

But the younger man was shaking his head, something akin to frustration playing on his face."No, no... Don't ask me that..." he said softly, but even then it was enough to silence the rest of the room. He took a deep breath, his eyes skirting over the furniture and for a moment it seemed that his nerves were going to fail him and then, quite suddenly, words began tumbling from his mouth. "I – I was wrong, at the beginning, I lied to you…"

Sensing where his partner's train of thought was headed, Sam bowed his head. "G…"

"No, Sam, don't. Please. I need to do this."

With a resigned nod the dark skinned agent signalled for Callen to continue even as his doubts continued to swirl around his head.

There was no hesitation this time, as though the words had been fighting to get out for far too long and they just couldn't wait anymore. "I killed Isaac, I remember now, I didn't want to but… He said it felt right but it didn't, not at first, and I knew it wasn't. He said someone was going to die, I thought he meant me, he always meant me but he didn't, not that time, he just wanted me to say it… 'Bout fucking time. That's what I said, I really thought he meant me but…" His voice broke, finally, and he clamped his mouth shut, the odd tremor passing visibly through his broken body.

"We know, Cal, we know – " Colby started gently but he never got the chance to finish.

"You don't know. You think he made me do it, but he didn't. He made me stand up and he gave me the gun and pulled on my ribs and they moved and crunched and –" Again Callen shook his head, more sharply than he had before as though he was trying to shake something right out of his mind. "He gave me the gun and told me to do it," he said finally, his voice having taken on an empty, emotionless tone, "And I did it. I shot Isaac. I killed him. And now you know so…"

"We're not leaving," said Sam sharply, pushing aside the horrified cold which had been spreading over him as his partner spoke and interrupting up before the younger man could get his final words out. This was precisely the reason he hadn't wanted to go down this road… "Look, we've known what happened for a while now, G, you know that, and we're still here. You know what Kane told us? That's what he did for money, he broke people, but it took him three times with you, three whole times and he still didn't get what he wanted. You didn't do anything wrong, you were just trying to survive."

"Sam's right, Cal," Colby nodded, "You're not a bad person. This doesn't change anything."

"I feel like a bad person…"

"Which just proves that you're actually a good person. You feel guilty."

The two partners stared at each other until Callen dropped his gaze and gave a single, stiff nod. But Sam didn't care how unenthusiastic the action was or how fascinating the couch had suddenly become to the other man for what he had seen in those bright blue eyes had hope bubbling up inside him. For the first time since he'd fired Nate's character more than a week ago there was clear, focused understanding in Callen's eyes.

"You might not believe us right now, but I'm sure you will once you get things figured out," said Colby confidently.

Callen nodded again before raising his head and glancing around the room. "Where're the others?" he asked softly.

"At work," Sam replied, selfishly grateful for the change of topic, "They were all planning to stop by and see you on their way home."

His partner frowned. "Nate's gonna make me talk about this, isn't he?"

The older agent smiled, still encouraged by the familiar light in his best friend's eyes. "What Nate doesn't know he can't interrogate us about," he joked lightly.

Callen stared at him for a moment before a tiny, uncertain smile of his own crept on to his face. "That's true."

Sam's smile turned into a grin at his partner's reaction and he was laughing before he could stop himself. Maybe just maybe everything would be alright.