DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the characters of NCIS LA, NCIS, Leverage. Bummer.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Sorry, I meant to post this sooner, but the Chiropractor takes precedence. HA Now that I'm all relaxed and curled up in my chair… I am ready for an afternoon of re-watching all the NCIS LA's and Leverage's for research and working on my next story! For now, however, you can be reading the NEXT chapter in PHOENIX RIIIIIIISSSSSSIIIIING! Sorry, had to do that… only because I'm not hurting for the moment and am in a good mood. LOL! For everyone who hit the favorite and follow buttons… I thank you. For every single person who has taken the time to read my stories… I am forever grateful… and for all of you who take the extra moment to drop in and say hello… it means a lot to me to hear what you think of what you are reading… where do you think it's going, and hearing that you actually hear their voices as you read is such an awesome compliment… Thank you… I hope more of you feel free to do the same. Have a great day!
"Callen, enough!"
Turning to face the commanding voice of Leroy Jethro Gibbs, the anger coursed through him like the blood that pumped through his veins, blinding him to anything but the hurt and anger that was now consuming him. Callen seldom, if ever, gave into his emotions without putting thought into the repercussions of doing so… but Hetty had been his anchor for many years and to find out that she had lied to this degree came as a crushing blow.
"Back down… NOW!" Gibbs ordered, alarmed by the look in Callen's eyes.
Callen turned to glare at Hetty once more.
"This isn't done… not even close." Charging down the steps with no intention of addressing another soul, Gibbs stepped directly in front of him, a hand on his chest.
Callen stopped, looking at the hand spread wide on the center of his chest. Slowly his eyes follow their way up to lock with those of someone he had called his friend for so many years. Someone whom he had trusted as much as Hetty. Knowing, now, how misguided he had been in giving her so much access to his life left him questioning every other person he ever considered a friend.
Gibbs was completely taken back by the man in front of him. While he looked like the kid he'd mentored and worked with for years, the eyes were dark and hard, filled with hate and distrust. "G."
Callen's eyes narrowed, locked square on with Gibbs.
"G… What's going on?" Gibbs asked, trying to connect with him.
"Sure, you don't already know?" he asked.
"What?" Gibbs asked with a furrowed brow.
Callen grabbed the wrist of the hand holding him back. With a strength that belied his size, he removed the hand and pushed back. His voice low and menacing as he replied, "You had better hope I don't find that you had any knowledge of this. You tell Leon, I'm done being everyone's puppet.
"Callen, I have no clue what you are talking about… let's go grab a beer and we'll sort this out." Gibbs offered.
"No… I'm done. I don't trust her and I don't know yet if I can trust you… I hope to God you aren't a part of this… but if you are… I will not stop until I bring you all down!" Callen seethed.
Callen stepped around him and walked toward the door.
"G! Wait." Sam called.
"Let him go." Hetty ordered.
Once he was gone, Gibbs spun back to face Hetty, who stood rooted in shock.
"What the HELL is going on?" Gibbs roared, "Hetty!"
Hetty just shook her head in confusion, "I don't know, Jethro."
Slowly the team moved over to Hetty's desk.
"What's this list he mentioned?" Gibbs asked.
Hetty sat back down in her chair. Her face grim, she took a deep breath and slowly released it as she began to explain…
"In 1975 after things went badly with Clara, I was tasked with creating a list of the children within the agency. No one had known anything about Amy and Callen until Clara had called asking for assistance. The powers that be were not happy with the surprise. Of course, there were a lot of agents who chose to keep their families a secret in order to protect them from their enemies. It was decided that more needed to be done for the children of the agents. Should something happen to the agents, we wanted to make sure no more children fell through the cracks, as was the case with Callen and Amy. Callen found out about the list," she explained.
"Why is that a problem?" Sam asked, "sounds like a good thing."
"In and of itself… it's not. However, several years down the line, after I had turned the list over to my superiors, I began to suspect there was more going on with the list than I was originally told."
"Such as?" Gibbs pushed, not liking where the conversation was leading.
"First of all, Amy died." Hetty stated regretfully.
"Because of Comescu," Deeks said.
"Perhaps, but then other things began happening… I had no proof but I began to fear that there was more at play than the purpose for which they requested the list. It was especially evident with Mr. Callen. He was out of my reach, by then… So, I did everything in my power to protect all that I could."
"You aren't answering the question. What was going on that these kids needed protecting?" Gibbs reiterated.
"I began noticing that for kids, like Callen and Amy, who appeared to have a natural innate ability for this line of work, their parents began dying mysteriously… car accidents, missions gone wrong, what was assumed to be enemy attacks… With them gone, the children were put under the care and control of the government. Specifically of agents within the agency." Hetty explained.
"Ravens and Swans", Sam mumbled.
"Yes. As I said, I had little control back then… I did what I could to prevent these children being trained and exploited." she confirmed, a note of sadness in her voice.
"Why didn't they put Callen in an agent's home? Had to be better than what he was living with." Kensi asked.
"At one point, as I explained before, they had… the Rostoff's. Callen had the added misfortune of being hunted by the Comescus. It became a case of 'Nature vs. Nurture', I'm afraid. Callen was considered a prodigy. Two parents who were considered the best of the best and a grandfather who was a legend. It was assumed that Amy and Callen would follow suit. Callen especially showed talent. Having lived through the murder of his mother, protected by his sister, and dealing with the shock of it all… Callen was a shy boy when he first arrived. It is my belief that they were separated for this very reason. Callen relied heavily on his sister. Once separated my guess is that he was placed into foster care to toughen him up. It wasn't long before there were definite signs that he had what it would take to become the legend he is today."
"That's awful, Hetty! Didn't you fight for him?" Kensi exclaimed in shock.
"Yes, I did. However, he was unreachable. At that point in my career, I had yet to make all the contacts I have today… certainly, I did not possess the ability to garner favors needed. Garrison had put Michael Reinhardt in charge of following Callen's every move and to keep careful track of where he was and who he was with. The rest of us were unable to get close to Callen personally. We watched from afar. There were things we were able to do to manipulate the foster system into moving him without giving ourselves away but that was all. Arkady had people who followed for safety reasons but Callen would never know of any of this… and he wouldn't believe it now, I'm certain." Hetty finished with a sad sigh.
"I still don't understand why Callen was so angry." Deeks stated. "I mean, I get it, you've been keeping a whole lot of secrets regarding his past that quite frankly aren't yours to keep. He has a right to know these things. But what I just saw goes way beyond that. I have NEVER seen Callen that angry and I have seen him pretty dang mad before… and what was that about Eliot? He said you knew who he was… that this wasn't your first introduction? What was THAT about?"
"Because he knows something more than we do and believes the perpetrator is me as the list's creator." Hetty answered, "As for Mr. Spencer, yes, I was aware of Mr. Spencer back when the list was created. I am not certain if his parents ever really spoke to him about this and as such, what I say here stays here. Eliot's mother was a CIA agent… a good one. From what I understood, his father had been told what she did for a living. It caused problems in their marriage. When she died, the family thought it to be a mere car accident. That was not the case. That was not the case at all. The day she died, she and her husband had a fight and so he was not in the car, as was the plan, I'm sure. The steering wheel had been laced with a fast-acting drug… that was the real cause of the crash. No doubt, he saw many of his wife's characteristics in their son and wanted to squash it to prevent him from following in her footsteps… however, it only pushed him farther away. Eventually, the government got their hands on the boy anyway. He and Mr. Callen met shortly after Mr. Spencer joined the military, if I'm not mistaken.
"That's all well and good, Hetty. There has to be more to it than that. The look on his face was nothing I had ever seen on him before. Callen is always in control. He threatened me as being a part of something far more sinister than a list," Gibbs argued.
"Oh, much more is at play and I am as confused as the lot of you as to who is pulling the strings… but whoever it is has done a good job of convincing him we are the enemy… Were any of you aware that Joelle Taylor was, in fact, still alive?" Hetty looked around the group in question.
"What?" Kensi cried out in shock. "She died seven years ago!"
"You telling us that's not the case?" Sam asked.
"Apparently, until yesterday, when she was brutally murdered in an effort to send Callen a message." Hetty explained.
"Message?" Nell asked.
"Yes, the murderer made it a point to torture the poor woman before taking her life. He carved the word 'Ghost' into her forehead. Why? I have no idea as yet." Hetty informed them, even now the chill in her spine remained.
"So, Callen knew she was alive? Why wouldn't he tell us?" Kensi asked.
"My guess… he was protecting her from someone or something."
"Shouldn't we go find him and drag him back here and explain the facts as we know them?" Deeks offered.
"You won't find him now. He's in the wind. God only knows where this will lead." Gibbs sighed heavily.
"Truth will out in the end, Jethro." Hetty stated.
"You keep saying that, Hetty. I'm not so sure this time." Gibbs answered skeptically.
"Eventually, he will find what he needs and he will know I was not the enemy."
"You sure about that, Hetty? Seems to me, if what you say is true… and Joelle died in the process of uncovering it… Someone is going to a lot of trouble to cover their tracks." Gibbs suggested.
"But why? What do they want? What do they gain by turning Callen against you?" Kensi asked.
The group fell silent, in thought.
"Think about it. The guy trusts no one. His only real friendships were here. Alienate Hetty, you alienate the team by association. Whoever THIS IS… is after Callen." Sam surmised. "Whoever this is… has been playing the long game."
"If you want to know what I think… I think it's been going on since Blackguard got involved." Deeks suggested, "When THIS all blew up and Callen left for them… you can't get any more alienated than that."
"Agreed," Sam stated wearily, "and we fell for it."
