Till Death Do Us Part
Disclaimer: NCISLA characters belong to Shane Brennan. All original characters and this story are mine.
Chapter 37
Chilcotin Mountains, British Columbia, Canada
Callen turned at the sound of a twig snapping. He looked into the visitor's eyes, thankful that she had come.
Alex looked to Sam who nodded and left them alone.
He headed back to the cabin, in hope that his time with his partner and now with Alex, would help him deal with this.
Alex sat beside him, placing her arm over his shoulders. They felt tense and from what she had heard from Sam, this was a difficult situation for Callen to deal with.
He let the tears fall, unashamed of showing his emotions in front of her. She wiped them away and held his face in her hands. "Talk to me, Gav. Let me help you." Once again she was helping him to break down his walls around his heart. He'd re-erected them when he saw his mother for the first time in forty years. But Sam and Alex could help him break them down, even if it was just for them. He buried his head in her shoulder and wept. Alex rubbed his back, both of them had gone through so much emotional turmoil over the past few years, particularly, the past month. Callen let her in. He told her all his feelings, what he'd been over with Sam already. He was thankful to have them still in his life.
They heard people talking, soon they would not be alone. Alex looked in the direction and found Amy, Deeks, Kensi and Nell appear from the trees. They'd been out hiking for the morning and they were on their return for lunch. They looked concerned at Callen, fear entered all of their minds over what was going on. Amy moved forward and sat on the other side of her brother. "What is it, Gav?"
Alex kissed Callen on the cheek. "I think the two of you should have some time alone." She'd been there for half an hour, and now it was time for him to tell his sister about their mother.
Callen nodded and watched her leave with the others.
"Is everything okay?" Kensi asked Alex, surprised by the state they'd found Callen in.
"He will be. Let's get back to the cabin, it will all become clear then." It was not her news to tell them about Clara being alive. Deeks' chatter was a good distraction from her thoughts as she walked down the mountain with them.
Callen took in a deep breath, reining his emotions in. This was hard on him to deal with, even harder to find the words to tell his sister that their mother was alive.
"Do you remember that day on the beach?"
"Yes. You were crying, trying to wake Mama up."
"Before that. Do you remember how she was? Was she happy? I remember her laughing, right until I heard a popping sound."
Amy nodded. "She was happy. She spoiled us with the days on the beach. Sandcastle building, swimming in the shallows and ice-cream afterwards. We were happy, but we missed Tata. The beach was supposed to distract us from missing him. You particularly, probably because you were so little and you couldn't understand why he had to leave."
"I don't remember before. I only remember that time on the beach, that moment when the men in suits walked up to us."
"Why is this bothering you now, Gav? I thought you had already dealt with this. You've worked so hard to build a life with Alex, you are happy now."
"She's here. Alive."
"Whose's here? Mama?" Surprise spread across her face, her eyes darted down towards the direction of the cabin. Her heart beat rapidly inside her chest.
"Yes." He held his head in his arms, trying to hide his emotions, but he was doing a bad job of it.
The reality of what her brother had just told her jolted her. "She can't be. We saw her dead in the chair. Alexa came and took us into the beach house." Amy's own memories flashed before her. She remembered her baby brother's crying, desperate to wake their mother up.
"I didn't see any blood. Did you?" He looked into her eyes and he knew that she hadn't either.
"We were lied to, Amy. Tricked into believing that she was dead, taken away and separated. Why?"
"I don't know." She had no clue. No clue as to why their mother's death was faked or why they had been separated. "But we need to find out, Gav. We need to go down there and get the truth from her, why she deserted us. We were young, too young to deal with the situation."
Callen nodded. He was thankful that Amy felt the same as him. But he wasn't ready yet. He needed some more time to deal with the news and on how he was going to approach her. "We need a plan, Amy."
"Yes we do." They formulated a plan of attack, they were not going to let this ruse go unnoticed. They'd been stripped of any form of normality that day.
The Cabin
Alex and the others approached the cabin. Nell's eyes widened at the woman who sat outside on the deck holding her grandson. She looked at Alex and shock spread across her face.
"She's alive?"
Alex nodded.
"Whose alive?" Deeks looked between Alex and Nell, confused. He looked to Kensi, who also was confused over who Nell was referring to.
"Clara. Callen's mom."
The news from Alex rocked them. Their eyes darted up the mountain to where they'd seen Callen and left Amy with him. His emotional state made sense and why Alex suggested that he talk to Amy. This was huge for both Callen children, who'd suffered a great deal because of their mother's death. But now here she was, alive and well.
Alex hesitated when she saw Samuel in her arms. Should she take him off her? She was a stranger to them after all. What kind of mother would abandon her children, leaving them in the firing line of Henrietta Lange? She saw Sam taking his anger out on the fire wood, soon they'd have enough for a month's worth of camp fires, the rate Sam was reeling that axe. She chose to walk over to him to avoid meeting her ghost of a mother-in-law. Alex's gut churned. Her own mother had taken Callen in to protect him from Hetty, only to sacrifice her own life because of Hetty's obsession with her husband. But that was all a ruse, Clara was still alive. She wasn't sure how she felt about this revelation. Clara was spared, but her own mother was sacrificed.
"Alexa." She turned at Dimitri's voice. She was trying to adjust to him calling her by her birth name. It was a good thing that Oscar had kept her name similar, by only slightly changing it from Alexa to Alexandra. "I have someone for you to meet. Gavrill's mother, Clara. She is alive." He looked excited to be able to tell her.
"You knew?" She noted it in his eyes, a secret he'd kept for forty years.
"I'm sorry, Alexa. I was sworn to secrecy. We had to protect her from Hetty."
"What about my mother? She died trying to protect Gav from Hetty. Why did you separate him and Amy from their mother? She could have hidden with them, then they could have lived their lives with their mother." She had so many questions of her own and hers were directed at him. Not Clara. She was still unsure on how she would be when she had to face her.
"It wasn't safe. We had to make it look like she'd died. Hetty would have continued to search for them, and place them all in harm's way."
"None of it makes sense. So many of us suffered because of this decision. Gav should have been with his sister. Then he could have lived with some family. But Hetty found him anyway. And she," she couldn't continue. Her own emotions were raw from the news. She turned on her heels and walked towards the lake. She found a canoe and stepped in.
A shadow appeared, Sam had joined her. He understood how she was feeling. "Like some company?"
She nodded and moved to the front of the canoe, balancing herself as Sam stepped in. They paddled out into the lake, they headed to the southern end, where the Tyax Mountain Resort stood overlooking the lake. They paddled in silence, both respecting the other's need to think things through.
"It's not fair, Sam." She eventually heaved out. "We've suffered so much because of Hetty. And it all started when Gav and Amy saw their mother killed. And then my mom died protecting him from Hetty. For what? She got to him anyway. Destroyed him and made him trust in her." Anger laced in her voice, as it echoed over the lake.
"I know, Alex. G's suffered so much, it's not easy for him, Amy or yourself. Hetty was one very screwed up woman, I'm going to ask Vance for a moment of my own to interrogate her."
"I think we'll all be lining up for our moment with her, Sam. I know Gav's eager to as well. He deserves it, more than any of us."
Sam shook his head. "You've suffered too, Alex. You lost your mother when you were a baby. Lost a lifetime with getting to know her and she you. Think of all the years you've lost with Elena and your real father. Not to mention the ten years lost being with G."
Alex heaved out a sigh. She remained quiet.
A gunshot rang out through the air, Alex and Sam felt like sitting ducks. They quickly paddled to the jetty and tied it up, darting for covering in nearby trees.
"It's coming from over there." Sam pointed over towards where they'd come from. Fear for their family and team grew within them.
Sam pulled out his cell and dialled his partner.
"Sam, where's Alex?" Sam was relieved to hear his partner's voice, but he still worried about the others.
"She's with me, G. We're down near the Tyax Resort. We went out on the canoe, but we abandoned it down here after we heard the shot."
Callen looked to Amy, the fear was evident in both of their eyes over that gunshot. "It sounded like it was coming from near the cabin."
"That's what we thought."
"I have my Sig and spare on me. Amy and I are still up the mountain. I'll try Gibbs." He'd left Katie with Gibbs earlier, he prayed she was still safe with him.
"I have mine too, G. I'll try Deeks." They disconnected the call and made their next ones.
"Gibbs, is everyone safe?" Leroy Jethro Gibbs had taken cover in the nearby trees from where he and Katie were building a hut. They'd progressed enough with the build that they were able to hide in it from whoever had fired the shot.
"I have Katie with me. We're by our hut. Can you get to us?"
"We can. I'll send Alex and Sam your way too. Can't be sure we can get to the cabin unseen."
"Good plan." He held Katie in his lap, whispering softly songs he knew she liked. They'd played many nights on the guitars since they'd arrived at their location.
Deeks cell vibrated, he had ducked inside the cabin along side everyone else.
"Deeks, what's going on? Is everyone safe?"
"Someone fired a shot at the cabin. I'm not sure. Where are you?"
"We're safe, far away. We heard the shot. I have Alex with me. G and Amy are still up the mountain. Just received a text, Gibbs is at the hut with Katie."
Deeks tried to look out for signs of the others, to see if everyone was indeed okay. He heard the baby's cry, frightened by the loud bang. He needed to get a good look to see who had fired the shot and where it came from. He crawled along the floor. Oscar now held Samuel in his arms, Nikita's body lay over Clara's, Dimitri was missing. From his count, he could see everyone else but him."I can't see Dimitri, everyone else is here. Not sure if anyone is hurt."
"We're coming. You, Kens and Nell, set up positions to protect everyone there."
"Got it." Deeks disconnected the call and motioned to Kensi and Nell to take their positions. They needed to ensure that every angle of the cabin was protected.
Leon Vance moved in like manner, he was not going to stay put and let the others protect him. He looked over to Nikita, who continued to lay over Clara. "Is she okay?"
The look in Nikita's eyes worried him. The former Russian KGB went into protection mode, dived onto his wife, when he heard the gunshot. Oscar had just taken Samuel from her to lay him down in his crib. He moved slightly. "Clara. Are you safe?" He heard her moan, his eyes widened when he saw blood. His heart quickened. She'd been hit.