AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hello, good morning, good afternoon, good night… you choose. Okay, so we are getting a wee bit closer… We have thinned out a few of the characters… Callen has gotten himself up and moving… whether he should or not, be hanged. Now to start working him towards dealing with a future he didn't expect to have. How weird would that be? Let me know how we are doing when you finish reading… Enjoy!

"I can't believe it!" Marcus shouted in frustration as he entered the kitchen a few hours later.

"Is there a problem," Hetty asked as she and Gibbs looked up from their respective drinks.

"What? Oh, he ducked out on me. How he managed it without waking me…"

"Oh, Marcus, have you learned nothing over the years?" Hetty chuckled, "Come sit down and join us. I have some lovely orange spiced black tea or… if you prefer, Jethro made a pot of black sludge, if you will."

Gibbs smirked and shook his head as he caught the pinched look she gave, "It'll wake you up."

"Did neither of you hear me? Callen ran. He shouldn't even be moving around." Marcus looked at them in shock over their cavalier attitude, "Hetty, he has a concussion. He is emotionally a mess. We need to find him."

"You should know better than to think he would stay in bed once he woke up." Hetty smiled.

"It's fine…", Gibbs added nodding toward the door, "Been there for two hours now, round about."

"Just sitting there?" Marcus asked, looking out the window.

"What were you expecting, surfing?" Hetty asked with a grin.

"No, I just meant…"

"I know what you meant… My guess is, he is feeling quite conflicted. He has learned some disturbing facts about his life." Hetty stated.

"Add to that, the mind games Iosif had played… I don't know, Hetty. I'm very concerned he may not stick around." Gibbs leaned back in his chair, absent-mindedly fingering his cup.

"I have the same worry." Marcus agreed, "I spoke with him several times yesterday. You realize he never intended on making it out of there… that you're getting there in time to save him was not part of his plan."

"hm, yes, I'm afraid we do… all the more reason I asked you to stay." Hetty replied, "The others will be down shortly, shall we make breakfast?"

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By the time the others had all wandered into the dining room, looking for coffee and breakfast, Hetty had laden the table with anything they might want… all the while she, Gibbs, and Marcus watched the solitary man slowly progress to the water's edge and begin pacing.

"How long has he been out there?" Eliot asked, concerned.

"About three hours now." Gibbs answered, taking a sip of his coffee and sliding a cup across to the man, "Leave him to it for a bit. He needs time to think."

"Yeah, well, I'm not so sure I'd give him that much time alone in that head of his." Eliot mumbled, "it's a damn mess in there after everything Iosif and Victor said and did to him."

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but I agree with Spencer." Sam grunted.

"Did he get any rest last night?" Kensi asked as she and Deeks joined the rest at the table.

"Some." Marcus answered with a sigh.

"For now, we will wait for him to come to us. To attempt to speak to him now would be a mistake." Hetty answered knowingly, "Did you all find your accommodations suitable?"

"Yes, thank you" everyone agreed.

"Good…. Now, there is plenty here so help yourselves to whatever you would like." Hetty smiled then turned her head back to the French doors looking out onto the beach, watching her boy as he slowly began working his way back to the house.

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As he drew closer to the house, he noticed the light in the dining room illuminated the space now filled with those who had insisted on bringing him back. He wasn't ready to deal with them… if he would ever be ready to deal with them… it was then he saw Kamran looking out the door at him… he felt for the piece of glass safely tucked in his pocket and knew he couldn't sneak away this time. She deserved better… just not now… not this moment… slowly he changed direction and headed for the side entrance back into the library.

It's there, he was met with a cup of coffee and his friend, Eliot. Eliot could feel the agitation radiating off his friend and knew he would need to proceed with caution.

"I'd ask you how you were doing but that is painfully obvious, you get any sleep?"

"Not after I woke up here." Callen accepted the offering and savored the warmth it provided.

"When was that, exactly?" Eliot asked curiously.

"Not long after we got here." He smirked into his cup.

"Nice. You know there is a house full of people out there who didn't get much sleep either for worrying about you. They were half waiting for you to slip into another coma."

Callen cringed at the reminder.

"I get, with everything that's gone down between you, that you aren't sure where you stand, but neither are they. I'm telling you… you need to give them a chance to make this right. They have more than proved their willingness to try… especially after the way you left here." Eliot stated.

Callen walked to the window and stared out, "I'm not sure what you or any of them expect from me. I've got nothing to give…"

Eliot looked at his friend. He knew he was hurting after all he had learned but he also knew leaving him to his own devices was not the answer.

"No one expects anything from you right now… other than the opportunity to just be there for you. I know your first instinct is to run… DON'T. Hetty put everyone in stand down… and as you can guess… they are staying here."

Callen looked back over his shoulder, "why? It's over… no one is in danger… everyone that needs to be is dead… they can go home."

"You really are thick sometimes, Callen, ya know that?" Callen's eyes narrowed as the muscle in his jaw twitched and Eliot continued, "They are staying because of YOU. They want to be here for YOU. Iosif got in your head, I get that… trust me, I know what that man can do… but you can't let that be what guides you here."

Callen said nothing. Eliot could see his unease, "Look, you need to eat something… I bet you don't even know how long it's been since you last ate. Hetty made a feast out there… no doubt all of your favorites. Join them. No one said you have to talk… just eat something."

After another moment of thought, Callen finally agreed. He knew if he didn't, Eliot would never leave him alone… he also knew that if the roles were reversed, he'd do the same thing.

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"Here they come," Deeks warned everyone as he noticed movement in the hall.

Eliot walked in with Callen close behind. He cast a warning glance around the table.

"Good morning, gentlemen," Hetty greeted warmly, "Fresh batch of pancakes just came out, find yourselves a seat."

"They're your favorite… blueberry." Kamran smiled.

Eliot sat down as Callen gently eased himself into a chair next to him. Marcus eyed him closely, watching for signs of issues. He knew he had to be in pain and he was visibly exhausted.

Callen forced his attention on his eating as he listened to the normal banter… he found himself thinking back on the days when he would have been a part of that banter… but now… after all this time… what once came so simply now seemed so out of place… difficult… how could he ever have that again?

Sam caught the lost look on his friend's face, "G, you okay?" When he didn't answer him, he tried again, "Callen."

Callen looked up then, garnering much unwanted attention, "What? No, I'm fine… you know, I think I'm going to go lie down, if that's alright?" Callen looked toward Hetty as if asking permission to leave the table, just as she had always insisted on when he was a boy living in her home. She gave him a slight nod and a small smile in way of acknowledgement as he rose to take his leave.

Marcus followed him back to the library, "thought perhaps you might like something for the pain. We should also re do those bandages."

"No pain pills." He grumbled as he sat down on the edge of the bed and removed his shirt slowly and painfully.

Marcus worked quickly to change the bandages and minimize the pain before handing him a glass of water and some pills.

"I told you, no pain pills," he grumbled.

"They aren't pain pills. Some of the wounds are showing signs of possible infection. Take the antibiotics now and we can hopefully ward off trouble later… and since you refused to leave the IV in, you need to push the water to fight the dehydration. While we are at it, you need to eat more than the little you had earlier.

Callen rolled his eyes and accepted the glass of water and pills, downing both before handing the empty glass back to the man, his brow raised, "Happy?" he asked sarcastically.

"I'm not Unhappy." Came the response, causing Callen to look back up with a smirk pulling at the corner of his mouth.

"We need to redo those before dinner and again before bed." Marcus added as he busied himself with cleaning up the old bandages.

"About that…" Callen began...