Chapter 29 – Every end is a new beginning

So, we've come to the end of the road. This is the last chapter of my story and with that the epilogue of this saga, but not the last chapter of it, because there will be a also an epilogue that will follow shortly that I wrote last night, just to polish it off before posting it.

I originally planned a sequel for this story, where the events that lead to the epilogue of this story will be explained.

BUT, I am not sure if and when I'll write it. Since the thing played as they did with this story, any potential stories in this 'verse will be posted when they are written, so I don't make you or myself wait and be frustrated over how things played out.

To Caroline: I know, I feel the same like you. Hetty needed to be told off in the show, too, imo the Kensi storyline was never ended on a note that I'd approve, and I know it's not actually Hetty's fault, but how the storyline was written, and I guess I needed a scapegoat for how I was (and still am, frankly) feeling about all of this. Kensi shouldn't have kept secrets from Deeks that's for sure, but I wrote this little bit as a ground for something that could probably happen in the sequel (I can't say when or if I'll write it, but I can't know with the muse's plans). Here's the new chapter, I really hope that you will like it. Stay tuned for the epilogue afterwards.

To sassyzazzi: thank you very much for sticking with my story.

To sville90: this is the last chapter and then there'll be the epilogue.

To all my readers and reviewers: thank you for sticking with me in this journey that was my first experience in the fan fiction world, and I am so happy that I've seen the end of it, but also sad that it's finished.

I couldn't help, but use two references to Sherlock, sue me.

Enjoy this last chapter and tell me what you think.

…

All of us have different ways of dealing with grief. So does the elite NCIS team that consists of three special agents and one LAPD detective.

Callen is a lone wolf. He tries to hide behind an iron-clad mask, but sometimes it's enough to look into his steel and icy blue eyes to feel his concern or the thoughts of failure to save the day. As we all know, saving one life is equal as saving the whole world, but for Callen that seems it's not enough.

Sam manages grief by hitting the punching bag in the gym. After all he is a SEAL and he can overcome that state fast. But sometimes that leaves scars that cannot be seen on the outside.

Kensi, well she is Kensi. She can be sad, happy, and moody all in one day. She also experienced a lots of loses over the years and she was taught first hand by life itself what grief is and what the feeling of emptiness was.

Deeks had troubled past, yet he managed to stay positive and always have that huge goofy grin on his face.

When it comes to Hetty, she is a true chameleon. Many times the team asked themselves if they knew Hetty as well as she knows them. She has ability to know where everyone of her team members is at specific time of the day, what they eat, drink and what they think. She can fool anyone with the poker face of hers when it comes to her past.

Eric and Nell, well the two techies have ways of their own, but since they are nerdy, and their heads are full with facts about anything in particular, they can overcome the grief by filling the space with more and more facts so they don't face the loss and the failure directly.

And here is Nate, the Operational Psychologist that helps them overcome the problems that their job brings. And the risks they take when they are on the street chasing bad guys.

…

The man called Goran at three in the morning. He asked Goran to find a certain blond surfer, ex-detective-turned-federal-agent by the name of Marty Deeks and threaten him. Specifically in the way like he would've wanted.

They worked together on multiple deals when Goran needed AKs for his men fighting on the street of Los Angeles. Coming from neighboring countries they became close and did each other favors when they needed one.

Now Kristijan asked him for one and Goran accepted it without a second thought. When someone wronged Storm, it became personal for Goran, too.

…

*31st of July*

The next morning Callen wok up to an empty bed. Joelle was nowhere to be found. He was worried, because it wasn't like Joelle to leave all of a sudden, without saying a word.

He dialed her number, but she didn't pick up. The next time it said her phone was out of service. Alarm bells went off in Callen's head. It wasn't like Joelle to leave unannounced. Callen noticed a change in her in the last few days, but he chalked it up to Joelle not being privy to their work. Still, he needed to make sure she was okay. Callen needed answers.

He called Sam.

"Good morning, G. What's up?"

"Do you have a number from the school where Joelle works?"

"Why? Is something wrong?"

"Just checking. I never asked for a phone number from work, and she has the phone Hetty gave her. I can't find her."

"Did you try calling her?"

"Yes, Twice. First time it rang till the last ring. The second time it went straight to voicemail."

"She is not in your house, her phone is turned off, and you want to know where she went. Am I close?"

"Too close. You have her work number, or not, Sam?"

"Let me ask Michelle and I'll get back to you."

"Thanks, man."

While Callen waited for Sam to get back to him, he made breakfast and poured himself a cup of coffee. What happened this morning made Callen think about how little he really knew his girlfriend. It was a testament to how he didn't pay enough attention to the one person he opened himself to in ages and invited in his home. Callen wasn't one to offer emotions and words, but he realized that in the prospect of having a good relationship and someone to come home to every day, he was blinded by how little Joelle shared in return.

Armed with the doubt worming inside, Callen started questioning every moment he spent with Joelle. Was it reasonable, Callen couldn't tell. But, after his initial distrust, he trusted Joelle with things not even Sam knew. And it wouldn't be much to ask that in return, right? So why hadn't she given her work number to Callen? What if there was an emergency? Who was he supposed to call then?

Callen was brought back to earth when his phone buzzed with a message.

Callen dialed the number without a further delay. He waited for a while before a female voice picked up.

"Good morning LA Elementary, how may I help you?"

"Hi. My name is Agent Callen from NCIS, a friend of one of your teachers. She forgot her phone at home, so I wanted to check in if she came to work already? To let her know I have it. I don't want her to worry, and since I have to head out for my shift, I hate for her to have to make the additional trip to my house while I'm not at home."

"What's your friend's name?"

"Joelle Taylor."

"I'm sorry, but we don't have a teacher with that name on the list."

"Oh. But, she gave me this number… Can you check again?"

"Okay, one sec."

Callen listened to the sound of typing in the background.

"I checked the logs, and our employees information, but I am 100% sure we don't have a Joelle Taylor working with us."

"Thank you very much. Sorry that I have taken from your time."

"No problem, Sir. Have a good day. Perhaps she gave you the wrong number."

"Yeah, maybe. Lots of digits can be mistaken. I'll check again. If not, I'll call some of her friends. Thank you once again."

Callen ended the call and took a deep breath. Whatever was happening with Joelle, he wasn't to go through Sam this time. He called the only one that he could count on at the moment to help him with his request.

…

Deeks just finished surfing when his phone rang. Drying his hair, he picked up.

"Hey Callen."

"Hey Deeks. How are you doing?"

"Doing okay. Just finished surfing and I was planning to go to the Mission and do some paperwork. Kensi is already there."

"I need to ask you a favor."

"Sure, if I can do it."

"I need you to look someone up."

"Why don't you ask Nell or Eric?"

"I don't want this to go through official channels and alert Hetty just yet. You were the only to come to mind."

"You forget I work at the same agency as you, right?"

"Not through NCIS, Deeks. I need you to go through LAPD. Contact your buddy, or whoever you have there that can help you out."

"You want me to contact my buddy at the LAPD to run who exactly? What's this about, Callen?"

"Joelle."

Deeks stopped toweling his hair, Joelle's name seemed to peek his interest.

"Meet me at the Malibu Pier in 30."

…

"I appreciate you are going to look into this, Deeks." Callen said, as he sat down across Deeks in the little beach bar just at the edge of the pier.

"I didn't say yes, did I? Now, tell me what's so important that you can't do it through official channels."

"Joelle. She is missing."

"How do you figure?"

"Well, last night after I came home, Joelle was already there and waited for me, dinner on the table, wine. It's been a while since we had a night in, just the two of us. She stayed over. But, when I woke up this morning she was gone. And before you ask, yes, I did call her, but her phone goes to voicemail."

"What makes you think she is missing? Perhaps she had an emergency call or something else that required her presence? Her battery could be dead."

"The thing is, I called the school where she said she worked at. They say they don't have a Joelle Taylor working there, like ever."

"But, still. Why do you think it's not just a routine?"

"Because it felt like a goodbye."

There, he said it. It felt like something final, lead setting deep inside Callen's gut.

"It felt too final, like she wanted to say sorry at the same time, but she was hopeful. And I know that she probably wanted to break up with me in a way that won't hurt me, but this thing with the school. It's just a niggling hunch."

Deeks ruminated on the conversation with Callen, and nodded, realizing that Callen's suspicions weren't unfounded.

"Okay, I will help you. I'll call my LAPD guy. Will let you know as soon as I have something."

"Appreciate it, Deeks."

…

Deeks got in his car and as he fired the engine, he noticed a dark, shadowy figure passing by the car window and getting in the car behind Deeks. For a moment Deeks thought he saw the same car at the beach earlier, but he couldn't be certain. Perhaps it was just his imagination playing tricks on him.

For a while nothing happened and then Deeks noticed it.

At first, it didn't seem like anything was out of the ordinary, Deeks drove away, but at the next left turn he noticed the car behind him turned left too.

It happened two more times and that made Deeks awfully suspicious of the intention the driver of that car had.

Deeks tried to be inconspicuous as he tried to jot down the plates and see the make and model of the car. Deeks called Eric to ask him to run the plate and then immediately called Callen.

"Looks like you miss me already, Deeks." Callen joked as he picked up.

"No time for a chit chat, Callen. Listen to me, I think someone's been following me."

...

"Kens, I need you to do me a favor. Do not go the house we are supposed to see today."

"But, why? I'm already halfway there."

"Just listen to me, Kensi! Turn back around and alert LAPD of where I'm going."

"What's going on, Marty?"

"Someone's been tailing me since this morning. I don't know who they are, but I'm gonna lure them out at the house spot. Already alerted the owner and Callen. Sam is en route. I don't want to put you and the baby at risk so please, Kens, just stay way."

"Okay. Okay, I'll do just that."

"And Kens? I love you."

"Love you, too. Take care."

...

It shouldn't have surprised Deeks that Tanevski would send people after him. It was a given with the way he fixated himself with Deeks, how he vowed to destroy him. Tanevski wasn't an easy man to get rid of and Deeks knew that Hope's life and her work just got harder.

With reluctance he picked up his phone to dial her number, the curses and yells in Serbian already behind him, as Callen led Goran Markovich to the car.

As one of the henchmen Goran claimed Tanevski had on speed dial, he wasn't very bright and was actually sloppy at following people. Probably why Deeks noticed him in the first place.

Thanking his memory and observation skills, Deeks told Hope everything that transpired. She was barely few hours back to her home town and she was already needed back in the States. The exact reason why he didn't want her on her own was that.

Granger was on his way to Macedonia, but still it didn't put Deeks at ease. If only it served to rile him up even more.

...

Sam was the one that interrogated Goran Markovich and as always, everyone had a breaking point. Markovich's was his immigration status and the fact his kid went to a private school.

That paired with the fact that he worked in public transportation with fake documents meant he had no way of warming enough money for a private school. Ergo the money had to come on the side.

Goran sag like a bird once he was faced with the charges. He told Sam the names of the men that were on Tanevski's payroll.

After planning an operation, working together with LAPD, they caught them all.

Lieutenant Bates was happy with the outcome, because as he was notified from his predecessor and the Chief of Police some of the characters that ended up arrested were part in the original arms trafficking ring, the case Deeks worked undercover in as Max Gentry.

It was a small victory to be able to truly close that case, but bittersweet at the same time because the big fish, Tanevski, was still at large.

It seemed like the crisis with Tanevski was contained for the moment.

...

They were well into the second week of August when Deeks finally gathered all the information Callen asked from him.

Joelle didn't appear even after all the alerts and searches. Callen was stumped and angry, varying between wanting to scream and to punch someone.

After a thorough investigation on Deeks' part, including his buddy at the LAPD it was confirmed Joelle was definitely not working as a kindergarten teacher where she told everyone, nor in any other public or private school for that matter.

There were many discrepancies in her file that led Deeks to suspect something above his pay grade.

One of the best gifts a detective could have was their hunch. It wasn't always reliable because often it could lead to a different result if the senses were overwhelmed or clouded, but in most cases that hunch kept them safe in the line of duty. Deeks learned to trust his hunch long time ago and it rarely failed him.

This time proved to be no different.

Joelle lied them all. Michelle and Sam, Callen, the guys, and even Hetty.

Deeks had to admit it that what Joelle managed to do was impressive and cunning. He knew that they all needed to play a role to get a suspect, but what Joelle did was betrayal of herself first and her country and profession second.

Without further delay, Deeks called Callen.

…

Callen was getting antsier by the minute. Deeks called him not 20 minutes ago to tell him there was a breakthrough in Joelle's case. There were tires screeching on the pavement. Deeks arrived.

"You were right." Deeks was out of breath by the time he got inside Callen's house and sat in one of the chairs, spreading a file on the table.

"How so?"

"Joelle is indeed not a kindergarten teacher."

Deeks proceeded with showing Callen the information he managed to find on Joelle with the help of his friend at the LAPD who in turn employed the skills of one of the best LAPD hackers.

Joelle Taylor was a pseudonym for a CIA agent by the name of Elizabeth Banks. Joelle Taylor didn't exist until 2014, where she suddenly appeared, with made up history and a legend that even the NCIS was impressed by.

Elizabeth Banks on the other hand was born in 1976 and she was married with two kids, a girl and a boy, that coincidentally went to the school she claimed she worked at. She was a CIA operative since her 17th year when she was recruited by the agency. She was one of their top operatives and throughout the years she proved to be useful in ops that needed a male counterpart to be seduced.

Callen got angrier the more he read about Joelle, no, Elizabeth, that was her real name. Not Joelle. Not this fictitious version he was well on the way to falling in love with. She led him on for over a year, making him feel like he was worth it, but all she did was her job. Seducing him, getting into his life, into the life of his friends, it was something Callen couldn't come to terms with.

There were more information that Callen tuned them out.

Deeks explained how Michelle didn't know Joelle was CIA, because Joelle worked in a different fraction, and how it was surprise even for them that she was an operative and so good at it that not even she noticed that. Callen made a mental note to talk to Sam and Michelle about it, as much as his best friend felt guilty for setting Callen up with Joelle, it wasn't Sam's nor Michelle's fault that Joelle was a lying manipulative bitch.

Callen sometimes hated that he worked in law enforcement, specifically doing what they did every day, because to an extent it was the same as Joelle did to them. But, at the same time, they had a choice not to get attached and she did, and she had a family on the side, for when the life of an agent wasn't enough.

Callen was angry beyond himself.

There were indications that she was the mole, but no conclusive evidence to show if she was the only one left, or if there were more that worked with the similar premise of pretending to be someone else's girlfriends or boyfriends.

Callen thanked Deeks, after Deeks promised that they'd work on this like a family, together and that come morning he'll brief Hetty and the rest of the team. For now, he'd call Hope to update her on the situation.

Deeks was so glad Callen caught on to her behavior, and that Callen came to him for help.

Just when things looked up, there was something else happening. Deeks wondered what could possibly happen next, now that the thing with Joelle threatened to blow them off?

…

After two weeks of administrative preparations and settling paperwork, Hope was finally reinstated as an Inspector. She thought that things would get better, but they hardly changed in the time she was away. Hope never realized how much administrative laziness was bothering her till now.

She just started her first day on the job, officially, and it was the hottest day of that summer, it was barely 8 am and it was already 25 degrees Celsius.

Hope opened the file she printed on Tanevski and all of his operations, as well as his associates. She needed a solid plan before she started roaming the town in search for Tanevski. That's when Deeks called her.

Half an hour later, Hope made the strongest coffee she could, needing to clear her head, because she couldn't wrap her head around the fact that Joelle Taylor was actually a CIA agent and that Joelle wasn't even her name. Just 2 weeks ago they spent the night together with friends, and nothing seemed out of the ordinary. She really fooled them all. It shouldn't have come as a surprise, because it was always those closest to us that could be the ones to stab us in the back, but Hope couldn't believe Joelle was capable of that. Someone that wormed her way into their lives, and slowly, but surely gathered intel on everyone.

After going through the file of Joelle, Hope went back to her first and topmost priority for the duration of her stay in Bitola.

Kristijan Tanevski.

She was back home, had things under control, and she was on her own turf. It was time to put an end to it, once and for all.

"Okay then. Into battle."

Hope took a deep breath and started typing.