Hi all! Sorry about last week – I had Monday off and kind of forgot about everything other than chilling out and catching up on sleep.
The case on this episode had to do with a little girl Sam used to protect being kidnapped, but the more interesting interpersonal stuff was between Granger and Hetty; he kept dumping the nasty bits on her as part of their constant push-and-pull.
Enjoy!
Season 5, Episode 22: One More Chance
Callen was still not sure if he considered Granger part of the team, but whether or not the man was one of his own, he still found himself annoyed by him at least once a day. Like today, when Granger had foisted off all the unpleasant tasks to Hetty, leaving her to get yelled at by SecNav when, really, it was his responsibility to make those calls.
Drinking with Deeks and Kensi afterwards didn't make up for it, even if Hetty got some of her own back by doing an end run around Granger anyway.
He also understood that there was some kind of long game of push-and-pull going on between Hetty and Granger, a game that, if he was any judge, went back decades. They were too used to the rhythm of it, the exchange of blows and debts, the cutting bits that were targeted for maximum damage but never a fatal blow.
Callen understood that game, even if he only played it light-heartedly with his own team or Hetty. But Granger and Hetty were all in, playing so hard sometimes it was far more than a game.
He knew Hetty never really let her guard down around Granger, and that was enough to tell him that this game could turn deadly serious any time.
And thus, Callen would not trust him. Not until Hetty did.
But he still felt bad that she had lost a round today.
He'd already dropped Joelle off at her place — she had an early morning and he was too wired for sleep any time soon. So now he had all night to come up with something, even if it wasn't much.
The smallest things sometimes made the biggest difference — look at the CD cover from today that unerringly led Sam to save a little girl.
He had a few ideas, but most of them were heavy hitters, things he could offer on a far worse day than this. Today had been a success in the end, saving a family and preserving national security. Hetty had been annoyed, not brokenhearted. He had to save his best moves for when their own game would need them.
The idea struck just as he got home. One quick text to Eric — who was definitely awake, apparently the man never slept when there were games to play on the internet — and he knew it would be done by morning.
He made sure to have Eric send it from Callen's email account, just in case Granger ever caught wind of it and was out for somebody's head. But G didn't think Granger would even know it existed. Hetty knew perfectly well how to keep such a thing a secret.
When he saw her the next morning, he simply raised his coffee cup to her in salute. She returned the gesture with her tea from across the office, smiling.
He blasted a quick text to Eric.
"Thanks. I owe you one."
Eric, wisely, didn't mention it in front of anyone else as the day began, but he looked smug all morning.
And well he should.
The GIF of a black chess king with Owen Granger's face on it — wearing an expression Eric had described as "truly derpy" — being toppled by a towering white queen crowned with Hetty's own face was absolutely perfect.
Callen found himself watching it on a loop on his phone any time he was bored for the next week. And he never caught Hetty doing the same, but he was pretty sure she was.
And they both traded nearly invisible smiles whenever Granger was around, knowing now that his face could bend that way.