Callen was up late one night, which is normal for him, but he had a late night guest this time. Callen snuck up behind the intruder and said. "On your knees. Hands behind your head."
From what Callen could tell the person was a woman. The woman complied and got down on her knees putting her hands behind her head, but something about this woman seemed familiar to Callen. The woman turned to face Callen, and he saw that it was Joelle.
"I need you help Callen." Joelle said.
Callen didn't expect to see Joelle ever again, but here she was. Joelle explained herself, and then she went to get a shower.
N.C.I.S. L.A.
Kensi's and mine home-
Dawn was breaking when Kensi's phone started to ring. It was a normal morning like any other: I was just starting to wake up, and I could feel Kensi's head on my chest. Kensi was doing her infamous snort snore. I, internally, laugh to myself and then Kensi's phone started to ring. I pretend to be asleep as Kensi wakes up to answer the phone.
The conversation went on for about three minutes, but I was falling back to sleep listening to Kensi's voice.
"We gotta go. Callen wants us on guard duty." Kensi said, shaking me awake after ending the call.
"Guard duty. For who?" I asked, yawning as I waking up again.
"Joelle. Actually her family actually." she said.
"This is an unexpected case." I said.
We get a shower, get dressed, and then drove over to Joelle's house.
"Did you ever work with Joelle back when you were still at the C.I.A.?" she asked.
"Other than that time I saved her life when she became an immortal, no. The agency had us working different cases. Joelle was mostly in Europe, and I was in the Middle East and Russia. I went traipsing through the jungles of Vietnam one…time…" I said.
I trailed off because I think I might have a lead on Hetty. I remember I was tracking Hetty through the jungles of Vietnam because her helicopter had crashed. I found the helicopter, or the smoldering remains of the crash. I found a survivor, and pulled him clear of the wreckage. I patched him up, and carried him to the nearest village. I stayed a couple of days and until the man regained consciousness, and asked him a few questions. It was at that time I realized that there was a second Hetty. I gave the man some money to get back to society, and back to America, and then I left. I never saw him again.
"Deeks." she said.
"Huh, what?" I asked.
"Are you okay, Deeks?" she asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine." I said, and then picked up the phone and called Ops.
"Hello." Eric answered.
"Eric, how's the search for Hetty going?" I asked.
"Nothing so far." Eric said.
"Eric I want you to pull up Hetty's associates: Chegwidden, Langston, and Bridges." I said.
"Why?"
"I need you to search for them as well." I said.
"You think they're working with Hetty?" Eric asked.
"Yeah. They know where Hetty. If you can't find Hetty, find one of those three. And go further than Fiji." I said.
"Any ideas?" Eric asked.
"Vietnam." I said.
"That's super specific, but I'll enter the new search perimeters when I get a free moment." Eric said, and then hung up.
"What makes you certain that Hetty went to Vietnam?" she asked.
"I heard Hetty was in Vietnam, and I somehow found myself in Laos. Her distress call was sent out, but nobody was in the area. The message somehow found its way to me, and then I went looking for the crash. Head's up, here comes Callen and Joelle." I said.
Kensi and I get out of the Audi, and walk up the drive to Joelle's house. I see her husband, and son for the first time. The husband calls to Joelle, but doesn't call her by that name. He called her Beth, one more name in a long list of aliases.
If memory serves me Joelle is the daughter of a currently seated senator. I need a moment with Joelle alone, and off the record. I thought, and then Kensi and I were leading Joelle's family, Nick and Peter, to the Audi and then to the boatshed.
N.C.I.S. L.A.
Boatshed-
Kensi and I had been pulling guard duty for the better part of the day. I sent a text out to Callen letting him know that I need to have a word with Joelle, and that it wasn't up for debate. About an hour later Callen came walking in with Joelle. I gave Joelle a moment with her family, and then I led her to interrogation one.
"Don't play the audio." I said to Callen before entering.
"Why?" Callen asked.
"The conversation that we are going to have isn't meant for the husband or the child to hear." I said, and then entered the room.
Callen entered the main hall, and turned the tv on, but as instructed, muted the sound. The conversation had been going on for about a minute before the Nick came over and asked. "What are they talking about?"
"Its work related, and probably above my paygrade. It's best that you don't hear the details." Callen said.
"Is she going to be okay in there?" Nick asked.
"They're old coworkers who haven't spoken in years." Callen said.
"How many years?" Nick asked.
"Haven't gotten a clue, and watching this isn't going to help us. Kensi keep eye on them, I'm going to make a phone call." Callen said, and then exited the boatshed.
"You got it." Kensi said.
N.C.I.S. L.A.
Outside Manticore Mineral Group-
Callen and Joelle were in the food truck that was retrofitted for surveillance, and they had a heated argument.
"Thanks for letting me call them." Joelle said, handing Callen his phone back.
"No problem," Callen said, putting his phone back in his pocket.
There was a moment of silence, and then she said. "You don't approve."
"I didn't say anything." he said.
"You didn't have to. You don't think I should have a family and this job." she said.
Callen took a breath and then said. "It's your life, Joe. But it's also theirs."
"Right. I suppose you said you said the same thing to Sam after Michelle was taken." she said.
"Now, that is not-"
"Not fair? No it's not. But he's a man." she said.
"Ha—ha." He chuckled.
"It's okay for him to have it all." she said.
"I don't care that you have a job and a family. Okay, what I care about is that you made a mistake and you're afraid to admit it." He countered.
Joelle took a breath, and then said. "Sabatino told you I was still in the CIA. Did he also happen to mention that I've been place on leave, pending an investigation?" she asked. There was a moment of silence, during which Callen looked at Joelle at this turn of events. "I did make a mistake, Callen. And I have no doubt that I will pay for it. But I was also doing my job, just like you do your job, just like Sam does his. And I will fight to keep doing my job just like I will fight to keep my family safe. Is that too much to ask?"
"No it's not. But at least Michelle knew what the risks were. Can you say the same about Nick?" Callen asked.
The conversation ended when I told Callen that Kensi and I were position. Twenty minutes later, after a shootout that started in the parking lot, which had spilled over into the building, Callen caught up to Joelle, who was on the roof. And she had a wounded Colton Leach at gun point. Shots were fired, which ended with Joelle took a round to the abdomen.
"Eric get me and ambulance. Joelle's been shot." Callen said.
Callen was telling to Joelle to stay with him, trying to keep her from passing out on him and dying, but he failed. The last thing Joelle said before passing out was. "Not Joelle. Jane. Jane Shepard."
As Joelle passed out, she remembered the conversation that we had earlier in the day.
N.C.I.S. L.A.
Boatshed: two hours earlier-
"Just the man I wanted to talk to." Joelle said, when I entered interrogation.
"Why? Because you think that you can mention a word about a rogue group operating out of CIA, and I would follow you. No questions asked.
"Yeah. I know who is after me. It's the rogue CIA group I was a part of." she said.
"Actually, the group that we're dealing with has been operating within the CIA for at least six years or more. They call themselves the Syndicate." I said.
"How do you know that?" she asked.
"The spilt off from a terrorist group that I tangled with back in the early nineties. I took that group down back in two thousand eleven. I have a few questions. Does Nick know?" I asked.
"Know what?" she asked.
"I guess the more pertinent question is: is Nick even your husband?" I asked.
"Nick is my husband. We got married in ninety-six." she said.
"And Peter. I'm guessing he's your son. When did you give birth to him?" I asked.
"One year before you rescued me." she said.
"And after that?" I asked.
"After what?" she asked.
"I feel dumb for saying this, but you went back to Nick and Peter after I left you in Croatia." I said, flatly.
"Yes, they're my family. Why wouldn't I?" she asked defensively.
"To protect them." I said.
"I could protect them better if I was in their lives." she said.
"How?" I asked.
"I can survive any wound, and—" she began.
"Could." I corrected.
"What?" she asked.
"You could survive any wound." I said.
"What does that mean?" she asked.
"About a month ago, I went to Scotland, and purged the world of immortals. And did Nick ever know the truth about you, or did you introduce yourself as Beth when you first met?" I asked.
"What are you asking?" she said, bluntly.
"Does he know that you work for the CIA, or that you were an immortal?" I asked.
"No, I never told him about either." she said.
"So you selfishly went back to a situation knowing full well that your husband and son could have been killed, and they would never understand why." I said.
"I was trying to protect them." she said testily.
"Right protect them. Does he even know your real name?" I asked.
"No. I told him my name was Beth." she said.
"Is your name Beth, or is Joelle? Or is it Jane Shepard, daughter of currently seat Senator Thomas Shepard?" I asked.
Joelle went white as a sheet. "How do you know that name?" she asked.
"CIA did a piss poor job covering that up. My point in all of this is that you, Joelle Taylor, put innocent civilians in harm's way just so you could have the American dream." I said.
"I find it funny that you had no problem with Sam being married, and working a dangerous job—" Joelle began.
"Nick knows nothing about your life. Michelle and Sam were both in the CIA when they met. They knew the consequences of their actions. Does Nick the dangers of being connect to you?" I asked.
Joelle had no come back because she knew that she was being selfish and putting Nick and Peter in harm's way.
"Most sane people don't have a problem with women holding down a career, and having a family. But people do have concerns when the woman is in a dangerous career field, and doesn't have the decency to tell their partner there are risks involved." I said.
Joelle fell silent after I called her out, but I got a text message and had to leave the room to make a call.
N.C.I.S. L.A.
OPS: bullpen-
Sam had come back to Ops after leaving the hospital where Joelle was being treated.
"How's Joelle?" Kensi asked, as the two of us approached Sam.
We had our bags, and were leaving for the night. Nell and Eric had come down as we, with their bags in hand. Sam shook his head, and we all knew that Joelle didn't make it.
"Oh, man." Eric said.
"What about Callen? Where is he?" Kensi asked.
"He's still at the hospital with her body. Go home. It's been a long day." Sam said.
I pat Sam on the shoulder as I make my way to the door. When I get to the door, I hold it open for everybody, and then we walk out into the night.
N.C.I.S. L.A.
Joelle's residence-
In the morning Callen pulled up outside Joelle's residence. Nick had parked the suv, and he and Peter got out of the vehicle.
"They deserve to know the truth." Callen said, watching Nick and Peter conversing in the driveway.
From the back seat of his car, Joelle says. "They deserve to be safe. My death ensures that. The truth will come later." Joelle says.
Now she's thinking about their safety. Callen thought, but said. "Right. After you've hunted down the rest of this so-called syndicate."
"No. The Syndicate, Deeks corroborated the group's legitimacy. It'll take me a while to recover. I could use some help." she said.
Callen look over his shoulder, and then shook his head as he said. "I have my own family to take care of."
"Thank you, Callen. For everything." she said. Callen was about to start the engine, but Joelle put a hand on his shoulder as she said. "Wait."
Joelle wanted to watch Nick and Peter enter the house one last time. After the door shut, Joelle said. "Okay, go."
Callen started the car, and then drove away.
N.C.I.S. L.A.
Fancy, high class restaurant-
Kensi and I went to this high-end restaurant where a person of interest was last spotted. Arkady also said that person had been known to frequent this restaurant. I was a little upset because I had been to this restaurant scoping out a venue for our wedding. I remember this place having good food, and great desserts. I must have enjoyed myself a little too much because I'm getting greeted by the wait staff, which draws Kensi's ire.
"Of all the gin joints in all towns—" I said after groaning.
"What?" Kensi asked.
"What?" I asked.
"What did you say?" she asked.
"I didn't say anything." I said.
"Why are you being weird?" she asked.
"I'm not. I'm being normal. Hey." I said. I said, as a staff member walked by waving.
"Have you been here before?" she asked.
"No, I have not been here before." I said, lying as I was looking around the room
"Deeks." the hostess said, greeting me.
"Oh, God." I said.
"It is so good to see you again." she said, approaching us.
"Hey." I said.
"And you must be Kensi." I said.
"Agent Blye, actually." Kensi said.
My face lost all expression when Kensi corrected the woman.
"You were right. She is all business." The hostess said.
"Excuse me." Kensi said.
"You have no idea." I said, squinting.
"Excuse me?" Kensi asked, sternly looking at me.
"Uh, listen, I have been here before." I said.
"Evidently." Kensi said, clearly upset.
"But it's not wat you think." I Said.
"He came for dinner, but stayed for dessert." the hostess said, with a smirk on her face.
"See, I came for—What?" I asked.
"Did you, now?" Kensi asked.
"That doesn't sound good. Okay. Just listen—Here's the deal, I've been here before because I was scoping this place out as a potential venue for our wedding." I said, just above a whisper.
"Yeah—What?" Kensi asked, blindsided that I picked this place as a potential place to be used in our wedding.
"Our wedding." I said. There was a moment's pause when I realized that Kensi had mentally shutdown. So I continue. "Oh, my God. You have the spiraling Circle of Death face. I literally just melted your brain. Your brain broke. You gotta do a hard restart. Reboot that. Did I mention that I was a federal agent?"
"Several times." the hostess said.
"We're looking for Vladlena Sokolov." I said.
"She was here last night." the hostess said.
"The last time she used her phone was at this restaurant. Can you take us to where she was sitting?" I asked.
"Of course. Right this way." the hostess said, and then led us to the room where Vladlena was in last night.
"Thank you so much for being so wonderful." I said.
"Thank you. So helpful." Kensi said, and then took a breath.
I was totally upset that Kensi would believe that I would cheat on her. Kensi wanted to apologize, but I wasn't in the right frame of mind. Just as Kensi was about to apologize I shook my head and walked away. Kensi swallowed her emotions, got her feelings in check, and then walked to join me.
N.C.I.S. L.A.
OPS: entrance-
"Deeks, please." Kensi pleaded, as we entered OPS heading towards the bullpen.
"Why? I told you to trust me. It didn't help that the hostess had a Freudian slip." I said.
"Please Deeks. I'm sorry. I let my emotions get the better of me." she said, almost in tears.
Kensi—either woman—was never one to shed tears unless she was truly sorry. I want to yell at the wait staff for not keeping their mouths shut that I've been there before, but oh well. Before I could forgive Kensi, Harley approached us.
"Everything okay?" Harley asked, as Kensi wiped tears from her eyes.
"A misunderstanding. What do you have for us?" I asked.
"Mosley wants to talk to you Deeks." Harley said.
"Did she say what it was about?" I asked.
"She didn't say, but from her demeanor and tone of voice, she is not happy." Harley said, and then slinked away.
Kensi and I were a bit shocked to see Harley leave like that. "That's not something you see every day." I said.
"Mm." Kensi grunted.
"If I'm still employed, let's grab our usual dinner and forget about today." I said.
Kensi gave me her usual seductive smile, and then slinked away herself. Unlike Harley, I stared at Kensi butt until she was out of sight. I turned looked up at Mosley's office and saw her inside, and at her desk filling out paperwork.
What could she possible want to talk about? The fact that I knew about The Syndicate and kept quiet about it? I thought as I climbed the stairs to second floor.
I stop at Mosley's door, and knock.
"Come in." Mosley said.
"You wanted to talk to me." I said.
"I saw the report from the case with Joelle." she said.
"Is this about my previous knowledge of the secret crime organization called the Syndicate?" I asked.
"Yes. I find it disturbing that you had previous knowledge of the group, and did nothing." she said.
Mosley played her cards close to her chest, but I sense that she was caught off guard by me knowing that the Syndicate was the topic of this discussion. There was a moment of silence before Mosley glared at me. "Oh, that was an accusation. I wasn't sure if you were making a statement or trying to accuse me of something." I said.
"Now's not the time to be funny. I expect an explanation of why you did nothing, and let the group operate unchecked for three and a half years." she said.
There was another moment of silence while I formulated my thoughts. "I knew of the Syndicate, but I had no clue how deep their roots went." I said.
"That doesn't excuse your inaction." she said.
"My inaction. So tell me, Executive Assistant Director Shay Mosley, what would you have done if you had been in my shoes." I said.
She stared at me a moment.
"I'm waiting." I said.
"Watch your step, Agent Deeks. You may not like where will lead you." she said.
"Let me get this straight: you have no answer for how you would achieve ousting a shadowy organization that broke ranks with a terrorist organization. A terrorist organization that was attached to a crime family that has been around for over several hundred years. Is that what you're trying to tell me?" I asked.
There was a moment of silence while let my words sink in. I know that my information was something that she didn't even know. Try as she might, I just dropped information on Mosley that she had no clue was true.
"I didn't move on the Syndicate because there was no way that the C.I.A. would have let me pursue this inquiry uninhibited. Not mention when I learned of the existence of the Syndicate, I literally just shutdown that terrorist organization that it broke ranks with." I said.
Even though Mosley was calm as can be, I know full well that she's seething. Mosley wasn't expecting me to outplay her like I did. My senses kick, and before she can try to fire me, I ask. "Is there anything else you want to discuss, or will that be all?"
"That will be all. For now." Mosley said.
"Good night, ma'am." I said, and exited Mosley's office before she had a chance to change her mind.
As I was approaching my truck, my senses spiked, but when I turned to see who was approaching it was Kensi; who had jumped into my embrace wrapping her legs around my waist, kissing me deeply. I held Kensi until her feet were underneath her.
"So how did it go?" she asked.
"Mosley hates me." I said.
"How so?" she asked.
"Mosley has no trump card on me." I said.
"Except for firing you." she said, and the got in my truck.
"Except for that. Mosley wanted to know why I didn't shutdown the Syndicate." I said, getting in the driver's side and starting the engine.
"What did you tell her?" she asked.
"Do you want the short answer, or the long answer?" I asked, as I put the truck in gear, and drove away.
"Both." she said.
"The short answer, which I didn't tell her, was that I didn't want to." I said.
"Deeks!" she gasped, pretending to be shocked.
"What? I'm not giving her any more ammo to use against me." I said.
"Fair enough. And the long answer?" she asked.
"The T.L.D.R.—" I began.
"What?" she asked.
"T.L.D.R." I said.
"Which means?" she asked.
"Too long, didn't read." I said.
"Only you babe." she said.
"Continuing on—I told her that I didn't have enough information to move on an organization that has a long and storied history." I said.
"How long?" she asked.
"The syndicate was a part of that a terrorist organization I took down after we left Romania." I said.
"Cypher." Kensi said.
"Bingo." I said.
I drove to Yuma's Yum to get dinner, and then drove us home.
A/N: Sorry for the gap between updating. I was working on another project, and I wasn't wild about the fooled me twice episode. I will tell you that the next chapter is going to be rescuing Hetty. Just trying to figure out how to write the chapter. Also I'm going to combine the rest of the season nine with seasons ten, eleven and a little of twelve. There won't be any time skipping, just going to combine the seasons together. The big thing I want from twelve is Kessler, but that will be discussed when we get there. Again sorry for the wait, and I hope you enjoy the chapter.