#6
"I want her locked up. I don't care what she says… you don't let her out of that room" Mike barked instructions at a pair of agents that had shown up with Callen "And have tech do a deep dive on this.. I want to know who she's been in contact with" he added, as he tossed a cellphone back at one of them, as he walked away
…
"He's pissed" Deeks whispered to Kens as Mike strode past "Has he explained why he's been off the reservation lately?"
"I don't know what's going on… but he's not been himself since Callen's been back with us"
"Heard something from Susie…" Deeks began, once again confirming that he spent more time gossiping with Susan from HR than almost anyone else in the LA office
"Do you really have nothing better to do than to gossip with her? After everything over the last few years… you really should spend as much time on the range as you do in the break room"
"Come on Kens. Think back … she was the one that knew something had happened between Eric and Nell way back when. We wouldn't have known otherwise"
Kensi had never let on that she had already known about Eric and Nell's night together. Even after what had been over 20 years. Kensi had always kept some secrets from Marty, nothing serious about them…but about things she had been told in confidence
…
"So how is she?" Callen asked when Rose slipped out of her autopsy room
Even with her limited contact with OSP, she had heard the rumours about where he had been for the last few years. The gossip she had heard suggested he had been on some sort of deep cover operation. It was far from the weirdest thing she had heard about him since she first came in contact with OSP….
"If her … What do you guys call them?" She asked, wondering aloud about what to call the pair of guys that showed up with several pints of blood for Hetty within half an hour of her arrival "Paramedics?" She continued, no less confused that she had been when she started "If they hadn't shown up when they did… she would have been in the right place"
Callen looked back at her more than a bit confused
Rose answered the question that he hadn't actually asked "She would have needed a morgue"
"Can I see her?"
…
Callen quietly walked into the autopsy room. No matter how quietly he tried to sneak up on Hetty, she always knew he was coming. For as long as he had known her, she always knew more about him and the team than anyone should have been able to. On more than a few occasions he had swept his phone and house for bugs… it was the only we he figured she could know what she knew. It was only fair to say that she had outlasted most of the other spies of her era. Somehow she had managed to transition from field work to being in charge of the entire clandestine division of NCIS…
"I'm not dead. Not yet at least"
He hadn't even made it 5 steps into the room…
"okay, One day you're going to have to tell me how it is you do that" He replied, giving up on being all stealth, and just walked over to where she was still laying staring at the ceiling
Hetty could be heard to almost silently chuckle
"Who shot you?"
"That isn't something you need to worry about my boy"
Callen let out a deep sigh, realising that it was going to one of those conversations
"Okay. Do you want to tell me who your little friend is? Mike's quite adamant we should hand her over to LAPD"
Hetty didn't say a word. Hell, she didn't make a sound…
"She was found over your body, she's not willing to say anything about why she was on your boat, or how she knows you. Tell me this isn't another one of your side ops. You swore to me that you'd take a back seat… not to run anything like this without my knowledge"
Hetty was still silent, almost scarily silent. Callen had started to look about for a mirror, or anything he cold hold under her nose to see if she was still breathing
Having spotted something on one of the tables positioned along the wall. He started reaching over to grab hold of the pan, only to be shocked when she broke her own silence
"Andrea didn't shoot me. I trust her implicitly… As much as I trust you, Mr Callen." She said, speaking quietly
"So who is she… why was she on your boat"
"I promised to protect her. I taught her to defend herself…"
"That's not a no. No more dancing around about this… Why was she on your boat?"
…
"We need to move her…"
…
"What's wrong with Callen…?"
"No idea, man. He not the same. Not since he came back"
"Must've been some op to have turned him into a sell out"
"Having fun, Ladies?" Mike asked, having overheard just enough from the pair of agents to have his blood boiling
…
"NO… I don't care if you are my boss. She doesn't come out of there, until I get some answers."
"Sorry, Brother. This isn't personal…"
"What did she say… what did that old bitch say to turn you round. You agreed to trust me. What changed in the last 20 minutes that took you from being on my side. to being on hers"
"I told you, mike. This isn't personal. Don't make it so"
…
"See you soon, Agent Renko" Andrea taunted as she left the morgue along with Callen