Note: I originally wrote this on Tumblr. I based this off of a theory of mine that I came up with before Season 11 ended. (AKA, Hetty being absent because she was dealing with personal depression issues.) I'm sure you can find similarites to The Blank Slate here if you read that one. Enjoy!

It was a sunny day. Callen went to see Hetty at Sanctuary (her yacht, the Lady H.)

'Did you follow me here, Mr. Callen?' Hetty asked.

'In a way, I did. I think we should talk.' Callen responded.

Seconds later.

'Well, what is it?' Hetty asked.

'I've been noticing how sad and distant you've been lately.'

'Oh?'

'And I'm wondering what might be the matter.'

Hetty sighed.

'I know I've been a bit, sad lately . but I'm just working through some things'. She answered.

'What things? Hetty. You've been distant and depressed all year! You weren't even around for the Argentino case! Are you planning to leave and never come home?' Callen asked, concerned,

'No! Heavens no! I'm, sigh. trying to deal with something, that I've been dealing with for a year.'

'What would that be?'

'Loneliness. and, I guess depression.'

Silence.

'After the Mexico mission, After I found out you were all safe in LA again. I stayed. It was meant to be a few days, but, something happened. Something that I still refuse to talk about for personal reasons. Well, I was told to do something. and that something, involved being alone for as long as that something took to be completed. It wasn't supposed to be for long, but, the situation escalated. I was lucky to even to be able to make that call to you that night with that voice changer! You want to know what I felt afterwards?' Hetty asked.

'What?'

'Awful! I cried for about 5 minutes after making that call! because I knew that meant I'd really have to work alone for an uncertain amount of time, without being able to call for help if I needed it!'

Callen asked, 'So, what happened next?'

'I worked alone. By the time it was time for Kensi and Deeks's wedding, the situation had still not disappeared. But I had had enough of loneliness at that point. I left, and as you know, came back in quite dramatic fashion for the wedding.'

'Then?'

'I went back to finish my work on that situation. and finished it. That's when I came back to work. I was very happy to be able work with all of you again.' Hetty responded.

'But?'

'Sigh. I started feeling something odd during Mr. Beale's mission. I sent him to work alone, and I was thinking about how I had to work alone. and it was really bothering me. Memories of that time were hounding me day and night, even in my sleep! I kept wondering what it was, so I would take multiple days off to see Nate, and hope that the problem would go away on it's own.'

'And then came Eric having to be rescued and Akos?' Callen asked.

'Sigh. Yes. Then awful memories from 2 years ago returned, then bad dreams. It depressed me very much. Well, it got to the point where being alone helped. And, sigh. As you can probably tell, it's affecting me working.' Hetty answered, depressed.

'Have you been talking with Nate about this?'

'Yes. He says it's, pretty much a combination of everything that's happened these past 3 years, and that maybe I don't want to deal with everything alone anymore.'

'Have you tried talking to anyone on the team about your issues?' Callen asked.

'I've tried, but everytime I try to get the nerve to ask someone, I freeze, and I get this bad feeling in my stomach that feels like I can't trust anyone with my feelings, and I know it's ridiculous because I can trust all of you, but, well, you get what I'm saying?'

Callen knew exactly what she meant.

'Yes, I do. You just described me from a long time ago.'

Pause.

'A long time ago, I prefered to work alone, to go lone wolf at random times because I thought it was the only way to deal with issues. You showed me that being lonely all the time was no way to live. Now, I am telling you this Hetty, in hopes that you do not turn into the old me: You can trust me, and the team with your feelings and your issues. We will be around if you feel the need to talk to us. We love and miss you, and we want you back!' Callen said.

Hetty definitely felt like she was going to cry after hearing all that.

She hugged Callen, and said: ' Thank you, so much! I'll try to be more open from now on.'

And she did. She stopped being absent and started talking more about her issues. It hurt to, but her family supported her every time she brought her issues up.