The final chapter, for now.
Unless you want more... if you do... let me know
Right now wasn't the time to slap, Eric. Besides, Mike had already done a number on the young man.
While Callen's bruises had started to fade and the swelling had started to go down. Eric looked hellish, dried blood over vast segments of his face, Glasses smashed, and his face had already started to swell.
Callen knew that now wasn't the time to have it out with the technical operator, that time would come when Nell and Grace were safe and sound. But for now, Callen had to focus on work… and not let himself be distracted by concerns for his young family
"Who did you contact, Beale?"
Callen watched on the plasma screen in the boatshed, as Granger and Hetty interrogated Eric
"I never made direct contact with anyone. I just accessed the case files from Lauren Hunter's investigation into the Comescu family and dropped a few breadcrumbs to lead them to Callen. I never meant to put Nell in any danger"
"What did you think would happen, Mr Beale. You know as well as anyone what the Comescu's have done to Mr Callen and his relatives"
In another situation, Callen couldn't think of anything as entertaining as watching, Hetty interrogate someone… He just wished he could enjoy it on this occasion.
….
"So where do we start?"
"I dunno about you, G. I'm quite happy to pick up where I was, before you dragged me off that little shit"
"Trust me, Mike. As much as I want to let you… we need to find Nell, and Grace. Once I have them back, safe and sound, I promise you, I'll lock you in a room with him and let you go to town"
"Where do we start, Brother?"
"Well how about you start by washing the blood off your knuckles?!"
….
"You gonna be okay, G?. No one would blame you if you needed to take a back seat on this one"
"I'm not taking a back seat, Sam. Would you take a back seat if it was Michelle, or Kamran, or Aiden that had been taken?"
"I just don't want you to have any regrets for things you've done"
"Listen to me, Sam. I will not feel guilt or have any regrets, I will get my wife and daughter back. I will kill every last Comescu and I will let Mike beat Eric to a bloody pulp, as soon as he's served his purpose"
….
"What do you want. I've never done anything against you or your family"
"Ah Mrs Callen. We know you have been involved in operations to capture our brethren. Your stay with us will be short. But understand we will kill you both at the opportune moment" explained the man who had introduced himself as Alin Comescu.
Nell had to admit that his English was very good, with very few tell tale signs of an accent
"Why would you want to kill an innocent child?"
"You should ask your spouse that question. He and his kind nearly wiped us out. We do to others as they do to us. Romani justice"
….
"You can't be serious, G!"
"What's the other option, Mike. Huh?. You want to let them kill her!"
I'm not saying that, No one's saying that. But there has to be another option, besides letting them kill you"
"Both of you listen to me…" Callen began, talking to both Mike and Sam "If it comes down to a choice between me surviving, and losing them both, OR me trading myself for them… I know what I'll choose. And I'll make that decision every day and twice on Sunday. Sam, you have to understand this…"
"Doesn't mean we have to like it, G" Replied Sam, finally getting involved in the discussion "We won't let you hand yourself over just to be killed"
"You can't stop me. And I don't suggest that you try. You're my brothers… the people I'm closest to..." Callen began, before adding, in a quieter voice "Besides Nell, and Gracie"
"There's always another way, Brother. Has to be"
"Just listen to me… and please do what I ask you. I am going to trade myself for them. But you have to protect them. And I'm sorry to have to ask this, truly I am…" Callen paused, not wanting to burden is friends further than he already had done "…but I need you to protect them, with your own lives if necessary"
"…G…" Sam began, before Callen interrupted him
"I know I should never have had to ask this of you, any of you. And I am truly sorry that I have come to this point…"
….
"I may have spoken too soon Mrs Callen. It appears you won't be with us quite as long as I foresaw…"
Nell began to envisage being shot, stabbed, or, god forbid, decapitated by the Comescu family that held her and Grace hostage…
"…You will be freed, in exchange for the 'Antihrist', who will surrender himself for you both" Alin, continued
….
"I'm serious, guys, I don't want any support… leave this to me. Just pick up Nell and Grace, and get them to safety. Hetty'll have everything sorted for them… Just… Just watch out for them for me. I would do it, but… well, you know what's gonna happen"
"We can't let you do this, Callen"
"I appreciate you saying that, Kens. But if it's a choice between surviving, by losing my family, or sacrificing myself for them… I'll sacrifice myself, gladly"
"No, Not happening!" Replied Kensi
….
Having climbed out of the car inside the abandoned warehouse, Callen looked around where he had been told the exchange would take place. Finally, Callen could see Nell and Grace at the far side of the building.
How did these creeps always manage to find an abandoned building for their exchanges. LA was a big place, and even considering that there would be empty buildings scattered about, how they always found the most isolated of places eluded, Callen.
"Renunțare la arme" (Discard your weapons)
"Lasa sa mearga prima" (Let them go first) Callen called out in Romanian, in response to the instruction from the Comescu
Nell looked … almost scared for her life, although under the circumstances it was understandable. The question, though, was whether that fear was because of the circumstances, or if it was due to something the Comescu's had done. God help them all, if he found out that had done anything to harm either of his girls.
Callen ejected the round in his SIG, then ejected the clip into his other hand, before he threw the clip and the rest of the handgun in opposite directions.
"Merge înainte" (Walk forwards)
Callen knew he didn't have the upper hand, but he wasn't going to just blindly trust that any Comescu, not just this guy, would do what they promised
"Trimite-le la mine, şi voi veni la tine" (Send them to me, and i'll come to you) Callen called out
Alin seemed to agree to the trade, sending Nell and Grace in Callen's direction, in exchange Callen walked towards the Comescu, and towards Nell…
As Callen and Nell approached the mid point, he glanced over her, looking for any signs of injury, bruises or signs of any sprain
"G?"
"Just keep walking. Sam's waiting in the car"
"He'll kill you"
Callen kept walking towards Alin. Not able to stop himself, he reached out with the hand closest to Nell, as she reached out with the arm she wasn't using to cradle Grace
"Better than killing you both" he replied as his fingers briefly slipped across Nell's fingers as they both kept walking "Keep walking. Get in the Car. Don't look back. Please!" he continued, trying to urge Nell do as he asked.
He could hear her continue walking, so he did the same. He knew that at any time Alin, or one of the other men either side of him, could shoot him mid step, he knew that there was every chance that he had seen his wife and daughter for the last time and he knew that things probably wouldn't work out as he planned… but he would keep walking till he knew Nell was safe in that car with Sam
When he heard the car door open and then swiftly clunk shut again, Callen shook off his jacket and spun round, and continued walking, although now backwards towards Alin and his men, proving that he had no weapons… firearms or otherwise.
"You have me" Callen spat "You gonna kill me here, or you plan doing that later?" He continued as he now stood infront of Alin
"We will bleed you dry. Make sure your suffering is… complete"
Callen made sure he stood exactly in front of Alin, stared him in the eye before beginning "Well I'll look forward to you being dead before I am"
Next thing Alin and his mean knew, there was automatic weapons fire from the entrance to the warehouse
Grabbing hold of Alin, Callen issued what could well be his last instruction to his family
"Now, Kens"
Before Callen could finish his sentence, before Alin or his men could react… Callen felt a bullet burst through his chest and he could barely process the sight of the bullet hitting Alin in his chest, sending the Comescu stumbling back till he collapsed on the ground.
Callen hit the ground just before Alin did, but he still left a growing pool of blood escaping from the wound
….
"…Come on, Nell. I didn't mean it"
"So you didn't mean to get me and my 3 month year old baby abducted by someone who would murder us. What did you mean to happen, huh?" Nell spat out, at the person she had once considered to be one of her closest friends "I shouldn't have asked Mike not to hurt you. You're not a friend to me… not anymore"
….
"How are you doing, Ms Jones?"
"I don't know how I'm supposed to feel, Hetty. I mean, that Eric could… that he could hate, G enough to want to … have him killed. And as if that's not enough, Kensi is the one that shot G in the chest"
"My dear, Ms Blye did what was asked of her. As for Mr Beale, it's up to you whether you can forgive him" Hetty tried to explain
"I don't know if I could work with him after this… I mean, he… even if I forgive him for being responsible for our kidnapping, how can I let go of the fact that he intended for them to capture and kill G?" Nell replied, stopping and starting several times while she thought of how best to say what she was thinking and feeling
"You know how highly I value you and your abilities. I should certainly hate to lose you due to Mr Beale's actions"
"I'm not going to leave you or NCIS. I just can't see my being able to work with Eric any longer"
….
Callen began to wake. He was groggy as all hell… it was far from being the first time he had woken like this, but it was non-the-less stressful. Not helped by the severe discomfort he felt from just the simplest motions
"Hey, Buddy. Give me a second, and I'll have Nell in here"
"Mike?" Callen asked, already knowing who the voice belonged to, despite his vision still being very blurry and out of focus "I take it, Kens pulled it off?"
"Yup. No more Comescus. Or at least one less surviving Comescu"
"You know, I think she could use some more practice with her sniper rifle. Feels like she hit everything inside me"
"Yeah, not sure any of us want you to volunteer again. Was a bit touch and go, for a while"
"Nell and Grace?" Callen asked, desperate to hear the answer, lifted slightly from his pillows
"Worried. But okay"
Callen leaned back down against the hospital pillow, relieved. In all the years he had been getting into dangerous situations, from undercover roles for NCIS, DEA and CIA… to antagonising the school quarterback after being caught sleeping with the cheerleader girlfriend, he had never had anything he was as scare of losing, as he now had in Nell and Grace.
"And Eric?"
"Your 'old lady' asked me not to hit him again… said she was just worried that my fist would get cut if I smashed the other lens"
Callen briefly chuckled at the thought, despite the discomfort.
….
"Hey" Nell said, softly as she closed the hospital room door behind her
"Hey, Yourself" Callen replied, just as softly
Nell pulled the uncomfortable looking chair over to the bedside and sat down before reaching out to hold Callen's left hand, running her thumb, gently, over his knuckles
"How're my girls?"
"Worried, about you" Nell began "Now, who's idea was it to let Kensi shoot that monster, through you?" she continued, sounding much more fearsome and angry than when she had begun
"You know Kensi's a good shot… and it was better than letting that bastard shoot me, or stab me, or decapitate me or whatever else he had planned. Besides, there was no way in hell I was gonna let him hurt either of you. This was purely preservation"
"Preservation!?. G, you could have died… and for what, some blood feud that means nothing anymore. You're here. You're alive. You have family, people that depend on you. You outnumber the Comescus. Give it up. Be a father, be a brother. Be a husband"
….
"So you've been through quite a lot over the last year. You felt like you needed a session?" Nate asked, surprise that he had been called… by Callen no less
"The last decade has been… well, eventful to say the least"
"So tell me… with what you've been through over the last 2 years. Has it made you thankful for what you have… rather than what you didn't have. You're a father, a husband no less.\ I never thought I'd see the day…"