#9
Sam watched as the ambulance doors were closed, and it pulled away with the siren blaring.
"Nice to see you again, Nell. Wanna give me your hands real quick…"
Nell knew she had no option than to allow herself to be arrested and extended her arms and watched as Sam slapped the cuffs on her.
"…and you, Ms Ivanov… if you'll come with me, I'll take you to the hospital"
….
Sam guided Nell into the backseat of his car, along with Kristina… allowing Grace, looking like she was in her early teens, to sit upfront.
"You got big. How old are you now?" he asked after sliding into the driver's seat and starting the engine
"Excuse me, but… who are you all, and how do you know my Rob?" Kristina asked, finally breaking her silence due to the whole situation
"I'm special agent Sam Hanna. I work for NCIS… I worked with 'Rob' for a long time"
"And the rest of you?"
"This is Grace, and Nell…. Grace is his daughter. And Nell… well it's a long story. I'll try and explain everything at the hospital…"
….
Kensi, Deeks and Mike were pacing back and forwards outside OPS waiting for Hetty to let them know what was happening. She had been in OPS for over 15 minutes with Sam and the director.
"I can't wait about, waiting for Hetty to decide whats happening…" Mike started, as he pulled out his cellphone and started booking a flight "…Tell her I'm on the next flight to the UK" he finished as he started running off to the motor pool to grab a car and head for LAX.
Kensi had tried calling out to him, trying to convince him into waiting till they knew something… it didn't work out that way and he disappeared
"Hetty's gonna be pissed" said Deeks, trying to stop his wife from following after Mike
….
Mike barely made it 3 blocks before Hetty called him back to OSP with information and instructions.
Kensi, Deeks, Mike and Hetty were driven to a private airport and boarded a private jet heading for Belfast.
Hetty had sat up at the back of the jet and kept silent for the length of the flight. Kensi, Deeks and Mike sat trading funny stories about Callen. Eventually they ran out of stories and ended up sitting in silence contemplating life without Callen.
The last year had been hard on the team. Mike had spent almost every spare hour looking for clues as to where Eric and Nell had run away to. He had questioned Nell's sister and Mom more than a dozen times… eventually becoming close to Sidney. They had been supporting one another about their respective losses.
"Sam said he took Nell into custody" Kensi said, sad at how life was working out for her young friend
"Need to get a move on once we land. If Nell was there, Eric will be close by…"
Kensi knew that Mike had been hit hardest by Callens absence… he had lost his best mate, and wingman. She also knew that he held within him an untapped reserve of hatred towards the former technical operator. That had been painfully obvious after watching him physically beat the younger man when he found out that Eric had been the one responsible for putting Callen's young family at risk. Kensi knew it was because Callen was his closest friend, and seeing the pain that Eric had caused… The last few years had been far from easy, for any of them, after Eric and Nell ran off with Grace. There had been no answers, for anyone… and seeing Callen crawl back into a bottle of whisky, had an effect on each one of them.
Even now that Nell was in custody, now that they had Grace back… there was no guarantee that they would get Callen back
….
"Can you tell me why… what did you call it...NCIS?, is interested in Rob?" Kristina asked, pacing back and forwards in the waiting room
"I'm afraid at the moment I'm not in a position to answer that. I can tell you that we have his best interests at heart"
"Can you at least tell me why you're holding that woman here?" Kristina asked, gesturing with her head to Nell "Who is she to, Rob?"
Sam really wanted to try and explain… so as not to alienate the young woman who 'Rob' held in high esteem and seemed to care about, but how could he explain without going into deep detail about Callen, his history, and a highly classified navy program
"I'm his wife" Nell blurted out
"You stopped being his wife when you ran off and married Kurt" Sam snapped, unable to hold back "… and lets not even mention absconding with Grace and classified intel"
This began a row between the seasoned Federal Agent and the ex Analyst, with Kristina wondering what the hell she had gotten got involved in…
….
A few hours later Hetty, Kensi, Deeks and Mike arrived in Belfast.
Grace ran over and wrapped her arms around her uncle Mike, as soon as she saw him…
Kensi went over to sit beside Nell. Wrapping her own hands around Nell's, glad to see the young woman, even if she didn't think Nell suited brunette coloured hair, and even if she didn't approve of the choices she had made to get to this point.
Hetty had pulled Sam out of the waiting room to see what he knew, what had happened since they left LA. Sam explained that Callen was still in surgery, that he had lost a significant amount of blood, which the doctors were still trying to replace through transfusions along with trying to stop the bleeding
"…and Ms Callen?"
"She's frightened. She's not seen her dad for over 3 years… and then this."
"...and Mr Beale?"
"The team from the London field office questioned her about an hour ago. They're following up on a few leads. I'm guessing he's laying low…"
"Yeah, and he won't walk away from 'Jones'… Not after all this" Mike interjected, having been listening in to the conversation "I say we hunt the bastard down, and…" he continued, before Hetty refocussed his attention
"Mr Renko. I appreciate how you are feeling in this situation. But Mr Beale is one of us, until we can prove otherwise. Now either, be objective or take care of Ms Callen and Ms Ivanov… alternatively you always have the option of returning to Los Angeles, immediately"
….
"Come on munchkin… Let's go get ice cream"
….
"Uncle Mike… Who's that lady that uncle Sam brought here?"
"You know, I'm not all that sure, shortie" Mike said, wondering the same thing, and about how much he could tell Grace about what had happened to her 'old man' since she had last seen him
"Dad's hurt again…. Bad"
Even if Mike hadn't have been able to see the pain on Grace's face, he could hear the guilt in her voice
"Come on Kid… Your 'old man' has been through worse than this. He'll be fine" Mike replied, hoping like hell that Grace couldn't tell he was lying through his teeth. Sure, Callen had been through worse… but Mike knew he couldn't promise that he would make it through this unscathed. He also knew that if Callen did die from his injuries, Grace would never forgive him for lying to her
"How bout you tell me where your mom was hiding you all these years"
….
"I'm sure this is all a bit of a shock my dear. Mr Douglas is special to a great number of us"
"He's special to me too. I just… I don't know what you're all doing here. I met him in Russia, and he didn't know a thing about himself… how he got there… where were you all then?" Kristina replied, getting a bit snarky with Hetty.
"Ms Ivanov, do not take our absence to mean not looking out for him. One of us watched over him, and you, ever since he woke up in Russia"
"The big guy… he said he was a federal agent. So I'm, guessing the rest of you… are the same" Kristina began, before realising she had neglected Grace "… I don't know how the little girl or that other woman fit into your group"
….
"I still don't know why you left the way you did… why leave with Eric?"
"You didn't see, G that night. He… he scared me. I saw Kurt… I saw someone who was a risk to me, and my daughter. I don't need your approval for what I did… I did the right thing for Grace and I"
"You were scared of Callen?!. He would never lift his hands to you or Grace. You… I don't even know who you are anymore. If you honestly thought that that excuse would fly… you're not the Nell Jones I was proud to call my friend."
Kensi was fuming. She had sat down with Nell, taken her hand to show support… but… hearing her try and blame Callen for her actions. No… Kensi couldn't accept that.
It wasn't because she had known Callen for longer than Nell. It wasn't because she had seen the effect Grace's absence had on the veteran special agent. It was because she knew Callen intimately… NOT the same sort of intimate that she was with Deeks. Callen had always treated her as an equal… ever since she showed up on her first day, an eager probie. Kensi got up and sat on the opposite seat alongside Sam.
It was just then that she remembered something that obviously hadn't occurred to anyone else. The one of the last times Mike and her had taken Grace to visit Callen in prison… he had told Mike that he had no longer had any interest in Nell or her unborn child. So Nell and Grace were together when Sam apprehended her… but no Eric or toddler.
"Where is he… and where is your kid?" Kensi said out loud in a very direct tone, not caring what Kristina heard.