#12
"I want to speak to her…"
"I don't think that's a good idea. You shouldn't even know anything about what happened. She … didn't know your old man. She just knows who he is now"
"I know. But I would still, really appreciate an introduction. Even if dad wasn't himself… he saw something in her. I can't imagine that whatever you say they did to him, that they could have changed him so much that…"
….
Mike spoke to Hetty, not fully believing that what Grace was asking was the best available option.
"I had to tell her"
"I understand that Mr Renko. I presume that you will watch out for Ms Callen, and Ms Jones' son, until such time as we can determine the best plan for them both"
"I will. Sid' and I will watch out for them both, for however long you deem necessary. Grace has already accepted… there is one minor fly in the ointment. Grace wants to talk to her fathers new girlfriend"
"Yes. Ms Ivanov. I Suspect she should very much like to speak to Ms Callen too"
"Is that a good idea?" asked Sam, finally joining the conversation
"Mr Hanna… we have had her under surveillance for as long as Mr Callen has been absent from our group. I believe she can be trusted"
Neither Sam or Mike could argue with that logic, even if both still had concerns
"Mr Hanna, I would like for you to join Ms Callen during her conversation. Mr Renko, I would appreciate if you would ensure that Mr Beale is not injured during transfer"
Mike suspected that Hetty had specifically given him this task despite him probably being at the top of the list of people wanting to harm the former Technical operator. Almost like it was a punishment for his past actions…
….
"Are you sure that 'this' is what you want my dear?"
"I told uncle mike that I want to speak to her… nothing's changed in the last 20 minutes. Nothing will change my mind, gran"
"Very well. I'll arrange for you to be seated with her on the flight…"
"Flight?! Where are we going?"
Hetty stayed silent for what felt like an age, to Grace.
"Home. We're taking you home"
….
Sam was standing at the doorway into the waiting room, watching over Callen's new lady friend, having just ended a call from Hetty. Kensi and Deeks were busy assisting the local field office with transferring Nell for extradition.
Sam wanted to try and explain the situation… even if the whole thing wasn't classified, he had no idea where to start.
"I'd appreciate if you could come with me. We need to get some of your things packed before we leave"
"Leave? Where are we going?"
"I'll explain everything later, but we need to go now… Flight is in less than an hour"
….
Kristina quickly packed a change of clothes for her and Rob. Not that there was much of his in their small apartment. She grabbed her tablet and tossed it in her bag and then lit a candle and placed it in the window just as she was leaving the apartment.
….
"You ready for this, shortie?"
"Why are we leaving, if dad's still in surgery?"
"He's not alone… Hetty… she's going to fly back with him on the medivac. We just… we think it'll be better to have you settled before you see him."
"Does 'she' know about dad?"
"Kristina?... No. She, em… she only knows the new him. Your uncle Sam's gonna meet us at the plane. You'll be able to talk with her on the flight" Mike answered honestly, briefly pausing to consider whether he actually needed to tell Grace not to reveal anything sensitive. But at this stage, Mike didn't know if there was anything she could ask or say to Kristina that wouldn't risk revealing classified information. While Grace wasn't part of OSP, she would already know some information that could be damaging
"I won't tell her anything… Just, let me know his legend. So I don't let anything slip"
Mike knew that Callen had never wanted Grace to be part of that world… of legends and lies. But knew that if Callen could see the young woman his daughter had grown into, that he would have been very proud.
"There's nothing I can tell you that can in anyway explain what she's seen in the last 48 hours… ask whatever you need to, shortie"
….
Sam, Kensi, and Deeks had sat at the tail end of the plane with Jake, leaving Grace to have time to ask Kristina her questions. Mike had been hovering somewhere between the two groups, not wanting to leave Grace in case she was told something she didn't want to hear. They had been on the flight for over 2 hours and neither of the younger women had said a word.
Mike had had enough, and decided to interject
"Why don't you tell Grace how you met"
Kristina hadn't known how to start talking to her boyfriend's daughter. It wasn't a situation she had any prior experience in. Afterall, Grace was only maybe 5 to 10 years younger than Kristina herself.
"In a bar. He… sent me a drink over. He … I can't explain it…. He just…" Kristina stuttered and stammered, trying to think how to continue, despite a warm feeling in her core just thinking of the man she obviously hardly knew
Grace could see that whatever was going on between her dad, and the young woman…. He obviously made her happy.
This made Grace sad… for as long as she could remember she had wanted her parents to be together…. Her mom had always seemed stressed around Kurt, so when her the man she now knew to be her real father reappeared, she thought everything would be better… but while things seemed great, she always felt like there was something that didn't seem as true as she wanted it to be.
Then her dad was sent to prison, and her mom hooked up with Eric… Grace hated Eric for splitting her parents up. Reasonably she knew it wouldn't be just as simple as just being Erics fault… that it was also because whatever there had been between her parents before she could remember, they just didn't love each other the same way now.
While the situation she had found herself in over the past few years was far from ideal… she had gained some considerable computer experience… to the point that she knew how to hack into government servers, but hadn't been allowed to. Her 'step father' had been too paranoid to leave her alone with any hardware. She hadn't even been allowed a cellphone because he was worried she would rat him out.
"Was he… Is he happy?" Grace asked, realising that was the most important thing she needed to know about her father
….
"…and he should be conscious in the next few hours. I would still suggest you not move him for a few day…"
"Yes. I am aware of your opinion doctor. However Mr Douglas will be well taken care of back by the best of the best back in Los Angeles" Hetty replied, cutting off the doctor… she had grown tired of his apparent inability to take chances. She knew what Callen was capable of… knew that he would never stop fighting, whether his name was Callen, Douglas or Donner.
Hetty was no longer Operations manager of OSP… she didn't even hold a formal position within the agency. But since she still knew where all of the bodies were buried, and had been the operations manager in charge of OSP ever since its inception… SECNAV still gave her a tremendous amount of latitude. Hetty had made known long ago that she had no intentions of retiring… the only time she planned to take a step back would be when she was 6 feet under in a box. Alive or dead… she wasn't too fussed.
After the doctor had left the room, Hetty made sure the door was securely closed and did what had become the norm for her whenever dealing with one of her agents…she set about scanning the room for covert listening devices. She had done a search after her team had left a few hours ago, but since then there had been half a dozen unvetted medical staff in his room
"You know Mr Callen, you are one of the most…. NO, let me correct myself, you are the most stubborn agent I've ever had the good fortune to work with" She paused for a moment and glanced around the room, making sure no one else would hear "And long may it continue my boy"
….
Sidney was standing in the arrival's hall… she had been pacing back and forward impatiently. She wasn't at all nervous about seeing her niece for what had felt like a lifetime. Okay, she was VERY nervous. The last time she could remember having spent any serious time with Grace had been when her sister had passed her off to Sidney and her mom, while Nell had been off tracking whoever had abducted Callen.
Thinking about it, Sidney never understood how Nell had gotten involved with Callen. They didn't work as closely as Nell had with Eric. Mind you, the less said about Eric the better. It was a sore subject with Mike, and Sid understood it… for Mike Eric was the root cause for his best friend being locked up, then the spiral into depression and then his absence while he was away on… well, whatever clandestine operation required NCIS' own grey man. For Sid and her mom, Eric was to blame for them not having seen Nell or Grace for a very long time… it wasn't just them not being able to see them, but to not have had any contact with them or even to not have known if they were still alive.
She had managed to convince her mom not to be at the airport waiting for Grace to get there… Sidney was worried that it may be too much. If it hadn't of been for Mike having been chasing any and every lead related to Nell and Eric… they may never have seen Grace again or met Jake for that matter.
….
"You looking forward to seeing your aunt and nana jones?" Mike asked Grace as they left the jet
"Yeah, I guess…"
Mike knew something was going on with Grace… she had been a little too willing to stay quiet on the flight, especially after playing hardball to be allowed to speak to Kristina. But the last couple of days had been tough on the kid. Mike had lost count of the number of times she had been around her injured father… hell, once was too many times.
"We can call your grandma once we get you home, you can ask how he's doing"
….
"I don't feel too good" He replied shakily, feeling like his insides would spill out if he stood up
"You'll be fine, my boy. There are a great many people looking forward to seeing you up and around"
….
Sidney was thrown, seeing her niece who was, last she had seen her, just been a munchkin. Now she was a similar height to Kensi. Obviously Grace hadn't taken after her mom.
Sidney didn't know what to expect… Grace had been through a lot, seen more than any child… anyone… should ever have to see. It wasn't that Sidney was accusing Nell of being an unfit parent… but, through her choices, she had deeply affected her daughter and her ability to form healthy relationships. Mike hadn't had much good to say about the situation, and while she had managed to talk briefly with Grace, she couldn't get enough of a read on the teenager. What Mike had told her, was that Neither Grace, Sidney, nor her mother, would be seeing Nell for a spell… and given the test program that Callen had signed himself over to was highly experimental, classified and potentially unsafe… there was no way to know if Grace would ever be able to see or speak to her dad again… No way for any of them to know if they would ever be able to see or speak to him again.
Sidney didn't know how to broach the situation with Grace. She knew that Mike and Sam would have been honest with the teen… but she should never have been put in a position where she was told the complete truth. The last few years… they would have been very hard on the young woman's psyche, and from what Mike had said… the next few wouldn't be any better
….
4 Days Later
"Are they here, did I miss them?" Grace called out as she rushed down the stairs, looking around about in all directions
"You've not missed anyone, shortie. Go and grab some breakfast" Mike said, not even raising his eyes from his cell… he had been refreshing the tracking page since he woke up this morning (3am…!).
Hetty hadn't checked in… hadn't given anyone any information about what to expect. Just that they would be flying into an airport in the US today. Mike had been refreshing the page in the hope that it would reveal some detail to him… so he could generate some plan to provide Grace with the information she so desperately needed, without telling her anything that would traumatise the teen further.
….
"You have to give me something. ANYTHING…"
[…]
"Yeah, I'm not looking for some detail you think I want to hear. I NEED to know where she… where they are" Mike replied getting more and more frustrated with the technical operator in OPS. He had already pushed 3 other staff in OPS to breaking point with the never ending calls over the last few hours. He had been aware of the looks that both Grace and Sidney had been throwing his way. Grace wanted information, Sidney wanted him to calm down… knowing just how much stress he was under. Especially since, despite his urging, she knew he himself was the one that was putting the most pressure on him.
"You hear ANYTHING, you call me immediately… you get me!"
….
Sam had been the first one Mike called once he came off the phone with OPS… Kensi and Deeks right after. When he was doing this Grace managed to sneak out… Sidney had been working in her home office and didn't notice, feeling confident that Grace couldn't bypass her security system. It would be another hour before anyone noticed that Grace had escaped.
She had 40 dollars left from a shopping trip with Sidney to get her some necessities… since anything left at Eric and Nell's 'compound' in Belfast was still being held as evidence.
Grace hadn't been in LA for a long time… she could remember a few details, but not as much as she knew she should for what she had planned. It was lucky that Sidney had paid for a tablet and cell phone for grace, and it was also lucky (for grace) that she hadn't realised how much Grace had picked up from Eric and Nell.
Grace had already hacked into the NCIS Database, and accessed the OSP server containing agents details… quickly and quietly gathered what she needed, hours before she snuck out of Sidney's, leaving no trace on the server, and hailed a taxi setting off for her destination
….
"Grace, I've got some news about your old man" Mike said, after chapping on the door and getting no response "Grace?"