Santiago, Chile 2019

A/N: Any time a language other than English is spoken it will be in italics. My Spanish is poor at best. Now, onto the next chapter. Also Gina Mae Callen pay attention.

Callen worried is not a pretty thing.

Sam sensed something going on but couldn't get G to open up about what bothered him. His partner had become more secretive than ever in the last year and it reminded him about how he acted when they first met all those years ago.

Callen's looked at his calendar and wondered why he hadn't heard from Jane. She's running about two weeks late. There'd been no letter or text from her and that boded ill for her and the two of them.

Hetty stood and came to the doorway of her office, her face wore an annoyed look. "Mr. Callen, a moment of your time if you would." She returned and sat back down to her desk with her computer open.

Callen looked up in shock. She hadn't called him to her office in a very long time. Was there a new case? Had he done something wrong? The only way to find out was to go.

Callen rose and ambled towards her office.

Sam watched him go with great interest. He'd watched his partner the last two years. G seemed content to live his life out alone but there'd been moments of great angst that Callen tried to hide but couldn't and it seemed that G forgot how Sam could read him. To this date, however, Sam couldn't find a reason for Callen's behavior. Maybe now would be the time.

Callen walked into the office and Hetty made the gesture to sit. Callen did that.

Hetty slid a cup of tea across to her lead agent. No smile graced her face, just the aforementioned annoyance. Apparently he needed a talking to. "Mr. Callen, while I may be many things to you I am not your messenger service." When Callen gave the "what the hell" look she didn't like it and it showed. "Miss Taylor emailed me and asked if you could meet her in Santiago, Chile for a week. Did you know this was coming?"

Callen gave Jane points for cheekiness. "I knew a message would be coming and to be honest it's about two weeks late but I had no idea she'd email you." He wondered why she did that. He'd be sure to ask her and to warn her against doing that again in the future.

Hetty turned her computer to show him the message. There was a place to meet and a date when to be there: two weeks from today. He turned the computer back to her which she promptly closed. Hetty looked past him as if to gather her thoughts. "Why on earth are you still involved with her? What happened to Anna? You haven't seen Anna in such a long time and I'm not sure I like where this thing with Miss Taylor may go."

Callen pursed his lips, looked down into his tea and played with the handle of the tea cup she'd given him moments ago. Hetty took him in a long time ago and raised him to be who he is today but that didn't give her the right to tell him who to date or sleep with for that matter, especially at his age. "Hetty, it's a way to keep her out of Los Angeles when her son has a birthday. I take pictures of him and bring them to her. We also have an understanding of how the other lives. It's a lonely life and we enjoy each other's company. Give us that." He looked away from his mentor and took a deep breath before continuing. "Besides at forty-nine years of age I don't think I need your permission to see whoever I please." He placed his tea cup back on her desk carefully, rose from his chair and stalked out leaving his anger hanging in the air like a curtain behind him.

Hetty knew he'd lost his temper with her. She regretted her actions but not overly much. She worried for him and about him.

Sam watched their discussion closely and noted that something had changed in his partner's demeanor. He went from worried and anxious to not worried but extremely angry. He still showed signs of anxiety too small for most to notice, but Sam noticed. It was good information to have and all the more reason to keep an eye on his partner.

Callen strode from Hetty's office to his desk, took out his pistol from his desk drawer and went to the armory. He didn't say a word to his partner.

Sam got up and walked to Hetty's office and knocked on the post that stood as her doorway.

She acknowledged his presence and motioned for him to sit where his partner had just left. "Yes Mr. Hanna…what can I do for you?"

Sam knew he needed to tread carefully here. "Callen came in here feeling good if maybe a little worried and when he left he seemed highly agitated. I need to know what is upsetting him."

Hetty regarded him closely. Was this curiosity or deep caring for his partner? If it were the second perhaps it could help her keep Callen safe. She decided to share a bit with Sam. "Mr. Callen has decided to go down a questionable path and it is one that will earn him nothing but heartache, I'm afraid."

Sam scrutinized her face. In those sharp eyes he saw care for Callen and worry. "So what did he get himself into this time?"

Hetty let out a sigh. She was about to divulge sensitive information and felt a wee bit of remorse about it, but she felt more than a little concern for a man she considered a son. "Joelle Taylor."

Sam let out a sharp bark laugh. "How can she be a source of worry? She's been dead two years or more now."

Hetty shook her head no. "No Mr. Hanna, she's not dead. She played dead so that she could go after The Syndicate and protect her family. Mr. Callen is involved with her somehow and it concerns me."

Sam sat back in his chair. "Callen is involved with her? How?"

Hetty shrugged, poured herself another cup of tea and offered Sam one, which he declined with a wave of his hand. "Apparently he takes pictures of her son, Peter, and meets her in a location they decide on and then they spend time together. His comment was something about a lonely life and they enjoy each other's company." She shook her head as if to try to fathom her agent's thinking. "This woman is a lightning rod for trouble and I'm afraid he'll get hurt by her again. I need him to be safe. Why can't she come here where we can handle it?"

Sam knew how she felt. Joelle Taylor had hurt Callen over and over again. He never really knew where he stood with her. "I understand. What do you want me to do? I can't follow him wherever he goes. That would ruin our partnership. I can't say anything to him because he'd know you told me and your 'handling it' is something that you know Callen would resent and rightfully so."

Hetty shook her head. "Think about it for a while and so will I. He leaves for Santiago, Chile in two weeks. Think on it and get back to me and Mr. Hanna…thank you."

Sam nodded and went to look for his partner who he didn't find. G slipped out of the backdoor of the building just so he wouldn't have to be questioned by Sam.

Twenty four hours later Callen sat in the hidey hole above Jane's former home. No one seemed to be home. The boy would be nine now and he should be coming home from school about now. He sat there for another hour. A grey Mercedes drove into the driveway and a couple got out and moved to the house. It wasn't Nick and Peter. Something was wrong.

Callen moved out of the hiding place and brushed off his jeans. Getting a suit coat out of the back seat of his car, he walked up to the front door of the house and rang the bell.

An elderly man came to the door. "Yes, can I help you?"

Callen started. "Obviously you're not Nick Taylor. Am I at the wrong house? Nick and I went to school together and he always said if I got to Los Angeles I should look him and Beth up."

The man smiled. "No, you've got the right house. Mr. Taylor sold the house to us about two months ago. It seems that he got a job promotion that took him back east. Sorry."

Callen thanked the man and walked away. There'd be no pictures of Peter this year. He wondered how he missed the selling of the house. Usually there is a 'for sale' sign but he never saw one. He'd go looking for Nick on his computer and next year he'd bring photos.

He went home and ate the Thai food that he'd stopped for on the dining room table he bought last year after his trip to Hawaii. Maybe someday Jane would see it in person.

He called the airline and got his ticket to Santiago for two weeks from yesterday. He thought back to last year and hoped she would be in good health this time.

Two Weeks Later

Since Callen would be away for the next week and the last case turned out to be more horrendous than any they'd run before, Hetty gave the rest of the team the week off as well. The real reason she gave it was to shield the fact that Sam would be shadowing his partner if for no other reason but to keep Callen safe.

Sam's flight to Santiago, Chile, left the night before G's flight. He'd be at Joelle's place when Callen arrived and then watch him and the surroundings for a few days. If everything seemed calm he'd come home for a couple days of R&R. If not, well, he'd haul his partner's butt home like always. Joelle could do as she wished. She wasn't his worry, just G.

The next day Sam waited up the street from 2170 Via Valparaiso. That's the address that Joelle had given Hetty. The neighborhood was pretty old world, with villas and cobblestone streets, very picturesque. It was situated in the northern section of the city and near the foothills of whatever hills you could see from the yards. Laundry hung in the backyards and dogs and cats wandered the area. You'd never know a CIA operative lived here and that another government agent of the United States would be arriving soon.

A taxi pulled up at the corner and Sam's partner slid out of the back seat and paid the driver. He then turned to face the houses on the street, obviously looking for where he'd go. He shouldered his backpack and headed to 2170 and when he arrived he knocked on the door.

The door opened and Joelle came out and greeted him with a warm kiss and a glowing look.

Callen greeted her just as warmly.

The whole thing left Sam's head spinning. This explained so much about the behavior of his partner. He'd been living this secret for a very long time. Sam sighed at his partner's need for this secrecy, especially with him.

Just as Callen entered the villa a man turned the corner and stood watching Jo's house. Just as quickly the man turned and walked away. Sam thought of it as an 'hmmmm' moment.

Inside the Villa

Jane greeted Callen with a warm embrace, drinking in the happiness of him being here. She never knew how good it would feel to have someone you love be with you. It'd been a long year since she'd seen him last and so much happened in that year; so much to tell him.

G held Jane, feeling her warmth and knowing that he truly felt love for this woman.

She reached up to touch his face, laying her hand aside his cheek. "Come on in. You must be tired after travelling all day. I'll get coffee and we can go out on the veranda."

Callen let her go, dropped his backpack on a settee and followed her to the kitchen, watching her move like he'd never seen her before.

She poured two mugs of coffee and bought them to the table for cream and sugar. Her eyes drank him in and she, honestly, couldn't get enough of him.

His gaze never left her either. The lack of correspondence during the year gave him serious fears for her safety, but she seemed fine, quite unlike last year. He wished there was a way that she could stop this but as long as she stayed 'dead' her son and husband would stay safe. Callen thought about bringing her home to Los Angeles with him but could never figure out a good way to do that and he thought about it more and more lately.

She opened the door to the veranda and they brought their coffees out. Callen, sat looking around at the pots of flowers that encircled the patio and hung from the pergola above their heads. The flowers were of every color imaginable. Lights were strung from the pergola and dinner on the patio would be beautiful with the sparkling little lights and the masses of color. Surprisingly, he couldn't wait for it. Callen sipped his coffee and watched his gorgeous woman. Somehow during the last year she'd grown prettier, more voluptuous and even more enticing. Maybe the old adage is true; distance and time do make the heart fonder. Callen's curiosity grew stronger. "So what's happened in the last year? You seem more at ease and ready to live a more relaxed life. What gives?"

She gazed off to the foothills of the mountains in the distance. "First of all, I think I've finished off the Syndicate. I've never found anything to interest them in Chile so I can live here in quiet. Secondly, my bank account looks great. I needn't worry about anything. Thirdly, there's a reason for me to be so calm. I've found my real purpose in life."

Callen took her hand and lightly squeezed it. He laughed a small laugh. "Really? Assassin isn't enough for you anymore?" He expected her to laugh at him but she didn't.

Instead she took his other hand in hers. "No it's not. I've quit working for the CIA. I don't want that life anymore." She waited a moment before continuing. "Finally, I've found peace."

G had never seen her so radiant, so serene and at peace with herself, with her life, with the world. The transformation took his breath away. "So what made you so at peace with everything?"

She never let go of his hands as she pulled him into a standing position. Cups of coffee were left on the table as she led him back into the house and up the stairs.

Callen wondered where they were going and why.

They stepped into a small bedroom painted in a pastel yellow with bright red curtains and blue and yellow bedding. A wicker basinet stood to one side with a bureau and crib standing on the other.

Stunned, Callen turned to her. "What's going on here?"

Jane stepped closer to the basinet and motioned for G to join her. She smiled radiantly down at the small bundle lying there. "I'd like to introduce you to Gina Taylor; your daughter.

Callen glanced down into the basinet at his daughter. The idea that he had a child took him to places in his brain that he never thought to go. The baby slept with her head on her right arm. It seemed a coincidence as that was how he slept as a young child. He moved closer to Jane, putting his arm around her. He'd never imagined having a child yet here she was. "How'd this happen? I thought we were taking precautions?"

Jane turned him towards the door and they left Gina sleeping. "To answer your question, yes I was but whatever pain medication Danny gave me negated the effectiveness and here we are. Funny thing, I killed all those Syndicate people and never once felt sick about it, but when I finished off the last one I got sick to my stomach. I knew something was off. A month later I used a pregnancy test and it came up positive. I came to Chile, bought my villa and three months ago Gina was born.

Callen and Jane moved back to the veranda to finish their coffee.

He still had some questions to ask. "Why didn't you contact me about Gina? I would have come and we could have been together when she was born? Didn't you think I'd want that?"

The two then made their way back down to the veranda.

Jane picked up her mug from the table and then returned it. Anger showed in her eyes. "Why would I need your help? I have money to care for us, doula service is wide spread in Chile and just in case you hadn't noticed I'm a big girl. I can handle my own life." She'd grown more indignant as she went on and Callen felt it like a smack in the face.

G hadn't meant anything by the question except why she didn't tell him. He held his hands up as if to say 'stop.' "I didn't mean anything like that and you know it. I want to know why you didn't tell me. If you needed me I could have come if not then…" He looked deep into her eyes. "I probably would've liked to be at the birth of my only child. I worried when I didn't hear from you."

Jane looked back at him and lost the heat of the argument. She knew what family meant to him. Jane came back to sit at the table with him. Any of the traces of anger she'd exhibited earlier receded slowly. She sighed. "If you must know, I was scared, scared that you wouldn't want her. At first I worried about having a child in our line of work and when I acclimated to it, my way was clear. I knew that I wanted her and us. She looked him in the eye.

Callen reached across the table for her hand. "I understand the fear but you can't let it stop you. I want us, all of us, but how do we do this? I want you to come home to Los Angeles with me. I've been thinking about it for a very long time. Nothing can stop us. Nick and Peter have moved back east. So you see there is no reason for you to not come home."

Jane came to sit on his lap. Her arms encircled his neck and his, her waist. She snuggled into him. "There are many reasons to go home with you but so many not to as well. Let me think about it."

Callen gave her waist a little squeeze just as a little wail came from upstairs.

Jane rose reluctantly from his lap and moved to the stairs. She impishly turned back to him. "Do you need a hand engraved invitation to visit your daughter?" She then disappeared up the stairs with a laugh.

Callen smirked, took another sip of his now cold coffee and then climbed the stairs after her. No he didn't need that invitation. He loved the idea of getting acquainted with his daughter.

On the Street

Sam sat in his rental car at the top of Via Valparaiso. The road cutting through between two main roads made for a nice little neighborhood. From where he sat he saw the corner where cabs dropped off their fares like his partner. This afternoon the same man as this morning came back three times. Sam wanted to speak with him. The amount of visits today might be a fluke. He'd wait until the morning for the chance to surprise the man and get some information.

As he sat watching, Sam thought back to when Hetty had told him Joelle still lived. At first he wondered why Callen hadn't told him about the ruse. He would have understood the need but then Sam realized it wasn't Callen's secret to share. Keeping the secret meant that Joelle's family shared with her a modicum of safety. Sam appreciated that. Callen went through a lot to help a woman who'd betrayed him time and time again and he wondered why. There must have been a good reason for it and someday G would explain it to him. Now all Sam needed to do was protect his partner and whatever Joelle was to him. All Callen's secrecy meant she meant something important to him and Sam could respect that.

From his vantage point at the top of the hill Sam could see down into the backyards of the four villas on the street. He'd seen Callen and Joelle sitting of the veranda drinking coffee and then he'd seen them disappear into the villa just as quickly as they'd come out. He wondered what those two were up to.

He hung there until after dark. The man who watched came one more time and then left. Same hoped that Callen had seen the man. Maybe Joelle saw him as well.

The next day he returned to a grey morning with low lying clouds. The watcher walked down the main street towards the center of town. Sam eyed him through the rearview mirror. The agent's mind went back to yesterday and how often the watcher came to Joelle's street: Early in the morning, 10:00AM, 2:00PM and 7:00PM. It seemed to him to be a very tight schedule for watching the house.

At ten Sam waited for the man where he normally watched from. It surprised the man to find someone there. The man tried to slip away but Sam didn't allow that. "Excuse me sir. Why do you watch my friend's house? He's very concerned by it."

The watcher looked at the villa. He wore a perplexed look. "I know nothing about a man. I watch the woman and her baby."

Now Sam was the confused one. "Baby? What baby?" He shook his head and left that question alone. "Who has you watching the woman? There's a baby?" He had no idea that Joelle gave birth. Was it G's baby?"

The man gave a big toothy grin. "Yes, there is a beautiful baby girl with gorgeous eyes the color of the sky." He turned serious. "I have no idea who I watch for. I just get paid very well to do it. I get a phone call once a week to give an update and I get a very large check in return."

Sam's mind still reeled with the thought of a baby, G's baby at that. "Is there a time when you'll stop watching the house?"

The man shook his head no.

Sam thanked the man and he moved away. The watcher went down the street the other way.

Sam moved back to his car and sat thinking. First of all, G had a kid. Secondly, Joelle was the one being watched and presumably the Syndicate paid the man. He didn't think that the CIA would be watching her, she worked for them. Callen needed to know about this and would need equipment to handle it. Sam knew his partner would want to protect Jo and the baby. Sam just needed to make it happen.

Two Days Later

Sam again sat outside the villa keeping an eye on his partner's family. On the second day the frequency of the watching picked up. Something would soon happen. He needed to get in touch with his partner and soon. He just couldn't walk up to the door.

G came out the front door just as Sam had that thought. He walked down to the main street. Sam started the engine of his car, turned around and onto the upper cross street. He then turned down the next lane over to catch up with his partner. He reached the main road just as G came to the corner. He dropped a small box at G's feet.

Callen picked up the box at his feet while looking to see if anyone else noticed the drive by. He then glanced after the little car that drove away. His senses told him it would be Sam in the car but wondered why he'd been sent and why he felt the need to let himself be known. He stepped into a recessed doorway and opened the box. Inside an earwig awaited his use. He shrugged and thought, there's no time like the present which gave him the permission to use the appliance. Using an earwig had become second nature years ago. Placing it in his ear took no time at all. "Sam, what's going on?"

Sam, relieved to hear G's voice, smiled for a second. "G, you've got someone watching the villa. The man originally came four times a day. Now it's every couple of hours. They're not here for you. They're watching Joelle. We need to get you out and I mean all of you. Congratulations by the way."

G moved out of the recess towards DePablo's for the cheese that Jane wanted. "How soon do you think they'll move?"

Sam turned back into Via Valparaiso to sit at the top of the street again. "I can't be sure. Let's plan to move at a moment's notice. Have Jo pack a bag for her and one for the baby. Hey…is it a boy or a girl?"

Callen paid for his cheese purchase at De Pablo's and moved on to the bake shop for a loaf of bread. Once he had that he headed back to the villa. "Oh Sam, the baby is a pretty little girl named Gina and she looks like her momma. We'll be packed and ready."

Sam grinned at the idea of Callen with a daughter. "I'll pick you up at the back gate when the time comes. Tell Jo I said hello."

Callen gave a small grunt. "I will and by the way her name is Jane. I'm sure she'll be okay with you calling her Jo." He opened the door and his conversation with Sam was over. His immediate concern was how to tell Jane about what Sam had found. He would still want to know why Sam felt it necessary to follow him. That could wait until later.

G found Jane in the kitchen making salads for lunch. She'd cut up chicken to put on top, made a special vinaigrette and just needed the cheese for the finishing touch. The bread would be side to this meal and dinner tonight. He felt like he could live like this forever. He placed his hands on her hips and kissed her ear as his way of saying hello. "Is there any more coffee?"

Jane snuggled back into him and stopped her chopping. "No but we can make more." She took a moment to really look at him. Normally he is a closed person. Most people can't read him. Sam always gave the best read of him. Jane noticed that he seemed to be on alert. "What's going on G?" She moved to the grinder to prepare more beans for coffee.

Callen unsheathed the knife she'd just been using to cut the bread for lunch and stabbed the cutting board instead. "Sam's here. Someone is watching the house and they're not here for me. They're keeping an eye on you and it's getting more serious. Any guesses who it might be?"

She'd just taken the pot to refill for the coffee but instead she put it into the sink. Callen saw the resignation in her slumping shoulders. "It could be anyone. I've managed to piss off a few people in my life just as you have." Tears formed and she tried to wipe them away with the back of her hand. "It could be anyone."

Callen came to her, turned her to him and held her. He needed it as badly as she did. "Sam wants us to be ready when he says 'go.' He'll pick us up at the back gate."

She nodded into his shoulder.

Callen brought her face to his and he kissed her on the forehead. "Don't worry we'll get out."

After lunch he packed his backpack and helped Jane pack hers and one for the baby. It ended up being the most packed bag. It held things needed to travel with a baby. Jane also used a bit of space in Callen's bag. Her pack lacked the space for a lot of her stuff. They then placed the bags by the back door of the villa for a quick getaway.

The morning Sam spoke into his ear. "Time to go G. There is a group at the corner and they're not a friendly bunch.

Two minutes later Callen pushed Jane and Gina into the back seat of the small sedan and motioned to get down. He climbed in next to Sam and did the same. Sam drove out of the neighborhood at a calm, leisurely pace, not drawing the attention of the men at the corner.

An hour later they were returning the rental and taking the shuttle to the airport where they bought tickets for San Diego and arranging to be picked up and taken to Los Angeles and home.

Callen sat with Jane and the baby while Sam purchased the tickets. As he glanced at the passports he started and then gave G a look and then looked to Jane.

G wondered what the look meant.

Jane sat rigid while they waited. Most of her attentions seemed to be on Gina but Callen sensed her higher senses at play. She was on guard in case something else happened.

Callen tried to reassure her that nothing would happen with Sam and him ready but nothing appeased her.

Once they boarded the plane Jane seemed to calm down, be less on guard. Her attention was on the baby, chatted with Sam and G. After awhile she fell asleep while Callen held Gina.

Sam motioned for him to meet him at the rear galley. "G, you need to see Jo's passport. She used it to enter Chile eight months ago." He flipped open the passport and showed it to Callen. "I have to admit the men outside the villa had an eastern European feel to them." He shook his head. "I don't know for sure G, but if I'm right we need to be very careful; very, very careful."

The two men moved back to their seats and waited for Jane to wake.

Callen asked about the passport.

Jane explained the she'd had it made but never used it until she moved to Chile. It had made her feel closer to him.

G looked to Sam and then started to tell her about the Comescu and how Jane and their daughter were now in danger. He also told her that when they get to Los Angeles and home they would destroy that passport.