Notes: Thanks for taking the time to look over my story.

I hadn't expected to be posting this so soon, but thanks to the encouragement from several of you, I managed to write this in about a week, when I had expected it to take 3 or 4 weeks. It was originally posted as a stand alone fic, but now feel it is better off as part of 'Revelation'

I have tried to keep characterisations right, but I may have slipped up here or there.

This is a follow up to my previous stories "Sacrifice" and "Redemption", and Continuation to "Revelation"

I am not sure if I am going to continue this 'series', or just do short one shots. But I will be taking a break for a while.

I hope you enjoy it.

I know it can be a bit uninteresting, but I value feedback, as it lets me know what people like, or don't like from my efforts. Or just so I know if you have enjoyed it in general. So I would please ask you to take a minute once you've finished reading it, to let me know what you thought.

I do NOT own NCIS:Los Angeles or any of its Characters. I'm just borrowing them

"Promise me you won't tell Nell about me being poisoned… it has to stay between you, me and the hospital staff" Callen practically begged his partner

…..

4 Hours Earlier:

"Are you absolutely sure about this Mr Callen. This is a major life decision, that I hope you're not making it in haste"

"Believe me, Hetty, the last few days, never mind the last few months, have reinforced just how overdue this decision had been. Just tell me where to sign"

Callen leaned back in his seat, and waited as Hetty to indicated where he had to sign. As soon as he had sign the document he stood up, intended to head back over to the bullpen, when he decided to ask the question that had been bothering him all night long

"I assume Janvier will be sent to a Supermax facility this time, rather than another medium security prison. I would rather not have to deal with a second prison break"

"I assure you, he will be in our highest security facility. The Marshals will be moving him later today. Assistant Director Granger has taken a great deal of interest in how he managed to escape without anyone at the prison knowing" Hetty replied

…..

"You have more 'first day backs' than anyone I've ever worked with… Everything sorted with Hetty?" Sam asked his partner

"Yeah, just a little paperwork I had to take care of. So, we got a case yet, or are we still sitting on our hands?"

"Nothing yet… even if we get something it's just us to deal with it. Kensi's assisting Deeks with one of his LAPD cases. So unless it's serious, we're on our own"

…..

Present:

"How long till you get the results from his blood test, Doc?"

"I've put a rush on them, but it's still going to be at least an hour till the lab get anything. I'll be sure that someone contacts you as soon as we know anything. In the mean time, try to keep up your water intake, so you don't get dehydrated"

Once the Doctor had left, Callen and Sam returned to the Challenger. Sam was concerned that Callen had said almost nothing since the blood sample had been taken

"You know, it's okay to be worried about something like this. You don't need to pretend with me"

"I am worried. I have more now, than I have at any other time in my life, and it does worry me what would happen to you all, after I'm gone. That doesn't mean that I'm anywhere near ready to give up" Callen replied, adamantly

"Glad to hear it" Sam remarked

"and In case you're worried… when I eventually 'pop my clogs'… I'm leaving the 'Mutt' to you and Kens" Callen added, with a smirk

"That's nice… so much for being your friends" Sam managed to say through his laughter "In all seriousness though, what do you want to do now?"

"I want to catch the bastard. End of"

"Well, lets go back to the last place we know he was" Sam started the car and pulled out of the hospital car park

…..

2 Hours Earlier:

"What are you telling us then Rose?" Callen asked

"Well he wasn't shot or stabbed, Nothing unusual in the stomach contents. There is a small cut on his neck, so I've sent off blood samples for testing, but it'll be a while till I get the results back"

"Can you call us when you hear back?" Sam asked

"Sure thing"

…..

"You manage to have your private word with Rose?"

"Yeah, just wanted to thank her for the bed… first time we've... well, first time I've worked with her since Nell got the bed from her" Callen explained to his partner

"I'm surprised that you kept it. I mean you lived in the house for how long?, just sleeping on the floor. But I'd love to know if you kept it because you prefer sleeping in it, or if you kept it because of who got it for you"

"You really think I'm that sentimental, Sam?"

"Before… No, I wouldn't have said you were sentimental. Now though, since your amnesia, or whatever you want to call it, you have been different"

…..

Present:

Walking through the corridors of the abandoned hotel, Sam and Callen check each room for any signs that someone had been living there, or any equipment that may have been left

"You sure you don't want to go back to the car, get another bottle of water?"

"I'm sure Sam. Sooner we find this bastard, the better off I'll be. It was just round the corner that he got the drop on me"

"You know, we're gonna have to speak to Eric, and get him to put out a BOLO"

"Not doing it Sam. If we tell Eric, Nell finds out, and I'm not ready for that conversation"

"We don't need to tell Eric exactly why we're looking for this guy, we can say it's for assault against a federal agent, or any one of a hundred different reasons" Sam urged his partner

…..

1 Hour ago:

"Okay, thanks Rose" Callen ended the call, and slid his phone back into his pocket, before turning to face Sam. "There was some sort of toxin in his blood, It's not naturally produced. But whatever it is, it's been in his blood long enough to breakdown to the point that they can't tell what it did"

"So basically the Petty officer was poisoned?" Sam asked

"Looks that way. Eric's checked where he has been via his cell, says there are 3 locations that stick out like a sore thumb. All recorded as abandoned"

"Well, let's check them out then"

…..

"So, are you planning to tell me how things went with Nell's folks, or should I guess?"

"I'll tell you, but can we maybe leave it till we finish clearing this place?" Callen asked

"Right. I'll take the south wing, you take the north wing. I'll let you know if I find anything"

…..

Opening each door, Callen would check each room for any people, equipment or signs of recent struggle.

He had found 3 separate people squatting in rooms, obviously they were just homeless people looking for shelter. They had all be quick to offer any information they had, even though it wasn't much.

In the room furthest from the entrance, Callen found yet another man, who like the last three, appeared to be homeless, despite being quite stout and wearing what looked like a good coat.

The man was slower to respond to any questions, but it seemed like this may have been due to some form of substance abuse.

Having turned to leave the room, Callen pulled out his phone and started to dial Sam. But before he could hit 'Send', he felt an arm get pulled round his throat, causing him to struggle against whoever was trying to choke him, and caused him to drop his phone, to allow him to focus his attention and strength on the man he had mistakenly identified as homeless. Both Callen and the other men, grunted as they fought against one another. When Callen felt he finally was about to gin the high ground, he felt something be pushed against his neck, feeling a sting before he lost his footing and collapsed on the floor. All he could see from where he landed was the stout gentleman slipping something back into his pocket as he laughed and left the room, leaving Callen in a pile on the floor.

…..

"G… G. Come on man" Sam urged his partner, before he slapped his partners face to try and shock him awake.

Watching his parted slap him and shake him, Callen slowly started to feel able to lift his arms, move his head, and eventually managed to pull himself into a seated position with the help of Sam

"What happened" Sam asked

"I'm not sure… but I think I need to go to a hospital" Callen replied

…..

Present:

"She's gonna know…"

"Despite what we may sometimes think, She isn't psychic" Callen replied to Sam

"Fine, $50 says she knows before we even say a word"

"$100, or are you not that confident" He Goaded Sam

"You say so…"

Having finalised their wager, the two special agents walked into the Mission, and headed for OPS

"Here, you better drink this" Sam said, and he pushed a bottle of water into his partners hand "It's not just Hetty you want to hide this from"

Sam walked upto OPS, with Callen waiting at the bottom of the stairs, as he quickly drank from the bottle, and followed after his partner.

…..

"She's been calling in almost every hour, practically begging for a reason to come back here" He could hear Nell say in between chuckles as the door to OPS opened before him.

Looking over at her, he smiled, pleased to see her so happy.

"… and then Deeks calls in a few minutes later, begging that we don't need her" Eric added

"So does the Op need her, or does he need her" Callen asked, with a smirk.

Callen had felt fine when he walked into OPS, but had started feeling a little light headed. Rather than saying anything, he moved over to the raised work surface and leaned against it, to gain some much needed support

"Eric can you put out a BOLO, 6 ft, Caucasian male, short dark hair, stout, last seen wearing a heavy dark grey coat. Last seen on Cerittos Avenue, about noon today. Wanted for assault on a federal agent"

Callen could see the looks between Eric and Nell as he gave the reason they were seeking the suspect. He could also see Sam trying not to look at either the technical operator or the intelligence analyst.

"Sure thing" Eric said, as he returned his attention to the tablet he held in his hands

…..

Callen was sitting at his desk in the darkened building, looking over some emails. He had no leads, no sightings and had still not heard back from the hospital about his blood test. He closed his laptop and leaned back in his chair, thinking over everything from the last few weeks, the changes in his life since earlier in the year, The friends and family that he had, Nell and the happiness that she brought to his life. Then his thoughts turned to his current case, the death of an otherwise healthy petty officer, and the only signs of foul play being a small cut on his neck and a toxin in his blood stream.

Callen knew that despite all the things he had done in his life, all the operations he had worked on.. that he had rarely actually been scared for himself. And now that there was a chance that he would have to face his own mortality, he found that he was scared… not for himself, but for his family, for Nell… for how they would cope when he died. He thought about the papers he had signed nine hours earlier, and about what he would have still have to deal with in the morning.

…..

Nell was out with her parents, who were still in town. So when the time came to go home, he did so alone… He went home to an empty house, and ate some take-out.

He found himself feeling much more exhausted than he usually did by this time in the evening. Rather than tire himself out any further, he quickly washed, taking particular note of the bruise on his neck, and got himself ready for bed.

Laying back in bed he started drifting in and out of consciousness, his thinking turned to his former colleagues that had died, thinking what they would have told him if they were still alive. Macy and Mike would have told him not to give up, keep chasing the perp until he had no breath left. That was all he needed, first thing in the morning, he was going to catch this guy, or die trying

…..

Nell missed her own flat, her own space… But there was one thing that she didn't miss about her flat. When she used to go home she would eat something, read documents for work, watch some TV and spend time on the phone with her sister or Eric. But most of the time, was spent alone… These days however, she was rarely at home, she quite happily spent her time with Callen in his modestly furnished home. Sure, ever now and again she would ask that they spend a night in her own bed, but most of the time she wouldn't have given a damn if they were sleeping in a dumpster, so long as they were together.

Opening the door to his house, she was surprised to find all the lights off and him nowhere to be seen. He had had a few rough days, so she could understand if he had retired to bed early. Closing the door behind her, Nell quietly walked into the master bedroom to find his sleeping form under the quilt. She got herself ready, and then slipped under the quilt to join him, laying her head on his shoulder. Having him there to hold close, was enough to help her slip into a deep slumber.

…..

When Callen woke, the sun had started to rise, and he was very pleased to find Nell, curled up in bed, beside him. Not wanting to move, and risk disturbing Nells sleep…, He chose to lay back and wait for her to awaken.

Despite having slept the full night, he still felt just as exhausted as he had before laying down in bed. He tried justifying it to himself, saying that it was because he had had a very busy, very stressful day. But part of him was worried, fearing that his exhaustion may have something to do with whatever had been injected into him.

Before too long however, He found himself slipping off, once again into slumber.

Next thing he knew, he opened his eyes to find Nell leaning over him, with tears pricking her eyes, while she hit his chest

"What's wrong?" he asked after a yawn

"I Woke up, and you didn't seem to be breathing" She eventually managed to reply, as tears began to run down her face

…..

The events of the morning had deeply affected Callen, despite not wanting to think about it, it continued to bother him on the drive in to work.

He had to drink two bottles of water on the drive in, just to rehydrate himself, which was just as troubling to him as the exhaustion was. He had decided to give the hospital until noon before he started chasing them for update about his blood results.

Walking into the office, he moved swiftly to the bullpen, sitting down and setting his computer up so he could check for any responses to the BOLO. He was disheartened to find that there had been no responses. He had hoped there would have been at least some sightings, so that they could actually do something.

"Mr Callen, follow me!" Hetty's voice commanded from behind him

Getting up and following the ageing spy, Callen began to wonder, just what she wanted him for, and secondly, why she was leading him away from her office.

Eventually reaching the Burn room, she closed and locked the door behind them.

"Do you have something to tell me, Mr Callen?"

"Hetty, can we not play this game. You know something that I should probably have told you, but chose not to. Which thing are we talking about?" Callen asked

"You were exposed to something. That's something that may directly affect your ability to work in the field. That is something that I should have been made aware of immediately"

"It may be nothing. I'm still waiting for test results. I didn't see the p…. I didn't want to say anything, since you would take me out of the field, and I need to catch him"

"We have protocols for a reason. They are there to protect us, in the event that one of us is compromised. I let you away with a lot, but this time… I don't think I can look the other way"

"One way or the other, Hetty… I am going after this guy. I'd rather do it as part of the team. But if I have to do it alone, I will"

Callen and Hetty stared at one another, waiting for the other to blink first

"Fine" Hetty started "You work as part of the team, until such time as you are physically unable. I take it that you have not told Ms Jones either?"

"I don't want to worry her until I know for sure that something is wrong"

"I think you already know that she's worrying." Hetty said, leaving Callen with a sobering thought

…..

"Hetty knew" Callen said, as he thrust a bundle of $20 notes at Sam

"Did she at least tell you how she found out?" the Ex SEAL asked his partner

"I can honestly say that she didn't"

"Surely you're not this distracted over losing yet another bet to me. So what else is wrong?"

Callen sat at his desk, and looked at his hands before answering

"Nell was in a state this morning. She said it looked like I wasn't breathing. That, and Hetty planted the thought in my head that Nell already knows something's wrong with me." He sighed at the situation he found himself in

"Then tell her. If its bothering you, then bein honest with her will help"

"I just don't know if I can. I mean, could you tell Michelle if you thought that you were dying?"

Sam paused, not knowing if he could tell Michelle, if the roles were reversed

"I don't know G. But do you think Nell could forgive you if she found out from someone else?"

"That's a damn good question Sam."

…..

"I'm sure, We need to speak about something" Callen told Nell

"Okay then, I'll meet you out at the car"

Callen walked down and out to the car, taking note of the beautiful weather that LA was enjoying. He had tried to work out how to tell Nell that he had been injected with something, something that they didn't know what it was. How do you tell someone that you could be dying. He had never given thought to retiring, he had always just assumed he would die in the service of whichever agency he was employed by.

But then again, there were a lot of things he had never thought about, that now needed to be given thought.

Sitting in the car, he watched in the rear view mirror as Nell walked over to the car. He had decided just to tell her the complete truth, but not until they were on their way back to the office. Well that was the plan, not that things usually worked out as he planned.

"So are you going to tell me why you can't just talk to me at the office"

Callen drove out of the car park, before responding

"There are a couple of things, nothing too major. But I guess I wanted all your attention"

Nell reach over and stroked his arm with her hand

"You always have my attention, you know that"

"I've been thinking about your situation. I mean your living situation"

"Why, are you throwing me out"

"Just the opposite. I wondered how you felt about maybe moving into my place. I know it's probably a bit out of the blue, but it made sense considering that your place got all shot up"

"You do realise, that if I said yes, that you would not just get me… but all my stuff, my furniture, my electronics. Your would lose that almost 'cave' like décor"

"I do know that… it wouldn't be a problem. Well not for me, you may not know what you'd be letting yourself in for, living with me full time. But I'm not rushing you to make a decision."

"Okay then, that's one thing. What's the other?"

"This is the one that is probably gonna annoy you. Something happened yesterday. I've been trying to work out how to tell you, and … well, I still don't"

"Just tell me" Nell said, interrupting him

…..

"How'd she take it… or did you not tell her" Sam asked

"Not well. She jumped out at the first stop signal, and refused to get back in. I chased after her for 11 or 12 blocks. I don't even know how I'm meant to make it up to her, IF she ever speaks to me again"

"Well while you were being abandoned… Eric got a lead on where the Petty Officers phone ended up"

…..

"What are you doing back?, I thought you were helping Deeks"

"I was. I should be. But someone needed to pick up Nell, and calm her down" Kensi replied

"You brought her back here?" Callen asked, desperate to know Nell was okay

"Yeah. She's up stairs with Eric. Although I'd give her some space, if I were you" Kensi said, directing her comment at Callen

Callen guided Kensi away from the main chamber, and away from listening ears, into the armoury.

"You're sure Nell's okay!"

"Like I told you, she's okay, other than being a bit upset. Why didn't you tell her when you found out?"

"Because I've found out nothing. I'm still waiting for the blood test results. What was I meant to do… tell her that I could be dying, when I just didn't know" Callen answered, meant more as a statement than question

"I don't know. But what you have done, is make things a million times worse for her, and for yourself

"Kensi. You know me… Do you honestly think that I would do what I have done, with the intention of hurting or upsetting anyone, least of all Nell. But I'll tell you what. You can let Nell know I won't be going home tonight, so she shouldn't avoid going home… to the house, because of me"

Callen started to walk out of the armoury, but then seemed to lose his footing.

Before Sam or Kensi knew what was happening, they saw Callen fall over with his head hitting the wall

"Get a medic" Sam instructed Kensi, as he ran over to his partner. Kensi ran down the corridor to seek a first aider, and to call for a paramedic

…..

'God. My head' Callen thought as he opened his eyes 'What happened to me'

Looking about, he found that he was in a hospital room, which he felt that he should have been able to tell from the 'beeping' of the hospital machines.

Its was a typical hospital room… plastic plant in the corner, a generic picture on the wall, a small chest of drawers, the bed in which he was laying and a seat to the side of the bed.

He hated hospitals, and there was no way he was going to stay in the bed, and let the doctors and nurses use him as some sort of human pin cushion.

He pulled the sheet away and swung his legs round, and out of the bed. Pulled the IV line from the back of his hand, and all the other cables that were attatched to his chest, then pushed his hands on the bed frame, pushing himself up to stand on his own two feet.

He was feeling a little light headed, but he had worked when in worse physical conditions. Pulling the top drawer open he was pleased to find his clothing and personal property. With that he pulled off the hospital gown and started to get dressed… wanting to get ready, and get out before he had anyone trying to push him back into the bed.

Opening the room door, Callen moved out, and down the corridor heading towards the sign posted exit

"Mr Callen" he heard a female voice call from behind him.

Increasing his speed to try and escape his pursuer, he felt he was getting far enough ahead of the voice. Every so many steps he had to put a hand out to support himself using the wall. Unfortunately when he turned at the next intersection he was met by a man in a white coat (he assumed was a doctor), Sam, and more surprisingly, Nell

"Go Back to your Room" Nell's stern voice, ordered him

"I'm not staying here, I don't care what you say… I have a job to do"

"G. Go back to the room. It's what's best for you" Sam suggested

"You can't keep me here against my wishes. I'll sign whatever you like. But I am not staying here" He directed at the Doctor

"Fine. Wait down the hallway in the waiting room, and I'll have one of the nurses bring the forms down to you" the doctor replied, before turning into a room

"Why do you have to be so stubborn" Nell queried "You're not well, and you know it"

Callen turned to face Sam
"What would Mike, or Macy have done in my position? Would they have sat in the hospital bed, waiting for the inevitable end? Hmm"

Sam didn't even need to give any thought as to how to answer

"They would have been out, trying to catch whoever was responsible"

"Yeah. And that's what I'm gonna do"

Nell looked to Sam, and asked if he could give her a minute alone with Callen, which he was more than happy to accommodate

"Who told you I was here" Callen asked Nell

"Kensi, Sam, Hetty…Why does it matter, I'm here. You need rest, you can't go tearing the city apart in your condition"

"My condition!?. I was just dehydrated. I can still do my job"

"There is something bad in your blood. If you keep pushing yourself you're going to do more damage to yourself. And I don't think I could cope with seeing you in a hospital bed again"

Callen just stared at her for a minute, before asking the question that he couldn't get rid of

"Is that your way of saying that if I walk out that door" He gestured to the hospital exit "That you'll leave me?"

…..

"Fill me in on what we've got, in the car" Callen told Sam, as he walked towards the exit, with Sam soon following behind

"You and Nell Okay?" Sam asked, out of concern for his friend

"What have we got!" Callen asked, with aggression in his voice

"Kensi checked out the lead Eric got about the Petty Officers phone. We got Surveillance camera footage, with a good, clear quality face shot of the suspect. Eric's running it through AFIS and NCIC to see if we get a match"

"Right, Lets go back to the office, check the BOLO. If we still have nothing, update it with the new mug shot. Can we drop by the house on the way. I need to pick up a couple of things"

"We can do that"

…..

"The office had started emptying out; only two staff remained.

Callen had positioned himself on the couch in the lounge area, leaning back and staring up at the ceiling. Sam, Kensi and Eric had all left, Nell hadn't returned to the office after visiting him at the hospital. The one person he had hoped to avoid was the only other person still in the building.

"I thought we were past the days of you sleeping here, Mr Callen"

"We were. Just needed somewhere to stay for a couple of nights. You can do your 'Hurting' me thing whenever you like" Callen replied.

Hetty walking into the lounge are and sat down on the other chair, and turned to face Callen

"What did you do"

"Put the job first. She's upset that I didn't tell her about having whatever it was, injected into me, and upset because I wouldn't stay in the hospital. I couldn't do it Hetty. I couldn't lay there, waiting for someone else to find the guy. The more I analysed it, the more I felt I had to finish this myself. It's what Mike would have done, it's what Macy would have done in my place. I love Nell... I do, but I can't pretend to be someone I'm not, not even for her"

Hetty looked back at Callen, digesting what he had said

"They would, as you have said, have done what you are attempting to do. But both of them would have told you not to give up something, or someone you love, for the job. We only have so many chances at happiness, and I would hate to see you throwing away such a chance, with someone that cares a great deal for you. Don't give up so easily" She advised, before she got up and left the building.

Leaving Callen alone with his thoughts

…..

*Knock Knock*

Opening his front door, Sam also had his SIG in one hand, ready to fire.

He never had someone knock on his door this early

Finding it to be Callen standing with a bottle of water in one hand, Sam put the safety back on, and tucked the weapon back in the holster on his waist

"What you doing here at this time?" Sam asked his partner

"Getting a jump on the day. You can skip the gym… we're gonna follow a lead, and catch this guy today. Had a multiple sightings of him in Long Beach, and a sighting of him going in and out of a building off San Clemente Ave, San Pedro. I want to take this bastard down while I can still walk and talk"

"Okay G. Give me a couple of minutes, then we can go"

Sam closed the door, and Callen returned to the car

A few minutes later Sam left the house and got in the passenger seat.

"Don't think you're getting special attention this morning… I called Deeks and then Kensi about a half hour ago" Callen said as he headed towards Long Beach

"You sure you're good to do this, especially after yesterday?" Sam enquired

"Trust me. I'm Good. Tactical gear's in the trunk, so once Kensi and Deeks show up, we're good to go"

"Y'know, no one would think any less of you if you just ran things from OPS"

"Sam!. I'm Good. We're gonna catch this guy, even if it's the last thing I do"

…..

Sam and Callen swept the ground floor, while Kensi and Deeks checked the upper floor in the building. After 10 Minutes Kensi and Deeks radioed to let Callen and Sam know that the upper floor was clear.

Callen and Sam continued sweeping the vast ground floor. All of a sudden Callen stopped and raised one hand to indicate to Sam to Stop. He could faintly hear something… something like the sound of a kettle boiling.

Callen quickly radioed Kensi and requested that Her and Deeks drop back down to the ground floor and start clearing the building from the far end, and they would all meet up once they found whoever it was that was in the building.

Callen started to rush along the corridor and checking each room as quickly and carefully as possible, with Sam covering his back and double checking each room before they moved onto the next room. After a few minutes They could see Kensi and Deeks working along from the far end of the corridor, and were left with only 5 rooms. Desperate to catch who had injected him, he rushed to clear each of the remaining rooms, keeping the Sub Machine Gun raised, and ready to fire.

Opening his last door he was pleased to find the man in the heavy coat leaning over a work bench

"Federal Agents. Drop any weapons on the ground, and keep your hands up" Callen said in a raised voice to the suspect with Sam coming in at his side and aiming for the man

…..

"How much longer is this clown gonna take" Enquired Deeks

"As long as it takes. Last thing any of us want is Callen being given the wrong thing" Sam explained to his colleague

"Do we actually believe that he's going to mix up the real antidote?"

"He better. If he doesn't give us the genuine, antidote, I'll kill him" Sam admitted

"We could always just lock him in a room with Hetty. I'm sure she could get the true 'recipe' out of him" Deeks suggested "Or send Nell in… she managed to get answers out of the guy that shot Callen before"

"Some how I doubt Hetty or Granger would be willing to try that again. Besides, I don't know that she would be willing to try"

"What did he do?"

"Chose the job over her"

"Rookie mistake"

"Don't take this the wrong way Deeks. But I don't think what they have, or had… is comparable to whatever experience you gained with your conquests"

"No need to get personal. Has anyone actually questioned him about the petty officers murder?"

"Not yet… We have other priorities at the moment"

…..

"Hey, You okay?" Kensi asked, as she followed Nell into the locker room

"Yeah, I'm fine" She replied, with hurt in her voice

"You know he's gonna be okay. He's too stubborn to die"

"It's not just that Kens…"

"So, what is it?"

"I saw something that I shouldn't have" Nell paused, trying to psyche herself up for what she was going to tell her friend "I was filing documents for Hetty, and one of them was a will for Callen"

"Please don't tell me that you read it"

"I can't. I couldn't help myself. What it said… it shocked me. He only filled it out the other day, and then all this happened"

"I don't want to hear anything about his will, okay."

"You knew Special agents Renko and Macy… would they have done what Callen has done, even at the expense of anything or everything else?"

"Short answer, Yes. Long answer, maybe. But you know he loves you, probably like has never done before"

With this response, Nell sat down on the floor and stared at her hands

…..

Callen sat in the waiting room at the hospital. He was waiting to see the doctor, and hoping that the doctor would tell him that there was good news about whatever it was that he had been injected with.

Despite knowing that they had the man responsible for the toxin, he was hoping that someone could tell him how long he had until the toxin did irreparable damage, how long till he was forced to take a hospital bed

"Mr Callen" the doctor called from the door way.

Callen got up and followed the doctor to a consulting room.

Once they were inside and the door closed, they both sat down and Callen waited to hear the (expected) bad news.

"Your results came back. It looks like the contaminant is causing Sepsis"

Callen looked confused, not knowing that word

"Basically your blood is becoming toxic, and as the blood pumps throughout your body, it's doing damage to your organs. We simply don't have any experience with this specific contaminant. Short term we could try and give you a blood transfusion, and hope that the contaminant gets flushed at the same time. If that doesn't work, I don't know what we can do. I would like to ask for a further blood sample, it will let us determine how badly its affected your blood since your previous samples, and allow one of our labs to look at if there is some other treatment that we could try. Have you had any other issues?"

"Em.. Just a few dizzy spells. Other than that nothing that comes to mind"

…..

"What's going on?" Callen asked

"We're promised a 'cure'. Should be ready within the hour" Sam offered

"Who threatened him… you or Kens?" He asked with a grin on his face

"Now why ever would you think one of us would have done such a thing" Sam asked, trying to sound innocent

"Even I get the 'cure', damage may already have been done"

"Yeah Yeah. Stop being Mr depressing. C'mon, Lets go do some target practice. It always distracts you"

Callen followed Sam, knowing that he was right. Target practice did help distract himself, from thoughts that he preferred to not focus on.

After a few rounds of practice, Callen stepped back to 'call' the target sheets

"Missed a few there partner" Sam said

Trying to excuse it, Callen explained it off as him already being slightly distracted. Although he wasn't so sure that was the entire truth.

As they walked back to the Bullpen, Sam notice Callen start to slow down, start shaking and then he dropped the ground.

Sam rushed over to his partner, noticing that he was having some sort of fit, or seizure.

He pulled out his phone and called 911

…..

Callen had no idea what had happened, his vision was all cloudy, all he could see were coloured blobs, and feel a weight on his right arm, causing pins and needles.

He tried to sit up , only to have someone push him back down onto what he was sure was a bed 'God, don't say I'm in the hospital again' He thought to himself. No sooner had he thought this, than someone (he assumed the same person that pushed him down) slapped his face.

He blinked a few tries, trying to clear his vision. Not that it helped

"Don't you ever do that to me again" He recognised Nell saying

"How long?"

"A little over a day. They did a transfusion, and then Kensi brought over the anti toxin. Is that this finished then?"

"Which this" He asked, still not able to see clearly yet

"THIS, This" She demanded

"Yes, and No. Yes I'm finished my manhunt. And No I'm not letting you walk away from me… emotionally I mean"

"Good. 'Cause I've agreed to take you up on your offer…. I'd like to move in… if it's alright with you"

Callen didn't even try to hide the smile, showing his joy at knowing she wasn't going to leave him, and was going to move in

"One question I need you to answer… Your Will?"

"Had to make sure my family were provided for. You guys are my family. You guys are my priorities. I rely on you all"

Nell climbed back onto the bed, and lay next to him. Relieved that he would be okay

…..

Epilogue:

A few days later, once Callen had received the all clear from the doctor, They started to move Nell's stuff from her flat into their home.

With one of the bedrooms being fitted out as a home office, The TV that had in a way sparked their relationship was placed in the lounge, pictures and knickknacks were placed on the walls, and bookshelves.

The house Callen owned and lived in, had become a true home, and had found himself someone that he could truly love, and that loved him back… the true him. Things that Sam never thought his friend would get from life