Thanks so much to LostForeverInHisEyes for the inspiration for the box scene in this chapter. I really appreciate it and hope I did the scene justice. And if you haven't already, you should definitely check out her stories. LostForeverInHisEyes writes wonderful Callen/OC stories and has also written some fantastic Callen/Kensi stories.
Only one more chapter after this – thanks again for reading!
-IV-
By the time Callen, Sam, and Deeks dragged themselves and one very tired little girl back to the boathouse, Hetty was already there, awaiting them with a first aid kit. Sam and Deeks gratefully retrieved a couple of ice packs and stretched out on the couches to nurse their wounds.
Meanwhile, Hetty's scrutinizing gaze raked over her lead agent. He was completely covered in dirt, blood, and smoky black ashes. His clothes were charred and tattered and most likely unsalvageable even by Hetty. But for once, that wasn't what had caught the little lady's attention.
Callen guided Breanna over to a chair and sat her down, reaching for a bottle of antiseptic and some cotton from Hetty's kit. Perching on the edge of the couch in front of his daughter, Callen gently dabbed the antiseptic on Breanna's forehead, and the little girl squirmed as the medicine stung. He carefully pressed a bandage to the largest gash on her face and then leaned over to examine her other cuts and scrapes.
"I'm sorry," he whispered, tracing his finger along one of the red marks on her cheek. He reached for some healing cream from the kit and slowly rubbed it into the wound. "Why'd you jump on him?" he asked.
"He said he would hurt my mommy," Breanna answered simply.
The words were so innocent coming from his little girl, and Callen suddenly felt the familiar stabbing pain inside his heart again. His voice almost broke as he looked away. "He—he did."
Silence fell over the room as Callen's words hung in the air. Sam and Deeks exchanged an odd sideways glance, and even Hetty seemed surprised.
But the little lady was the first to recover, and she cleared her throat. "Breanna," she said softly. "Agent Callen is referring to your biological mother."
The little girl's brow wrinkled in confusion. "What?"
"Elizabeth is safe," Hetty assured her. "And she loves you very much. As far as she is concerned, she is your mother, and you are her daughter. But you also have a biological mother."
Breanna still wore a blank expression on her face, and Hetty quickly continued. "It simply means that you have two mothers," she explained. "You grew inside your biological mother, but after you were born, she needed someone else to take care of you. And so Elizabeth became the mother that you know."
"But…then who is my real mommy?" Breanna asked worriedly.
"Both of them, dearie," Hetty replied.
The little girl cocked her head, as if she were processing the information. "I—I don't remember her."
"Well, you wouldn't, B," Sam said gently. "Your mom died when you were born."
"Oh." Breanna's face fell sadly.
"Her name was Kensi, and she was an NCIS agent," Sam explained. "But some really bad guys hurt her, and they wanted to hurt you."
"Why?"
Sam looked over at his partner uncertainly. "We don't know, B," he admitted. "But we promised your mother that we wouldn't let anything happen to you."
"Your mom was a great lady," Deeks added.
Breanna's eyes widened. "You knew her, too?"
"I did," Deeks said proudly. "She taught me the ropes around here. Your mother was fearless. Nothing scared her." He counted off a list on his fingers. "Not bad guys, not big guns, not big trucks, not exploding buildings…"
"Deeks!"
"Not Sam..."
"Deeks!"
With a sly grin, Deeks leaned in closer to Breanna and whispered in her ear, "There was even one time when she beat up Sam in the gym..."
Sam shot Deeks a nasty look. "I went easy on her," he grumbled.
"Sure you did."
As Sam and Deeks continued to argue, Hetty noticed that Callen had been unusually quiet. She rose from the couch and quietly motioned to him to follow her to the back corner of the boathouse. He did, although somewhat reluctantly, and Hetty knew he was waiting for her to stand him down.
But not this time.
"Tough kid," she remarked.
Callen shrugged. "She's got good genes."
He tried to offer a smile, but Hetty could see the hidden sadness in his features. "I'm sorry you still didn't get your answers, Mr. Callen."
He sighed. "I got the one that mattered."
Hetty nodded in understanding. "Kensi."
"Someone hired Alexei, Hetty. Someone wanted to make sure our daughter didn't survive. Because of my name. Because of who I am."
"Another tiny thread in the fabric of your life, Mr. Callen."
It was more a statement than a question, and Callen nodded. "And they're still out there."
"And how do you feel about that?"
"Maybe someday I'll finally be able to answer that question, Hetty."
She looked at him expectantly. "When?"
"After I track them down."
"And if they come after Breanna again in the meantime?"
Callen's eyes darkened. "Then I will be there to take out every single one of them."
Hetty studied him closely. "So you don't regret it, Mr. Callen?" she asked quietly.
Callen shook his head. "No, Hetty," he said. "I don't."
The little lady smiled and motioned to a box on the table. "I brought this for you," she said. "From the archives room. Along with this."
She handed Callen a single sheet of paper, and he gave her a questioning look.
"Her birth certificate," Hetty explained. "The real one."
Wordlessly, Callen fingered the paper in his hands. He looked down and felt his heart clench at the name staring back at him.
Amy Marie Callen-Blye
"I think your sister would be proud of her namesake, don't you?" Hetty asked. "And so would Kensi."
It took Callen a moment to find his voice again. "Hetty, we changed her name, we changed her life—"
"To protect her," Hetty interrupted. "To keep her safe. That is what a father does, is it not, Mr. Callen?"
Silently, Callen looked down at the paper again. Callen-Blye. He traced his fingers over the words – his name combined with Kensi's – and the letters suddenly seemed to blur in front of his eyes.
"She doesn't know," he finally said. "Should she?"
"That's up to you, Mr. Callen," Hetty replied gently. "After all, you are her father."
"Mr. Hanna, Mr. Deeks. With me, please, gentlemen."
"Where are we going?" Breanna asked.
"You, my dear, are staying here with Callen," Hetty replied. "The rest of us—" She motioned to Sam and Deeks. "—will be leaving."
"Where are we going?" Deeks echoed.
But Sam understood. He saw the box that Callen carried in his arms, and he rose from the couch and swiftly gave Deeks a not-so-subtle hint to follow.
"Ow." The LAPD cop stood up. "Okay, my newly bruised shin bone and I are right behind you."
As Sam and Deeks obediently followed Hetty out of the boathouse, Callen sank down on the couch and placed the box on the table in front of him.
"Come here," he said, offering his hand to the little girl.
Breanna hopped off the chair and clambered up on the couch next to Callen, examining the box curiously.
"Do not touch," she read slowly. "This means you."
"It's okay," Callen assured her. "Your mom won't mind."
As Callen opened the box, Breanna held her breath in anticipation. Inside were a variety of trinkets and toys, and the little girl squealed with delight.
She giggled as the plastic teeth chattered at her, and she suddenly drew her hand back at the sight of the king cobra.
Callen smiled as he calmly took the snake out of the box. "It's stuffed," he said.
He squeezed its neck to show her, and Breanna grinned sheepishly. Setting the cobra aside, she reached back into the box and pulled out a ring of plastic bracelets. "What are these?"
"That is a full set of seventy-two ultra jelly bracelets," Callen informed her matter-of-factly.
Breanna's eyes sparkled as he slipped a few of them around her wrist. She shook her arm and laughed happily as the colorful rainbow of bracelets jangled up and down.
Pleased with her new jewelry, Breanna excitedly pulled the next item out of the box. It was a baby doll with a little round, bald head and a white shirt and red pants.
"Ohhh," she breathed. She cradled the doll in her arms and hugged him tightly.
"That's Pete," Callen explained. "He didn't go for a real high price on the black market...but your mom thought he was priceless." As Callen surveyed the rest of the collection in front of him, his voice dropped to a soft whisper. "Like all of this stuff."
Breanna looked down at a small item that had been hidden underneath Pete in the box. "What about this?"
She reached inside the box again and pulled out a small black jewelry box. She looked over at Callen, and his breath seemed to catch, but then he nodded, and the little girl carefully opened it. Inside was a beautiful diamond ring, a white gold band with two tiny intertwined jewels.
"This was hers, too?" she asked softly.
Callen nodded.
"It's so pretty," Breanna said. "She must have been pretty."
"She was." Callen reached over and took the ring from his daughter, twirling it gently in his fingers and watching the light glint off the crystals. He couldn't stop the lump from forming in his throat. "But she never got the chance to wear it."
As Callen's fist tightened around the ring, Breanna immediately sensed his sudden change in mood. Concerned, she moved closer to him on the couch and reached up to touch his face. It was as if she were trying to comfort the pain that crossed his features at the mention of her mother.
"You were going to marry her?" she asked innocently.
But Callen could not find his voice to answer.
~*~o~*~
"If you tell me you're picking me up at nine, eight-fifty I'm curbside."
"Got caught up in something," Callen muttered.
"What? You don't have a TV, you don't read the newspaper, you clearly don't spend any time getting ready."
"Well, maybe I was working out."
"You don't work out."
"All right, you know what? I went to the store."
"What store? You don't shop."
Callen turned around and glared at his partner.
"What? Don't tell me you slept in again."
"I didn't sleep in again."
Sam grinned suggestively. "Oh, come on, I think it's great that you're finally in a relationship."
"Sam, what are you, my mother or something?"
"I just want you to be happy and find a good girl," Sam insisted.
"Sam," Callen said irritably. "This is the last time we're gonna have this conversation."
"Yeah, why's that?"
Callen reached into his pocket and pulled out a small black jewelry box. "Because I found one."
~*~o~*~
Slowly, Callen set the diamond ring back in its box. He knew Sam had been surprised that morning. His partner had never thought the day would come when Callen and Kensi would finally commit to each other in such a way.
In the end, it never did.
Callen was still lost in his thoughts as he snapped the lid closed, and he almost jumped when he felt Breanna tap his arm. The faraway look in his eyes immediately vanished, and he shook himself out of the memory. He forced a smile and handed Pete to the little girl again.
"Come on," he finally said. "Let's get you home."
The sun was just coming up over the horizon as Callen's silver metallic car pulled up in front of Breanna's house. LAPD had been notified that protection detail was over, and the officers and their squad cars had already cleared out.
Elizabeth and Michael were busy sweeping up the remnants of their front window, and it wasn't until that moment when Callen realized that he truly envied his daughter. Returning to both her home and her parents meant that she had a permanence in life that he had never had – and that he never could have given her.
As Breanna slid out of the car and turned to look back at him, Callen found himself staring at a miniature reflection of Kensi. The little girl still wore the jelly bracelets proudly around her wrist, and she clutched Pete tightly in her arms and smiled.
"Breanna!" Elizabeth called.
Breanna waved at her mother and started towards her, but suddenly stopped and looked back at Callen.
Quickly, she ran back to him and wrapped her arms around his waist. As he felt the little girl's arms around him, Callen found himself falling to his knees and cautiously enveloping his daughter in a hug.
Breanna pulled back and looked Callen straight in the eye. "Good-bye, Daddy," she whispered.
And before he could even respond, she quickly turned and hurried back to her house.
Callen almost felt as if the wind had been knocked out of him. He stood frozen as Elizabeth and Michael swept Breanna up in their arms, utterly relieved that their daughter was home safe. Their daughter. His daughter. Without anyone ever saying the words, somehow his little girl knew.
"Bye," he said softly. His voice came out hoarse, and he could barely recognize it as his own. But she couldn't hear him anyway. With a heavy heart, Callen leaned back against the car and cast one last glance at his daughter.
He was just about to turn away when a strange shiver ran up his spine. His heart suddenly beat just a little bit faster, and his breath caught as he felt another hand reach for his, softly squeezing his fingers. It was a light touch, almost a ghostly touch, but a very familiar one.
"Kensi," he whispered.
He knew it was her. He could feel her. He inhaled her sweet scent deeply, and he closed his eyes as he felt her lips against his cheek. Slowly, she pressed a line of soft kisses along his jaw, becoming more insistent, until she finally wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him close, capturing his lips in a deep, passionate kiss.
"Callen..." she murmured.
He could even hear her voice now. Just a faint whisper.
Callen…