Sorry for taking a while on the update! I plan to update this one at least once a week and than pick up on Without a Trace again when I complete Tricks Instead of Treats. You guys are awesome and I thank you ever so kindly for the support!

Special thanks to justdreaming-83, lovestoread, keviana, Dixie and Ember for reviewing for chapter 2! It means a lot!

Chapter 3

It was cold where he was. Standing alone in a silent hallway with doors standing at attention on either side of him. The doors were marked in sequence, "494" on one side of the hall and "493," numbers descending as he continued to pass them on his journey down the hallway.

He wasn't sure how he had gotten to this place or even where he was. Maybe it was a hotel or an apartment building. That would explain the numbers well enough. It was odd, no decorative plants or paintings could be seen and the lighting was dim, as if LA was in the middle of another *brownout.

Sharp blue eyes were focused on the shadowed end of the hallway as G tried to remember the events that brought him to such an unfamiliar place. Who had he been with? Something happened, something important.

"Sam," he whispered, voice not reaching his ears. He had remembered seeing Sam, being with him. There had been a mission, something had gone wrong. "Doesn't it…" Callen tried to speak again, but no words were formed into proper sound. In fact, there was no sound at all.

"Must be a dream," G realized, frowning when he didn't immediately wake up. As per typical one normally woke when they learned they were dreaming. "Okay, not a good sign." Callen thought as he continued down the dark hallway. Perhaps there was some reason he was still in this place.

It was odd, being trapped in a realm of sleep when G made a point to avoid sleeping for a long time. His thoughts shifted back to his last moments in the real world. Vaguely he remembered getting shot, but Callen couldn't remember for the life of him where or what happened afterwards. Perhaps he was in a drug-induced sleep at the hospital. That would in the very least explain his inability to wake from this strange dream.

Silently G settled on hoping his partner was unharmed and with him in the hospital. Coming to a stop Callen paused and looked up to find himself in front of metal doors. An elevator. Frowning the agent studied the machine suspiciously before glancing behind him. It was odd, but Callen couldn't help but think he was not quite alone. What an absurd thought, him not being alone in his own mind. With a soundless sigh G shrugged and pushed the button on the wall to summon the elevator to open.

After all it was only a dream, how could a little venture into the inner workings of his mind hurt him?

Without the typical 'whooshing' sound G jumped a bit when the doors suddenly parted, welcoming the lost agent inside. Cautiously G stepped inside. The button he hadn't showed which direction he would be headed. In a flash the metal doors slid shut, leaving Callen trapped inside the small box. There were no 'floor numbers' listed on the inside walls. In fact each of the four walls were smooth and cold. Feeling slightly panicked Callen stepped forward only to have the metal cage he was in drop rapidly, sending him crumbling to the floor from the unexpected force.

The lights flickered and finally went out completely as the elevator came to an abrupt stop.

A mute groan passed through Callen's lips as the silver doors slid open once more. "Watch that last step…" He mouthed silently to himself, a small smile lifting the corner of his mouth as he crawled back up to his feet and left the elevator gratefully. "It's a doosey." Though his lighthearted commentary was a bit cliché he knew it would have made Sam smile, even if it was just in annoyance.

Callen missed his partner's company, even if this was only a dream the absence of Sam…or people in general for that matter, left G feeling completely alone and without purpose. "Guess I just need to wake up than." G mouthed the soundless words as his eyes glared over the new space around him. It was dark, the only light the eerie green hue from the exit sign by the elevator.

There were large and highly decorative windows lining the high ceiling, the natural silver glow of moonlight floating in from somewhere outside. Everything was dim and hard to see from a distance. Curiously the agent stepped forward, further from the elevator, which seemed to fade into the background. The ground was hard and smooth, immediately G's mind figured the room was some sort of ballroom or event room.

Near the center of the floor he got a better look around, the moonlight seemed to brighten and immediately Callen looked down at his feet. Feeling startled he swallowed thickly. He wasn't standing on a solid, ballroom dance floor but instead solid glass. Or at least what he sincerely hoped was solid glass. Glass with what appeared to be an aquarium underneath.

Passing at a variety of depths under his feet were fish of many colors and sizes. A bit bigger and more concerning was the killer whale sailing just inches from where he stood. G didn't really contemplate how this was possible, since this was a dream and he knew it was a dream. The mind could be a twisted place when a person wasn't in control. Callen knew that more than anyone. However, if he was going to die in this dream, it wasn't going to be from pissing off a whale.

Carefully Callen took another step, only for the glass underneath his feet to crack dangerously. "Son of a…" Callen spoke silently as he bolted forward and sprinted across the glass room. The moonlight lit his new target, shinning like a spotlight on a numberless door.

The floor had all but broken up by the time he reached the door and flung it open, crawling up after being waist deep in seawater. Breathing heavily, yet still surrounded in that same unnerving silence Callen laid comfortably on the solid wooden floor of the new room. Slightly afraid at what his twisted mind would come up with next.

A purple glow captured his attention, causing the agent to roll over and look upwards. It was sphere of light, floating in the center of the room. "The hell?" Callen thought, the sound suddenly echoing around him even though his lips had ever moved. Jumping a bit G glanced around curiously before his eyes snapped back to the odd light anomaly.

"Weird dream," he spoke out loud, only for the silence to remain intact once more. Confusion passed over the agent's features and he stepped boldly up to the light. Like a small child curious about the feel of a burning flame. "Just a dream," The words thought in his mind echoed around him once again.

"Odd how that only happens here." Callen mouthed mutely as he looked at the purple light intensely. "Only a dream." He echoed again reaching out to touch the light.

Flashes of memories, of events hit him suddenly causing the agent to stumble a bit. The light stretched forward, consuming him as his mind became a camera, shooting pictures of events Callen didn't know, couldn't recognize.

A few of the pictures were clear in his mind. So very terrifyingly clear. Sam getting shot in the chest, Deeks drowning, Kensi getting hit by a car and Nell…and as suddenly as the filter of images started they stopped. Darkness fell and the dream ended.

Waking up was like surfacing from the depths of the ocean: A slow, floating feeling as his body ascended from the darkness it had resided in for to long. Swaying slowly to the surface, only for the process to quicken when the natural buoyancy his body had took over and his head started to break the surface of consciousness. He groaned, the soft sound piercing through his head as he heard it. Blue eyes fluttered open only to slam shut once again. A gasp sounded from his lips as he turned his head away from the offending burning light.

"G?" The booming voice of his partner called, intensifying the pain in his mind ten fold. The small whimper seemed to tell the big guy without words what the problems were. The lights, so bright they burned through Callen's closed eyelids finally dimmed to a bearable level. Still G refused to reopen his eyes.

"G?" Sam's voice was much softer, but never lost that edge of panic Callen had picked up on quickly despite the fog of sleep clouding his mind. Not wanting to worry his partner G slowly opened his eyes, blinking blurrily up at his partner and best friend. "You with me?" Sam asked, a mixture of fear and relief evident in his soft tone.

Not feeling particularly chatty Callen simply nodded, trying to swallow around the thick sandpaper that seemed to have been fused to the flesh inside his throat. It was painful, causing the normally stoic agent to wince at the throbbing of his throat mixed with the pain radiating in his head.

Looking up at his partner Callen could see Sam wanted something from him, but didn't understand what that might be. "I'll get you some water," Sam spoke gruffly, disappearing from sight for a moment. "Drink this," Sam spoke, voice a bit more soothing as he helped G sit up a bit to take a drink of the water.

The cool liquid helped smooth the pain in his throat, but it did nothing to help with the ache in his mind.

"G," Sam called to him again, capturing his partners waning attention. "Can you talk to me? Say something, anything at all."

A look of confusion passed over Callen's blue eyes. That was an odd request. Speaking, normally Sam wanted him to shut up. Shaking his head a bit G opened his mouth, "Sh…" That wasn't the right sound, Callen frowned, shaking his head a bit as he made an annoyed noise. Carefully he picked his words and tried again, "Didn't…think you could…ts" he paused again as he started to form the wrong word again, "Miss the sound of my voice." Taking a few deep breaths Callen looked up at his partner, "What…happened?"

Sam seemed to still be worried, yet relief seemed to win out as the big man grinned. "You got a knock in the head that had the doctors all worried. Said you might have scrambled speech for the rest of your life. Sounds like your well on your way to being as annoying as normal though." Sam sighed, pressing the nurses call button.

Callen's eyes widened in fear, he was stumbling over his words noticeably.

His partner seemed to pick up on the change, "no, not just stumbling over words. I'm talking about not making sense at all. I'm sure this is only temporary. It's nothing like before." Just as Sam finished the sentence the doctor walked in, "Let him tell you himself."

Dr. Freedman smiled warmly at Callen, "Mr. Callen, you had us all very concerned. How are you feeling? Are you in pain?"

G swallowed thickly again and took his time in responding, "Feels like…got ch…" Callen closed his eyes, the pain in his head intensifying with his growing fear and frustration. Slowly he cleared his throat and slowly tried again, "Got kicked in the head." His eyes snapped up to the doctor, avoiding Sam's concerned expression skillfully, "Repeatedly."

The doctor nodded knowingly, "I'm afraid both your headache and your slight speech impairment is result of the severe concussion you received. With your permission we're going to start running some tests, just to make sure everything is working fine up here," the doctor tapped his own head with his pen as he looked at the chart. "When we know more it will give us a clearer picture on how to precede. The good news is your awake and seem to be functioning extremely well considering our first diagnostic." The doctor smiled warmly at his patient before continuing. "If you would answer some standard questions we can get started with what we need to get you well and out of here. What is your name?"

G rolled his eyes, regretting it when the world spun in response. "G. Callen." He answered with a sigh. At least he had managed to say his name correctly.

The doctor nodded and continued with around ten more questions before nodding. Although G seemed to have trouble every now and again with forming wrong words the doctor didn't seem immediately concerned. "I'll have nurse Emma come and take you for a CT, there are a few more monitoring tests I'd like to try as well. However I don't believe at this point your slight speech impairment is something to be overly worried about. After all you have only just woken up and your brain still has some swelling. With any luck you'll be sounding like yourself in no time."

Sam let out a sigh of relief yet Callen couldn't bring himself to relax just yet. It was a terrifying thought, not being able to speak properly for the rest of his life. Part of undercover work was speaking clearly and taking on different tones and voices. This would ruin him.

Once again Sam seemed to pick up on his friend's mood, "Don't worry G," he squeezed Callen's shoulder, "You're going to get through this. I'm going to make sure of it."

For those who have never experienced it: a *Brownout its something that happens in California sometimes (and probably other places) where the electricity is half on half off. The lights look brown (and its dangerous for computers and what not). It happened to my door once in boarding school. I went out into the hallway and it felt like the twilight zone in the girls dorm. No one was around, I thought I was dreaming until I found one of my friends.

Anyway, thank you ever so much for reading. I hope you enjoyed the oddity of this chapter….the dream is important. It wasn't just random. (well, it was rather random…but it had a point)

Thank you for your support!

Reviews are loved!

- Strawberrywaltz