See? You guys didn't have to wait too long. Thanks to Riptide2 who talked me through my anger ^^ You rock!

I have to say I like this chapter, I hope you all do as well!

Chapter 13

The tingling sensation was back, but G was ignoring it. It had started sometime when the trio sat down at Ava's table. At first Callen had hoped it was just a migraine – he'd suffered from them greatly ever since his latest knock in the head. Ignoring it was also wishful thinking. After all he was in the middle of a very important conversation. Then again, he was also with the person that could make this easier for him – still Callen had never been known to do things the easy way.

The buzzing was getting loud in his ears, causing the normally stoic man to wince.

Sam and Ava noticed.

"I'm going to get you that tea." Ava said standing immediately and going to her stove.

Sam's dark eyes watched the girl for a moment before their attention was turned completely to his partner. "What, were you just going to sit there quietly until you passed out?"

G shrugged with a smirk, holding his aching head in his hands – no longer bothering to hide the pain after being called out. "Why break tradition?" Callen muttered weakly, trying not to resist this time – Ava had mentioned that it would help if he were more open-minded. He could be open-minded – sort of.

"Why indeed." Sam shook his head with a longsuffering sigh. "Maybe you should lay down."

"You can use the couch," Ava suggested, pointing to the room just off the kitchen. It was small, painted sea foam green with a matching couch set on the dark wood floor.

"G?" Sam questioned, he only got a slight nod in return – his partner was fading fast. The pain lines were deep – how had Sam not noticed how badly this was effecting his best friend?

Helping G to his feet the two man staggered into the other room – Callen's legs didn't seem to remember their normal coordination as they moved along. Blue eyes were open when G's back finally met the gentle softness of the couch – though the sensation was barely recognized through the haze of pain and fading images.

Sam watched with panic as Callen's eyes dulled out, staring blankly at the ceiling. "G? Callen? G?" His voice boomed, hoping to draw his friend back to the present and away from whatever episode he was dealing with.

"He can't hear you." Ava's soft voice made the big agent jump out of his skin and turn to her. She smiled kindly, setting the thermos of tea to the side. "I didn't think he'd be able to drink it before he – " She let the sentence fade as she waved a hand towards the zoned out man. With a shrug she moved away from Sam again, returning with several candles, setting them around the room.

"What are you doing?" Sam asked, confused.

Ava dropped a shoulder, "Trying to help in anyway I can." With a flick of her wrist she scrapped a match against the matchbox and ignited a small flame, lighting each candle in a methodical way. "I'm not sure which sent will be the most effective, but I thought I'd start with the one my grandma favored the most." She explained, setting them on the ground around the couch.

Sam's eyes moved back to G's frozen face – blue eyes still stared up at the ceiling. It was wrong seeing the man so still. Reaching out Sam checked G's vitals – just to make sure the man was really okay.

"How long do these things typically last?" Sam asked once he was satisfied G wasn't dying – for the moment.

Ava stood off to the side, trying not to crowd the men. "I've never actually seen it happen before. My grandmother could read minds – she learned how to control her ability. Like me. The Second Sight is rare and complex." Ava shrugged, "I only think my grandmother knew one other person who had the gift – and I believe it was no where near as powerful as your friend."

The light scent from the candles drifted around them as the wax melted and the wicks burned steadily down.

"Do you think he could learn to control it?" Sam asked her, looking at Ava hopefully.

The girl fell silent for a moment before nodding slowly. "It might take time, but I don't see why not. First we need to figure out the trigger, what causes it to happen. Once we have that we should be able to predict and even cause episodes. Right now we need to control them – get them to stop happening spontaneously." Ava shrugged, "My grandmother always thought that our gifts were like a muscle, something that could be strengthened and toned."

"I think its stress." Sam offered suddenly. When Ava tipped her head in confusion, Sam explained further. "That triggers him. G always puts a lot of pressure on himself. The first time I saw it happen the 'episode' itself didn't last long. One minute he was in the room with us, but his eyes got far away – " Sam pointed towards G's eerie stare before continuing, " – like that. The next second he was bolting down the stairs and saving one of our guy's life."

Ava nodded her head lightly. "Are you sure?"

"He was showing 'signs' that something was off on the drive to the house up until that moment." Sam shrugged, "let's call it a working theory."

"It's a good theory." Ava nodded. "Some people require complete calm to use their abilities, others anger, some touch and so forth – there are lots of different types of triggers. Stress is very possibly one of them, or pressure. Maybe it's more the concentration or focus he has in those situations?" Ava shrugged, "We'll figure it out."

A groan pulled their conversation to a stop and their attention towards the man on the couch. G was moving to sit up, hand rubbing his eyes – a painful expression etched on Callen's face. "Someone shoot the driver of the car who just hit me?" He muttered to no one in particular. Once he was sitting up Sam promptly shoved the thermos of tea into G's hands.

"Drink." The big man said in a tone that left no room for argument.

Grumbling under his breath, G did just that. The taste of the tea surprised Callen enough that his eyebrows lifted upwards and his gaze turned directly to Ava. "You made this?" He ground out, voice rough.

"Yep." Ava nodded with a smile, "Grandma's recipe though." The young girl winked lightly, stepping closer. "I hope it's fine."

Though he'd still rather have coffee, Callen couldn't say he absolutely hated the tea in his hands. "I'll live." He shrugged her off easily.

Sam seemed satisfied and leaned back so as not to crowd his partner. "So," the big man drew out the word. "What did you 'see'?"

A frustrated sound escaped the back of Callen's throat as he stood shakily up on his wobbling legs. "For the record," he growled out to the two watching him. "I hate this."

"We get that," Sam nodded, Ava remained silent but supportive.

"Good." Callen sighed and closed his eyes, rubbing them again with his free hand. "I don't really understand, the order's changed."

Ava stepped a bit closer, curiosity lighting her face. "What do you mean?"

"Before the things I saw had an order. Deeks drowning, Kensi getting hit by the car and Sam getting shot in the chest."

Sam's eyes widened, "What?"

Blinking G turned to look at his friend – surprised until realization hit him. "Oh, I guess I forgot to tell you that bit."

"Yeah, ya did." Sam was less then impressed with his partner's selective memory.

Ava stepped a bit closer again, "What's changed?"

"Well, obviously I'm not seeing the things that already happened." G waved his hand, trying to ignore the way things were starting to make sense to him. This was all too flipping weird. "But the part about you getting shot in the chest is gone. Now it's just Nell…" He shook his head, "I'm still not sure what happened. One minute she was there the next she was gone."

Both men glanced at Ava, who shrugged in return. "I don't know what that means." She shook her head apologetically.

"Where was she?" Sam asked confused.

G thought for a minute, eyes dulling out slightly as he went over the images in his head.

"G!" Sam snapped, causing both Ava and his partner to start from the sudden volume of his voice.

"What?" G demanded, a little upset with himself that he had jumped.

Sighing, Sam shook his head. "Don't do that."

Confusion flooded Callen's eyes. "What?"

"Space out like that, freaks me out." Sam glared. "Now use your words like a normal human being."

G grinned in response. "But Sam, I'm not a normal human being." The comment lingered awkwardly for a minute before Callen continued. "Anyway, I don't recognize the place, it looked like an old apartment building." Turning his attention to Ava, Callen's eyes narrowed. "Any idea why I stopped seeing the other thing?"

Ava blinked, clearly confused. "What other thing?"

"The whole, Sam getting shot in the chest, thing." Callen clarified reluctantly.

Giving a light shrug Ava could only guess. "Well, you've already changed the future by saving your two other friends from their fates. Perhaps you stopped that specific event by stopping the others."

The boys nodded. It made sense.

"The future is made up with an infinite amount of possible outcomes." Ava added with a light smile at Sam. "I'm happy that you have at least one thing you don't have to worry about. And you know, that you aren't going to die."

Sam's eyes flashed a bit in surprise – he'd be the first to admit he hadn't exactly been warm towards the stranger. "Thanks." He offered, confused.

"Don't worry, I know you're just over protective. Empath, remember?" Ava smiled brightly at his confusion.

"You say Empath, I call it cheating." Sam shook his head, rolling his eyes as he looked at his too pale partner. "What do we do?"

"I don't know, it wasn't clear enough." G shook his head. "I guess we do what we can to stop it from happening. Whatever 'it' is." With a tired sigh G sipped at his tea. His head was pounding, the vibrations had stopped as had the ringing/buzzing noise. "This stuff does seem to help."

"That and probably the candles." Ava waved a hand towards the still burning flames scattered around the couch.

Taking in the scene G winced. "Damn, looks like you guys were doing some sort of freaky ritual on me."

"In a way – " Sam grinned brightly, the rest of his playful jab was cut off when his phone rang. "It's Hetty, we probably have a new case." Before answering Sam hesitated and looked critically at his partner. "You good to go?"

Callen did stock over his condition. Headache? Check. Exhaustion? Check. Nothing else seemed to be wrong though and with the help of Ava's brew the headache was fading to a bearable level much faster then the previous times. "I'm good."

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Oh, and btw, didn't reread this chapter…got lazy. I really should probably find a willing beta to help me out…