Hospital Part 2
Callen stood in the warehouse at exactly 11 o'clock as was requested. He took deep breaths to remain calm as seconds turned into minutes and no one appeared. His impatience grew and he had to remind himself that this wasn't his first show down where the informant arrived late. So, Callen took in his surroundings and comfort in hearing Sam, Kensi, and Deeks give updates as to what they saw.
There was a scraping sound as the door opened and closed. Callen turned to look but could only make out a shadowy form walk towards him. His senses sharpened and he felt like something was off. Callen, like every other undercover agent, has developed a sixth sense that kept him alive and as the figure approached he felt his goes off. As much as he wanted to call it off Callen remembered what was at stake, what he promised to himself: to solve this case and bring closure to Annie. So he ignored those feelings and waited in anticipation as Eric alerted his backup of the newcomer.
"About time you showed up! But you are here now, so let's talk." Callen called out as the man got closer. The informant continued to walk and stopped about a foot away from Callen, remaining in the shadows.
"I hope you don't mind I prefer to stay anonymous." The man replied and Callen shrugged.
"I understand, let's get this over with." He initiated and the man chuckled.
"Very well then, but I must admit, you were not who I was expecting to be here." The man said and Callen's nerves were on edge at the man's words.
"Oh and who were you expecting?"
"That doesn't matter now. Good-bye." The man answered and with lightning reflexes stabbed Callen in the gut. Callen's hands went straight to the wound to staunch the bleeding as he crumbled to the ground, his team's voices was the last thing he heard before going unconscious.
Callen couldn't see anything, only darkness. His body wasn't numb but Callen couldn't move. He cursed himself for getting into this situation. But he felt someone grab his hand and when he heard her voice, Callen fought harder against the darkness.
"G, I- I'm so sorry. I know if you were awake you would say I shouldn't be, but I am. So, just accept my apology and get better soon ok? Your team needs you… I need you. That's right Special Agent G Callen, I need you. I need you to keep me grounded. I need you to make small talk with me. I need you to keep bickering with Sam and teasing Hetty. I need you to be there when I am not alright in the head, to just sit there and hold my hands like this. I need you to give me that sexy and yet adorable lopsided grin you do so well and to wink at me when you are winning a conversation. I need you, G. So, like I said earlier ago, get better soon." Annie whispered and squeezed his hand once more. Callen was fighting to say something, do something, anything to comfort Annie. By the end of her apology Callen gave up and just listened to the sound of her voice, thankful that she was there at least. Upon hearing her hum, he instantly relaxed and fell back into unconsciousness.
Callen wasn't sure how long he was out of it, but when he opened his eyes, he woke up to white ceilings and a beeping heart monitor. He felt someone holding his hand and when he turned his head to see who it was he smiled. Callen took in the sight of Annie as her two hands clutched his; one of her hands was holding his wrist while the other's fingers interlaced with his own. Her chair was pushed up against his bed so that her legs were propped up on the seat of the chair, her head rested on her shoulder and he knew it was going to be sore when she wakes up. But he still smiled as Callen's eye roamed her face and took in how serene and more beautiful it looked in sleep.
"So Sleeping Beauty wakes up?" He heard his partner's voice tease and Callen turned his head to his left to see Sam on the other side of his bed.
"Nope she is still asleep." He whispered back and Sam's smile grew a fraction bigger and raised his eyebrows at Callen's words. Callen did not reply any further as he felt Annie stir.
"I hope you are not referring to me Agent Callen or else you would dishearten your admirer." Annie said as she removed her hands from his and raised them to stretch. She proceeded to rub the back of her neck which made Callen inwardly chuckle at how right he was.
"And who would that be?" He asked in amusement. She pointed to the door and through the two thin windows on either side of the door Callen was able to make out the form of a woman in police uniform. He caught the woman staring at him which made her blush and turn around quickly and Annie laughed softly.
"How did you know Officer Jennings has a small crush on G?" Sam asked with a smile.
"She and I talked, Nicole was nice enough to get me some tea last night and we made some small talk before her shift started." Annie replied with a small shrug of her shoulders and Callen noticed that her clothes were different today than when he last saw her. At the moment Annie was wearing black leggings with a teal shirt dress and the same ankle boots from before.
"What did you two talk about that would allude to the fact she is interested in me?" Callen wondered aloud.
"Apparently LAPD has heard about me through the grape vine and Nicole was curious as to what was true and false. Seriously, some of the rumors are ridiculous." Annie said and there was a hint of laughter in her tone and the way she rolled her eyes.
"And that tells you how she likes G?" Sam asked this time.
"Well, for one she kept sneaking looks at Callen, and I mean the longing type of look, not the curious one, and when I mentioned that she got flustered and apologized before running off. According to her partner, she thinks you and I are dating Callen." Annie explained and he was pleased at the thought. But then Sam had to ruin it.
"Really?"
"Yup, although it's not that hard to jump to that conclusion. I have been here for thirty-six hours straight and falling asleep holding Callen's hand doesn't help the image as protection detail."
"Why were you holding his hand? I don't understand that myself." Sam asked.
"To keep track of his pulse. During one of my jobs at the NSA a coworker of mine hacked into the computer base at the hospital and replaced the heartbeat of our target with a recording from previously that day. My team and I were able to get in, take out the target, and get out without anyone knowing the difference. I wanted to make sure that Callen was still alive while I was asleep and can't see the rise and fall of his chest." Annie answered darkly. The two men looked at her in shock. She never told them about her work experience before and they only knew what the NSA/CIA didn't redact in their report, which wasn't much truthfully. After she said this Annie visibly began to retract into herself as the memory consumed her. This worried the two men and Callen reached out to grab her hand once more.
"Thank you for watching out for me." He said gently and rubbed her knuckles and she smiled at him. He could remember the words she said to him in his dream state vividly and he was happy that he had this effect on her.
"You also did the girl a favor by letting her think that you and G are dating. She stood no chance with him anyways." Sam added and the two looked at him with their unspoken question as to what he was getting at.
"He doesn't date badges." Sam replied simply and Callen couldn't help but roll his eyes this time at his partner.
"She must have been one special woman." Annie said and Callen could feel her eyes boring into his.
"She was." He whispered, his throat constricting at the memory of the woman who created that rule. Callen felt Annie return the gesture of squeezing his hand and gave him an understanding smile. That smile told him that she wouldn't pry but if he wanted to talk about it then she would listen to him and for the first time he didn't have the need to keep it to himself. Annie told him something personal and emotional for herself not even a few moments ago. The least he could do was reciprocate and maybe this would help her open up to him more as well.
"Her name was Tracy Rossetti, but to me she was just Tracy Keller. We became partners in the CIA and went undercover as a couple. Which was how we became a real couple incidentally. It was going great until during one case where we got caught in a firefight. I stayed in the fight longer than I should have because I thought Tracy was still there. But by the time I was sure that she was no longer in there, I escaped and made it back to the safe house only to see there was Tracy sipping her tea. That was when I knew that-"Callen spat out rapidly but was stopped by Annie who got up and hugged him. Callen was caught off guard by this at first before he hugged her back. She slowly sat down on the hospital bed and continued to hold him as he took comfort in her embrace.
All the memories of Tracy flooded back, his entire relationship with her, the moment he realized that she did not love him the same way he loved her, and then his more recent memory of arresting her with Sam in the Cayman Islands. Tracy was the first person that Callen ever fully opened up to and got that close to. Callen wasn't used to doing that being a foster kid. Growing up he learned how to keep his head down and just barrel through whatever hell he was put in. Talking wouldn't do him any favors; Callen would just continue to be put in different foster homes that didn't care about him and what he had to say. So to meet someone who he felt like he could trust and open up to was a first for Callen. Then to find out that Tracy wasn't who he thought she was damaged Callen beyond all measure. He also learned to be more cautious when it came to just about anything.
Callen obviously became more cautious when it came to work. He always double-checked his case and whomever he worked with to make sure that he didn't catch them in a lie. He was so meticulous that it drove his next boss after he transferred out of the CIA nuts; aka Gibbs. In time, Callen learned to loosen up but he never dropped the cautious side to him. Even now Callen went over every detail of a case even though he knew that his team was solid, professional, and knew what they were doing.
Callen was also cautious about meeting new people and opening up to them. It was surprising to him that he was able to have friends again after that incident with Tracy, let alone the ability to date. But when he did learn to trust the people he called his friends like his mentors, Gibbs and Hetty, or his colleagues, Sam, Kensi, Deeks, and everyone else at OSP, they all learned how fiercely loyal Callen could be. He would move heaven, earth, and hell to have their backs. It took a while for Callen to date again and then even longer for any possible relationship to get serious. However, Callen would admit that every time he did date a woman he would compare her to Tracy. That was the case until Annie came along.
Whenever Callen thought about Annie, he didn't have the urge to compare her to Tracy. And if he did try, Callen would always fail in this attempt because the two women were simply too different in his mind.
Looks-wise they were similar, both Tracy and Annie had darker looks with dark straight hair, brown eyes, biracial features, and tan skin. The differences were minute in that Annie had black hair while Tracy's hair was more of a mahogany brown hair. Also, even though they both had brown eyes, Callen could see the difference. Tracy's brown eyes were almost black depending on the lighting and no matter the situation they were always calculating as if she was thinking about what to tell someone about anything. Whereas Annie's eyes were the color of brandy that seemed to warm the person who was looking at them. There was no pretense in her eyes to suggest that she was lying to anyone or that she was setting up the conversation in her favor. Sure, she wasn't exactly forthcoming about her past but that never led to hurting Callen or any of his friends. Moving past the physical, Tracy and Annie were both different personality wise as well.
As stated previously, Tracy was calculating which Callen didn't mind that at the time because it meant that he could rely on her to have an exit strategy or something to get them out of trouble if their cover was blown. While Annie wasn't obviously calculating, Callen knew from what cryptic remarks Hetty said about her abilities that Annie was a capable agent. While both women were mysterious in their own rights, Annie's sense of mystery wasn't malicious in nature unlike Tracy. Callen didn't think he could handle another Tracy.
"Excuse me," A male doctor announced his presence as he walked into the hospital room. Because of his arrival, Annie, unfortunately, released Callen from her warm embrace and went back to her seat. Callen almost glared at the doctor who looked like he was a part of the cast of a medical TV show with blinding good looks and a charming smile that seemed to be directed at Annie a little too long for Callen's liking.
"Yes doctor?" Sam brought the man's attention back to the fact that there were two other people in the room other than Annie. Callen smiled at how low Sam's voice got, it was almost menacing but yet not quite there. Either way it set the doctor back to why he was there and looking away from Annie who shifted in her seat, obviously uncomfortable with the noticeable stare she received.
"Ah, yes, sorry about that. My name is Doctor Max Filch and I was the one who performed the surgery on you Mr. Callen. Thankfully after we stopped the bleeding, everything went smoothly and you have about twenty stitches on your lower abdomen. If you change your bandages regularly and don't move around too much, I am happy to tell you that there won't be a scar or at least a noticeable one. However, I did tell your supervisor that you should be on desk duty for at least a month because even though you should have your stitches out in about two weeks, we don't want to upset the wound. Especially since it is a stomach wound which can be one of the most sensitive types of injuries. Other than a few more tests, I feel comfortable releasing you today, Mr. Callen." Doctor Filch stated and Callen grew happier and happier upon learning his condition.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Annie relax as the Doctor was speaking. He saw the guilt in her eyes retract a fraction upon hearing that Callen was going to be back to normal so soon. This would definitely help his cause when he tries to convince Annie that none of this was her fault, on the contrary it was Callen's fault. He should have listened to his instincts and because he didn't he got hurt.
"Thank you, Doctor Filch. Are we going to do the tests now or later?" Callen asked as soon as he saw the handsome doctor's eyes wandering towards Annie. He struggled to look at Callen and told him that they would perform the tests later if Callen was still awake. The doctor got one last glance at Annie before he left the room. Sam and Callen turned their attention to the lady in question who looked back at them with curiosity.
"Well, I don't know what all that was about." She answered them simply even though they didn't say anything. Callen and Sam exchanged a look with each other and Annie sighed while rolling her eyes.
"I have never met Dr. Filch before in my life except for when he came out to tell everyone that G would make it. I barely left this room since I arrived here at the hospital and he has never visited the room either. I've only talked to a few of the nurses who monitored the machines. So stop giving me those looks." She added with an exasperated tone. Callen and Sam smiled at how well Annie knew them by now. At their smiles, a small one tugged at her lips as she fought against laughing with them. But her big brown eyes betrayed her as amusement bubbled in the brandy colored depths that were totally unique to Annie.
"Now that Callen is awake, you, Annie, need to leave on Hetty's orders." Sam changed topics and Callen was alarmed at how soon Annie was leaving his presence.
"Why?" She asked curiously and tilted her head slightly and puckered her lips which made Callen want to forget his partner was there and kiss Annie senseless. Did they put something in his drugs that would make his libido run rampant? Or was it because he almost died? All Callen knew was that he couldn't stop thinking about kissing Annie and going further. Thank God he had great self-control.
"She said that you have been here for over 36 hours, grabbing little to none sleep, and drinking horrible hospital coffee and eating hospital food. Hetty wants you to go back to your place and recoup in 24 hours before going back to work tomorrow, apparently you have a lot of conference calls to catch up on." Sam relayed and Annie blushed a little at how well Hetty knew her. She didn't have a comment for that and so Annie nodded her head and stood up. She gave each agent a smile good-bye and walked away from them. Callen couldn't help but watch her as she made her exit, ignoring the look he was receiving from Sam.
"Oh, and Callen?" He looked Annie in the eyes when she stopped at the door way, her head looking over her shoulder giving him an excellent, and continued, view of her backside. "You are extremely lucky to have Sam as a partner; you should treat him a bit better than you already do."
Callen gaped at the woman wondering where that came from. But she didn't elaborate any further and finally disappeared from view as she turned into the hallway. He continued to stare at the doorway entrance, imagining the scene of Annie standing there, the humorous smile playing across her face and the position of her body that gave her the allusion of more curves than she had in reality. Sam, on the other hand, was laughing hard at the exchange between his partner and their new fashion consultant.
"Ok, what did you do to brainwash Annie?" Callen turned on Sam, which only made his partner laugh harder. But Callen still didn't get an answer as Sam readily changed topics and updated him on the case thus far.
The man who had stabbed Callen has not been found and seemingly disappeared into thin air; there were no leads about his identity or his whereabouts or even why he did this. As of now, both cases about the murders of the Ryans and the murder attempt on Callen have officially gone cold. Callen wanted to punch something upon hearing this. While Hetty wanted to close the case files for now, Callen didn't want to. He would spend all of his spare time looking over those files to see something the others might have missed. He was going to solve this and put whatever the hell is going on behind Callen and Annie.