Hello to everyone who is reading this!

I have some news to update you all on. Because I am currently writing two stories at once and that my other fanfic is so close to being finished (at least the first part, I plan on making it into a trilogy) that I am going to take a brief break from this story until the other is completed. Do not fret my faithful readers I am going to stop once I get to Chapter 32 so as to leave you all off on a high note, so keep expecting a chapter for this fanfic until then. Also because I only have about 5 or so chapters left in the other fanfic, I am hoping to be back to writing Halo no later than August so don't worry about the long wait now that you have an estimated time for it to come back.

Thank you for all the lovely reviews and putting this story under alert and/or favorites. Although if you do decide to officially stop reading this fanfic for good other then when I go on a brief break then please let me know why for I would love to know. Thanks!

Disclaimer is in Chapter 1:Who?

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crzychigurl343

Memory Lane and Love

"In retrospect, it's strange to me that Annie has been married twice, or at least has gotten that serious with a man, and started her own family." Director Smith stated and that was when everyone turned to look at him in curiosity at what Annie's father meant. He gave them amused looks before he took a deep breath to start.

"What you guys don't know is that our daughter growing up was practically one of the boys. She would go out to play and come back covered head to toe in dirt or mud or whatever she was playing in. Most of the time grinning ear from ear at how she beat the boys she played with up to earn the role as the 'awesomely powerful red power ranger' instead of being delegated to the 'weak girly-pink princess power ranger' during their fantasy games." Director Smith gave a hearty laugh at this as Mrs. Smith nodded, remembering herself. Everyone else, including Carson, listened with rapt attention to hear more about how different Annie was when she was just a little girl and not the alluring and feminine woman that she was in the present.

"If we mentioned that she had a crush on one of the boys or that they had a crush on her, Annie would start screaming bloody murder about how that wasn't possible and that boys were gross. She didn't exactly use the term cooties but the thought was still there." Director Smith chortled.

"Oi! Do you remember how much she hated dresses back then? Every time I put her in a nice dress for my family reunions in Puerto Rico not even an hour had passed and Annie would have found a way to ruin it or, as she got older, snuck some clothes in her bag so she could change in secret and hide the dress away." Mrs. Smith added and this had Callen smiling along with the rest of their audience with how Annie was now fine with flaunting her femininity.

"This lasted all the way until 8th grade, when all of a sudden she changed her mind. She didn't think that boys were that bad and looking like a girl meant she looked just as pretty and comfortable as if she was wearing a t-shirt and jeans. But, even then nothing about Annie told us that she was seriously considering the emotion of love and looking for it like other girls was at her age." Director Smith stated and Callen was curious as to what changed Annie.

"Then she entered her wild child stage of dating in high school." Carson added and the girls' parents nodded. Director Smith looked disgruntled while Mrs. Smith continued to look amused. Clearly, Director Smith didn't like that his little girl grew up so quickly in such a short amount of time.

"OoooOooo! Tell me more, tell me more!" Deeks directed and that was when Carson went to her own mini trip down memory lane about what Annie was like in high school.

It astounded Callen that Annie had gone to her high school's prom since she was a freshman with a different guy every time and then that all the different guys Annie dated in high school didn't last long with some lasting a few days, others a couple of months, and anywhere in between. That just didn't seem like his Annie, but then again, Callen has changed immensely since he was in high school. Sure, he still moved around and kept to himself but Callen was more sociable now and he definitely knew what he was doing half the time unlike when he was younger.

Carson continued on to tell them all more stories about Annie in high school, more specifically her after-school activities. Callen chuckled and marveled at the fact that even though Annie was a part of the theatre department, she actually never was an actor due to having a horrible case of stage fright. Carson described an incident during the try-outs for a musical that Annie forgot the lyrics of the song she was singing and started making up horrible and morbid lyrics for a love song in the play! After that Annie stuck mainly to stage crew and business crew and excelled as well as maintained good grades while learning how to play the guitar, participate in color guard, work a job at the local dairy queen, and tutor not only Carson but two other students. This lead to Johnston and Hetty sharing their own stories about Annie.

They claimed that even after graduating from high school and working at the NSA, Annie was still an overachiever to the point where it got her into trouble. Nothing too serious, but she certainly made mistakes in over-selling her alias. Aisha even added her own favorite memories about her Aunt Annie like watching princess movies together, singing along to the songs, and dancing around the living room. These stories made Callen and his team share their own.

Eric and Nell talked about all the hysterical moments of Annie trying to learn how to surf while Deeks reminisced about their weekly games of hustling paroles in pool at a bar that Deeks took her to the first time they went out for after-work drinks. Kensi had stories about the parties the two went to or all the new moves that Annie taught her during their sparing lessons and vice-versa. Sam talked about how much he was impressed with Annie's knowledge and expertise in a variety of weapons that they liked to test out together as well as their shared humor in picking on Callen. Agent Callen, himself, joined in on about the month he spent with Annie during his mandatory desk duty after he got stabbed. He recalled how complicated Annie's system was when it came to cataloging clothes and how he would always tease that only she could understand it which Annie was fine with since that meant it was her little secret puzzle to the world, or at least to anyone who wanted to attempt to figure it out. Callen still couldn't understand her system for lack of trying and that got a round of chuckles from the group.

The way they talked about Annie wasn't that they thought she was already dead. No, it was just all the people that Annie loved and who loved her in return gathering around and exchanging stories about the wonderful woman who brought them all together. This was helping them all cheer up with happier thoughts about Annie and not that she was right now fighting to live in surgery. That was what Callen thought at least. He soaked in all this information about Annie like a sponge and stored it away for a later date when she was awake and healthy. Plus, all of this story telling made the hours pass as the doctors continue to work on Annie. It would be 7 hours after she went into surgery when the doctors finally came out.

"Are you all a part of Ms. Smith's family?" The chief doctor asked skeptically while the other doctors and nurses left the room to get cleaned up and Callen, as well as everyone who technically wasn't family, narrowed their eyes at the man.

"It's alright doctor, just tell us what's going on with our daughter." Mrs. Smith said to appease the general audience so that they would stop intimidating the doctor.

"Ah, yes, well from all of the beatings she had received, Ms. Smith actually punctured a lung and had internal bleeding from another part of her torso. The continual use of a Taser put massive stress on her heart, weakening it significantly for a brief period. Also, all the hits to the head created damage to her neck. The bullet wound to her thigh also caused some harm to her nervous system in regards to her ability to use her leg." The doctor listed off and Callen, including everyone else's faces, drained at the mention of all of the injuries Annie received from her time with Stryker.

"However we were able to repair the damage to Ms. Smith's lung, her neck needs to be in a cast so as not to put any stress on it as it heals, with some physical therapy and time both her leg and her heart should regain its strength although it will never be 100% percent healthy ever again, but that shouldn't inhibit Ms. Smith too much in the future as long as she gets an EKG every year or so to make sure that there isn't any drastic changes. Also, because of the second bullet wound, most of the internal bleeding bled out so there was no damage to the tissue from dried blood which we were able to find and repair as well as perform a blood transfusion to make up for all the blood she had lost before anything critical happened to Ms. Smith. I am happy to tell you all that Ms. Smith is going to pull through." The doctor finally announced and relief rushed through the group.

Callen nearly collapsed as all the tension in his body was released with the news that Annie was going to be fine. Director Smith, Mrs. Smith, and Carson hugged each other, as did Eric and Nell, Jason and Emma, Johnston and Aisha, and surprisingly enough Kensi and Deeks. Sam placed a hand on Callen's shoulder as the two exchanged happy looks. The two men then turned to Hetty who was sharing the same look as the agents at that she had not lost another friend/co-worker.

"Of course, Ms. Smith will have to stay in the hospital for two weeks under supervision as well as for her first physical therapy session. But congratulations all the same." The doctor brought all of their attention back to his presence.

"Can we see her?" Director Smith asked hopefully and all the adults and one child looked pleadingly at the doctor.

"You may see her for one hour but then you will all have to go back home, it is way past visiting hours as is. Also, don't wake her up, she needs her rest." The doctor gave in and escorted them to the room that Annie was sleeping in.

Callen's heart nearly stopped and fell to the pit of his stomach when he saw Annie. This was the same for everyone in the room. Annie was sleeping peacefully in her bed, propped up slightly. Her black hair was splayed over the pillow and her shoulders, contrasting greatly with her almost ashen-looking almond skin. The bruises were more pronounced on her face with the swelling and dark hue of blue under the light and up close. The bags under Annie's eyes were heavy and it was clear that Annie never really did sleep while she was captured and if she did, it was extremely light and restless. Callen didn't blame her for that. Annie also had a tube slung over her face, connecting to her nose, to help her breath as her lung healed.

Callen's eyes moved from her face and he could see the plastic cast that held up her neck in place. Lower, Callen went and saw all the wires connecting to her chest to the heart monitor that had steadily beeped since he and the others entered the room as well as being hooked up to an IV and morphine drip. Annie's hand was bandaged from where she cut herself with her own knife and that was the last injury he could note just by looking at her because of Annie's hospital gown and also the blanket that covered the lower half of her body thankfully. Callen wasn't sure if he wanted to see the rest of her bandaged body, not while she was so deathly pale and unconscious.

His team and Hetty remained at the foot of Annie's bed as the Smiths took the left side and Johnston and Aisha took the right side. No one said anything and looked solemnly at the fashion consultant with their own thoughts on the matter. Mrs. Smith continued to smooth Annie's hair like she did back on the Den Lille Havfrue as Director Smith kept one arm around his wife. Aisha grabbed Annie's uninjured hand and Johnston stood right behind his daughter, his eyes never leaving Annie like everyone else. That was the positions they remained in until a nurse told them that they had to leave now that their hour was up.

Director Smith put Annie under protective detail, CIA level protective detail, as they exited the building and left to go to their perspective homes. Callen drove with Sam, Kensi, and Deeks in silence back to NCIS: OSP to retrieve their cars before they all went home officially. Callen did drive back to his house, but he wasn't going to stay there long. He only stayed long enough to take a shower and change his clothes before he made his way back to the hospital. Callen knew that he was not going to be able sleep that night without knowing that Annie was safe and sound at the hospital.

When Callen was back at the hospital, he stealthily avoided the cameras and any personnel that would throw him out as he made his way to Annie's room. Once there, Callen was stopped by the two CIA agents guarding her door. Callen tried showing them his ID badge stating that he was an agent for NCIS, but they still didn't allow him to enter. He was going to resort to physical violence if it wasn't for the unexpected interruption of Director Smith.

"It's alright gentlemen, Agent Callen can be allowed in." Annie's father stated with one hand holding some coffee before he pushed past the three men and entered the room with Callen following right behind him.

"I see we both had the same idea." Director Smith said in a low voice that was just barely louder than a whisper. He said this after the two men drew up chairs on either side of Annie who was still sleeping soundly.

Callen didn't respond but just nodded and grabbed Annie's uninjured hand and held it the same way Annie did with him when he was the one in the hospital. Callen noticed that Director Smith raised his eyebrows at this from the corner of his eyes but Callen didn't care anymore. He needed the reassurance that Annie was there with them, not with Stryker, not dead, and also he wanted to give her the same comfort that she gave him when he was in her spot a few months ago.

"So, what Carson said was true. You are falling in love with Annie, if not already in love with her." Director Smith stated but if he had any qualms about what he said, the Director didn't show it as he remained reclined in his own chair, sipping his coffee every now and then.

"I don't know about being in love with your daughter but I do have feelings for her." Callen replied cautiously but decided to go with the truth when it came to the Director of the CIA who was also the woman's father. Director Smith smirked at that.

"That may be what you think, and I appreciate your honesty, but I can see it. I can see that you are in love with my Annie. The way you look at her, the way you talk about her, even right now, just by holding her hand, I can tell that you, Agent Callen, are in love." Director Smith stated simply and Callen couldn't help but shake his head.

"No offense sir, but I'm just doing what Annie did for me when I was here a few months ago." Callen responded and tried to back out of giving Annie's father the wrong impression about them. Sure, he was interested in pursuing a serious romantic relationship with Annie but he didn't want her family to assume that this was going to happen. It takes two to tango and Callen wasn't even sure if Annie wanted the same type of relationship as him.

"Son, you would be here even if that wasn't the case. Like I said before, it is all in the way you look at Annie, even now. Do you want to know how I know?" Director Smith asked and Callen just nodded his head.

"I know this because it's the same look her mother gives to me and I to her, the same look that Travis gave Gabriel, and it was the same look my parents gave to one another. I think you got the picture." Director Smith chuckled at the end and Callen smiled softly at this. He wished he could have been as sure as the Director seemed but Callen was skeptical.

He wasn't skeptical about the notion of love and he wasn't skeptical that his feelings for Annie could amount to love. What Callen was skeptical about was that he could be in love with someone before he even went on one date with the woman. He didn't believe that was love. Love to him was something that a couple experienced after being together after some length of time. So, while Callen might have heavily romantic emotions when it came to Annie, it wasn't love to him. Not yet, anyways.

The two men reverted back to silence and watched the sleeping Annie before they too fell asleep in their chairs. Callen was still firmly holding onto her hand as the pace of her pulse under his fingers lulled him to sleep along with the heart monitor.