Disclaimer: I don't own NCIS: Los Angeles or the characters. I'm just borrowing them. I make no money from this.

"You want to tell me what that was all about back there?" Sam asked as he drove through the streets.

"Nothing to talk about," Callen responded, not looking at his partner.

"Nice try. I know you, partner, better than you think. Who was she?"

Callen sighed. "The real reason I don't date cops."

Sam glanced at him. "You two were serious."

Callen shrugged. "Could have been. Then that whole mess with Connors happened."

"What aren't you telling me?"

"You're not going to let this go, are you?"

"Nope."

Callen shook his head. "We were undercover. Somehow we got made. I've always suspected that Connors had someone on his payroll but couldn't prove it. Anyway, he pulled a gun on Erin." He sighed, wiping a hand down his face. "I froze, for just an instant. Long enough for him to pull the trigger. He took off and I had to decide between going after him and staying with Erin."

"You stayed with your partner." It wasn't a question.

"Yeah. Bullet came dangerously close to her spine after tearing through her lung. But the doctors said she would make a full recovery. I waited until I knew she was going to be okay, then I turned in my resignation. Couldn't keep working there, not after what had happened. Put in the transfer to the DEA." He sighed.

"How did she take it?"

Callen laughed. "Oh she was pissed. Cursed at me in Gaelic and told me what a sorry bastard I was leaving a girl on her sick bed like that."

Sam smiled. "Sounds like your type, all fired up."

"That she is."

Sam glanced at him again. "Any chance the kid's yours?"

Callen shook his head. "Looks too young. Besides, we were always careful, always used protection. And with the damage that bullet did there's no way a fetus would have survived."

"As long as you're sure G."

"I am." He stared out the window, trying to force the memories back into their box.

Nell frowned as she brought up the information on Erin O'Rourke.

"Ms. Jones?"

"Sorry Hetty. Something's bugging me about this." She pointed to the medical file. "I just can't pinpoint it yet."

"Well, start with what you know and I'm sure it will come to you."

"Okay, Erin O'Rourke. Age 39. Former ATF agent. She resigned on medical disability after being shot 15 years ago. Looks like the bullet did a lot of damage, including partial paralysis after it lodged near her spine. One daughter. She's been working as an analyst for the past few years." Nell frowned at the medical report again. "I don't get it. The report says that the bullet could have been removed, ending the paralysis. She would have been able to make a full recovery. But for some reason the operation wasn't performed. Actually it says she refused to have it done."

Eric looked up at that. "Why would she refuse the operation?"

Hetty also frowned, a suspicion beginning to niggle at her. "Was it dangerously risky?"

Nell shook her head. "According to the report, no. It wouldn't have been more than the normal risk of an operation."

"So Ms. O'Rourke had another reason to refuse the operation." Hetty pursed her lips in thought. "Ms. Jones, how old is the girl?"

Nell shrugged before pulling up the birth certificate. "She didn't look more than 11 or 12. Here's the birth certificate. Mother Erin O'Rourke, father is blank. Birth date is listed as February 3, 1998." Nell blinked at that. "She's 14? Doesn't look it. Wait a minute, that would mean that Erin O'Rourke was pregnant when she was shot."

Eric rolled his chair over to look at the file. "So she refused the operation because it would have put the baby at risk. But how did the baby survive the shooting?" he wondered before something else on the birth certificate caught his eye. "Oh, shit."

"What?" Nell quickly scanned over the document again before she saw it too. "Well, that was unexpected."

"Mr. Beale, Ms. Jones?" They silently pointed to what had their attention. The full name listed on the birth certificate. "Oh bugger! I think I had best get down to the boat-shed." She turned to the doors. "And not a word of this to anyone, do you two understand me?"

"Yep."

"Loud and clear."

"Good." The doors opened before she reached them. She looked at Assistant Director Owen Granger and fixed him with a hard stare. "Owen, good. You have some explaining to do. You can start on the way to the boat-shed." Without letting him get a word out, she had him out the door and on his way.

Nell and Eric shared a look. "This isn't going to end well."

"Not at all."