Disclaimer: I don't own NCIS: Los Angeles or the characters. I'm just borrowing them. I make no money from this.
Author Note: I know the boat-shed is located in a Marina though I don't really know where. I have no idea if there is really a park nearby but for the sake of this fic let's pretend there is.
Granger watched as Callen vanished out of the door after Callie. He started to follow as well.
"Not so fast Owen," Hetty stepped in front of him. "I think you've said enough for the moment. Let Mr. Callen go after her for now, give her a chance to calm down."
"Why? So he can get her hopes up only to crush them?" Granger scoffed. "Move out of the way Henrietta. I'm going after them before he hurts her."
Sam stepped into the doorway, blocking it. "The only one I see hurting her is you. G would never hurt a kid. Not the way you just did."
Granger glared at him.
"Thank you Mr. Hanna, but I can take it from here," Hetty inserted before he could open his mouth. "If you would give us some privacy."
"Sure thing Hetty," Sam said with one last glare at Granger.
"Spare me the lecture Henrietta," Granger said as he wiped his hand across his face.
"Oh, no lecture from me Owen. I think you're doing a fine job of castigating yourself." Hetty sat down and studied the man in front of her.
Granger sighed and sat down across from her, slumping into the seat. "I never meant to hurt her, I didn't mean for her to hear that."
"I know. You were just trying to cause Mr. Callen as much pain as you could. But you didn't anticipate the collateral damage."
He leaned forward, resting his head in his hands. "I just wanted him to feel a fraction of the pain that he put Erin through."
Hetty gave him a searching look. "She means a lot to you."
"Her and Callie both. Seamus died saving my life. As he laid dying I promised him I would look after Erin for him, and I've done my best. She's like a niece or a little sister to me." He chuckled slightly. "She made me Callie's godfather. I've always tried to do my best to protect them, but it doesn't look like I've succeeded very well."
"We can't protect them from everything, especially when it comes to matters of the heart," Hetty said sagely. She paused before continuing. "Mr. Callen did deserve to know the truth."
Granger shook his head. "I doubt it would have made a difference. You and I both know that he prefers to be alone."
Hetty shook her head. "I don't think prefer is the right word, more like it is all he's ever really known. And you don't give him enough credit. He's spent his entire life searching for answers, for family, not knowing where he came from. Perhaps a child would have filled part of that void."
Granger lifted his head to fix her with a serious gaze. "After this is all over, do you really think he's going to be a part of Callie's life? You and I both know he's going to push her away, for her own protection of course. That's just the way he is."
Hetty sighed. "For all of their sakes I hope to God that you are wrong Owen."
Callen carried Callie over to a picnic table near some trees, thankful that the park was fairly empty. Setting her down on the bench, he let his eyes roam over her but didn't spot any new injuries. Her sobbing had finally ceased. "Are you alright?" he asked again.
"I'm fine," she said quietly, unable to look at him.
"He didn't mean it." The words slipped out before he even realized what he was saying. Why was he defending Granger of all people?
She drew in on herself, arms wrapping around her torso. "Yes he did. He blames me for Mom's injury. If I hadn't been born she would have gotten better, she would have been able to return to her job."
"Hey, he didn't blame you. He was blaming me."
"Yeah, for getting her pregnant with me." Tears began to form in her eyes again. "Mom probably blames me too. It would have been better if I was never born."
"Don't talk like that!" Callen said more harshly than he intended. He knelt down in front of her, forcing her to meet his gaze. "Hey, your mom loves you, of that I am certain. There is no way she would have ever decided to do anything that would have jeopardized your life, even before you were born."
Callie stared at him. "How can you be so sure? You didn't want me either."
He reeled back in shock, both from the words and the despair he could see in her eyes. "That's not true."
"You never came," she said, her gaze focused back on the ground. "All of the other kids knew who their parents were but all I had was a picture. And Mom wouldn't tell me anything."
He was reeling from her words, long buried emotions surging to the surface. He was a little boy again, watching all of the other kids who knew who they were, where they came from. He didn't even know his first name. And all he could wonder was where his family was. Why had they left him, didn't they want him? And now he saw that same question being reflected in Callie's eyes.
He swallowed the lump in his throat as he struggled to push the memories and feelings away, to rebury them. "I didn't know," was all he could offer her. Her eyes lifted to him once more. He winced at the undisguised hope he saw shining there.
"And now?"
Callen swallowed again. What was he supposed to say? He didn't want to crush that hope, not like it had been in him. But what did he have to offer her but a life filled with danger? He had too many enemies who would think nothing of using her to get back at him. And then there was the Comescu family. There was no way they had gotten every member of that family. They would be back for him one day and if they learned about Callie- No, he couldn't risk it.
He gave her a weak smile. "We'll talk about that later, okay? When your mom is back." He watched as her gaze dropped back to the ground and she gave a small nod. "Why don't I go get us something to drink before we head back, alright?" She shrugged. "I'll be right over there," he gestured at the nearby food vendor.
Once he had left, Callie brought her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them as she let the tears flow. She had seen it in his face, he wasn't going to stay. She couldn't help but wonder what was wrong with her. Why didn't he want her?
Callen sighed as he turned back to look at her after paying for the bottles of water. Was he making the right decision? He continued to stare at her huddled figure until his phone ringing shook him from his thoughts. "Callen," he answered.
"Everything alright G?" came his partner's voice.
"She's fine, I managed to catch her before she got hit by a truck. We're at the park."
"And you?"
"I'm fine, not a scratch on me," he purposefully misinterpreted the question.
"That's not what I meant. It's not everyday you discover you're a father. How are you handling it?"
"How do you think?"
"That bad huh? What are you gonna do?"
"Drop it Sam."
"G-"
"Just, drop it, please," he let some of the pain, confusion and misery he was feeling seep into his voice.
Sam sighed. "I'll let it go for now but this isn't over. Don't do anything stupid that you're gonna regret," he warned.
"I've got to go Sam, we'll be back in a few." With that he ended the call and headed back to Callie.
Sam shook his head as put his phone away. "Stubborn fool," he muttered. Why couldn't his partner ever let himself be happy? He looked up as the monitor beeped and Eric appeared on it. "You got something for us Eric?"
"Maybe, we heard back from Kensi and Deeks. The van was torched, we're not going to get any clues from the vehicle itself. But it was a rental, registered to a Michael Kincaid. Now Michael Kincaid was a known associate of Patrick Connors. I checked his phone and there have been several calls to the same number."
"Connors?"
"We think so," Nell came into the picture. "Unfortunately, the phone is off and we can't trace it. But we did manage to see the most recent calls. As far as we can tell most of the numbers are local, belonging to common street thugs."
"Hired muscle," Sam put in. "Any chance of tracking them? Some of them should be with Connors and Erin." Hopefully they'd lead them to where Connors was holding Erin O'Rourke.
"Already on it," Eric confirmed. "The majority of the cellphones are in close proximity to one another. Narrowing down the location now." The computer beeped and a look of confusion came across his face. "Sam, they're only a few blocks away from the boat-shed."
Realization filled Sam. "They're after Callie. Hetty! Eric's got news! I've gotta get to G!" With that he turned and ran out of the boat-shed, praying he'd make it to his partner in time.