N/A: I know you want to kill me for the cliffhanger. I can't say I'm sorry ;)

Chapter 7

The heavy silence of contained breathing invaded the operations center. Hetty let herself fell into a chair, unable to remain standing. She felt like a knife has pierced her heart, melting her muscles and turning her legs into jelly.

- "What… what has just happened Hetty? Sam?!" - asked Eric with the tiny voice of a lost child.

Nell was crying fully aware of Callen's probably fatal fate. And a pale Sam remained still leaning on the central table, taking deep breaths while taken the situation in.

- "Callen was shot, Eric, and he wasn't able to hang on."- answered Nell sobbing.

- "But they have to come back for him, they can't leave him alone and wounded with the bad guys just there!" - Eric protested as tears rolled freely from his eyes – "This, this isn't right!"

- "Mr. Beale, Eric"- said Hetty gently touching the agent's hand- "We don't know if Mr. Callen has survived. If the bullet didn't kill him, a fall like that certainly could do it. And even if for a miracle he's still alive, I've counted at least three men that are willing to finish him."

- "He's not dead Hetty!"- Shouted Sam wiping the forming tears off his eyes and moving for the first time- "he won't until I see his body. I'm going to look for him."

- "Sam" – Intervened Hetty- "You're not going anywhere. Mr. Callen knew the inherent risks of the rescue mission and he assumed it as a professional. I can't authorize you even if I understand your feelings."

- "Good, you'll find my resignation letter in your desk."- said Sam exiting the room in two strides.

Hetty sighed. She felt like she aged one decade in seconds. She couldn't believe what they had just witnessed. A wave of infinite sadness was about to overwhelm her. But Sam was right. She can't give up on his boy. For him. For her. For all of them. The team needed a strong leader and she wasn't a weak person. With a supreme effort, she stood up and supporting her arms on the table, she raised the head and said in her command voice to the wonder twins that hugged to console each other:

- "Miss Jones, Mr. Beale, we're not giving up on Mr. Callen. Not yet. I know him too damn well to disregard all the possibilities. I want you two to look at the video again, and then, over and over again." – The techies looked at each other in shock – "I need calculations about the height of the fall, I need to know if Mr. Callen was wearing a vest, and where he received the impact. If it was a bullet or several ones. The caliber, the distance, the damage it can produce. I want to know about the terrain, the possible routes of escape, the temperature of the area hour by hour. I need you to contact Miss Blye and Mr. Deeks to inform them about the situation. As soon as they land I want a military transport to bring them here, they can give us precious information about Callen's plan B."

- "Callen have a plan B, right Hetty?"- asked Nell wiping the tears with her sleeve.

- "And C and D my dear, and now, I want you two to focus on the tasks. The rescue mission isn't over yet."

Having said that, Hetty walked out the room. In spite of being devastated by the images she witnessed before, she was resolute to let hope make its way into her heart. Slowly she descended the stairs. Sam was at his desks writing frenetically on a white sheet.

- "Dammit"- he cried crumpling the paper and throwing it hardly towards Callen's neat desk. He put his head between his hands, elbows at the table and tried to stifle some sobs.

- "Sam" – called Hetty in a calming voice.

- "Hetty please, I don't need a speech right now. I can't stay here knowing that G could need my help. I'm going to look for him with or without your support."

- "Of course you're going to help Mr. Callen, but right now you'll be more helpful from here. Think, Sam. Without government resources and the backup of the NCIS, in the best of scenarios, a flight from L.A. to Istanbul takes 15 hours, you'll have to add the journey to and from the airport, the hours of waiting, the time to get a non-traceable vehicle, material, weapons, even some men who know the terrain. The time to get there will exceed the 48 hours by far. If Mr. Callen has survived that fall he'll need your help now and not in two days!" –exclaimed Hetty.

- "But, what can I do from here, Hetty?" - asked Sam confused.

- "The first thing is to eliminate the threads in order to clear his way. We need to create a plan to dispel the terrorist out of Callen's radio of action. Eric and Nell are calculating the probabilities of survival based on the video's information. We don't know is medical condition so I suggest you to elaborate several planes about where he can go, or hide depending of the severity of his injures. You're the person who knows him the best, Sam, you're the only one capable of following his logic, but I need you here, focused and alert. Do you understand Mr. Hanna?"

- "Yes Hetty." - Said a more calmed Sam.

"So, what are you waiting for?" - asked Hetty- "go, go, go!"

Sam wiped his face and ran upstairs. Once alone Hetty helped herself a double shot of whisky, her hands were shaking, she couldn't erase from her mind the image of Callen falling from the helicopter. She rather hoped the fall was fatal, because if the terrorists apprehend the agent alive he would wish the death very soon. Her first phone call was for Nate.