N/A: sorry for my mistakes last chapter! It wasn't easy to write in the airport and in my flight home. This chapter is about Hetty and Callen, just a little talk. I hope you'll enjoy it! Thank you for being there. Merry Christmas :)

Chapter 18

Two hours later Callen started to stir and his breathing become agitated. He was sweating and trying to sit up trapped in a nightmare. Hetty knew best than touching him, instead she turned the lamp on regulating it to get a faint peach colored light illuminating the room, then she wet a cloth and tenderly she put it on Callen's forehead. At the cold contact Callen gasped and opened his eyes unware of where he was. He tried to focus and started to sit up, but Hetty putting a hand in his chest, pushed him gentle towards the pillow.

- "Hush, Mr. Callen, don't even try. You're safe"

- "Hetty…" - Callen whispered too weak even to move again.

- "Here, have some water" – she said putting a glass on his lips and spooning his head with her other hand. Callen drank avidly till he chocked. The cough made him nearly cry when a sharp pain pierced his side making him to shrink.

- "Easy, easy, control your breath, that's right, one more time, good, you're doing good." – she said in a soft and calming voice.

Hetty was worried at Callen's temperature; she didn't need a thermometer to know his fever was higher than before. The cloth she put on him was nearly dry, but she has all the bases covered; she got G uncovered, produced a cold pack and put it on Callen's nape; he shivered at the contact but made no attempt of removing it. Once he controlled his breathing and the wave of pain passed, Hetty renewed the damp cloth on his forehead and started to gently rub down another one on his chest and arms.

- "How do you feel?"- she asked.

- "I've been worse."

- "Mr. Callen…"- started Hetty a bit upset about his stonewalling.

- "No, really, I mean… this time I thought I was going to die in the other side of the world… alone…"

- "When Eric connected with the helicopter's camera and we saw you being hurt, falling and no moving we also feared for your life. Sam called every SEAL he knows to look for you and I had nearly to cuff him to prevent him from going after you and provoking an international conflict. However he managed to go to Cyprus, to organize a mission with the NATO that was aborted last minute. He was completely depressed. Kensi worked restlessly transcribing tapes and she tided up her desk twice a day! Mr. Beale and Miss Jones barely went out ops in all this time, and the poor Mr. Deeks tried to keep everyone sane. It's funny to see how able and serious he can be when the situation requires."

- "That bad, eh?" – G smiled. He moved his arm blocking the drip with his elbow. He bit his lip at the needle prick.

- "That bad" - answered Hetty placing correctly the IV.- "and don't move!"

- "Hate needles" - mumble Callen accommodating his arm.

- "A mule in heat is more docile than you. Just relax, and it won't hurt." - Hetty damped again the cloth and replaced the dry one on Callen's face. – "Now close your eyes and try to sleep."

- "After the fall I barely could move." - started Callen- "A terrorist came to my side and I managed to knock him out and let him roll the hill, with my helmet following. I hoped the others would believe it was me falling down. Miraculously the other men stopped the searching and leave me alone."

- "It was Sam. He contacted I don't know how with the SEALS and he gave them the last coordinates with the messages intercepted on the radio. They send the terrorists a message urging them to come back and leave your search."

- "Sam… I knew it was too good to be casual. Then I supposed everybody will look for me on the nearest villages, but never on the mountains, so I headed to the Davraz and I found a cave. I made a fire but I couldn't take the bullet off my shoulder and stop the bleeding, I was shaking so hard I still don't know how …" -Callen closed his eyes suddenly overpowered by sleep, but seconds later he blinked as if escaping from an incoming nightmare and stared at the shadows that the dim light of the lamp was forming on the ceiling. – "I injected myself with the Celox to try to stop the bleeding and next thing I remember is a baby mountain lion purring on my ear."

Fever was making Callen talk. It was so rare the agent open himself that Hetty didn't dare to interrupt knowing that talking would help him to exorcise the devils.

- "The hard thing was to arrive to Antalya, I was in bad shape and the ride on the bus truck on the bumpy road… Once there I sneaked in the container of a cargo ship to Ibiza. There the fiesta is so salvage that I even slept in a five stars hotel thanks to a very drunk British. Then I contacted Javier the friend of my alias Gregor Prat. He always take advantage of Christmas holidays to smuggling "jamón" to America and he was just about to fly to Washington from Valencia. I took the ferry from Ibiza and two hours later I was in the air. In Washington Jethro got me an unscheduled flight to LA.

- "Mr. Gibbs… I knew he was lying to me" –murmured Hetty as she wet again the cloth on Callen's forehead. -"Why you didn't call me or the team? Sam, Kensi, Deeks, all of us would have go to look for you!"

- "It was already the 24th … I didn't want to interrupt your plans for the family dinner and to make Sam to pass Christmas on a plane… Flying from East to West made me recover 10 hours to arrive today…"- Exhausted G closed his eyes but after some minutes in silence opening them again he asked:

- "Why do you still care about me, Hetty? If you feel guilty about my mom, you don't have to…"

- "Mr. Callen, I don't deny that Clara's death affected me deeply. Back on those days I thought I haven't done all in my power to save her, and when mysteriously five years later I found you were here in the system, I felt I was helping her by helping you to find a new home. When finally you went to live here, it wasn't for an old debt or a sense of guilt. It was for you. An intelligent, stubborn and brave young man with an ideal of justice strange for his age who was willing to learn. Why is so hard for you to understand that I was fond of you?" – said Hetty wiping his face again.

- "Sorry Hetty" – apologized Callen a moment later.

- "And why on Earth are you now sorry for, Mr. Callen?"

- "I failed you. You trained me and I wasn't able to complete the mission without making a mess. I didn't make contact once I arrived to Europe and I upset you. I only wanted to give you a surprise for Christmas, but I didn't think you were so worried."

- "Of course I was worried! I was worried sick because I love you!"- Exclaimed Hetty- "It's normal to be worried about the people we love. Listen to me you pigheaded, even if you were my biological son I couldn't love you more than I already do. And your team, you have a big brother, two little ones and two sisters that were completely lost and more than worried for you."

- "I didn't mean to… if the team is weaker because of me…I…" - Callen started to shiver.

- "No, no, no, at the contrary. Love is a strength Mr. Callen, not a weakness! Love make us move mountains, cross oceans for the loved one; the love for your team gave you the strength to come back home. Even wounded you managed to get presents for everyone. That's love Mr. Callen, the same love that made you and your team to go to Romania to look for me, the same love that made Sam sleep in a hospital chair at your bedside for nearly two months. Love always adds, never takes away. I rather worry about you that remain indifferent, and the vulnerability for loving you becomes strength when I know you're safe. A life without love isn't a life, it's just survival."

Callen moved the IV arm again uncomfortable, and in pain and exhausted closed his eyes. Hetty checked with relief that his fever had broken and took the cold pack from the back of his neck.

- "I think that it's either too late or too soon in the day for this philosophical conversation" – smiled Hetty,- "and you need to rest." She put the damp cloths on the table and wet a gauze with alcohol.

- "Ok, I'm going to free your arm before you manage to hurt yourself. Deep breath"- she said taking the needle out and pressing the gauze against Callen's arm.

Callen sighed relieved and without open his eyes turned his head to face the wall. Gently Hetty cover him with the sheet and turned the light off. As she was exiting the room G said in a tiny and sleepy voice:

- "Love you Hetty."