Why did Arkady sneak into Callen's house? What is he doing there and why happened to the guards? For the translation of the Russian in this chapter, see the author's note at the end.

I only own my own characters which include Stefan and Mark in this story.

Anything in italics within single quotes is a quote from my one-shot "Can't Stay Away". Anything in italics and double quotes is thoughts.

Nope…no matter how hard I wish, NCIS LA nor any of the characters on the show are mine. And sadly, they never will be.

Reviews are always welcome. If you are enjoying this story or even if you're not, leave a review and and tell me why.

Enjoy.

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CHAPTER 12: Arkady Visits

Callen couldn't believe who he had tied up on his kitchen floor. He stood there staring at him almost in shock. Then, hearing Nell moving around in his bedroom, he called out "Nell, come here please." When she entered the kitchen, Callen was relieved to see she had gotten completely dressed. He told her to watch the prisoner while he checked out the guards. As he approached his front door, he heard Sam calling out. Opening the door, he saw Sam along with Deeks and Kensi approaching.

"I'm all right, it's okay. I didn't know who was trying to break in when I sent the agent in distress signal, it's an unwanted visitor. He's cuffed in the kitchen with Nell watching him for me. None of you are going to believe who it is when you see him." Callen quit talking with a shake of his head.

Sam gave him a suspicious look as he made sure Callen was telling the truth about being okay. When G mentioned Nell, Sam looked him straight in the eyes silently challenging him to come clean about their relationship, but Callen stared right back at him with an impassive face. Sam sighed heavily while rolling his eyes at his partner "I'll join Nell. The guards have been knocked out but they're going to be okay."

"Kensi, Deeks, check the perimeter of the house and the grounds to see if there are any more intruders out there. See if you can find anything. We'll be in the kitchen when you're done so come on back" Callen requested as he followed Sam back to the kitchen. He heard both of them say okay as they turned back toward the front door.

"Hi Nell, I see you have things under control in here. But why are you here in the first place?" Sam asked giving both her and Callen a calculating look. Both chose to ignore him as he got his first look at the intruder which drove the questions he had for Nell and Callen out of his mind for the moment. "What the hell are you doing here Arkady?"

Callen chimed in "Yes, what exactly are you doing here? In the middle of the night I might add."

"I heard rumors that someone was after you old friend. I came to talk to you and found the guards out cold. I thought maybe you were in trouble so looked around but didn't see anyone outside so was sneaking into the house to see if I could catch them. I wasn't expecting you to threaten to blow me away! I thought we were friends." Arkady fumed. He couldn't believe Callen had gotten the drop on him so easily and it had him fuming. His knees were aching from when Callen made him kneel on the floor and he was embarrassed to be trussed up like a pig at a roast in front of Callen and his friends.

"You could have called. Friends don't break into other friend's homes" Callen retorted.

Arkady gave him a look of utter disbelief while shaking his head and muttering in Russian "Druz'ya ne vorvat'sya v druz'ya domov . Neuzheli on dazhe slyshat' sebya . Chto litsemer ! Skol'ko raz on narushil v moy dom ; skol'ko raz ! I u nego yest' shary , chtoby skazat' , chto dlya menya . YA bespokoyus' o starogo druga , ili kak tam my , pytayutsya zashchitit' yego i eto blagodarit ya poluchayu ? YA nikogda by ne poluchili uchastvuyet . YA starayus' delat' chto-to pravil'no , a nayti sebe skrutili do , kak svin'ya . YA pytayus' byt' drug , i on manzhety menya . Eto ne tak, kak ya ozhidal , chtoby zakonchit' moy vecher ."

"Ladno, ladno , mne ochen' zhal'. Ponyatno ." Callen reluctantly admitted. "Ty prav ; YA slomal v vashem dome ran'she, poetomu ya predpolagayu, chto my kvity. What have you heard?"

"How about taking the cuffs off first and letting me up from the floor. I would be much more comfortable not trussed up like a pig about to have an apple stuffed in his mouth."

"Fine." Callen removed Arkady's cuffs and offered to make coffee for everyone. "Now spill it. What have you heard?" Kensi and Deeks arrived in the kitchen just as Arkady sat down. After giving Callen a questioning look, Deeks let everyone know that if anyone had been there, Arkady must have scared them off.

Arkady relayed everything he had heard and been able to find out about who was after Callen."Someone with a Romani background has put the word out on the streets to get him any information about you they can. The rumor says he will pay big money to know everything about you. I haven't found out this man's name yet, but I'm working on it as we speak. If I find anything out, I will let you know."

He went on to tell them that from what he heard, the Romani man was after Callen for revenge, but as yet, no one knew why. "I have heard rumors that there is a group of men asking all sorts of questions about NCIS and you in particular, but no one has been able to identify them." Once he finished talking, there was silence in the kitchen.

Nell was the first one to come up with a plausible explanation. "Could the accident yesterday have been a setup to get Callen out in the open? From everything Eric and I have been able to find out about the Commander, there was no reason for anyone to want to kill him. The classified briefing he was attending was not out of the ordinary for him. Nothing in his background or his assignments for the Navy threw up any red flags. And according to all the forensics information gathered, the incendiary device used was very small and shouldn't have caused the car to flip like it did. Maybe the deaths of the Commander and his driver were just collateral damage and Callen was the target all along."

When Nell finished speaking, the team took a few minutes to mull over her words. The implications of Romani involvement made everyone in the kitchen start reviewing what they knew so far about the case and the previous times they had been involved with someone with a Romani background.

Callen began by re-stating everything they had. "All right, let's review. Here's what we know so far. Someone with a Romani background is after me for revenge and is trying to find information on me. He had to have put together a team because there was evidence of more than one man at the crash site where the sniper set up. Arkady has heard rumors of numerous men asking questions. Maybe they're part of the team whoever this person is put together. We have no idea how big this team is. Whoever is after me must know I'm NCIS because the way he got my attention was through a Navy commander. There's nothing in the Commander's background raising any flags. That's what we have so far, correct?" Callen looked at each team member in turn, then Arkady and received nods back from everyone.

Deeks asked the next question "Could it be another Comescue we've been unaware of? They have tried to kill you before, Callen."

"I thought all the Comescue's were dead" Arkady commented.

"Me too" came from both Sam and Kensi.

Callen took control again. "Maybe we were wrong. Nell, you and Eric go back through everything we know about the Comescues. Also check known associates and friends, cousins, anyone you think might still have any loyalty to the family. Deeks, you and Kensi talk to the cops involved and go back to the crime scene if you need to. See if they've found anything else that might help us. Check out the area the shot came from too. Maybe something was missed. Arkady, check with your contacts and see if you can get any more details."

Before Callen could say anything else, his phone rang. He put it on speaker so everyone could hear. Hetty's voice came over the phone. "Mr. Hanna, I want you to take Mr. Callen to a safe house. I've sent an agent with the information and the keys. Mr. Callen, you are to stay at the safe house. You can lead the investigation and help us go over the information we have and will get, but you are NOT to leave the safe house. Is that clear?"

"Yes, Hetty" Callen sighed. He knew she was right, but he didn't want to be sidelined while everyone else was putting themselves in danger for him. "Maybe I can persuade her to let me help out if I give in now" he thought.

Hetty continued "Mr. Kolchek, thank you for your information and your continuing help."

"Spasibo Khetti . Po krayney mere, nekotoryye lyudi tsenyat moi usiliya ." Arkady looked at Callen again and smirked.

"Nell and Eric will be with you in the safe house. It has a mini-OPS setup on-site so you'll be able to coordinate the efforts from there and see anything we come up with on a real-time basis. I don't have to tell any of you that this is the highest priority for your team. I want these bastards caught as soon as possible. No-one comes after my team and gets away with it. However, it's late and we need to be rested so that we can start fresh in the morning. Go…get some sleep everyone. Report in tomorrow morning from the safe house." Hetty finished her instructions to the team and disconnected.

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Callen thanked Arkady again for the heads-up he had provided. Arkady promised to keep him informed if he found out anything else and left to return to his home and contacts. Everyone else, including Nell, went their separate ways to get the rest Hetty ordered after making arrangements to meet at 8 am in the morning. Callen and Sam waited for the agent with the keys and then Sam drove them both to the safe house.

Once at the safe house, Sam called Michelle to let her know what was going on and that he wouldn't be home for a while. He then sacked out in one of the bedrooms while Callen tried to get a little more sleep in the second bedroom.

An hour later, Callen was up and wandering around. He couldn't sleep any more so made a pot of coffee and began practicing his Russian. By 6 am he had been up for several hours and had not only practiced his Russian, but his French and Romanian as well. He had taken apart the coffee maker and put it back together again. He knew Sam needed his rest so he tried to be quiet. If his puttering around woke Sam up, he knew he would be pissed. He sat there trying to think of what else he could do, but before long, thoughts of Nell intruded "I wish Nell was here. I would like to be with her. I sleep better when she's here…I don't know why, but it's true. Maybe it's because of all the exercise we've been getting" he snickered to himself. "She is an amazing woman and I'm so lucky to have her. I never thought I would have someone in my life. I can actually see a future with her, but we have to get this case solved first. I don't want her in danger because of me."

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AN: * Translation of the Russian:

Arkady: "Friends don't break into friends homes. Does he even hear himself. What a hypocrite! How many times has he broken into my home; how many times! And he has the balls to say that to me. I worry about an old friend, or whatever the hell we are, try to protect him and this is the thanks I get? I should never have gotten involved. I try to do something right and find myself trussed up like a pig. I'm trying to be friend and he cuffs me. This is not way I expected to end my evening." and "Thank you Hetty. At least some people appreciate my efforts."

Callen: "Okay, okay, I'm sorry. I get it." and "You're right; I've broken into your house before, so I guess we're even."

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