Happy New Year to all my readers! Only one more chapter to go after this one.

Uh oh. Stefan's thinking he's missed something important in his quest to kill Callen. What is he going to come up with next and what will it mean for the NCIS LA team, especially Callen and Nell?

I only own my own characters which include Stefan Badžo 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, leave a review on the way out and tell me why.

Enjoy.

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CHAPTER 23: Stefan's Stake Out

Stefan returned to his backup location deep in thought. "I'm missing something. Something that is very important, I know it. It's something to do with Callen. It will come to me, I'm sure and then I'll have my revenge."

Deep in thought, he called the remaining members of his team together to try to come up with another plan to finally get rid of Callen once and for all. When they arrived, they spent a few minutes reviewing where they stood as far as manpower, resources and information. Stefan then took them back over everything that had happened since they entered the country. He invited feedback from all the men on what they thought should be done next. He was hoping that conducting the brainstorming session would lead to the information he knew he was missing. At least he hoped so.

After several hours, Stefan ordered some food be delivered and gave everyone a break to relax and eat. It was during the food break that Mark mentioned the house they had tried to search to see if it was Callen's.

"That's right. We never did find out for sure whether that house was Callen's did we?" Stefan mused.

"No we didn't boss. It's been eating at me every since then too. I feel like we're missing something."

"I've been feeling the same way Mark." Stefan realized the house was the missing component. "We need to recheck that house. Take a team and check out the house without getting caught. If you have to, stake it out and see if you can identify who comes and goes from there. Report back to me when you have something. I think...no I'm sure we missed something the last time we checked it out."

"Will do Stefan. I'll keep you informed of everything I find." Mark proceeded to gather the things he would need for the stakeout and left the group to do Stefan's bidding.

By the time he got set up for the stake-out, it was the middle of the night. He settled in hoping he would see who lived in the house the next morning. He wasn't looking forward to spending days trying to determine who lived there but if he had to, that is what he would do. He would do anything for his friend.

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Mark cursed his luck on the first day of the stakeout. He saw no-one enter or leave the house. He was unaware that Callen had spent the night at Nell's with both of them reporting to work from her apartment. He spent all day watching the house and when darkness fell without anyone appearing around the house, he called Stefan.

"I need a break Stefan. I've been sitting here since last night and so far today no one has come or gone from the house. Do you want me to break in and look around?"

"No old friend, it might trip an alarm. I'll send one of the others to spell you for the evening. As soon as he gets there, get something to eat and sack out for the night. I need you back there by 7 am tomorrow morning."

It took several days before Mark was able to identify Callen as one of the people coming and going from the house. He didn't give up though because he knew Stefan was depending on him. The minute he recognized Callen, he waited for him to leave and then called Stefan with the good news. "Stefan, you were right. This is where G. Callen is staying. I was afraid to follow him because I didn't want him to spot me, but this is definitely where he lives. I think someone should continue watching the house to see if any patterns in his movements can be determined."

"This is great news Mark! I'll send someone over to relieve you right away so you can come see me this afternoon. We have plans to make."

Stefan was ecstatic! He had finally obtained the information about where G. Callen lived! It had taken a long time but now that his goal was finally in sight, all the time and money spent was well worth it. This time, there would be no mistakes. He would make sure of it. When they broke into Callen's house, he was determined to be the one to kill the last living Callen to complete the vendetta against his blood line. It would also be payment for the many Comescues Callen and his team had killed when they rescued their boss, that traitorous woman who had come to Romania posing as a member of his family.

So many things had already gone wrong trying to get to Callen and he had been in turn, angry, enraged and frustrated. First the sniper he hired to kill Sam had missed at the crash site, instead injuring Callen himself; then the two agents he sent men to follow were able to elude his men so he didn't find out where the office Callen worked at was. Even the bombing attempt hadn't caused as much mayhem as he had hoped it would; but this time, this time; he was determined to succeed. "Se spune răzbunare este un fel de mâncare care este cel mai bine rece. Nu știu despre asta, dar am de gând să -l facă să sufere pentru foarte mult timp înainte de final, l omor. El va fi cerșit mă să îl lase să moară înainte de a am terminat cu el."

When Mark arrived that afternoon, they began making plans for the assault on the house. When Mark mentioned that a woman had been with Callen, Stefan's eyes lit up. "Oh, acest lucru va fi atât de bun. Voi face să vedeți în timp ce eu și oamenii mei să se distreze cu femeia lui. O vom lua în orice mod posibil în timp ce el este obligat sa ma uit neputincios. Atunci voi o iau trecut în timp ce el stă acolo în imposibilitatea de a face ceva ca eu încet o omoare. Acesta nu va face pentru ceea ce a făcut pentru familia mea, dar va fi un început. Am de gând să se bucure de distrugerea cineva pe care o iubește la fel ca el a distrus familia mea. Apoi, o dată l-am făcut să sufere prin care, voi începe pe el. Și eu voi lua timpul meu. El va fi implorându-mă pentru moarte înainte de a mă terminat cu el."

He and Mark went over everything they knew so far and the plan they were putting together. Mark then went to the County offices to try and obtain the original blueprints of the house so they knew the layout. He had to bribe a clerk but he came back with the plans. While he and Mark continued planning the final assault, Stefan sent one of his other men to scope out the neighborhood and find out the best way to get into the house without being seen. He spent a week coming up with a plan before he felt confident enough to set a date for the final attempt at killing Callen.

During the entire time they were planning the assault, Stefan was hoping one of his men would be able to follow Callen back to where he worked, but they were unable to do so. If he hadn't known where Callen lived, he would have been very upset, but since he did, knowing where he worked wasn't as important anymore.

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The night of the assault was cold and clear. There was a crescent moon in the night sky which provided some light to see by but not enough to expose his team to too much risk of being seen. Mark had told Stefan that the woman in the house was alone at the moment, but he was sure Callen would be arriving before too long. He usually was no later arriving than an hour after the woman in all the days the team had watched their movements.

Stefan, along with the five men of his team moved silently through the night toward Callen's home. They could see lights on in one of the rooms as they were approaching. Taking this for a good sign, Stefan posted two men at the front of the house while the other two men accompanied him to the back. His plan was to enter the house as far away from the lights as possible. He wanted to be able to sneak up and capture the woman. Then all he had to do was wait for Callen to arrive to finally get his revenge. He was looking forward to making the woman and him suffer for as long as possible while sending videos to Callen's team. They would be helpless to do anything and if by chance, they came around, so much the better. He might get the chance to kill them all before he was through.

Reaching the back of the house, he saw he was in luck. There was a door into what looked like the kitchen. Motioning for his men to take up guard positions, he pulled out his picklock kit and went to work on the door. Stefan was sure the woman didn't have a clue about what was about to happen to her. Stefan licked his lips in anticipation when he heard the lock on the door disengage.

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AN: The translation of the Romanian:

"It's said revenge is a dish that is best served cold. I don't know about that, but I'm going to make him suffer for a very long time before I finally kill him. He's going to be begging me to let him die before I'm done with him." and

"Oh this is going to be so good. I'll make him watch while I and my men have fun with his woman. We'll take her in every way possible while he is forced to watch helplessly. Then I'll take her last while he sits there unable to do anything as I slowly kill her. It won't make up for what he did to my family, but it will be a start. I'm going to enjoy destroying someone he loves just like he destroyed my family. Then once I've made him suffer through that, I'll start on him. And I'll take my time. He will be begging me for death before I'm through with him."