I don't own NCIS: LA. Don't sue unless you want to pay for my kids to go to college.
Sarah is mine.
As always thanks for reading and please review.
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For Sunshine: Thanks for the friendship, being my soundboard, giving me your honest opinions about writing, the occasional virtual Gibbs' slap when I need to focus, and the one who gave me the idea back in October 2013 when we were in LA.
Love, Fern
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Guess Who's Coming to Dinner
(takes place after "Crimeleon" episode)
As he opened the door slowly and he walked into the house he could hear Sarah singing along with Carole King in the kitchen.
"Tonight you're mine completely. You give your love so sweetly. Tonight the light of love is in your eyes. But will you love me tomorrow."
The house was exactly the way he remembered it with some updates. Walking carefully over to the living room knowing that if he stepped in the wrong spot she would hear he saw the picture of her and her husband on the mantle slowly dancing without a care in the world on their wedding day. He sighed wishing that her parents were still alive to see after all these years that their daughter was finally happy.
He then walked over to the dining room he saw that her piano was covered with music scores, notes, her planner for school that was scribbled all over with notes. On top of the piano was a double 5x7 frame with a picture of Sarah when she was three years old covered with chicken pox, hugging him and Mike Franks, and all three of them giving goofy smiles. The adjoining picture was with her and Franks on the beach in Mexico six months before he was killed.
Sarah was the only one who knew how bad Mike's lung cancer was and didn't argue with him when he told her that he was not going to have any treatment for it. He refused because it wasn't worth being sick from chemo for a couple of extra months of life. He would rather enjoy his last days with his granddaughter on the beach. He didn't blame Mike for that, he would have done the same thing.
He took a chance and walked up the stairs, amazed that he could remember where not to step. He walked down the hallway and looked into the room where Sarah stayed. Hetty kept it as Sarah left it, covered with posters of bands and the teddy bear that he gave Sarah for her second birthday.
Walking down stairs he had thought about the walking out the front door and have her never know that he was there or facing her and telling her why he was here. 'It's now or never,' he thought.
He slowly opened the door into the kitchen and saw Sarah at the stove. The song on her Ipod changed to "Dear Prudence" by The Beatles.
He watched her getting dinner ready and on the phone as the door slowly shut behind him. Her hair was pulled into a makeshift bun, she wore sweats, and her favorite Chicago Bears t-shirt that had seen better days.
"You would not believe the day I had!" She said, with the bluetooth in her ear while she continued to cook not even noticing him.
"First, I get a call from Jenn telling me that the family has been infected by the stomach bug that is going around the kids school so she won't be back until Monday," she grabbed a wooden spoon and began to stir the meat in the pan.
"One of my students broke her ankle last night and they may have to have screws put in so who knows how long they're going to be out." She stirred the pasta in the pan, "DiNozzo called me today while I was at lunch. Gibbs was shot in the shoulder this morning at the diner that he goes to get coffee, he'll be fine, and has already checked himself out of the hospital against Doctors orders. I know, big surprise, right?"
She opened the refrigerator, grabbed a bottle of wine and placed on the counter, "anyway, I went to make dinner and I forgot to get the meat out to thaw this morning, the only pasta we have is bow tie, which I guess is better than nothing, the dishwasher is not working so we either have to see if Daniel can take a look at it or get a new one." She picked up the pan of pasta to stop it from boiling over, then moved it to the back burner.
She looked up at the ceiling and sighed, "all I want to do is eat dinner, drink a glass of wine and be alone with you."
She turned off the front burner of the stove, "okay, I'll see you in a couple of minutes, love you too," she pressed the end key on the bluetooth, took it out of her ear and placed it on the counter. She then opened the cabinet and took out a wine glass.
"Hello Sarah," he finally said.
She turned to see him in her kitchen, dropped the glass and screamed.
He stood there not even phased by her high pitched scream and then saw the flash of anger in her eyes.
"What the hell are you doing here?!" She said, wanting to strangle him.
"I was in town, I wanted to surprise you."
"You did a damn good job!" She said, trying to get her heart rate down to a normal level.
"Missed you, kiddo," he walked up and hugged her.
"I missed you too." She then looked at him, "you owe me a wine glass."
"So you're husband will be home soon?" He asked, opening the cabinet under the sink and got out the dustpan and brush.
"Callen has been on a trip the past couple of days, he should he here any minute," she told him.
"Can't wait to meet him."
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G walked in the house, took off his coat, and placed his keys on the entry way table, "Babe?"
"In the kitchen," he heard her say.
"That's only because Mom told you not to do that!" G heard Sarah say as he opened the door to the kitchen, he saw a man sitting at the table back facing them looking at pictures scattered all over the table.
"Well did you think I would really listen to her? I was six!" The man said, not bothering to turn around and picked up another picture.
Sarah got up, "Hey you," she hugged him, "are you okay?" She asked softly.
"Yeah, rough trip, we'll talk about it later. Who's this?"
She took a deep breath and took his hand, "Callen, I would like you to meet my uncle."
The man stood up, turned around, and smiled, "Owen Granger," he walked over to G and shook his hand firmly. "It's nice to finally meet you," he stressed, "Sarah has been telling me everything about you. I'm so sorry I missed the wedding."
G stood there trying his best not to react, "sorry you couldn't make it."
"Owen just told me that he'll be moving to California in a couple of weeks." Sarah said, happy.
G did his best not to glare at him, "Really?"
"Yes, it will also be nice to be near family again."
"When was the last time you saw each other?" G asked.
"It was 2009."
"Has it been that long?" She thought about it, "that's right, you were here for the second week of the performances. We had dinner with Hetty over at the pier."
"You know Hetty?" G asked, sitting down across from him.
"She was my sister's best friend, I heard you met her," Granger smiled, enjoying this.
"Yes, she had me jump through hoops to make sure I was good enough for her Goddaughter," G put his hand on Sarah's.
"Gibbs lit the hoops on fire when he met him," Sarah stood up to put her glass in the sink.
"I don't doubt that," Owen said.
The doorbell rang and G stood up, "I'll get it."
"No." She put her hand on his shoulder. "You stay here and get to know each other."
"Okay."
Both men watched her leave and the door swing shut. When it finally stopped moving they finally looked at each other.
"Welcome to the family." Owen smiled.
"Why are you here?" G asked, slowly.
"I'm here to see my niece and meet her husband." Owen told him seeing that G was clenching his jaw and knowing that he was making G on edge.
"You're her uncle?" G asked.
"You don't believe me?"
"Well, you haven't given me a good reason to believe you in the past couple of weeks."
"Sarah was three when this was taken." Owen handed G a picture of Mike Franks, Sarah and Granger together.
"That's how I know you, why didn't you tell me?"
"We make enough enemies in our line of work, if anyone found out they could use her to their advantage. Believe it or not, I'm here to tell Sarah that I am going to be taking over OSP and Hetty will report to me. I'm assuming you were going to tell her about what happened today?"
G nodded.
"Just remember, that my niece is perfectly capable of taking care of herself. I'm the last of her family and she's one of the last of mine, I will do anything to protect her."
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Sarah opened the door, "Hetty, what are you doing here?"
"We need to talk." She walked in.
Sarah shut the door, "glad you stopped by. Owen is in town and is having dinner with us," Sarah told her.
"Owen is here?" Hetty said, surprised.
"Just met G, they're in the kitchen now." She gestured to the door she had previously passed through.
Hetty sighed, "Bugger."
"What's going on?" Sarah asked.
"The men in your kitchen are lying to you, Sarah."
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Sarah opened the door to see them looking at an old photo album.
"So Mary worked for weeks to get this dress perfect for Easter and as she is getting Sarah dressed for church, she sees all these little spots on Sarah's legs and arms. Seems she got the chicken pox from a kid in her daycare class. Mary tried to take the dress off and Sarah raised hell so she let her wear the dress." Owen looked up to see her, "do you remember that?" He asked her.
She walked up to both of them, "no, but I remember the picture being taken of you and Franks with me."
"Are you okay Babe?" G asked.
She nodded, "Yeah."
The door opened wide and Hetty walked into the kitchen, "Gentlemen."
Both men stood up, "Hetty, this is a surprise."
"Hetty wanted to make sure I knew what has been going on in the lives of the secret squirrels." Sarah looked at Owen. "You've been in town for about three weeks," Then looked at G, "And you know him."
"Now Sarah," Owen said.
She looked back at Owen, "I would like to speak to you alone. Now."
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"What did you do to piss off my husband?" Sarah asked, closing the door to the garage.
"I might have given him and the team a test to see them in action," he smiled.
"I'm surprised you're alive," she said.
"Hetty is too." He took her left hand and looked at the ring. "Are you sure about this?" He asked her now serious.
She chuckled, "Too late to ask me that now, Owen."
"Take it from me I know how hard it is to keep secrets from the one you love."
She sighed, "We can't help who we fall in love with, Owen. You of all people know that. Tell me the truth, why are you here?"
"I'm here to tell you that I have accepted the job as Assistant Director of the West Coast and will be at the Los Angeles office now. Hetty's team is one of the best in NCIS, but they have this bad habit of bending the rules too much for Director Vance's liking and I'm here to stop it."
"I married one of those agents who bend the rules."
"What her agents do with their personal lives is none of my business," he paused, "But, as your uncle, it scares the crap out of me that of all the people you fall in love with it's-"
"Someone that Hetty trained me to protect, when I stayed at her house after my father died!" Sarah said, angry.
Sarah saw his reaction of surprise and then change to hurt and she knew that Hetty had kept in him in the dark once again when it came to her.
"Hetty didn't tell you that was the reason why she was training me."
"No, she told me that when she caught you sneaking out of the house without her knowing, you reminded her of your mother," he told her quietly.
"She did it for that too." Her fingers played with the ring on her left hand. "I wonder what would've happened if my Mom went to the interview for the CIA with Hetty instead of marrying Dad."
He thought about it, remembering when his sister Mary, came home two nights before she was supposed to leave with Hetty to go to DC for the interview. She told their parents that instead of going to the interview for the CIA, which was what she had always wanted to do, she was was going to get married to a man she had known for less than two weeks. "She would have done both, love beat out being an agent in her case."
"Do you regret doing both?" Sarah asked, already knowing knowing the answer.
He thought about it, "No."
"I don't either," Sarah told him.
"The Comescu's focus will be on you," Owen stressed to her.
"I can protect myself," Sarah said, confident.
"This isn't some former ELE wacko finding you over ten years later out for revenge Sarah Jane! This family killed his mother in front of him and would have killed him and his sister too. They will find the person that he cares about the most, which is now you, and do God knows what to you. Then, they will kill you before they kill him. No one is safe from them." He sees that she's not going to argue with him anymore.
"There is something else you should know," he told her hesitantly knowing that she was not going to take the news well.
"Six months ago G and Sam took down a Moroccan arms dealer, named Zijid DeGramont. The only one who survived from his group, was a driver who G shot in the jaw and was sent to jail. We found that the this driver was really DeGramont, if that is really his name, and he has escaped jail."
"And he's after G?"
"Yes."
She sighed, "Well, give me his picture and his information and I'll keep an eye out for him."
"That's the problem, we only have a picture of him with bandages on his face."
"So what is the plan then?" Sarah asked.
"Hetty wants you to go on long vacation."
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"Have you told her what happened today?" Hetty asked G.
"I was going to, until her uncle arrived." G looked at her frustrated.
"I asked him to talk to you about their relationship, but he felt it would better if no one knew." Hetty told him her tone almost apologetic.
"You've known him since he was eight?" G asked, looking at a picture of Sarah's mother and Granger together.
"Yes."
"What was he like as a kid?" G asked.
She thought about it, "Shorter… with more hair."
The door opened and Sarah and Granger walk into the kitchen. "Hetty, did you come here to tell me about Owen being Assistant Director, The Chameleon, or you sending me away?" Sarah asked.
"Sending her away?" Callen asked, surprised that Hetty didn't mention this to him.
"At least until he is caught," Hetty said and glared at Granger for telling her without Hetty and G there.
"No."
"We all know enough people who could help you, you'll be protected." Owen assured her.
"I'm not going!"
"It's too dangerous, Sarah. I'm not going to have you out where you can be put at risk! This man is a chameleon and has backstopping for years. He has threatened your husband and there is a very good chance that he knows about you," Hetty argued.
"If he knows about me, then he knows where I work. If you send me away, he can still get to me. Through my students or through you. Running is pointless."
"She's right," Owen said, which stunned both of them. "We can't risk the school getting caught up in this."
Hetty closed her eyes and tried to remain calm. "All we have is a blurred picture, and voice recordings! He could come in-"
"How many voice recordings?" Sarah asked.
"Four including the conversation with G," Owen told her.
"Which language are they in?"
"English with French or Russian accents," G told her. "When he talked to me it was a French accent."
"Send them to me. I listen to voices every day." She looked at Hetty, "Hetty, you taught me not to run, please don't make me go."
"I really wish you would reconsider," Hetty sighed and then walked up to Sarah, "I don't like it, but I'll agree to this."
"Thank you. Now, there is the matter about you two getting along. If you are both at work you can go ahead and argue and be at each others throats. But if I'm around you will both be civil to each other. I don't care if you both talk about the weather the entire time. It's bad enough I still have you and Gibbs bickering at each other, I don't need you and my husband to be the same way."
Both men looked at each other, "I think we can do that." Granger told her.
"Good, now let's have dinner."
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