Hope everyone had a great holiday season! Busy but wonderful times with my family. Happy 2014 everyone!

Callen paced back and forth in the large, mostly empty space of his living room. He felt like hitting something, punching something or better yet shooting something. Since gunfire would bring unwanted attention from the cops, and he didn't really want to learn to patch a hole in the wall, he continued pacing. His hands flexed, open - closed - open - closed. Callen stopped at the far end in front of the fireplace mantle. With trembling fingers he opened the small cigar box that held the only mementos from his childhood, the only clues he had collected about his true identity.

He took out the tin soldier first and set it aside on the mantle. After digging through a few more things, he pulled out a picture. It was of his mother, his sister and himself when he was a young boy. It had been taken on the same beach where his mother had later been killed. They looked so happy in the photo, almost like a normal family. He closed his eyes and pictured them from that day long ago: his mother sitting in a beach chair, her dark hair waving in the breeze. She was laughing and smiling at her children, who were playing near her. He could see his own reflection in her sunglasses as he proudly showed her his sandcastle creation. His sister merrily danced off to the side, imitating a butterfly that had visited their beach scene. He could still hear her laugh, feel the warm sunshine on his skin, smell the ocean air.

The memories felt so much more real this time than in the past, and Callen sunk to the floor grasping the picture. Tears fell down his cheeks. It wasn't fair, he thought. His mother had been taken from him way too early, but he still could have had a chance at a good life with his father and sister. Why didn't that happen? Wasn't he good enough? Did he do something wrong? All those years he spent in foster homes, moving from one to another, no one seemingly wanting him. Why didn't his own father want him? All those questions of his youth came rushing back into his consciousness as a torrent of fresh tears poured down his face.

Callen's thoughts returned to the present. Was he still unwanted? Was there a reason that his father had never said anything? He now knew that they had known each other for years, going way back to Callen's days with the CIA before he came to NCIS. There were so many times Arkady could have said, "Hey Callen, I'm your dad." It didn't make sense. How could a man see his son as often as they saw each other and never mention that important fact?

He took a deep breath to slow the sobbing and compose himself. Callen stood up from the floor and replaced all the pictures and the tin soldier in the cigar box. There was so much about this situation that confused him. A long-absent father suddenly appeared due to a criminal case he was assigned to work on. A man who had been a long-time friend and informant turned out to be that father. The one woman he trusted more than anyone in his life, except Sam, held the truth from him for so long – even after he blatantly asked her for the answers.

Hetty. At the thought of her Callen's sadness quickly went away and was replaced by his earlier anger. Her voice still echoed in his head from when she told him the news. "Mr. Callen, the man you know as Arkady Kolcheck is your biological father."

Callen walked over to the window and looked out. How could she have kept this from him for so long? She knew. That's what hurt the most. He respected her and thought of her as a mentor. She knew the truth the whole time and never once told him. She knew and kept it from him deliberately. He slammed his hand against the wall next to the window. She lied to him. She said she didn't know who his father was. She said she didn't have any answers. Why would Hetty lie for this man, his supposed father? It didn't any make sense but it pissed him off - a lot.

He turned from the window and started pacing again. Back and forth and back and forth. His hands found their earlier rhythm, too – open, closed, open, closed. Both Arkady and Hetty had kept the truth from him for too long. He had gotten one answer; he knew who his father was. But he deserved all the answers. He wanted the how, where, when, what, and especially the why. Callen was a man with a dead mother and sister, a suddenly found father, no first name, and no context to put any of it in.

A loud vibrating accompanied by a long tone signaled an incoming phone call. He pulled out his phone and looked at the Caller ID. Sam. Of course his partner and friend would be calling to check in on him. He hit the ignore button and stuffed the phone back in his pocket. He didn't want to talk. Actually, he did, but not to Sam. Right now he wanted to get everything out in the open about his family and himself. He wanted to talk, yell, shout, whatever, with the two people who could fill in all the missing pieces of his life.

This story was going to get completed today. He splashed some cold water on his face at the kitchen sink, dried off, and grabbed his keys. It was time to get the answers – all the answers. G. Callen was not going to wait any longer.

"He's not answering his phone," Sam reported as he set his own on the desk. "I'm worried about him."

The rest of the team had assembled together in the bullpen after learning the news about Arkady and Callen from Nell. No one had really known what to say or do, so Sam had tried calling his partner.

"I'm sure he needs time to process everything," Kensi said. "It's got to be a shock to him."

"Has anyone seen Hetty? She would know what to do with Callen." Jen didn't know Callen nearly as well as the others on the team, but she had noticed a special bond between her team leader and the operations manager.

"Hetty left right after I gave her the report with the DNA match. She told me to let you all know and then took off," Nell explained. "She was in quite a hurry to get out of here."

Sam frowned. "Is it just me, or does it seem like Hetty knows more about this situation than she's let on?" he asked.

"C'mon Sam. This is Hetty we're talking about. Of course she knows more." Deeks shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know what - I mean wow. I feel for the guy, you know? Finding out your dad is actually around after all these years and it's someone you know? That would blow my mind." He ran his fingers through his hair, not knowing what else to do.

It was quiet as each person thought about how they would react in a similar situation. After a few moments, Kensi spoke.

"I don't know about you guys, but I think we should go home and get some rest. I'm guessing Callen isn't going to take a call from any of us just yet. He'll need us more in the next few days as this really sinks in for him. We haven't gotten any new leads on the Czars case, either, so I say let's break for the day."

They all reluctantly agreed, trying to think of a reason to stay that might help Callen and coming up empty. The team members packed up their things to head home. Eric grabbed Nell's hand as they walked out, reassuring her it would all work out somehow. Jen and Sam walked out together, promising to keep in touch if either of them heard from Callen.

Deeks slung his bag over his shoulder and walked over to Kensi's chair. He held out a hand and helped her up.

"Thanks. It's getting harder and harder to get up these days," she half-joked. "I hope this child comes sooner than later."

She lifted her bag up and slid some papers inside. As she was about to put it over her own shoulder, Deeks grabbed it to carry for her.

"Here, let me take that. You don't need to carry anything else but that little boy," he said fondly as he placed his free hand on her rather large belly.

She smiled at him, but it didn't reach her eyes. "Yeah."

Deeks wrapped his free arm around her shoulders as they began walking to her car. He noticed she was quiet and her thoughts seemed to be elsewhere.

"You ok Kens?"

"Hmm? Oh, um yeah, I guess. I'm fine."

"Try again, princess. What's wrong? Is it this stuff with Callen?" Deeks inquired.

Kensi stopped and turned to look at Deeks. He knew her so well, and wouldn't take "I'm fine" as a final answer.

"I feel bad for him, you know? I mean not knowing who his dad was for so many years was hard enough, and now this. Finding out about Arkady, and finding out because of a blood match in a case – that's rough. Now he has to deal with the fallout of what this means and what he wants to do with the information." Kensi took a deep breath.

Deeks looked at her. "And?" He knew by the look on her face that there was more.

"And it made me think about my dad more. I know it's different circumstances, but it made me think what if? What if all this time I thought my dad had been killed, but he was really alive and now all these years later he resurfaces? How would I react? It's all I've wished for all these years – to have my dad back – but if it happened like it did for Callen, would it really be what I wanted all along?" Kensi wiped away a tear.

"I can't even imagine what that would be like. I was actually relieved to hear the news of my father's death. I lived in fear of him resurfacing, even while he was in prison." Deeks stared down at the floor, unsure of what else to say. He looked up when he felt Kensi's hand against his chest.

"Can you take me home and stay with me?" She looked at him with those deep brown and hazel eyes that he could not resist. "I need your arms around me tonight."

He smiled and nodded as he replaced his arm around her shoulders. "There's nowhere else I want to be." Kensi leaned into him as he gently kissed her temple, and they finished their walk to the car.