No one was in the bullpen when Callen got into work, so he went searching and found both Kensi and Katy in the range. He watched from the door and noticed Katy wasn't wearing the boot. She wore a pair of dark blue jeans and a white t-shirt. He was surprised by how good of a shot she was, but considering Hetty trained her and time as a Marine he really wasn't. When they had set their weapons down, taken off their protective glasses and removed their hearing protection, he walked in. Callen watched the targets as the system automatically brought them forward. Neither noticed he was there until Katy turned to look at Kensi.
"Good morning." She smiled at him, and then turned to Kensi. "Ha, you owe me lunch."
Callen was pleased to see Katy not shy or reserved, however thought it could be because her weapon was inches away. He looked from Katy's target to Kensi's. "Yeah, I'd say she beat you."
"Oh well, lunch it is." Kensi smiled and high-fived Katy.
The women walked into the armory and started disassembling their weapons to clean them. Callen loaded a couple of magazines and went in the range. Katy was distracted, watching Callen more than she cleaned the barrel of her pistol. Kensi noticed and smiled faintly. Once his magazines were spent, he too cleaned his weapon. They chatted until Sam and Deeks came in and took their turn on the range. Katy inspected all of the pieces of her pistol before putting it back together. Callen asked to see it and she handed it over to him. It was so clean, he laughed as he asked her if she wanted to clean his too. She rolled her eyes, smiled and told him no.
She waited for Kensi to finish before going back out to the bullpen. A few minutes later, Callen followed and forty-five minutes after that Sam and Deeks joined them. Nell had asked Katy up to Ops to go over some of the information on her hard drive. Katy remembered the email account where she was having all of Vitaliy's emails sent and asked Nell if she could use the tablet to pull them up. Nell was more than happy to hand it over. When the address appeared on the screen, she recognized it immediately; it was one that she had set up for Hetty a year ago. The password had obviously been changed since Nell was no longer able to access it. Hetty joined them in Ops and looked at Nell, briefly smiling.
One by one, Katy opened the emails and copied them to the tablet for Nell and Eric to look over and add to everything else. She was fine until she got to the last email. It was sent out that morning to multiple recipients and explained that one of his assistants had gone missing. It was unknown how much information she had about the business and the various dealing they all had with him. He announced that there was a hefty price on her head for anyone who could find her and return her to Vitaliy. She knew exactly what he would do to her if he ever found her.
Katy stood there shaking her head. She really hadn't expected any different from Vitaliy. Everyone stared at her waiting for a response, but she shrugged it off. She gave Nell the login information for the account and told her to check it as frequently as she needed or wanted. Hetty looked concerned.
"I'm fine Hetty." She told her as she walked past her to head back downstairs.
The others noticed her agitation when she walked back into the bullpen. Kensi was the first to ask her if she was okay. Katy just sighed and shook her head while she got a cup of coffee. Only after she chugged half of the piping hot liquid did she speak.
"Vitaliy's put a price on my head. He didn't say how much, but he sent out a mass email to everyone he's done business with over the last six months." She told them matter-of-factly.
"Oh my God, are you worried?" Kensi asked. "I mean we're here to protect you."
"I'll be fine. I'm more concerned about one of you getting hurt because of me. I think I might disappear for a while. I've got a few places I can go." She said.
"I would rather you didn't stay by yourself this weekend. While Kensi's at her mother's I want you with one of the other agents." Hetty ordered.
"I will be fine, Hetty. Callen said he'd check on me a few times over the weekend." She told her.
Hetty looked to Callen, he nodded. "If anything happens, it's your head." She told him.
"She'll be fine, I promise." Callen said. "Or you could just stay with me"
"No, I'll stay at Kensi's." She said adamantly.
After going over more of the information collected with Nell, Katy was more than ready to go home when Hetty released them. She watched as everyone packed up their stuff and chatted about their plans for the night. Katy watched Callen, he seemed a little dejected that she wasn't staying with him. He seemed genuine and she had done her own research on him. In other words, she went through Hetty's files when no one was looking, well that was until Hetty caught her. Since she had a photographic memory and could speed read, it made scanning the pages easy. She saw him differently and considered giving him a chance. But the moment he said something or did something it was done.
Kensi and Deeks headed out of the bullpen. "Hey Kensi I'll be right there." She called after them.
Sam and Callen were talking before Sam noticed she was there. "You okay Katy?" he asked.
"Yeah, I just wanted to talk to Callen about this weekend." She said seeing Callen's mood lighten immediately when she said it.
"Ah, alright, I meant what I said about you guys coming down to my place this weekend. Michelle's looking forward to meeting you, wants to talk to you about some stuff." He told her.
"We'll see." She said as he walked away.
"Are you doing okay?" Callen asked her as he swung the strap of his messenger bag over his shoulder.
Katy smiled. "Yeah, I'm hanging in there. I'm sorry about not wanting to stay at your place this weekend. I'd be more comfortable at Kensi's." She told him.
Callen laughed. "Ok, I will stay with you at Kensi's. Do you watch any sports?"
"I don't know about that either. I'm a big football fan, love college basketball as long as Duke, UNC or CAL is playing. Not big on NBA. I can handle a hockey game as long as there are some good fights. Baseball is only fun unless you're actually at the game and can people watch. I've never really seen a soccer game. Oh and I'll watch a NASCAR race as long as you don't mind me falling asleep in the middle of it." She laughed.
He was nodding his head as they walked out of the mission. Hetty was standing outside of Ops watching the exchange. She smiled knowing they'd work well together if the need arose. Katy only needed to brush up on a few of her skills, but knew the team would help her along.
"You won't even know I'm there." He asked.
"I doubt that." She smiled shyly.
"Does Hetty know you broke into her files?" He asked.
"Yeah, she caught me. How'd you know?" she asked.
"I saw you. You were pretty slick about it, had I know it was my file you were reading I would've joined you." He laughed.
"You don't know what's in your own personnel file? Well, if you're a good boy, I might tell you some time." She smiled, walking backwards, then turned and walked to Kensi and Deeks.
Callen watched her walk away. Did she really just flirt with him or was it his imagination? He looked back in the mission window and saw Hetty watching them. Hetty was up to something, he just didn't know what. Hetty walked down the stairs and sat at her desk. She could hear Nell and Eric talking amongst themselves as they walked out of Ops. Nell say her and told Eric to meet her outside.
"Hetty, the email address that Katy was using?" Nell started.
"Yes, you made it for me a year ago." Hetty said.
"When are you going to tell us more about her?" She asked hesitantly.
Hetty sighed. "Katy has been in the employ of NCIS for over two years now. She was asked to not only investigate Vitaliy Kirillovsky, but also her editor John McCormick. Intel has told us that they are possibly working together on some of the arms deals. McCormick will publish a code for Kirillovsky, giving a specific location and time of a meeting. Granger wanted to keep her out of the office as much as possible. Please don't tell the others just yet. I want to see how this all plays out."
Nell smiled, "Wow, and the putting the information of the cat's microchip, Eric did that, didn't he?"
"Yes, unbeknownst to him." Hetty smiled and nodded. "Have a good evening Ms. Jones."
"Goodnight Hetty." Nell said, waved and walked out the door.
Kensi and Katy stopped at one of the local electronics stores so she could pick up a new IPod. She always slept better when she listened to music. It drowned out the noise in her head and kept the nightmares at bay. Once she'd made her selection, Katy started looking at cameras, being that she lost everything in the fire; she would eventually have to start replacing it. When the police report came back from the fire at her apartment, she could file a claim with her insurance company and get reimbursed for some of her belongings, but not all.
A new camera was a must, though. When she wasn't stuck under Vitaliy's thumb, she was out taking pictures. Fortunately, all of her negatives and memory cards were in the lockbox, so if she wanted to make copies of the photos that adorned her walls, she could. She found a model that was one step up from her old camera and also two hundred dollars more. If she decided to stay on with Hetty permanently, she'd need it and it would pay for itself quickly.
"Wow, that's a nice camera." Kensi said as she walked up to her.
"It is, isn't it? It's a step above what I had before." She said smiling.
"You had something like that for yourself? Damn, Hetty makes us check ours out. I think that's even better than the one she issues us." Kensi added.
"I'll show you some of my photos when we get home. I really want to get it, but it will deplete my cash on-hand." Katy contemplated.
"You had renters insurance, didn't you?" Kensi asked looking at the price of the camera. "Holy crap fifteen hundred dollars, that's an expensive camera."
"Yeah, I know. I think I've still got about five thousand right now." She said.
"Why do you have that much cash on your person?" Kensi whispered.
Katy smiled and thought about how to lie to her. "It's for work." There, she thought, no lie.
"Then get it." Kensi suggested.
"I'll come back later; maybe Callen can bring me out this weekend to get it." Katy said.
Friday morning started with the usual come in, put their stuff down, chat for a while. Nell walked down into the bullpen and smiled at Katy and she knew in that instant that Nell knew. Immediately, she was headed to Hetty's desk.
"Why is Nell looking at me like she knows some deep, dark secret about me?" she asked.
"Sit down, Nell recognized the email address. When she asked about it, I told her."Hetty said
"I thought we weren't going to make that public quite yet?" She said, leaning in.
"You're in the office now. The only thing you don't have is your own desk. Besides, as soon as Granger comes in the office the cat will be out of the bag." She said.
"Damn it. I wasn't ready to come clean on it. When are you going to tell the others?" she asked.
"I'll leave that to you." Hetty said.
"Am I being permanently assigned to this office?" Katy asked, hopeful.
"I believe that's what Director Vance had in mind." Hetty told her pulling a file from her desk. "These are your formal papers."
Katy looked them over. "Am I being assigned to Callen's team of will I continue to work on my own?"
"We'll cross that bridge once we get there. You need to be cleared for field work before we can place you with a team. I suggest telling them soon." Hetty said.
Katy nodded, got up and walked away. She walked over to the lockbox and put in her code. Callen watched as she went through its contents. Katy debated on just telling them all now or waiting for a better time. Quickly, she counted the cash. She still had close to twenty thousand dollars, more than enough to get the camera and then some. Katy could feel Callen watching her and quickly closed the lockbox and smiled at him.
"Everything okay?" he asked.
"Yeah, fine why?" she asked.
He shook his head, "No reason, just making sure."
Callen thought back to a previous conversation he'd had with Hetty. She'd told him to protect her like she was one of the team. That one day she may become a team member. He smirked and went to talk to Hetty. She saw him coming and knew the look on his face all too well.
"She already works for NCIS, doesn't she?" he asked.
"Mr. Callen, it's not my place to confirm or deny that. You need to speak to Ms. Levin on that matter?" Hetty asked
"I saw the way Nell looked at her this morning. Nell knows everything around here. I should just go ask her." He said.
"When Katy's ready to tell the team, she will. Don't pressure her. What are you planning for the two of you this weekend?" she asked.
"Sam has asked us down to his house on Saturday. Michelle would like to formally introduce herself to her as Michelle, not Quinn." He told her leaning against one of the pillars.
Hetty nodded. "I know Katy enjoys staying with Kensi, but it's only a one-bedroom apartment and pets aren't allowed. The last thing we need is two homeless agents. Do you think you could possibly talk to Katy about finding an apartment of her own?"
Callen caught her slip and smiled. "I'll talk to her about it this weekend."
"Alright, thank you." Hetty said as he walked away.
He was right, she is an agent, but for how long. Callen thought about talking to Nell, but decided to wait for Katy to tell him. Katy was sitting at his desk talking to Kensi when he walked back over to the bullpen. She started to get up, but he stopped her and sat on the desk listening. They were talking about a camera Katy apparently wanted to purchase. Then Kensi mentioned some pictures Katy had shown her the previous night.
"I loved the sunset picture; can you make me a copy of that one?" Kensi asked. "Oh and the one in the mountains looking out over the valley, I like that one too."
Katy went to the lockbox and pulled a metal wallet-looking case out and asked Kensi if she could use her laptop. She pushed the laptop towards her; Katy inserted one of the memory cards into the side and opened the file. Callen was floored.
"You took these?" he asked.
Katy smiled, "Yeah I did. This is what I do when I'm not working. I'm dying for a road trip up the coast. What about next weekend, Kensi do you want to?"
"How far up the coast are we going to go?" she asked.
"I don't know, we can just point the car and drive. I know it takes about eight hours to drive to San Francisco." She said.
"We'll see where we are in the case, but yeah, I'd love too." Kensi said.
Callen pulled the laptop towards him and started going through the pictures. They were beautiful, landscapes and pictures of animals. "We'll go get this camera tonight." He told her.
Katy smiled widely, "Really, you don't mind?"
"No not at all, as long as you show me the rest of your pictures. These are really good. I might want to have a few copies of some myself." He smiled down at her.
Katy smiled again, "Thank you."
The rest of the afternoon passed quickly; there was more discussion about new emails, responses to Vitaliy's mass email, new information about meetings with prospective buyers and several attempts by David McCormick to get in contact with Katy. She was beginning to think she was going to have to fake her death to get everyone off her back. Katy decided it was time to gradually change her appearance and asked Callen if he minded stopping by a drug store before going to his house.
With the hard drive out of the lockbox, it was a little lighter. Callen carried it out to the car and put it in the trunk. She opened it and took out two thousand dollars, putting it in her wallet while Callen started the Jag. She got in and put her seat belt on. Callen pulled out onto the street and hit the gas.
"Where to first, Kensi's?" he asked.
"Can we get the camera first?" she asked.
Callen laughed, "Of course. So, Hetty mentioned to me that Kensi's not allowed to have pets at her apartment and asked that I help you find an apartment, so we don't have two homeless agents."
Katy shot him a look, damn he knew too. "Oh, I'll talk to Kensi to see if she was serious about getting a place together."
They pulled into the shopping center and parked. When they walked into the store, Katy almost ran to the camera department. Callen loved the look on her face as she carried the camera close to her chest, smiling widely. She picked up an extra lens, camera bag and batteries. The total came to nineteen hundred dollars, until she remembered she needed a memory card. It only added another seventy-five dollars to the total. Katy opened the camera as soon as they got back in the car. She was like a kid at Christmas. Had it not been dark by the time they were done going to the drug store, getting dinner, and driving back to Kensi's, Callen would have taken her out to take some pictures.
After they ate dinner, Katy disappeared into the bathroom for about an hour. When she emerged, she had blonde hair. Callen thought it was a more natural look since she had blue eyes. It suited her, he liked it.
"So, what do you think?" she asked him.
Callen smiled widely, "It looks more natural, compared to the brown. Which is your natural color?"
"I don't even know anymore, I've had to change it so many times, but I was blonde growing up." She said.
"I really like it. You and Kensi couldn't pass for sisters anymore." He laughed.
"We didn't look that much alike." She said looking at her reflection in the window. "Kensi's a lot prettier than I am."
"You're both beautiful women." He told her.
Katy's body language changed. She stiffly walked back to the room and sat on the bed. Callie was on the bed next to her immediately. Callen knocked on the open door before he walked in. She barely looked at him, just petted the cat.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you." He said.
"You didn't, it's just that every time a man tells me how attractive I am, I'm typically about to be drugged or beaten and raped. Even if it's meant as a compliment, that's not how I take it anymore." She told him with tears in her eyes.
"Katy, I didn't mean anything by it. I'd never hurt you." He told her standing against the wall.
"I know you wouldn't, but it's hard getting past stuff like that, you know?" she asked.
"I know, we went through a lot in our childhoods." He smiled.
Katy smiled, "You can say that again."
"Do you want to share any of it with me?" he asked walking to the bed.
"Do I really have to right now? I'd really rather not." She said.
"When you're ready, I'm here." He smiled and stood to walk out of the room.
"I think I'm going to try to get some sleep." She said looking at the digital clock on the nightstand, it was only eight.
"Oh, okay." Callen said disappointed and walked out of the room. "Do you want me to leave the door open?"
"Sure." She said as she reached over to the nightstand to turn off the lamp, and then pulled the covers to her chin. The lights in the living room went out, the front door opened and closed again.
Katy woke with a start, disoriented. She looked around the darkened room and saw his shadow in the corner. Paralyzed with fear and eyes wide, her heart was racing. He stepped forward, his eyes, dark grey and haunting. He'd found her, how? She could feel the vibrations on the wood floor with each step he took. Oh my God, she thought. He balled his fists, within a foot of the bed; he brought his hand up above his head and brought it back down smashing it into her abdomen. Again, he raised his fist and plowed it into her chest. Pain shot through her body as her ribs cracked. He took a step closer and pulled the covers off of her, then slapped her across the face. Katy could feel her lip split. He grabbed her shirt and ripped it, exposing her bare flesh and tore her pajama bottoms off. Laying there naked, she tried to cover herself and roll on her side.
He grabbed her by the hair and pulled her off the bed; once she was on the ground he kicked her in the side. She tried to scream, but nothing came out. He kicked her again, and again. Then nothing, Katy opened her eyes and saw him standing over her. She heard his zipper and belt buckle clinking. She tried to scream again and finally heard herself. Like she was being pulled out of the water, she woke and was in Callen's arms.
"It's okay, it was just a dream. He's not here." Callen said rocking her back and forth.
She cried into his chest while he smoothed her hair out of her face. Katy was shaking uncontrollably. Callen couldn't imagine what she'd dreamt about, but knew by her reaction it was horrific. When she'd finally calmed a little, she clung to him.
"Katy, it's okay, you're fine." He whispered in her ear.
"Just don't let go, please." She sobbed holding him tighter.
"Come on, lay back down." He told her trying to get her to relax.
"God, it was so real." She said still breathing hard.
Callen took her face and made her look at him. "It wasn't though and you're fine. Come on, lay down. I'll stay with you."
Katy moved over to the middle of the bed and lay down with Callen behind her. His arms wrapped so tight around her made her feel so safe. Without so much as a word between them, Callen stayed with her the rest of the night. When Katy woke the next morning, she was still in his arms. It was a huge sigh of relief. Katy could feel his even, steady breathing and just laid there. He was warm, so warm. She thought back to her dream and shuttered. Callen moved one of his legs and pulled her closer.
"Are you okay?" he asked.
"Yes. I was just thinking about the dream." She told him.
Callen let go and brushed her hair out of his face. He needed to shave, he thought as he pulled a few strands from his whiskers. "Don't think about it, just let it go." He told her placing his arm around her again.
"I'm trying not to, but it was so damned real. I felt it every time he hit or kicked me." She said starting to cry again.
Callen buried his face in her neck and inhaled deeply. "Katy, it was just a dream. You're safe. He's never going to find you. I promise." He whispered. "I'll protect you; I'll never let anything happen to you again."
"God, I wish I could believe that. Someday, he'll find me again and if it's not him it will be someone else. There's always someone else. I've made a lot of enemies in my life. Especially over the last couple years." She told him.
"Neither Hetty or I will ever let anyone hurt you again. Whether you're a part of our team or not, none of us will let you get hurt." He said, subtly telling her that he knew.
Katy's breath caught in her throat. "When did you figure it out?"
"Lucky guess. Hetty told me to protect you as if you were a part of the team because one day you might be." He smiled into her hair.
"Finally someone other than Hetty, Nell and myself knows." She laughed.
"I figured Nell knew." He added.
"Of course, Nell knows everything. I'm honestly surprised Eric hasn't figured it out yet since he's the one that wrote the software to put the information from the hard drive on the cat's microchip." She said, rubbing his arm softly.
"You should've heard Eric's comment when you said you used the best hackers. He said it was doubtful, under his breath. If he only knew you were paying him a back-handed compliment." He chuckled.
"I'm sure he'll kick himself for that later on when he finds out." Katy laughed and tried to roll over, but Callen's hold was too tight.
He loosened his grip, Katy rolled onto her back, with Callen's hand on her stomach. Suddenly she pushed away from him and out of the bed. Katy gave him one last look before she grabbed some clothes, her towel and went to the bathroom.
He could hear her sobbing in the shower and wished he knew what was wrong.
When Katy walked back into the room he was gone. Callie was lying in the spot where he'd been, she laid down next to her and felt the sheets were still warm. The bathroom door closed down the hall and the shower started. Katy rolled on her back and stared at the ceiling the only thing she could think about was the dream and Callen pulling her back to reality. She was sure he had left for the night.
Callen showered and shaved. When he was done, he walked back to Katy room and panicked when she was gone. He ran through the apartment calling for her and stopped at the back door. Callen was relieved to find Callie sitting on the back step; she meowed when he opened the door. Katy was leaning on the back fence smoking. When she saw him, she dropped the cigarette and stomped it out.
"You scared me, I thought you'd left." He said as he walked across the yard to her.
Katy looked around the yard, avoiding making eye contact. "Kensi's got a pretty nice yard back here; she could do a lot with it."
Callen looked around too, "She's not much of a gardener. Actually, she's a serial plant killer." He laughed.
Katy laughed and pushed herself off the fence. "Seriously, she kills plants?"
"A few months ago she came in to work complaining because the nursery banned her. She even killed a cactus. How do you kill a cactus?" He asked with a smile.
"She must have over watered it." Katy said walking past him towards the house. Callie was swatting at a long blade of grass, when she caught it, she chewed at it. "We're going to want to leave her outside for a while. That's grass is going to make her throw up."
"Okay, Callie stay out here for a while." He said as he passed her and followed Katy into the kitchen. "Katy are you okay?"
"I'm fine." She said turning to him, offering a faint smile. "I need coffee, do you want some?"
"I've got it. Go sit down." He told her watching her walk towards the couch. "How's your foot feeling? I noticed you took off the soft cast."
"It's okay. It was itching too bad, so I cut it off." She told him knowing he was going to lecture her on it, but he didn't.
Once he'd started the coffee, he joined her on the couch and just looked at her. She was flipping through a magazine Kensi had on the coffee table. Katy truly was beautiful with her high cheekbones and slanted, almond shaped eyes. The way the morning sunlight filtered through the window behind her gave her an almost angelic glow. He admired the long feminine line of her jawbone and how it trailed to her pointed chin. Her ears were small and delicate with soft puffed earlobes. Katy had a several holes for earrings, but wore none. With her hair pulled into a ponytail, her neck was exposed and Callen saw small scars.
Katy could feel Callen looking at her, the hair on the back of her neck stood on end. She brought her hand up and placed it on her neck, rubbing lightly. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw him watching her. Finally, when she couldn't stand it anymore, she turned to face him.
"What?" she asked.
"Sorry." He said softly and got up to make two cups of coffee. "How do you take your coffee?"
"Cream and sugar, please." She said watching him. Katy sat the magazine on the coffee table and walked to the kitchen, watching him make the coffee. "How did you get back into the apartment last night? I heard you leave."
"No, you heard me open and close the door. I slept on the couch." He said pointing to the living room.
Callen's phone rang, it was Sam. "Hey Sam." He said.
"Hey G, are you and Katy going to make it down today?" he asked.
Callen looked towards Katy. "I don't know. I'll have to talk to Katy about it."
"Everything okay?" he asked hearing it in his voice.
"She had a nightmare last night." He told Sam.
"What happened?" Sam asked having a good idea of what happened next.
Callen walked to the front door and stepped out. "She thought I left, but I was on the couch."
Sam was silent for a moment. "And... did she get upset that you were there?"
"No, but I stayed with her in Kensi's bed." He told him.
"You what, nothing happened though, right?" Sam asked.
"No nothing happened, besides Hetty's got rules against that." Callen said.
"G, those rules only apply to fellow agents." Sam said then thought about what he'd said. "She is, isn't she? Why didn't we catch it sooner? How long have you known?"
"It was something Hetty said a few days ago, it just clicked yesterday afternoon." Callen said in a sullen tone.
"Just don't kiss her or anything?" Sam joked.
"It's not like that, Sam." Callen assured him. "I was just trying to comfort her."
"That's how it starts. Now that we know she's one of us, Michelle will have ample opportunities to meet her if you don't make it." He said. "Let me know how things go and if you show up on Monday with a black eye, I'll know you didn't keep your hands to yourself."
"Funny Sam." He laughed and hung up.
When Callen went back into the house, Katy was standing in the living room. "You told Sam?"
"He asked what was wrong, I don't lie to my friends unless it's to save their life." He told her with a faint smile.
"Did you tell him we were coming down?" she asked standing on one end of the couch, Callen on the other.
"I told him I'd talk to you about it." He said.
"Fine, it's probably better if we spend time around other people." She said, not looking at him.
They stopped wherever Katy asked so she could snap a few shots here and there. Callen enjoyed watching her; she was sleek and cat-like when she approached an animal to take a photo. If she was quiet enough, she could take two or three before the animal got spooked by the sound of the shutter. He didn't know it, but Katy had taken a few pictures of him, too. When they arrived at Sam's Katy was shocked to find out that Quinn was really Sam's wife Michelle. They talked a little about the two cases and about the fact that Sidorov had asked Quinn to aid in the search for her. Of course, she wasn't going to, but Michelle just wanted Katy to know how desperate Vitaliy had become in his search for her.
The rest of the afternoon, they spent casually talking and watching the kids play in the back yard. Katy was relaxed and offered to take some family portraits. Using the lush greenery in the back yard as the backdrop, Katy positioned them in certain poses and started taking pictures. By the time she'd racked off some fifty photos, she hooked the camera up to the flat screen TV and took notes on which pictures they wanted. That was when Callen saw the pictures of him. In one, he was sitting on the beach in sand, arms on his knees, looking out at the water lost in thought. In another he was sitting on a log, with a bird just feet away from him, in a staring contest.
It was seven when they made the trek back up to LA County. They stopped in Del Mar at the scenic lookout just before the sun set so Katy could take a few pictures.
"Why did you take pictures of me?" Callen asked casually.
"Why not, you were just sitting there? There were good shots." She told him.
Callen smiled. "I don't mind it, I was just wondering why."
Katy had the camera to her eye, focusing on a grouping of rocks in the water. "I can delete them if you want me to."
"No, you don't need to. Look at that over there." Callen said pointing to a sail boat on the horizon with an orange-pink sun behind it.
"Ooh, good eye. Here, you take it." She said handing him the camera.
Callen snapped off the shot and took a few more. Katy had walked a few feet away and was leaning on the railing looking down at the rocks and water below, her hair over her shoulder cascading past her face. Callen took a picture of her, she stood up straight and he took another. When she turned to face him, he shot again.
"Hey, no fair." She said reaching for the camera.
"Uh no, you took some of me. Turnabouts fair play." He said holding the camera high over his head.
She was only a couple inches shorter than him and jumped for the camera, grabbing the strap. The force of her jumping against him pushed him back against the railing. Katy grabbed him, fearing he'd fall backwards. They looked at one another for a moment, their lips inches away from each other. Katy took a step back, cleared her throat and apologized. Callen reached for her, but she turned and walked back to the car.
There was silence between them as they drove back up the five. He asked her if she needed or wanted anything, but she never said a word. He wondered what she would've done had he kissed her and laughed to himself as he imagined her tossing him over the railing. Finally, he needed to get the conversation going before he lost him mind.
"I'm sorry." He said.
"For what?" she asked looking at him for the first time in almost twenty minutes.
"For what happened back there with the camera and making you jump for it. I wasn't even thinking about your foot." He said.
She sighed and looked out the window looking at the red tail-lights in front of them. "I wasn't thinking about my foot, truthfully. I was more concerned with you going over the railing. Hetty would kill me if something happened to you." She laughed.
He laughed at her last comment. "I wasn't worried, but thank you for worrying about it."
She smiled at him. "You're welcome."
"Home?" he asked.
"Okay." She nodded. Lord, she thought she was going to go insane if he smiled or looked at her one more time. What was she doing?
When they got back to Kensi's Katy fed the cat and went to her room, closing the door behind her. Callen stood on the other side, wondering if he should knock. He truly enjoyed sleeping next to her and knew he'd be up all night and every night until it happened again. Katy opened the door and almost walked into him. He caught her before she fell and stood her straight again. They stared at each other for a few seconds but neither one of them spoke. She smiled and slipped past him on her way to the bathroom, and smiled back at him as she closed the door.
Katy stood looking at herself in the mirror, shaking her head and the feelings off. Katy hated going to sleep; she knew what awaited her in her dreams. She wanted to lie next to him again tonight, but was too afraid to ask. Too afraid of not being in control. Callen was the first man in years, decades that she felt anything what-so-ever for. He knew almost everything about her past and still was able to look her in the eye; non-judgmentally. He was everything Hetty said he was and then some. When Hetty promised they would one day meet, she never anticipated him to be anything like he really was. Honestly, she expected that Hetty had over-exaggerated greatly about him.
When she finished brushing her teeth, she went back of the bathroom and he was gone. With her heart in her feet, she walked back to the room to find him sitting on the foot of the bed, smiling.
"I thought you'd gone home." She said from the doorway.
"No." Was all he said.
She stood there looking at him, wondering what do next.
Callen stood and walked past her. "I just wanted to say goodnight and I'm here if you need me. I hope you sleep well, no nightmares."
"You're staying here again?" She asked and he nodded. Katy closed the door, got in bed turned on her IPod and stared into the darkness. Again, in the middle of the night, she had a nightmare and again Callen came to her, comforting her. Like the night before, he stayed with her. Katy felt so safe with him and wished she wasn't so weak around him; she was slipping up and letting her guard down.
Sunday morning, she woke to find Callen and the cat gone. She smelled coffee and smiled, tossing the covers back. Katy walked in to the living room and found Callen and the cat sitting on the couch.
"Good morning." She said leaning over the couch.
"Hey, how'd you sleep?" Callen asked with a smile.
"Aside from the nightmare, fine. Thank you again for staying with me." She said and walked around the couch to sit on the far end, away from him.
Callen just looked at her, watched her.
"I smelled coffee when I woke up." She said nervously.
"It's on the counter." He said pointing towards the kitchen.
"Thank you." She said getting up and walking to the kitchen. "When did you go out?"
"About an hour ago, I went for a run. I picked up donuts." He said turning around to watch her.
"I haven't had coffee and donuts on a Sunday morning in years. All that's missing is the Sunday paper." She laughed.
"The cat's sitting on it." He said, tugging on it, trying to get Callie to move.
They sat in the living room reading the paper and eating donuts. It was a nice quiet morning, Callen on one end of the couch, Katy on the other and the paper between them. Occasionally, they'd grab the same section and play tug-of-war with it, smiling. Callen would relinquish it to her and pick up another section. By noon, they'd read all of the paper and sat in silence waiting for the other to speak. When Callen said nothing, Katy just stood and walked out of the room.
He didn't know what to do; he had so many emotions and feeling mingling in his mind. Last night as he lay with her, it was torture. Callen truly didn't know if he could work side-by-side with her and maintain focus. Katy came back out dressed and her hair in a tight French braid. She sat on the arm of the couch staring at him.
"Weren't you ever told not to sit on the arm of the couch when you were a kid?" he asked smiling.
"Yeah, so what?" She smiled back.
"Don't you think Kensi might get upset if you break her couch?" He told her, seeing her expression change as she slid onto the seat.
"Yeah, I didn't think of that." She smiled timidly.
"It's okay." He laughed.
.
Callen looked at the clock on the wall. "What do you want to do today?"
"I don't know; maybe go for a hike or something." She said.
"What about your foot?" he asked.
"It feels okay." She told him rotating the appendage for him.
"Maybe in a few weeks when I know you're healed more." He said.
"Well then, since you shot down my idea, you decide what we do today." She told him.
Callen thought for a while, he didn't want to do anything that required too much walking since she took the cast off.
"Does it hurt?" Katy asked smiling.
"Does what hurt?" he asked looking at her oddly.
"Thinking that hard." She laughed.
Callen threw one of the pillows at her and laughed. "I don't know, did that hurt?"
They threw the pillows back and forth until Katy took one and hit him over the head with it. Not thinking, he grabbed her and pulled her onto his lap. She didn't fight it. He looked at her for a moment debating on whether to try to kiss her or not. Katy hit him with the pillow again before he could do anything. She was smiling wildly at him, and then her expressions changed.
"Please don't, as much as I want you to kiss me, there could never be anything between us." She said and shot off his lap.
"Why do you say that?" he asked almost angry.
"Because there can't. I've lost count of how many men I've been with. I'm trash and a whore and you deserve so much better than me." She said through the tears.
Callen lowered his head. "Do you really think any of that matters to me? Look, Katy we've both been through hell, but we're both still here. It doesn't matter what happened then, what matters to me is what happens now."
"It should matter to you¸ it matters to every other man" She told him from across the room.
"I'm not every other man." He told her, looking her straight in the eyes.
Callen eventually motioned for her to come back over, she sat on the other end of the couch with her knees to her chest listening as he told her about his childhood. She cried through most of it. When he was done, he felt as if a weight had been lifted from his shoulders. Some of what he told Katy was stuff he vowed never to tell anyone, but felt he needed to be completely honest with her in order to gain her trust and force her to see even he wasn't perfect. She sat silently mulling over the information he'd just conveyed.
Her heart was broken after learning everything he'd endured as a child. Their stories were more similar than they were different. She saw him no differently than she had before; in fact, she felt a kinship with him. All she could do was breathe and think.
Callen couldn't read her, just sat watching her. "Katy."
She looked at him, but didn't speak.
"Does anything I told you change your thoughts about me?" he asked.
She shook her head and started crying. Callen pulled her over to him and sat there with her. "It doesn't change how I look at you at all. If anything I have a hell of a lot more respect for you. I knew you went through a lot, but I had no idea exactly how much." She told him.
"Do you still think I'll judge you because of your past? It would be like the pot calling the kettle black." He told her.
Katy leaned her head on his shoulder. "I don't know. I've spent my entire life being told I was nothing more than a worthless whore. Had it literally pounded into my head, and I honestly believe I am." She told him.
"You are anything but a worthless whore or any other derogatory term you can call yourself. You're a strong woman, Katy." He said trying to convince her of what he firmly believed her to be.
"If I'm so damned strong, why did I subject myself to Vitaliy and let him do what he did to me?" she asked.
"It was part of your job, your cover. You can and will get past this. You will never let another man treat you like this. I won't let you." He said smiling against her hair.
As the afternoon passed, they sat like that talking. Katy had come no closer to believing what he was trying to tell her about what she truly was as opposed to what she thought of herself. He knew it was going to be a long road, but they could do it together, but only if she let him in. Before they knew it, it was five and they both were hungry. Callen followed her to the kitchen and watched as she went through the cupboards. She found a pound of pasta, can of sauce and chicken nuggets in the freezer.
With the water boiling on the stove and the chicken nuggets in the over they sat at the table talking until there was a knock at the door. They looked at each other, neither expected company and neither had their weapons on them. Callen looked out the door, saw it was Hetty and let her in.
"Good evening you two. How has your weekend been?" she asked standing in the dining room while Katy dumped the pound of pasta in the pot.
"It hasn't been too bad." Callen told her.
Hetty noticed they both looked as if they'd been crying and was pleased they'd opened up to one another. "Have you two been able to talk much?"
They looked at each other and then at Hetty. "Yes we have." Katy said clearing her throat.
"Very good, I need to know if the two of you would be able to work together if the need arose." She said looking at them.
"It might be a little difficult at first, but I'm sure we could manage. Why?" Callen asked.
"I want you and Katy to go talk to Arkady tomorrow, see if he has spoken to Kirillovsky about his plans for purchasing one of Sidorov's nukes. I feel we need to get back on Sidorov's trail." She told them.
"Are you going to be alright going to talk to Arkady?" Callen asked Katy.
She took a deep breath. "Am I going in as an agent or as a reporter?"
"From here on out, you are no longer employed with the LA Times. You are an agent first and foremost." Hetty told her smiling.
"Alright, I should be okay. I guess that means I'm telling the rest of your team tomorrow." She said looking from Hetty to Callen.
"I should think so." Hetty said looking at Katy's bare feet. "Where's the cast?"
"Crap," Katy said under her breath. "I took it off Friday night when I showered."
"Katya. Is it feeling better?" she asked, not at all surprised. Katy had done the same thing when she was younger. Even went to boot camp with a fractured hip and broken ribs.
"It feels fine." She assured Hetty.
"You always did look better as a blonde, don't you think Mr. Callen?" Hetty asked him.
Callen smiled, "I like it. It's a more natural look than the brown she had last week."
"So Katy, I assume Mr. Callen mentioned my desire for you to move into an apartment of your own so you and Kensi don't get evicted?" she asked casually.
"He did and I'm going to talk to Kensi tomorrow morning about whether or not she was serious about wanting to live together and how much longer she has on her lease." Katy told her as she stirred the pot of pasta.
"Alright, I've asked Mr. Callen to help you find a new apartment." Hetty asked.
"Alright, only if Kensi can't get out of her lease. Otherwise, Kensi and I will find an apartment on our own." She said.
"Alright Katy, as soon as you find a place, I'll have your belongings from my house brought over. I believe you have some clothing and a few other things." Hetty said.
"Yes Hetty, thank you." Katy said.
"Alright, I guess I should leave the two of you to your dinner." she laughed.
"Hetty, would you like to stay for dinner?" Katy asked.
Hetty looked at her and gave a half smile. "What are you making?"
"Chicken Parmesan Pasta." She smiled.
"I haven't made that in years; I never knew you liked it." Hetty smiled.
"I loved it, just never wanted to tempt fate by asking for seconds." Katy laughed.
Callen watched as Katy drained the pasta and poured the sauce over it, then cut the chicken nuggets and added it to the pasta. He fed the cat after he set the plates out for Katy and the three sat at the table eating and chatting. Hetty stayed for a while after dinner talking with them. She knew she'd made the right decision about having Callen stay with her. They needed to be together. What one lacked the other made up for and if God forbid something should happen to Sam, Katy would be a good replacement.
Before Hetty departed, she asked that they talk about their visit to Arkady before coming in to work and they agreed. So as they cleaned up after dinner, they discussed how they were going to approach it and what questions they were going to ask. Katy admitted she didn't fully trust Arkady and was worried he would tell Vitaliy she'd been there to see him. Callen assured her that Arkady for the most part could be trusted. Since Callen trusted him, she felt a little bit better.
By ten o'clock, they were at the bedroom door saying goodnight. Callen wanted to stay with her, but didn't know if he should ask. Katy smiled and turned to walk into the room. "Since Kensi won't be home tonight, do you want me to stay again and I'll take you into work in the morning?"
"Please, otherwise I'd have no way of getting to the office. Hetty will hopefully issue me a vehicle soon." She said.
"Alright, I'll be on the couch if you need me." He said and turned towards the living room.
"Callen, I really want to thank you for staying here with me. I probably would've died of a heart attack if you hadn't waked me up from those nightmares. You didn't have to lay in bed with me either; no one's ever done that before. It really means a lot that you'd do that for me." She smiled.
Callen didn't know what to say. "I was just doing my job, Katy."
"Your job, oh." She said slack-faced. Katy turned around and walked to the bed.
"Katy, that's not what I meant. My job is to protect you, but I wanted to comfort you." He said.
"You don't need to say anymore, Callen. I understand." She said tossing one of Kensi's pillows to the head of the bed.
"No you don't understand it's not coming out right." Callen told her from the doorway.
"I'll be fine tonight, Callen just go home." She ordered.
"No, I'm not leaving." He insisted.
Katy turned around with tears in her eyes; she walked to the French doors and slammed them closed.
Callen stood there. What just happened? He knocked on the door and called her name, but Katy never answered. Instead of leaving like she'd told him, he lay on the couch and listened to her cry. It was heart-wrenching. He didn't know exactly how he felt about her. She was beautiful and when she wasn't down on herself, she really was like a force of nature. So many times over the weekend, she blew him away by something she said or did. He thought back to the pictures she'd taken of him and wondered if there was another reason she'd taken them. He got off the couch and walked to the camera bag on the counter. Quietly, Callen unzipped it and took out the camera, looking through the pictures until he found the one's he'd taken of her. He smiled as he looked at them, his breath caught in his chest and his heart raced.
Scrolling back further, he found the pictures she'd taken of him. They really were good pictures. He didn't just like the pictures; he loved them for the simple fact that she'd taken them. Callen turned the camera off, put it back in the bag and zipped it closed. He stood there leaning on the counter looking at the bedroom doors. Realizing exactly how he felt about her. Wishing he could re-do their last conversation he walked to the French doors and quietly opened them. Katy was on her side; Callie curled into a tight ball in her chest. He left the doors open and brought one of the chairs from the dining room and watched her sleep.
He was asleep when the phone's shrill ring woke him. Rolling over, he groped the nightstand for the phone and finally found it. "Hello?" he said.
"David, it is Vitaliy. Have you had luck getting to talk to Katya?" he asked.
He yawned, "No, she's not answering her cell phone. Why did you torch her apartment?"
"To send her a message, to make sure she knows I mean business." Vitaliy told him.
"I'll keep calling her, alright?" David asked.
"You need to find her or it's your head I'll put on a platter. You're the one who brought her into this. I want her back." He yelled into the phone.
"I'm working on it. Calm down." He said not at all worried about Vitaliy's veiled threats.
"David, I don't know what information she took. If the right people get whatever she took, I'll bring you down with me." He spat.
"She's not that smart." David assured him.
"She's smarted than you think, David. We're in trouble if she goes to the authorities." He said.
"We'll find her." David said.
"You have until the end of the week and then I'll hunt you down if she'd not back in my possession." Vitaliy said and hung up.