A/N This is just a short piece about the story thru the eyes of Renko. I hope those who read it enjoy it. Let me know if anything doesn't make sense.
Light started to filter into Renko's eyes as he opened them. The pain in his neck increasing as he did. After several minutes he managed to open them all the way to see a world of fuzziness until his eyes focused. He saw that he was in a bedroom, but he had no memory of how he got there. He tried to move, only to freeze as the pain in his neck went into the red. Must be one hell of a hicky. He thought as he slowly placed his hand to the site of the pain after it had dulled enough. He found a heavily bandaged wound around his neck. As he shifted his arm he saw the hospital bracelet on his wrist, saw the date and memories flooded his head.
Callen had come in the shop he was working in and told him the code phrase. Sam had been wandering the aisles. He left and was confronted by the head honcho. The team had taken him down and they had wrapped everything up and were talking, then… he remembered nothing.
"Good, you're awake. How's the pain?" A female voice asked and Renko turned his head to it, only to stop at the pain. He tried to talk but was stopped as she continued "Don't try to talk, the doctor's said not to for a while, try and let the vocal cords heal." Her voice was British he noted as she handed him some pain killers and a glass of water.
(What happened?) he mouthed to her.
"Someone out to hurt Callen tried to kill you. Shot you in the neck." She said as she gently removed the bandages to check the wound. She held up a mirror for him to see. "They think you're dead by the way." She continued as she replaced the dressing.
"What?" Renko was shocked at how weak his voice sounded.
"What did I just say about not talking?" She stood and took the glass with her. "They still haven't caught Javiar and I don't want him to have another chance to kill you. Callen has lost enough family. Sleep, I'll wake you for dinner later." She left then, closing the door after her with a sad look on her face.
Renko had questions but realised that she had given him sleeping tablets as well as pain killers as his eyes started to droop. His agent training kicked in and he fought to stay awake. The boost of adrenaline worked and he managed to sit up and get a good look around the room. He saw a door that led to a small bathroom. If he could get in there and lock the door, the drugs might be out of his system before the woman came back and gave him more. Hopefully by then, he might be strong enough to move better.
He ignored the pain, stood and started to make his way over. He managed to get halfway before he noticed a shadow coming from behind him. He looked over his shoulder to look but only succeeded in over balancing himself. The floor stopped short of making contact with his face as the woman grabbed him and took him back to the bed.
"Now what did you hope to accomplish with that other than to try and add a concussion to the gun shot?" She said as she covered him with the sheets.
Renko looked at her and mouthed (Why should I trust you?)
"I'm Callen's cousin."
"What?" He got his second shock of the day.
"You are really determined to ruin your voice aren't you?" She said as she managed to get him into the bed. "Now, sleep. When you wake, I'll have something for you to eat and explain everything."
(Any chance of a sponge bath?) Renko mouthed as he realised that he smelt badly.
"None what so ever." She threw a sheet over him and turned to leave when he grabbed her wrist. She responded, her hand clamping on his lightning fast. "Unless you want a broken wrist along with a sliced neck, don't do that again." She hadn't even turned to him. She did after a moment when she realised that he wasn't letting go. "What?"
(What's your name?)
"Yana Talbot." She then pulled away from him as his eyes closed and sleep claimed him.
When Renko woke again, he smelt something like broth. He turned his head toward footsteps and saw the woman, Yana, coming toward him holding a bowl.
"I reckon you should be able to stand on your own if you want a shower." She turned as a voice called out to her in a language he had never heard before. It sounded European. She answered in the same one then pulled the door closed behind her, just as a man walked past.
Renko watched Yana warily as she placed the bowl on the bedside table along with a spoon and napkins. She handed him a notepad and pen then asked "So, what do you want to know?"
His mind suddenly clicked from what she had told him before. She had said that someone was out to hurt Callen and the others. He remembered hearing last year that Callen and the others had gone to Europe to rescue Hetty, and that the family that had her was connected to Callen. He wrote on the paper suddenly [The family that Callen rescued Hetty from?]
"No, but they had something to do with it. Agent Hunter's dead. The same person that tried to kill you, blew her up shortly after." Yana hung her head and Renko could see that she was greatly saddened by it.
[How do you know of Hunter, me, any of us? NCIS and Hetty have gone to great lengths to make sure that no one knows of us.]
"Eat while I tell you everything." She handed him the bowl and spoon, waited a beat to make sure that he would eat it, then asked. "How much do you know of Callen's history?"
[Nothing other than the fact that he lived in a lot of foster homes from a young age and he doesn't know his first name.]
Yana laughed a little before continuing. "He does, he just doesn't realise it." She sat back in the chair, looked up at the ceiling and starting telling him.
It was a couple of hours later when she finished. Renko was shocked. Not only to learn that Granger was Callen's father but everything. He hadn't finished the stew, so caught up in the tale was he. He picked up the paper and wrote [What can I do to help?]
"You have by listening. It's been hard not being able to talk to anyone."
[And since everyone thinks I'm dead, I can't exactly tell anyone.]
"No. The man you saw before is my brother. He's been taking care of you since we managed to get you out of the hospital. He told me that they had to exchange Javiar for something else. He's not sure on the details. Granger hasn't been able to get word to me about anything yet."
[What now?]
"You get better. Since you're dead, I was wondering if you would be able to shadow them when you can. I have to get back to England for a bit for the cover story to work. No one at Scotland Yard other than my mother knows anything about this. They think I'm on a holiday in the country with my family."
[No one can shadow Callen since he's a ghost himself.] Renko wrote, trying hard not to laugh.
That got him a smile and he realised that she was beautiful. "True. Do your best, if you follow Sam, he'll follow Callen."
Renko nodded then her words hit him. She was leaving. He clicked his fingers to get her attention before grabbing her wrist again. [When will I see you again?] He wrote.
"Don't know. I'll keep an ear to the ground. It'll have to be when Sam is away. It'll be hard enough for Callen to trust me as it is, let alone if Sam is there. If something doesn't happen within the next twelve months, I'll have to go to Sam and get him to leave for a bit. "
[How can I get in touch with you?]
"Why?" Yana looked at him oddly.
[Because I've never met anyone like you before.] Then Renko thought doctor's orders be damned, "I would like to get to know you better." He managed to whisper.
Yana looked at the man before her. He was unlike anyone she had met before. Then again, she hadn't met a guy that wasn't a criminal either. She looked at him and realised that he was sincere about wanting to know about her. "I'll give you my email address." She said as she wrote it on the notepad she had given him.
[No cell phone?] He wrote back.
"Not for a few weeks until Mika says you can talk." She said as she left the room, a smile on her face.
Renko smiled as she walked away, not only enjoying the view, but also the promise of getting to know her. Then he realised that if he did end up with her, he would have Callen and Granger as family and strangely enough, he was happy with that.
Several months past and their emails and phone calls increased to the point that they were talking to each other every day. Renko shadowed the team as much as he could and managed to find out that Callen killed Dracule Comscue in Hawaii. While Yana was in Europe, she managed to roundup most of the help that they had hired since they rescued Hetty.
Then the whole bombs on US soil thing happened and Renko, cleaned up, wearing a thousand dollar suite, a wig and sunglasses; overheard Callen urging Sam to take time off to be with Michelle and their daughter. He knew it was time for Yana to come to the States and be Callen's new partner.
He had tried to get her to open up to him about what had happened to her while she was with the Comscue's, but she didn't. There were times that she still lashed out at him if he was too quiet coming up to her. He knew about the scars on her back, but she never told him how she got them.
He hoped that Callen and the rest of the team would get her to open up, trust other people and have a little fun. He had been trying, but it wasn't going too well and he suspected that it was because she needed this to end. He knew that if pressed, she would tell Sam about what needed to be done, but the person Yana really needed to talk to was Nate.
A month after Yana arrived in LA and started at the OSP, she had to tell Sam to leave for a while so that she could get closer to Callen. He had snuck in after her when Sam and his wife took her into the living room. When she didn't need him to convince them, he left and took over her task of looking for those that worked for the Comscue's. He went to Europe, tracked them down and quietly had them arrested just as Yana had been doing for the last eighteen months.
She asked him to come to LA a week before she planned to draw Vasille to LA. Renko realised that it was the perfect time for him to ask her something he had been wanting to ask since she arrived in the country.
"Thanks Mike, I needed this. The team is great, but I needed some alone time." Yana said as they walked down the beach after a dinner at a nearby restaurant.
"Being with me is not exactly being alone." He said as he wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her close. His voice was husker than before he got shot. Yana and Mika said it was probably because he had tried to talk to early and damaged his vocal cords.
"You know what I mean." She sighed as she snuggled in closer to him. "I've spoken to Nate. He's nice. I don't know why Callen won't talk to him."
"What did Nate tell you?"
"Just that Cal thinks that if he tells him anything, he won't have a job anymore. That this is just like every foster home he's ever been in. He's just waiting for someone to tell him to leave. But I think that being partnered with me, helping me to trust others, he's realised that he's in the same boat. By helping me, he's helped himself."
"You been talking to Nate way too much, you sound just like him." Mike said as they walked.
"Maybe, doesn't make it any less true."
They had walked quite a way from the restaurant when Mike dropped to his knee. "Yana, can I ask you something?"
"Michael, what is this?" She had an idea.
"Will you marry me?" He pulled open a box. Sitting inside was a white gold diamond ring.
Yana was silent for a long while before looking at him and said "You know that you'll calling Callen and Granger family too. Not to mention my whole family?"
"Don't care." He hadn't moved as he spoke.
"Yes." She squealed as he caught her around the waist and spun her round. She still had a huge grin on her face as Mike slipped the ring on her finger.
Yana looked at the ring for several long minutes after they had stopped spinning before she asked, "How has it been shadowing them? It can't have been easy. They are your friends." She hugged him as he replied.
"No, it hasn't been. When Sam and Deeks got taken, I was seconds from going in and setting them free when Granger and Kensi showed up."
"I'm sorry. When I said something that would have Sam called away, that was not what I was thinking."
"I know." He kissed the top of her head. "Still everything worked out."
"Not yet, not until the last of the Comscues are dead."
"Aren't you a Comscue?"
"NO!" She pulled away from him to make him understand. "And neither is Callen, we're both Grangers, and he's also a Callen. The Comscue line ends with Vasille. And Callen will be the one to do it."
"Understood. Want to head back to my place?" he pulled her back to him.
"Sure." She smiled and looped her arms around him as they walked back to his car.
Later that week, she called him to tell him that Vasille was in LA and that he needed to get over to the house that they had rigged. He was in the house rigging the last of the squibs when he heard Sam pull up in his Challenger. Not sure how this was going to pan out, he waited for Sam on the couch.
He heard Sam enter the room and looked up as he swept it. As he expected, Sam's gaze slid over him at first. Not surprising. He was clean shaven, had a suite and tie on and his hair was short and black. Not to mention he was suppose to be dead.
"Who are you?" Sam asked after he cleared the room.
"Yana's trusted friend." He saw Sam's eyes widen and the shock appear on his face as he recognised the voice and face of a dead friend.
Sam lowered his gun as he stumbled to find words. "How!?"
"One of Yana's brothers tricked the machines into making everyone think I was dead." He couldn't get anything else out as Sam pulled him into a Hannah sized man hug. Renko was shocked as he felt tears wetting his shoulder as he heard Sam cry.
"Why didn't you tell us?" he said as he stepped clear.
"Yana wanted someone no one would be looking for to watch over you. When you and Deeks got taken by Sidarov, I was seconds away from going in and getting you out when Kensi and Granger showed up." He heard the growl coming from Sam and stood his ground as he continued. "I saw the potential in being dead and shadowing you guys. Yana needed someone she knew would be able to keep up with you. She had to go back to Europe and round up the remaining hired hands of the Comscue family." He looked at his watch then out the window "The last of them will be here shortly. Can you head round the block and pull up again? He's going to be out the back."
"What happens after this?" Sam asked as he got use to seeing a dead man.
"Not sure. Depends on what happens." Renko looked at Sam and could see he was still hurt.
"I didn't wake up for about a week and by then, you guys had buried me."
Sam nodded and headed out after giving him one last look. "Don't go disappearing on us again Mike."
"I don't plan to. Don't tell anyone about this please, this will be all over later today and I'll come by wherever you guys are later."
After the shoot-out, Renko headed to the hotel that Vasille had been staying at that day. He collected the man's things and found a list of names that had been crossed off. He recognised that all of the names were of the people that he and Yana had been rounding up over the past couple of years. He found a diary that had the same list of names, and found that they had managed to find them all.
He smiled and realised that it was the same diary that Yana had told him about. She had gotten the names off it when she went back to the house after the shoot-out in Romania. She managed to copy the names before Vasille and Dracule had returned.
He headed to his car and called her to tell her that they had gotten them all. He asked her how they had responded to the news. He laughed as he heard how they had all responded and that they were now all round at Grangers' place. "Think Callen will want to move in?" he asked and as he hoped, he got a laugh from her. She hung up after giving him the address and he found he wasn't far from them.
He pulled up at the house and paused at the door for a moment. He wasn't sure how the rest of the team would respond to him being alive. Sam's response had been good and he hoped that the rest of them would be too. He opened the door just as Callen yelled at her for not telling them about him.
"Hey don't yell at her Callen, I asked her not to." Mike Renko suddenly said as he walked into the room. "Besides, being dead has its advantages. The three of you haven't noticed me shadowing you on and off for the past twelve months." He was nearly bowled over as Yana flew into his arms and planted a kiss on his lips. His voice was huskier than before and the scar from the bullet was visible on his neck.
He others stood in shock for a moment then Kensi moved and punched his arm. "That's for making us think you were dead!" Then she pulled him into the tightest hug he had ever had. "And this is for still being alive." She cried into his shoulder. He could see and hear how hurt Kensi had been about his death.
Callen came over next. After a handshake and man hug he asked "How did you shadow me?"
"I followed Sam." At Callen's glare "Her idea." He pointed to Yana.
"Seriously, Cal, how often do you look for dead men?" She crossed her arms and was leaning against the table.
"More now than before." He said and gave Mike another pat on the back. "Good to see you back."
Deeks was next. Renko hadn't met the man often before but had heard stories. "Don't do anything like that to Kensi again." Deeks said as he drew him in close after shaking hands "Or I will really kill you."
Renko nodded to him as both Eric and Nell hugged him together. They babbled furiously for a minute before he managed to get them off him and turned to Hetty.
"Hetty." He simply didn't have anything else to say to her. She had given him an amazing opportunity to work at OSP and he was kinda hoping that she would have him again.
"Mr Renko." She purely opened her arms and he bent down to her and hugged her. In that moment, he knew that he was welcome back anytime he wished. At least once he dug himself out of the paperwork that he knew Hetty was no doubt going to dump on him.
Sam just shook hands with him and slapped him on the back when he walked over to him.
"What Sam, no hug?" Kensi asked as she went back for another hug just to make really sure that he was real.
"He was shooting at me at the house. Not sure if I want to hug him."
"If I remember rightly, you cried when you nearly crushed me." Mike said as he released Kensi and took Yana in his arms again.
"The big bad Sam Hannah cried?" Callen asked as he poured more champagne.
"Yeah, with relief. You have someone else to talk to about doing something crazy." He huffed, a slight grin on his face.
"Oh great, two Callen's again." Kensi said.
"Nope, just the one, Mike will not be doing anything silly. Not anymore." Yana said.
"A toast!" Callen called as he handed out glasses. "To family and friends, old and new." He said as he looked at everyone around him.
Renko drank with everyone else, keeping an eye on Callen. He knew him better than almost anyone else there. He had seen the look in Callen's eyes. He was looking for a way out; weather for some fresh air or to get away for a bit. He was surprised that Sam wasn't watching him. Then he realised the reason; Sam figured that after so long without knowing his family, Callen wouldn't walk out on them. But that was also the reason he might. For a lone wolf to suddenly find family, it would take some time to adjust.
As the team started to talk to the new members of Callen's family, Renko watched as Callen left out the back door. He was about to follow when he felt a hand on his arm.
"Let me. He might be a little overwhelmed. I take it before now, he never had this many people who care about him around?" Yana said as she stood beside him, watching Callen stare up at the sky thru the open door.
"Yeah, he never told me much about his past but very little of it was happy. I think this might be the first time that a gathering is about him in a good way. And I doubt many others have had this many people like you said that care about him."
Renko watched as Yana went out after her cousin. He could see the sun starting brighten the sky and after a moment, he followed his fiancé out. He heard them talking and had to smother a laugh as Yana told him about his eyebrows.
He came up behind Yana and was relieved that she didn't jump when he wrapped his arms around her. The time she had spent with the team and around Callen had helped her to get over everything that happened to her. "I wouldn't say no Callen, she is very stubborn."
As they spoke, he heard the rest of the team and Yana's family come up behind them
He hugged Yana tighter as she pulled something from her back pocket. He caught a glimpse of the photo and knew what it was.
"Here, I found this while I was at their beach house." Yana said as she handed Callen the photo.
As Callen looked at the photo, he and Yana watched the rising sun. He felt Callen place a hand on Yana's shoulder as everyone else gathered behind them. Renko hoped that Callen would now feel that this was where he belonged.
A/N There we are. I hope that everyone who has read this story has enjoyed it. Now to finish my other stories.
