Callen quickly made his way towards Marisa's bedroom. Gun ready he opened the door. He found Marisa sitting on the bed crying. The lamp on her night stand was lying on the floor, broken. Callen quickly put his gun away and sat next to Marisa on the bed.
"Shh, it's okay," Callen said as he pulled Marisa in for a hug. "It's gonna be okay, I'm here for you."
"Why did they have to die?" Marisa sobbed.
"I don't know sweetie, I don't know. I wish we could've saved them."
"It's my fault they are dead."
"No it's not sweetie. You didn't kill them, some very bad men did. It's not your fault."
"Yes it is. If it wasn't for me they wouldn't have gone after them."
"It's not your fault. You couldn't have known they were gonna come after them. Sometimes things happen that we can't foresee and can't control."
"They are dead because of me."
"Marisa," Callen spoke and he lifted her face to meet his. "Listen to me, it's not your fault. It's not your fault okay."
"But it is."
"No it's not. Don't beat yourself up over this. I know it's hard losing them. But I'm sure they wouldn't want you to blame yourself for this. I know it's hard right now but they would want you to go on with your life and enjoy it, to keep being the person they know you are."
"I don't know if I can."
"Sure you can. You're strong. And I'm here to help you if you need me."
"Thanks dad, but I don't think I can right now."
"It's okay. You don't have to do it right now. Just don't lose yourself in your grieving."
"I'll try. Thanks dad."
Callen sat there for a while with Marisa in his arms until he noticed she had fallen asleep. Gently he put her down on the bed and quietly left the room. Callen sighed once he was back outside. He really hoped Marisa would get through this. Just before dinner time Marisa came out of the bedroom. Callen was in the kitchen preparing dinner.
"Hey dad," Marisa spoke as she walked into the kitchen.
"Hey Marisa, did you sleep okay?"
"Yeah okay. How long did I sleep?"
"About 2 hours. You're hungry? I'm making pasta."
"It smells nice."
"Good, you have to eat something."
"I know. I know."
"How are your injuries feeling?"
"Okay, my ribs just hurt but otherwise I'm okay. But still a bit weak and tired."
"That's normal, you lost quite some blood. Just promise me you'll take it easy."
"I will dad, don't worry."
"Alright, as long as you do, cus I know you, you're just like me when it comes to injuries. I don't like to admit it but mostly the others are right when they are telling me I have to rest, so please listen to me when I say you have to rest."
"I will dad, I promise. But thanks for looking after me."
"No problem, you're my daughter so it's my job. And I don't mind."
Marisa gave him a smile as Callen put the food on the table. They had a nice dinner.
…
It had been two weeks since the funeral. Marisa was still living at Callen's house. She was doing better. She was coming to terms with what happened. Her injuries were feeling better too. When Callen was at work he called her a couple times to check in.
"Dad, can you come with me to my parents' house? I need to clear out their stuff," Marisa asked that Saturday while they were eating breakfast.
"Sure, you're ready for that?'
"Yeah, I have to do it one day so."
"Do you know what you're gonna do with everything and with the house?"
"I don't know. On one side I wanna keep the house but on the other I don't cus of everything that happened there."
"I understand, whatever you decide I will support you."
"Thanks dad."
After breakfast they went to Marisa's parents' house. They had cleaned up the house after what happened so you didn't see anything anymore. Marisa turned the key and opened the door. She hesitated a moment before going on. Callen put a comforting hand on her shoulder.
"It's okay if you're not ready for this."
"No, I have to do this."
Marisa took a deep breath and stepped inside followed by Callen. Marisa looked around. Everything seemed the way it was supposed to. Callen had brought some boxes so they could clear out the stuff. Marisa walked over to the bookcase and looked at some pictures of them.
"Just pack up everything. I'll decide later whether I wanna keep it or not."
"Alright."
Callen started packing stuff around the living room. Marisa looked at the pictures and packed them one by one if the box. Callen brought the boxes that were full to the car. When he came back into the house he didn't saw Marisa. He walked up and found her in her parents' bedroom sitting on the floor where she found her mother.
"You okay Marisa?"
Marisa looked up as she heard Callen's voice. "Yeah I'm okay. Maybe it was just too soon to come back here."
"We can go if you want."
"No, I have to do this," Marisa said and she stood up and she continued packing stuff.
Callen watched her as she was packing stuff. He was worried about her. About 4 hours later everything was packed up except for the furniture. Callen loaded the last box into the car.
"Everything's in the car," Callen spoke as he walked back inside.
Marisa looked at the house one last time before she stepped outside and got in the car.
"Where do you want to take the stuff?"
"Just take them to my place."
Callen drover to Marisa's place and brought all the boxes inside and drove back to his place.
"You okay Marisa?" Callen asked as Marisa sat down on the couch.
"Yeah, I'm good, just a bit tired."
"You sure you're okay?" Callen asked as he sat down on the coffee table in front of her.
"I'm fine dad, don't worry. Thank you for helping me today."
"You're welcome. Just rest up."
Callen walked to the kitchen as Marisa lay down on the couch, within seconds she was asleep. Callen watched her as his phone started ringing, it was Hetty.
"Hey Hetty," Callen said as he answered.
"How is Ms. Mathews doing?"
"She's okay, she's asleep now. We packed up some stuff today at her parents' house. I could tell it was hard for her but she did okay."
"Keep an eye on her Mr. Callen."
"I will Hetty, don't worry, I will."
"Good Mr. Callen, I'll see you Monday."
"Yeah see you Monday," Callen replied and he hung up.
…..
That Monday Callen had to go to work again.
"You're gonna be alright today?"
"Yeah I'll be fine dad, don't worry."
"Alright, call me if you need me."
"I will dad, but don't worry I'll be fine."
Callen looked at her one more time before he left for work.
"How's Marisa doing?" Sam asked when Callen walked into the bullpen.
"She's doing better. Her injuries are healing and she makes progress after everything that happened."
"It's hard losing your parents like that. She's lucky she has got you G."
"I try to be there for her as much as I can, let her know that I'm there for her."
"That's the best you can do."
Eric whistled them up for a new case.
..
Marisa decided to go to her place and looked through some boxes. She opened the box with family pictures. They had made a picture just after they had gotten Marisa. Marisa was only a few months old and was held by her adoptive mother and father. There were a lot more pictures of her growing up, her mom and dad, her together with her mom and dad and one picture they had made after Marisa had found out about Callen. It was a picture with a four of them. Marisa felt her eyes getting a little teary as she looked at the pictures. She missed her parents so much. She was still half expecting them just to show up one day and this was all a bad dream, but Marisa knew better, this wasn't a bad dream, it was real. She had no idea what to do with the rest of their stuff. The pictures she would keep and she would hang them up. But was she going to do with the rest? She looked through the other boxes to see if there was something she wanted to keep.
…
Callen got home around 6pm from work.
"Hey Marisa, I'm home," Callen called but there was no answer. "Marisa." Callen walked through the house to find her but she wasn't in the house. Callen pulled out his cellphone and called Marisa. It went to voicemail. Callen started worrying where she was. He had a hunch where she could be. He got into his car and drove to Marisa's place.
"Here you are," Callen said as he walked into Marisa's house. Marisa startled a bit.
"Dad, hi."
"Sorry, didn't mean to spook you. I was just coming to see if you were here. You weren't at my place and you didn't answer your phone when I called you so I just came here."
"Sorry, I didn't hear my phone. I was just going through some boxes."
"You okay?" Callen asked as he sat down next to her on the couch.
"Yeah I'm okay. I found this picture." Marisa showed Callen the picture of all four of them.
"I remember this. We made this just after we had found out about each other."
"Yeah we did. I'm glad we made this picture. It's a nice picture of my family."
"Yeah it is. You're gonna stay here or are you coming back to my place?"
"I think I'm gonna stay here for a while."
"Alright, then I'm gonna make you some dinner."
"Dad you don't need to do that, I can make dinner on my own."
"You still need to rest, so I'm gonna make you dinner."
They had dinner and Callen cleaned up after dinner.
"I'm gonna go back home. You'll be alright here?"
"Yeah I'll be fine here dad, don't worry. Maybe I'm gonna stay here tonight to sleep. I think it would be good for me."
"Alright, just call me if you need me okay."
"I will dad, thanks."
Callen went back to his place and Marisa went to unpack some more boxes. In the end she had 4 full boxes with stuff she wanted to keep, the rest could go away. It was 10pm when she went to bed, she was pretty tired. Maybe she did too much today. It felt good to sleep in her own bed again.
It was around 3pm when Callen woke up by his phone ringing. Sleepy he reached over to the nightstand and grabbed his phone. When he looked at the caller ID and saw it was Marisa he shook up.
"Marisa, everything alright?" Callen asked worried as he picked up.
"Dad, sorry to call you at this hour but I just needed to hear your voice."
"What's up Marisa? Are you alright?"
"I couldn't sleep anymore, I just had a bad dream."
"I'm on my way," Callen replied and he hung up.
Quickly he put on his clothes, grabbed his car keys and drove to Marisa's place. He used her key to go inside. He walked straight to her bedroom.
"Hey Marisa, you okay?" Callen asked as he sat down on the bed.
"You didn't have to come here dad."
"I don't mind, you're my daughter."
"I'm sorry that I called you, I just didn't know what else to do."
"Hey Marisa, it's okay, I don't mind," Callen told her as he pulled her in for a hug. "It's okay sweetie. I'm here for you, it was just a dream."
"It felt so real again. Like I was reliving it again," Marisa replied as she started sobbing.
"It's okay, it's okay. I've got you. It's okay," Callen whispered as he rocked her back and forth.
"I'm sorry dad."
"It's okay sweetie, you've nothing to be sorry for. I told you, you could call me if you needed my."
Callen held her until she had fallen asleep again. He gently put her down on the bed and pulled the covers over her. He pulled a blanket out of her closet and went to sleep on the couch.
The next morning when Marisa woke up and walked into the kitchen Callen was making breakfast for them.
"Morning dad," Marisa said still half sleepy.
"Morning Marisa. Did you sleep okay?"
"I slept fine. Thank you for coming here last night and sorry that I called you."
"It's okay Marisa, I don't mind."
"Anyway thanks."
"You're welcome. I made you some breakfast, scrambled eggs and toast," Callen told her as he put a plate in front of her.
"Thanks dad."
"I've gotta go to work. Call me if you need me okay."
"I will, thanks again dad."
"You're welcome."
…..
2 weeks later Marisa was cleared to go back to work again. She was doing better, she was dealing very well with her parents' deaths. She had decided to put their house on the market; she couldn't go and live there herself.
"Good morning," Marisa called as she walked into the bullpen.
"Morning," Sam, Callen, Kensi and Deeks replied.
"Welcome back Marisa," Kensi said.
"Thanks Kens, it's good to be back. How's everything been here?"
"It's been fine. Just the usual."
Just a Marisa wanted to sit down Eric whistled them up.
"Got a new case guys." Eric spotted Marisa. "Welcome back Marisa."
"Thanks Eric," Marisa replied and everyone walked upstairs.
"What have we got Eric?" Callen asked.
"There was a drive by shooting at the naval recruitment center early this morning," Eric informed them as he put the footage on the screen. "Two marines were killed and a couple people were injured."
"Got an ID on the shooters?"
"No, they never show their faces, got Kaleidoscope looking for the car but no hits so far."
"Keep looking, see what you can find on the marines who were killed. Kensi, Deeks, why don't you go speak to the marines in the hospital. Sam, Marisa and I will go to the recruitment center."
Everyone went out. 15 minutes later Callen, Sam and Marisa were at the recruitment center. They showed their badges to LAPD to enter the crime scene.
"Corporal Higgins?" Callen spoke and Higgins turned around.
"Yes."
"Agents Callen, Hanna and Mathews, NCIS. What can you tell us about what happened here this morning?"
"Not much, we were just doing our job and all of a sudden we heard gunfire and the windows were shattering as the bullets came flying through. I didn't see much, I tried to get the people out of the line of fire."
"Do you have any idea who would want to shoot at you guys?" Sam asked.
"No not a clue," Higgins answered but Callen saw that he was thinking about something.
"What is it Corporal?"
"A couple days ago we had a new recruit coming in but he was rejected and he was pretty pissed about it and he made some threats. I didn't think anything off it at the time but it maybe could be him, I'm not sure."
"We'll look into it. What's his name?"
"Peter Lopez."
"Thank you, if you think of anything else please let us know," Sam told him and gave him his card.
"I will, please find out who did this."
"We'll do our best."
"Callen," Marisa called from near the windows.
Callen walked over to Marisa. "What have you got?"
"A casing, this one doesn't match the other bullets."
Callen put on his cloves and took the casing. "This looks like a 38. The others are all from machine guns. This is from a handgun."
"So the question is, did this come from the shooters or from someone inside here," Sam stated.
"It's more logical if it same from someone inside here. The shooters were in the car down the road," Marisa spoke.
"If it did come from inside here, maybe he hit one of the shooters." Just as Callen said that his phone started ringing. "Yeah Kens." Callen listened to what Kensi had to say. "Thanks Kens." Callen hung up. "Kensi said that one of the marines she talked to said he fired at them. He was pretty sure he hit one of them. And guess what?"
"He owns a 38?" Sam guessed.
"Yep. I'm gonna send this casing to the lab so they can test it against his gun."
They left the crime scene and went back to the office after they dropped the casing off at the lab. Just as they walked in Nell came down the stairs.
"You got something for us Nell?" Callen asked.
"I checked up on Lopez and he was pretty angry at the navy for not recruiting him. He sent a couple of threat emails to them."
"Enough to make him want to do a drive by shooting?"
"Not exactly death threats but he did say that they would be sorry for not recruiting him. But here is the interesting part. He has a brother who is part of this gang," Nell told them as she put a picture up on the screen.
"Los LA Reyes," Callen spoke.
"LAPD has been after them for years, they never are able to catch them and mostly they do drive by shooting," Marisa told them.
"Yes and Eric tracked the car that was used. He tracked it to a house in East LA, that's one of the known addresses on Los LA Reyes."
"We can't just walk in there. They can smell a cop a mile away," Marisa stated.
"Which is why, Ms. Mathews, you are going undercover," Hetty spoke as she walked into the bullpen.
"You're gonna send her undercover?" Callen asked. "You can't be serious, this is only her first day back and this gang in dangerous."
"I'm well aware of that Mr. Callen. But Ms. Mathews is the only one of can do this. The gang is only looking for young new members."
Callen clearly didn't like it and he looked over to Marisa. Marisa saw the worry in his face.
"I'll be fine dad, don't worry, I've got this."
"You sure?"
"Yes I'm sure. And you'll be close by as backup."
"Fine, but at only the slightest concern you're cover is compromised I'm pulling you out."
"Deal."
Marisa got changed and headed for the neighborhood. A lot of people were staring at her as she drove through the neighborhood. She parked the car in front of the house and got out.
"What are you doing here chica, you lost?"
"I'm not lost, I heard you were looking for new members."
"Oh yeah. Where did you hear that?"
"Peter Lopez, I heard his brother is part of this crew."
"How you know Peter?" A guy that looked a lot like Peter asked.
"From around, we surf together."
"Well if Peter send you, you must be okay," Marisa heard a guy calling and he stepped closer. "What's your name chica?"
"Anna Gonzalez."
"Well Anna, what makes you thinks you can join our family?"
"I know the streets and I hate cops. They killed my mom the other day and they won't do a damn thing about it. They said they couldn't find the killer that she was just in the wrong place at the wrong time."
"If you help us first, we'll help you look for your mother's killer."
"What do you want me to do?"
"I want you to finish what we started this morning."
"And that is?"
"You watched the news this morning, the naval recruitment center shooting?"
"Yes I saw that. That was you guys?"
"Si, but we didn't get the one that we wanted. I want you to go to the hospital and finished the job."