Operation Formosa

Disclaimer: NCISLA characters belong to Shane Brennan. All original characters and this story are mine.

Chapter 6

Callen settled Bronte and the children into the safe house not too far from the mission. It was a Californian style house, painted blue with white trimmings and a gorgeous front verandah with a view over a secluded garden. Hetty had chosen well on this particular property. No eyes from the road could see into the front garden and the agents and parties who they were protecting could at least sit out on the verandah and relax. The rear garden had a gate through to an alley way for a quick get away if the need arose, with security cameras fitted for extra security. The garden had been tended to recently. It was neat and weeded, ready for the coming winter. A large tree sat in the middle of the garden and had turned a golden colour, it's leaves had begun to drop and scatter on the lawn underneath it. The property had a tranquil feel about the place and he hoped it soothed Bronte and the children. There was a swing out back tied under a large oak, its leaves had also changed to an amber colour. As he looked around the house for a bed for Thomas, he was pleased to see that Hetty had well equipped the house with a portacot and high chair, which had been folded away in a closet. He pulled them out and set them up in the smallest bedroom. He also found some soft toys in a box, high up in the cupboard and brought them out for Thomas to play with. He had no idea what a one year old needed and was thankful that Bronte did.

He found Bronte on the swinging chair, at the far end of the front verandah. Thomas sat on her lap and she had Max and Ella sitting either side of her, eager for her to rock the seat even further. The smiles on their faces made him realise just how resilient children could be, but he also knew how too much bad stuff destroyed a child's emotional well being. For now, Max and Ella appeared to be enjoying themselves, that in itself was a relief. He was more concerned over how clingy Thomas was of Bronte, who showed no sign of placing him on the mat, which he'd laid out in front of her. He stepped forward.

"Would Thomas like to play on the mat?" The boy buried his head into Bronte's chest, but Callen had a trick up his sleeve. Well in this case, behind his back. He pulled out a soft honey coloured bear that had caught his attention in the box he'd found. It had a blue ribbon tied around his neck and looked perfect for a one year old boy. He pulled it out from behind him and brought him closer to Tommy. He'd had fun playing this game with Sam's daughter, Kamran, many times over the years and it always ended up with her in giggles.

"Hello, Tommy. My name is Bluey. I love lots of cuddles and I love to be squished and taken on lots of adventures." Callen put on a funny voice, like he'd done in the past with Kamran and no sooner had he begun, Tommy had turned and pulled his hands out to grab Bluey. The boy squished him tight into his arms and giggled at Callen's funny voice. He slid down from Bronte's lap and started talking to the bear, as his tiny feet carried him in a wobbly way towards the mat. He sat down with the teddy and interacted with the bear and the other toys on the mat. There was a fire truck, airplane and lots of small cars for him to play with. It was really sweet when Callen knelt down and brought a train onto the mat. The boy's eyes almost popped out of his head when he saw him.

"Thomas." The blue train with a smiley face went chugga, chugga, choo choo along the mat as the boy played with his favourite train, the one that shared his name.

Bronte looked over at Callen with tears in her eyes. "Well I never thought I would ever see the day when I saw you playing with a one year old." She'd watched him build a relationship with his son, Michael, and her son, Max, over the past five months with pride. She tried hard and she could see the time he'd spent with Sam's daughter had paid off. But she never expected to see this side of him, interacting with a one year old boy whom he'd never met before. It took her breath away and she found herself pondering, what if they had a child? She shook the thought from her head, there was no way it would happen. Not now. She wasn't sure if she could go through bringing another child into the world and have them torn from her. She'd lost two already and the one she had, was still in danger.

"Oh, there's a lot you haven't seen yet." He stood up and started walking towards them with his hands out front, wiggling his fingers. "I am a zombie. A tickling zombie." He spoke like a robot and caught Ella and Max's attention. Ella screamed in delight as she and Max slid off the seat and ran to the other end of the verandah. They ran down the steps and into the front garden as Callen turned and headed in their direction. Bronte sat there laughing and loved the distraction from what the day had brought them. She wished Michael was there right now with them and could see this side of his father. But she needn't have wished, as Sam pulled up with Michael right at that moment and caught Callen in the act. "I'm glad you're here," she told Sam and Michael. "He's been great with Tommy and the other two. I've never seen him like this."

Sam chuckled. "You'll be surprised. He's had many years practising with Kamran." He turned to Michael. "You want to tackle your Dad?"

Michael looked over at Sam and a familiar smirk graced his lips. "Oh yeah."

Michael ran over to where the others were trying to escape the tickling Zombie and he attacked his father by jumping on his back. "Mighty Mike is here to save you."

Callen held onto his son and swung him around as he tried to free himself of the superhero that had come to rescue Ella and Max. Ella squealed with delight and Max laughed in his own way, as they watched Michael wrestle with his dad. Eventually Callen freed himself of his son and had him lying on the soft grass and tickled him. Michael wriggled and laughed as Max and Ella came to his rescue and tickled Callen. "Aaah. I'm being attacked on all sides."

Callen laughed as he was tickled and found himself wriggling out of their reach as much as Michael was from him. Eventually he escaped them and found himself out of breath. He ran over to Bronte and Sam, who stood on the verandah. "Wow, I never realised how exhausting being a father was."

Sam laid his hand on his shoulder. "Welcome to parenthood."

Although Callen had five months of being a father to Michael and a substitute father to Max, this was the first time Callen blossomed in the role. Perhaps it was the house and gardens that had the effect on Callen, or the need to make the Nassir children feel more at ease in the unfamiliar surroundings without their parents. But whatever it was, it was a great distraction for what was going on around them.

Callen's smile broadened and he headed off chasing the three children again, enjoying the moment.

Hetty noticed a text on her cell and furrowed her brow as she read it. Why is Bronte asking me to meet me at this safe house? She grabbed her keys and started her jag, heading for their location. As she pulled up she was sure that she could hear kids laughing and Callen's voice, but it was in a funny tone. A smile appeared on her face as she entered the enclosed front garden and found her daughter and Sam laughing at the shenanigans of Callen's with three children. She narrowed her eyes confused as to why Ella was with Max and Michael. Then she saw Thomas, but no sign of Melissa and she looked towards her daughter with a questioning look. "Well this is a surprise, my dear. I never expected to find kids squealing at this location."

Bronte leaned over and hugged her mother. "Hi, Mom. Callen's been great keeping the kids distracted. Whoever thought that he was the class clown? Now Deeks I could understand, but G?" She laughed again as the kids started shoving leaves down Callen's shirt. He grabbed some too and started to do the same to them. It was an all out leaf fight and the kids were having a blast. Callen too from the look on his face. His eyes sparkled and Bronte was determined to see more of this side of Callen in the future.

Hetty turned around and watched on, amused. But the reason for them being at the safe house caused Hetty concern. She heard Thomas babbling behind them and she went to see what he was doing. She smiled when she saw him playing with the teddy bear, one which she had recognised from the collection that she had stored in a box. He was telling the bear that they were going to see Thomas the Tank Engine. "Hello, Thomas."

Thomas' face brightened when he saw her. "Hetty!" He lifted his hands up into the air for her to pick him up.

"Wow, look at you, young man. You're growing bigger everyday."

He held onto Bluey as she lifted him up and he showed her the bear. "Bluey." He told her.

"That's a good name for him. It goes with his ribbon."

The boy pointed to Callen and she understood that he was telling her that he had given him the bear.

"Did Callen give you the bear, Thomas?"

He nodded and cuddled it in his arms.

"Where's your Mommy?"

The boy shook his head and buried himself in her shoulder.

Bronte watched on sadly when she heard her mother ask him about Melissa. The guilt that she felt about what had happened to her and Mick returned in an instant. "Mom." She stepped forward. "Sam will fill you in. I need to change his nappy and feed him."

Hetty nodded and handed the boy over to her. She watched Bronte enter the house before joining Sam on the steps. "What's going on, Sam?"

Sam's face darkened from being brought back to the realities of the day. "How well do you know Agent Michael Nassir and his wife, Melissa?"

Hetty looked over at Callen and the children as she answered him. "Very well." She turned and faced her agent. "Tell me, Sam, what's happened? I can see it in Bronte's eyes, she can't tell me."

"They were abducted from their home early this morning. If it wasn't for Bronte, we wouldn't have known about Ella. She was hiding in the closet. LAPD received a call from neighbours who'd heard Melissa screaming for help. They found Thomas crying in his cot." Fear for Mick and Melissa grew within Hetty's gut.

"Bronte told us that he's just returned from a four month deep undercover operation dealing with the Formosa Cartel using our ships to bring in cocaine."

Hetty drew in a ragged breath and stood up. Her legs betrayed her and shook. Sam quickly rose and grabbed her arm to steady her. "Thank you, Sam. It's just a shock. I had no idea that was where Mick was for the past four months." She shook her head.

"No wonder why Bronte can't talk about it."

"She saw Mick in D.C. Director Vance updated her on the operation, thought that she would like to know after what happened in New York."

Hetty turned and faced him. "Mick should not have gone on that operation. He's too close to it."

"How close, Hetty? Bronte never mentioned her history with Mick, until Kensi and Deeks found the photos that Mick had kept of them and Joshua."

Hetty furrowed her brow and shook her head. "It was a difficult time for them both, to watch their son deteriorate and there was nothing that either of them could do for him."

She was known for being so good at hiding her emotions, but talking about Joshua had her fragile at the edges. Tears welled up in her eyes and her voice quavered.

"I've known Mick for as long as Bronte and he have been best friends. They did everything together. But after losing Joshua, Bronte couldn't deal with the pain and transferred back east. Then she met Greg and she began to heal somewhat. But I think she really locked the pain away. In time she started being in contact with Mick again, although they were now living on the opposite sides of the country. But whenever they could they would Skype and visit each other. Mick had met Melissa by then and the two families became close, especially after Ella was born. They both had moved on, married with a kid at least. Then when Greg and Carrie were killed, it was Mick who dropped everything to be at her side. He was her strength, when no one else could be."

"We've heard he went undercover for Bronte. To give her the justice that she deserved for them."

"I told him that he shouldn't have gone."

Bronte stepped out onto the verandah and heard the last part of their conversation. "I became so angry with him. But he couldn't see how dangerous it was dealing with this cartel. And now they've been taken because of me."

Sam gave her a quizzical look. "What do you mean, because of you, Bronte? You're here because of Max. They are trying to get to him."

Bronte shook her head. "I thought that too, until Callen pointed out to me just how similar Melissa is to me. Anyone who didn't know us, might get us mixed up. I see it now. She's in danger because they thought she was me."

"Why you, when you weren't involved in the Formosa case, nor at the park that day?" Sam was trying to put the pieces together, whilst his partner continued to distract the children.

Bronte shook her head. "I don't know why. I keep trying to understand all of this myself. If Mick's true identity was burned on the ship and he was followed home, the only thing I could think of was that it was someone from our past on the USS Arlington. But there's no one from our time on the ship that would want to cause us any harm. The only link to his abduction is the case he was working on."

"But none of the other agents onboard the Arlington or the other ships have had any attempts to abduct them or harm them since they've returned home."

Bronte looked puzzled.

"You really don't know why, do you?" Sam could see that Bronte was just as puzzled about this case as they were.

"No, I don't. If they were after me, I have no idea why. I wasn't on that operation and I haven't come in contact with any of them. If it's to get to Max, why, when they spared him at the time? None of these reasonings make any sense."

"Nell and Eric are looking into all angles. If there's a reason, they'll find it." Bronte nodded and headed back inside to check that Thomas had fallen asleep. She worried over her friends and what would happen to their children if they didn't find them in time.