Operation Formosa

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

Chapter 10

Days blurred into each other and soon a few weeks had passed by. Callen looked on in despair as he watched Bronte become skin and bone, hardly eating and the bags under her eyes deepened. He'd had enough of what the Formosa case was doing to her, whether she knew the truth or not. He'd had enough watching her destroy herself from the inside. He called around to see Mick who was still on leave after a year of back to back operations, to spend the time with his family.

"I'm worried about Bronte, Mick. She's not sleeping, hardly eating and she looks like death warmed up."

Mick sighed and shook his head. "It's my fault, Callen. I should have been honest with her from the beginning. But I couldn't. If you had seen the state I found her in after I rescued her from Adán fifteen years ago, you would see why I chose to keep it from her. But I never thought that the Columbian would go in search for her and his son. After Joshua died, she was a mess and when she transferred to New York, I thought she'd be safe there. Far away from where she'd been kidnapped and drugged."

He couldn't go on to talk about what else she had gone through. The memories of that day remained ingrained into his mind like it happened yesterday. "I never envisioned that he would find her in New York and kill Greg and Carrie. I was in shock and yet I still found myself lying to her. Agreeing with everyone else that he'd been burned from his undercover op within the cartel. That's why it was so important for me to go undercover to stop them from bringing the drugs into our country. I needed to do something. I felt so helpless."

Callen placed his hand on Mick's shoulder for comfort. "I know. I would have done the same thing in your position. But keeping it from her is not helping her anymore. We need to do something to help her."

"I'll talk to Gibbs. He might know what to do."

That night, Bronte screamed out in her sleep. It was another restless one, but this one was a nightmare. She was in a dark alley with her gun at the ready and she had been separated from her partner, Mick. She felt a hand over her mouth and a needle pierce the skin in her neck. Everything went blank until she found herself tied up in a dark room. The air was musky and thick and her hands were tied up to a post. She tried to free her hands but it was no good. She was on something soft, but it smelt horrid. She felt nauseas as she realised that she was held prisoner.

She thrashed in the bed from fear. Her nightmare felt so very real to her and sweat beaded along her brow and her body. Callen tried to soothe her out of the nightmare without any luck.

She heard footsteps come closer and for the first time since waking up, she realised that she wasn't alone in the room. The man's face looked evil, his dark brown eyes stared into her own eyes and fear for her life made her scream. He laughed at her fear and placed his hand over her mouth to muffle it. He sat down on the bed beside her and gently guided his hand up the inside of her leg. She moved in protest as he grabbed her crotch hard. Pain surged through her body as she tried to scream out for help. He went gentle again, causing confusion from her.

Callen watched on in frustration as Bronte screamed a horrid shrill out of her mouth and fought him off her. Her breathing became rapid and her body dripped with sweat as she continued to be trapped in her dream. He dialled his cell and asked for Mick to come over immediately. Mick had more experience with dealing with Bronte, this was a whole new situation he'd found himself in with her. He couldn't ring Hetty, she was still on strict rest from stress, orders from the doctor.

Bronte's stomach churned as she felt helpless from what this man was doing to her. Touching her in places no man should unless she permitted it. The man smiled and sucked hard on her nipple, causing sensations that she shouldn't have been feeling. This was wrong. So very wrong. He had control over her body where she did not and it scared her even more than being held captive by him. She sat up panting, her breathing remained quick as the adrenalin continued to surge through her body after she had escaped the nightmare. She looked like a wild cat as she stared at a worried Callen.

"It's okay, Bron. You're safe." He tried to soothe her by rubbing his hands up and down her arms, but she was in such a state, her eyes were wild and her pupils enlarged. Her body shook as she tried to calm down from the nightmare. It felt so very real to her that it freaked her out. The sensations the fear, the man's eyes. She shook her head as she realised who the man had been. Adán Formosa.

A knock at the door caught Callen's attention, giving her the opportunity to escape and she locked herself in the bathroom. When Callen returned with Mick, they sighed and looked over at each other with worry for her knowing that she had locked them out. But they waited like she knew that they would. There was a lot of goodness in both men that had drawn her to them in the first place. Neither man would hurt her and they would risk their lives to protect her. She knew that already, yet it frustrated her that they had hidden something from her. She knew now that Callen had been told by Mick exactly what it was that Mick had been protecting her from for all of those years.

Tears poured down her face as she remembered the horror that her brain had shut out fifteen years earlier. "Oh Joshua. You were so very much loved. You were our angel. A light in our dark world." The reality of truth hit her with a bang. Her precious son had been the result of evil, not love. She took in a ragged breath as she realised the lengths that Mick had gone to, to protect her. She remembered it all now. How Mick had rescued her, although she was not in a fit state to respond to him. She had been drugged when Adán had finished his sessions with her. It kept her quiet until he was ready to taunt her again. She choked on a sob that escaped her mouth and when Callen unpicked the lock, they found her curled up in a ball, rocking herself and crying. He wrapped his arms around her and tried to soothe her. He picked her up and carried her back to the bed and pulled the quilt over her body.

Callen left Mick to sit with her, while he prepared for a new day. Michael had woken from hearing Bronte's screams but he had managed to keep him out of the bedroom. Max was worried and refused to eat his breakfast when he saw the look of worry in both of their eyes. Callen caught his attention and signed to him. "If you don't eat, whose going to be strong for your Mom?"

Max looked in the direction of the bedroom before capitulating and ate his breakfast. He understood what Callen was getting at. While his mom was unwell, the rest of them needed to look after themselves so they could be strong for her.

Callen not only worried about Bronte, but the effects her downward spiral was having on her son, Max. He was a great kid, who'd watched her deteriorate in recent weeks and he had tried his best to pull her out of it. But this nightmare that had held her under this morning had him worried. He'd called Nate for help and he'd promised to be there in a few days. But the situation hadn't become worse and he daren't leave her alone in the house. He had work to do, they both did, but she was far from doing her job. Hetty had returned on a temporary basis after admitting to him a week before that she had resigned and Bronte had been awarded the position full time. She'd passed her psych evaluation, but that was before Mick and Melissa had been kidnapped. It was the event that had made her snap. Something that not even the death of Greg and Carrie had achieved. It had something to do with Mick, Callen realised, which is why he allowed him to sit with her. He knew her much better than most and he prayed that he could be of some form of help.

Callen dropped the boys off at Ron and Andrea's and was so thankful to have them help them out, especially with Bronte being in the state that she was in. She needed help and to talk to someone, but getting her there was going to be a challenge. Nate couldn't get there in time, so he'd recommended a woman who was good helping agents to deal with difficult situations they faced in their line of work. Fiona Carter was a woman in her forties with two sons. She'd worked in the field of psychology for twenty years and was well respected amongst her peers. As a favour for Nate, she'd found a slot to fit Bronte in.

Callen talked to Bronte like he did any normal morning, but her attention remained elsewhere until she noticed the change in direction. At first she wondered if it was just another detour, so they wouldn't be followed, until Callen pulled into a multi storey car park in downtown Los Angeles. She hesitated on why they were there and eventually he admitted the truth. "You need to talk to someone, Bron. We're all so worried about you. I can't watch you kill yourself. I love you too much for that. Please, Bron. If not for yourself, for Max and for me."

Bronte was too exhausted to fight and allowed him to lead her towards the elevator. She remained quiet up to the twentieth floor, where they exited and walked down a corridor to a suite. When Callen opened the door, he held it opened and his heart sank when he watched Bronte, a mere shell of herself walk in and sit down. He walked over to the receptionist and told her that Bronte was there to see Dr Carter, before joining her in the waiting room.

Within five minutes, Fiona Carter exited and walked straight over to Bronte. She saw the worry in Callen's eyes and she knew why Nate had asked her to fit her in. "Hello, Bronte. I'm Fiona Carter. Let's go into my office for some tea."

Callen sat back and watched the two women walk away and looked at his watch. It was just after eight in the morning and he wondered how long she would be in there. He picked up a magazine and flipped through the pages before discarding it and picking up another. After an hour and a half, the door opened and Fiona walked over to him.

"Mr Callen. Please come with me." He followed her into another room and closed the door behind them. "I need to speak with you alone. Bronte's been talking, which is a really good sign. But there are things that are confusing her and I need clarification if she is really remembering something that has actually happened or if it's a distortion of the truth."

Callen furrowed his brow, his heart pounded in his chest as Fiona played the recording of some of what Bronte had told her. His hands fisted in his lap and tears welled up in his eyes as he listened to Bronte describe in great detail her time in captivity with Adán Formosa. He quickly wiped the tears away and looked at the doctor. "She's remembered." He rubbed his hand over his face and was at a lost of what to do next.

"So it's true then. That she was taken captive and this man she mentions, did all of those things to her."

Callen nodded."I didn't know her back then, but her best friend, her old partner, Mick, he knows all about it. We had a difficult case a few weeks back, Mick and his wife were abducted. We were trying to solve who had taken them and it was then I realised how similar Mick's wife and Bronte looked. It was then that we discovered that she had a child with Mick, but he became sick with leukaemia at one and at eighteen months he died. Only to find out by another colleague who had been told by Mick, what really had happened. Their son was a result of her time in captivity. She had no memory of this time. Mick thought it was best to protect her and pretend that the child was his. Then he died and she asked for a transfer, to get away from the memories of their son. She moved to New York where she met Greg and they married. They had two children together. Carrie was ten when she was gunned down along with her father by this man who," the emotions of the whole events was too much for Callen. He needed a breather. There was so much to tell this doctor, in hope that she might be able to help Bronte heal from this. He stood up and walked over to the window and watched the goings on below at street level. When he turned around, he saw Bronte standing in the doorway.

"I needed to know if it was true," she stepped forward. "This was the only way to confirm if I was going mad, or," Callen moved the rest of the way over to her and wrapped his arms around her. He kissed her on the forehead and shed some more tears.

"I love you, Bron. I want to help you. Show me how I can do this." He looked down at her and watched her nod.

"You just did. I knew that Mick had told you. The way you and Mick tried to hide what had happened that day when you rescued them. I had seen it in his eyes before. On two previous occasions. The only thing I didn't understand was why he had that look back when we were partners in San Francisco. But then the nightmare I had this morning. It felt so real. I could feel everything that he did to me. It was then I realised what had happened and why Mick tried to protect me."

Tears poured down her cheeks as she tried to rein in her emotions. "That's why he killed Greg and Carrie, isn't it? Because of me."

It broke Callen's heart to see her like this, but not telling her was doing more damage than to be honest with her.

"Mick seems to think so. He had all the evidence against him in a locked file. When they went missing, not even Eric could get into it. We managed to find out that Gibbs had access to it and when he arrived in L.A. to help find Mick and Melissa, I tried to get him to open it up." He wiped her tears from her eyes and kissed her on the lips. "Gibbs only showed me, only the three of us know what really happened that day. But he took Melissa, because the men he hired thought she was you. But he knew they had taken the wrong woman. He wanted you to find your son." It was difficult for him to tell her this, but he saw in her eyes that she knew the truth now.

"Mick told him that he'd died and he then became determined to get hold of you. Mick tricked him and called me instead of you. Mick was supposed to trade you for Melissa. If you didn't come, he was going to take Melissa back to Columbia with him. We came up with a plan and took him and his two goons down. His goons were arrested but Sam killed him. No one else knows why he was after you. They all think it's because of him wanting to get to Max from witnessing the shooting in New York." He led her to sit down and take it all in. He watched her process the information as she furrowed her brow and had that far away look in her eyes.

When she was finished she returned to him and looked him directly into his eyes. "Thank you, G. For being honest with me." She stood up and paced the floor. She looked over at the doctor, who had become a fly on the wall for the most part. "Thank you, Dr Carter. I didn't realise just how much I needed that."

Fiona Carter leaned forward in her seat. "What are you going to do now?" She was impressed on how well Callen and Bronte related with each other and that he was honest with her. That was the most important factor in all of this. She needed to know the truth. Searching for the truth had led her on this downward spiral.

Bronte shrugged. "I don't know. Hug Mick for being the best friend anyone could ask for, for starters. Then Sam for killing this monster. I suppose I need to talk some more. A great deal more. I've locked away the pain from losing Joshua for a long time ago, but this has pulled it all back to the surface. And now that the memories have returned, I need to deal with them too."

Fiona gave her a warm smile. "You're a wise woman, Bronte. Many of my patients spend many months sitting in the chair wondering why they're here before they come to that kind of conclusion."

"I must get that from my mother." Bronte's hand went over her mouth. "I have to tell her. I can't hide this from her. Not now that I remember. She'll go crazy trying to work out what's happened to me." She shook her head and went back to pacing. "But I can't. She's not allowed the stress."

Callen stood and walked over to her. He held her shoulders in both hands. "Bronte. She can deal with this. Watching you fall away like you have for the past few weeks has affected her more than hearing the truth will. Seeing you deal with this will give her the peace of mind." It was the truth, it helped him a little, seeing her accept the truth like she had. He knew the nightmares will remain for a while until her brain has completed processing it all.

Bronte looked up into his cerulean orbs and nodded. She knew that Callen was right. It was better to be honest with her mother and with herself.