Turn of Events

Office of Special Projects

Callen and Sam entered the mission ready for an update from Hetty, Granger and Eric.

"The case has been handed over to the CIA." Granger greeted them with the news, placing both agents in surprise and causing them to become frustrated.

"You've what?" Callen's cerulean eyes bore through Granger's brown ones, as anger bubbled below the surface.

"This is from an old CIA case, Agent Callen." Owen Granger stood his ground. "They can handle the Zivkovichs in Serbia far better than our own agency."

"That's crap and you know it. The fact that my father has spent almost forty years hiding from them and my mother was left to die on a beach in Romania, is all because the CIA did diddly-squat and they don't care about the threat this terrorist group have on my family. We mean nothing to them, just casualties of war." Callen's jaw clenched and hands fisted by his side, as he tried to rein in his anger towards their Assistant Director. He turned to the woman who meant the world to him. "Hetty?"

Hetty stood stoic in her place, seeing the plea in Callen's eyes tore at her heart, but she had tried with all that she had to fight Owen on this one and lost. "I am sorry, Mr Summers. There is nothing I can do for you on this one." She bowed her head and returned to her office, wishing she could do something to help her boy.

"There must be something we can do?" Sam stepped forward in his approach to their senior leader.

"I'm sorry, gentlemen, but with two agents down, there is no other choice."

"Sam and I can go to assist." Callen would not let this go, not yet anyway.

Owen Granger shook his head. "Go and spend time with your father and daughter, Agent Callen. Take some time off, you've accrued enough for a few months vacation as it is."

Callen crossed his arms over his chest and narrowed his eyes. "He told you not to let me go, didn't he?"

Owen met Callen with softer eyes than he'd had earlier. "I promised him that I wouldn't let you do anything stupid."

"Since when doing my job is anything stupid?" Callen's voice raised in pitch, annoyed over decisions being made without him.

Owen stepped closer, forcing close contact with the younger man. "This is personal for you, Matthew." He hoped using the agent's real name might help bring him around to capitulate on this subject. "There will be no going off the reservation on this one. You are to head over to the safety house and get to know John and Emily. You have too many years lost, don't waste this chance."

Callen was taken aback by Granger's soft approach with him. He furrowed his brow, trying to work the man out. He studied him, searching for something in his eyes to reveal the man before him.

Owen saw him searching, he too had walls built up around him but he couldn't just let them down. He saw the pleading in Callen's eyes, he knew it was what the younger man needed from him, but he couldn't. If he walked away now, he'd escape revealing something to him, but he knew it would only frustrate him more and they'd collide heads once again. He was stuck between a rock and a hard place.

Sam worried that there'd be a fight between the two men before him and he knew it wouldn't end well for either man. They were as stubborn as the other, which in this case was to no one's benefit. "Let's go, G." He tried to remove his partner from the close contact with their Assistant Director.

"No, Sam. I'm waiting on Granger to explain himself." Callen remained focused on Owen, although his anger had dissipated. He knew he was hiding something. He needed answers and seeing his resolve in ending the Serbians had been taken from him by Granger, he wanted the third in charge of their agency to explain why promising to his father meant so much to him.