Washington D.C.
Leon Vance held his fist ready to knock on the door. He paused as he thought 'why bother'. It was unlocked and the owner would most probably be down in his basement anyway. He turned the knob and entered the darkened house. A small table lamp lit the entry, enabling him to see his way to the door which led down to the basement. Slowly he opened the door and saw his agent working on something at his workbench.
Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs lifted his head as he heard the footsteps on the stairs. He looked through his glasses, surprised to see his boss arrive. "Leon. I wasn't expecting to see you for a few days. Did you even go to Los Angeles?"
Leon continued the last few metres and sat on an empty wooden stool. "Me neither, but a pressing issue has brought me back here sooner than I expected."
Gibbs was a patient man, he continued staining the small wooden toy truck he had in his hand, ready for it's new owner.
Leon knew Gibbs wasn't being rude, it was just how he was. Keeping his hands busy, while he listened. "How well do you know Agent Callen?" Although he knew the two men had worked together in the past, there was no record of any friendship outside of their joint operations.
Gibbs stopped and looked at his boss. He placed the truck onto the bench and emptied two jars of nails and poured some bourbon into them. "Drink this and then I will tell you."
Leon raised his brows as he obeyed him.
"First of all, you need to tell me what this pressing matter that sent you on an urgent mission to Los Angeles and what this has to do with Callen," Gibbs demanded.
Leon sighed as he gulped the burning liquid down his throat. "The SecNav has been hounded by someone in the CIA about two former CIA operatives who are now quite high up in NCIS. They told Sarah Porter that they have been aiding a rogue CIA agent and protecting Callen."
Gibbs furrowed his brow over the news. "Who are they referring to, Leon? Whose the supposed rogue CIA agent? And what's Callen got to do with all of this?" His hands moved back to the truck he was working on. A second sat beside it, completed. He knew the recipients would be excited to to receive them when he visits them next. He was always turning up with some new toy he made out of wood. His favourite was a treehouse he built alongside the boys' father and grandfather.
"A Nathan Rede. He went rogue along with Callen's mother back in the mid 1960's. Both agents went underground, Clara re-emerged ten years later in 1975, pleading for help to get out of Romania with her two children. Her body was found on a Constanta beach. Her children were never found until Callen resurfaced as a federal agent many years later. Rumour has it, this Nathan Rede is Callen's father. It is said that Henrietta Lange and Owen Granger have aided Rede in hiding, and kept Callen and his sister hidden from the agency over the years." Leon hated to go into all of this information, especially after talking with Hetty. But it was necessary for him to seek where Callen was from Gibbs, so he could keep them safe from the CIA.
"Why would someone in the CIA, after how many years...forty-nine years care what happened to some former CIA operative? If he was twenty back in 1965, he'd be almost seventy by now. And you can clearly see in Callen's record he has no family, not even a first name. Surely you're not seriously looking into this, Leon?" Gibbs almost scoffed over the allegations. Why would anyone care after all that length of time. What concerned Gibbs, was that after all of this time someone was still after Callen's father.
"I have tried to find out who this source in the CIA is, but so far all I have is what Hetty has told me," Leon admitted.
"If someone is out to get this Rede guy, then you hunting him down may do more harm than good. What if this someone has planted the intel to let someone else lead them to him? This sounds just like the Reynosa Cartel all over again, Leon. Tread very carefully before you aide the enemy here. Callen, Hetty and Owen are our people. We look after our own, unless that's changed with the new SecNav. What's Sarah's take on this?"
Leon poured another drink and quickly swallowed it, which received a raised brow from Gibbs. "Sarah's asked me to quietly find out the truth. She doesn't believe the rumour that's reached her ears. She trusts I run a tight ship and that I will find out the truth."
Gibbs nodded, pleased to hear Sarah was on their side.
"I've also talked with Hetty and I got the low down from her over it. You needn't be concerned, Gibbs. I am on their side. I know that Hetty and Owen have worked hard to keep Callen and his sister safe from becoming CIA assets after Clara was killed. Unfortunately, Amy died when she was eleven." Leon noticed Gibbs remained quiet. He focused solely on the wooden truck. "Gibbs?"
Gibbs paused on what he was doing, before he turned to face Vance again. "Whose side are you on, Leon? Callen's or the Agency's?" It was what they called the CIA.
"Always for one of our own, Gibbs. Haven't I proven that to you enough yet?" Gibbs knew he referred to the whole Reynosa situation.
"Yes you have, Leon." Gibbs continued staining it to match it's pair.
"So tell me, Gibbs, how well do you know Callen?" Gibbs worked the stain into the grain of the wood and smiled.
"Ready for a road trip?" Gibbs placed the brush down satisfied he had completed the task at hand. He looked at Leon's suit. "You'll need to change. That suit won't make you blend in where we're going."
"Stillwater?" Leon wondered if this had anything to do with the town Gibbs grew up in.
"Much further than that. Whose looking after Kayla and Jared?" Gibbs placed the trucks into a box, alongside a dollhouse.
"My parents, why?" Leon was curious to the questions and what Gibbs was going to do with the wooden toys in the box.
"Go home pack for a road trip, get changed into something more relaxing and collect your kids. We're going on a road trip. But if anyone asks, you tell them you're having some much needed time with your kids." Gibbs climbed the stairs with the box in his hands.
"What if Sarah asks?" Leon wasn't much of a patient man like Gibbs was, but he knew by experience Gibbs was more of a man of action than words. And he wouldn't be wasting his time with anything unimportant.
"Tell her you've inquired, but no one knows what this source in the CIA is talking about." Gibbs grabbed his keys and a go bag from his downstairs closet, throwing it over his shoulders. He walked out the front door and waited for Leon to follow.
Los Angeles
Henrietta Lange pulled her 32 and aimed it at the man who hovered over her. "I don't like being set upon by people on our side. It's bad enough having enemies from a career that extends as long as mine. But now I'm being hunted by the CIA?"
The man dropped his weapon, knowing the reputation of the petite woman before him was not to be messed with. "How did you know I was there?" Michael inquired of her.
Hetty urged him to move towards the armchair that sat by a large window in her observatory. "How did you know to find me here?" She replied with a question of her own.
"I followed you from the boat shed," he admitted.
"You're still as good as you were 49 years ago. Stealth in your movements without being traced. Now why are you here looking for me armed?" She pressed him for information. She needed to get to the bottom of this fast.
"I needed to ensure I was protected from you." Hetty continued to stare at him, making him uncomfortable under her gorgon stare. "Okay! I needed to make sure I could make you talk. To tell me what I need to know."
"But instead you've not listened to your own instincts that you would not succeed in doing so anyhow. Instead you are at my mercy and now you will tell me why you are here and who sent you?"
Michael swallowed hard as he stared down the barrel of Hetty's 32. "Barnaby is out to cause trouble for you and Owen. He wants Nathan."
"Huh! I should have known Barnaby would be behind this. Why now after so long?" Hetty sat in the armchair opposite Michael and kept her weapon on her intruder. She would have to sell this house now, it would never be safe for her to sleep here again.
"He was peeved when Nathan went rogue back in the sixties and took Clara with him. He blames him for her death," Michael revealed. His eyes never left the threat of the weapon that remained firm in Hetty's hand. "Would you mind?" He pointed his head to the gun. "You are making me nervous holding that gun at me."
"That is the whole point ,Michael." Hetty relaxed, realising Michael was never a threat to her. Even with her 32 resting on her lap, she was a far sharper shooter that he ever was.
"Thanks." He relaxed a little.
"Now why would Barnaby care about what happened to Clara and why would he blame Nathan?" Hetty continued back to her interrogation of her former colleague.
"He was in love with her."
Hetty raised her brow at this news. She never knew.
"He became angry with a jealous rage over Nathan moving in on his woman. He tried to discredit him by saying he had gone rogue. When the CIA couldn't find them after almost ten years, he sent intel to the KGB about his alias to get him out of the picture."
Now it all made sense to Hetty. "But it all went wrong didn't it?"
Michael nodded. "After Owen found Clara dead on the beach, Barnaby went crazy, vowing to seek revenge on Nathan. The problem was, that after Nathan was captured by the KGB, Barnaby had no way of getting close to him to kill him. He sought him out years later, only to find he escaped from prison. He vanished off the face of the earth. Barnaby has lost his patience. He wants revenge, but he's had no way of finding him, until a young agent arrived at the agency...."
"Callen."
Michel nodded. "He looked so much like Clara's father, Barnaby knew there and then that he was Clara's son. But his file said he had no family and no memory of ever having one or his name. Barnaby couldn't do anything about it. He tried to get close to Callen, but he was always suspicious and closed up. He even sent Tracy Rossetti in to fall in love with him and find out what he knew. Either the kid really didn't know anything, or he was as good as his mother in pretending to not know anything." Michael saw anger in Hetty's eyes over the mention of Tracy Rossetti. "You've met Rossetti?"
"Not personally, but I know what she did to Callen. How she chose the mission over him. Let's just say Callen is really good at reading people." She revealed just a little to satisfy the man before her. She had managed to send an agent in distress signal out to her team and hoped Eric, Nell, Kensi and Deeks would be able to help her out. She hated the fact that Callen, Sam and Owen were off the grid. But considering the circumstances around Callen's father, it was probably best that Callen and Owen weren't around to be found by Barnaby. If Callen knew about any of this, he'd be back in a flash with a gun to Barnaby's head. But what concerned her the most was the effect this would have on her team. Especially considering who Barnaby was. She had managed so far to keep his identity a secret, as she had never trusted the man. But it was his niece that had her intrigued over. Her skills were useful and she had acquired her to work on their team as their Intelligence Analyst. She had mentored Nell Jones, working closely with her to ensure her uncle had no idea that she was working for her. She was pleased that Nell told her parents that she worked at a television station. The risk of Barnaby Jones ever finding out that Nell worked for her was too high, and that was before finding out about this latest bit of information. Callen and his father's lives would have been at risk if he had found out. The fact that Barnaby had sent Michael to find her, assured her that he believed the lie Nell had left in place. She smiled at that knowledge which puzzled Michael greatly and put him on edge. She also knew that if Callen knew who Nell was, that all trust he had in the young woman would dissipate within seconds.
"Why are you smiling?" He moved to the edge of his seat, ready to bolt.
"Does my smiling make you feel uncomfortable, Michael? Cannot I smile at seeing an old colleague, whom I haven't seen in a very long time?" She taunted him and he knew it. Although they were former colleagues, Michael had never been close to her. "Now with regards to why you are here." She returned to the topic at hand. "I was never one to be close with Nathan nor know anything about his personal life. Nor have I been privy to know anything about Agent Callen's life, other than what is in his file. Yes, I was a friend of his mother's but that has been all. Now if you excuse me, I have work to do."
Hetty stood and walked away, when Michael pulled out a second weapon from his leg holster and aimed it at her. "I'm not finished with you yet, Henrietta." His voice quavered, revealing his weakness in comparison to her. But Hetty was never concerned. She chose to leave Michael open to act freely once she had seen her junior members of her team arrive and were now standing behind him with their weapons drawn.
"Federal Agents." Deeks was the one to first speak. "Drop your weapon."
Michael obeyed and turned to face them. He shook his head at his stupidity for realising Hetty was far more intelligent that what he gave her credit for. He placed his hands above his head and allowed himself to be cuffed and led away.
Hetty nodded to her agents as they took Michael Lancroff off to the boat shed for interrogation. She sighed. Michael's presence would cause problems she had worked hard to avoid. It was time she sat down with Nell and explained a few things with her, to give her the choice to leave the team or choose the team over her uncle and become one of them. Then she would have to read in Eric, Kensi and Deeks into what was going on with their team leader.
Montana
Gavin felt a slobber on his cheek and small chubby fingers fiddle with his ear. He opened his eyes and was met with his almost one year old daughter, Maddison, who had somehow made her way into the bedroom and mastered up onto the bed to where he laid. "Hey, baby girl."
"Dad...dad...dadda." Her babbling made him smile.
"Yes, daddy's home. Want a cuddle with daddy?" He loved moments like these. They were so precious to him, worth more than gold.
Maddy snuggled in with him, allowing her dad to wrap his arms around her and hold her tight. Both closed their eyes and slumber took them both off to a land where dreams fluttered through their minds once again.
Alyssa scoured the whole of the bottom floor of the house looking for her daughter. She walked outside, but with the sun lowering over behind the trees, she had to squint in the long shadows on the ground to look for her.
Sam noticed something was up, he wandered over. "Is everything okay, Alyssa?"
She turned and faced the man she owed her husband's life to. "I've lost Maddy. She was playing in the living room with her dolls a few minutes ago. I've looked everywhere downstairs, I came out here just in case she's managed to come outside."
Sam gave the woman a small smile. "Is this the first time she's disappeared on you?"
Alyssa nodded. "She's getting more mobile every day. She could be hiding anywhere."
"I remember when Kamran disappeared on Michelle for the first time. She looked inside and out. Eventually she found her under her cot, cuddled up with her teddy fast asleep." Sam smiled at the memory.
"Of course!" Realisation hit her as she whacked her palm against her forehead. "Upstairs." She ran inside and trekked up the stairs with Sam hot on her heels. She shook her head as she scoured every room, until only the master bedroom was left. She peered into the room and wrapped her arms around herself. A small tear trickled down her cheek. Her pregnancy hormones getting the better of her once again.
Sam haltered and smiled as he saw the most beautiful sight. His partner curled up in bed with his baby girl. He pulled out his personal burn phone and snapped a picture. Alyssa looked at him with an inquiring look. "Got to show this to Shell." He gave her a broad grin as his chocolate brown eyes sparkled. He disappeared to give them some alone time as he chuckled over how the lone wolf had been tamed.
Alyssa softly sat on the bed and laid down beside them. She traced Gavin's features with the tips of her fingers, lightly tingling his senses. He opened his eyes and smiled.
"Hey!" He entwined his fingers with hers and gently brushed his lips on her hand.
"Hey!" Her emotions were still raw over worry for him and for Maddy. "I thought I had lost her." She looked down at their beautiful blue eyed, blonde haired daughter, who sucked on her left thumb as her right hand rested over her eyes, clutching tightly onto her teddy.
Gavin rubbed his hand on the top of her arm to comfort her. "She climbed up here all by herself. She woke me up with a slobber of a kiss and her fingers in my ear." He smiled at the achievement of their daughter. Every time he saw her he saw huge changes with her. Whether it be her physical features or motor development.
"One minute she was downstairs playing and then she vanished," Alyssa explained. "I think it's time to get the gates back out for the stairs. If she can get up them, then she could easily go down them." She shuddered at the thought of Maddy falling down the stairs.
"Sounds like Maddy's a bit of an adventurer." Gavin smirked, liking the sound of that. His stomach rumbled, causing them both to laugh. Maddy woke up and hugged her mommy as soon as she saw her.
"Momma." Tears glistened in Alyssa's eyes. It was the first time Maddy had called her that. Gavin kissed their daughter on the forehead, pleased to have been there for a first for a change.
"Good girl, Maddy," he praised her. He looked across to his wife. "Is it dinner time yet? I'm starving."
"I'm not surprised." She smiled. It was a good sign that he had his appetite back since being injured. The rest had done him good, she observed. "You've lasted longer than Sam. His stomach growled hours ago. Seems you two forgot to each lunch."
Gavin slowly sat up on the bed to ensure he didn't make himself dizzy, fully aware of his condition. He smiled when he felt fine. "That we did." He stood and helped Alyssa up. Maddy lifted her arms up for him to pick her up. He bent over and relented. Alyssa watched him closely, but he didn't flinch once, so she sighed with relief that he was indeed okay.
"Suzanne's cooking dinner for us tonight. I'll go and see if she's ready for us. Are you okay to bring Maddy downstairs while I head over to your dad's?" Gavin nodded. He paused and smiled again. His head appeared to be okay again.
When Gavin arrived downstairs with Maddy, he found his sons, Granger and Alyssa waiting for them at the front door. It was weird for him to have his boss there with them, but he found the friendship between his dad and Granger the weirdest of all. It was like looking at him and Sam, which had surprised him. Although he had known most of his life about their friendship, he had never looked at them in that way. The six of them exited the house and walked around to the courtyard near the main house, where purple wisteria grew around the pergola, overhanging a large wooden table and seating for twenty people. Tea lights hung in small glass bottles around the pergola, creating an evening glow in the courtyard. The sun still glowed over the western side of the house, but this courtyard missed the sunsets.
"How are you feeling, son?" Nathan walked over and took his granddaughter off him, giving Maddy raspberry kisses on her tummy. Maddy squealed with delight, gaining her brothers' attention, who also wanted one from their grandpa.
Sam nodded and smiled over to Michelle, who sat opposite him. Michelle had sighed over the photo of Gavin with Maddy that Sam had showed her. Gavin sat with Alyssa on one side, and Sam on the other, at the opposite end to his dad and Suzanne. Owen sat beside Nathan, with everyone else in between. All eyes looked to Nathan, knowing here he was the boss. Nathan stood.
"I'd like to welcome the Hanna family into our family, here on Black Mountain Ranch. Sam, you have proved your weight in gold in your loyalty and care for my son, Gavin. If it wasn't for you, he would not be here with us today. I am forever in your debt. Michelle, you have fed and looked after Gavin when he's stayed with you, and that I thank you for. You are family to us, and you are always welcome here at any time. We have so much to be thankful for. It has been a long time since we've had this many family members sitting around this table. And soon we will have two more, God Willing." Nathan paused. His emotions rippled through his body as he thought over all of his blessings. It was caught in the edge of his voice as he continued. "God has blessed me with more than I deserve. With family, good friends, good health, peace and safety, as well as shelter from the storms. Our table is plentiful every day and we have clothes to keep us warm. We have so much to be thankful to our Creator for. Today He has looked after my son, brought him home safe and has brought to us more family. I pray every day that today will be the day Gavin will stay here for good." He looked down the table to his son. "Gavin, I know you've had it the toughest out of us all. From such a young age you took on the responsibility to keep this family safe. But you were never alone. God has given you guardian angels to keep you safe: Owen, Henrietta, Arkady, Michael Rhinehart, Jethro and Sam. I pray that you will one day realise that you never had to do this on your own, and you will trust us all to have your back, and together we can keep this family safe. That this will give you the peace you need so you will sleep at night and not be woken by your nightmares." Nathan sat back down as his emotions threatened to spill. He choked on his last words. He knew he had said some very personal words to his son in front of everyone, but he was certain there wasn't one person there, except for the children who wasn't already aware of all that Gavin had done and been through.
Gavin remained quiet, but firmly held onto Alyssa's hand as he tried to rein in his emotions. He knew that although he was very much like his mother when it came to his need to be the protector, he was every bit like his father. He had fought hard against it for many years, but ever since he had met and fallen in love with Alyssa, he realised it was okay to show how you felt. He chewed onto his bottom lip to hold it together, but tears still managed to well up in his eyes. He closed them tight to hold them back but they still managed to fall.
Alyssa wiped them away and kissed him. "I love you," she whispered to him.
"Ditto." He whispered back. He swallowed hard and turned his attention around to his family. Everyone there, whether by blood or through trials of fire, had become his family. His stomach grumbled again, which caused those around him and himself to laugh.
"Let's eat," Suzanne called from the other end. "Before this all gets cold." The volume increased from chatter as people placed lasagne and salad onto their plates. Drinks were poured and toasts made. It was like Gavin and Alyssa's wedding all over again, but this time it was shared with Sam, his family and Owen.