Nelloween

Chapter 6

Callen glared as the challenger screeched to a halt next to him.

"What the hell Sam? I wasn't gone long." He looked at his watch, "Four hours tops. You saw the damn building, you could have come and got me, you didn't have to leave me here!" he snapped.

"G…" Sam started but Callen cut him off.

"I don't wanna hear it Sam, I would never leave you behind at a crime scene, I thought I knew you better than that." Callen climbed into the car.

Sam could not help but smile.

"I missed you man," Sam said as he climbed in.

"Oh really, you don't even wait four hours before you leave and then you look at me like you haven't seen me in weeks…You guys hit a bar or something?" Callen asked.

Sam grinned, "There are a lot of people looking forward to seeing you." He said as he drove back towards the boat-shed.

Callen looked at him as if he had grown a third head and just shrugged and looked out of the window, "You are all mad." He muttered as he watched the streets go by.

"So where were you?" Sam asked.

"What do you mean, where was I…I was exactly where you left me?" Callen replied.

Sam pulled up outside the boat-shed and waited as Callen got out of the car, "G, you've been gone six months."

"Funny." Callen laughed as he walked into the boat-shed.

Kensi and Deeks stood there, holding hands as he walked in.

"Hetty'll catch you." Callen joked as he walked to the fridge and grabbed a bottle of water.

"Callen!" Kensi said and let go of Deeks' hand and ran to hug him.

Callen pushed her off, "Look guys, this isn't funny…Sam's already tried, I am wearing a watch, it's only been five hours."

"I hope you have a good explanation as to where you have been Mr. Callen." Hetty said as she and Nell entered the boat-shed.

"They left me at a crime scene Hetty. I called as…" he stopped as he turned and saw Nell.

"Whoa!" he exclaimed. "This is not funny Nell." He said backing up and shaking his head.

Nell stood there with tears in her eyes, "No…you are right it is not funny, six months ago I watched you walk into that alley, I heard that music and I saw you disappear, I thought you were dead." She admitted with tears running down her face.

"I…what?" Callen pulled her into his arms, he still was not sure what was happening but he was not going to watch her cry. "But I didn't disappear, I found the restaurant and I was there with Nadia."

"Nadia?" Hetty asked worried.

"The woman who runs the restaurant, we aren't bringing her in, she didn't do anything." Callen insisted.

"There is no restaurant G." Sam said.

"I was standing in front of it when you picked me up…It's just hidden from the road." He insisted moving away from Nell and staring at them. "Nadia is real she's about 5 foot 4 inches, dark hair with grey and silver streaks, brown eyes, a small birthmark under the left eye, she's a kind woman...I just spent 5 hours with her, I know she's real!" he insisted.

Hetty paled for a moment and opened her mouth to say something when Sam interjected.

"G, when you went missing…" Sam started and was cut off.

"Missing? I've been gone 5 hours…" Callen insisted.

"G…" Nell turned and held his hand, "You have been gone six months, do you feel this…" she put his hand on her stomach as she spoke to him, "This is your son, I am seven months pregnant."

"My…son?" he stopped in amazement as he felt what could have been a foot move across her stomach. "My son…" he stopped as a tear fell down his face, he smiled at Nell for a second then his face fell, "Six months?" he asked.

Hetty nodded, "Indeed Mr. Callen, your team has been worried for you." She told him.

"How Hetty? How can it be six months for you…it was only a few hours, she told me time was a bit different there but this?"

"Where?" Sam asked as he sat down at the table watching Callen.

Callen looked confused, "I…I don't know, it was the restaurant, Nadia was there, she asked about my life, I told her everything." He admitted.

"Did she ask for classified documents?" Hetty asked worried but really not thinking that was the answer, she was only hoping it was; because she was too scared to contemplate the alternative.

Callen shook his head, "No…it wasn't like that, she asked about me, my childhood, the foster homes…the…other stuff, she cared, and I felt better talking to her. She…God Hetty I can't describe it, it was like talking to….?" He screwed up his face as he tried to describe her.

"Like talking to a grandmother…your grandmother." Hetty said softly.

"Exactly…like a grandmother," he agreed not noticing how Hetty paled at that.

Callen scratched at his shirt as something itched him and he pulled another black feather out of his t-shirt.

"What did she say to you?" Deeks asked.

"Something…"Callen looked confused again, "Something about a heart-wish, about it being powerful and …" He grabbed the table as his head started to spin.

"G?" Nell gasped as he swayed.

Deeks grabbed him and helped him to the couch, "I'm ok Deeks, I just feel…spaced…you know?"

Sam handed him a glass of water, "Here you go, drink this."

Callen took a drink and sat back with his eyes closed, "It's hard to believe, six months…" his eyes shot open and he looked at Hetty, "Do I still have a job?" he asked.

Hetty smiled, "I kept your position open Mr. Callen, a few things have happened while you have been away though that do affect you."

"You sold my house?" he asked.

Nell shook her head, "I lost my apartment,no children allowed, so Hetty suggested that I move into your house until you were found…I can move out if you want…" she said looking at him worried.

"No…no…you need to stay, its fine…" Callen stood up, he was starting to panic, which was even he knew totally unlike him. Part of him was pleased she was there, she was having his child…which still freaked him out especially as she had gone from being a few weeks pregnant to seven months in the space of a few hours, well, from his perspective anyway. But he wasn't sure what his role was to be in this. Did she want him?

"I…I need to go home…please?" he asked Hetty, "I need to work through this."

Hetty nodded, "You and Miss Jones need to go home I agree, you two have a lot to talk about. Mr. and Mrs. Deeks, would you give them a lift seeing as you live down the road from them?"

Kensi nodded as Callen did a double take…"Mr.…and Mrs. Deeks?" he asked shocked.

Kensi lifted her hand to show the wedding ring she was wearing, "We kinda have you to thank Callen, when we saw all that Nell was going through without you, it made us realize that we never wanted to be apart again, so we took a weekend and eloped." Kensi told him.

Callen blinked a few times in shock, "Er…Congratulations?"

Deeks smiled "Thanks man, come on if we get there first I may get to drive."

"Not a chance Shaggy!" Kensi said and grabbed the keys from his hands.

"But…Aww, sugar-bear…wifey-poo, Callen's been through so much…maybe I should drive?"Deeks said and stopped at the look Kensi shot him, "…Or you could drive…great idea!" He grinned and held his hands up in surrender as Nell laughed.

"Some things never change." Callen remarked as he hid his own anxieties about heading back to the house and being alone with Nell, because no matter how much he didn't want to…they really needed to talk.