Epilogue

Thank you for the absolutely amazing and supportive response to this story! You guys really are awesome I genuinely would not have got this finished in time if it weren't for you!

Well if nothing else I have really enjoyed reading everyone else's challenge pieces and I have enjoyed writing this! I guess I win the prize for cutting it fine to the deadline if nothing else!

Epilogue

Sam whistled as he drove through the streets of Los Angeles- the last couple of weeks had been quiet without his partner beside him. His partner had yet again suffered an extremely close brush with death at the hands of a former enemy. Harold Goddard had been arrested- the man had been sloppy- using a boat registered to his company and failing to deactivate the tracker within it, not to mention the CCTV at each of the boat yards- but he had been driven by anger and it had got him caught. He had so nearly managed to achieve his aim and it was only through sheer luck and stubbornness that his partner was still alive and well on the way to recovery.

Sam still had little knowledge as to why Goddard had targeted his partner, or how he had known where to find him. Callen had been very close lipped since he had regained consciousness, and had been his usual grouchy self when it came to doing as he was told by medical professionals. Sam smiled as he drove towards the hospital to finally bring the stubborn idiot home.

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Callen sat with his legs dangling from the side of the bed, hating how exhausted he still felt. Everything he touched seemed to just turn to hell- how could a surfing trip with a colleague turn into this. He glanced at his right arm- encased in a stark white cast to protect the broken limb and he sighed. Yet more time spend riding a desk and going stir crazy. On the bright side his partner would soon be here and he would at least be breaking out of the wretched hospital that he seemed to spend far too much time in.

He looked up as the object of his thoughts stepped through the door.

"What kept you?" he asked, his voice still croaky from his latest ordeal.

"I can go and come back later if you want" Sam responded as he leant against the door frame.

"No, now is fine" Callen responded, getting to his feet and reaching for his bag- disguising a wince as it pulled in his broken ribs. Sam shook his head in bemusement at how fiercely independent his partner insisted on being. "Please Sam- take me home" he asked softly, being unusually open about how he was actually feeling. Sam immediately grew serious recognising that his friend needed him to just get him out of there and home. He took in the still reddened complexion.

"It's quite warm out G- do you have sunscreen on?" The seal asked, half seriously. Callen groaned at the comment.

"Cheap shot Sam" he muttered as he headed out of the door. Sam chuckled to himself at his partner's reaction, knowing that the younger man would eventually see the funny side of things.

Within thirty minutes both men were in the challenger, and Sam couldn't help but notice that his friend was being unusually quiet.

"Did Goddard admit everything?" Callen asked out of the blue.

"He admitted kidnapping you and leaving you in the ocean- said he was out for revenge" Sam told him. "Do you know why he hated you?" he asked.

"I busted his brother when I was with the FBI- he never accepted his guilt and vowed there and then to get revenge. Even went to the extent of punching me outside of the courthouse" Callen replied.

"Was his brother guilty?" Sam asked, unable to help himself.

"Without a shadow of a doubt Sam- now he is serving time on death row and with any luck his brother will join him" Callen replied dispassionately.

"How did he know to find you there?"

"He didn't- one of those lovely charming, happy coincidences that only seem to happen to me" Callen responded sarcastically. "Just called by the house to pick something up that he had misplaced and happened to see my bag"

"Ah man- you have no luck at all" Sam commented with a groan, barely believing that his partner could literally be so unfortunate.

"Don't I know it. Well I suppose that isn't totally true" Callen replied. "I mean yeah that was all mighty unlucky- but you guys did somehow find me slap bang in the middle of the ocean and you came across me- I mean how does that happen?" the lead agent queried softly.

"Brother's intuition?" Sam suggested with a grin.

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Five weeks later and Callen was finally back at work, and despite the fact that he was still on restricted duties he was glad to be back. The team were relieved to see him walking under his own steam.

"Hey Callen" Deeks greeted him almost sheepishly.

"Deeks- all good?" he asked softly, not wanting the other man to feel in any way responsible for what happened.

"If you're good, then we're good" Deeks responded.

"Then we are all good" Callen agreed. Sam and Kensi witnessed the exchange in confusion.

"You guys are never going away together again- you have come back speaking the same annoying language" Kensi stated to lighten the mood.

"That suits me just fine" Callen commented, not particularly wanting a repeat performance of their last little trip away.

"Hey we had a great time until the weird psycho guy came looking for revenge and blew up the house before kidnapping us both separately and leaving you abandoned in the middle of the ocean" Deeks reasoned, defending himself.

"Not forgetting sending you on a luxury yacht holiday whilst I risked burning or drowning" Callen added.

"But apart from all that- we had a good time didn't we?" Deeks asked, keen that the break hadn't been for nothing.

"We drank good beer, ate good pizza and surfed good waves" Callen agreed. Deeks grinned in response to the agreement "but that doesn't take away from the near death experience" he added, before getting to his feet and heading over to Hetty's desk to see what fate had in store for him whilst he was unavailable for full duties.

"It is good to see you back Mr Callen" she greeted him with a smile as she handed him a cup of tea. "I trust that you have been medically released as fit for light duties?" she asked.

"Of course Hetty- you know me, I follow instructions to the letter" he told her with a grin.

"Hmm, I do know you Agent Callen. There are some files on your desk that all need signing off and the team's expense claims need finalising" she told him.

"Right away" he commented as he got to his feet.

"Mr Callen?" she called and he turned around to look at her. "I am mighty glad that whatever instinct Mr Hanna used did in fact lead him to you- you have been missed" she told him.

"I am mighty glad to" he agreed with a small smile. "I am sure the team have been fine without me" he added.

"No Mr Callen- they are never fine without you. The team is made up of little entities that make it whole. Solid stone is just sand and Water- Mr Callen, and enough time for it to become so" she added, hoping that she would get through to him that he was a massive part of what made the team the best that NCIS had to offer.

"You just had to mention water didn't you?" he asked with a groan, yet the tone of his voice told her that her message had been received and the team would be whole and solid again in no time.

The End

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