This was such a hard chapter to write. Hopefully I wrapped this story up okay. Thanks to all of you who have read and supported it. As always, I really appreciate it.

xxxxx

After Callen left, Hetty remained worried and distracted. Perhaps she was being overprotective, but she picked up her cell phone and pressed the speed dial number for Sam.

"Hey Hetty," Sam answered. "How's everything going? How's G?"

"Your partner decided to return home, Mr. Hanna. He assured me that he was fine…"

"But you don't really believe him," Sam stated.

"No…no I don't believe him," Hetty said. "I want to, but..."

"So…I'm guessing that's the reason you called me," Sam stated. "Do you think I should go there?"

"Well…I don't want to interrupt any family plans you may have for the day…"

"Kam and Aiden are both with their friends today. Michelle is playing catchup on laundry. I'm sure she'll find some way to keep me busy if I stay here so I'd be more than happy to check up on him," Sam said with a soft chuckle. "But seriously, Michelle cares about G too. She'll insist that I go out there when I tell her what's going on."

"Thank you, Sam," Hetty couldn't help but be relieved by this. She knew how much Sam cared about his friend and also knew that Callen was likely to respond well to him. "I'd wait a while before going there though. We don't want it to seem like I sent you out there the second he left here."

"Okay," Sam replied. "I'll go out there in an hour or so and pay him a visit."

xxxxx

Callen inhaled deeply then slowly breathed out before he inserted his key into the lock and opened the front door to his house. He could feel his heartbeat quickening and he took a few more deep, calming breaths as he made his way into the living room. He eyed the room his father had been staying in, but he wasn't yet ready to go in there. He went to his own room and unpacked, then made his way back into the living room once again, He felt strangely lonely which was weird, because Garrison had gotten on his nerves more times than he could count, but now…now he would have given anything to have his father back in the picture again.

Finally, he realized that he was getting nowhere and he needed to go into his father's bedroom. He slowly made his way into the room and pulled the tin box out of the dresser drawer. Not particularly wanting to stay in the room where his father had passed so recently, he then brought the box out into the living room and sat on the floor. He slowly began to pull the pictures out of the box, one by one, spreading them out on the floor as he did so. The pictures were of a family he had always craved having, but had never gotten the chance to have, at least not in his own memories. There were so many photographs, depicting a life he couldn't recall, but wished with every fiber of his being that he could. There were posed shots of Amy holding him when he was a baby, holiday pictures, pictures of the whole family at the beach, family outings, his christening, his parents' wedding with the couple looking so happy and very much in love. It wasn't too long before he was crying. He could not understand why his father hadn't just sat down with him and shown him these pictures, talked to him about the life Callen had no memory of. He couldn't help but think how unfair it all was. The "what ifs" were prominent in his mind. What if Hetty had been able to save their mom, what if his father had done things differently? He knew these thoughts weren't helping him, that they weren't productive and nothing good was coming from them, but he just couldn't help it. He had told his father he'd understood his decisions, but looking at these photographs, he didn't. Their mother had been murdered. How had his father been able to give them up as well? He could have found some way to continue his work with the refugees and keep him and his sister. Callen just couldn't understand Garrison's decision which had basically been to throw him and Amy to the wolves and let them fend for themselves. He just couldn't understand that, no matter how hard he tried to.

A short time later, there was a knock on his front door. He just sat there for a few moments, hoping whoever it was would go away, but knowing in his heart that wasn't going to happen. He got to his feet and went to the door to find his partner standing behind it. "Hey, Sam," he said.

"G…" Sam gazed at his obviously sad partner, with fresh tears on his cheeks, and held back the urge to hug him, not yet sure what the best way to handle the situation was. "Can I come in?"

"Sure." Callen stepped aside and allowed Sam to enter his house.

As Sam entered the living room, he immediately saw the numerous pictures strewn all over the floor. Looking more closely, he saw that they were not Callen's boyhood pictures taken by Michael Reinhardt, but rather older pictures of Callen and his family. "Where'd you get the pictures, G?" he asked softly.

Callen swallowed hard as he pointed at the tin box. "In that box…in his room…"

"I take it you never saw these before?"

Callen shook his head, his eyes beginning to fill. "No…I never did," he said, his voice breaking. "And…there's something else…"

"What?" Callen again pointed to the tin box, not saying anything. Sam went to the box and saw the envelope with Callen's name on it, on top of a bunch of what looked like random papers and receipts. He picked it up. "Do you know what this is?" he asked.

"No… I…I know I have to open it, but…" Truthfully, he was afraid to open the letter, afraid it would make things even worse. He wasn't sure he could take it, if that was the case.

"Would you rather I left you alone?" Sam asked. He knew he had told Hetty he'd check on his partner, but right now, he felt like he was being intrusive. If Callen needed to have time to himself, he had to respect that and give it to him.

"No," Callen said, shaking his head. He walked over to one of the chairs in the room and sat down heavily as he stared at the pictures on the floor. Sam stood still for a few moments, his eyes on his partner. He then pushed the other chair in the room over next to Callen's chair and sat down, then handed him the envelope.

Callen sighed as he held the envelope in his hands for a few moments. He turned it over and slowly opened it, then pulled out some handwritten sheets which he carefully unfolded. The letterhead was vintage in appearance with an intricate old-fashioned design in the top right and bottom left corner of the pages. The writing was large, bold and very neat.

"My Dearest Son," Callen said aloud, as he started to read. "If you're reading this, I'm either dead or I'm missing, in which case, I'm pretty sure the ending will not be a good one. I had always hoped that you would not have to read this letter. I had wanted to change things so that it wasn't necessary to leave it at all, but, unfortunately, I guess that was not to be."

"I know there are many things you wanted to know, many unanswered questions that you had, but you didn't ask and I was too afraid to bring them up myself. I told you how important my work was and that I thought you and your sister had a better chance being in the United States, away from me. However, I have regretted, every day, that I didn't choose the other path, the path that would have kept you and Amy with me. I realize now, much too late, that keeping us together, as a family, in spite of the difficulties, would have been the best choice, for you, for your sister and for me. That I was unable to protect your mother is one of the biggest regrets of my life. I regret the loss of your sister and the many hardships you had to endure. You don't talk about it, but I know your life was difficult, Grisha. I know that being alone in the world could not have been easy on you. I try not to think about what you may have suffered, the physical and mental anguish you underwent, but when I do allow myself to think about it, it breaks my heart. If it brings you any consolation, know that I will regret this until I'm in my grave, and maybe even beyond the grave, as well."

At that point, Callen bowed his head and put the letter aside, letting his tears fall. "I…I don't understand, Sam," he said. "He could have gotten to us…at any time. If…If he had these kinds of thoughts, why didn't he? Why couldn't he have just come for us and brought us home?"

"I don't know, G…" Sam said softly, his heart breaking for his friend.

Callen raised his head, his blue eyes filled with more tears waiting to be shed and gave Sam a pleading look as he passed him the letter.

Sam took the letter from Callen and quickly skimmed it until he found the place where his friend had left off and began to read. "I know that you haven't forgiven me for what I did to you…to your sister, nor do I deserve your forgiveness. I know that my choices had consequences and that our relationship, or rather lack of a relationship, is one of those consequences. I had hoped that eventually we would begin to draw closer, but in some ways, I suppose I'm a coward. I was afraid of rejection so I emotionally I kept my distance. Eventually, I slowly tried to get closer to you, but evidently, I didn't do a very good job because I am likely in my grave and you are reading this now."

Sam looked at his friend who was listening with a far off look in his eyes and went on. "Grisha, please know that I wish for you only the best in life. I wish you to find love, pure joy and happiness. I hope you will have children. If you are so blessed, I know you will be a good father…the kind of father that I wanted to be, but failed to become."

"I know you have very good friends who love you, that Hetty helped fill a void in your life. She rescued you from the foster care system and for that, I will always be grateful to her. I know that Sam is like a brother to you. It is obvious how close the two of you are and it does my heart good to see that. I also wish for you to develop a relationship with Alex. Both of you were victims of my choices and although she didn't suffer as you did, her life has not been an easy one. I think it would do you both good to become close. Perhaps you can get to know this sister in a way you were not able to know Amy. I believe it would do Jake good, as well. I've only just begun to know him, but he's a good boy and he could learn a lot from you. I think he would be good for you as well."

"I am sorry, my son. Sorry for your hardships, sorry that I wasn't there for you the way I should have been. Even now, I know I am doing you a disservice by not trying harder, but still I hesitate. I hope I can get past my reservations before it's too late, but if not, I wish you all the best life has to offer, Grisha. And please, do not mourn for me for very long, I don't deserve that and neither do you. You shouldn't mourn for a foolish old man who made poor decisions."

"You're a strong man with a good heart, my son. Although I didn't really show it, I'm very proud of you and I love you more than you will ever know."

"Love, Your father."

Sam carefully refolded the letter and put it back into the envelope, then glanced at his partner who was silently crying. He then moved his chair in closer and folded Callen up in his arms. At first, Sam didn't say anything. He just held his partner while he cried. Then, after a few minutes, he spoke softly to him. "I'm here for you, G," he said soothingly. "Everything will be okay."

Eventually, Callen's sobs lessened and he finally pulled back from his partner, looking sad and very lost. At moments like these, Callen's eyes provided Sam a mirror into his soul and he wished he could have plucked that hapless little boy out of foster care and given him the home and loving family that he had deserved. "Are you okay?"

Callen nodded slowly then met his partner's eyes. "I just…I still don't understand, Sam…if…if he had all these feelings…why…why couldn't he tell me? Something…anything…I just…" He swallowed hard, not wanting to cry again, but his emotions were so raw and he didn't know what to do with all that he was feeling inside.

Sam shook his head. "I don't know…sometimes it's just easier to write things down, or it's like he said, he wanted to talk to you, but he just kept putting it off and then…he just ran out of time…"

"Yeah, I guess so."

"And G…"

"Yeah?"

"What he said…about us being brothers, I don't think I have to tell you this, but it couldn't be more true as far as I'm concerned. I couldn't love you any more than if we'd been raised together since we were born."

Callen smiled then, not the brightest smile in the world, but it was genuine and made Sam feel a whole lot better to see it. "I feel the same way, Sam," he said softly. "I…I'm grateful every day that we were brought together as partners. You…you mean the world to me and I know you're my family."

"Good…I'm glad you know that," Sam said. "My family is your family, G…and the team, Hetty, Deeks, Kensi, Eric, Nell…they're your family too. And anytime you need us, we're here for you, okay?"

Callen nodded. "I know, Sam…thanks…thanks for always being here for me…"

"You've got it, buddy. Now, you feel like coming home with me? Football game is on later. I think Michelle would be thrilled if we ordered in some pizzas and she didn't have to cook."

Callen considered it, but then shook his head. "I think I'm just going to hang out here today, Sam," he said quietly. He looked at the pictures on the floor and the ones that he still hadn't looked through and knew he just wanted to take the time to go through them. Even if he couldn't remember those special times, it was kind of nice to know they had existed at one point in his life.

"You sure?" Sam asked, a hint of worry clear in his eyes.

"I'm sure," Callen said with a nod. "Don't worry, Sam. I'm okay…it's nice to know he cared. I still wish he could have talked to me…it would have meant a lot, but now I know he wasn't indifferent, at least. For him to have written that…I definitely know he cared."

"I think so too, G."

The two walked outside together to where Sam had his Challenger parked and Sam gave Callen a heartfelt look as he opened the door to his vehicle. "If you change your mind and decide to come over…"

"I know, Sam," Callen said. "I'll give you a call if I decide to."

"Do me a favor and call me even if you're not coming?" Sam asked.

"Okay, Sam," Callen said, smiling faintly. "I'll call you later and thanks…I appreciate you coming over and I appreciate you worrying over me."

"Don't forget to call, G," Sam said as he got into the car. "If you do, I'm going to call you."

"I won't forget, Sam."

"See you later. You take care of yourself, buddy."

"I will…bye Sam."

Callen watched as Sam drove off and then headed back inside. He had a lot to think about. He also knew it was going to take some time to get past what had happened, but for now, he felt a little bit better about things.