Epilogue

Back at HQ

"Mr Callen, a word if you please," Hetty called out to Callen as the agent walked towards the bullpen.

Changing direction after a split seconds hesitation, Callen wandered up to Hetty's office and tapped his fingers lightly on her desk. He knew what this chat was about; it was time for another revealing conversation, time for him to listen to reason rather than assuming. He waited patiently for Hetty to start talking.

"Sit down, please. You've had an intense week and I would rather you did not fall down."

Callen did as he was told and eased his aching body in to the chair opposite Hetty's. He remained silent as he leaned back in the chair and stretched his legs before him. Hetty was right as usual. He felt world weary and the injuries and beatings he'd taken during this case were taking longer to recover from than usual.

"Mr Callen, I recall having a conversation with you recently where I advised you to take better care of yourself. As usual I see you have not heeded my advice."

"I didn't go looking for a beating," Callen defended himself, referred to both the incidents in the DEA cells and the brig.

"Maybe not all of them, but with Nicholls..." Hetty looked at her lead agent with concern. "Why do you always feel the need to deliberately place yourself in harm's way?"

Callen for once had no glib reply, no explanation for his behaviour with Nicholls. He was well aware he'd been reckless and pretty much pissed Sam off for no reason other than he felt like it at the time. He shifted uncomfortably in his chair.

Hetty could see the soul searching that was taking place in Callen's mind. For once his thoughts were quite transparent. "Tell me about Nicholls," she said.

"There's not much to tell Hetty. For a while we were best friends. I trusted him and he betrayed me." Bitterness entered Callen's voice at the end and he wondered why he had ever allowed himself to trust Nicholls in the first place. "You know the rest."

"I know that your omission from your DEA application form was overlooked by higher powers during your initial background checks. Your juvenile records no longer exist, and your social services files remain sealed at the very highest level, in line with your highly classified status."

Hetty never ceased to amaze Callen with her uncanny ability to know everything, although he was slightly concerned as to how much she knew about the contents of his childhood files. He was unsure how to continue with Hetty as he felt that he'd burnt his bridges with her the previous week. He'd essentially accused her of abandoning him to a turbulent childhood instead of a loving one. He still did not understand the reasons for this but instead decided to take comfort in knowing that Hetty had looked out for him, and was most likely involved in ensuring his DEA position was secured. And even now she had made sure that his integrity within the team was maintained.

"Hetty, I'm sorry for the way I've acted over the past week," Callen took the plunge with an apology.

"Mr Callen, there is no need for an apology. If anything it is me who must apologise to you."

Callen held his breath as he wondered if Hetty was about to reveal even more about his past. There was so much unknown; who his father was, how he and Amy arrived in America, his name...hell he didn't even know if his date of birth was correct.

"I feel my story about the raven and the swans caused you more turmoil than I anticipated," Hetty continued. "You must understand that it was only ever in my power to help you from afar. Believe me, Mr Callen, if I could have offered you that permanent home I would have."

Callen studied his hands before looking directly into Hetty's eyes. "But why couldn't you?" He asked plaintively, lacking the energy or the desire to fight with Hetty any further.

"Your mother was an undercover CIA operative murdered in an authoritarian Eastern Bloc country and I was her handler," she said gently. "It was assumed her two children, you and your sister were also killed. When you were found here in America, I was not allowed to make contact. All I could do was try to find a family for you. I may have failed you in that respect, however you have turned out to be a strong, independent and principled young man, Mr Callen. I was not able to guide you or mould you, but you found your own way in life, and as you continued your journey through the agencies I followed your progress. And here we are today."

Hetty finished her speech and leaned back in her chair, smiling with the pride she felt for the man in front of her and inwardly wondering how more rounded an agent and person he would be if he learnt to trust and had been a true team player.

Callen blinked heavily and ran his hands over his face and through his cropped hair. He could not and did not live in the past, yet every nugget of information about his family background he clung to desperately in an attempt to find answers. Hetty's explanation made sense, however he was still left wanting more, more than Hetty could give. So where did the answers lie? With the CIA? With Romanian secret police of the Ceausescu regime? Or was there something more in his social services or classified files? He would find out, someday.

"Thank you Hetty," Callen said graciously. "They weren't all bad y'know, the foster homes."

"Oh, I know Mr Callen," Hetty responded with a smile. "And I know full well you demanded to be removed from more than a few through your own sheer belligerence, and due to no fault of the families concerned."

Callen failed to look suitably chastised and instead returned Hetty's smile and said, "At least I'm no longer a challenging child, Hetty."

The sentence drew out the desired response from his Operations Manager and friend.

"No you're not, Mr Callen," Hetty replied. "You're just a challenging adult now."

The End

Thank you for taking the time to read this story and I hope you enjoyed the journey as much as I have (well, except that damn last chapter). All reviews have been greatly appreciated.

The small technical errors pointed out have all been corrected and relevant chapters edited.

If you enjoyed this, please also read my short Callen-based story "Man's Best Friend".