Isobel

Disclaimer: NCISLA characters belong to Shane Brennan. All original characters and this story are mine.

Chapter 1

Callen woke up in a sweat, breathless, as he tried to remember his dream. He knew he had dreamed of 'her', the brunette, who had managed to break down his barrier, and made him fall in love with her. She was unlike any woman he had ever met, nor since. It had been 13 years since he had seen her and yet, she still managed to haunt his dreams. But this dream was not like the others, this was a nightmare. He could hear her screaming out his name, Peter —- as that had been his alias for the operation in Russia. He'd been assigned to work with her, Gibbs and Jenny on 'Operation Michailov.' Her name was 'Natalia', but he knew it was, like his name, an alias. It was those weeks after the mission when they were snowed in some European apartment with Gibbs and Jenny, that they had broken down each others barriers and revealed their true selves, falling in love. It was still his favourite Christmas.

Callen's thoughts were interrupted by his phone ringing. It was only four in the morning, he was surprised to see Hetty's name appear on his screen. Although he hadn't slept through the night in thirteen years, Hetty wasn't usually awake at this time. If an urgent case arose, he'd get a text from Eric or Nell.

"Hetty, is everything okay?" he asked.

"Mr Callen, you are needed urgently in Ops," she replied.

Callen noticed something was up with the way Hetty spoke, even in bad times, she always managed to keep her calm.

"I'll be there in ten," he responded whilst changing into his jeans and shirt, grabbing his gun and keys.

Callen quickly pulled up at the mission and ran through the building and up the stairs, his feet echoing through the empty building. He was surprised and annoyed to see Assistant Director Owen Granger standing by the table, with his hands shoved inside his trouser pockets. When anything bad happened, it always involved that man. Callen tensed not liking his presence, but then froze as he saw the photos of Natalia and a CIA agent whom he knew well, beside her.

"Please tell me she's okay," he quietly breathed out. What was wrong with him? It's been thirteen years, but seeing her photo up on the screen, had taken his breath out of him.

"NCIS Agent Isobel Finnan is alive. Just. But her CIA husband, Simon Finnan is not," replied Granger.

Callen let out his breath he had been holding and looked at Hetty. It was unlike Hetty to be so silent and for her to let Granger take over. Callen took a few steps towards Hetty and gently placed his hands on her shoulders.

"Hetty, you're not okay. What's wrong?" Callen searched for an answer from Hetty, but she just took a deep breath to stop herself from shaking.

She sat on the nearest chair and told Callen to do the same. "Mr Callen. Please sit. I need to tell you something," her eyes looked sadly at him.

He swallowed hard and nodded, waiting for her to continue.

"Forty years ago, I went to Russia to get inside one of the Russian Mafia families, the Michailovs. I was to find someone I could trust to provide intel and proof of the family's terrorist activities. There I met Alexander, who is the eldest son of the Mafia boss, Sergei Michailov. He was a good man, unlike his family, and he was studying to become a doctor. Yet his family had other plans for him. Although they permitted him complete his degree, they wanted him to patch up the people they tortured, so they could torture them more. This horrified Alexander, but he was not in a position to argue with them. Alexander and I became closer than we should have, and he provided intel on his family. But my superiors at Langley were concerned about me having my cover blown, so I was extradited out of Russia." Hetty took a moment before continuing. "It was soon after I returned, that I discovered I was expecting Alexander's child."

Callen's eyes shifted to the screen, his eyes widened in surprise. He'd never known that Hetty had any children, nor did he know who Isobel's mother was. Everything was coming together in his mind over why his Operations Manager looked like she was on death's door. Her daughter was lucky to be alive.

"Out of fear for my child's life, I had to hide from the Michailovs. For if anyone in Alexander's family found out about him or her, they would be taken and brought up in that horrible life. I couldn't allow it. I contacted a friend of mine who had retired from the CIA to settle down and have a family in Australia. I spent the rest of my pregnancy in Australia, and arranged for my friend and her husband to adopt my baby."

Tears glistened in her eyes, "I gave birth to a healthy girl. I have visited them and watched her grow up in a normal and happy home, safe from her father's family."

Callen's heart thumped inside his chest, he'd fallen in love with Hetty's daughter of all people. He'd not seen her after their operation and now he was wondering why she chose now to tell him. His eyes darted back to the screen, he knew her husband, Simon Finnan well. There was nothing he saw in Isobel that made him connect her to Hetty, but, as Hetty went on to explain, she was the spitting image of her Russian Grandmother, Olesya Michailov. Callen thought back to thirteen years ago when they had also tried to infiltrate the Michailov family with Gibbs and Jenny. He'd been surprised that she seem to know one of the family members. It was that connection that saved them when one of them had walked in on them trying to access information on the computer. In fact it was Alexander helped them access the files and gave Isobel a parting gift. She had given him a kiss and hug that was full of love, but at the time, Callen didn't realise what that connection had been. It was after they had left the party, and they were hiding out in an apartment in another city, that her true identity was revealed. They were snowed in, and Isobel changed her hair back to her natural colour, brunette. It was then he had realised who Natalia really was. He had picked up on Alexander calling her Isobel at the party, but he thought it was another alias, so he never questioned the name. Back at the apartment, Natalia saw Callen's eyes blazing on her and it was then that she realised that he knew who she really was. She broke down her barriers with him after that and told him her story, and why she had to dye her hair blond to go into their op. He had understood her reason for it, but he could not understand why she would risk her life, although she was more than qualified to do the job. Leon Vance had been their handler for the case, and he had chosen her deliberately because her Russian was flawless, unaware of her danger by being there.

Hetty paused in her story when she saw her senior agent's eyes glaze over and his mind went back in time. She placed her hand on his arm to bring his attention back to the present.

"I know that you both went on an op together into Russia, to get information from the Michailov family. Alexander contacted me as soon as he had seen the two of you there and expressed his concerns for her safety." Hetty said to Callen, looking straight into his eyes. "I was furious when I found out that she had gone there, after the sacrifices her father and I had gone to protect her from his family."

Callen watched Hetty's eyes well up. "Why didn't you tell us you had a daughter? She had told me her story and I knew who her father was, but I had no idea who her mother was, till now."

"Would you have still fallen in love with her if you had known she was my daughter, Mr Callen?" Callen eyes burned into Hetty's and suddenly he felt the temperature rise in Ops.

"She told you about us?" Callen whispered.

Hetty nodded. But what she did next took Callen totally by surprise. Hetty brought two more photos up on the screen, they were of two twelve year old twins, a boy named Jack and a girl named Sophie. Callen stood and stared at them. Shaking his head in disbelief, trying to keep his emotions in check, but failing miserably.

"W...why was I never told?" Clenching his fist by his side, tempting to knock Granger out cold, although it was Hetty who had brought his temper hot with rage. "You kept them from me as well? First that you knew my mother and now that I have two children. What else have you kept me in the dark from?"

Hetty stood and tried to calm Callen down. "G," she said.

Callen turned way too quickly and looked at her. "All this time I've tried to get you to call me G and you choose now to say it?" Callen stepped back from her. He was deeply hurt. She'd been the only woman he really loved, and now he realised that she had been deliberately kept away from him, by the one person he has trusted the longest, Hetty.

"I'm sorry. Please forgive me. But there is nothing else I have kept from you." Hetty felt weakened by all the stress and worry of her daughter, and now the anguish she was causing her favourite agent. She would have loved for Isobel and Callen to be a family, but he had a price on his head and on any bloodline he had. She had to protect them, and by doing so, she had lost her daughter. Isobel cut her off due to her demands that she not tell Callen about their children.

"If we had found out who was trying to kill your family bloodline thirteen years ago, then I would have been more than happy for the four of you to have been a family. But it was my duty as Isobel's mother to protect them from the Comescus."

"But we killed the Comescus two years ago, Hetty. Two years wasted of not being with my family. You know how important family is to me, after not knowing my own parents and sister." Callen paused and took a deep breath.

"Do you know who my father is, Hetty?"

Hetty shook her head sadly, "No."

Callen felt a strong hand on his right shoulder and turned to see Granger beside him. A confused look on both Callen's and Hetty's face at Granger's action.

"That I can answer for you, Callen."

Callen and Hetty both looked at each other and then back at Granger not quite sure they had heard him correctly.

"What do you mean?" Callen and Hetty both asked in unison.

Owen Granger took a deep breath, not sure how to continue. He was tired after his long flight from D.C. Once he heard the news of Agents Gibbs and David bringing Agent Simon Finnan's body back to London, and that Isobel's father Alexander had rescued her, he'd jumped on a flight to L.A. News that Alexander had taken Isobel to a safe house, whilst he helped fix the injuries that she had sustained, relieved him a little. Granger had known Simon Finnan for many years, and it was two years ago when he'd bumped into them both in a London park. He saw what he thought were replicas of his own children, playing soccer. There was no doubt they looked like their father, and he knew instantly whose children they were. It had taken him by surprise because of all that he knew about his son, he did not know he had children. But it didn't stop him from asking their mother about the children's father.

Isobel instantly realised who he was and she tried to keep him from leaving, as she knew her children's father did not know who his family were. This meeting had given her hope. Then her husband had arrived in the park with their younger two and she realised the man and Simon knew each other. It was Isobel who had persuaded him to find his son and tell him. This was the reason why he moved to NCIS, to be near his him. Only to find that he and his team hated him. It had hurt, but he knew he deserved to be treated this way. He'd failed his son by not being the father he needed.

"It's me, Callen. I'm your father," he finally admitted.

Both Hetty and Callen stared at him in shock.

"Your mother, Clara, and I were already in love before she was sent into Romania undercover. I tried to see her as often as I could. When she found out she was pregnant with your sister, Amy, the two of us went underground. It wasn't safe in her condition to continue on her assignment. I had tried to get her out of the country, but we found ourselves trapped in Romania hiding in a country town. It was there where you and your sister were born and we lived there until you were five. Clara found out that the Comescus were after her because of her father, and we were desperate to get out. She had made contact with her handler…" he looked to Hetty, guilt flashed across her face. "But she was killed on the beach. I was there that day, Callen, off buying ice-cream for you and your sister, when the Comescus shot your mother. When I heard the gunshot I ran with Amy to the beach and we found you crying, trying to wake your her up. I grabbed you and the three of us ran. I managed to get us out of Romania through some of my contacts and I hid you both with your grandmother."

"My grandmother?" Callen finally spoke.

"Stella Callen," Granger replied. "But she died while I was away on assignment and when I returned you had both been placed into different orphanages. I managed to get Amy out of her's when she escaped out one night with a friend. But I did not have much luck with getting you out, my son."

"What? You telling me Amy is alive?" Callen and Hetty where shocked but they were also relieved to hear this news. "Then who is buried in the cemetery?"

"It took me a month to find a match for your sister to place her body downstream from where her friend had seen her last. She was a drowning victim from a storm a few days earlier and I managed to use her to give the illusion that she had died. I did it to keep her safe. Then I changed her name and with the help of my sister, we brought her up in Boston."

Callen sat down again. All this was too much. "Is this why you called me in so urgently in the middle if the night? To tell me all this?" Callen had just realised he was the only one from his team called in. Not even Eric or Nell were there. It was just the three of them.

"Yes and no." Both Granger and Hetty replied.

Hetty continued, "we need you to bring Isobel back to L.A. without anyone from the Michailov family finding her. They are looking for Alexander and Isobel as we speak. Agents Gibbs and David have managed to take Agent Finnan's body back to England without being caught by the Michailov family. Alexander and Isobel are hiding in a safe house I bought for her, so she could spend time with her father safely. I understand she took you there after the debriefing in Berlin from your op together?"

Callen nodded.

"Only the four of us know about it, but it is not safe for me to be seen with either of them. You and Mr Hanna will fly out in four hours to bring them both here to L.A. You will drive Isobel to London where she will get more medical help and recover, before you fly home with her. Your cover is that you are bringing your sick wife to the U.S. for medical treatment for cancer. Mr Hanna will fly separately with Alexander as work colleagues coming to a medical conference in San Francisco. They will drive the rest of the way. It may take a few weeks before you return, Mr Callen, ensuring Isobel is well enough to travel. They have tortured her pretty badly, but her Alexander is doing his best to help her heal. Mr Hanna is spending as much time with his family before your flight. You will meet on the plane." Hetty sat down again, totally exhausted. "I'm sorry G, we've both loaded you with all this. I didn't realise why Owen insisted on being here. But you needed to know before you left. Your children and their half sisters will be flying out later today with Isobel's adopted parents to L.A. The rest of your team will be on their protection detail while you are gone. It won't take much for them to realise who Jack and Sophie are."

"No it won't. I understand why I must be the one to go, I just wish I got to meet my children before they did." Callen moved his hand onto Hetty's arm. "I'm sorry I shouted at you, Hetty. It hurts so much. I realise you were just trying to protect them."

"I deserve it, G, so please do not apologise." They both give each other a knowing look.

Callen stood up and walked out of Ops. Granger went to follow him, but Callen stopped mid way down the stairs and turned on his father.

"Unless you are willing to spar with me, I suggest you give me some space."

"I deserve your anger towards me, Callen, I really do. I'm not asking you to forgive me. But I think it's time you know your name."

Callen turned away from Granger, but when he reached the bottom of the stairs he stopped. What Granger had told him suddenly hit him. He turned and looked at the man he had always despised.

"What does G stand for?"

Owen Granger paused before he spoke again.

"I think I will take up your offer of sparring first."

Callen glared at him, fists clenched at his side. "Whatever."

Both men changed into their gym clothes and met on the mat. It didn't take Callen long before he had Granger on the floor in a headlock. He was mad, so mad he could so easily have kill him. But he realised that Granger was letting him do this to him. He released him and stepped away.

"I hate you. You've hurt me more than anyone. You were suppose to protect me. Why didn't you come and get me? I don't understand." Callen punched the punching bag hard with his right fist, before falling onto his knees in tears.

Granger slowly walked over to Callen and kneeled down beside him. "You had been separated from your sister. By the time I found the orphanage where you were sent to, you had been moved into Foster Care. You moved so much it was hard to find you. By the time I did you were an angry teenager and you had run away."

"I was at Hetty's. She came to my rescue, because you didn't. I was in jeuve at fifteen. Treated like an animal, no one cared about me, but her. Don't you dare tell me that you couldn't find me."

Owen reined in his emotions, one of them had to keep their calm. "It wasn't until you joined the DEA, that I found you again. But you were a man by then and I was too gutless to make contact with you. Isobel is the reason I joined NCIS. She fiercely demanded that I tell you. But when I met you and your team, you instantly hated me. How could I get to know you and you me under those conditions?"

"Why now?" Callen asked him. "Why after all this time you tell me now?"

"Because I do not want to disappoint Isobel. She's been though enough already. She's never stopped loving you, you know. Even though she married Simon, and he was a very good husband to her and a wonderful father to your children. She still loves you."

"I know what a good man Simon was. I've worked with him before, he was one of the few I trusted at Langley."

They stayed silent in the gym for few minutes, thinking about Simon Finnan, before Callen asked him. "So tell me, what does G stand for?"

The older man looked at his son. "Your mother and I named you Callen. G stands for Granger. But you were put in care with your grandfather's sleeping roll, which confused people to what your name was. I never expected for you to forget your own name. I'm sorry I never told your earlier."

Callen looked at his father. "So you're telling me that I'm Callen Granger?"

"Yes, son."

Callen shook his head and cried until he couldn't cry anymore. Owen sat comforting his son for the first time since he was five years old, both unaware of Hetty's presence at the doorway to the gym. A small smile appeared on her face and tears welled in her eyes, for at last her favourite agent finally had his family.