#2

"…and Mr Renko?"

"He wasn't there" Kensi replied coldly

"Ms Blye… I know this has been a deeply upsetting matter… for us all. However I believe your focus needs to be on the job. I'll deal with Mr Renko from here on out"

….

"What about Mike?"

"He did not attend. I have the matter under control… please, focus on your mission. She needs to be free of the FBI… Once you have her, I'll have her relocated, clean identity. You have my word"

"I know… this is what I signed up for. Just… please, watch out for him and dad"

….

Mike had been drinking himself into one hell of a state. He wasn't even bothering to bin the empty beer, whiskey, and vodka bottles anymore… they were just left wherever Mike was , when he emptied them

He had been managing to sneak out late at night, pop into the local convenience store and made back to the house … mostly without anyone noticing. He had stuck to using cash… leaving no digital trace to his whereabouts. But it was never the digital trace that was the issue for him.

He had lost track of what day it was, how long it had been since he had found grace's body, how long it had been since he ran away to hide.

One night, he only knew it was night because it hadn't long gotten dark, he was heavily drunk… more drunk that he had ever been before. But the last few weeks had been one long bender…. He had blacked out and when he woke from someone kicking him he didn't know what he was seeing. Just how drunk had he been. He had to be imagining this

"Come on Buddy… lets get you up"

Mike swiped his hand in the direction of what he thought he was imagining, and when his hand hit the persons leg he was shocked. He had to be imagining it… he couldn't really be here

"G…?"

….

Hetty had been sat by the bed for several hours. She never relished days like this… finding one of her people in a hospital bed. Any of them hurting, physically or psychologically, she had stepped back OSP after Grace had 'vanished' 3 years ago, feeling it best to let the younger generation assert control over OSPs day to day running. Sure, she remained in the background, making the final decisions in situations that the new operations managers had never known how to deal with. She had gone through more than 10 supervisors in those 3 years. Some couldn't handle the secrecy, others not being able to handle the fallout when one of Hetty's people went rogue and nearly caused international incidents. She had finally had to take a more hands on role to ensure OSPs survival. More than once SECNAV and the director had hinted at shuttering OSPs operations… Hetty had always managed to dissuade them. But it was normally just by the skin of her teeth…

Mike had started groaning, causing Hetty to stop her self analysis.

"Mr Renko?!"

Mike looked about, trying rto focus on where he was… he knew he was somewhere else… the smell, the sounds… the light

"Where am I?"

"Mr Renko. Please focus. Mr Callen found you in quite some state. This has to stop NOW. You either come to your senses voluntarily, or I'll find a way to return you to the agent you used to be"

Mike was confused. He was sure he had hallucinated Callen. But the words Hetty was using…

"Callen's gone" He almost spat at the old spy

"I'll tell you this once, and once only. Ms Callen had a number of duties to which you were unaware…" she began

"You had be supervising G. You had her reporting on his activities. You used her… just like you've used us all at one time or another. She was just a kid… you had no right to drag her into this life"

"Mr Renko. Please focus. Ms Callen asked to watch over her father. She knew the cost associated with this life… as do we all. If I hadn't have granted her request you would most likely have been incarcerated for falsifying official reports, bribing NCIS agents to keep a lid on her actions…"

"Beale deserved what he got… he ruined Grace's life. Do you even know what him and Nell allowed to happen to her. Did you know that she was molested by one of his fucking cronies… You let Nell and Beale abscond with her. You're responsible for what happened to her and G…"

"Mr Renko, ENOUGH" she shouted at the top of her voice, not caring about the other residents in the nearby rooms "Ms Callen left a final instruction for us all… an instruction I've accepted. Mr Callen is, as of this morning, your supervising SAC. She also left a job for you… one I sincerely hope you'll follow"

Mike was shell shocked. He knew Grace had given her life up, so she could take care of Callen in his less than perfect condition. But she must have had quite some pull to convince Hetty to 'reprogram' Callen back to himself. After what had happened with Kristina, Hetty had sworn to never allow the program be used again. But to hear Hetty tell him that Grace had convinced her to use the it… he didn't know how to respond

"She wishes for you to watch over Mr Callen, and Ms Jones… she appreciated everything you and Ms Jones did for her, after her mothers trial. If you refuse,… well, there's nothing I can do to make you. But she gave up an awful lot… and it has left a debt for us to pay" Hetty just about managed to get out, struggling to hold back tears. She had never been a particularly outwardly emotional woman. But whatever was going on behind her normal emotionless façade, was enough to convince Him

….

3 Week Later

"I'll be home late" Mike called out as he grabbed his keys from the bowl

"Mike, I know… go to your AA meeting. Jake has Karate tonight anyway… I'll pick up dinner on the way home"

….

3000 Miles away

Kristina was watching something on the TV… she hadn't been paying any attention to what was on. It was just on for noise and to give her a break from the FBI agents that had been watching every move she had made for the last 18 months.

She had been inspected, interrogated and, more than once, waterboarded. The reasons for her not being locked up in a cell at GITMO escaped her… she had often regretted her actions… handing intel back to the FSB about the program used to create perfect sleeper agents by the USA. More than once she had tried to tell 'Rob' about her past, tried to tell him that she wasn't who he thought she was. And everytime she opened her mouth to start explaining… he said or did something to dissuade her. She feared losing him more than she feared the FSB or GRU.

She was about ready to switch the TV off for the night and go to sleep, when she heard gun shots. Initially she thought it was just the TV in the other room. But when she heard that second shot… she knew this was happening. They were finally coming for her… they were going to kill her. She knew they would try and terminate her before risking any of their intel getting into American hands, but now it was really happening.

She desperately start looking about the room for any way to escape, anything she could use to defend herself… hell, kill herself before they got their hands on her. There were two heavy thuds and then the shots stopped. She started clambering up the walls, trying to open the windows… IF she got them open, she knew the next issue would be the bars on the outside… but she swore she would deal with that problem when and IF she got the windows open.

The door was thrown open, she dropped to her knees and started pleading, begging with whoever it was standing there dressed all in black

"I'm not here to hurt you!"

….

"She's on the jet now… She'll be safe from the feds and from Russia in a few hours. How did you convince Andrea to go with her…She never struck me as the type?" Grace asked over the phone while flipping through the intel packet that had been sitting on her coffee table.

"She knows the cost of freedom. She, like yourself, like your father… is someone who gave everything up for a greater cause"

"How many of us do you have?" She asked while skimming the report

"As many as are needed" Hetty replied cryptically "Have you decided where you want to go now?"

"I was giving that some thought…" she absentmindedly added, while focusing on a picture "Dad's diary mentioned his time as an agent afloat…" Grace continued, expecting her gran to reject the request

"… I believe I know just the ship…" Hetty replied "perhaps one you've been onboard before"