1. Chapter 1

A small figure remained hidden in the bushes as she waited for the lights to go off inside the house. It was late, far past her bedtime, and pitch black outside. The clouds hid the light from the stars or even the moon, adding to the eerie silence around her, but those clouds also kept it dark enough for her not to be discovered. It was a blessing in disguise, and she knew it, as scared of the dark as she was.

The last lights dimmed from an upstairs window, and the girl made her move. Crossing the yard as silently as she could muster, she climbed the large oak tree into a small but cozy treehouse belonging to one of her friends from school. Once there, she closed the trap door and huddled in a corner, pulling her thin hoodie tighter around her body. The air was unusually chilly for April, and she hadn't eaten since that morning (an apple she'd managed to grab from a convenience store), her hunger making her feel even colder.

By now, she thought, surely people were looking for her. She'd missed school, something she rarely did, and someone would have had to have noticed her mom was missing. Tears slid down her cheeks uninvited at the thought of her mom. Never again would she be able to hug or kiss her. Never again would she be able to share ice cream sundaes with her, or go shopping, or just sit on the porch swing and talk. No, her mother was dead, and the girl knew there was a real possibility that she would be next.

The wind howled in the branches of the tree, and she longed to go inside her friend's house, where her friend's parents would welcome her with open arms, give her something to eat and a warm place to sleep.

Evie Mitchell knew, however, that it wasn't an option.

Being near a friend was a risk, but Evie figured that anyone looking wouldn't expect her to have made it unseen to the other side of town where her friend Claire lived. Claire's treehouse was probably the safest place for her. The police wouldn't be looking for her there, at least for tonight, and neither would the men who'd killed her mother.

Several more tears fell, and Evie slid onto her side, curling up into a ball. She pulled a cold metal object from her hoodie pocket, placing it on the wooden floor in front of her, still grasped firmly in her hand. It would stay there for the night, the only defense she had against the people who sought to hurt her.

* * *

Callen sat at his desk Tuesday morning, a freshly brewed cup of tea in hand as he checked his email on his laptop. The tea didn't have as much caffeine as a typical cup of coffee, but Hetty had converted him, and for whatever reason the drink soothed him. The special agent was exhausted after his disaster of a date with… what had her name been? Courtney? Carly? No, it was Candy.

Sam really needed to stop trying to set him up.

Callen wasn't sure why it was so important for Sam that he find someone. Callen was content being single. Sure, one night here or there wasn't so bad, but Callen had been on his own for so long, he wasn't sure he was really cut out for anything long-term. The closest he'd been to settling down had been over a decade ago, and that relationship hadn't ended well.

Kensi and Deeks were at their desks, sneaking glances at each other when they thought no one else was looking. Honestly, Callen thought it was hilarious that they thought for a second that everyone else there didn't know something was going on.

Out of the corner of his eye, Callen saw Sam approach. He groaned internally, knowing Sam was going to ask about his date with Candy. Quickly trying to come up with an excuse to avoid the subject, Callen nearly jumped at the loud whistle that captured everyone's attention. Eric stood at the top of the stairs, his t-shirt and shorts in stark contrast to the slacks, jeans, and skirts everyone else in the room wore.

"We've got a case."

Relieved, Callen glanced at the members of his team before leading the way up to Ops. He unintentionally caught Sam's gaze, and his friend's face revealed he knew that Callen was happy to avoid the subject. Nevertheless, the topic was pushed aside as he, Sam, Kensi, and Deeks joined Eric and Nell in Ops.

Callen glanced at the plasma screen, expecting to see something about the case they were taking. He was unprepared for the familiar image staring back at him.

"NCIS Special Agent Elizabeth Mitchell, NCIS Headquarters," introduced Eric. "She was found dead in her home in Annandale, Virginia yesterday."

There was a sudden intake of breath throughout Ops. "How?" Callen murmured as his gaze were glued to the screen.

"Gunshot to the head. Local LEOs were first on the scene, but have transferred the case to NCIS. One of our MEs is calling it a homicide."

The team was more subdued than usual. It was a heavy blow to learn about a fellow agent's death, even if they hadn't known that agent personally. However, it was unusual for a team to investigate the death of an agent on the other side of the country. "Why isn't a team in D.C. heading the investigation?" questioned Sam, asking what everyone else was wondering themselves.

"They are," Nell said. "You're not investigating Agent Mitchell's death. Your mission is to locate and protect a possible witness." She clicked a button and a new image appeared – a child's school photo. "This is Genevieve Mitchell, age ten. She's a fourth grader at Camelot Elementary School."

"Mitchell's daughter?" Kensi guessed.

"Yes. Neighbors claim Evie, as she's known to family and friends, was home around the time of Agent Mitchell's death. The Annandale police haven't been able to locate her. It's believed that she could have witnessed her mother's murder, and assumed that she's still alive. If the killer had her, they'd have no reason to keep her alive for ransom. There's no evidence that Agent Mitchell's family has money. They would have just killed her along with her mother, so we're operating under the belief that she's in hiding somewhere. We need to find her before whoever killed Agent Mitchell does."

"What about the father?" Deeks asked, joining the conversation.

"Unknown," Eric explained. "No father listed on her birth certificate. Next of kin listed are Agent Mitchell's parents and sister. They've already been notified."

Beth was dead. It was a hazard of the job, but to have been murdered off the job, in her home, struck a chord within Callen. He hadn't talked to her in years, but he was still surprised to find she had a daughter. Beth had been as devoted to the job as he had when they'd met on a mission overseas. He'd been CIA at the time, while she'd already been NCIS. It had been a whirlwind romance, but Callen could still say with certainty that Beth was the only woman he'd ever truly loved.

Callen took a deep breath. He couldn't bring back Beth, but at least he could try to save her daughter. "When do we leave?"


	2. Chapter 2

It was nearly 9 p.m. when Callen, Sam, Kensie, and Deeks stepped off the elevator and into the bullpen. The flight had been uneventful, but Callen's mind had been plagued with thoughts of Beth the entire time. It didn't seem real that she was gone; it didn't seem fair. She'd been such a beautiful person, inside and out…

Then, there was this daughter of hers. The girl was an orphan now, technically. Callen had no doubt that Beth's family would step up and care for Evie – the few times she'd spoken of her parents, she'd sung their praises – that little girl's life would never be the same. Callen understood what it was like to grow up without parents.

The lights were dimmed, the large room nearly empty save a man with salt and pepper hair and a commanding presence. Fortunately for Callen, he was just the man they were looking for.

"Jethro!"

Callen strode forward, shaking the older man's hand. He enjoyed the rare opportunity to work with his old friend, though he had to admit the circumstances could have been a lot better. The Washington office was a stark contrast to the L.A. field office, with the striking orange walls and almost institutional feel, but Callen felt as at home there as he did back in L.A.

"Callen, good to see you," Gibbs replied with that half-smile/half-smirk of his before nodding to acknowledge the rest of Callen's team. "Wish the circumstances were different. You knew Agent Mitchell, didn't you?"

"It's been over a decade, but yeah," Callen confirmed.

Gibbs furrowed his brow at the admission. "Wait, I thought you knew her daughter too."

Callen shook his head. "Never met her. I didn't even know Beth had a daughter until today."

His previous assessment – because Leroy Jethro Gibbs wasn't one to simply assume anything – proven untrue, he wondered what was amiss. It made no sense to fly a team cross-country for a mission that any of the local teams were more than capable of working. Why else would Callen's team have been brought in? "I figured that was why they brought your team out here to look for Evie."

Callen had wondered why his team had been selected since the moment they'd received the assignment. He was more than willing to help find his old friend's child, determined even at this point, but with dozens of teams within 500 miles of D.C. Callen couldn't fathom why anyone thought his team was the answer. "I have no idea why they sent us. Hetty was tightlipped about the whole assignment, but knowing her, she has some ulterior motive. I doubt the order came from SecNav himself, not with the numerous teams here at the Navy Yard."

Gibbs' mouth turned up in a half grin. "Well, I'm not complaining. Let's head up to MTAC; we'll fill your team in on what we know so far. With any luck, it'll help you find Evie."

* * *

Evie was up and several miles away from Claire's house before sunrise the next morning. She was tired and cold, having been unable to sleep well in her fear, and her stomach cramped from the lack of food, but she couldn't be at her friend's house when the sky grew light once more. It was too much of a risk. She'd have to keep going. Evie had no idea what she was going to do or where she'd go. She could find a way to go to Fredericksburg to find her grandparents, but that would require money, and what if the men who'd hurt her mom found her at her grandparents' house? She didn't want them to get hurt because of her. She didn't trust going to the police, not that she could verbalize her reasons for the distrust.

Her mom had wanted her to find an NCIS agent and ask for a particular agent. Evie had no idea where the NCIS agents worked, but there had to be a base around there somewhere. She trusted military personnel more than she did the local law enforcement officers. She'd have to get a map, and probably take several buses, to get to whichever one was closest.

Whatever she did, though, Evie knew she needed money, and she had to find something to eat. Without any experience in pickpocketing – not that Evie had any desire to steal, no matter the circumstances – the only place she could possibly find the funds she needed was back at home. Of course there was no guarantee she'd be able to get into her house. She'd have to find a way to sneak in without being seen, and that was assuming that no one was lingering.

She kept her hoodie pulled over her head, hands in her pockets, as she walked, choosing the least visible routes. Having lived in Annandale most of her life, she knew her way around well enough. She could keep to wooded areas and secluded paths. The seclusion made her journey all the more terrifying, not knowing whether someone might jump out at her at any given moment, but she still had the gun in her pocket. It was her only line of defense between her and anyone intent on hurting her.

Evie reached the edge of the woods behind her house just after 9 a.m. There was no sign of anyone milling about in the yard, nor could she see any lights coming from inside the house. Yellow crime scene tape stretched across the exterior of the house, so Evie knew the cops had already been there. Hopefully, they weren't still there. Moving as silently as possible, she crept across the yard, her eyes constantly darting back and forth, watching for any hidden dangers.

The inside looked, for the most part, just as it had that morning. Her mother was no longer lying near the base of the stairs, of course, but the blood stains were there, reminding Evie of the horrors she'd seen that morning. The house was eerily silent.

It took all of her strength not to curl up there in the middle of the floor and cry. Instead, Evie carefully climbed the stairs, heading straight for the master bedroom. There was a box there where her mom had kept a small stash of cash. She'd called it her 'rainy day fund.' Evie wasn't sure why her mom had kept so much cash in the house when she had a bank account and several credit cards, but at that moment she was glad for it.

The ten-year-old had just removed the lid from the box when she heard something coming up the stairs. Realizing there wasn't enough time to hide, nor was there any space where she could lock someone out indefinitely, she pulled the small, shiny gun from her pocket and slowly backed up until her back was pressed against the far wall, her eyes and gun trained on the closed bedroom door. The seconds seemed to stretch on forever as the footsteps grew louder. As the doorknob clicked, she took a deep breath, readying herself as much as she could for whatever was on the other side of the door.

The door opened and a man stepped in. Evie recognized his face at once; he had been one of the men with guns that morning. He had a gun even now, but it wasn't yet aimed at her. Without hesitating, she aimed and shot him in the shoulder, hoping to injure him enough to get away without having to kill him.

Cursing, the man stumbled, falling to his knees. He held a hand over his shoulder for a moment before lifting his gaze toward Evie, leveling her with a look of pure hatred.

Evie's legs wobbled and she slid down the wall until she was seated, her eyes never leaving his.

* * *

Callen and Sam stepped out of the car, staring at the attractive suburban house before them. Despite the fact that they had been through every inch of the house the previous night, and Gibbs' team had done so earlier that day, Hetty had insisted they return. Even from 3,000 miles away, the petite woman wasn't someone anyone in their right mind said 'no' to.

"What does she expect us to find?" Sam wondered aloud. "I can't see her returning to the scene of her mom's murder."

Callen glanced around, his gaze settling on a black SUV not far from the driveway. He nodded toward the vehicle and shared a look with his partner. "Seems we have company," he said, reaching for his weapon.

Just then, the unmistakable pop of a gunshot rang through the air. The two agents pulled their guns and dashed to the front door. Callen opened the door and crept in, Sam protecting his back. They heard heavily accented cursing coming from the second floor. Another shot and Callen and Sam found themselves moving as quickly as they could without making a sound.

In the master bedroom, they found a girl seated on the floor against the far wall. She matched the photo he'd seen of Evie back in Ops. A man was crouched down on carpet not five feet from her. Blood stained his shirt; a few drops had made their way into the carpet. The girl had a gun in her hands, pointed squarely at the man.

"Stupid girl," the man muttered, slowly rising to his feet. "Your aim is off. I will enjoy killing you."

Evie cocked the gun, aiming it at the man's head. Callen could see the fear in her eyes plain as day, but there was also a fire burning beyond that fear. He had the distinct feeling she could take the man out in one shot if she wanted to.

"Federal agents!" Sam said loudly, announcing their presence. "Put your hands where we can see them!"

The injured man turned to stare at Callen and Sam as if contemplating an escape attempt. The pair were no strangers to suspects fleeing, but to their relief he instead groaned, kneeling on the carpet and slowly putting his hands on his head.

Sam stepped forward to handcuff the man, but the girl kept the gun trained on her target.

"Evie?" Callen asked in a low voice, approaching her cautiously. He needed to disarm her before she accidentally shot one of them, but he knew if he moved too quickly, it could spook her.

She turned her head to see Callen, the rest of her body frozen. "Who are you?"

"I'm Agent Callen, NCIS. This is my partner, Agent Hanna." He nodded toward Sam, who had the man cuffed and was now calling for an ambulance and backup on his cell phone. Callen was surprised to see recognition in her eyes.

"G. Callen?" Evie asked, unable to believe he was actually _the_ G. Callen her mom had spoken of.

The special agent nodded, still wondering how she knew his name. "Can I have the gun?" He waited patiently, but didn't reach for the gun, not yet.

"I want to see your ID."

Evie expected him to just flash a badge, but Callen crouched down, offering her his photo ID. She studied the ID, unable to mask her own surprise. She was supposed to find him, and here he'd found _her_. She couldn't figure out what he was doing in Virginia, though. He wasn't supposed to be anywhere near Virginia, not according to her mom. Still, she was satisfied that he was who he said and that he wasn't a threat. Cautiously Evie lowered the gun and allowed Callen to take it gently from her hand.

With the gun safely in his possession, Callen took a closer look at Evie. She was petite, with golden brown hair that was pulled into two messy braids and pretty blue eyes. Her skin was like porcelain apart from a splattering of freckles on her cheeks. Callen could see a great deal of Beth in her; there was no doubt they were mother and daughter. Her eyes, though – those weren't Beth's, as the former NCIS agent had had hazel eyes. There was something about Evie's eyes…

"Are you okay?" he asked, looking her over for any signs that she'd been hurt. He didn't see any blood on her, but that didn't mean she couldn't have been injured in some other way. A surge of relief flowed through him when she nodded. "You're sure? You're not hurt anywhere?"

Evie shook her head, not sure she trusted her voice just yet, and moved to push herself up, but Callen surprised her when he gently grasped her arms to help pull her up. "Thanks," she whispered, her voice cracking slightly. "What… what are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be in California?"

Callen froze, his eyes studying her in shock. "Who told you I'm from California?"

"Mom."

Whatever Callen had been expecting, it hadn't been that. He was actually speechless for several long moments. Callen cleared his throat, finally finding his voice. "Beth told you about me?"

"She said if anything ever happened to her to ask the first NCIS agent I saw to find you," Evie admitted. "She said you'd be able to help. Is that why you're here, to catch the people who killed her?"

He didn't miss the way she'd said 'people' instead of 'person' when referring to her mother's murder. He filed away that mental note for future reference. "Actually, Evie, I came here to find _you_. We need to get you out of here."

She allowed Callen to guide her out of the room. Evie noticed that the other agent – Agent Hanna, Callen had called him – had taken the gunman somewhere else. She wasn't worried, though. She knew that wherever he was, he wouldn't be able to hurt her at the moment, and she trusted Callen would keep her safe. After all, her mom had trusted Callen. "Where are we going?" she asked as they descended the stairs.

"NCIS Headquarters at the Navy Yard."


	3. Chapter 3

Evie, Callen, and Sam walked through a sea of stares inside the NCIS Headquarters as all eyes were trained on them as they passed. Evie didn't particularly like the attention – she was never one for being the center of attention – but it didn't seem to faze her companions. Feeling a little self-conscious, Evie edged closer to Agent Callen, trusting that he wouldn't let anything happen to her.

She'd glanced at the two men every so often, when she was sure they weren't looking. It was clear they were partners. Though they'd quietly bickered over something that sounded ridiculous to the ten-year-old, Agent Callen seemed to trust Agent Hanna completely and vice versa. Agent Callen was shorter and slightly leaner than Agent Hanna, who reminded Evie of a giant teddy bear with muscles, though they both seemed tall to her. There was no doubt in her mind that Agent Hanna worked out. They hadn't said anything, but it wouldn't have surprised Evie to find out he was former military – perhaps a marine, considering the way he carried himself. Agent Callen definitely _wasn't_ former military, and there was something softer about his build – he wasn't overweight, he just didn't seem to hit the gym as often as Agent Hanna – but there was more to him than met the eye, she was sure of it. Neither man had a lot of hair, which Evie found amusing.

Then, there was the fact that Evie was where her mom had worked just a week prior. Would she run into her mom's coworkers? Would they say anything to her? When her friend Lane had lost his grandpa, he'd said everyone made a point to tell him they were so sorry for his loss. Evie didn't want complete strangers approaching her to talk about her mom. She was barely hanging by a thread as it was.

They entered an elevator, and Evie was grateful for the brief reprieve. Even being in an enclosed space with two men she didn't know, she wasn't scared. Her mom had trusted Agent Callen completely, so Evie did as well. Agent Callen trusted Agent Hanna, so Evie trusted Agent Hanna enough to keep her safe.

Unfortunately, the tranquility of the elevator didn't last long, and once again, they were greeted with stares. This time, however, they approached a man with gray hair and a serious expression. Other men and women were seated at desks, though their attention was focused solely on her. If possible, it was even more unnerving than it had been downstairs.

Her feet slowed of their own accord, but Callen hardly missed a beat as he rested a hand on her shoulder, guiding her forward. They reached the silver-haired man sooner than Evie would have liked, but to her surprise, he offered her a smile. She got the distinct impression that not many people had the honor. "You must be Evie," he said as he offered her his hand.

"This is Special Agent Gibbs," Callen explained as Evie allowed Gibbs to shake her hand. "His team is in charge of finding the person who hurt your mom."

The name triggered a bell in her head. It took several long seconds, but Evie finally made the connection. She'd heard her mom talking on the phone to someone named Gibbs. It had been months ago, but the memory had stuck. "You knew my mom," she said quietly.

Gibbs nodded. If he was surprised she'd made the connection, he didn't show it. "I had the honor of working with her on a case or two. She was a fine agent."

Evie was pretty sure Gibbs had just given her mother a compliment of the highest order. "Thank you," she murmured.

Another gray-haired man stepped forward, this one shorter than Gibbs. He was clearly older than the agent, and he wore a periwinkle button down shirt, a red plaid bow tie, and a friendly expression. Evie thought he was kind of adorable, in a little old man sort of way.

Gibbs nodded to the man and said, "This is Dr. Mallard. I'd like for him to check you over quickly to make sure that you're all right."

She thought it was odd, NCIS having a medical doctor on hand – not that she was an expert on the federal agency, but it _was_ a federal agency. High ranking officials, sure… agents galore and tech specialists, of course… perhaps even some forensic scientists, considering they had murders to solve, but medical personnel?

It was possible that they had brought him in for the sole purpose of making sure she was okay, she supposed. With most of those men still out there, Evie certainly didn't want to be in a large hospital or clinic where anyone could walk in off the streets. She imagined it was the reason they were having a doctor look at her here at NCIS. However, any visitor would have a visitor's badge, and Dr. Mallard wore none. He had to be NCIS personnel, somehow.

"I'm not hurt," she informed the men before her. Exhausted, hungry, and a little dehydrated, for sure, with a headache that left her fighting not to act cranky, but she wasn't injured. "You probably need more than the word of a ten-year-old to be sure, though." It was all right, she decided. Perhaps talking to this doctor would clear up some of her questions.

"I'm afraid we do," agreed Gibbs. He nodded to a cheerful young woman with black pigtails and a white lab coat. "This is Abby Sciuto. She'll be with you and Dr. Mallard."

Evie studied the young woman. "Are you a doctor, too?"

"Forensic scientist," Abby said, holding out a hand. "It's nice to meet you, Evie. We're really glad you're here and you're okay."

The woman in front of her wasn't what Evie had expected when she thought of a forensic scientist, but she decided she liked that about her. "It's nice to meet you too, Miss Sciuto."

"Abby," corrected the forensic scientist. She stepped forward and wrapped an arm around Evie's shoulders. She didn't miss the way the girl flinched slightly, but she didn't pull away. "Ducky won't take long, and then I can give you a tour around here if you want."

That didn't sound so bad, Evie thought. She was about to say so when she felt a particularly hard cramp in her stomach. She wrapped her arms around her midsection and frowned, taking a deep breath in through her nose as she willed her stomach to relax.

It didn't escape her notice that everyone was watching her even more closely, but she had no plans to say anything. However, her body spoke for her as a gurgling sound erupted from inside her, one that seemed so loud to her own ears that there was no way everyone else didn't hear.

"When's the last time you ate?" Abby demanded.

Evie took another deep breath, relaxing a little as the pain subsided. "Yesterday… morning."

"Evie… why didn't you say something?"

She shrugged her shoulders, glancing up at Callen. "Dunno."

"Well, we're going to get you something to eat right now." Without waiting for anyone to agree, Abby steered Evie out of the bull pen and in search of a good meal.

* * *

"Talk to me, Duck."

The seasoned medical examiner sighed as Gibbs and Callen entered autopsy. Only minutes ago, Ducky had left Evie in a conference room with Abby, who had been all too eager to entertain the girl. After making sure the child had eaten something, Ducky had checked her over, giving her a clean bill of health. The mini checkup had given him the opportunity to speak with Evie without the others around, something Gibbs had insisted upon. "Genevieve is a delightful girl, Jethro; bright, kind, and completely aware of everything going on around her. She's grieving over the loss of her mother in much the same way I'd expect any other child to grieve upon becoming an orphan."

Gibbs understood the loss of a parent all too well, but he didn't exactly agree with the orphan assessment. "She still has family."

"An aunt in D.C. and elderly grandparents in Fredericksburg, she told me," Ducky agreed. "It's my understanding that Evie's grandparents aren't in the best of health at this point, and her aunt is a grad student at Georgetown. It's not the same as having one's parents, though, and at this point she doesn't know who she's going to be living with. That kind of uncertainty can be scary for a child."

"Did she say anything about her mom?"

"She spoke of things she and Agent Mitchell had liked to do together and how she felt about her mother, but she didn't say a word about her passing."

"You're telling me she doesn't know anything about her mom's death." Gibbs couldn't deny that it would be best for the girl if she wasn't a witness and at danger from the person or persons responsible for Agent Mitchell's death, but at the same time, having a witness could be invaluable. He'd spoken to Callen and Sam while Ducky had been with Evie. Knowing that the ten-year-old had had a gun, and that she'd had an encounter with a suspect from Agent Mitchell's murder, the former Marine had a hard time believing Evie knew nothing.

"On the contrary – I am certain she knows exactly what happened. She purposely avoided any line of questioning that dealt with her mother's passing, but I could see it in her eyes. The girl is terrified, Jethro. She isn't going to open up about it to just anyone."

Gibbs sighed. That could pose a problem. "What do you suggest, Ducky?"

Ducky nodded to the youngest man in the room. "Let Agent Callen interview her."

"Me?" Callen asked, caught off guard by the suggestion. Sure, he and Sam had been the ones to find Evie, but he wasn't any more skilled at questioning possible witnesses than Gibbs. In fact, Callen was willing to bet that Gibbs would be much more effective interviewing a child – he'd been a father at one point, after all. Callen had no experience with kids whatsoever. "Why me?"

"That girl holds you in the highest regard, Agent Callen," Ducky explained. "Her mother spoke highly of you to her daughter. If Genevieve is going to open up to anyone about what she knows I am fairly certain it will be you."


	4. Chapter 4

"Thank you for speaking with us, Miss Mitchell. We're very sorry for your loss."

Bishop and McGee sat on a sofa in the small one-bedroom apartment. Though it was the home of a college student, it had a cozy feel to it. Family pictures and fresh paintings adorned the walls, which had been painted a faint blue. The attached kitchen was bright and clean.

Adjacent to them sat Jennifer Mitchell, Beth's younger sister. Red, puffy eyes revealed she'd been crying before they got there. Not that either agent could blame her. The twenty-something had lost her sister and potentially her niece. McGee couldn't even imagine what he would do if something happened to Sarah.

She nodded as she blew her nose into a tissue. "Thank you. Y-you can call me Jenna. Have they found Evie yet?"

Bishop shook her head. "Not yet, but we've got a team out looking for her. We'll do everything we can to find her."

"We were hoping to ask you a few questions about your sister," McGee told the young woman.

"Of course; anything you need…"

McGee pulled out a note pad and a pen. "When was the last time you spoke with Beth?"

Jenna thought about that for a moment. "Saturday night. It was a little before six, because I had a date that night."

"Did she seem different at all when you talked to her?"

"Beth had been on edge for at least a week before that… looking over her shoulder and around every corner. I've never seen her like that. When we talked, she was really adamant about my being safe on my date. I mean, she's always telling me to be careful, but she was much more worried about it that night. I didn't understand why, but I just brushed it off."

McGee jotted down a few notes. "Did she say anything that might make you suspect that she was in any kind of trouble or feared for her safety?"

Jenna shook her head. "No… not that she would have. She'd never tell me that she was worried about anything, even if I could hear it in her voice."

"Did she have any enemies?" Bishop questioned.

"Not that I know of, but I'm sure being a Navy cop doesn't always make you a lot of friends."

McGee looked up from his pad. "Did your sister say or do anything else that you thought to be out of the ordinary?" he asked Jenna.

"I'm not sure if it has anything to do with what happened, but two months ago Beth began teaching Evie how to shoot a gun. It was shocking, because Beth has always been adamant about Evie not even going near firearms. Evie touched Beth's gun when she was six, and Beth freaked. She swore after that that her daughter wouldn't go near a gun until she was a legal adult."

Bishop and McGee both found that odd, but there wasn't enough information to decide whether or not it was connected to Agent Mitchell's death. Feeling there wasn't much more to gleam from this interview, McGee stood, prompting Bishop to do the same. He handed Jenna a business card. "Thank you again for your time. If you think of anything else, please call me."

The young woman nodded in agreement. "I will."

Bishop had just reached for the knob on the front door when McGee's cell phone rang. He lifted the phone to his ear. "McGee… Wait, what…? Is she okay…? Yeah, thanks." Ending the call, McGee turned to Bishop and Jenna, who were both watching with a great deal of curiosity. "That was Tony," he explained to Bishop before turning to Agent Mitchell's sister. "Evie's been found. She's okay." He gave the young woman a moment to process the news and let out an audible sigh of relief. "She's back at NCIS Headquarters. If you'd like, we can give you a ride."

* * *

Evie sat on the chair, immediately pulling her legs up so that they were crisscrossed on the seat. She watched as Callen set a bottle of water in front of her before sitting on a chair on the opposite side of the table. The room was warm enough, the chair reasonably plush. Windows along a far wall presented an impressive view of the Navy Yard. Evie knew they were in a conference room, which seemed much cozier than what she'd seen of interrogation rooms on TV. It wasn't that she'd expected to be taken to some dark, gloomy room… actually she really didn't know what she expected.

After several long seconds, Callen nodded to the bottle. "Drink some water… doctor's orders."

Evie shrugged a shoulder. "I don't suppose I could just say I'm not thirsty and we leave it at that…?"

Callen cracked a smile. "Not really, no. Dr. Mallard said you're a little dehydrated and that you need to drink extra water."

She nodded, more to herself than anything, and unscrewed the cap. She took a small sip, careful not to drink too much of the icy liquid as to give herself a headache. Glancing around the room, she noticed the absence of any surveillance equipment. "I don't see any cameras."

The agent tilted his head, surprised by the observation. "There aren't any cameras in this room. Why did you think there would be?"

"I figured you'd have cameras everywhere, being a government agency and all."

Callen shook his head no. "No, no cameras. It's just us in here." He paused, considering her with curiosity. "Are you okay with that?"

Truthfully, it didn't bother her. She might have been nervous if Agent Gibbs had been the one on the other side of the table, or even Agent Hanna, but her mom had trusted Agent Callen, so Evie decided she should trust him as well. "Yeah, it's fine," she told him honestly.

The man smiled. "Water," he prompted.

Rolling her eyes a little, Evie took another sip. "You sound like a dad," commented Evie. "My friends' dads sound like that sometimes. Do you have any kids?"

"I don't," Callen admitted. "Speaking of parents and families, though, your aunt and grandparents have been very worried about you." He spoke with care, making sure his tone was gentle. He didn't want to scare or scold the girl, and questioning children wasn't exactly a strength of his. "Can you tell me where you've been the past three days?"

Evie studied her hands in her lap. "I'd rather not."

"You're not in trouble, Evie," he tried to assure her. "We were concerned that you'd been kidnapped or that the people who hurt your mom had hurt you as well, and we're trying to understand what happened between Sunday and now."

She believed him, for the most part, but she still had no desire to explain where she'd been during that time. She didn't want to think about all of the hiding, or the fact that she'd jumped every time she heard the slightest unexpected noise. So instead of speaking, she shook her head and continued to focus on her hands.

When Evie didn't say anything, Callen continued. "Agent Hanna and I were surprised to find you at your house," he told her. "Were you there a long time before we got there?"

She supposed that would have been a surprise. The place was a crime scene, after all. "I needed some food and money," she admitted softly.

"What about after you got the food and money? Where were you going to go, then?"

His voice was calm and nonthreatening. Beginning to feel more comfortable with the conversation, she lifted her head, glancing Callen's way. "I was going to find the closest military base and go there."

Her answer took Callen by surprise. "Why go to a military base?" he asked, curious to hear her answer.

"To find an NCIS agent," she replied.

Ah. That made sense, now that Callen thought about it. He remembered she'd told him back at her house that her mom had told her to ask an agent to find him. He had more questions, though, while they were on the subject. "So they could find me," he remembered out loud. "When did your mom tell you about me?"

The memory of that night swirled around in Evie's mind. Remembering the weight of her mother's voice left Evie with a small lump in her throat. She reached for the bottle of water, taking a longer sip this time to put off having to explain.

_One week earlier…_

"_I need to talk to you about something very important, Evie."_

_Beth Mitchell sat on the edge of her daughter's bed. It was their routine for Beth to tuck Evie in at night, even if the girl was now ten. Normally Beth would give Evie a hug and a kiss and bid her sweet dreams, but tonight was different. Beth knew it, and it seemed Evie knew it as well as she stared up at her mother with a worried expression._

"_Mom, what's wrong?"_

"_There's a man who lives in California," Beth explained. "His name is G. Callen. It's important for you to remember his name."_

"_Why do I need to remember G. Callen?"_

"_He's a good man and a fellow agent. I would trust him with my life, and I want you to trust him as well."_

_When Beth said 'agent,' Evie knew she meant an NCIS Special Agent. She'd known her own mother was an agent since she'd been seven, and it came as no surprise that Beth would know agents around the country. However, this current conversation was setting off warning bells in Evie's brain, but she wasn't sure what to make of it. "Mom…?" she asked slowly, confusion evident on her face._

_Beth placed one hand on top of Evie's. "If anything ever happens to me, Evie, anything at all, I need you to ask the first NCIS agent you see to find G. Callen."_

_Suddenly Evie felt wide awake. What did she mean by THAT? "Mom…?" she repeated, her voice cracking slightly._

_It broke Beth's heart, scaring her baby like that, but it was too important to set aside for later. She couldn't guarantee that there _would_ be a 'later.' "Promise me, Evie. Promise me that if anything happens, you'll ask someone to find G. Callen."_

"_Mommy…" She hadn't used the name in over a year, but right then, Evie felt much younger than she really was._

_Beth shook her head. "Genevieve Elizabeth, I need you to promise me."_

_Her mom never called her by her first and middle name unless she was really serious about something or Evie was in trouble. The words rolled off her tongue before she could even think, her voice shaking in the process. "I promise."_

_Leaning down, Beth kissed her daughter's forehead. "Good girl." Seeing Evie on the verge of tears, she gently nudged the girl. "Scoot over, sweet pea." Beth stretched out on her side next to Evie, reaching over to smooth back her hair. "Go to sleep, okay? I'll be here when you wake up, I promise."_

Present Day

Beth had been there when Evie had awoken the following morning as promised, but just days later she'd been violently ripped from the child's life. Evie wondered if her mom had suspected something might happen to her. Why else would she have made Evie promise such a thing?

The ten-year-old sniffled, wiping the dampness from her eyes. "It was a week ago," she finally answered, burying her hands in her lap. "She made me promise to ask for you if anything ever happened to her. She said she trusted you with her life, and I should, too."

Callen found he was both honored and surprised by the admission. He would have trusted Beth with his own life, easily, but for her to have singled him out to her daughter, to have put that trust in him in the ten-year-old, was something else entirely.

"Did your mom say anything about why she was telling you all of this?"

"No," Evie replied with a slight head shake. "After that night, she didn't mention it again."

Believing Evie, Callen moved on. "All right. Let's talk about Sunday. What did you do that day?"

Evie resumed her intensive study of her lap. "You don't want to know what I did on Sunday."

"I don't?" Callen asked, one eyebrow raised curiously.

She shook her head, but didn't offer any further explanation.

"What do I really want to know then, Evie?" Callen questioned after several moments of silence.

Evie looked up just then, her eyes studying him intently. Her mom had been adamant that she could trust him. She'd trusted him enough to hand over her mom's gun, and she'd trusted him enough to talk to him in this conference room away from the others. Evie knew she needed to be able to trust someone with what she knew. If she was going to trust anyone, it might as well be him. She wiped the moisture from her eyes once more, her gaze holding his. "You want to know what I know about my mom's murder."

Damn it, she was clever. "Okay. What can you tell me about that day?"

"We didn't go to church that morning, even though we always go unless we're sick," Evie revealed. "Mom said I was going to spend a few days with Mimi and Pops, and that I should pack what I wanted to take with me. She was really nervous."

Evie's story corroborated Gibbs' report of the crime scene. He'd relayed to Callen that they'd found half-packed suitcases in both Beth and Evie's rooms. "Was your mom going to stay with your grandparents, too?"

"I don't think so. She didn't say."

"Agent Gibbs said that the suitcases weren't completely packed. What happened?"

"I went to ask Mom something when she told me to stop talking and walked over to the window. When she turned back around, her face was really white. She told me to go down to the basement and lock the door behind me."

"Did you go to the basement?"

Evie shook her head slowly. "No. I argued with her. She got really mad, even though she never got that mad at me, even when I'd do things I wasn't supposed to. She started to make me go down the stairs when we heard the front door open. She placed one finger over her lips, grabbed my arm and dragged me to my room, locked the door, and closed it without a word. I…" She didn't finish her thought as her gaze once more returned to her hands in her lap.

Callen gave the girl a moment before he realized she wasn't going to say anything further without some prodding. "What happened then, Evie?"

"I heard arguing. I knew she wanted me to stay in my room, but I couldn't help it. I wanted to know who she was arguing with, so I crept out of my room and stood against the wall at the top of the stairs. I peeked around the corner carefully to see if I could see what was going on downstairs."

"What did you see?"

The memory of what happened next played in slow-motion in her mind. The men pointing their guns at Beth, a brief sound that she couldn't put into words, and then Beth crumpling to the floor as blood began to soak her shirt. Shaking her head to dismiss the unwelcome images there, Evie curled up into a ball and buried her face in her knees.

She heard soft movements, but Evie didn't react until she felt something touch her arm. Jumping a little, she lifted her head just enough to see Callen's face at her level, his hand resting gently on her arm.

"You're safe here, Evie," he told her in a soft tone. "I know you're scared, but I promise you that my team and I won't let anyone hurt you. It's my team's sole mission here to protect you. Agent Gibbs' team is responsible for finding the person or people who hurt your mom. They're very good at finding the bad guys, but they could still use your help, and the best way to help them do that is to tell us everything you know."

Evie watched Callen silently for the better part of a minute before she spoke, her voice barely above a whisper. "There were three men," she admitted. "They all had guns, but it was the man in the middle who shot her. There was something weird about his gun. It didn't make the sound guns normally make when they fire. I could barely hear it."

Callen was tempted to ask whether or not Evie saw their faces and what they were wearing, but some gut instinct told him to hold off on those questions. "Did the men see you?"

"I don't think so." She was sure that if they'd seen her, they would have immediately come after her. "They never looked up the stairs. They leaned over my mom, stared at her for a minute, and then left."

"What about the man at your house earlier today?" prodded Callen. "Was he one of the men you saw when your mom was shot?"

She nodded softly. "Yes, but he wasn't the one who… you know…"

Callen moved his hand from her arm to her own hand, squeezing it gently. "You did a great job just now, Evie. I'm going to tell Agent Gibbs what you just told me, so his team can find the other two men who came to your house that day. Agent Gibbs will probably want you to work with Abby for a little bit. She can use what you remember of the men to create a sketch of them that will help us find them."


	5. Chapter 5

Upon their return to the bullpen, Evie noticed two new faces. A man and a woman stood between the desks, deep in conversation with Agent Hanna. They both looked young – compared to Agent Gibbs, anyway – maybe around her mom's age? The man had a mop of messy blonde hair covering his head and a fair amount of facial hair. It made him appear scruffy but there was a twinkle in his eye that sparked Evie's curiosity. By contrast, the woman had long, chocolate locks, which were pulled back into a tidy ponytail. One eye was darker than the other, something Evie hadn't seen on someone before. Like Agents Callen and Hanna, these two were dressed casually in jeans, a stark contrast to Agent Gibbs.

The trio noticed Evie's presence and turned, giving her their full attention. Not one to enjoy the spotlight, Evie moved behind Callen.

However, the agent simply took a step to the side and nudged Evie to stand in front of him. "Evie, this is Agent Blye and Detective Deeks," he explained, getting introductions out of the way. "They were also helping to find you."

Evie eyed the two, not sure which one was 'Deeks' since Callen hadn't motioned to either one during the introduction. "Detective?" she repeated curiously.

Deeks offered a charming grin, and Evie realized at once that Deeks was the man. "LAPD," he explained.

"You aren't NCIS. Why would a Los Angeles detective fly out to D.C. to find me?" She glanced at Sam. "Why would NCIS agents from the other side of the country fly all the way out here to find me?" she asked him. "There are lots of agents that work in this building alone. It doesn't make sense."

Even with his connection to Beth, Callen had been wondering the exact same thing. What was Hetty's end game in orchestrating this mission? He knew it was her doing. There was simply no other reason for NCIS to devote funds to transporting a team cross-country to perform a mission that local teams were more than capable of handling. Hell, Gibbs' team could have found Evie AND searched for the killer without any outside help. Knowing Hetty, she would have of course known about his prior work with Beth, but having worked with someone over a decade earlier didn't mean much. He hadn't spoken to Beth since then; he certainly could speak to the type of person she might be now. There were too many unanswered questions.

"We're not sure," Sam said, answering the girl's question, "but whatever the reason, we're here, and it's our job while we're here to keep you safe."

Evie was about to ask how they were going to do that when she heard a familiar voice calling her name from across the room.

"Evie!"

Her head whipped around. Standing next to two other people she presumed to be agents was her aunt. "Aunt Jenna?" she half squeaked. A split second later, Evie sprinted across the room into Jenna's arms where she promptly burst into tears.

Jenna held Evie close, leaning down to kiss the child's hair. Having heard that Evie was okay was one thing, but actually seeing it herself filled Jenna with a sense of relief she hadn't thought possible. Beth was gone – there was nothing anyone could do to change that – but at least Evie was alive. It was all that mattered at the moment.

Aunt and niece stood there for what felt like ages before Jenna managed to lift her gaze to the others in the vast room. "Who do I have to thank for finding my niece?" she asked, rubbing Evie's back comfortingly.

Sam stepped forward, hand held out. "Agents Hanna and Callen," he said, gesturing to himself first and then his partner.

Jenna smiled at Sam as she shook his hand. "Thank you," she told him sincerely. She turned to smile at Callen and froze, processing what the other agent had called this man. _'It couldn't be…'_ she thought to herself. "Callen?" she repeated cautiously, her eyes studying his intently. "_G. Callen?_"

Callen supposed he shouldn't be surprised that Beth's sister would have known his name since her ten-year-old daughter did. However, Jenna's expression was vastly different from the one he'd first seen from Evie. The woman almost seemed to be scrutinizing him. What could Beth have told her to cause her to look at him that way?

"I take it Beth mentioned my name to you as well?" he guessed.

"Something like that…" she trailed off, her gaze still locked on his. Those eyes… Jenna blinked, but she didn't look away. "I was under the impression you worked in California."

"My team was assigned to this case. We're here to keep Evie safe."

Unlike Evie, Jenna didn't question his flying 3,000 miles to protect the child. Callen found it odd, but he chose not to vocalize his thoughts.

"You're worried about the people who…?"

Jenna didn't need to finish the question. Glancing down at Evie, she hugged the girl closer to her. She wasn't sure she wanted to discuss Beth's death in front of Evie, but she wasn't ready to let go of her after several days of wondering whether she was even alive.

Nodding, Callen said, "I'd like to talk to you about that, if that's all right with you."

* * *

Ten minutes later they settled in the same conference room Callen and Evie had used earlier. Jenna and Evie sat on one side of the table, while Callen and Sam settled on the other side. Even though they sat in different chairs, Jenna had Evie pulled close, her arm draped across the child's shoulders.

"The agents who visited me today – are they also a part of your team?"

"They're part of a different team," explained Sam. "Our sole mission was to find and protect Evie. The other team is searching for the person or persons responsible for your sister's death."

This conversation was going to get serious fast, and Callen was concerned about how it might affect the one child in the room. Even as Sam had mentioned Beth's untimely demise, Callen had watched Evie flinch slightly. He couldn't get over how brave she had to be, having witnessed her mother's death and then reliving the ordeal when she told Callen what she knew. Part of him wondered if she could possibly handle hearing the details yet again. "Are you okay, Evie?" he asked, more than willing to give her a reprieve. "You don't have to be in here if you don't want to. Agent Hanna could take you down to Abby's lab. Abby would gladly let you hang out there."

"No," Evie said at once, fighting to keep her voice from trembling. "I want to stay."

"Who is Abby?" Jenna interjected.

"Abby Sciuto is the forensic scientist here," Callen explained. "Her lab is downstairs, and she's really good with kids. She would enjoy entertaining Evie for a while." He turned his attention back to the child in question. "You're sure? I'm going to tell your aunt what you told me about your mom."

Evie didn't want to have to think about what had happened – she wanted to bury the memories in the back of her mind – but she wanted desperately to stay with Jenna. "I want to stay," she repeated more forcefully as she leaned further into Jenna's embrace. In all honesty, she would have rather perched herself upon Jenna's lap, but Evie was ten, and although she knew her aunt wouldn't object for one second, she didn't want these agents thinking she was some sort of baby.

Studying the intense emotions flashing on Evie's face, Jenna wondered exactly what Evie might know about her mother's murder. She had no idea where the girl had been since the murder, but suspicions rose as she considered Callen's words and Evie's reaction to them. While she still didn't want to let Evie out of her sight, especially after spending days fearing she might have lost her, too, Jenna began to rethink whether it might be better if Evie didn't hear this conversation.

Another conversation loomed on the horizon, one Jenna knew she and Callen would need to have, and if the opportunity presented itself while she was already there at NCIS, she definitely did not want Evie in the room to witness it. There was no way she was opening that can of worms around Evie.

She didn't miss Evie's look of surprise as she pulled away slightly and turned to face her. "Evie, maybe it would be a good idea if you went with Ms. Sciuto for a little while."

"What? No!" Evie exclaimed. "I want to stay here!"

Jenna reached for Evie's hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. "Listen, sweetie. I don't know what's happened over the last few days, and I have no idea what you know about what happened to your mom. You've been such a brave girl so far, but you don't need to listen to people talk about your mom like that. Your mom was an NCIS agent, just like Agents Callen and Hanna, and I know that no matter what you are safe here in this building. I promise you the moment we're finished talking up here, we'll come get you."

Evie shook her head stubbornly, arms folding across her chest in protest. "I'm not going."

The grad student lowered her voice. "Genevieve." That one word was spoken just as calmly as the others before, but it carried a subtle air of authority, a gentle warning that a tantrum wouldn't be tolerated. "It is my job now to make sure that you are safe and healthy and that you have everything you need. The best thing for _you_ right now is to not be here while Agent Callen and I discuss your mom. I have something else I need to talk to him about, and you absolutely cannot be here for that conversation. I need you to be brave just a little bit longer. Can you do that for me?"

She wanted to argue further, but at the same time, Evie understood Jenna's warning. While Jenna had typically played the role of the young, fun aunt, there was a line that she had learned not to cross. If she decided to be uncooperative, Evie knew she would see a side of Jenna that was very reminiscent of her mom.

"Okay," she whispered.

Jenna offered her a grateful smile and leaned over to kiss her forehead. "Thank you, Evie." She turned to glance questioningly at the agents, only to realize that Agent Hanna was already on his feet. Evie seemed to notice this at the same time, and glanced over at the imposing figure.

Sam smiled, and Evie felt a sliver of her anxiety melt away. "Come on. I'll take you down to Abby's lab."

* * *

Jenna's thoughts were an absolute mess. She couldn't completely wrap her mind around the idea that her niece had actually witnessed her mother's murder. Her first thought had been mortification over the fact that she had essentially sent Evie away, even though Evie had protested, but the rational part of her brain reminded her that there was no reason for Evie to have to listen to the details of her mom's death again. She could only imagine how scared the girl must feel, knowing the people who had committed such a heinous act were still out there, wondering if they were going to find and hurt her just as they had Beth. Jenna wondered if she needed to schedule an appointment with a therapist for Evie. Surely she would need some sort of professional to talk to after such an ordeal!

However, Jenna had more pressing matters to deal with just then. Agent Hanna hadn't returned since leaving with Evie and Jenna now had what she was sure to be a rare opportunity to speak with Agent Callen without anyone else present. There was something urgent she needed to talk to him about, something Beth had made her promise not to discuss with anyone other than G. Callen.

She wasn't exactly sure of how to broach the subject – how exactly did someone _say_ what she needed to say?

Callen cleared his throat. "I don't want you to think I was purposely trying to listen to every part of your conversation with Evie before, but you told her you needed to speak with me about something – something you wouldn't talk about in front of her," he said, breaking the silence that had enveloped the room after he'd finished relaying the details he'd acquired from Evie and the team's plan to keep both of them safe.

"I do," Jenna agreed, grateful for his taking the first step. It was still going to be a difficult conversation. Did she come out and say it? Did she just circle around to it? Perhaps it would be best to let Beth do the talking, so to speak. Pulling her purse onto her lap, Jenna withdrew a slightly crinkled envelope. She set her purse aside before carefully sliding the envelope across the table to Callen.

A quick glance at the envelope revealed two things to Callen. First, it had been addressed to him. Second, it was from Beth. Even after a decade, he'd recognize her handwriting anywhere. "What is this?" he asked Jenna as he picked up the sealed envelope, studying it carefully.

"Beth gave it to me a couple of years ago," explained Jenna. "Her team had been investigating a sailor accused of selling bombs to terrorists when a bomb exploded in the house they were checking out. Another NCIS agent was killed, and Beth was injured. Evie had to stay with our parents for a couple of weeks while Beth recuperated. I think it was the first time she considered the effect that her own mortality would have on Evie. After she got out of the hospital, Beth gave me this letter and asked me to find a way to get it to you should anything ever happen to her."

"Do you know what it says?"

"Word for word? No. I do know the general message, but I think it would be better if I let you read it from her."

More than intrigued, Callen turned the envelope over and, carefully as he could, broke the seal. Once open, he pulled several neatly-folded sheets of lined paper covered in Beth's delicate handwriting. Unfolding the papers, he ran his fingers over the script, memories tugging at his heart, before beginning to read.

_Dear Callen,_

_If you're reading this, something has gone horribly wrong and I am seriously injured, gravely ill, or dead. I'm sorry. This wasn't something that I wanted to talk about in a letter. I wanted to be able to tell you face-to-face, but the time was never right, and frankly I've felt a bit cowardly over it all. When you keep something a secret for so long, it builds until you're sure that if you reveal the truth the world around you will combust._

_I've thought often of Italy. Our time together was brief, and it seems like lifetimes ago, but you were the first man I ever truly gave my heart to, and to be honest I never really got it back. There hasn't been anyone since you. If things had been different – if we had been at different points in our lives – well, I suppose it does me no good to wonder 'what if' at this point._

_I hope that by the time you're reading this you've had a chance to meet Evie. She's the most amazing child I've ever met, but I know I'm at least a little biased. I love my little girl more than anything, and since I first laid eyes on her on March 7, 2003, my world has revolved around her._

_You might wonder where I'm going with this. The thing is, I called her mine, but to be more accurate, Evie is __our__ little girl. She's ours. I didn't know until I was back stateside that I was pregnant, and by that time I had lost contact with you. I found myself in a whirlwind of emotions, and it took a couple more months for me to really get back my bearings. At that point, I was sure I could find some way to track you down, but to be honest, Callen, I just didn't know what to say. My world had changed, but I didn't know how it would change your world, or if you would even want such a change. I made excuses after that for why I didn't tell you – your job wouldn't allow you to be there much for her – I didn't want to possibly coerce you into setting aside your career to be there for her – your job came with hazards that I wanted to protect her from. Pathetic excuses, considering my current situation, and I'm sorry for my cowardice. However, regardless of your situation, you deserve to know about her, and at some point I think she deserves to know about you. My parents are getting on in years, and after they're gone Evie will only have my sister Jenna and any family she might have started at that point._

_What you do with this knowledge is up to you, and I don't judge you no matter what you choose. You have every right to be furious with me for keeping such a secret, and if you decide that having Evie in your life is too much please know I understand. All you have to do is let Jenna know, and she'll continue to keep my secret. I have asked her to let Evie know about you once she turns 18 and in the event that she asks about her father. I can't ask Jenna to keep the truth from her indefinitely._

_Whatever your decision, I hope that someday Evie will have the chance to know you._

_All my love,_

_Beth_

Callen stared at the paper, a myriad of emotions blasting through his mind. Grief for the love lost, for the relationship that could have lasted had either of them sought the other out stateside – shock over the realization that he, G. Callen, was a_father_ and had been for the past 10 years without even knowing it – anger over the fact that Beth hadn't told him this _ten years ago_. Frankly he wasn't sure what to think or feel at this point.

He'd forgotten anyone else was in the room when Jenna's voice broke through his inner turmoil. "We can have a paternity test done, if you'd like," she told him quietly.

He blinked, slowly shaking away the daze. "That isn't necessary," he said, surprised by how his voice shook slightly. "I trust Beth."

"Evie doesn't know," she added. "She won't unless you want her to. I'm sure this has come as a shock, and you don't have to make any decisions today. I just didn't know if we'd have another chance to speak without anyone around."

"I wondered why you recognized my name. How long have _you_ known?"

"Since Beth gave me this letter to give to you. I also know that around that time she had her will drawn up. She made it clear in her will that guardianship of Evie first went to you, should you choose to accept, and also established your role as her natural father. I believe it can help in the process to amend Evie's birth certificate to include you as the father, if necessary. If you choose not to accept that role, I become her legal guardian."

Callen studied Jenna, the weight of her words washing over him. "You're still a college student," he thought out loud before realizing what he was doing. He managed to avoid voicing his next thoughts about how she could raise a child while going to grad school full time. Even if she was also working full time, how would she have time to care for Evie?

"I'd cut my course load down to part time," Jenna explained. "Perhaps switch to online classes so that I could be home when Evie isn't at school. Whatever happens, I'll make it work."

He wanted to tell her she wouldn't have to worry about that. He wanted to say that he'd step up and be a father to Evie. Callen couldn't say either of those things, though. It was a big decision, one he couldn't make in a heartbeat. What if Evie living with him wasn't the best situation for her? He worked crazy hours at times, and did quite a bit of undercover work. While Sam was in the same situation, at least he had his wife Michelle to balance it out. If he accepted, Callen would essentially be raising Evie as a single parent. Then, there was the fact that he lived out in California. Did he really want to uproot her on the heels of such a tragic event and drag her cross-country?

One way or another, Evie would know he was her father, but Callen had some serious thinking to do before he made a decision beyond that. "I don't want to come off wrong, but this is a lot to process…"

Jenna held up a hand. "No pressure. Take time to think about things and let me know when you've reached a decision one way or the other. "


	6. Chapter 6

"Where are we going?"

Jenna turned her gaze from the passing traffic to Evie as she squeezed the girl's hand. "We're going to pick up a few things from your house so you can stay with me at my apartment for a little while."

Another child might have asked why, but Evie didn't need to. "My house is still a crime scene," she said softly.

The grad student offered her niece a somewhat amused smile. "You're too bright for your own good. Once NCIS is done, we'll be able to move back there."

"If it's a crime scene, why are we allowed to take anything?"

Jenna wasn't sure of how to answer Evie's question. Fortunately, Callen spoke up from the front passenger seat. "The men you told us about never went upstairs, so it's fine if you take a few things from that part of the house.

Evie nodded, and the occupants of the car fell into silence. Evie turned to stare at the trees adorned in varying shades of green along the side of the highway, lost in thought. The first time she'd returned to her house it had been out of necessity, and she'd been able to make it upstairs without focusing much on the rather large blood stain near the bottom of the stairs. This time, however, she was sure she wouldn't be able to avoid it, and the last thing Evie wanted was to have a visual reminder of why her mom was no longer with her.

The thought of being able to change into some clean clothes for the first time in days was appealing, though, and even at ten she definitely had a stuffed animal or two she wanted to bring. Then there was the matter of entertainment – her iPod, iPad, and Kindle would all be coming with her, of course, as would her sketchpad and art box. She wished she could bring her computer, but she was fairly certain they wouldn't let her bring the desktop PC. Evie wondered if she'd still be going to school while she was staying at Jenna's apartment. Any other time, she knew the answer would be yes, but she didn't know whether she'd have to stay at Jenna's all the time since the NCIS agents were supposed to be protecting her.

Upon exiting the car in front of her house, Evie was surprised to see another car parked directly behind theirs. She watched as Agent Blye and Detective Deeks emerged from the second car. "All four of you?" she asked no one in particular.

"Agent Callen and I will be inside with you and your aunt," Sam explained. "Agent Blye and Detective Deeks will be outside, monitoring the perimeter."

Evie subconsciously shifted closer to Jenna. "You think they might come back?"

"We just want to make sure you're safe," Callen told her. "You wait here with Kensi, Deeks, and your aunt, while Sam and I check inside. Once we've checked, you'll be able to come in and get some things."

Evie was more than okay with that plan, and gladly stood with the others while Agents Callen and Hanna cautiously entered the house, their guns drawn just in case. The minutes seemed to drag on as she waited for them to reemerge. She thought they'd stand there in silence, but eventually Detective Deeks broke the silence.

"So what do you like to do, Evie?"

She shrugged her shoulders. "I like to draw."

"Yeah?" he asked, as if genuinely interested. "What do you like to draw?"

Evie thought about that for a minute. "Anything, really," she finally answered.

Deeks grinned. "I bet you have a notebook where you draw things."

"In my room. I'm going to bring it to Aunt Jenna's."

"Maybe you could show me one of your drawings sometime."

"Okay," Evie agreed with a small nod.

Callen and Sam reappeared in the doorway then, and nodded toward the others. "All clear," Sam told them. "You two can go up now."

Jenna guided Evie into the house, turning her so that she wouldn't see the remnants of her mother's murder along the way up to Evie's room. As they entered the bright room, Evie stared at her open, half-packed suitcase on her bed, looking exactly as it had before everything had happened. She stood there, unmoving, until Jenna gave her shoulders a gentle squeeze. "Come on, honey, let's get whatever you want to bring. I'll finish packing your clothes and everything else you need, and you can pack whatever else you want in another bag.

Evie moved silently as she retrieved another suitcase from her closet, slowly collecting her favorite electronics, plush animals, and other forms of entertainment. She made sure to pack her school things, just in case.

She finished before Jenna did, and spent another few minutes watching as Jenna packed her brush, hair things, tooth brush, and two other pairs of shoes. It made Evie wonder how long they would be living in Jenna's apartment. She'd spent the night visiting her aunt before, but she'd always slept on the sofa as Jenna only had one bedroom. Would she be sleeping on the sofa now? It wasn't uncomfortable, especially for a small ten-year-old, but she wasn't sure she wanted to sleep on a sofa for more than one night.

Jenna's voice startled her from her thoughts. "All right, sweetie. Let's get these bags down to the car and head on over to my place."

Biting her lower lip, Evie glanced up at her aunt. "Can I go in Mom's room first?" she asked hesitantly. "I… I want to look for something."

"Sure, Evie. I'll take your things down and I'll be back up in a minute. Okay?" Jenna waited for Evie to nod before grasping Evie's bags and heading for the stairs.

Evie made her way down the hallway to her mom's room, pausing in the doorway as she looked around. She wasn't really sure of what she was looking for, but Evie felt the need to be there. She allowed her feet to carry her into the master bathroom, where Beth's beauty products were neatly organized on the counter. Reaching out, her hand wrapped around a small bottle that Evie recognized as her mother's favorite perfume. Evie spritzed a small amount of the scent on her wrist, rubbing it together with her other wrist before bringing her wrists to her nose. It smelled different – ever so slightly – than it had on Beth.

Setting down the bottle, Evie exited the bathroom and headed for the dresser. A simple but elegant jewelry box sat atop the dresser. Evie lifted it from the dresser and carried it over to the bed, setting it on the comforter as she sat, tucking one foot beneath her. Carefully, as if afraid she might break something, Evie opened the box, her eyes roaming over the shiny and sparkly earrings, bracelets, rings, and necklaces.

Evie knew from experience that the top tray lifted out, so she gently set that tray on the bed next to the jewelry box. In the bottom she found a mixture of items – a few other pieces of jewelry, a watch, a small stack of pictures, and a worn-looking envelope. The pictures garnered her attention first. There were a few of Evie and Beth, from the day Evie had been born to their most recent Christmas. There were a few photos of Beth with her parents and sister throughout the years. Evie glanced at a photo of her mom from when she'd been younger, standing with a group of other teens who Evie guessed to be her mom's old friends. At the bottom of the stack was a photo of her mom, a couple of years older than the previous one, standing somewhere Evie didn't recognize. It wasn't the unfamiliar background that caught Evie's attention, however. It was the man standing with his arm around Beth as the pair gazed into each other's eyes.

Two thoughts occupied Evie's mind at once. First, she'd seen her mother date over the years, but she'd never looked at any of those men the way she was looking at this man (or the way he was looking at her). It reminded Evie of all of those romantic comedies she'd watched with her mom.

Second, the man in that photo looked like a younger version of Agent Callen.

Evie couldn't wrap her head around that. She'd known, of course, that her mom had known and trusted Agent Callen, but she'd never said anything about being close to him. Yet even at the age of ten, Evie was positive that there had been some sort of relationship.

She set aside the photo with the others, deciding to bring those with her, and reached for the envelope. It had been opened, but she turned it over first to see who it had been addressed to. Her mother's name was scrawled across the front, but the address was somewhere in Italy. Evie knew her mom had worked for NCIS since before Evie had been born, but she'd never mentioned anything about working overseas. More than curious, Evie turned the envelope back over and gently tugged out the contents. There was a single folded piece of paper.

Unfolding the paper, Evie noted the date. June 21, 2002. That was definitely before she'd been born. Her eyes roamed over the contents of the letter.

_Dear Beth,_

_I didn't have a chance to say goodbye this morning before leaving, but even in your sleep you are the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. I've been called away somewhere new, a location I'm not at liberty to share unfortunately. I do not know when, or if, I will be able to return to Italy. I know you understand how unpredictable this job can be._

_I'm not exactly the best at expressing my feelings, but I want you to know that the time we've been able to spend together has been amazing. I've never fallen for anyone the way I fell for you, and no matter what happens, I know that you will always hold a piece of my heart. I love you, Beth, and I can only hope that someday our paths will cross once again._

_Take care of yourself._

_Love, _

_G._

Evie froze as she stared at the signature at the bottom. It was one letter that could have represented millions of people, but she knew. She _knew_. This letter – this love letter – had been written by Special Agent G. Callen. Between the words in the letter and the photo she'd viewed minutes earlier, there was no doubt in Evie's mind.

Her mom and Agent Callen had been in love.

She didn't understand why her mom wouldn't have mentioned that, though. While Beth had been adamant about Evie trusting Agent Callen, she'd never explained why. Why wouldn't she have wanted to divulge that bit of information?

Looking back at the date, the wheels in Evie's head began to turn.

June 21, 2002.

That was less than a year before Evie had been born. She counted backward in her head, her eyes widening when she realized the difference was less than 9 months. She'd learned enough in health to know that women were pregnant for 9 months before they gave birth. Her mom had been in a relationship with Agent Callen when she'd first become pregnant with Evie.

Hearing footsteps outside the room, Evie quickly folded up the letter, stuffing it back into the envelope before also folding the envelope, tucking it in her pocket just as Jenna appeared in the doorway.

"What are you up to, Evie?"

"Just looking," Evie said as she replaced the jewelry tray, closed the box, and returned it to its rightful place. Then, she retrieved the stack of photos and held them up briefly for Jenna to see. "I found some pictures. I'm going to bring them with me."

Smiling, Jenna closed the distance between them and wrapped an arm around Evie. "Sounds like a plan. Let's get going."

* * *

The following day, Evie found herself back at NCIS. Surprisingly, she'd been able to attend school, although the agents were also there, standing guard both outside her classroom door and outside the various school entrances. It was odd being back. Evie knew everyone knew what had happened, and they all seemed to go out of their way to be extra nice to her. Kids and teachers she didn't even know had come up to her to offer their condolences and such. She wanted to tell them she didn't want the special treatment or extra attention, but every time she thought about _why_ they were treating her differently it made her miss her mom even more and she had to fight not to cry. At the end of the day, she felt more drained than she had in a long time.

She would have gone straight to Jenna's afterward, but her aunt had a late afternoon class, so it had been decided that when Jenna was in class outside of Evie's school day, Evie would spend the time at NCIS. She didn't really mind. She'd wanted to talk to someone in particular, and needed the opportunity to speak with that person without others around.

It was for that reason that Evie found herself in Abby's lab that afternoon, having asked Agent Blye if it would be okay for her to visit the young woman. As she approached the sliding glass door, she watched Abby typing away on her computer, wondering if Abby was working on something from her mom's case. Normally she'd ask, but she had a different goal that afternoon.

"Abby?"

The forensic scientist spun around, a grin plastered on her face. There was a sense of honesty with Abby that Evie appreciated; she knew the young woman was genuinely happy to see her. "Evie, hi!" she chirped. "What can I do for you today?"

Evie glanced around at the extensive technology throughout the lab. "You said before that you can test DNA here in your lab…?"

Her black pigtails bounced as she nodded. "I sure can."

"You can get DNA from someone's spit, right?"

"Any bodily fluids."

Digging into her pocket, Evie retrieved the envelope she'd hastily hidden back at her house. The letter that had previously resided within that envelope was tucked away somewhere she figured no one would look. After staring at her mother's name and the unknown address on the front for several long seconds, she held the envelope out to Abby. "Would you be able to get DNA from where someone licked an envelope?"

"It's possible," Abby admitted, taking the offered envelope. She took a moment to glance at the name and address as well. She was a bit surprised to find Special Agent Mitchell's name scrawled there. The address was one Abby didn't recognize, nor was it even an address in the United States, but she also realized that the postage date was old… older than Evie, even. Her curiosity piqued. "Where did you find this?"

"Can you get DNA from this envelope?" Evie asked, hedging the question. She wasn't sure if Abby would run the test if she knew, or whether she'd go and tell her boss, Special Agent Gibbs. Evie liked Gibbs, but she knew Gibbs would start asking questions of his own.

Abby was sure there was more to the story, but she decided at that moment it would be better not to push. "I can try," she replied honestly. It was possible that she might be able to retrieve DNA from a decade-old envelope, though that wasn't a guarantee. "It won't mean much without another sample to compare it to, though."

"I want you to compare it to me."

Unprepared for Evie's statement, Abby blinked in confusion. "What?"

"Compare the DNA on the envelope to my DNA."

Curiosity morphed into suspicion. Abby knew enough of Evie's story to know that her father had remained unknown to the girl for the length of her life. Based on the fact that the envelope was addressed to Agent Mitchell and that Evie wanted any DNA on it to be compared to hers, Abby couldn't help but conclude that Evie, at least, believed that the person who sent that envelope might just be her father. To be honest, Abby couldn't help but ponder the same conclusion.

Despite the lack of a return address, there was something more to Evie's expression that made Abby suspect that the girl knew exactly who had mailed the envelope in the first place. She trained her gaze on the ten-year-old, using her super scientist skills to try to learn more. "Evie, where did you get this envelope?"

"It doesn't matter," Evie said quickly. "Can you test the DNA and compare it to mine, Abby?" She mustered up her best puppy eyes. "Please?"

Abby would have liked to be able to say she was immune to such tactics, but truth was she was a softy. Sighing, she gave Evie a smile. "I can't make any promises, but I'll see what I can do."

Relieved, Evie bounced over to Abby, nearly knocking her over as she wrapped her arms around the young woman in an exuberant hug. "Thank you!"


	7. Chapter 7

**AN: A wonderful reader pointed out an inconsistency in the DNA information I put in here, so it's been updated to make things more factual. :)**

* * *

Abby chewed on a fingernail as she stared at the computer screen. The results from the DNA testing she'd done for Evie were in, and the forensic scientist couldn't believe her eyes. She wasn't sure what she'd expected, but whatever it was, it was nothing compared to what she now knew. Furthermore, Evie would soon come asking whether or not Abby had gotten any results, and Abby wasn't sure if it would be wise to even tell the girl what she'd discovered.

What had she gotten herself into?

The sliding glass doors to her lab opened, and Abby braced herself. However, when she turned, instead of Evie she found Gibbs striding into the room, Caf-Pow in hand.

"Gibbs!" she exhaled in relief, moving to wrap her arms around the man.

Anyone else might have dropped the plastic cup in surprise, but Gibbs was accustomed to Abby's reactions, and merely wrapped a free arm around her briefly, waiting until she extracted herself from him before handing her the caffeine-laden drink. Then, he raised an eyebrow in reply.

Abby brought the straw to her lips and took a huge gulp, closing her eyes in bliss as the sugar and caffeine flowed into her body, melting away some of her anxiety. Gibbs always knew just what she needed.

"What have you got, Abs?"

"Nothing new on Agent Mitchell or the killers," she admitted, fighting the urge to chew on her lip. She would have welcomed some news on the case, but unfortunately she hadn't made much progress there. "I've got something else, though."

Gibbs stared at her expectantly.

She took another calming sip. "Evie was down here the other day," Abby began, her words running together as she rambled, "and she brought this envelope. She wanted to know if I could test DNA on it. It was a really old envelope, like over a decade old, and she wanted to know if I could get a person's DNA from where they'd licked the envelope. I wasn't sure if I could, since it was an old sample and hadn't exactly been protected, but she was really persuasive and I just couldn't tell her no, Gibbs. I tried to find out where she'd gotten the envelope, because it was addressed to Agent Mitchell, but she wouldn't tell me…" She trailed off, taking yet another sip so she wouldn't have to speak right away.

"Where's the envelope?" Gibbs asked. Abby reached over to retrieve the requested object from the counter, offering it to her boss. "Did you find out anything from the DNA?" Gibbs continued when he realized Abby wasn't going to say anything else first.

"Male. He wasn't a family match for Agent Mitchell, nor did his DNA match the DNA from the crime scene."

"So you don't know who he is," surmised Gibbs.

"Well… yes and no."

Gibbs arched an eyebrow in his silent, expectant, "tell me now" way. "Yes and no?" he repeated carefully.

"I don't know his name, but I did make a familial match."

When she didn't continue, Gibbs narrowed his eyes. "Abbs…" he grumbled warningly.

"There's a 99.9% match between him and Evie."

Gibbs didn't ask why Abby had compared the two, or even how she'd gotten Evie's DNA without his prior knowledge, and Abby was grateful. She knew he trusted her, but this was just further proof that he wouldn't question every decision she made. "The man who licked this envelope is related to Evie?" Gibbs asked, looking for clarification.

Abby set her Caf-Pow down, wringing her hands nervously. "He's her father, Gibbs."

* * *

Evie tapped her feet gently as the elevator slowly descended toward the lab. It had been several days since she'd asked for Abby's help, and she was hopeful that the young scientist had been able to extract enough DNA from the envelope to test it. As for the results of comparing the DNA to her own, well, Evie was kind of nervous. She had her suspicions of course, but at that point she had no proof one way or the other so she wouldn't allow herself to get worked up over it. She'd just have to see what Abby said. It was entirely possible that the letter had nothing to do with her and was nothing more than a coincidence.

The elevator dinged, and Evie waited for the doors to open before stepping into the hallway. It was just a few feet to Abby's lab, and before she was even close enough to trigger the sensors for the doors, she saw Abby speaking with Agent Gibbs. She couldn't see his face, but Abby seemed worried about something. The polite thing would have been to wait, as they could have been talking about something that she didn't need to hear, but curiosity won out and Evie took the final steps needed to make the doors open. Neither one seemed to notice the opening doors; deep in conversation, their voices carried just enough for Evie to hear.

"I just couldn't tell her no, Gibbs," she heard Abby say. "I tried to find out where she'd gotten the envelope, because it was addressed to Agent Mitchell, but she wouldn't tell me…"

Whoa… Abby was telling Gibbs about the envelope? It caught Evie by surprise at first because she hadn't expected it, but a little voice inside her head reminded her that Gibbs was Abby's boss and it made sense that she would tell him what she was up to. Technically Evie hadn't asked Abby to keep it a secret, so she had no right to be upset that Abby had told someone.

Besides, Gibbs didn't seem all that upset over the revelation.

Evie tuned back into the conversation, hoping to hear more. "So you don't know who he is," Gibbs said.

"Well… yes and no," Abby replied.

She felt impatient. What was Abby trying to tell Gibbs? Evie continued to listen as Abby seemed to dodge around the answer. Just when she was ready to groan in frustration, she heard Abby say something that had her undivided attention.

"There's a 99.9% match between him and Evie."

"The man who licked this envelope is related to Evie?" she heard Gibbs ask.

Evie watched Abby set her cup down nervously. "He's her father, Gibbs."

Damn. Her suspicions had been true – Agent Callen was her father. What was Evie supposed to think about that? He'd been decent to her since she'd met him, but it all felt like a lie. He'd never admitted he was her dad – when she'd flat out asked him if he was a dad, he'd said no! She knew her mom had wanted her to trust him, but why hadn't her mom told her who he really was? Evie felt hurt, betrayed, and angry, and she didn't have a clue what to do with all of those emotions swirling around inside of her.

She didn't realize she'd made a sound until both Abby and Gibbs looked straight at her. Panicking, Evie spun and bolted for the stairs, not trusting her ability to get to the elevator and get the door to close before one of them reached her. Even as she darted up several flights of stairs, she heard footsteps behind her – not close enough to touch her, but not far enough to ease her mind.

Evie hadn't counted how many flights of stairs she'd run, but if she tried another she knew she'd trip over something as her legs gave out. Instead, she decided to stay on that floor, not having any idea where she was going or where she was but wanting to find somewhere she could be alone for five minutes and process what she'd just learned.

Lost in her thoughts, Evie ran straight into a warm wall.

"Whoa there!" Two hands grasped her arms, preventing her from falling backwards. "Where's the fire?"

Evie took a moment to catch her breath. She looked up at Callen for a split second before jerking back out of his grip. "Let go of me!"

His confusion was obvious in his expression. He stared at the child in shock for several long moments. When he came to his senses, he reached out and put his hands on her shoulders. "Evie, what's going on?"

She pulled against his grip, her own anger and pain clouding her vision. She wanted him to let go. Why wouldn't he let go? Evie tugged harder. "Let me go!" she demanded.

"Stop, Evie, and talk to me…" Callen said, tightening his grasp on her shoulders just enough to ensure she'd stay put.

Not wanting to face Callen right then, Evie pulled with all her might. "Let… me… GO!" Desperate, she lashed out, her foot connecting sharply with Callen's shin.

Callen made a grunting sound as he hunched over. His grip loosened just a bit, and Evie took advantage of the opportunity to break free. Immediately she darted away from him, no idea where she'd go but convinced that she wasn't going to spend another moment around the man. She'd made it halfway across the room when a steely voice stopped her dead in her tracks.

"Genevieve Elizabeth, stop right there!"

She froze in spite of herself. She hadn't expected his voice to take on such a paternal tone, nor had she anticipated the use of her first and middle name together. Hot tears pooled in her eyes, but she refused to turn around and face him.

Seconds later a hand grasped her shoulder, turning her until she had no choice but to look at him. A stern frown made it clear Callen wasn't pleased with her behavior, but there was something else in his eyes. He almost seemed concerned, though Evie couldn't imagine why he would be. He hadn't cared for ten years – why start now?

"What is going on, Evie?" demanded Callen.

She stared at him silently, rubbing the tears from her eyes. How could he stand there and ask her like he didn't know? Evie watched Callen open his mouth to say something else when she caught sight of Abby out of the corner of her eye, followed closely by Agent Gibbs.

"There you are, Evie!" Abby exclaimed when she spotted the ten-year-old.

More people were showing up – Agents Hanna and Blye, Detective Deeks, and even Agent DiNozzo. Evie didn't like the growing audience, but voicing her feelings would involve a conversation with _him_ and she had no interest in any such thing. She really wished her aunt weren't in a class right then, so she'd have an excuse to be anywhere other than there.

Evie felt crowded. "Let me go," she said once more, her voice hoarse with tears, hoping Callen would finally listen.

"Not happening," Callen said. "I need you to talk to me and tell me what happened."

She narrowed her eyes, the anger pushing back to the surface. "I don't want to talk to you. I want you to _let me go_." Evie prepared to lash out at him again, perhaps kick him somewhere much more sensitive, when Callen leaned down until his face was just inches from hers. The close proximity caught her off guard, and she tried to pull back but his hands had an iron grip on her shoulders.

"I can see that you're upset about something, but I'm telling you right now, young lady, that if you try to kick or hit me again you will not like the consequences," he told her, his eyes burning into hers, his tone booking no room for argument. "Do we understand each other?"

Jaw clenched, Evie glared wordlessly at Callen.

Sighing, Callen turned Evie again so she was facing away from him, keeping both hands firmly on her shoulders. "Let's go. We're going to go to a conference room and talk about whatever happened to set you off."

The agent began to guide Evie toward a hallway that would lean to several conference rooms. He felt her resistance ebb for several seconds. Suddenly she tensed, and before Callen had the chance to process the change Evie's elbow connected with his gut.

Despite the fact that Callen was significantly larger than Evie, and Evie herself was on the petite side, the child had a hidden strength Callen had no way of anticipating, and the force of her blow temporarily knocked the wind out of him. Evie took advantage of the opportunity to bold in the opposite direction, but like Callen, she also hadn't anticipated an obstacle. Hers was in the form of an extremely muscled and rather imposing former Navy SEAL, who managed to catch her before she could get very far. She tried to elbow, kick, and do anything else that might convince him to release her, but it was if he barely noticed her efforts as he wrapped his arms around her from behind, pinning her own arms to her body. "Calm down there," he murmured in her ear.

"Let go of me…" she tried, turning her body any way she could.

"I can't do that, Evie," Sam confessed. "We're going to go sit down for a few minutes. You can walk on your own or I can carry you – the choice is yours – but either way, we're going to go sit."

Sam's calm demeanor was a stark contrast to Evie's emotional storm, and though she was no less angry or in no less pain, she found it harder to stay riled up in response. "I'm ten," she reminded him, her voice losing some of its edge. "You wouldn't carry me."

The man chuckled. "I wouldn't bet on that, sweetheart. So, what's it going to be?"

Unfortunately, Evie had a sinking feeling that she wouldn't be able to shake Agent Hanna as easily as she had Agent Callen. Resigned, she let out a soft sigh. "I'll walk," she muttered.

She felt his hold loosen. One hand moved to her shoulder, but the other one dropped altogether, and feeling a bit more agreeable with the bulky man, Evie resisted the urge to bolt. She allowed him to guide her toward a room not unlike the room where she'd first told Callen what she knew. She didn't see Callen in her peripheral vision on the way there, and although she was really upset with him, in a far corner of her mind she wondered whether she'd really hurt him when she elbowed him. She hadn't wanted to _injure_ him…

Agent Hanna pulled out a chair, and Evie reluctantly sat. Her voice was small and very childlike as she glanced up at the agent. "He'll be okay, won't he?"

Sam smirked. "He'll be fine," he assured her. "He's tougher than he looks." The smirk melted away, and a much more serious expression took over his face. "Right now, though, I'm more concerned about you." Taking the seat beside Evie, he turned his chair so he was facing her. "I won't pretend I know you very well yet, and I don't expect you to trust me yet, but I've watched you trust Callen up until a few minutes ago. Something clearly changed."

"I don't want to talk about it."

"I can respect that," Sam told her. "I can't force you to talk about it, but if we can't figure this out and solve whatever you're going through, we're going to have a much bigger problem."

She had expected to be told that there would be a problem, but the way Sam said it caught her off guard. He didn't appear the least bit upset with her, and his voice remained just as calm and free of emotion as it had a few minutes earlier. Evie felt compelled to respond with a question of her own. "Why?"

"Our team is here to protect you. We're doing everything we can to protect you, but we can't do our jobs if we can't trust that you'll follow our directions when we need you to. If you're fighting Callen now, how can we be sure you won't fight him if there's an emergency?"

As much as she didn't like it, Evie couldn't deny that Agent Hanna had a valid point. It annoyed her even further that he was so calm when part of her was still revved up for a fight. She wasn't ready to stop being angry, and she was nowhere near ready to let go of the hurt.

Evie wasn't about to tell Sam what she'd found out, but she felt it was only fair to at least give him some sort of idea of what was going on. Looking at the man, she folded her arms over her chest. "He lied."

* * *

"Callen, are you okay?"

The senior agent allowed his body to remain bent over a few more seconds while he caught his breath. He was aware of the crowd surrounding him, as well as the fact that Sam wasn't a part of that crowd. He knew his partner would catch Evie and keep her safe for the time being.

Evie.

Damn, his daughter was strong. It was a little embarrassing to know that his ten-year-old daughter had gotten the upper hand on him like that, yet a small part of him was grateful for the peace of mind knowing that it would be harder for someone to hurt his little girl. Apparently she didn't need a firearm to defend herself.

Catching his bearings, Callen straightened back up. "I'm fine," he reassured the others. He'd be okay, though he suspected he'd have a spectacular bruise by the end of the day. "She's stronger than she looks."

"What the hell is going on?" Kensi demanded, satisfied that her coworker was going to be all right. "The girl has practically worshipped the ground you walk on since we first met her, and all of a sudden she's trying to get _away_ from you?"

"I don't know," admitted Callen. "She was fine all morning. Something had to have happened…"

"We might have an idea about that," Abby said softly from her spot next to Gibbs.

Gibbs stepped forward wordlessly, offering the envelope still in his hand to Callen. The slightly younger man took the envelope, recognizing his own handwriting at once. "Where did you get this?" he asked quickly, his eyes darting between his old friend and the scientist he'd grown to respect.

"Evie brought it to Abby a couple of days ago, wanting to know if Abby could test it for DNA," the senior agent explained, scrutinizing Callen's reaction. "She happened to overhear Abby telling me down in her lab that she'd identified one set of DNA, and that it belonged to Evie's father."

Suddenly the mess of a situation made absolute sense. "Shit," he muttered without meaning to. Evie knew. He'd wanted to tell her himself, once he figured out what just what kind of a presence he'd have in her life, but apparently she'd figured it out before he could. Callen desperately wondered where Evie had found that envelope, and more importantly, where the accompanying letter had ended up. She had to know that he'd sent the envelope, but his name wasn't on it and there was no way she'd recognize his handwriting yet.

"How long have you known?"

Gibbs' question caught Callen off guard a split second before Callen realized that of course the man would recognize his handwriting. They'd known each other well enough, and Gibbs was no fool. "Four days. It came as a complete surprise when Jenna told me..."

Deeks moved to get a peek at the envelope in question. "That kind of looks like your handwriting, Callen."

Drawn by her partner's reaction, Kensi took a closer look at the envelope and gasped. She quickly looked up at Callen in surprise. "She's your daughter, isn't she?"

"Yes," Callen admitted. "I was hoping to wrap my head around it before talking to her, because Beth had kept it a secret all this time. Apparently she's too clever for her own good, because she went and figured it out all on her own."

"I can't believe you're a dad," Deeks said, though his usual joking tone was missing.

"I still have a hard time believing it myself. I have to admit that I'm really confused right now. On one hand, I completely understand this meltdown she just had. She probably feels betrayed, and I'm sure she thinks I've known all this time, yet the dad in me is really annoyed over such a temper tantrum from a ten-year-old. I mean, she _attacked_ me."

Gibbs nodded toward the hallway. "Go talk to her. This is a big thing for both of you, and you'll need to talk it out. Let her know that you understand how she's feeling."

Nodding, Callen turned to find his daughter. He'd taken a couple of steps when Gibbs' voice stopped him.

"And Callen?"

Callen turned to hear what his friend had to say.

"It's also okay to let her know that you aren't okay with how she acted."

* * *

It didn't take Callen long to find the conference room. Upon first entering, he was relieved to see Evie had at least calmed down and was seated at the conference table while Sam stood nearby, giving her space. He wasn't sure if it would make the conversation they were about to have any easier – whatever she was feeling, he was positive that hadn't changed – but at least they could try to talk things out without Evie trying to bolt again. Hopefully Sam would stay, if for no other reason than to guard the door, just in case. Also, it wouldn't be right if everyone else knew about his relationship with Evie except for his own partner.

He'd used the brief walk to try to decide how to approach this. Evie needed to know that he understood her feelings and respected them. He wanted to make sure she knew she could still trust him, and he wanted to mend the rift that had occurred. Like Gibbs had said, however, he also didn't want to just let her behavior slide. He wasn't an expert on kids, but he thought a kid Evie's age should be old enough to express herself in a slightly more civilized (and less violent) manner. He'd promised her she wouldn't like the consequences if she lashed out at him again, but he hadn't stopped to even consider what those consequences might be. He'd hoped the warning alone would be enough to reel her back in. He supposed it was his first (though certainly not the last) mistake as a parent.

Evie turned to look at Callen as he stepped into the room. Tension returned to her face, her jaw set once more, and Callen had a split second to realize what was happening and move to the side to avoid the plastic soda bottle Evie sent hurling his way.

"Evie!" Sam scolded, raising his voice for the first time.

Just like that, Callen's mind was made up. Closing the door, he set the envelope on the table as he strode over to Evie. He heard Sam say his name, but he didn't stop. Evie seemed to realize belatedly that he was headed for her, because he managed to wrap one hand around her arm, just under her armpit, right as she shot out of her chair. He turned her slightly and brought his free hand down sharply on her butt. His hand fell once more, then he shifted so one hand was on each arm as he leaned down to make sure he had her undivided attention.

"That's enough," he told her in a tone that he hoped was appropriately stern. "You are too old to be throwing temper tantrums."

They hadn't been the hardest swats she'd ever received, yet Evie was astounded that Callen had actually done such a thing. She wouldn't have expected such a response from him. Her knee-jerk reaction was one of outrage. "You have no right…" she began, but cut off suddenly at the realization that out of everyone in the world, next to her mom he actually _did_ have the right. Now that her mom was gone, no one else – not her aunt nor her grandparents, could top the fact that he was her father.

The pain and fear over losing her mom, feelings she'd tried to push aside just to make it through the day, came crashing back. Those feelings, combined with the feelings she'd had towards Callen for the past half hour, were too much for her to take at once. Overwhelmed, Evie buried her face in her hands as she burst into tears.

At once, Callen pulled Evie to his chest, wrapping her in a hug.

Evie's first response was to halfheartedly pound her fists on his chest. She half expected him to swat her again or to say something; instead, he hugged her tighter. Evie didn't have the energy to fight his offer of comfort. Resting her forehead against his chest, she stopped struggling, instead allowing herself to just feel.

How long they stood there, Callen wasn't sure. He could see his partner's questioning stare over Evie's head, but he didn't want to disrupt the progress he'd made with Evie. It was progress, he realized, even though they hadn't said a word to one another in that time – whether or not Evie was still upset with Callen, she'd allowed him back in. At some point she had stopped crying, though neither father nor daughter had made any effort to break contact.

Still curled up against Callen's chest, Evie moved to wipe her nose with the back of her hand, dismayed at the fact that she felt like a mess. It wasn't enough to convince her to pull away, but the movement prompted Callen to pull back enough to see her face. Staring at her tear-stained face, Callen glanced briefly over at his partner. "Sam, could you get us some tissues?"

Half a minute later, he took a few tissues from the box in Sam's hand and carefully dried her tears. He stopped short of wiping her nose, figuring a girl her age would probably prefer to do that herself, and instead offered another tissue to Evie. Callen waited patiently for Evie to finish cleaning her face before guiding her to sit back down in the chair she'd previously vacated. He took the chair beside her, leaning forward so that his elbows rested on his thighs.

"I'm so sorry, Evie," he told her honestly. "I didn't want you to find out this way. I was planning on telling you soon, but I see you figured it out on your own before I could."

"You lied," she accused in a hoarse voice, suppressing the urge to start crying again. "You said you didn't… that you weren't…" Evie trailed off, unable to finish her thought.

Callen shook his head. "I didn't know. Your Aunt Jenna told me a couple of days ago. I had no idea, when you and I first talked, who you were."

Evie tried to blink away the tears in her eyes. "I don't believe you."

"I understand. When Jenna gets here later, we can all talk. I want you to know that I understand how you're feeling. It's okay to be angry and hurt and confused. We need to be able to talk it out, though, because my first priority is keeping you safe. I can't keep you safe when I can't trust you to use your words to tell me what's going on, and I know you know better than to strike people who aren't trying to hurt you."

"Agent Hanna kinda said the same thing…" Evie admittedly mumbled. "Are you… I mean, I'm… Did I hurt you?"

Callen subconsciously rubbed the spot on his torso where her elbow had connected, wincing slightly. Yup. It was definitely bruising. Seeing the frown appear on Evie's face, he removed his hand at once. "I'm fine," he assured her.

His assurances weren't of much help, and Evie felt her lip tremble with the guilt of having hurt her dad, even if she wasn't sure what she thought of him just yet. "I'm sorry…"

"Hey…" He pulled her chair closer to hers and twisted his body so he could pull her to him. Wrapping an arm around her shoulders, he pressed a kiss to the top of her head. The urge to comfort her and protect her from all harm, whether physical or emotional, didn't escape his notice. He might have only known of her existence for less than a week, but he already couldn't imagine his life without her. "I really am fine, Evie. I know you're sorry, and I'm no longer upset. It's in the past, and I don't want you to worry about it anymore, okay?"

She didn't understand how he could possibly be over it, but Evie nodded anyway, allowing herself to draw comfort from his embrace. It had been a long week, and she was emotionally spent.


	8. Chapter 8

"Agent Callen?"

Callen glanced up from where he sat in one of the chairs in the conference room, surprised he hadn't heard anyone enter. He supposed he'd been too wrapped up in his thoughts. "You can just call me Callen, Jenna," he told the young woman, his voice tired but gentle.

Smiling softly, Jenna nodded, moving to occupy a nearby chair. "The other agents said Agent Hanna took Evie out for ice cream."

Callen nodded. "She needed a break from here, and I trust Sam more than anyone else."

"I'm surprised you aren't with her. I'm not judging…" she rushed to say, watching his expression darken slightly. "She's just been rather attached to you. I'm more surprised that she agreed to leave without your accompanying her." Jenna paused, studying Callen. His face, his posture, everything about him screamed that something wasn't right. "What's wrong?"

He let out a weary sigh. "Evie found out that I'm her father."

Jenna sighed herself. "How? No one else around here knows, other than you and I."

He'd managed to get the whole story from Evie after she'd calmed, from the letter to she'd found to her idea to ask Abby to test for DNA. It was rather impressive, he thought, that she'd put all of it together without anyone catching on to what she was up to. "That day we went to the house to pick up some things for Evie, she found a letter among Beth's things," Callen explained. "I'd sent the letter shortly after we parted ways, of course not knowing that Beth was pregnant. Beth might not have even known then. However, Evie looked at the date and put two and two together. She took the envelope, which had nothing but Beth's address written on it, and asked Abby if she could test for DNA on the envelope. She wanted the DNA compared to her own."

"I've always known she was bright, but I never expected she could put something together like this…" admitted Jenna.

"She was upset, naturally."

The college student shook her head. "I can't imagine she'd be upset that you're her father. Beth absolutely sang your praises."

"I don't think she's upset that I'm her father, so much, as she's hurt that she just found out now. She thinks I've known all this time and I've just been keeping it from her. It doesn't help that she asked me the day we met if I had any kids and I'd told her no. It's the reason I stayed here while Sam took her out for a few minutes. She needs some time to process what she's feeling without me hovering. She's safe. Sam won't let anything happen to her, and there is another agent trailing them for backup just in case."

"If you trust Agent Hanna then so do I. You don't need to explain yourself to me."

* * *

As the elevator doors opened, Evie found her feet suddenly rooted in place. She watched as Agent Hanna stepped into the elevator and turned, immediately arching an eyebrow questioningly. His hand moved to the entryway, preventing the doors from closing automatically.

"Evie? What's wrong?"

She bit her lip. "Could we maybe not go up there yet?"

Exiting the elevator, Sam moved closer to Evie. "What are you worried about?"

"Ca… My fa…" Evie stumbled over her words, unsure of how to address Callen now. "He's probably still mad…" she said at last, hoping Sam would understand.

The former Navy SEAL shook his head. "Callen's not mad," he disagreed. "I promise you he isn't."

Evie shook her head in response. "I kicked and elbowed him," she reminded Sam. "How could he not be angry at me?"

Now that he better understood the situation, Sam found amusement in what had transpired in the bull pen – not the fact that Evie was upset, of course, nor the fact that his friend had gotten the wind knocked out of him – but the sheer fact that Callen had been bested by a ten-year-old slip of a girl. Of course, he wasn't about to tell Evie that. While amused, Sam didn't want to encourage that kind of behavior.

"Callen understands why you were upset, Evie. He's more concerned than anything else. He wants to keep you safe, and he's worried that he won't be able to. That's a scary thing for a dad to have to think about, that he might not be able to protect his child."

"He said he didn't know about me until a couple of days ago…"

"He's telling the truth."

"How do you know?"

Sam sighed. "There are some things that I think should be up to Callen to decide whether or not to share about his history, but I can tell you that he never knew his parents growing up. I've been his partner for several years now, and I can tell you with absolute certainty that there is no way he would have known about you and not had an active role in your life. Callen just isn't that kind of man." He could see that she still didn't fully believe him yet, but she eventually would. "Listen, you're going to have to face him sooner or later. I promise you it won't be nearly as bad as you think it will, though." Sam waited several seconds. When it was clear that Evie still wasn't ready to take that step on her own, he held out a hand for her to take. "Come on. We'll go talk to him together."

Hesitantly, Evie reached out, placing her hand in Sam's. She allowed him to guide her to the elevator, holding onto his hand for dear life as they made their way up to where she knew her dad would be waiting.

Evie was having a hard time wrapping her head around the fact that she had a father. She knew she'd had one at some point – her mom had had the talk about how babies were made a while back. However, her mom had never really talked about her dad. She'd mentioned Callen, of course, but she'd left this little detail out in the process. In an instant, Evie had gone from being an orphan to having a parent. As far as fathers went, too, she was sure she could've had worse.

She liked Callen, she really did. She still couldn't get over the fact that he hadn't told her. Yes, he'd said he'd only known a few days, and honestly part of Evie believed him. It made sense, and there was nothing but sincerity in his voice. Another part of her couldn't accept it though. Accepting it meant that her mom had kept the truth from Callen just as she'd kept it from Evie. She was already struggling with the anger that kept trying to bubble up over her mom not telling her. Evie couldn't handle being even more upset over her mom's choices. She just couldn't.

Lost in thought, Evie didn't realize where they were until she noticed Jenna and Callen right in front of her. She froze, staring at Callen. It was then that she realized it didn't matter how angry she was, or how hurt she felt, or any of the other emotions wreaking havoc inside her ten-year-old mind. This man in front of her was her father. The fact that she was worried about what he might still think about her behavior earlier was proof that she cared. Evie wasn't sure she was ready to call him 'Dad,' but she definitely wasn't ready to let him walk away.

Just as Callen and Jenna stood, both watching Evie intently, the girl released Sam's hand and made a beeline to Callen, throwing her arms around him as she held on tightly.

It was the last thing Callen had expected Evie to do, and he stood there in shock for a moment before coming to his senses and wrapping his arms around his daughter. Her face was pressed against his chest, but he could just barely make out her apology. It looked as if things just might turn out okay between them. Relieved, Callen let out a soft sigh and leaned down, kissing the top of her head. He didn't miss how her arms tightened in response. "I know," he assured her softly, not missing Jenna's questioning look as he glanced over at the young woman. He doubted she'd heard what Evie had said.

Callen rubbed Evie's back. "I was thinking that the three of us could sit and talk for a few minutes."

Despite Callen's actions just then, Evie was still worried. Pulling away a little, she snuck a nervous glance up at Callen. "Are you still mad?"

"I thought we went over this already," he said, keeping his tone gentle. "I'm not mad, Evie."

"Yeah, but…"

"No," Callen cut her off firmly. "No buts. I am not upset with you. Do you understand?"

She didn't really understand, but she nodded anyway.

Callen narrowed his eyes slightly. Her expression told him she wasn't being entirely honest, but he decided it wasn't worth pushing the subject at the moment. He released her, wrapping one arm around her shoulders. "Let's go talk."

Twenty minutes later, the three were seated in a conference room. Evie had expected Callen to do all the talking, so she'd been caught off guard when he'd insisted she explain to Jenna what had happened. She'd been nervous at first, but Callen had been quietly supportive as she'd told Jenna about finding the letter, asking Abby to do a DNA test, discovering the results, and how she'd reacted to Callen immediately afterward.

Jenna had thankfully remained silent throughout the explanation; Evie wasn't sure she'd been able to get it all out if she'd started lecturing half-way through. The girl had pointedly avoided Jenna's gaze most of the time, only making eye contact a handful of times. The last time she had, it had been hard to miss the disappointment in her aunt's eyes.

Evie once more glanced out of the corner of her eye at Jenna. "Are you mad?"

"I'm a little disappointed," Jenna admitted. "Attacking someone just because you're upset with them? You know better than that, Evie."

The ten-year-old lowered her gaze guiltily. "I'm sorry."

"I'm not the one you owe an apology to."

"Evie apologized earlier," Callen interjected. "We had a bit of a heart to heart over talking about how she's feeling so we can keep her safe."

Evie blushed at the memory of Callen smacking her, something that didn't go unnoticed by Jenna. "Evie?" she asked, arching an eyebrow curiously. "Is there something else you want to share with me?"

"Not particularly," mumbled Evie.

Taking a deep breath, Callen leaned forward, resting his elbows on his thighs. "Listen. I'm not sure how you're going to feel about this, Jenna, but I don't want to keep anything from you, particularly when it comes to Evie." This was awkward, he thought. He hadn't stopped to think before whether or not Jenna would approve of corporal punishment. Sure, he was Evie's biological father and Jenna had made it clear that it was Beth's wish that he took full custody, but at the moment Evie was still legally in Jenna's custody. "I spanked Evie – just two swats, and not that hard. I'm not apologizing, because it was the only way to snap her out of the fit she was in, but I understand that you might have different views on parenting and I want you to know that I respect that."

Evie couldn't believe Callen had actually _told_ her aunt about that. Could this conversation get any more embarrassing?

Jenna kept her attention on Callen. "After she elbowed you?" she asked in clarification.

Callen shook his head. "No. Sam took her to another room to cool down, and when I arrived she threw a soda bottle at me."

At once Jenna's eyes zeroed in on Evie, the expression on her face prompting the child to cringe. _"Seriously?"_ Jenna questioned in a low voice.

"I'm sorry…" Evie offered, biting her lip.

She was sorely tempted to ask Callen for the room so she could have a more private discussion with Evie about her behavior, but Jenna recognized that Callen had handled the situation. It would probably be best if she left it at that, though she wanted to make it clear to Evie that she supported Callen's actions. "If you _ever_ pull a stunt like that again, Genevieve Elizabeth…"

"I know, I'll be grounded for an eternity," Evie said, cutting off her aunt.

"No," Jenna said sternly. "I'll take a page out of your mom's book."

No further details were needed, because Evie knew _exactly_ what that meant. She could only hope that Callen didn't understand the unspoken meaning. Sure that her face was now beet red, she nodded hurriedly. "Yes, ma'am."

Jenna turned to Callen, who had been carefully watching the exchange. "I have no objections to the way you handled the situation, Callen," she admitted. "Just so you know, Beth wouldn't have objected, either."

Callen had wondered, ever since learning that Beth was a mother, what kind of a mom she was. He had no experiences on which to base any sort of speculation. Their time together had been brief and mostly centered around their jobs. He'd never seen her with her younger sister or any children. Knowing that at least he wouldn't have made her mad with the way he'd disciplined her daughter… their daughter… well, it was somewhat comforting.

He noticed, somewhat amused, that Evie however appeared to be mortified by the conversation taking place. The poor girl's face was nearly the color of a ripe tomato and she was looking decidedly away from the two adults in the room. It seemed like a good time to change the topic of conversation. "How are you feeling right now Evie?"

Evie shrugged her shoulders. She still didn't know how she felt. Jenna had assured her, before they got on the topic of Evie's adventures that day, that Callen had been telling the truth about just finding out about her. It had subdued the sting, but Evie remained confused.

Callen nodded in understanding. "That's okay. Do you have any questions?"

Only a million of them, she thought. "What happens now?"

"My team and I are going to continue to protect you and your aunt," he told her, unsure of exactly what she meant with her question. "That won't change."

"What about after they catch the guys who… well… What happens then?"

He could understand her concern. "We'll figure that out when the time comes," promised Callen. "Until then, I thought we'd use this opportunity to get to know each other. Do you think that would be okay with you?"

It sounded very reasonable to her, but she wasn't finished with her questions. "What do I call you?"

Callen thought about that for a moment. "What would you like to call me?"

She shrugged her shoulders again. "I don't know."

"I won't lie; I would love it if someday you decided to call me 'Dad.' I understand if you're not comfortable doing that, though. If you feel better calling me 'Callen,' that's perfectly okay. It's your choice."

"Thank you, Callen."

Callen smiled and reached over to give her hand a gentle squeeze.

"Callen?" she asked, her voice thick with hesitation. At his encouraging nod, she took a deep breath. "About earlier… I'm really…" Evie was cut off as Callen placed a finger over her lips. When she stared, wide-eyed, at him, he cocked an eyebrow.

"That wasn't another apology, was it? Because I don't want to hear any more apologies about today."

She might have thought he was mad at her for trying to apologize again, if not for the quick wink she just barely caught. Evie smiled.


	9. Chapter 9

**AN: I realized belatedly that I mixed up my timelines a bit. Technically this story takes place before Ziva left and Ellie joined the team (Season 4 of NCIS: LA and Season 10, but for the sake of the story I'm leaving it as is. Just wanted to throw that out there!**

* * *

"You never told me why an LAPD cop is working with NCIS agents."

Nearly a week had passed since Evie learned the truth about Callen, and she'd begun to get used to having agents around her 24-7. At school, they stood guard outside her classroom door and from a parked car outside the school. They always escorted her to and from school, whether Jenna was able to take her or not. On days that Jenna had classes after Evie got out of school, she'd spend her spare time at the Navy Yard. When she got to spend that time with Abby in her lab or one of the other agents in the bullpen, Evie didn't mind it at all. Most especially, she enjoyed the time she got to spend with Callen.

Presently, Agent Deeks was driving her to NCIS from school. Agent Blye was in the front passenger seat, while Callen and Agent Hanna were with Jenna at Georgetown. Usually Callen accompanied Evie, if for no other reason than to give them more time to get to know each other, but Evie didn't mind the change in company.

"I'm the LAPD-NCIS liaison officer," Deeks replied from the driver's seat."

"Are there a lot of liaison officers between NCIS and police departments?"

Deeks seemed surprised by the line of questioning. "Um, no, I don't think so."

Evie furrowed her brow in confusion. "So, why you then?"

"It's, uh, complicated."

The ten-year-old rolled her eyes. 'Complicated' was adult-speak for 'I don't feel like explaining this to you.' Sensing she wouldn't get any further with that line of questioning, she decided to change the topic. "So, how long have you and Agent Blye been partners?"

"Almost three years," Kensi replied, entering the conversation as she turned to glance at Evie in the backseat.

"Are you two dating?"

Simultaneously Kensi coughed loudly and Deeks sputtered. "What?!" the detective exclaimed.

"No!" Kensi said rather emphatically. "We are just partners."

"Work partners," Deeks clarified.

"What made you ask that?" Kensi asked.

Evie tilted her head to the side thoughtfully. Agent Blye's skin seemed a bit flushed, and both adults appeared uncomfortable all of a sudden. "You've kissed though," she stated. It wasn't a question, but a statement of fact. "Why aren't you dating?"

Deeks glanced at Evie in the rearview mirror. "What, uh, makes you think that we've kissed?"

Oooh, he seemed to be blushing, too. _This is great_, Evie thought. "There's too much sexual tension between the two of you for you to not have kissed before," she explained as if it was obvious.

The tension in the car was palpable. Kensi shook her head, blinking rapidly. "I really don't think…"

"Has your dad heard you say stuff like this…?" stammered Deeks.

The young girl rolled her eyes. "I'm ten, not two. I know what sex is."

Deeks shook his head. "No, no, no… We are not continuing this conversation. Why don't you listen to some music on your phone until we get to the Navy Yard?"

Resisting the urge to laugh, Evie pulled out the smartphone Callen had purchased for her the other day. While her mom had insisted on waiting until Evie was in seventh grade to have a phone of her own, Callen thought, given the circumstances, it was important for Evie to have a way to contact someone in an emergency. Evie loved that she essentially had an MP3 player in the device. Locating her earphones, she connected them to the device and pulled up her playlist.

* * *

Callen and Sam stood in the middle of the bullpen, nearly forming a circle with Gibbs' team. Deeks and Kensi were currently on duty with Jenna and Evie, escorting the pair to Jenna's apartment. With the protection detail taking up most of his time, Callen hadn't had a chance to find out of they'd learned anything more about the murderers. As far as he was concerned, the sooner they caught the bastards, the better for everyone.

"Any news?"

Tony clicked a button on the small remote he held, lighting the large screen. "Abby matched the bullet to three other murders over the past six months, the most recent one just over a week before Agent Mitchell, all of Navy personnel; Petty Officers Kaleb Francis and Reed Jamison and Seaman Ralph Vogel. All three had previously been suspected of being a part of an arms smuggling ring with ties to the Middle East.

"Evie said her mom had spoken of me about a week before she died," Callen added.

McGee nodded from his spot. "Jenna Mitchell similarly said she noticed her sister acting differently about a week prior to the murder."

Tony looked to Gibbs for guidance. "Do you think Agent Mitchell's death had anything to do with those other murders, boss?"

"I think we need to nail down Agent Mitchell's every movement the two weeks prior to her murder," Gibbs said grimly.

* * *

Evie plopped onto the sofa, kicking the coffee table in frustration. It made a soft thud, but wasn't hard enough to cause damage. It _was_ hard enough, however, to catch the attention of the other occupants of the room.

"Evie, stop," Jenna told her from the kitchen where she was doing schoolwork on her laptop.

"It's not fair…" complained Evie. "Why can't I go to the movies with my friends on Saturday?"

"We've already discussed this," the grad student reminded her niece as she typed. "A movie theater is too big and dark for Callen and the other agents to ensure that the area is secure."

"But _everyone_ is going to be there!"

"Not everyone will be there, because you aren't going."

Frustrated, Evie kicked the table again.

"Evie!" Jenna warned sharply.

The child turned to Callen, who was seated on a nearby chair, reading the newspaper. "Come on, Callen," she said in the calmest voice she could muster. If she couldn't rationalize with her aunt, perhaps she could rationalize with her father, particularly since he was the one who had originally said no. If he changed his mind, what could Jenna possibly do about it? "It's just two hours. Couldn't I spend two little hours with my friends?"

Lifting his eyes from the paper, Callen gave Evie his attention. "I have no problem with you spending time with your friends, Evie. The problem is that we would have a hard time protecting you in a movie theater. Until the men who hurt your mom are caught, we have to take extra precautions to ensure your safety."

"If you checked the theater before I went in, though…"

"Evie," Callen said, cutting her off. His tone had gone from casual to firm. "The answer is no. Even if I could do something, Jenna already said no. You'll have to find another time and way to hang out with your friends."

No good would come from it, but Evie really didn't care. Looking away from Callen, she kicked the table a third time. She noticed Callen set the paper on his lap out of the corner of her eye, and it looked as if he was frowning at her.

"Kick that table one more time, Genevieve, and you won't be doing anything with your friends outside of school for a week," Jenna warned from the kitchen.

As annoyed as she was, Evie didn't doubt that Jenna would carry through on her warning. Huffing loudly and rolling her eyes, she pushed herself off the sofa and all but stomped into the bedroom, closing the door with a little more force than necessary.

Jenna stood and started for the bedroom, intending to have a little talk with Evie, but Callen held up a hand to stop her. "She's frustrated," he reminded her. "It has to be hard, knowing that she can't do everything she normally would, all the while worrying that the people who hurt Beth could be looking to hurt her, too."

The young woman shook her head. "I know this is hard on her. Her world has been turned upside down, but she can't just throw a fit every time she doesn't get her way, Callen. Beth wouldn't let her."

He nodded in understanding. "Just give her a few minutes to cool down first."

* * *

"An update, please, Mr. Callen."

Callen stared at the petite woman on the giant screen in MTAC, unsure of exactly what to disclose. Was he ready to reveal the details of his prior relationship with Beth, including the daughter he'd fathered, to Hetty? He hadn't even told the others on his team about their romance until after they'd reached D.C. "Evie and her aunt are still safe," he told her. "Gibbs' team is getting closer to locating the other men involved in Agent Mitchell's death, and there haven't been any attempts to kidnap or harm Evie or Miss Mitchell."

Hetty offered a slight nod of approval. "Excellent."

The doors to MTAC opened, and Callen turned to watch Evie dash in, followed by a harried Deeks and a surprised McGee. From the small smirk on Evie's face, he surmised that she'd been giving Deeks a bit of a hard time. It shouldn't have come as a surprise he supposed despite the fact that he knew Evie liked Deeks. She'd been giving everyone a hard time lately, especially Callen. Simple requests were being met with huffs, eye rolls, and protests. Evie's behavior was better around Jenna, but Callen suspected it was because Jenna had warned the ten-year-old she wouldn't be sitting comfortably if she didn't cut out the attitude.

Callen wasn't exactly ready to make the same warning, though he'd come to realize he'd have to take on more of an authority role with her. "Evie, what are you doing in here?" he asked in a firm tone. "You're supposed to be in a conference room with Detective Deeks, finishing your homework."

Evie shrugged her shoulders, completely unperturbed by the look her father was giving her. "I was bored. This room looks interesting, though." Her eyes roamed around the room until she focused on the large screen. A surprised look flittered across her face before she smiled. "Hi, Ms. Hetty!"

Hetty offered the girl a smile. "Hello there, Genevieve."

Callen froze. His eyes darted back and forth between Evie and Hetty, whose poker face made it impossible for Callen to know what she was thinking. "Ms. Hetty?" he repeated, choosing to focus on Evie. "Evie, how do you know this woman?"

The child was confused by the questioning. "She and Mom were friends," she explained, thinking it was common knowledge. "I've known her ever since I can remember…"

Turning back to look at Hetty, a realization hit Callen like a ton of bricks. Taking a deep breath to calm the storm of feelings brewing in his gut, he motioned toward the door. "Go back to the conference room and finish your homework, Evie," he instructed.

"I don't want to," Evie told him, frowning slightly at being sent out of the room so soon. She'd fully expected to waste a little more time before Callen would ask her to leave. "It's boring."

Although Evie wasn't the one he was mad at, Callen had to remind himself not to lose his temper. "It isn't optional, Evie," he told her, surprising himself as he maintained a calm tone. "Go with Detective Deeks, please."

She folded her arms over her chest in stubborn defiance. "No."

Callen strode over to the girl and gently grasped the crook of her elbow, leading her toward the door. He wasn't entirely surprised when she jerked her arm out of his grasp and took a step back, pouting spectacularly. It was one of Jenna's late nights at school, and Evie had quickly grown tired of being cooped up at NCIS, forced to work on schoolwork instead of socializing or exploring, but she had no business being in MTAC and Callen especially needed a private word with his supervisor.

Leaning down, Callen made sure he made eye contact with his daughter. "That's enough defiance, Evie," he told her sternly. "I need to speak with Ms. Hetty, and you have schoolwork to finish. When I'm done here, I'll come check your homework."

"I'm not going, and you can't make me."

Patience already paper thin, he gave her a reproving look. "You've just lost TV and computer time for the next two days, young lady."

Evie's eyes widened in surprise. She had not expected Callen to dole out any consequences for her behavior, particularly not in front of others. "You can't ground me!" she argued.

"I can and I am. Go with Detective Deeks _now_, Genevieve."

She opened her mouth to argue, but instead shot Callen a glare before turning in a huff and stomping out of MTAC, followed closely by Deeks.

Callen rubbed his head tiredly, glad that he hadn't had to threaten worse to get her to comply. It took a moment for him to remember he'd been in the middle of a conversation prior to Evie's arrival. Turning around slowly, he looked accusingly at Hetty, hiding his surprise that she hadn't ended the connection already. "How long?" he demanded.

For her part, Hetty showed no indication that she understood to what he was referring. "How long, what, exactly, Mr. Callen?"

He'd worked with the woman for too long to be fooled, however. "How long have you known about Evie? How long have you known about Beth?"

Hetty nodded slightly in understanding. "A while," she admitted.

"And you didn't tell me."

The operations manager shook her head slightly. "It wasn't my place to tell. Miss Mitchell was very clear in her wishes. She asked me to keep her secret, and it wasn't for me to betray that secret."

"I have a _daughter_," Callen ground out. He was still mad at Beth, he couldn't help it, but that anger had adopted a new target – one that could respond. "Ten years!" he exclaimed. "Ten years I've missed from her life, and it turns out that all of the time I've known you, you've known about her!"

"I understand your anger, Mr. Callen," Hetty said in that calm, reasonable voice that irritated Callen at times. This time it angered him even more. "Miss Mitchell had her reasons, whether or not you agree with them."

"What reasons? That she was too scared to tell me? She said as much in her letter, but it's a poor excuse!"

"I will share what I know with you upon your return to LA. In the meantime, might I suggest you go check on Genevieve before she inevitably does something to Mr. Deeks. She was clearly unhappy as she left the room a moment ago."


	10. Chapter 10

Back in the conference room, Evie threw herself onto the nearest chair with a huff. She'd been hoping to spend some time with Callen – time that didn't include homework – and exploring more of the building would have definitely been fun. Instead, she'd been ordered back to the conference room to work on homework with Deeks. It wasn't that she objected to being around Deeks (who had insisted she not call him "Detective" much to her father's annoyance); the cop was like a giant kid at times and he made her laugh. Her frustration was over Callen's refusal to cave.

Deeks followed at a leisurely pace, closing the door behind him. Now that he wasn't chasing the ten-year-old all over NCIS, the man could relax a bit. It was the first time he'd had any difficulty getting Evie to cooperate, and he suspected it ran deeper than feelings of being pent up. "So, what do you have left to do?"

Evie shoved her backpack across the table. "I'm not doing it."

Sliding into a nearby chair, Deeks sighed. "I don't think that's the best idea, kiddo. Your dad said…"

"I don't care what he said, Deeks!" she exclaimed. "He wants to be unfair and take away my computer and TV, then I'm not doing a damn thing he says!" She crossed her arms over her chest stubbornly, her mouth curved into a spectacular pout.

Deeks arched an eyebrow, both at the defiance and the profanity. He was sure she was lucky Callen hadn't heard her just then. "Really, Evie?"

She eyed him suspiciously. "Are you going to get all parental on me now?"

"Me? Nope," he told her with a brief head shake. "You're not hurting yourself or anyone else, so Callen and Jenna are more than capable of filling that role. I just don't want to see you in trouble when Callen returns."

"He already grounded me. What else is he going to do?"

The detective was about to respond when the door opened behind him. He turned to watch Callen stride in, clearly exhausted. Deeks could only imagine how the conversation had continued once he'd left. His main concern had been Evie up there, but he hadn't missed Evie's recognition of Hetty. Hetty clearly knew a hell of a lot more about Evie than she'd let on, and if it had been him instead of Callen, he certainly would have been pissed.

Callen glanced at Evie, then at the table. "Where is your homework?"

Evie shook her head. "I'm not doing it."

He pinched the bridge of his nose briefly. "Evie, I do not have the patience for this attitude tonight. Jenna said you need to have your homework done before you get home tonight since it's her late night at school. You've already lost privileges for the next two days. I don't think you'd like further consequences." Callen approached the table so he could push her backpack closer to her. "Take out your homework, please."

She knew she should just cooperate, that it wouldn't take long to finish her homework and then she wouldn't have to worry about it. It wasn't about her homework, though. She couldn't seem to stop herself as she shook her head slightly. "No."

"Listen to me carefully, young lady. If you continue to defy me on this, you'll be without technology for a lot longer than two days. Take out your homework. Now."

The ten-year-old glared at Callen, almost daring him to try to discipline her. When he held her gaze, his face stern, she slowly reached into her backpack to retrieve the first notebook she touched. Without looking away from Callen, she chucked the notebook across the room. She purposely aimed away from the men in the room, so as not to actually hurt either of them. The hard line that Callen's lips formed then told Evie she'd just crossed a line.

The senior agent was the picture of calm – too calm, Evie thought – as he turned to his teammate. "Deeks, you mind giving us a couple of minutes?"

The expression on Deeks' face revealed hesitation, but the detective acquiesced nonetheless. "Sure. I'll be in the hallway."

As Deeks exited the room, Evie's eyes remained focused on Callen. Deeks' departure left her feeling uneasy. She couldn't imagine why Callen would ask the man to leave just to scold her or tell her that she was grounded further. As soon as the door clicked shut, Callen turned back to face Evie. She gulped involuntarily at the look in his eyes.

Holding Evie's gaze, Callen pointed to where the notebook had landed. "You have three seconds to pick up that notebook and put it gently on the table." Though his voice was quiet enough to not be heard outside the room, his tone made it clear he wasn't playing around.

She was playing with fire and she knew it, but Evie couldn't seem to help herself. "Or what?" she asked, her voice not nearly as strong or defiant as she'd intended.

Without missing a beat, he said in that same calm voice, "Or you're getting a spanking, and it won't be just two swats this time."

"You wouldn't," Evie said without confidence.

"One."

Her eyes widened. While she wasn't entirely sure whether or not he'd spank her again, she really hadn't expected him to count. "Callen…" she protested.

"Two."

She moved quickly, keeping to her side of the table, just in case. Retrieving the previously abandoned notebook, Evie placed it on the table near her backpack. She then stood there, eyeing Callen warily.

The father sat on the chair Deeks had recently vacated. He crooked his finger, motioning Evie to him.

"Nuh uh," Evie said at once, shaking her head and making no effort to move from her spot.

"_Now_."

Evie hated how paternal Callen sounded. For a man who had just recently found out he was a father, he had the stern parent thing down pat. Shuffling her feet, Evie inched her way to Callen, stopping just out of his reach.

Or so she thought.

Leaning forward, Callen grasped her hand, pulling her closer so that she stood between his knees. "Enough of this nonsense. I know you aren't happy about losing privileges, and you're tired of being here, but this tantrum of yours is unacceptable, Genevieve, and it ends now. You are going to finish your homework without another complaint."

Her brain screamed at her to listen, but her body seemed to act of its own accord. She took a couple of steps back and shook her head. "No." The word flew out of her mouth before she could stop it. "I'm not doing my homework, and you can't make me."

Callen's brows furrowed dangerously and Evie immediately regret her words. She half expected him to reach for her again. Instead, he reached for his cell phone.

She could only hear his side of the conversation, if it could even be classified as such. "Hey… plans have changed. Meet me in the bullpen," wasn't much to go on. Her eyes never left him as he hung up and called someone else. When he was finished speaking with that person, he tucked his phone back away and nodded toward Evie's things as he stood.

"Grab your stuff and let's go."

Evie made no move to follow his directions. "Go where?"

"I'm taking you home. Agents Hanna and Blye will bring Jenna there after her class."

Jenna's apartment sounded much more appealing than NCIS just then, but Evie was skeptical. Why would they let her stay at Jenna's while Jenna was still at school all of a sudden when they hadn't before? "Why?" she pressed.

He gave her a pointed look. "You and I need to have a chat, and I don't think NCIS is the best place for us to do that. Grab your things."

The way he said 'chat' sent a tingle down her spine. "I'd rather not."

Callen's voice took on a hard edge that Evie recognized as a clear warning. "So help me, Genevieve, if you continue to fight me on everything, I will sit back down, pull you across my knee and spank you regardless of who might see or hear," he told her. "Do you understand me?"

She'd definitely gone too far. Not trusting her voice, Evie nodded.

"Let's go."

Quickly and quietly, she made sure everything was tucked in her backpack before slinging it over one shoulder.

* * *

Thirty minutes later she entered Jenna's apartment, nerves on edge. She'd spent the entire ride there in the backseat while Deeks drove and Callen occupied the front passenger seat. She'd wanted to talk to Callen, to ask him exactly what he meant when he said they would have a 'chat,' perhaps even to apologize for being such a brat. There was no way she was saying any of that in front of Deeks, though.

"Sit down," Callen instructed, following her into the apartment.

Evie set her backpack on the kitchen table before finding a spot on the sofa. She watched Deeks sit at the table and flip open the laptop NCIS kept in the apartment. She watched him, a little nervous about what he might hear – even if Callen was only going to scold her, she really didn't want an audience – until movement in the corner of her eye caught her attention. Turning, she saw Callen sitting beside her. "Callen?" she asked in a small voice, hoping not to be overheard by the detective in the adjoining room. "Are you… I mean, am I… when you said that we needed to have a chat, does that…" She trailed off with a frown.

Though it might have been hard for someone else to follow, Callen understood Evie's fragmented question. He wanted to tell her that they were going to just talk, but he knew he needed to do something. He couldn't allow her to continue to spiral, and her behavior at NCIS that afternoon had been appalling, particularly for a child her age. "We're going to talk about what's going on with you," he said honestly. "After that, I'll decide what consequences you've earned for your behavior."

She glanced back and forth between Callen and Deeks.

"Are you worried about Detective Deeks overhearing our conversation?" Callen asked, noticing her movements. When she nodded slightly, he tilted his head to the side curiously. "You didn't seem too concerned about what he saw or heard when you were throwing a fit earlier."

Blushing, Evie looked away, but Callen wasn't having any of that. Reaching over he gently grasped her chin, turning her head so he could see her face.

"What is going on with you, Evie?" he asked in a gentle voice. "You've been moody for days, and even I know this attitude isn't you."

Evie's eyes felt damp. She knew why she'd been acting so awful, but she didn't think she could admit it to him. What if he told her that what she feared was true, that he was growing tired of her and couldn't wait to go back to California, away from her? She couldn't bear to hear him say it, even if she was subconsciously pushing him to do just that. Instead, she shrugged her shoulders.

"No," Callen said firmly at once. "Shrugging is not an answer, and I think you do know what's bothering you. Talk to me, Evie."

She stared at him helplessly, praying she wouldn't start crying.

Callen folded his arms across his chest, building himself up for what he was about to say. He didn't mean a word of it, but he needed to get her to talk, even if it meant pushing her. "If you don't want to talk, Genevieve, we can skip straight to the consequences."

Evie shook her head frantically, a few renegade tears sliding down her cheeks. No matter the consequences – though she had a sinking suspicion on what they might be – she didn't want to just be in trouble. It felt horrible knowing he was mad at her.

She was caught off guard when Callen wordlessly opened his arms to her. Scooting over, she curled up against his chest, allowing him to envelop her in his arms. At that point, the tears started flowing freely, and she snaked her arms around his torso the best she could, pressing her face into his shirt. Evie felt one of Callen's hands on the back of her head, holding her gently, while the other rubbed her back. Being held like that felt soothing, even if she was scared it wouldn't last.

Evie was beginning to feel sleepy after several minutes of sitting there when a soft voice murmured from somewhere above.

"Evie."

Lifting her head, she looked at Callen, wiping away the excess moisture from her face with one hand. Though the rest of his face was serious, his eyes were tender, almost knowing. Reaching out, Callen wiped a stray tear with the pad of this thumb.

"What are you afraid of?" he asked her, his voice quiet.

She tried to swallow the lump in her throat. "What happens when you're done protecting me?" Evie asked in a small voice.

Déjà vu hit Callen like a ton of bricks. He recalled almost that same question from the day Evie had found out the truth about him. Callen had thought he'd answered her question already, but obviously he hadn't. Unsure of what she was really asking, he decided to probe for more information. "What do you mean, Evie?"

The thought of asking what she really wanted to ask terrified her. "I… uh…"

"Nothing you say right now is going to make me upset with you. Whatever is bothering you, I just want you to be honest with me."

"Where am I going to live?"

Closing his eyes, Callen let out a sigh. Of course the kid was worrying about what would happen to her after all of the drama died down. He couldn't really tell her where she was going to live, either; not because he didn't want her to live with him, but because he thought that ultimately the decision belonged to her.

He reopened his eyes and made sure he held her gaze. "I can't answer that right now, Evie. Jenna and I have been talking about it, but that's a big decision and we're all going to need to sit down and talk about it before anything is decided."

Evie couldn't look at him as she asked what she really wanted to ask, so she chose to study a small section of the cushion she sat on. "Are you going to leave me here and go back to California? I thought you might be getting tired of me with the way I've been acting and all…"

A light bulb went off in Callen's head. Reaching out, he lifted Evie's chin so they were face-to-face. "I want you to listen to me very carefully, Genevieve Elizabeth, because this is important," he said, serious as ever. "There is nothing, and I mean NOTHING, that you can do that will make me love you any less or make me not want to have you in my life. Understand?"

She wanted desperately to believe him. "I've been nothing but a brat…" she reminded him, as if it might prove him wrong.

"You've been testing me," he said knowingly. "You've been trying to see how far you could push before you pushed me away. There's just one problem with that. You can't push me away, Evie. I'm not going anywhere, no matter how disrespectful or grouchy you get."

"You promise?"

"I promise."

A hint of a smile tugged at the corner of her mouth. It was fleeting, however, as she remembered the whole reason she was at Jenna's and not at the Navy Yard. She unconsciously chewed on her lower lip. "Am I still in trouble?"

Callen raised one eyebrow. "What do you think?"

Her gaze returned to her lap. "I think I'm in big trouble."

He reached out to brush the hair away from her face. "I think I have to agree with you there. What do you think we should do about it?"

Automatically Evie's eyes darted to the kitchen, but she didn't see Deeks anywhere. "Where…?"

"Detective Deeks left a couple of minutes ago," explained Callen. "He'll be back soon. So what do you think we should do about your behavior this afternoon?"

She really didn't want to have to answer that. "I'm already grounded for two days…" she reminded him softly, hoping he might decide that that was enough of a consequence.

"You're grounded for two days for your defiance in MTAC," Callen clarified. "We haven't addressed your behavior in the conference room, though."

Evie frowned. "I don't want to be grounded for even longer," she admitted, recalling one of Callen's warnings from the conference room. "Two days is bad enough… Please, Callen…"

He had his own reservations about imposing a longer restriction. "I don't think grounding you any longer is the best solution. I have a feeling this behavior will only get worse during that time."

"So… If I'm not going to be grounded longer, then what…?" Her eyes widened as she realized what he was thinking. Her mouth suddenly felt dry. "Callen…"

"I understand why you were upset, but it doesn't excuse your behavior today, and I wouldn't be doing my job as your dad if I allowed you to behave that way without any consequences."

"You could just give me a warning this time," she tried. "I am already grounded for two days, after all…"

"Hm," he mused. "Is that would Jenna would do? Just give you a warning?"

She blanched. In the events of that afternoon, she hadn't stopped to think about what her aunt would have to say about her behavior. She could hear Jenna's warning in her head about taking a page out of her mother's book.

Watching the emotions flutter across Evie's face, Callen nodded in agreement. "I didn't think so." Gently, he took her hand, pulling her to her feet so she stood by his right leg. "Why are you about to get a spanking?"

One of her feet gave a soft stomp as her frown deepened. It was one thing knowing that he was going to do it; it was another to hear him say it out loud. "Callen…!" she whined.

Callen chose to ignore the stomp and whine. "Tell me why, Evie."

"I wouldn't listen to you…"

He nodded in approval. "Hopefully that isn't going to be a problem anymore." Gently, Callen guided Evie over his lap.

"It won't, I promise…!"

Callen hated what he was about to do. It had been hard enough delivering those impromptu swats before. How could he sit there and do something that he knew was going to make Evie cry? Gathering the courage, Callen wrapped one arm around Evie's torso to ensure she stayed in place. He lifted his other hand and let it fall on her upturned bottom with a sharp smack.

Evie yelped, but Callen could tell it was more from the shock than any real discomfort. He let his hand fall again, this time a little harder. The corresponding higher pitched yelp told Callen he'd made more of an impact. He'd decided ahead of time that ten swats would be enough. He wanted to make an impression, but he didn't want to go overboard, and in the grand scheme of things there were definitely worse things she could have done.

At the fourth swat, Evie was kicking her feet. She knew it could've been worse – her mother had given her a worse spanking than this – but it still stung and it was the first time Callen had _really_ spanked her. The fifth swat fell sharply on the undercurve, and Evie began to cry. She buried her face in his pant leg, hanging onto fistfuls of the fabric.

The last five swats came quickly, and Evie was crying too hard at first to realize that Callen was rubbing her back soothingly. By the time she did notice, Callen was lifting her off his lap and standing her between his knees.

The agent observed his daughter for barely more than a second before pulling her to sit on his lap, letting her cry into his chest. Though he knew he hadn't been overly harsh, he felt like such an ogre. Did all parents feel this way when they had to discipline their children, he wondered. It wasn't as if he had helpful experiences from his childhood, and though Sam was the closest thing he had to a best friend, he hadn't discussed the subject with him.

"You're all right," he murmured, kissing the top of Evie's head. "It's over now."

Callen let her cry it out, holding her as she did, hoping he was providing the comfort and support she wanted and needed. It took several minutes before Evie had calmed down. As her tears subsided, Callen gave her an extra squeeze. "Are you okay?" he asked softly.

While Evie still felt uncomfortable, some of the sting was beginning to fade. "I didn't like that," she murmured between sniffles.

The father gently combed the hair back from her face. "You weren't supposed to like it, sweetie," he replied. "I'll let you in on a little secret though. I didn't like it, either."

Evie tilted her head so she could see Callen's face without having to pull away. "Are you still mad?"

"I'm not mad," he assured her. "How about you? Are you mad?"

She hadn't expected him to ask that, and she thought about it for a moment before shaking her head. "No."

"I'm glad," Callen told her with a smile. "Ready to go finish your homework?"

Honestly, Evie didn't feel like doing her homework. She would have much preferred just sitting there with Callen, but it wasn't worth the fight anymore. That didn't stop her from groaning softly as Callen helped her to her feet. "I'm too injured to do my homework now," grumbled the girl.

Laughing out loud, Callen guided her to the kitchen table. "Your hands aren't injured, so there's no reason you can't do your work. "I'll tell you what. Finish your homework, and then we'll see about dinner."

Evie was never one to pass up an opportunity. "Pizza?" she asked hopefully, smiling sweetly up at Callen.

A weaker man would've agreed to anything at the innocent expression on her face, but thankfully Callen was able to resist – just barely. "If you finish _all_ of your homework without another complaint, I'll spring for pizza.

Thankful for the padded seats, Evie lowered herself onto one of the chairs cautiously and reached for her backpack.


	11. Chapter 11

"Callen, you don't have to do this."

The NCIS agent observed the young grad student curiously. "What are you talking about, Jenna?"

Jenna motioned to the closed bedroom door. "Giving into her whining and letting her go to Kayla's house. I know that protecting her outside of school and the apartment puts an extra strain on your team." While she wanted nothing more than for her niece to be able to spend time with her friends outside of school, Jenna didn't want it to come at the expense of the agents assigned to protect them, especially when Evie had been pestering Callen about it.

However, Callen shook his head. "She hasn't been whining. I told her the other day that if I heard her whine even once, she wouldn't leave the apartment other than to go to school or NCIS until further notice. She's been on her best behavior."

The girl in question chose that moment to open the bedroom door and step into the room. She'd donned a one-piece swimsuit and a pair of denim shorts and held a brush, comb, and hair ties in one hand. "Aunt Jenna? Would you please braid my hair?"

Jenna patted the cushion beside her. "Come on."

Evie wasted little time in settling on the sofa, handing the tools to Jenna. She closed her eyes in content when she felt Jenna begin to pass the brush through her hair.

Hearing her niece's satisfied sigh, Jenna chuckled under her breath. Evie had enjoyed having her hair done since she'd been a toddler. Satisfied that the girl's hair was tangle-free and as smooth as she could manage with a brush, she switched to the comb and began pulling a small section back, intending to make a French braid. "You know," Jenna mused, "I really ought to let Callen do this."

Callen quickly shook his head. "Yeah, I don't really know how to do hair."

"I'll teach you the basics," Jenna pressed.

Cracking one eye open, Evie pressed her lips together, unamused. "I don't think so."

Jenna laughed out loud. "Why not? Don't you think your father should know how to fix your hair, Evie?"

"Sure. But I have to go out in _public_ with this hair!"

Amused, Callen took a step forward from where he'd been standing, eyes twinkling. "That sounds like a challenge…"

Evie opened her other eye and stared straight-faced at Callen. "Not funny."

Callen's expression was one of amusement, but he stayed where he was. Evie was about to close her eyes again when she felt Jenna's fingers untangle from her hair. Twisting to look at the woman, Evie frowned. "Aunt Jenna…" she whined softly.

"That's not a whine I hear, is it?" Callen asked mildly, folding his arms over his chest as Evie turned quickly to look at him wide-eyed as she realized her mistake. "I must have misheard you, because if I _did_ hear you whine, you would quickly find your sleepover plans cancelled for tonight."

"Uh…" stammered Evie.

"I'm still going to braid your hair, Evie," Jenna reassured her. "This is a good opportunity to show Callen how to make a simple braid, though. Here, Callen, come watch."

Callen moved to stand behind Jenna.

"First, it's best to make sure the hair is tangle-free," Jenna explained as she ran the hairbrush through Evie's hair to make sure her previous efforts hadn't left any tangles. "After that, you want to separate the hair you're braiding into three equal sections. You can start with the left or right side, but you'll take that section and move it into the middle. The section that was originally in the middle will get moved to the side. Then, you take the opposite side, and move that into the middle." She modeled with Evie's hair as she continued to instruct. "Then, it's just a matter of alternating left and right, or right and left, always moving an outside section into the middle. Once the braid is long enough, use a hair tie to secure it and you're set."

It seemed basic enough to Callen as he nodded in understanding.

Jenna unraveled the braid and rose from the sofa. "Here," she said to Callen, patting the cushion she'd just vacated. "You give it a try."

He wasn't sure about this, but Callen took a seat behind Evie, reaching out for the brush Jenna had set on the coffee table. It didn't escape his notice that Evie had tensed up. He understood enough about girls to get the whole 'gotta look perfect' mentality, even if he didn't entirely understand it, but he still thought her worrying was silly. Carefully, he slid the brush through her hair, making sure not to tug in the event that he ran into a tangle. To his surprise, he watched the tension melt from Evie's body right around the same time he heard her sigh softly. A chuckle escaped before he could stop it.

Although Evie's hair seemed tangle-free, Callen continued to brush her hair for another minute, allowing Evie to further relax. When he finally set down the brush, he made to separate her hair into three sections just as Jenna had modeled, his fingers moving with the greatest care. "Are you still put out that I'm messing with your hair?"

"Eh."

Despite Callen's prior reservations, he decided that braiding wasn't that difficult – at least, the way Jenna had shown him wasn't complicated. It seemed like she was doing something fancier before. In another minute, he'd tied a hair band at the bottom of the braid. Checking out his handiwork, he thought in satisfaction that he'd done a decent job. Still, he wasn't the best judge. "So, how did I do?" he asked Jenna.

Jenna nodded in approval. "I'm impressed. Evie, come take a look."

Callen sat back and relaxed a moment as Jenna motioned Evie into the bathroom and handed her a small round mirror. He was sure Evie would still want Jenna to redo her hair, but at least he had one trick up his sleeve now if Evie ended up living with him.

It was a conversation he and Jenna had had on several occasions, typically after Evie had gone to bed at night. Callen had come to the conclusion that he wanted to be in Evie's life on a daily basis. He had a stressful job, and he didn't have a spouse to help, but he did have his friends at work who he knew would support him. If Sam and Michelle could make it work, he figured he could as well.

However, Callen also recognized that at the age of ten, Evie deserved to have a say in her living situation. He hoped Evie felt the same way he did and wanted to join him in California, but if she wanted to live with Jenna instead, he wouldn't stand in her way, and he'd support her regardless.

The two ladies in question exited the bathroom a moment later, and he watched as Evie approached him hesitantly. "What's wrong?" he asked at once as leaned forward in concern, noticing the way she was tugging on her lower lip with her teeth.

"I just, uh, wanted to say thank you for braiding my hair," Evie replied in a soft voice. "It looks nice."

"You're welcome," he said honestly. "You sure you don't want Jenna to redo it? I'm sure she could do a better job."

Evie shook her head. "It's perfect." Closing the space between them, she reached out to wrap her arms around his neck. "I'm sorry for fussing," she whispered.

Callen gently tugged the girl down so she was sitting beside him then pulled her to his side in a hug. "Apology accepted," he whispered in return in her ear as she curled up against him.

Moving to sit on the coffee table, Jenna put her hands on her thighs and looked at Evie. "Do you have your bag packed for tonight?" Evie nodded. "Good. Let's talk quickly about the rules while you're at Kayla's house."

Evie made a face, but she held back the whine on the tip of her tongue. Callen might have given her a pass before, but she was positive he wouldn't be so generous a second time, and there was no way she was missing Kayla's sleepover. "I always listen to Kayla's parents," Evie reminded her, careful to keep her voice even.

"I know you do," Jenna agreed. "However, circumstances are different right now, and I'm not just worried about whether or not you're listening to Mr. and Mrs. Renard. You need to follow every direction that Callen gives you without question. The same goes for Agent Blye or any other agent there. Their job is to protect you, and they cannot do their job if you don't listen."

She couldn't push aside the frustration she felt over being treated so 'childishly.' Not thinking about the consequences, Evie rolled her eyes. "I'm not a baby," she huffed. "I know how to behave out in public."

The hand that had been wrapped around Evie's shoulder moved, but she didn't think anything of it until she felt a sharp sting on the back of her thigh. "Ow!" she squeaked, scooting away from Callen as she glared at him accusingly.

Leaning forward, Callen rested his elbows on his knees as he turned to address Evie. "You've got two choices here, Evie," he said calmly. "You can lose the attitude, listen carefully to what your aunt is telling you, and have fun at Kayla's, or you can continue with the huffing and complaining and you'll stay home. Which is it going to be?"

"Sorry, Aunt Jenna," Evie mumbled, rubbing her thigh.

"If you do not listen to what the agents are telling you, they will bring you home. Is that clear?"

Evie nodded quickly.

"All right. Grab your bag, and we'll head over to Kayla's."

* * *

Evie felt tired but happy as she slid out of the car. She'd had a great time at Kayla's, and while she hadn't gotten much sleep, she'd almost felt normal for the first time since her mom had died. As Jenna, Callen, and Sam accompanied her toward the apartment, Evie figured she'd have a chance to rest for a little bit once inside.

They were mere feet from the apartment door when a hand quickly wrapped around Evie's arm, halting her movement. Evie's gaze darted up to Callen, both confused and startled, but the only response she got was a hand held up motioning her to stop before moving to his face, a lone finger pressed against his lips. Desperate to understand what was happening, Evie turned her attention to Jenna, who had stilled beside her. Sam had his hand up as well. Just beyond him, Evie could see the slightly ajar door to Jenna's apartment. It took her a moment to process the sight, but as realization dawned on her she felt her eyes widen. Subconsciously she took a step closer to Callen.

Both men already had their guns out, and Sam silently pushed the door open, gun in front of him. Though Evie couldn't see much of the apartment from where she stood, she could see a mess on the floor. She watched as Sam turned back to them and nodded behind them. Evie had no idea what that was supposed to mean, but apparently Callen did, because he turned her around, guiding her to the stairs. She wanted to ask what they were doing, but she was kind of scared to do so.

No one spoke until the four were back in the car. It was at that point that Sam pulled out his cell phone.

"What's going on?" Jenna asked, reaching out to squeeze Evie's hand in comfort.

"Someone's been in your apartment," Callen explained, turning around to look at Jenna and Evie. "It could be completely unrelated, but we aren't going to take that chance. Sam and I are taking you both back to NCIS until we can get you to a safe house. Gibbs and his team will check out your apartment, and once they've cleared it, Kensi and Deeks will collect whatever you need from there."

The mood in the car was tense, and silence reigned, other than Sam's hushed phone conversation as Callen pulled out of the parking lot. Evie figured the agent was speaking with Gibbs, though he hadn't mentioned any names. She'd be lying if she said she wasn't scared at that point. Being with Callen had been comforting and she'd began to feel a little safer. She was convinced without a doubt that he wouldn't let anything happen to her. However, realizing someone had been in Jenna's apartment rattled her. Who had broken in? Were they looking for her? What if she'd been home?

Evie heard her phone ding, indicating a new text message. Letting go of Jenna's hand she pulled the device out of her pocket, expecting to find a message or funny picture from one of her friends. She'd gladly welcome the distraction from this most recent turn of events. However, the number was one she didn't recognize, and the message was cryptic.

'_We know you have it.'_

She wasn't sure what 'it' was or who 'we' referred to, and normally she would have ignored a text from an unknown number, but for some reason she felt compelled to respond this time. _'Who is this?'_ she typed.

Several photos appeared in the message thread in rapid succession. The first two photos showed Jenna – one at the college and one outside her apartment building. The next two photos featured Callen, and Evie saw herself in one of the photos. It was clear that none of them had known they were being photographed. Evie wasn't sure how anyone had even taken photos of them without being caught, since Callen and his team had been watching them like hawks. However, she didn't have time to ponder that as a fifth image appeared, this one creepier than the rest. It was a photo of the floor inside her house, or more specifically, of the bloodstain on the floor. At that point, it was clear to Evie who was texting her.

Unable to stop herself, Evie let out a gasp.

"Evie? What is it?"

The child looked up to realize she'd caught the attention of the other occupants of the car. Jenna and Sam had both turned to look at her, and Callen was glancing at her in the rearview mirror. She knew she should be honest and probably even hand her phone over to Agent Hanna, but something stopped her. Evie shook her head. "It's just Kayla," she lied, the words rolling off her tongue with ease. "She's had a crush on Shane DeMarco for weeks, and Flynn Baker told Hannah Garcia who told Kayla that Shane likes her."

She watched Callen blink in the mirror. "You're in fourth grade…" he muttered.

"So?" Evie asked, resisting the urge to look down at her phone as she heard it ding again. "Hannah and Flynn have been going out for over a month now."

Callen coughed loudly, the unwelcome image of a boy trying to make a move on his daughter flooding his mind. Once he'd calmed enough to speak, he raised an eyebrow. "Well, let me dismiss any notions you might have right now of dating before you're thirty."

Evie rolled her eyes slightly. "And you say I'm dramatic…" She took advantage of this opportunity to glance down at her messages again and felt her blood freeze.

'_You have 48 hours to bring it to us, or they will meet the same end that your mother did. If you tell anyone, we will kill them and anyone else standing in our way.'_

Oh my god.

Those three words repeated over and over in her head. She couldn't even begin to think straight. It was clear she couldn't say anything to Callen, Sam, or Jenna, and she couldn't even react without alerting them. Panic began to take over her body and she struggled to deal with the situation internally. She desperately needed a couple of minutes to herself.

"I need to go to the bathroom," she blurted out suddenly.

Callen glanced once again in the rearview mirror, surprised by the random announcement. "We'll be at NCIS in about twenty minutes," he told her. "Once we're there…"

"No!" Evie interrupted with such urgency that she surprised the others. "I can't wait twenty minutes. I need to go to the bathroom _now_!"

"Pull over at the next gas station," Sam told Callen.

Five minutes later, Evie entered a convenience store escorted by Callen. Sam had previously checked to make sure that the single-person women's restroom was vacant and that there weren't any safety issues.

"I'll be waiting right here," Callen told Evie.

The ten-year-old rushed into the restroom before closing and locking the door. Ignoring the fact that the restroom floor was probably teeming with all sorts of bacteria and other germs, she pressed her back against one wall and slid down until she was seated on the floor, knees pulled to her chest. There, she wrapped her arms around her legs and rested her forehead on her knees, taking deep breaths.

The people who had murdered her mother clearly wanted something from her. From the pictures, it was also clear that someone had been following them for more than a day. If they could follow any of them for that period of time without being detected, Evie had no doubts that they could carry through on their threats to hurt Jenna and Callen. She couldn't stomach the thought of losing someone else.

However, for the life of her Evie couldn't figure out what it was that the men wanted. 'It' was a rather vague descriptor. It wasn't as if Evie had any media of the murder. No photos, no videos, no audio tapes. What did they think she had that was worth the threats? The idea that they were making it up just so they could get her alone and kill her crossed her mind.

Evie knew it would be hard to get away, if she could figure out what it was they wanted. She certainly wouldn't be able to slink off once at NCIS, and she had no idea where the safe house would be, so she couldn't decide whether or not she'd be able to run off without being detected.

She didn't feel much better, but Evie knew Callen would start knocking on the door soon if she didn't hurry. She went ahead and used the toilet, since she was there anyway, and took an extra minute after washing her hands to splash cold water on her face. Taking a deep breath, Evie told herself that she would figure things out. She had to.

Whatever happened, she was NOT going to lose Callen or Jenna.


End file.
