DOUBLE TAKE

Chapter 31

The rest of Callen and Nell's stay with Gibbs, had been a pleasant one. Callen loved spending the time with his dear friend, sanding and building furniture, in the basement. It gave him a purpose and achievement, after a whole month of sitting in a hospital bed, being told not to do anything. He was sad to say goodbye, when the time came for them to catch their flight to Los Angeles. He was also pleased to see how well Nell and Gibbs got on. Gibbs admitted to him on their last night, how much Nell reminded him of Shannon. Callen was surprised at that, as Gibbs hardly confided with anyone about Shannon. He could see the pain was still there, after all these years. He knew Gibbs had a thing for red heads, and after seeing a photo of Shannon, he realised why. But none of his next three wives came anything close to Shannon. Or Jenny, Callen noted. He had been undercover in Eastern Europe many years ago, with Gibbs and Jenny, and could see how hard it was for Gibbs to let her go. It made him more determined to make sure his relationship with Nell, stood the test of time.

Paris

John hadn't visited his son again, while he was staying with Gibbs. Callen hadn't thought anything of it, but there was a lot going on, John kept to himself. When the time is right, John decided. That would be when he would sit down with his son, and tell him everything that had gone on since Prague.

John knocked on the faded green door, he found himself at. He waited patiently, before a boy of about thirteen opened it. "Bonjour, Pierre."

"Bonjour Monsieur," the boy replied.

"Is your mama home?"

"Oui." The boy answered. "You look like my Père, but older."

"Oui, je fais." (Yes, I do). John smiled at his grandson. "That's because I am his Père."

The smile on the boy was priceless. His vivid blue eyes sparkled. "You're my grand-père?"

"Oui, Pierre. I am." John knew from Kevin that he had taught George's son and his own two children to speak English, when he stayed with them.

"Mère. Mère." The boy ran inside to find his mother.

A woman in her late thirties came to the front door, being dragged by her older child.

"Bonjour, Monsieur." She spoke softly, and John could see how George had fallen for her fourteen years ago. She was petite, with long satin straight dark hair, fair skin, like velvet and blue eyes. She was beautiful.

"Bonjour, Madam," John replied. "My name is John Manning. I have come to talk to you about my sons." He knew meeting Gabrielle would be a difficult trip, but not as hard as his trip to Dallas had been.

"Please, come in." Gabrielle held the door, as Pierre led him through to the rear of the house, to a small sitting room.

Los Angeles

Callen and Nell had been back in Los Angeles for seven days, without a word from Sam. It bothered Callen, that Sam hadn't responded to his texts, phone calls, or even visited. He'd had enough! "Nell, please take me into work with you today. I'm going crazy here, alone, and I haven't heard from Sam, since he left me in Prague." He was well aware he was pleading with her, but he still wasn't allowed to drive. Not for another month. Deeks, Kensi, Eric and Hetty had all popped in to visit him, making his partner's absence, even more noticeable.

"Okay!" She surrendered to him, as she understood how hard it had been for him. "But if Hetty orders you out of the office, you are coming straight back." She thought the trip out might do his spirits good, and she missed his presence terribly at OSP. Also, he could bring all his back log of paperwork home to catch up on, except for the one related to the Jankovic case. It was no use having him deal with that case, while he still had no memory of it, let alone the reason why they went to Prague, in the first place.