Pivotal Moments.

Chapter 12

The funerals went off without incident, Dallas and Callen standing together, united as a family.

Hetty watched from her vantage point away from the mourners as her boy said goodbye to the two women who had meant so much to him. She had wanted to be closer, but she was due to leave for Washington D.C. an hour after the funeral finished and she did not want to contact Callen and then leave again.

Callen never left Dallas' side for the whole time they were at the graveside. Dallas himself was very attentive to his 'little brother', making sure he was never alone and glaring every five minutes at the press and the FBI, who were standing at the periphery of the graveside, watching the Aryan Brotherhood bury two of their own.

Going back to the house for the wake, Callen found himself finally alone. Dallas had made sure he had eaten something, and then gone to his study with a few of the boys from the bar to talk business.

He found himself pacing up and down the hallway outside the room. He knew what Dallas was planning, after all it was exactly what he was thinking of doing, getting revenge. Eventually Callen stopped as Dallas opened the door.

"You can't keep me out of this." Callen growled at Dallas.

"I can boy; Ma would have my hide if you got involved with this." Dallas argued, waving the others away and pulling Callen into the study.

"Ma can't hurt anyone now, neither can Kaylee." Callen snapped back.

Dallas' eyes softened slightly, "Cal... you know it wasn't what she wanted for you; you stayed the right side of the line, you need to carry on, you're a great mechanic."

"I'm good with a gun." Callen argued.

Dallas' head whipped around in surprise, "Since when?" He asked.

Callen smiled, "I learned a few things while I was with that old woman, her friend Duke taught me to shoot."

"Could you kill someone?" Dallas asked, looking Callen in the eye.

Callen nodded gravely, "They killed Ma; I could kill them, not a problem."

Dallas looked at him, a million reasons why he should never allow the younger man in on this running through his mind.

"Dallas, I already lost one family and did nothing to avenge them," Callen pleaded. "I can't let Ma and Kaylee die without doing something to avenge them. I feel like my blood is on fire and I need to finish this."

Dallas was surprised, not by Callen's words, but by the way he all but begged to be a part of it. This was not the boy whom he had met in prison, the boy who, despite all that had been thrown his way in life had shown a spark of good, this was someone who lived and breathed a need for revenge.

Finally, he sighed, "Sure. I'll find a part for you to play. We are gonna hunt down every one of these Marines, they are a disgrace to their uniform and they need to pay."

Callen smiled sadly as Dallas wrapped an arm around him. "Blood is blood boy, but family is family and no one messes with that and lives."

Mike, Sam, Kensi and Deeks looked up at the big screen as Nell and Eric started putting faces of four Marines onto the big screen.

"Over the last few weeks, four Marines from Pendleton have gone missing. The alarm wasn't raised as three of them have been known to be UA before, they've done time in the brig and then been released, but last night Sergeant Tom Mayfield went missing. He has been seen with the missing men more than once, but he has access to some classified Intel and nuclear codes." Nell told them.