Reunited At Last

Au. Note: I do not own the characters. They are the NCISLA writers' intellectual property. I only own the story. Also (and as always), English is not my first language, which means mistakes might still exist. Have a nice read!

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Following the wrap of another (fortunately) successful but tiring mission, both physically and emotionally, the team went home to get some rest. Callen was the only one of them who had stayed at OPS to finish some urgent paperwork before leaving. By the time he was done with it he went to search for Anna, but she was nowhere to be found. Not at OSP, at least. Callen sighed in defeat, picked up his bag, and drove to the bar.

Once he had arrived, the door closed behind him and he admired how the sunset's scarlet-golden light filled and lightened the room quite nicely, giving it a sense of coziness. That wouldn't last long, though. Many things in life didn't, he sighed. Following that thought, Callen turned a single light on so that he wouldn't feel as lonely in that space, once the sunset turned into dusk. Then he walked towards the bar counter in an imperfect straight line while deviating from a couple of tables.

Callen's jacket was the first thing to go and he placed it on the back of a bar stool. His gun soon joined it, and he went to serve himself a cold beer. The sound of a stool moving as Callen sat on it was the only thing that could be heard in that bar before he loosened his tie, undid the first button of his shirt, and drank his beer whilst he looked through his phone's gallery. He swiped through a couple of photos he and Anna had taken, back in 2017. He couldn't help that. Not finding her at the OSP didn't necessarily mean that she was gone. Although, Callen was having a bit of a hard time convincing himself of that. He only hoped she was going to be okay, wherever she went and whatever she decided to do, and put his phone away.

Later, the watery and empty bottle of beer hit the bar counter softly. In the very next instant, Callen heard the door opening. His eyes shut and he sighed heavily as he quickly realized he had forgotten to lock it. No doubt that he was distracted, he thought. His right hand went straight to his gun while he turned the seat around, but he ended up not picking it. Callen knew the person who had just entered the bar. Anna. His Anna. He stood up right away.

During that split second, Callen's entire body went through one of those incredibly realistic déjà vus and he recalled the surprise that took over him when his eyes first saw Anna standing in the same room, after so many months. That sight brought up numerous feelings which he had tried to keep from entertaining, for the first few months of separation, until he couldn't continue lying to himself anymore. When his gaze first met her, after so long, of all the feelings, relief was the most intense one. Callen was relieved that Anna was okay, healed and that she hadn't been caught sneaking into the country. He had been searching for her whereabouts to make sure that she was okay, but it seemed that the one who needed "rescue" and help was him, given the information that she shared with him over a cup of coffee, the previous day.

He knew his stare was on her while his mind wandered, but Anna's voice brought him back to reality. "Hetty told me the team was going to hang out here. So, I passed by to thank and say goodnight to everybody," she explained with a confused look painted on her face as she walked towards him.

Callen couldn't help but smirk at the way Hetty moved the pieces around life's chessboard. "I guess Hetty got it wrong, this time. Today's the bar's day off, and everyone went home to rest," he let her know in an affable way.

"Oh... Alright." There was an awkward pause for a few seconds. "I, uh... I apologize for bothering you." Anna shot him a weak smile. "Good night, Callen."

Anna turned around to leave the bar, not knowing where she would spend the night. In that instant, Callen realized he was the only one who could truly guide his life towards the path he wanted it to follow. He wanted it to meet Anna's path, again, and for as long as their future allowed. Callen knew he didn't want her to go. He couldn't quite handle that thought, because that would most likely—well, definitely—mean that it would be it for them. He would never forgive himself if he didn't risk trying harder to make it work between them, no matter the result. Also, he wanted to make good on his promise of working things out. Together. That word triggered his thinking in a way it had never happened before. Many times, Callen was a pretty quick and smart decision-maker, a skill that the job demanded from him under extreme and pressure-filled situations, but that time it was completely different. That resolution he was about to make (or hold back) was not and never would be like all those ordinary work decisions he had to take, over the years. Instead, he was practically deciding his whole future. His mind seemed to be spinning around like crazy and a couple of seconds felt like minutes, eternity even. When his very short trance ended, Callen got back to his senses and saw that Anna was still on her path to leave but hadn't done so, yet. In what could be described as a sudden but wanted reaction, Callen didn't let her go that far.