Project 'C'.

Chapter 2

Callen sat there for a moment in shock; they knew Amy...then the most important part filtered through, "Project? What project?" he asked.

"G, you worked for the CIA, I assumed they had activated you and read you in on Project C?" Emma said cursing herself for revealing the secret.

"I think you need to come with us…we're going to have to ask you some questions." Sam said looking over at his rapidly paling partner.

Callen stood up, "I have to talk to Hetty…" he said.

"Can't you just access the file?" Emma asked.

"Don't have a laptop with me." Callen said, "And you said it was classified?"

"But?" Emma looked confused, "They never…Oh my God!" she exclaimed, "I'm so sorry, I didn't know."

Callen strode out to the car and sat in the passenger seat as Jessie and Emma got in the back of the challenger for the ride to the boat shed.

A few times Emma tried to talk to Callen, but he stared out the window, his mind scrolling through different files looking for any mention of a Project C.

Walking into the boat shed both Hetty and Granger were waiting for them.

"Mrs. Hurst?" Hetty said and held out her hand.

"You must be Hetty Lange, my husband speaks highly of you." She said.

Hetty nodded, "This is Owen Granger, I am sorry you need to come down here, but we need more information." She said.

"Yeah like what is project C and how was I a part of it and how do you know my sister?" Callen snapped.

"Agent Callen, you are to stand down now, I will talk to Mrs. Hurst." Granger said.

Callen opened his mouth as if to argue, but the look on Hetty, Emma and Granger's faces stopped him cold.

"Fine." He said

Both Emma and Granger headed to the interrogation room.

Hetty turned to follow them, when she stopped and looked back, "Mr. Callen, you should head back to complete your paperwork…now."

Callen nodded once and turned to go leaving Sam watching the interrogations from the screen.

He didn't get far though; he turned and walked back to the edge of the room his hands resting behind Sam on the table without alerting him to his presence.

Granger sat down and Sam turned the volume up. "Mrs. Hurst, what can you tell me about Project C?" He asked.

Emma sat there, "What is your security clearance, I have already made a mistake by assuming that G had been read in or at least activated."

Granger pulled his credentials and showed her, "Do you think that this is the reason that your husband has gone missing?" he asked.

Emma nodded, "Yeah…I mean he's been on the same project from afar for thirty three years."

"Since Mr. Callen was seven yes?" Hetty asked walking into the room. "I'm Hetty Lange, Mr. Callen's boss."

"You were read in?" Emma asked.

"I am aware of Mr. Callen's ….unique abilities…yes." Hetty said as she moved to take the chair Granger had just vacated. Granger turned and looked at her.

"So you know what he is…and why my husband and myself kept him close all those years, Callen is part of a CIA experiment, I was I admit surprised when I found out he'd been allowed to leave the CIA. However, my husband was told it had been a clerical error. He stayed on as Callen's doctor, he had to…You know G can't be taken to a normal doctor Ms. Lange if they saw the implants, they'd investigate."

"I know this is why I was brought on board after he was shot, we had to have someone in place, I did meet Dr. Hurst at the hospital, and I had the CIA bring him in as soon as I received word of his shooting." Hetty said.

Granger stepped to the side of the table bringing the attention to him, "Sorry, Callen has an implant?"

Hetty's phone beeped with a message, she looked down and swore, "Bugger."

"Yes Owen, Mr. Callen has a processing chip in his head, he can connect to the internet remotely he doesn't need a computer,"

Outside Sam stared at the screen in shock and Callen stood up his eyes going wide.

"He never said?" Owen snapped.

"He never knew, that isn't our problem right now, our problem is that since Dr. Hurst is missing, the CIA has issued a kill order on Mr. Callen," Hetty said grimly.

Sam's head snapped round at an in-drawn breath behind him. He turned to see Callen stepping back from the table, turning, and bolting for the door.

"G!" Sam yelled as the door to the boat shed slammed shut.

Sam turned and moved to go to the interrogation room, as his phone rang.

"Michelle? Now isn't the time honey, is everything ok?"

"No, everything isn't ok, I've just been issued orders to kill Callen?" she said her voice shaking.

"You can't, this isn't his fault." Sam said.

"I don't know what's going on Samuel Hanna, but you sort it NOW!" his wife ordered, "I will not be responsible for killing your best friend," she slammed the phone down as Hetty and Granger walked into the room,

"Well…Damn!" he swore.

"Mr. Hanna?" Hetty asked,

Sam looked up worried, "Callen was behind me, he heard everything…and Hetty, Michelle told me that she's been assigned to take Callen out."

"Can you stall your wife?" Granger asked.

Sam smiled, "She's ordered me to sort it out before she has to shoot my daughter's uncle."

Callen ran from the building, he could not believe what he had heard; He had something in his head? Emma and Daniel, two of his favorite foster parents, two of the very few adults in his life he had trusted had lied to him!

He hailed a cab threw his phone inside, and gave the driver $50, "Drive this anywhere." He said. The man nodded and took off; Callen hailed a second cab and gave the man an address one road over from his home.

He got out and looked down the road, he could see a car parked outside his house with two men inside, he smirked and walked the other way, and he went to the empty house behind his and climbed over the fence. Slipping inside he managed to grab his bag, bedroll and the box off the mantel and slipped back out again.

He walked across the top of his street, the men in the car had not moved and he carried on away from his home. He stopped as he checked the GPS on Sam's car and on the others and watched in shock as the GPS on each car he was tracking disappeared from his vision.

He knew he needed to disappear completely, blocking his view from cameras was getting harder and harder, but, this was his town, he had grown up here, he had been homeless here a lot and he knew how to hide.

He did up his hoodie, adjusted his ball cap, and headed to Venice beach.

He pulled up for a second as he saw Hetty sat at their prearranged meeting place, he looked around and saw two people who looked out of place, and shook his head. She was selling him out; she had known and had not told him.

The one thing Callen had in huge abundance was a healthy dose of self-preservation and he knew then that everyone he trusted had turned against him, he could not trust any of them, and Sam had been heading to his house, presumably to meet up with the CIA agents. He had 'seen' the kill order that the CIA had sent out and then to see Hetty, the woman who he had trusted sitting in their pre-arranged meeting spot while being tailed by other agents sealed the deal, he was alone again.