#reader x callen

It worked for a while, until he stopped kissing your neck and collarbone and moved back to your lips; it should've helped you concentrate more, but it didn't and you started to worry again. Callen always told you that he loved you no matter what but knowing who Callen's exes were, it was hard to believe that you were what he wanted. You weren't as thin or pretty as Joelle or Anna and you just tried to tell yourself that it was he who asked you on a date.

His hand moved up behind your back and he slowly took down the zip that kept the dress to your body. Apart of you wanted to run, to not let him see more of what he could already, but you stayed, and fought through the anxiety that started to build inside of you as he slowly started to release you from your clothing.

As Callen's hand went inside your dress, you felt it run around to your stomach and that made you squirm, backing further into the wall. Just knowing that he could feel parts of you that weren't what you would call ideal sent your self esteem to rock bottom. Callen stopped, noticing your reluctance. “Everything okay?” he asked, lifting up your head by your chin.

“Yeah, I think.” was your reply and you wrapped your arms around yourself.

Callen's head tilted sympathetically and he looked down as you continued to tighten your upper limbs around your waist, clinging to the dress that still hadn't been removed. “Why are you embarrassed? You’re beautiful, don’t you see that?”

He forced your hands away and you wrapped them around his neck and his settled on your hips. “I'm not beautiful, Callen. How can anyone find this beautiful or sexy?” you shot back sadly. You felt your eyes sting with the tears brewing, and the special agent watched as your eyes started to shine and a tear fall from your eye, rolling down your cheek.

The tear rolled past your nose and G wiped it away with his finger, “I do.” he responded after a beat of silence and he moved his arms to bring you close for a hug. “You're beautiful to me, no matter what.”

He looked around, his house wasn’t filled with a lot of furniture and that’s the way he liked it. On the mantelpiece, Callen noticed a framed photo of the two of you, and takes it of the shelf. Looking at the photo made his eyes glisten with tears, it frustrated him that he didn’t know where you were, that he wasn’t one step ahead of Janvier. Tears slowly began to roll down his cheek as he looked at the picture, he couldn’t help but think about what you were going through and he wondered about every minute you were spending with him. Whether he was hurting you, and if he was, how. Or what he was doing to you. He had to stop thinking about that, he had to focus on finding you and he had to keep his emotions out of it, for now. His moment of deep thought was cut short by his mobile phone ringing, he hoped it wasn’t any of the team, he couldn’t face them right now. He answered the phone, not even paying attention the caller ID.

Heavy breathing comes down the phone, “So we speak again, Agent G Callen.” Janvier says. Callen felt the anger just by hearing his voice. “I have something you probably want back. Am I right?”

“You better not have hurt them, Janvier. Where are you?”

A low chuckle came over the phone, “You think I’m going to make it easy for you?”

Callen bowed his head, he just wanted to find you. He knew Janvier wouldn’t make it easy, but he could barely stand it any more. “Tell me where you are!” he yells followed by Janvier chuckling again, which riled Callen up more. “You want me, you can have me.”

Janvier didn’t answer, he almost didn’t know what he wanted any more; to make Callen suffer? To make you suffer? “That would be too easy, Agent G Callen. You’ll have to find me first.”

“How am I supposed to do that? You haven’t given us much to work with here.”

“I have left clues. You’re just going to have to start looking for them.”

Callen huffed and rubbed his eyes and sighed, “Okay, where do I start?” he asks, expecting a miracle just by even asking Janvier. Another low chortle came over the phone, “Well, let me at least speak to them, let me know they’re –.” the phone shut off before Callen had the chance to finish the sentence and he sighed once again.

Looking around his house, he now knew that there must be something around that had some kind of clue to where you were. He started searching top to bottom for any hints; he’d turn his whole house upside down if he needed to.

Still tied to the chair, Janvier walked around the room. You could faintly hear Callen’s voice at the other end of the phone when he was talking to Janvier, and it briefly gave you something to smile about. As the time started to go down, you started to feel a lot more on edge. It seemed time was either going down too slowly or too quickly, and both of which made you feel more uncomfortable and worried.

You sat and hoped that Janvier would’ve let you talk to Callen, even if it was just one word. You wanted him to know you were still alive, and you wanted to hear his voice, more than anything. With your face still throbbing from the hits that Janvier’s minion kept striking you and they kept coming; every hour, on the hour. Looking back at the time that still presented itself, 13:32:59.

Watching the time tick away became much more unnerving, especially with almost half the time gone. Janvier pacing the room wasn’t helping. You just wished the team were making progress but considering he had to give Callen a push in the right direction, you didn’t hold out much hope for the rest to the team to be any closer even with any extra information.

Deeks paced the bullpen; this wasn’t his first time dealing with a case involving one of his own colleagues but he couldn’t sit still. Sam’s eyes lifted from his desk, as Deeks wandered past again, “Do you have to keep doing that? Haven’t you got something to be working on?” he snapped. Deeks stopped in his walk and looked at Kensi briefly before turning back to Sam, with his eyes like a puppy who had just been scolded by it’s owner.

“I can’t just sit still knowing that the Chameleon has [Y/N]. Why can’t anybody find anything?”

“Because Janvier is good and he likes to play games.” Kensi replied as she looks through papers on her desk, checking anything that might help with finding you.

“Yeah, specifically with Callen. ” Sam put in.

“We think we might have something.” Nell called as both she and Eric rushed down the stairs. The rest of the team immediately congregated around the plasma television, “We’ve analysed every single frame of the video that Janvier sent us.” Nell began.

“We couldn’t trace the video so we tried to work out where Janvier might have [Y/N].” Eric continued. Hetty and Granger saw the discussion and joined them. “Using our expert Sherlock Holmes skills, we think we’ve narrowed it down to some kind of basement; in a house maybe.”

Sam didn’t look too impressed, it wasn’t the time for assumptions. “You think, Eric?”

Eric didn’t reply, he understood Sam’s irritability, “There’s more. Nell.” he directed the team’s attention to his glamorous assistant.

Nell used her tablet to bring up information on the plasma, “We looked at houses that was either brought leading to or after Janvier’s escape from prison. We didn’t find anything.” Sam’s eyes rolled, “But we then checked minor logged police reports of suspicious activity around empty houses. And this is where the possible something could be helpful. Okay, a neighbour to a house spotted someone trying to break in, the night after Janvier escaped. LAPD checked it out but there was nothing. Eric called the neighbour and she reported someone canvassing the area earlier that day.”

“That doesn’t prove anything.” Kensi replied.

Eric smirked ever so slightly, “Maybe this will.” Eric tapped his screen and brought up CCTV footage from the same house the following day, “This was taken from a nearby camera the day after the report.”

The team look on, “Janvier.” Deeks confirms.

“It gets better. We traced his route back to another house. Which also has a basement.” Nell informs them.

“So he’s likely got [Y/N] in one of them?” Granger wonders. Sam, Kensi and Deeks rush back to their desks, getting their things together. “Where do you think you’re going?”

“We’re gonna find Callen. Then we’re gonna find [Y/N].” Sam declares, shoving his gun between the waist on his jeans and the small of his back.

“No, not yet.” Granger orders them. The team all look at each other, they couldn’t quite believe that Granger was stopping them from searching leads.

Callen had almost turned his entire house into a bombsite for Janvier’s so-called clue. He began to thing think he didn’t leave one at all. It was going into the late evening and it was horrible for him to know you’d be spending the night, kidnapped in the hands of someone like Janvier. He needed to find you.

He slumped on the arm chair in the corner of the living room and reached up to the mantelpiece to grab the photo of you from the surface. The lights from the outside lit up little of the dark room, though the light was artistically shining on your face on the photo Callen held. The tears began to form in his eyes, and for once, he allowed himself to let them fall. He was angry, angry that he allowed this to happen. He starts to wonder why he didn’t kill Janvier like he should’ve done, not shooting him for real when he had the chance is now a huge regret to him. He needed a drink.

Placing the photo back, he made his way to his fridge, but before he got there, something caught his attention. He walked back a few steps and moved forward. Repeating the motion a few more times, Callen noticed a floorboard that had suddenly became much looser than before. He knew he needed to investigate, maybe it was nothing, but it definitely had been tampered with. He soon found a tool and hoisted the loose floorboard up to form a hole in his floor, a hole that he could fit his hand through. If there was anything under the floorboard, Janvier made it hard to find; not as hard in the end when Callen managed to grab hold of something and pull it out. Looking down at what he had found, he knew it must’ve been Janvier’s clue; a photo of a house. The problem was, is that he had no idea what to do with it, except from calling it in to NCIS and he knew Eric wouldn’t keep contact a secret, but it was the best option he had to finding you quickly.

He took out his phone and the screen showed the countdown of the time, 12:04:00. Half of the time was now gone, and only 12 hours remained until Janvier’s demands still were to be met. Not only did he want Callen, there was still the money that needed to be taken care of. Callen took a photo of the house and sent it to Eric.

The team felt that they were sitting ducks. They had a lead but Granger had stopped them even investigating it, and even they didn’t know why he wouldn’t let them, knowing it could be key to finding you still alive. Nothing was stopping Janvier killing you already and just running. They wanted to do something, but they couldn’t.

Eric had received Callen’s image and found the house. He rushed back down the stairs, with Nell in tow. “I have something.” Eric revealed causing the team to repeat what they went through earlier, Kensi almost felt like she was experiencing deja-vu. “Janvier left a clue at Callen’s house. It took him a while to find it but this photo was under one of the floorboards.”

“It’s the first house you showed us.” Deeks states. “That must be it. That’s where [Y/N] must be.”

“Can we go now?” Sam asks Granger who has found his way to the gathering.

“Yes. But don’t tell Callen. I want you to deal with Janvier.” Eric looked over at Granger, worried. Granger saw Eric’s concerned face and turned to him, “What?”

“I already told Callen. I’m sorry.” Granger’s head lowered as he exhaled and murmured some kind of negativity to himself. He tried to stop Callen getting involved; but telling Callen not to get involved with this is like telling a someone not to breathe, and the only way to make that happen was to kill them, and it flashed through Granger’s head to do just that once in a while.

The team made their way to the armoury to get armed and ready to begin the rescue mission.

Whenever you tried to fall asleep, Janvier’s minion made sure he beat you back awake. The drugs had worn off and luckily you weren’t injected with any more but the tiredness was getting the better of you. You felt the blood drip from your nose, and the rest of your face throbbed. The time on the clock had gone to less than 12 hours and you prayed to yourself that somebody was coming.

You felt your eyelids closing again and another strike came across your face. Trying to stay away, you constantly looked around the room, the small window towards the top corner of the room made you realise it was dark, which was a bigger reminder than time was counting down. You tried to fixate on the window trying to see if you could make out a star or two in the sky. The attention to that was drawn away when a shadow scuttled past, you thought it was an animal of some kind but something told you it wasn’t. But maybe you were just getting ahead of yourself hoping it was one of the team.

There was a small clatter from somewhere and Janvier’s minion left the room to check it out. You were still tied to the chair and were left alone longer than Janvier would’ve likely been happier with. The door to the basement re-opened, and a welcoming familiar face showed himself with his gun still held up in front of him,“Callen?” You didn’t know whether to laugh or cry that he had found you.

You look around his living room, not that you hadn't been there before, but you noticed something was missing for this time of the year, "Wow, you really go overboard with the decorations don’t you?" you teased. You didn't expect Callen to embrace the Christmas cheer but a few decorations wouldn't go amiss; a bit of tinsel over the fireplace maybe.

“I decorated.” he replied, gesturing his head towards a small plant on top of the mantelpiece. You roll your eyes at your boyfriend, who looks back with a little smile on his face, and you could tell that he felt a little pleased with himself.

“Wow... A single bauble hung on your epiphyte. Very festive.”

“I agree. And I do actually happen to have one more decoration.” Callen holds out his hand and he pulls you towards him. Turning you around he covers your eyes and walks with you to another part of the house.

You both stop and he removes his hands from your eyes. “Wow, G, your kitchen has managed to look less Christmassy than then the rest of your house. Congratulations.” you turn around to see what he has to say for himself and his arm is high in the air. Following the length of his arm that is above you, a bunch of mistletoe is in his hand. You couldn't help but chuckle, and the smile that is plastered on his face made you love him that little bit more.

He made the effort to get some mistletoe, despite the rest of his home looking pretty bare, so you thought it was only right to give him a reward for his efforts. You go on your tiptoes slightly, you weren't that much smaller than him but enough to need to reach up, and you give him a kiss on the lips. You broke it away after a few seconds but Callen wasn't satisfied, pulling you back towards him, he gives you a more passionate kiss.

Sam smugly walks in, looking you both. He turns his attention to Callen, who has in arm in a sling, "So you’re telling me you took him on alone? Single-handedly?" Sam asks him, causing you to frown at Sam's question.

You wonder what make believe fantasies Callen's been telling Sam, but before you have the chance to answer, “It was nothing really. I've faced worse.” Callen responded nonchalantly. You shake your head in disbelief, Callen knew full well you did most of the work, you shot more than half of the guys in there. Plus, you were also the one who took down the asshole who just wouldn't die.

“Are you kidding me? You're unbelievable.”

Callen laughs, followed by a look from Sam, “What?” Callen laughs, shuffling in his seat, holding his arm that's placed in his sling.

“I think you'll find I did most of the hard work while you took the easy way out and allowed one of them to damage your arm.”

“It wasn't the easy way out. He disarmed me, grabbed my arm, fractured it, and then you shot him,” your husband reminds you as he gets up and goes to the fridge that's in the boatshed, throwing you a bottle of water with his good arm. Sam chuckles at your disagreement about how the assignment went down. “Plus, I was trying to help you.”

Callen wanders back to the seating area, eventually sitting next to you, “By sitting on your butt? Of course you were.” you teased. Taking a sip of the bottle of water Callen threw to you earlier.

“How did this happen?”

“What's that, G?” Sam chuckled amusingly.

"How is my wife more badass than me?"

Your mouth gaped open in surprise, “Wow, is that a compliment?” you wondered. “In answer to your question, I learned from the best, Callen.” You gave G a little wink.

“Okay, lovebirds, I'm just gonna leave you two to it.” Sam grins, leaving the boatshed, but not before grabbing a piece of food from the fridge and eating it as he strolls out.