“I’ll meet you downstairs. Give me five,” he said.
Ethan knew where his partner was going, so he headed down in the elevator with the detective, and Gene went across the hall.
When he knocked, it didn’t take long for the man to come to the door to open it up.
Oh, and he looked like hell warmed over.
Yeah, been there.
Done that with Jack before.
He knew the look of mistakes, regrets, and a hangover when he saw one.
“Hey,” he said. “Can I come in?” he asked, seeing that the man likely didn’t expect him to be at his door.
Instead of speaking, Callen nodded and backed up.
He.
Was.
Miserable.
Callen had puked about five times overnight, and he felt like he needed to crawl into a hole and die.
His head hurt.
BIG-TIME.
“Well, someone learned a valuable lesson about Jack and free will,” he said, following the man into the room.
Oh, Callen and Jack had a long history. All the Blackhawks had that same history, unfortunately. It ended in regrets, bad choices, and a slew of consequences.
“I feel like shit.”
Oh, well, it was likely going to get far worse before it got better, starting with information.
“Well, your grandfather called.”
Callen sighed.
Here it came.
Those damn consequences.
“Does he know about Kaya?” he asked. “Because I don’t want to hear him bitching. I feel like ass.”
Gene nodded.
“Yep. He knows, and he wasNOTamused, my dude. What the hell were you thinking?” he asked, knowing exactly what he was thinking.
Or what he was thinking with, and it wasn’t his upper brain. That was for sure.
“When I hate myself, I make dumb choices. She’s the best way to hurt myself, other than the Jack or eating my gun.”
Well, he understood that. Before Ethan, he’d felt hopeless and like he had no choice but to be alone and sad. Hopefully, it would work out for the man.
“Where’s Ethan?” he asked.
