Callen and Sam look into the room that is currently housing their injured teammate who currently believes he is eleven years old. They both wonder how did things get so screwed up in such a short period of time.

"What's going to happen now?" Callen asked Dr. Casey.

"Due to the severity of his concussion, we are going to keep him here overnight for observation. If he does well we can release him tomorrow, that is if he has someone to watch him. He may not actually be eleven but as long as he thinks he is, we have to treat him as one."

"Well that is not a problem. I will take him." Kip speaks up.

"Don't you have a game in Philadelphia?" Sam questions.

"Do you honestly believe I care more about that dumb game than I do about Marty?" Kip spews angrily.

"No, of course not. But what would Marty think if you miss your game because of him." Callen counters back.

Kip stops to think, his friend would hate it. Especially if he was the reason for missing the game. Kip remembers all the times that Marty didn't tell him he was hurt just so that it didn't interfere with his career.

"Your right. Marty would hate it, so what are we supposed to do? I can't take him with me, because I can't watch him. An adult who believes he is eleven because of a concussion can find trouble when left to his own defenses. Although Marty does not need any help finding trouble."

"Sam and I can watch him as well." Callen offers.

"Fine, but just do it at my place. I will feel a lot more at ease if I know he is there, besides he already has a room there." Kip agrees.

Callen sends Sam home to his wife and daughter. Marty is spending the night in the hospital and he is not needed here. Kip and Callen take a seat in Marty's room, watching him sleep. As a basketball player, Kip is used to sleeping anywhere and Callen doesn't sleep he just cat naps.

"Does your team know about Marty?" Callen asks suddenly.

"They know him and they know he is my best friend. They know I was a foster child, but they don't that Marty was too." Kip answers.

Callen was somewhat confused by that answer. But then again he never suspected that Marty had been in foster care. He never even knew that Marty was abused. It makes him wonder just how much Kensi knows about Marty's past. He is pretty sure Hetty knows as Hetty seems to know everything.

"Why did you pass him off as your best friend and not your foster brother, or even your brother?" Callen wonders.

"Marty doesn't like people knowing he was in foster care. For him to admit that would be like opening up Pandora's box and nothing good ever comes out of opening that particular box. So when he decided to keep his past a secret, I had no choice but to go along with it." Kip explains.

Callen nods, he knows a little something about Pandora's box himself. However, if opening the box gave him the answers he so desperately seek, he would do it in a heartbeat.

"Did you know that Marty reason I got into basketball." Kip brings up.

Callen waits for him to continue.

"My parents died in a car accident while I was school one day. I went to school that morning and the next thing I knew they were gone. I almost got into a bad crowd, a gang. Marty is the reason I didn't. He saw me with them and confronted me.

Flashback

Marty walks into Kip's room.

"Why are you hanging out with them. They are bad news and the only thing that is going to happen is that they will get you in trouble."

Kip turns around to see Marty standing there glaring at him.

"Just stay out of it, you don't know anything about it."

"I get that your angry that you are here. But getting involved with a gang is asking for trouble. You need to find something to pour your anger into that isn't going to wreck the rest of your life." Marty counters.

Kip shakes his head. "What do you propose that something is?"

"It is your life. You figure it out." Marty says as he leaves to go back to his room.

Flashback ends

"Marty then went back to his room and crawled into a ball as he usually did. The next day at school we started playing basketball. When I held the ball in my hands, it all made sense." Kip said as he finished telling the story to Callen.

"When did he get over his PTSD?" Callen asks.

Kip thinks about it. After Marty's last name changed. He appeared to be getting better, but maybe he just became better at hiding it.

"To tell you the truth, I don't think he ever did. Maybe he just got better at hiding it, but it was always there, just under the surface."

Callen doesn't know what else he should say so he just nods. One thing they all know for sure is that they got their work cut out for them. They want him to beat the PTSD this time, not allow it to remain under the surface.

Sam walks into his house and is greeted by Michelle. Karman who had been doing her homework at the kitchen table gets up to throw her arms around her dad. Sam just stood there taking in the scene, a scene Marty never knew. He knew that Callen never had it either, that Callen's past is out there somewhere and he will never give up looking. Funny, Callen is looking for his past while Marty seems to be running from his. Michelle notices that he never budge from the door, she sends Karman back to the table.

"Sam, are you alright?" Michelle asks.

Sam just shakes his head, indicating they will talk later.

Sam takes his time putting Karman to bed, embracing the situation and the love he has for his daughter. Knowing someone who grew up in an abusive home, makes him appreciate his children that much more. By the time he went into his bedroom, he had silent tears falling down his face.

Michelle knows that something has been bothering Sam since he came home. Seeing the look on his face as he enters the bedroom makes her fear for the worst. She comforts him until he can tell her what is going on.

Sam doesn't even know where to begin, so he decides to start with something light. "I met Kip Brigham today."

Michelle knows who he is but is unsure what he has to do with why her husband so upset.

"Okay."

"Turns out he is Marty's foster brother." Sam continues.

Michelle wasn't expecting that. She didn't know Marty was even in foster care. Actually she doesn't really know Marty at all.

"There was an explosion today at a suspects' house. The force of the explosion caused Marty to crack his head open when he hit the ground." Sam begins.

"Is he okay?" Michelle interrupts.

"Okay is a very loose term for this situation. Marty has a concussion and believes he is eleven years old. What is worse is that this eleven year old has PTSD."

Michelle says nothing but feels for him. Something horrible had to happen to him or he saw something horrible happen in order for a child to develop PTSD.

"What happened to him?" Michelle whispers.

"From what Kip told us, Marty's father abused him and his mother for who knows how long. At just eleven years old, when he was faced with an abusive alcoholic monster with a shotgun, Marty felt that he had no choice but to shoot him. His father lived as it was only a flesh wound and he went to prison. Marty's mother died though from the injuries she suffered that night." Sam finished explaining, his voice cracking as he told the story.

"Poor Marty, so what is going to happen now?"

"He is still in the hospital for observation. If all goes well, he will be released into Callen and my care as well as Kips. Marty will be going to Kip's house and we will take it from there. Marty maybe an adult but his mind has gone back to the time following the incident where he shot his father." Sam explains.

"You do what you have to do to get him better. Karman and I will be okay, and maybe we can even help a bit as well." Michelle offers.

Sam nods and gets ready for bed. He know that he better try to get a goodnight sleep because tomorrow is going to be a long day.