Mikhail watched with a heavy heart as his brother was taken away, then he looked over to his nephew.

"Callen, you do not have to stay here with these mortals. You may join the Clan, we have need of your skills." He offered.

Callen took a step towards Kensi and Deeks, not really wanting to stay with Mikhail, as he had never been there for him in the past, but only seemed to want him now because he was useful, then he saw Deeks move as if to protect Kensi from him, and he stopped.

"It's your decision." Callen said, turning to Deeks and Kensi, "Can you work with me, knowing what I am?"

Sam glared at the two junior agents as Deeks took a step forward to protect his wife.

"Can I trust you?" He asked, "Is there absolutely no way you'll ever hurt my wife or child?"

"None at all." Callen replied honestly, "I would kill myself first."

"I wish I could believe it." Deeks said under his breath, not realizing that Callen could still hear him.

"I would never hurt any of you." Callen said, his voice cracking slightly.

"What if you get hungry?" Kensi asked, worried for her unborn child.

Callen took a step away and turned from them, "I'm always hungry, I haven't killed anyone…not since…" He looked out over the skyline that he could see from the window in front of him. He had never wanted to revisit that part of his life and never had he intended to share it with anyone.

"But you have killed?" Deeks asked.

Callen turned back to look at the detective, the man he had considered a friend.

"Once, I did a bad thing for the right reasons, can you tell me you have never done anything like that?" He asked.

Deeks gulped and looked guilty, he had done something exactly like that…Boyle…he had killed him for the greater good.

"I have." Deeks answered honestly, "But I was never addicted, the blood thing…it's like an addiction…right?"

Callen shrugged and sighed, he supposed it was a bit like an addiction, but it was also needed to sustain his life, like food and water. It was not exactly something he could give up and avoid if he wanted to live.

"Not quite Mr. Deeks." Hetty said, interjecting on Callen's quiet musing. "Mr Callen needs a regular supply of blood, the same as you need to buy food to eat. Like you he goes to a store and buys his blood. Most of his intake is animal blood, although it does not have the same nutritional value as human blood, it just about sustains his life. It would be like you existing entirely on Protein Shakes for your survival forever." She explained.

"Damn, that's harsh." Deeks replied, and smiled apologetically over at Callen.

Callen shrugged, even he had never thought of it that way. It was just something he had to do.

It was Kensi who stood then and walked up to the group, one hand subconsciously over her stomach where her little one was growing. "So pig's blood or cow or what?" she asked.

"Never pig, I have to share a car with Sam, I wouldn't do that to him." Callen admitted.

"You drink it in the car with Sam?!" Kensi gasped, "You knew?!" She exclaimed turning to Sam.

Sam nodded, "I have since he was shot. It hasn't changed our friendship and I trust him with my family. Hell, vampire or not, he is my family and l am proud to call him brother."

Callen smiled, as did Mikhail and a few others in the room.

Mikhail made a small gesture and Hetty walked over to him as he whispered a question at her.

She looked over at the team. "I think…yes." she replied to the Elder Clan Leader.

"Yes?" Callen asked having heard the question.

Hetty smiled, "Yes Mr. Callen."

"Yes what?" The others asked in chorus.

Hetty straightened her top as she turned to the team. "The Clan have been looking for a team, one that was not made up entirely from Clan members, but was a mixture of Vampires and Humans, to work in harmony and keep the peace between our two cultures. It had been a test when we accepted Mr. Callen as a hybrid back into the clan. I am afraid as we had told you hybrids do not easily work with others of their own kind and we were not sure about how Mr. Callen would…integrate." She murmured an apology under her breath so low that only The Clan and Callen caught it.

He nodded and she continued.

"As I found each of you for this team, I was looking to build something greater, something more steadfast. I think now, we may have found it, a group of people able to liaise between the Clans and Humans and have the respect of both."

While Hetty had been talking, Callen had moved over to Mikhail and quietly asked him something. Mikhail had for a moment looked sad and nodded, then he turned his attention back to what Hetty was saying and he interjected.

"You will answer to me, you will have clearance above the level of the directors of every agency and those directors will answer to you." Mikhail told them and Deeks grinned at that.

"However, that power is only to be used in a time of great crisis. Until then you will work as regular NCIS Agents, but with a few extra weapons and training which I am sure Mr. Callen will be happy to provide." Hetty told them.

Callen nodded dumbly, he was unsure how he would be able to teach them to prepare themselves against a full Vampire, but it would be good if they had something in their arsenal to protect themselves, if they had to come up against someone like him, or God forbid, him.

The team looked at each other, Sam was smiling; this was a good thing. Deeks and Kensi still had a small amount of doubt each, but trust in their team leader won through and they both nodded in agreement and Hetty stood proudly looking at her team.

"Mikhail, it looks like they are in agreement. I would suggest we take a few months to train them, and then you may see how they have fared."

Mikhail turned to his nephew, "Is this what you want?" He asked again.

"They are my team, my family." Callen admitted, "They know about me, about all this now. They need to be taught to defend themselves. We can do this." He reiterated.

Mikhail nodded in agreement, "It is settled."

He stood, and both Callen and Hetty gave a short bow in deference to him and watched as the entire entourage left the building.

Callen turned to find Deeks gently holding Kensi, whispering in her ear. He smiled as he listened to the words of love and reassurance from the detective to his wife concerning both her and their unborn child. Then, turning his attention to Sam he nodded and his partner crossed the room.

"Do you think this is going to work?" Sam asked quietly.

"I hope so Sam." Callen replied honestly. "I'm not sure how it will affect us in the long run, but at least they haven't chased me down with pitchforks." Callen gave a small grin.

Deeks smiled mischievously as he overheard that. "Pitchforks? Do we get to chase you around the boatshed with them." He laughed.

In less than a blink of an eye Callen had shifted from his spot on the other end of the room, to standing directly behind Deeks and gently lay a hand on his shoulder.

Deeks yelped and Callen laughed, "Only if you can catch me Deeks." he replied.

Kensi smiled at the interplay between them.

"This might be fun." She remarked.

"No training for you till the baby is born." Callen insisted, "You can watch but that's it."

Kensi pouted and opened her mouth to protest only to see her husband, Sam and Callen all standing side by side in agreement.

She closed her mouth and looked down at her still flat stomach, "You had better hurry up and get here baby, your daddy and your uncles are going to gang up on me till you do."

All three men smiled, Callen's the widest of all. They had accepted him. Training was going to be fun and life would be different from now on, but he had a team and his family.