"Good morning. Good that you are all here," Hetty said as she walked in the bullpen. "I'd like you to meet Marisa Mathews, she's our new intern. I expect you all to make her feel home and to show her the ropes," Hetty said and went back to her office.

"Welcome to NCIS, I'm Callen," Callen said as he shook her hand. "This is Special Agent Kensi Blye and Special Agent Sam Hanna. And this is our LAPD liaison Detective Marty Deeks."

"Hi, nice to meet all of you. I'm looking forward to be working with you all," Marisa said after she shook the agent's hands.

Then Eric whistled. "New case guys."

"That is our tech operator, Eric Beale," Kensi said as they walked up the stairs.

"What have you got Eric?" Callen said.

Eric explained the case to them.

"Mr. Callen, take Ms. Mathews with you to the crime scene," Hetty said before they left.

"Alright, let's go Marisa," Callen said and Marisa went with them to the crime scene.

15 minutes later they arrived at the crime scene.

"Whoa, it's looks like a bomb went off in here," Marisa said as she saw the crime scene.

"You okay?" Callen asked.

"Yeah I'm fine."

The walls were covered with blood and there was glass all over the floor and the furniture was out of place and broken down in pieces which were scattered across the floor.

"What's your first assessment Marisa?" Callen asked.

"Looks like there was a struggle in here, someone or something was thrown through the front window. By the look of the blood spatter I'd say he got hit in the artery in his neck and when he was down on the ground he got hit multiple times losing more blood, but there's something odd about this blood pool, there's a void in the blood pool. Like someone or something was in it while he bled out."

She looked at Callen and Sam. They looked at her with a shocked look on their faces.

"I took a course in crime scene analysis," Marisa said as she saw their faces.

"Impressive. What do you think made the void?" Callen said.

"It's too big to be a footprint or a knee or something. My guess is that it's some sort of briefcase or box and I think whatever it was, his killer now has it."

"He was a navy engineer. Could be that his technology is now in the hands of terrorists," Sam said.

"This is officially a case for NCIS now. I'll go tell LAPD were taking over," Callen said.

After that they returned back to OPS to see if Eric had any more information.

"Have you got anything Eric?" Callen asked.

"I looked for cameras in the area and I found this one," Eric said as he put the footage on the screen.

The footage was from a camera across the street. They saw a struggle happening in the house and a mystery man leaving about 5 minutes afterwards with a briefcase in his hands.

"I've got facial recognition looking for the guy and kaleidoscope is looking for his car. Let you know if we got a hit," Eric said.

"Good work Eric," Callen said and the agents went downstairs.

Kensi and Deeks were in the bullpen. The other agents joined them.

"So Marisa, what made you become a federal agent?" Kensi asked.

"Ever since I was a little girl I've been interested in this sort of work. I was always watching crime shows and such and I've been studying martial arts since the age of 8. So when I went to college I started looking into the studies I could do to become a cop or an agent of some sort and I came out with federal agent academy and for my 2nd internship I applied for NCIS and they send me here," Marisa said.

"Why NCIS?" Callen asked.

"I always felt close to the navy. My grandfather used to serve with the marines."

"Where did you do your first internship?" Sam asked.

"DEA."

Eric came running down the stairs.

"Guys, I found our mystery man. His name is Alex Gutarov. He's a Russian national. He landed on LAX yesterday. His car was spotted near a warehouse in west LA, address is on your phones," Eric said.

"Good work Eric. Let's go," Callen said.

They team left for the warehouse. When they arrived the car was still there. They stayed inside the car on stakeout. Callen, Sam and Marisa at the east side of the building and Kensi and Deeks on the west side of the building. They watched the building for a couple of hours. Finally they saw some movement.

"Kensi, some guys are coming out. We're gonna follow them. You and Deeks stay on lookout here. Don't know if there are more inside," Callen said through the com.

"Will do," Kensi replied.

Sam, Callen and Marisa followed Gutarov and 2 other guys to another warehouse. They stayed at a safe distance. They saw them unloading some stuff from the van. It looked like technical stuff.

"Looks like they have the designs Captain Logan was working on," Marisa said.

"When can't let them build that thing," Callen said. "We've gotta move in now. Marisa, stay behind me and Sam and follow my lead, okay." Marisa nodded.

Callen, Sam and Marisa got out of the car and moved closer to the building. They discussed how they would proceed. They moved in, guns drawn. Sam kicked in the door and in moved in followed by Callen and Marisa. 2 guys turned around to them and drew their weapon. Callen and Sam shot them before they could pull the trigger. Gutarov made a run for it. Marisa went after him.

"Marisa! No! Wait!" Callen said and he ran after her.

"Eric, got a license plate for you: 5 – Charlie – Stanley – Baker – 8 – 7 – 3," Marisa said through the com.

"Already checking," Eric replied.

"Damn, Gutarov got away. Eric's running the plate," Marisa said as she walked back to Sam and Callen.

"I told you to stay behind me," Callen said.

"I was just following my instincts when I saw him running."

"This is only your first day. You shouldn't be chasing bad guys on your own like that. We can't protect you when you go off on your own like that."

"Fine."

"These guys are dead," Sam said. "Eric, send a team this way to collect the stuff Gutarov brought it. He was gonna use it to make Captain Logan's design."

"Will do."

15 minutes later the team arrived at the scene. Callen, Sam and Marisa went back to OPS. Marisa sat at her desk, she wasn't happy with the fact she let Gutarov get away.

"Don't beat yourself up, Marisa," Kensi said.

"I'm just upset that I let Gutarov get away," Marisa said.

"These things happen. It happens to us sometimes too. But we usually get them in the end."

As Kensi had said that, Eric came down the stairs.

"I found Gutarov. Send the address to your phones," Eric said.

"Good work Eric," Callen said.

The team went to the armory to gear up and they left. They arrived at the address. It was an old abandoned building. They went inside. Kensi and Deeks took one side on the building and Callen, Sam and Marisa the other side. Callen, Sam and Marisa each took an entrance way to the room. Nobody was in the room, but someone had appeared behind Marisa. He grabbed Marisa from behind and held a gun to her head. She dropped her gun. Callen and Sam turned around and saw Gutarov holding Marisa.

"Drop your guns or I will shoot her," Gutarov said.

Callen and Sam kept their guns pointed at Gutarov.

"Let her go Gutarov!" Callen demanded.

Gutarov started moving towards the exit. He dragged Marisa with him. Callen and Sam couldn't get a shot off. Deeks and Kensi were on the other side of the building, so they were too far away to help. Gutarov dragged Marisa into his car and shot at Callen and Sam before getting in his car and taking off with his gun pointed at Marisa.

"Don't try anything stupid," Gutarov said.

Gutarov sat in the back of the car with Marisa, another person was driving the car.

"Eric, track down a license plate, 5 – Charlie – Stanley – Baker – 8 – 7 – 3. Gutarov got away with Marisa," Callen said on the phone.

"Already checking," Eric said.

"Damn it."

"What's going on Mr. Beale?" Hetty said as the entered the OPS center.

"Gutarov got away and he took Marisa with him."

"Find her, Mr. Beale."

"Already on it."

The team returned to the office.

"Mr. Callen, a moment please," Hetty said as the agents walked in the office. Callen walked to Hetty's office. "What happened out there Mr. Callen?"

"Don't know. We were checking the building and all of a sudden Gutarov comes out of nowhere and grabs Marisa. We didn't have a clear shot at him."

"Find her, Mr. Callen. She's just an intern and it's just her first day here. She's not ready to be in situations like this."

Callen nodded and left the office to see if Eric got any news for them.

Gutarov took Marisa to a house in Culver City and chained her up to a chair.

"What do you want from me? If you want to kill just get it over with already," Marisa said.

"I don't wanna kill you. I'm keeping you here so the others come to rescue you so I can kill you all," Gutarov said.

"What makes you think you can kill us all?"

"Cus they will do anything to get you back and that makes them vulnerable."

"You wished."

"Well we see about that."

Gutarov turned his back and went to talk to his buddy. Marisa grabbed a bobby pin from under her watch and started picking the lock on her cuffs.

A few minutes later Eric had found where Gutarov had taken Marisa and the team gathered their guns and vests and went to get Marisa back.

Marisa had managed the open the lock of her handcuffs. She didn't have her gun with her any more so she couldn't use that to blast her way out. She waited for the right moment to strike. Gutarov came back to talk to her.

"Looks like your fellow agents aren't coming to rescue you," Gutarov said.

"Who said I need them to?" Marisa said and she got up from the chair and punched Gutarov down. His buddy came in to help him. He grabbed Marisa from behind but Marisa gave him an elbow in the face and in his stomach and grabbed his gun in the process.

She pointed her gun at the two who were down on the floor.

"Get against the wall," Marisa said.

They moved against the wall and at that moment the other agents came storming in the building. They saw Marisa standing there with a gun in her hand and the two guys on the floor. Marisa looked at them.

"Glad you guys decided to join the party," Marisa said with a little smile on her face.

Sam chuckled as he heard Marisa say that. Marisa reminded him a bit of how Callen was when they first started working together. She was probably just as stubborn as he was, plus she was young, inexperienced and eager to prove herself.

"Don't get cocky after just one day. You okay?" Callen asked.

"Yeah I'm fine."

They took Gutarov and his buddy into custody and returned to the office.

"Are you okay Ms. Mathews?" Hetty asked.

"I'm fine, they didn't hurt me," Marisa said.

"She didn't even need us, she had managed to get out on her own," Callen said.

"Well done Ms. Mathews. Now I suggest you all go home and get some rest," Hetty said and she walked away.

"Anyone wanna go grab a burger and a beer?" Marisa said. "I'm buying."

"I'm in," Kensi and Deeks said.

"How about you guys?"

"Sorry can't, got plans," Sam said.

"What about you Callen?"

"Sure sounds good," Callen said and they grabbed their stuff and they went to the diner were they enjoyed a nice evening.

"So how did you manage to get them on the floor pointing his gun at them?" Callen said.

"I had a bobby pin under my watch and I used that to pick the lock and then I just waited for the right time to strike," Marisa said.

"Smart girl. Impressive on your first day. Weren't you scared?" Kensi said.

"Nah not that much. We did these kind of things at the academy too, expect then it were my class mates who were the bad guys."

"I think you're gonna fit in perfectly with us."

"Thanks, I hope so. You all seem very friendly."

The rest of the team already had gone home, only Kensi and Marisa were still at the dinner.

"So how did you enjoy your first day?" Kensi said.

"It was exiting. I don't think I'll ever have a dull or quiet moment here," Marisa said.

"Yeah, usually not no. May I ask you something? It's a bit personal though."

"Sure."

"Mathews is an American name but you look a bit Hispanic to me."

"Well Mathews isn't my real last name. I'm adopted. My mother was Mexican-American."

"Ah okay. Do you know who your real mother is?"

"Yes, I know her name but I never met her. I tried to look for her but she died shortly after I was born."

"Ow I'm sorry. What about your father?"

"I don't know who my father is."

"Oh, have you ever tried to find him?"

"Yeah I did but I can't find who he is. But it's okay I have two very wonderful adoptive parents who I love like if they were my real parents. Besides I don't know any better. They adopted me when I was just 6 months old."

Marisa continued to work with the NCIS team. It was already 2 months ago since Marisa joined NCIS. She was really a part of the family at NCIS. The other agents were amazed by the skills she had. She really was a useful asset to the team, even though she was just an intern.

She had asked Callen to help her with her gun practice. She did had a lot of practice at the academy and she also got her gun license their already. But being out in the field was just slightly different.

"Try to shift your weight more to your front foot, your balance isn't right," Callen said and he stood behind her and guided her in the right position. "Now focus on the target and aim for the center mass."

Marisa followed Callen's instructions and emptied her magazine on the target.

"Very nice," Callen said. "You're getting better."

"Well, I have a good teacher. Thank you for helping me."

"Anytime. You really proved yourself. You're very good for an intern."

"Thank you. That means a lot to me. I was pretty good at the academy but being out in the field is just a tad different."

"Yeah it is. Real bad guys here. But I'm sure if you keep up like this you'll get an excellent review for this internship."

….

Whenever Marisa had time off she would search for more information on her mother and maybe she could find her father. That Friday night see joined her parents for a nice dinner.

"So, how's your internship going?" Marisa's mother Laura asked.

"It's nice. Everybody is really friendly. I like it there," Marisa said.

"That's really good. I'm glad that you came tonight, cus there is something we've been meaning to give you," Laura said and she went to grab a box and gave it to Marisa. "This was giving to us by the orphanage when we adopted you. Your mother gave it to them and she said to give it to your new parents. We don't know what's in it, just that your mother wanted us to give it to you when you were 21."

"Thank you. Would it be okay if I opened it later when I'm at home?"

"Sure, open it when you're ready."

Later that evening Marisa was sitting in her dorm room staring at the box that was on her desk. She wondered if she should open it. She did want to know what her mom had put in it but what if she wasn't going to like the information that was in it.

With some hesitation she grabbed the box and put it in front of her on the bed. Carefully she opened the lock and opened the box. The first thing she saw were some pictures of her mom. She looked absolutely beautiful. There was a letter on top. On the envelop it said "Marisa, my beautiful daughter. Read this first."

Marisa grabbed the envelope and opened it and read the letter:

Marisa,

When you're reading this I probably will not be around anymore. I really wanted to keep you, but I had no other choice but to give you up. It would not have been safe for you if I kept you. I really hope that you found a wonderful family who loves you.

You must have a lot of question about where you come from and who your real parents are. I saved some things for you and put it in this box. Hope that this gives you enough answers. I'm really sorry I wasn't there to see you grow up. You must be a beautiful grown up woman by now. I hope you are well and that you have family and friends who love you.

I wish I could tell you more than what's in this box. Maybe with this information you can find out more if you want to.

Be safe my wonderful daughter. I will always love you.

Love,

Mom.

Tears had appeared in Marisa's eyes when she read this. She grabbed some stuff out of the box and looked at it. The first things were about her mother. She used to be an FBI agent. Then Marisa picked up an envelope. She hesitated a little bit before opening the envelope. She pulled out the papers that were in there. She read what was on the papers and there was a picture attached to it. Marisa could not believe her eyes.