Sabine was in trouble. For the life of her Sabine couldn't work out what exactly she had done that had got her into this amount of trouble and with that she didn't know what she as apologise for but she was decently in big trouble. That had to be the only possible explanation as to why Sabine was here at the Navy yard of all places. When the Director of NCIS summoned a junior agent from the LA field office all the way to his office in D.C you knew it wasn't for a simple chat over a coffee. The only reason had to be because Sabine was in enough trouble that Director Vance wanted to chew her out personally than have one of Sabine's other superiors do it. Sabine was clueless as to why she was here given that she currently wasn't working at the moment, she was seven weeks into a six month leave of absence and she had made sure she had gone through the proper channels to get her time off approved. Whatever the hell she was in trouble for, it had to be something that had happened prior to her being granted a leave of absence on compassionate grounds. The only thing that came to mind was her former parter, some new probie fresh out of the academy who had quit after only four month in the job because he couldn't hack it. But that wasn't really Sabine's fault… Whatever she had done Sabine would sure enough find out soon given that she was sitting outside the director's office waiting to be called in after flying across the country to see the director at the D.C field office. If it had been something minor then Director Vance could have chewed her ass about it over the phone of through a videoconference but this was in person. Given how serious this seemed Sabine wasn't sure whether she would be walking of this office still with her badge and a job, there was a possibility of losing her badge over whatever she had done. A suspension seemed pretty unlikely as they would have got is over and done with already but Sabine had called in to see the director whilst she was leave so this had to be bad. But whatever it was Sabine would deal with it regardless of what had happened, she told herself as she idly played with her thumbs.
"Agent Sawyer? The director will see you now."
Looking up from where she sat Sabine saw the director's personal assistant get up from behind her desk and make her way over to the double doors that lead straight to the director's office. Standing up from where she was seated Sabine took a deep breath as she got up and walked to where the director's assistant was standing before going past her and into the office. The director's office was one of the few paces in the navy yard that Sabine didn't like to spend much time in for obvious reasons, it sort of reminded her of many tribes to the principal's office back when she was in high school and getting up to no good. Remaining as clam headed and nonchalant as possible Sabine walked over to where Director Vance's desk stood and came to a stop right in front of it of it and looked over at the African American man sitting right ahead of her.
"Director Vance…"
"Thank you for coming on such short notice Agent Sawyer." Vance replied in a friendly and courteous manner, which wasn't exactly how Sabine had been expected to be greeted. She had been expecting a tenser environment and a bit of a frosty reception. Sabine dared to think that the director seemed somewhat pleased to see her which if she put much thought in that, it could possibly mean that she wasn't in any sort of trouble in the slightest. But it did beg the question as to why she was here if she wasn't in trouble. "I need you on a case Sawyer."
"Unfortunately I'm going to have to decline Director Vance, I'm not sure whether or not your aware but I'm currently on six months leave from the agency …" Sabine replied after a moment as she hadn't really expected to hear that from the director, she had been pretty convinced that she was here because she was in trouble. But it was because of a case and normally Sabine would have taken the case on with no arguments given that she was q certified workaholic. However right now there were personal matters in her life that needed to take priority hence why Sabine had requested the leave of her absence. As much as she loved her work, right now her family needed her more. But yet several weeks later Sabine was back in the office being asked to take a case, personally by the director.
"I'm well aware of your personal situation Agent Sawyer and I wouldn't have asked if this wasn't important and of the upmost importance to this agency. This case is tricky and it needs someone with a certain skill set to handle it." Director Vance stated and Sabine couldn't help but purse her lips together as she was rather intrigued about this case that the director had called her in personally to take. But she was going to have to say now, it was going to be career suicide as she was pretty much refusing a direct order for the director but right now her family came first.
"Forgive me for if this sounds out of line Director Vance but if this case is so important then why ask me? You have countless agents at your disposal and that's just just here in the navy yard so why me? I'm just a junior office at the LA field office, there are agents with more seniority and experience than me that you could have asked. But you had me come out all this way despite the fact I'm currently on leave, so I can't help but wonder what is so important that you want me to come back in to deal with?" Sabine questioned as she knew that she was missing something here and she watched as the director opened his desk drawer and pulled out a file and handed it over to Sabine who opened up the file. From first glance she could see that it was about a shooting involving some guy called Callen. The name sounded vaguely familiar but Sabine couldn't place it given how many fellow agents she had encountered during her years with NCIS.
"Three weeks ago one of our guys down at the Office of Special Projects was shot several times in what was a drive by shooting. Agent Callen was in critical condition for a while given the extent of his injuries but he's slowly improving." Vance explained as Sabine continued to flick through the file and reading the case summary and looking at the crime scene photos. At first glance it seemed like a normal drive by but the fact that it was agent who was assigned to a unit that specialised in undercover work made this whole thing suspicious. Whoever shot Callen clearly wanted him dead but the suspect list was going to be long given that the office of special projects had their fingers in a lot of pies. That's when it all clicked for Sabine and she realised how she knew Callen, or rather how she knew of him. The man was pretty much a legend, infamous for his proficiency at going undercover.
"From what I can see from the file Director, a full investigation is being conducted into the shooting of Agent Callen so how do I come into this? Surely the Office of Special Projects is conducting the investigation and I doubt they need or want any help from an outsider even from the LA office given the sensitive nature of their work." Sabine questioned as she still hadn't received any clarity as to how she was needed for a case that had occurred three weeks ago.
"I don't need you to help the investigation in the most conventional way, I want you to focus on Callen. Right now we don't know whether the people who shot him know about his current condition. They may think he's dead and the job is done but if they know that Callen is still alive then they'll try again and that's where you come in. Callen already has round the clock protection but given the nature of his work it would be difficult to provide surveillance without drawing attention to him and blowing his cover when he leaves the hospital. Which is where you come in Agent Sawyer. You are to provide both surveillance and countersurvellience for Agent Callen. I want you to keep an eye on him and make sure that he isn't being watched by anyone. Callen worked with a few other agencies before he joined NCIS and so there is a lot of people who could want him dead and they will try again if they think he is alive and I. will not have that happen. I will not have one of my agents being hunted down like this" Director Vance explained and Sabine had to admit that this whole thing was insane. But Sabine understood what he was coming from in a way.
"Director I mean no offence in the slightest but I am not one of the instructors at the academy, it is not in my job description to be holding some agents hands and wiping his nose like he is some puppy. Given his line of work and from what I have heard about his reputation I am going to assume that Callen is well versed in counter-surveillance measures." Sabine began as she was practically being asked to babysit this agent who was probably going to have an almighty long list of people who probably wanted him dead given Director Vance's comment about many agencies this guy Callen had worked for before coming to NCIS. Sabine didn't know the man but already she didn't like him as his shooting had put a huge dent in her plans. She had been drafted into deal with this and it was going to be a lot of work but the fact that Callen primarily worked undercover and no doubt used counter-surveillance measures frequently meant it was going to be a lot harder for her to keep an eye on him.
"Agent Sawyer I assure you that you will not be holding Agent Callen's hand and I assure you that he is in no position to be doing any kind of work." Vance interrupted and Sabine knew she didn't have a choice in this, as much as she didn't like this she was going to have to do it. There was no way in hell that Sabine could so no to the director on this.
"Sir can I just ask why did you chose me for this?" Sabine asked with a reluctant sigh as she was clearly getting sucked back into work despite the fact that she was currently taking time off. It was times like this that made Sabine wonder why on earth she hadn't become something like a school teacher or a dentist instead of joining NCIS.
"I didn't ask for you." Vance replied and Sabine frowned as things were getting even more complicated now as it emerged that somebody had asked for her personally for this case. Sabine couldn't help but wonder who on earth had picked her? She wasn't the worst agent in the world but still…
"Then who did?" Sabine questioned.
"Henrietta Lange. She's just take over the Office of Special Projects from Lara Macy and asked for you by name Sabine. Hetty wants the best for this and I agree with her on this. You are the best person for the job." Director Vance said and despite him saying how much faith in her abilities he had, Sabine still would have preferred not to have done this. But there was no use in crying over spilt milk, she was just going to have to suck this up as the Henrietta Lange had asked for her and the director wanted her on this assignment too. If Sabine thought about backing away from this she might as well hand in her gun and badge as her career would practically be over. Sabine would probably be stuck on some dead end desk job or be assigned as Agent Afloat on some carrier which was not something she wanted to experience again in her lifetime. The only upside was that Sabine was going back to LA and having to pack her bags and move to God knows where.
"I'm assuming that you would want me to start straight away, right?"
"That is correct.
Sabine slowly nodded her head, she had assumed that and how right she was. "Then I'll head straight to the airport Sir and get on the next available flight back to LA and start right away."
"Agent Sawyer, I know that right now this is possibly the last thing you want to be doing considering that you are indeed taking some personal time because of the situation with your family. For now I'm going to have you reassigned to the Office of Special Projects where you'll report to Hetty and myself. After this situation with Callen is dealt with, you can have your pick of assignments – stay at OSP, go back to the LA field office or wherever you want. I know this isn't what you wanted and I apologise for some of what precious time you have remaining with your grandfather but we need your assistance and your far too good of an agent for us to let you leave for a long period of time Agent Sawyer." Vance said and Sabine forced herself to smile, so this wasn't the most ideal situation as she was going to spend her foreseeable future surveilling one of her new co-workers before she even worked with him. Sabine could already tell that wasn't going to end well but she would deal with that later. She appreciated the new assignment as it would keep her busy without having to juggle several cases, it also meant that she would still be near to her Papa Sadowski so Sabine was determined to make this whole thing work, she would do whatever it would take.
"Thank you Director Vance, I really appreciate it." Sabine replied in grateful manner as whilst this wasn't the best case she had ever received, the long term benefits made it very bearable.
"I'll let Hetty know that you are on your way Agent Sawyer."
Taking this as a sign of dismissal, Sabine left Director Vance's office making sure to shut the door behind her as she exited and began her journey to leave the office as she needed to get to the airport. Once she reached the elevators Sabine found herself opening the case file that Director Vance had given her and she looked at the picture of Agent Callen. She didn't know who he was and pretty much didn't care all that much, but she was going to make sure that no one tried to kill him on her watch.