While working for the CIA, G. Callen had to go undercover with a new agent in Uzbekistan. The operation had ill-fated results, in which he was nearly killed. That was why the agent had no faith in the woman who once was his wife. This story is based on snippets that Callen disclosed in Season 2 - Episode 6 - 'Standoff'.
Disclaimer: The characters and sets of NCIS:LA are all owned by CBS, Donald P. Bellisario, and Shane Brennan. I only own a copy of the DVDs from season 1-5 [season 6 has been ordered]. I do get to play with everyone, but they all have to be home by curfew.
A/N: I really hate those bunnies that will not let me write a story without telling me that I need to write a back-story on the original story it before I post it. They did again here. Hope you enjoy it.
Steel Fist, Silk Glove
Uzbekistan, 1997 - Operation Steel Fist - Silk Glove
The price of gold had dropped over eighty dollars US an ounce over the past twelve months. Somewhere, someone was flooding the market. Then the CIA got a tip from one of their agents somewhere in central Asia that arms were being moved into Uzbekistan, specifically into the areas that had large gold and other mineral deposits. There was a major worry that one of the Uzbek warlords was trading gold for arms. But were they coming from the surplus military hardware of Russia, or were they copies of Russian arms that were following the old silk road from China? Whether it was to stage an uprising in this former Soviet Republic, or if it was to be sent further south to support the wars in Afghanistan, Iran, or even Pakistan, was not known. Someone had to get in there and find out from where these arms were coming, and how they could be stopped. A maneuver like this required someone to physically go into the area, find the arms, determine the source and report back their findings.
. . . . .
Callen and Tracy were recruited as a husband and wife team because they both could speak Russian. Callen would go in as a representative for Crop Rotation Altering Production, a Iowa farmer's organization, getting different farming tips and practices from his counterpart agencies. He would have the ability to wander about and talk to the people for C.R.A.P. or visit the warehouses and inspect the farm machinery.
Tracy was going in as a college professor from Kaplan University in Iowa, in the college of Social and Behavioral Sciences. There she taught a course on the cultures of central Asian countries. She had gotten a fellowship that allowed her to take a semester off and go and visit these countries. Her students would benefit from her immersion into the culture, but she was primarily going to use it as research for her first book.
These two had been recently married and decided to use this trip as a destination honeymoon. There had not been enough time for Tracy to get a new passport issued in her married name. They were required to spend extra time at all border crossings, trying to explain why they had different last names on their passports if they were married. Even when they produced a copy of their marriage certificate, they were questioned closely before being allowed to continue their journey.
Callen, using the alias George Kohout, was the senior agent. He had been undercover several times before for the agency. He had proved himself time and time again in being able to take on different personalities and convince people that he really was the person they thought he was. His record for completing the mission was spotless. Tracy Rosetti was a new recruit, having completed a few low-risk courier missions for the agency. Their feeling was that by sending her with such a veteran operative, she might learn a great deal from him and might become a decent operative herself.
To backstop their story, the CIA had a mock wedding celebration for the two of them. They even had a photographer and videographer recording the whole service, reception, and dancing that is normally done at a nuptial celebration. A raw cut DVD was given to Tracy to put with her laptop, so she could view the happiest day of her life, at least to anyone who started to inquire into their backgrounds.
. . . . .
The two agents started out in Kazakhstan, where they spend two weeks visiting the capital Astana, and then went south for two more weeks in the main trading area in Almatyare. Tracy spent much of her time visiting the museums and cathedrals, steeping herself in the culture of these old world places. Callen spent his time talking to the agricultural groups and walking through the warehouses checking out the tractors and other farm implements that were being shipped into the country. After spending their required time there, they crossed the border into Uzbekistan, traveling to the capital of Tashkent.
Five days into their visit there, a woman approached Tracy at one of the museums. She started an animated conversation in Russian about one of the exhibits with the female agent. After five minutes, she told Tracy that what they wanted to look at was in the first warehouse past the cobbler shop by the dead end lane off Mukimi street.
The next evening Tracy and Callen were both in the warehouse. Callen just wanted to read the shipping labels, to determine the origin of the weapons, and then open one of the crates to confirm the types of weapons the crate contained. Tracy found one that had a different label and she decided to open it herself. It didn't contain any weapons. What it did contain was an alarm. And she set it off.
The clanging alarm was deafening in the warehouse. The two agents hurried to make their exit and found that the guards had already cut them off from the car they used to get there. They dodged in and out of the shadows of the remaining warehouses and crates, but the guards stayed on their trail. Their cover finally ran out, as an open field stretched out before them. Knowing that the guards were still on their heels, Callen told Tracy to take off and run across the field. He would lay down cover fire while she was vulnerable.
When she got to the other side, she would do the same for him, and he would run across the field to join her. She took off, but she did not look back.
Out of the corner of his eye, Callen saw that Tracy had safely made it across the field. He waited for her to fire her first round at the guards, but it did not come. He made a split second decision and ducked behind some stacked intermodal shipping containers. He climbed to the top of one group that was stacked three high. Lying down near the edge and keeping as silent as he could, he waited until the guards passed, and without making a sound, he climbed back down and made his way back into the warehouse complex. He found his way along the fence, past the two men that were near the gate. When he found a quiet spot on the other side, he placed a cell call to one of the 'in country' operatives to come and pick him up. Getting a ride back to the hotel, he expected to see Tracy waiting for him there. She was not. For the next two days, he conducted a partial search of the city, offering the excuse that she was not feeling good to those with whom she had appointments. Finally, thinking that she was either dead or captured, he made his way to the safe house to report in. There he got the surprise of his life. Tracy was there, calmly sipping on a cup of tea.
. . . . .
It was surprising that Callen kept as calm as he did before the big argument broke out between the two of them.
"Damn it, Tracy. Where the hell have you been? Don't you realize that I've been looking for you for the past two days? I didn't know if you were captured, or dead, or what. You were supposed to cover me, so I could get across that field. I damn near got killed waiting for you to cover me." Callen accused her.
"I thought it was more important to complete the mission. You know that was more important than either one of us?" she said.
"How could you possibly say that? This last month, we spent it together as husband and wife. Yeah, it was supposed to be in name only. But that was hard to remember when the night was so cold and your body beside me was so warm. You know we tried to keep it professional, but we both were willing participants. We both wanted it. We both cared about each other. That's what was important."
"But we were sent here to complete our mission. It needed to be done. Beyond that, nothing mattered," she pleaded.
"No it wasn't. Not for me. You were far more important. I wouldn't have left without you," he clamored.
"There was no other way to do it." she yelled at him.
"No. There is always another way. You just have to look harder some times to find it," he grumbled.
"I guess that's the difference between you and me," she murmured.
. . . . .
With their covers blown, they had to be smuggled out of the country. Two weeks later they found themselves in another safe house, this time in Islamabad, Pakistan. From there, Tracy was flown back to Langley, Virginia, for a fuller debriefing and more training. Evidently in Callen's partial debriefing, he mentioned her deserting him in the field and almost getting him killed. Callen, on the other hand, found himself plugged into a joint NSA, CIA, and MI5 operation based in Moscow. With new partners and a new alias to learn, Callen soon forgot about Tracy Keller, who warmed his bed for a month in central Asia.
. . . . .
The final repercussions of the story came from the CIA. They worried that their backstopping of Callen and Tracy by having them get married for the camera might have been more legal than they thought. They told Tracy she might actually be still married to Callen when she returned back to the States. Knowing that Callen was still on assignment in Europe, Tracy applied for a divorce. It was granted to her, and, since Callen was not there to contest it, she got everything that she wanted. Tracy was still disgruntled at the comments Callen made about her in his report. To exact her revenge, she also demanded ownership of Buddy in the settlement. He was the dog that they had gotten together, and even though she didn't care about him at all, Callen seemed to like him.
When Callen was informed about it, nine months later, the only regrets he had was losing the dog. "I really loved Buddy," were his final words on the subject.