Hello everyone; I don't want to waste your time with a long intro but it's my first story here on so go easy on me ;) And by the way English isn't my mother tongue, I had a language program going through it but I'm pretty sure that there are some mistakes left.

Chap 1. New case, new Callen?

It was a beautiful morning. Sam came to headquarter very early to work out a little bit before the others would arrive. Suddenly he heard a voice. When he stopped and listened again he recognized that it was Callen's. He approached their office quietly and saw his friend sitting there and talking to someone on the phone.
"I swear that I'll find out and come for you if you know something you don't tell me and then, I'm sure you will tell me everything you've ever known!" He was angry. Not just upset about something but really furious. It didn't take much to hear that.
Sam still didn't move, but Callen must have sensed his presence. His anger fell off and it seemed as if it had never existed.
"Mornin' Sam, had a nice weekend?" He turned around and smiled. Sam checked his face, tried to figure out what he was feeling, what he was thinking and hiding. But Callen knew how to present a mask full of feelings he made up to push people away, to make sure they don't find out the truth.
"G, what's going on?" Sam asked carefully. Callen was about to answer but Sam was faster:
"Don't say nothing! Don't act as if I was stupid. You know that you can't play me. I'll always find out. Even more after that weird phone call on a Monday morning when nobody else is in the office. Normally you wouldn't be here either. You're always late on Mondays!"
"Easy Sam", Callen replied, "I did nothing wrong, I just had to make a personal call. Look, there is that woman. Amy lived with her for some months. Longer than with the most other families she stayed with. She's the only who could know something about her and Amy loved her. I saw pictures of them. But she moved to New York a few weeks ago, so I hired someone to keep an eye on her. Now let's say that this someone isn't the most confidential person and he starts getting lazy and is about to lose her. I just wanted to make sure he continues doing what he's paid for. "
No emotion or feeling slipped over his face while he lied to his partner. And Sam knew he was lying. A perfect mask. Did he try to protect the woman, a mission, himself or Sam? Sam took a deep breath. "Just don't push me away, G. We're partners, you can trust me."
"I know Sam and I do." Callen grabbed his bag and had off to the gym. Sam followed him but they stayed quiet during the whole training.

Deeks and Kensi joined them a little bit later and they noticed that something was wrong with Callen, too. Callen who didn't want to be observed at all the time by his worried colleagues explained quickly that everything was alright but nobody bought it.
Then, Hatty stopped by and sent them to OPS. "Eric will brief you on our new case; I'll join you in a few minutes." They left the gym but before Callen was out of sight, Hatty said just loud enough so he could hear it: "Mr. Callen, a word, please."
Callen turned around: "Hatty?"
"Even if it's the present we're living in, it's the past following us and always being a powerful part of our lifes, Mr. Callen. If there are people able to use this strong and dangerous weapon against you, you'd better keep your friends close. Otherwise they won't have the fitting shield to protect you when you'll need it." She stared at him as if she wanted to burn her words into his brain but at the same time there was something gentle and soft in her eyes. She knew that her agent was having a rough time. Callen starred back, his head slightly sloped, trying to figure out all the double meanings of Hatty's words. There were always important messages between the lines when Hatty spoke.
"I'm fine, Hatty", he said. She nodded slowly, turned around and went away. He followed her and they joined the others in OPS.

"… And so that means that the case has been transferred to NCIS. LAPD still searches the crime scene. Officer Tay is leading the investigation down there and he's been informed that we're taking over."
"Thanks Eric!" Sam said, not without taking a look at Callen and Hatty. Both keeping their emotions secret.
"Agent Blye, Mr. Deeks, crime scene. Let the officer give you all the details and find out what was going on there. Sam, the victims wife and brief your partner on the way."
Hatty left OPS without saying anything else.
"Let's go!" Deeks and Kensi left for the crime scene which was a house in the west of LA. It had big garden, the house had two floors and there was a high fence hiding them both from curious visitors passing on the street.
In the car, Sam asked again, not giving up his partner: "Are we good?" Callen nodded: "Sure, so what's going on?"
Sam knew that G didn't want to talk about it, so for the moment he just went on: "A language genius was killed at his house this morning. His surveillance cameras were on but the hardware has been stolen. Neighbours heard the shooting and called the police. Two shots in the chest, one in the head from behind. Several bruises and wounds committed with a sharp knife."
"Torture?"
"Probably. No fingerprints on or near the victim. LAPD's still searching. The man worked for the government, he knew several languages including Arabic dialects which made him very valuable for international crime investigations and negotiations with eastern countries. He translated a lot, he knew a lot."
"He knew too much", Callen assumed, "the wife?"
"She works as a flight attendant. She wasn't in town for a week. We'll find her at the airport. Her flight's landing in fifteen minutes. Now she has three days off. They were married for five years, met each other on one of his business flights", Sam smiled
"That's what happens when you mix up private life and work, I guess", Callen added ironically.
They arrived at the airport and asked her way through to the flight attendants' recreation room. A pilot told them that "" was changing and that they could wait for her inside.

At the same time, Kensi and Deeks were told, that there had been at least two shooters. LAPD had found footprints near the door.
"We're lucky that the driveway is all dusty. Everyone who gets in, kind of stays in as well", Deeks said with a big smile. Kensi couldn't help smiling too.
"They were probably torturing him right here in the living room. There is no blood in any of the other rooms." They inspected the dead body with a gun in the left hand.
"Was he actually left-handed or did they just leave him the gun thinking we wouldn't notice it?" Deeks asked.
"It was his gun. He has a licence for it and the bullets in his body were not fired with this gun. They came from two different guns, though", the officer explained.
"He's all yours now!"
"Thank you officer", Kensi gave him a little smile which he returned visibly pleased before he left: "Mr. Deeks."
"Officer."

Deeks waited until officer Tay couldn't hear them anymore. Then he raised his eyebrow: "What was that?"
"What? Nothing! It was nothing. So, I think..."
"Stop it, you try to avoid the subject: Did you know 'officer Tay'?
"Yea, we met at several investigations in the past, but it's nothing, I was just being friendly! SO let's focus on the case, if you don't mind."
"Unbelievable, what was going on between you?"
"Deeks!" Kensi said sharply and kneeled on the floor to continue searching for traces.