Lara Macy had a date that night. She had a date with a very handsome Major in the Marine Corps. She had sworn off all military men, too much like her. But this one… this one made her feel alive. It didn't help that he was very attractive. Macy honestly felt like a teenager when it came to Major Alex Hough. Head over heels.

She had been slipping into her heels when she got that phone call that rocked her life. She saw Sam Hanna's name on the caller ID and rolled her eyes but she knew she better answer it. "This better be close to World War 3, Sam."

"It's G. He just took five to the chest. They're bringing him to Marina Del Ray," Sam said, completely out of breath.

Macy steadied herself against the wall. "Sam… who did this?"

"Drive by, Mace. It doesn't look good."

She told herself to get a grip. Remain professional… but this was G. Callen she was talking about. Remaining professional with him was hard, at best. "I'll call Kensi and Renko."

Lara Macy hung up the phone and couldn't catch her breath. She stared at her phone and texted Alex that something had happened to one of her agents. They had met on the job, hence the reason he knew her real occupation. She didn't bother changing, just grabbed her gun, put it in her purse along with her badge and locked the door.

Along the way, she dialed speed dial 4, for Special Agent Mike Renko. "Mace. I'm sorry to break up with you, but you can't keep calling me this often," he joked.

She got into her car. "Callen. He took 5 to the chest. Get Kensi. Meet me at Marina Del Ray Hospital," she turned the ignition on and took a deep breath.

"What happened?" Renko asked, finally getting over the shock.

"I'm not sure, Mike. Just get Kensi and meet me there."

It was almost a record trip for Macy to get to Marina Del Ray. She took a deep breath, again, and walked into the hospital. She got to the front desk and flashed her badge. "One of my agents was just brought in. Critical."

"His name just says Callen here," the nurse looked up at Macy.

"That would be him," Macy said, sharply. "What's his condition?"

The nurse looked at Macy. "The doctor will be here soon to update you, if you'll just wait over there," she pointed to the waiting room. She saw Sam sitting there and joined him.

"Major Hottie?" Sam joked as he saw her in the dress.

Macy raised an eyebrow. "Not a nice joke, Sam. How's Callen?"

Sam looked away. "Not good, Mace. Not good. You call Renko and Kensi?"

She nodded. "Mike's bringing Kensi. I haven't called Nate yet."

Sam and her stayed silent for a couple minutes. Macy's mind flashed back to many operations with Callen. They worked well together, but both of their strong and stubborn sides clashed often. They especially had their disagreements when Macy was promoted over him but they both knew the reason for that. Macy could put up with bureaucratic bullshit. She knew how to get along and play nice with Washington; Callen did not.

"It could be anyone," Sam finally said, breaking the silence.

Macy nodded. "G has a lot of enemies. Any one of them could try and get him back now. But I just didn't expect it to be on a sidewalk in Venice."

"He was being watched," Sam replied. "He told me he was planning on moving. Felt someone was running surveillance on him."

She studied the clock on the wall and watched the second hand move. "I have a feeling it's going to be a long time before we find out who did this."

Lara was lying on a cot, watching Callen breathe through many tubes in ICU. Only family was allowed in here, but since he didn't have any, they all took turns sitting with him. Lara told Sam to go home, as well as Nate, Renko, Kensi and Eric. She'd take the night shift.

She heard someone enter the room, expecting a nurse. Instead, she got a a surprise. "Lara," Henrietta Lange said, walking into the room.

She sat up and ran her hands through her hair, putting it in a messy bun. "Hetty. I wasn't expecting you. I thought you were in…"

"Rio," Hetty interrupted. "I was in Rio. You called Vance, who called Sec Nav."

Macy raised an eyebrow. "You got a call from Davenport?"

Hetty nodded. Macy just shook her head. Hetty still had a lot of pull and power up on the hill. "How is he?"

"Very critical. They don't expect him to make it," Macy told the older and much smaller woman. To be truthful, Macy was scared shitless of Henrietta Lange. She never really did understand how a woman of her stature could command such a presence, but Hetty did.

Hetty nodded and took her place in the chair. "You have any idea who may have done this?"

"In broad daylight, in the middle of Venice? I don't have a clue. I don't even know where to start," Macy explained.

Hetty was silent for a minute. "A man like Mr. Callen has a long list of enemies. Anyone of them could have done this."

"Well, we can cross off a few names off the list. Paying a pro hit squad to do a drive by on a federal agent in the middle of Venice, at 5 pm takes a large amount of cash."

"That it does. I've already made some phone calls."

Macy nodded. "That transfer?"

Hetty looked up. "Are you sure it's what you want, Lara?"

She nodded again. "Callen and I… it's not a good idea. I need to get out of Los Angeles. I've had it with the bullshit from Washington."

"There's an opening in Marseille, France for a Agent In Charge position or in Cartagena, Columbia. Your choice," Hetty said.

Lara yawned. "I'll think about it and let you know tomorrow. As soon as Callen is out of the woods, I'm gone."

Hetty nodded. "This reminds you of Rotterdam, doesn't it?"

"I spent 3 weeks at his hospital bed in Landstuhl. It reminds me of Rotterdam a lot, Hetty."

"If I remember correctly, it was the French who were behind it. A man named Michele Giguere. Callen had killed his wife."

Macy nodded. "Special Agent Gibbs was the one to take out Giguere, finally."

"I know," Hetty said.

Macy wondered if there was anything that Hetty didn't know. That mission was completely classified to only certain people. The only reason she knew that Gibbs and Shepard had taken out Giguere was the fact that she had someone take a shot at her a year ago. Sam, Callen and her had to go through all her past missions.

She turned to Hetty. "As soon as Callen is out of the woods, I want that transfer."

Hetty nodded. "I figured as much. Go home Lara. He'll still be here in the morning.. I'll stay with him."