I am not a doctor I am an ESL teacher. I have no knowledge of anything medical. If anything is wrong I apologise.
Chapter One
Two weeks. Two weeks off and he had just about had enough. Damn the doctors and their stupid edicts, he could not stand another day off. Even riding the desk and filling out the copious amounts of paperwork that came with their job was a better option than sitting at home doing bugger all. Okay in all honesty he had been off for a month, but for the first two weeks he had been unconscious in Druid Hills, Georgia. But G. Callen was not a man who could sit idly by for an extended period of time. It just wasn't in his nature. Technically he should still be in Georgia, but after the fourth escape attempt from CDC headquarters, his doctors had come to an agreement with him that if he took two weeks of quiet activity they would release him early.
At least this time he had managed eight days without going into OSP. Normally he would be back to work after about three days. But this time his boss had formally threatened him with the sack if he had turned up before at least seven days had passed since his release from the hospital. And despite his reputation of not following the rules and being a bit of a lone wolf, Callen did not want to be forced to leave his job at NCIS OSP. Finally he had found something he liked, people he had managed to stay with for nearly eight years now. The longest he had ever spent somewhere.
But enough was enough. Today was the 5th February, exactly a month since he had been poisoned by a brand spanking new biochemical weapon, Spiral. Seventeen days since he had woken up in Georgia. And fourteen days since he had been released from the hospital and allowed to return home to LA, the land of the rich, famous, and quite frankly insane part of human society. Today Callen was returning to work, and Hetty be damned. He had done what she had said, and had managed to stay away from OSP for eight whole days. The fifth of February was the eleventh day since he had stepped back into his house (after spending three additional days at the hospital here in LA) and Callen was going back to work. Due to his insomnia, which seemed to have become increasingly more pronounced since he had not been working, he had been awake since 0400 hours and so at 0800 hours he was walking out of his house and making his way down to his car when an extremely familiar car pulled up in from of him.
Unable to stop the smirk, Callen crossed the road and climbed into the passenger seat of the black Challenger, shutting the car door and buckling himself in before turning to look at his partner of seven years with a raised eyebrow. "Am I really that predictable?"
Sam Hanna snorted as he put the car into drive and pulled out into the street. "G, I've been working with you for the last how many years? I think the only person who knows you better than me is Hetty. Why do you think she banned you from Mission for the last week? If you had your way you would have been in last Wednesday."
Callen laughed. "Well I have been jumping out of my skin for the past few days so I guess you're right. For once." He glanced over at Sam who merely rolled his eyes. The pair of them had missed their usual banter and it was painfully obvious that the next couple of days would be filled with them getting it out of their systems. Much to the chagrin of the rest of their team. "So how has the office been? Any new cases?"
"Pretty quiet, for a change. Well Deeks is still there so not as quiet as it could be." The two men laughed. "We've only have the one case, a dead corporal at Pendleton which turned out to be a drug bust. Apart from that it's been the usual paperwork and trying to avoid the ninja.
Sam and Callen continued to catch up on the few things Callen had missed whilst being off as they drew closer to Mission. Pulling into his usual parking spot Sam killed the engine before looking over at his partner. "Ready to face the lion?"
"I thought Granger was still in DC." Callen joked as he climbed out of the Challenger, grabbing his bag along the way.
"I meant Hetty you dolt." Sam rolled his eyes at G's grin.
"I would never call Hetty a lion. She's a tiger."
"No that's Kensi."
"So what does that make you, the elephant?"
Sam gave G a level look. "Keep it up. You'll be back in the hospital before you realise it." Callen's laugh followed them into OSP.
Their minuscule boss wasn't at her desk when Callen and Sam walked into the building, but that didn't mean she wasn't there. The little ninja had the disturbing habit of popping up unannounced and scaring the shit out of all of them. And it was still scary as to just how much she knew about everything. The two men had just settled at their desks, Callen looking slightly worried at the amount of paperwork that was sitting on his, when the voices of their two teammates drifted in from the carpark.
"You have to try it. Nothing beats a morning set."
"Nothing except an extra hour in bed. You will never get me out there that early."
"Why not Kensilina? Can you not see it? 6:30 in the morning, nothing there except sand and sea. No one else there, no one watching."
Kensi Blye and Marty Deeks finally came into view, both so engrossed in their banter as they walked into the bullpen that neither of them noticed Callen sitting at his desk watching them. It was only when he finally cleared his throat that the pair of them jumped and tuned, shouting out their surprise at the same time.
"Holy mother of…"
"What are you doing…"
Sam shook his head and Callen laughed slightly, leaning back in his seat. "It's good to see you two to. Now what the hell are you going on about this time?"
Deeks grinned. "Well it's like this. I'm trying to convince Kenz here that coming down to the beach with me in the early hours of the morning is a great idea. There's no one there…"
"And like I told him there is no way I would be getting up at an ungodly hour to spend more time with him when I could be at home wrapped up in my duvet. It's bad enough I have to spend most of my working hours with him, why would I want to be with him outside of work."
"Ah but Kenz you would love it. Imagine what we could get up to in those few hours…"
"And that is exactly the reason why I am not meeting up with you Deeks."
"What?! All I was going to say was surfing. What were you thinking about Kensilina?" Kensi by this point had sat down at her desk, after giving Callen a welcome back hug, and her only reply to Deeks was to throw a pencil at him. Sharpened, of course. It bounced off his head and clattered as it hit the floor. He yelped and rubbed his head, winking at Kensi as he gave Callen his own welcome back greeting, a slightly sandy high-five. As Callen wiped the sand off his hand an ear-piercing whistle parted the air and they all looked up the stairs as Eric who was grinning at them.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, the ball is rolling. Good to see you Callen." He waved his hand slightly before making his way back over to OPS.
The team stood and started over to the stairs, Deeks providing the usual commentary. "Why does Eric say that? It's only us guys and Kens…OW!" Kensi had punched him in the arm. "What was that for?"
"Do you really want to finish that sentence Deeks?" Kensi stared at him, an eyebrow slightly raised. Deeks opened his mouth to reply then shook his head and carried on up the stairs.
Sam chuckled and asked Callen quietly "And you wanted to come back why?"
The two men were still laughing as they walked into OPS, G slowing slightly when he saw his boss and Operations Manager, Hetty Lange, standing in front of the big screen. "Morning Hetty."
"Mr Callen, you are not supposed to be back here for at least another five days." The tone of her voice was the same as ever, making it impossible for anyone in the room to know whether she was angry at G or just resigned to see him.
Callen shrugged slightly. "You told me to stay away for at least seven days. I did that. In fact I stayed away for eight. Now I'm back, and ready to work."
Hetty sighed ever so slightly, her eyes twinkling as she took in the appearance of her Senior-Agent-in-charge. He did indeed look better, except for the slight shadows under his eyes. No more than she expected though in all honesty. "Well then , in that case, welcome back Mr Callen. Now you will all be pleased to know you have not been called up here for a new case. Rather it is the tying up of an old one. Sort of. Maybe it is fate that you returned to work today Mr Callen, as we are going back to Spiral."
Everyone in the room flinched slightly at the name of the bio-chemical weapon that had so nearly claimed the life of their team leader. Callen merely looked down at Hetty and waited for her to continue.
"Let me expand on that. It is not technically Spiral we are focusing upon; the CDC has taken control of that aspect. We are looking at the Celtic Militia who tried to steal the drug. It appears that this may not be the first time that this particular group has become involved with American authorities." Callen frowned at that; as far as he had been aware, this was the first time the Irish group had attempted anything on American soil. Unsurprisingly it was Sam who voiced the question Callen had been thinking; scarily it was nearly word for word accurate.
"It would appear that is not the case Mr Hanna. It seems that our Irish friends were rather active just under eight years ago. I do not have all of the specifics yet…" Callen raised an eyebrow in surprise "…but there is a young woman awaiting your arrival at the boatshed. She has just arrived from Washington and has asked to be informed on everything we know about this Celtic Militia. Mr Callen, you and Mr Hanna will go over to the boatshed, Mr Beale and Miss Jones will send over everything we have once they have compiled it all together. Any questions?"
Deeks was in the process of opening his mouth when Hetty shook her head slightly. "You and Miss Blye will be attending to the paperwork residing on your desks. That is all." With that their boss left the room, leaving Deeks floundering like a fish. Sam and Callen left OPS chuckling, followed eventually by Kensi dragging her partner out by his ear.
The Challenger pulled up at the Marina, Callen rolling out of the passenger seat with a grin. "And that is why I keep telling you to be nice to her. You know how she gets."
"And this is coming from the guy whose mission in life is to antagonise every person he comes into contact with" came Sam's monotone reply, almost as if they had had this conversation a thousand times. "Anyway I didn't do anything. She's just got one of her moods on again."
By this point the two men had made it down to the wooden building. Opening the door Callen walked straight into the lounge area, noting the woman who stood with her back to the door. She had a hand to her eat and was murmuring softly, indicating she was on the phone. She turned her head slightly and noticed the two agents, nodded and held up a finger indicating she would be a minute. Sam strolled over to the kitchenette to grab a coffee for himself whilst Callen took a seat at the table, casting an eye over their guest. The first thing that caught his eye was her hair. Despite the fact that it was caught up in a twist three things were obvious; it was long it was unruly( as told from the mass of curly strands that had escaped from the twist), and it was red. As in sunset, flame red. Tearing his eyes away Callen noted her conversation was held in Greek, with an impeccable accent. The air of authority and her stance hinted that she was in law enforcement. That tagged along with the Glock riding her right hip. So not a paper pusher, which had been his first thought when he had heard the woman had come in from Washington. After thirty seconds she finished her conversation and snapped her phone shut. Pushing it into a pocket in her pants she turned and walked over to them. "Sorry about that. A minor incident with the Greek Embassy back home." Her voice was soft and yet still carried an air of authority, now with no trace of any accent. Callen stood up and offered a hand which she shook.
"Special Agent Callen, NCIS. This is my partner, Special Agent Hanna."
"Detective T-Driscoll, but call me Kimberly please. It's a pleasure to meet both of you." Kimberly took the seat Callen indicated.
"Then we're Callen and Sam. Would you like some coffee?"
Kimberly shook her head and waited for Sam to take a seat. "I'm sorry that this is such short notice. My partner was supposed to be travelling through LA next week and would have picked everything up then but his calendar changed yesterday, so I've had to come out earlier than expected."
Sam shrugged. "It's fine. You said Detective. Are you with Washington PD then?"
Kimberly grinned, shaking her head. "NYPD actually, in the crime lab. I was at a conference in Washington that was somewhat less than stimulating. "
"Our boss said you were here in regards to the Celtic Militia, and that they had been active in America before. Yet our searches didn't indicate they had been here before." Callen drummed his fingers against the table as he looked at the woman sitting opposite them.
"Well that could be due to the fact that they haven't been active in America for eight years. And they didn't have any links to bio-chemical terrorism until a month ago, when they surfaced here in Los Angeles." Kimberly drew a manila file out of a bag at her side and handed it over to Callen. He started looking through it as Kimberly carried on talking. "Eight years ago the NYPD took part in a regular drug-bust. It was a big case, and took place about three months before I officially joined the force. Events ensured, the gang entered the crime lab, and long story short they were killed and half of the lab was blown up. Although to this day I still haven't found out whose idea that was." A ghost of a grin crossed her face.
"What do you think connects the two groups? Apart from the fact that they are Irish?" Sam took the file from Callen and started to read it, going over all the information the NYPD had on the Irish drug-gang.
"That's why I'm here. Call it what you will but there are just too many similarities. Not so much in the cases obviously, but in the people." Kimberly pulled a bottle of water out of her bag and took a swig, waiting for the men to reply.
Callen's phone chimed; pulling it out he read the message from OPS. "Our analysts have downloaded the information we have on the Celtic Militia. Someone should be here with it in about fifty minutes."
Kimberly rubbed her eyes. "Is there any chance it could be hurried up? I'm supposed to be on the one o'clock flight back to New York, if I can make it."
Sam and G traded a look before the former stood up, pulling out his phone. "I'll be right back." He walked to the door, dialling Hetty's number.
Callen looked back at Kimberly "What's the big rush getting back?"
Kimberly sighed slightly. "Well for starters if I don't make the one o'clock flight I have to wait until tomorrow morning. That's when the next flight with any available seats becomes available. Like I said, this was last minute. Plus, we're in a bit of a staffing crisis at the minute. Half of our lab tech's have come down with a crazy flu, two of the CSI's in on maternity/paternity leave and my un…boss is on personal leave. In all honesty I shouldn't have been in Washington but this conference has been on the books for months, and it had already been rescheduled twice. Sufficed to say, everyone is run ragged. If it had been anyone else who had asked me to come out here I would have said no, but it was my boss and I can never say no to him. Plus if I didn't get it now then I have no idea when anyone would be able to come out here to get it, and we need this information as soon as possible."
Callen grinned. "Well, I certainly know the whole feeling run ragged part." He had noticed her slip of the tongue but didn't mention it and she didn't elaborate.
Sam came back in a couple of minutes later. "So we're about to do something we have only done like twice in the past god-knows how long. Our…office…is between here and the airport, so we can drop you off for your flight after swinging past our place to pick up the files."
Kimberly smiled at that and stood up. "That's great to hear. I am sorry to be a pain and disrupt your protocols."
Sam shook his head. "It's nothing. I just hope that what we can give you will be helpful."
The drive back to the Mission was surprisingly fast; for once the traffic light gods were smiling down on them. At least, that's what Sam was saying. Kimberly could tell this must be a regular source of banter between the two men as the lines sounded practically rehearsed. And although they hid it well, she could also tell it was a way to mask the rising tension emanating from them. She guessed, correctly, that it was due to them drawing closer to their base of operations, and that they did not bring 'outsiders' in often.
She cleared her throat slightly. "You know, I don't really need to see where you work. I'm guessing it's kind of secret, what with all the special secret agent titles you've got going on. All I need is the files. Why don't you drop me off somewhere, go and grab the files then come and meet me? After all I don't need two chauffeurs to take me to the airport, do I?" She grinned slightly at them.
Callen snorted slightly under his breath. Were they really that obvious? Sam traded a glance with him, the same expression he was sure was on his own face, before nodding. "Yeah, that sounds like a good idea. Also means you can pick up lunch on the way back G."
"Woah, who said it would be me?"
"I just did. It's your turn to do the lunch run remember. Two birds, one stone."
Callen shook his head. "I brought lunch yesterday old man."
"Yeah but you're buying all week aren't you. Penance for last week."
Callen settled back in his car seat, grumbling half-heartedly to himself. Then he heard the Detective laugh slightly and it made him smile despite himself.
Three blocks away from the Mission Sam pulled over into the carpark of a small diner. Callen let himself out before pulling the passenger seat of the Challenger forward and offered Kimberly a hand. Smiling she placed her hand in his, startled slightly by the shock generated from their combined hands. Apart from swallowing, she showed no sign of acknowledging whatever the hell that was and allowed him to pull her from the car. Straightening she looked up at Callen, her eyes dancing. "Thank you."
Callen held her hand a split second longer than necessary before dropping it and nodding his head slightly. "I'll be about twenty minutes. Keep an eye out for a silver Jaguar."
Kimberly nodded. "Sure thing. I need to make a couple of calls anyway." With that she turned and walked into the diner, pulling her phone out as she went. Callen got back into the car and shut the door, watching her as Sam pulled out into the traffic. His partners' chuckle turned his head.
"What?"
Sam shook his head. "Nothing." He grinned at G. "Absolutely nothing."
Callen's only reply was a raised eyebrow.
So if this sounds familiar to anyone it would be because I have taken down all of my old stories and am reposting updated/revised editions of them, plus a few new projects I'm working on.
