Set after Season 2

A little story

(mostly revolves around Callen & Sam friendship)

Please R&R :)

As soon as the team was dispatched under the orders of their new boss, G. Callen glances back at the house behind him. Something was not right; something was missing. And he's willing to bet his house that this "something" is a vital key to what his NCIS crew is facing right now. But what, what is it that could be so important that he's willing to lay his only home on the line? He doesn't know it yet either, and he's going to find out.

-6 days ago-

"Deeks! What are you doing?"

It had been a peaceful Tuesday morning when the screech of a gorgeous brunette echoes through the headquarters of NCIS Los Angeles. The same morning, her eyes burned when she saw her partner turning around wearing her bandage dress tightly curving his body in the fitting area.

Flustered and embarrassed, the LAPD liaison stammered, "It's not what you think!"

At the suspicious behavior, his partner looked him up and down in scrutiny, nods uncertainly and commented, "What is that, Herve Leger? Huh, good choice… shows off your curves."

Marty Deeks just went agape and started to protest in defense.

Nodding once more, she finally gave up on the lost cause. Clearly, there was an explanation to his rummaging and stealing one of her favorite undercover dress, but she decided against the questioning and had a better idea. Taunting him and making him go through another embarrassing day in Tinsel Town was a much more pleasant plan. And so with an inside grin, Kensi walks back to her desk and shouts, "Just don't forget to dry clean it! Oh, and I'd go with the black and white one if I were you!"

"Princess!" he whined.

As usual, outside the base, two men stood outside of the base, doing their regular everyday routine. Both opened the door to a sleek black car and exited it. They got into an unusual yet comfortable silence as they fall in step and walked to the headquarters. Deciding to break it, the shorter of the two clears his throat, gaining the attention of his well-trained partner. And again, as usual, he didn't know what to say. At times like this, everyone knows what Callen does best; look at his partner in the eye, as if transmitting a secret message only they would know, or talk about nothing in particular. And he chose the latter.

"Do you know what is worse than dying?"

"What?" asked agent Sam Hanna, not knowing where this conversation was going. His partner just sent him a cheeky grin, one he knows well.

"Having a doctor examine your special sausage after it mysteriously got painful from too much stretching," said Callen. Sam let out a hearty laugh at the random and oh-so-Callen attempt at making this a 'great' morning. Callen just smirked at his success on making his partner laugh. The fact that there was no strain in this conversation made him almost forget about the crazy past few weeks they whole team has gone through. Almost.

"And how do you get that?"

"Well, we certainly don't wrap it in shoelaces and Christmas ribbons if that's what you're thinking," replied Callen.

Sam laughed inwardly and waited for his partner to continue, "And that is why we have spiders!"

"I didn't know spiders can hurt you in that way, G," said the burly man.

"Oh, then you don't know that the same spider will cause at least four hours of the sausagestanding up?" asked Callen raising his one eyebrow.

Agent Hanna had another good laugh, thinking of what triggered this strings of thought into his partner's head and asked, "Not really my area of expertise, G!"

"Well, my friend, you should really look it up. Who knows what's lurking in your backyard, it will be sad if you wake up one morning to find yourself not being able to go to the bathroom. On that day, you'll regret 'using' it too much," laughed Callen and soon his friend joined him.

"You know who needs some of that regretting?" asked Sam. The two made eye contact as they finally reached their desks and both murmured, "Deeks."

Agent Lauren walked into the shooting range. She didn't feel the need to watch her agents goof off and have fun. She really didn't need all this crap today.

It's bad enough she didn't feel welcomed, but the sound of complaints and silent whispers from the building just wouldn't stop. Hetty wasn't coming back, or maybe she was. But at least she wasn't coming back today, so like it or not, they're going to have to deal with her until Hetty comes back.

The woman dressed in all black lifted her gun up. She pointed it at the head of the target and shot. Shooting was a stress relief for her and a lot of the other agents. So, she shoots again and again, until the target is marred by bullets. But instead of seeing the faceless opponent printed on the fabric, she sees a man. The only man she's ever loathed.

When both men finally put their things on their desks, Callen couldn't help but think back over what has happened in the last few weeks. Their ex-operations manager, Henrietta Lange (a.k.a. Hetty) saying her goodbyes to them discreetly, finding out she's been replaced by a Lauren Hunter the next day, and finding out she's basically on a suicide mission that involves a family who's after everyone of the same bloodline as the clueless agent.

He couldn't help replaying what Hetty said to him that day, that being leader is hard. If anyone knows at all what having that role feels like, it would be the woman herself and Callen in his little team.

No one knows, but Callen is actually on edge. He has to keep his cool for the sake of everyone, while in truth, all he wants to do is catch a flight to Romania, where Hetty will be, and find out the truth about his past. This is getting really tiring and frustrating, having to abide the rules and restrain himself from unraveling the truth. He's always one step closer to figuring out the mystery he wanted to solve so bad, when something just always get in the way. Maybe it was fate that he'd never figure out the truth. It was the one thing he desires in life, yet he just can't seem to get it.

"G?" stepping out of his stupor, he looked back at the only person who'd call him by that name… scratch that – by that letter. His partner and long time friend sat across of Kensi's desk, brows furrowed and eyes watching him like a hawk. The former realized he was still standing in front of his desk when flashbacks of the memories he recalled came back crashing down to him like back in Prague, on the beach. Callen said nothing to his partner and pursed his lips into a thin line as he proceeded to sit on his swiveling chair. He knew that look on Sam's face and hated it. It was the look of a mother bear that would protect her little ones from any form of harm. He loathed looking weak. It was like after his shooting all over again.

It was then, when the air was intense, that they noticed Kensi and her blond partner trudging in the area with energy.

"I told you, it's not what you think!"

"Whatever you say, Deeks."

"Kensi, I'm not lying! Do you really think I'd stoop that low?"

"Well, given the circumstances we are in, partner, I don't know what to think anymore!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, slow down here!" finally, Sam decided to step in and stop this heated argument from getting even more heated. "You two are starting to sound like an old married couple!"

"Compared to the two of you, we're still newbies," retorted the brunette woman who got three snickers as a response.

"Hey! We've had our years of practice," answered Callen with a shrug.

"Yeah? Well then, you might want to put those years of practice into good use," came an unexpected answer from above. The four teammates looked up to find Eric leaning over the rail. "Ops room in five," he continued.

"Why not now?" asked Deeks, curious as well as the others.

"Well, considering that there's a new 'reign' here…" Beale didn't need to continue as the others nod in understanding, part of them too overwhelmed with their whole situation, and part just didn't want to make it a bigger deal if Director Vance or Agent Lauren overheard. "Yes, well… in five!" he reminded before going back to the dark room full of dark secrets.

Everyone was going back to prepare themselves for the upcoming heated discussion, when a voice piped up from above, "Oh, and Deeks? Nice dress!"

"Argh!"