Two years later

Warsaw Chopin Airport- Warsaw, Poland

A Gulfstream IV business jet stands alone at the edge of the international airport's shortest runway in the middle of the night. At the end of the runway is a private government sanctioned airplane hangar used for planes like the Gulfstream that are being used for transporting officials, agents, and persons of interest like it will tonight. On the stairs of the jet is a tall, skinny blonde haired man who waits for the person NCIS desperately needs in custody for their safety. The man doesn't have to wait more than ten more minutes in the cool summer air for a sleek black SUV to pull up to the hangar and for Henrietta Lange to step out.

"How did you find me?" Hetty calls out as she approaches the man on the stairwell. Two years have passed and yet Hetty has immediately recognized Eric Beale under a new scruff, contact lens and the loss of about ten pounds in weight. Even with a scowl on his face, Eric still has a naivety in his eyes that shows his nerves about seeing the woman that disappeared from his life two years ago.

"It wasn't that hard," Eric sighs deeply, "I've had a lot of practice over the years." He takes a step to the side and points up the stairs. "Come on, we have to head out. Tradon Drakov knows where you are and he'll catch you if we don't go."

"And you were the one sent to escort me back?"

Eric shakes his head in annoyance and starts his way back up the stairs. Hetty watches him walk and thinks back to the day she had been escorted to the CIA headquarters in Langley. Two years ago to the day, Hetty had been grilled for nearly 15 hours by half a dozen agents about Afghanistan and her team. The CIA director had even stepped in to drill about Deeks in particular and if NCIS had made the mistake of hiring a 'psychopath'. The operations manager hadn't said a word or even flinched until Director Vance unexpectedly walked into the small interrogation room and told her that Deeks had reluctantly taken an agent position.

And then consequences for her actions finally came.

She can remember the Director's words exactly- "The CIA wants you arrested and put away, but I have convinced them to give you an alternative. As you know, you are done with NCIS and any other government agency in this country. With that being said, I don't think you would mind leaving Los Angeles as well. Without your team and a job, there isn't anything there for you anymore."

So she left the country and did something she never thought she could- she retired….sort of.

"Hetty, we need to leave," Eric repeats before he disappears into the jet. He's right- in the midst of her 'retirement', she had crossed paths with Top Ten Most Wanted Russian arms dealer Drakov and left evidence for Interpol to find him within a month after. It had turned on her badly as Drakov had evaded arrest and decided to put Hetty at the top of his kill list.

Get on the plane, get out of side and then you can get answers about what's happened in the last two years, Hetty thinks as she quickly makes her way up the stairs. That's priority number 1.


Forty minutes later, the black Gulfstream levels out a 30,000 cruising altitude and Hetty immediately decides to start asking questions. Eric hasn't said a word to her since their little conversation before boarding the jet and she can see why- the blonde haired man sits with his tablet in his lap and taps the screen vigorously without ever taking a glance at it. He's anxiously waiting for her to make a move.

"So why were you sent to escort me?" Hetty asks from her seat on the other side of the jet.

"Because you hurt me the least out of the group," Eric answers simply. "And Nell and I are technically the only ones who know that you are in trouble."

Hetty narrows her eyes at him and then stands up from her seat. Her move causes Eric to tense up even more than he already has. "Fine," he adds, "Granger found out about Drakov since he's the lead in Europe and then sent the information to Nell and I. Since Nell can't travel, I left on a helicopter from the base yesterday and then got on a plane from the capital to get to Poland. Granger suggested that I get you back to the base, debriefed and then out to a safe place before Sam, Callen, Kensi and Deeks notice."

Hetty smiles at Eric, hoping that it'll get him to calm down. " Mr. Beale, I do hope you don't expect me to take in and understand everything you've just told me. What do you mean by Assistant Director Granger-"

"A lot has changed over the past two years. Granger stepped down from being the Assistant Director after you left and ran the Los Angeles office for about a year. Then he was transferred to run the NCIS Alpha 1 team based in Europe-"

Even for Hetty, she finds herself being overwhelmed by the information. " Alpha 1 team?"

"Oh, the secretary of state decided to put special projects teams in different regions about a year ago to stop any domestic agents from going overseas. Granger was moved to Europe to run that team and that's how he found you. You really didn't know any of this?"

"I retired, Mr. Beale. I knew that I had burned the bridges with you all so I stayed away. But never mind that, I still have so many questions for you that I don't think I can get all in the ten hour flight back to Los Angeles-" Hetty immediately stops mid-sentence when Eric, who had momentarily relaxed the anxious induced expression on his face, goes back to tapping his tablet screen without look at it. "Eric?"

Eric bites his lip and looks up to Hetty like a guilty child. " Granger wasn't the only when sent out of Los Angeles to run an international team. We went through a lot that first year, especially Deeks, which ended with our entire team being moved to be the Middle East regional spec ops team. Los Angeles isn't home for us anymore."