A/N: I know so many of you were looking forward to seeing each division of the group and how they would get alone. My favorite, I'll tell you right now, is Danny and Callen. I am really enjoying writing those two together. I hope you like them too!

Enjoy!

Chapter 9: Getting to Know You

The awkward silence in the car was deafening between Danny and Callen as Danny road passenger through the unfamiliar streets of Los Angeles.

"So, how did you come to know a pack of doctors?" Callen asked as he stared straight ahead at the road before him.

"We met them through Max Bergman – our medical examiner. He's got a background in physics, he's really smart, as well as his medical license, and they all came to Hawaii for a conference put on by the University of Hawaii. There are actually three more members of their group that change the dynamic completely when you get them all together," Danny explained, reminiscing fondly on the change of heart that he had when first introduced to a wild pack of Californian scientists and their women folk.

"Are they all doctors?"

"Not Howard – he's just an engineer and astronaut – which is totally cool. He's married to Bernadette, who is a doctor of microbiology. Amy is dating Sheldon, in a very unconventional relationship, and they are both doctors which clashes because Amy specializes in Neurobiology and Sheldon thinks that Theoretical Physics is far more advances then studies of the brain. Then there is Penny. She hasn't really spoken about her education but she's got street smarts and she's kind of the glue that brings them all together and helps them survive in the world. I'm sure that you've notice it – they aren't the most socially aware people you'll ever meet."

"Especially Sheldon."

"Oh Sheldon." Danny laughed to himself as he smiled. "When we first met Sheldon Cooper he was getting off an airplane in sunny Honolulu dressed from head to toe in medical equipment – mask, booties, gloves, you name it he was wearing it. It was all a ploy to avoid contact with airplane germs. I'm surprised he didn't ask if Steve and I, and the rest of the crew for that matter, had decontaminated before we met up with them, but then again he was too busy trying to find us and get involved in our business here in California. Leonard introduced him as Professor Wack-a-doodle, and that turned out to be the most accurate representation of a man whose knowledge of the universe is so vast that he never truly learned how to function in his own environment. He's a genius but he's got the social mentality of a twelve year old."

"You've profiled him well," Callen commented and knew that through his own observations he'd come to the same conclusions about the doctor in question.

"It's in my job description, Agent Callen."

"What about Leonard – what can you tell me about him?" Callen asked.

"Leonard is brilliant in his own right. He's more advanced socially then Sheldon. He's madly in love with Penny, and how a guy like him got his hands on a girl like her, I'll never know. I will make sure that you meet her and maybe you can tell me how such a thing happens. He's got mommy issues, worse then McGarrett, but he is determined not to let his brilliance cloud his view of the world."

"And what about Rajesh – what is that guys deal?" Callen asked with a smirk as he turned to look at Danny. "I don't think he spoke two words the whole time I've known him – granted it hasn't been that long."

"Raj is another very special, very delicate, case. He is also brilliant but he's clearly not from around here and I think he's watched a few too many American cop shows so he's paranoid that if he slips up, even just a little bit, he'll be sent back to India, and from what I have gathered he really doesn't want to go back there," Danny explained.

"Can he really not speak to women, or is that all fake?"

"Oh no, that is real. It is a legitimate medical condition. He's been diagnosed. It's a form of selective mutism in which he can't speak to women, some very feminine looking men and people of high authority. Alcohol can usually trick his brain into submission but nothing worked with Steve until Raj proved that in some way he was superior to the Super SEAL, and that allowed him to verbalize. Steve calls it a break through, but I believe it's more psychological then that. He's kinda a profiler's dream subject. I don't know if I will ever truly be able to paint a perfect picture of Rajesh because he's just such an enigma."

"So he really won't be able to speak to Sam?"

"Not now that he knows that Sam is a Navy SEAL."

"Oh this could be way too much fun," Callen said with a laugh.

"Just don't give Raj any information into your background or your plot might backfire," Danny warned.

"My background is all classified."

"And if you even so much as hint at that, Raj will not be able to speak to you either."

"He's fine with you, and you have quite the background."

"Yeah, but mine is an open book. I was a cop, then a detective with the homicide divisions of Violent Crimes in New Jersey. Then I came onto Five-O in Hawaii and we deal with violent crimes and all sorts of other big bad things – some of which end up classified. But my business is really just law enforcement and Raj gets that," Danny explained. "He's good with Chin as well, and Kono when he's drunk."

Callen smirked to himself but fell silent.

"I saw that," Danny stated and stared straight ahead at the road. "I know you just got everything you wanted from me. I had nothing to hide, but had I, your Jedi mind tricks wouldn't have worked. I'm playing right into, Agent Callen. I've dealt with people trained by the CIA enough to know how to get around things."

"Thank you for the intell, Detective. I was skeptic about the scientist at first, but based on what you have just said and the fact that Hetty seems to trust them, I believe that they may be helpful after all."

"Oh come on, don't play me for the fool. I saw it the moment Hetty laid eyes on Sheldon. She's fascinated by them and as such she wants to know more about them – to understand them. Henrietta Lange is a legend – she a woman of the world and her background is so diverse that even rumors of what she had done is enough to make you question everything you've ever known. I'm sure she's seen her share of the world's mysteries and has become the perfect person to analyze and profile anything. I don't think trust is an issue because she can see that they aren't dangerous – oblivious maybe, but no more dangerous then an infant," Danny stated with a rant on the tip of his tongue. "If Hetty saw anything in them, it's that Doctor Wack-a-doodle and his band of henchmen are entertaining to observe and, because of their combined genius, they are very helpful people to have around."

"We have a guy like that, you've met Deeks. I'm just interested to see how he meshes with them," Callen said with a smile. "He's smarter then he lets on."

"As long as he doesn't hit on Penny, we'll be fine."

"Oh he will," Callen stated.

"Then it's going to be an interesting two weeks," Danny said with a laugh.

"So we're good, Detective?" Callen asked as the awkwardness seems to melt away.

"I've got your back," Danny answered with a nod as they pulled to a stop outside the bar they had been searching for and Callen's phone started to ring.

5-0-NCIS:LA-TBBT

Meanwhile, at Caltech…

Kensi and Chin followed Leonard through the halls as he led the way to his laboratory.

Kensi was dressed in a floor length printed skirt with sneakers and a peasant top. Her hair was braided and coiled up on the top of her head. She sported glasses and carried in her arms a stack of text books and files. She took small, quick, steps and watched everything around her like it was all brand new and brilliant. Occasionally she would push the glasses back up her nose as they slipped down and she'd lag behind as something or other would catch her attention.

Chin also sported glasses. His hair was slicked back, parted in the middle and hung over his ears. He wore the most awkward pair of plaid pants Hetty could find, with an argyle sweater vest over a lime green button down and a bowtie that had more colours in it then the plaid pants. He made a conscious effort to slouch but straightened up every time someone passed him in the hall and if he could manage it he reached out to shake the hand of the strangers and introduce himself as Doctor Mortimer Chang – as Kensi bat her eyes and introduced herself as Doctor Gabby Piccadilly

"You two are freaking me out!" Leonard stated nervously as they walked into his lab and he slammed and locked the door behind them. "I thought we were supposed to keep a low profile and yet you two have introduced yourselves to almost the whole physics department – Barry Kripke even tried to pick you up Kensi!"

"Just try and calm down, Leonard. It's all part of the plan," Kensi stated as she dropped her books on the desk and stood there leaning. "It wouldn't be an undercover op if someone, or Deeks, didn't try to pick me up."

"Doesn't Deeks try to pick you up all the time, not just on undercover missions?" Chin asked.

"Yeah," Kensi answered and smiled.

"I can't do this you guys," Leonard stated as he started to dab at his forehead with the sleeve of his hoodie.

"Just be yourself, Leonard. We'll do all the rest," Chin stated and then pulled a lap top out of the shoulder bag he'd been carrying. He passed it to Kensi and then pulled out a second one as someone knocked at the door.

"What up my science bitches?" Howard stated as he strut into the lab followed by Deeks.

"Word," Deeks said and nodded with a sleazy smile as he walked over to Kensi and placed his arm around her shoulder. "Hey Fern, the nerdy is turning me on."

"What did I tell you?" Kensi rolled her eyes. "The name is Gabby – Doctor Gabby Piccadilly."

"Whatever," Deeks stated and hiked up his baggy jeans, "I'm brilliant."

Deeks sported a pair of dark washed baggy jeans that fell half way down his hip to show brightly coloured boxers and a belt that was relatively useless. His hair hadn't been changed from what he usually sported but he wore a t-shirt with the chemical equation Fe2+ in a circular pattern on the front of it.

"Nice shirt," Leonard commented as he watched Deeks with interest.

"It's a Ferrous Wheel!" Deeks stated proudly. "Get it?"

"Are you high?" Kensi asked with another roll of her eyes.

"No, but I am playing high. It's all part of the cover, Fern," Deeks stated. "Wanna know my back story – oh too bad gonna tell you anyway! I'm working with Howard on the new multi functional space hand. If successful we'll revolutionize the way an astronaut can complete tasks on the international space station."

"Do you even know what that means?" Kensi asked skeptically.

"Sure do! It's going to be so accurate it will be able to reach out and grab shit in space!" Deeks stated proudly. "It's going to be so awesome that, if we make two, we could totally play catch – in outer space!"

"Minus the gravity – that idea might actually work," Chin stated without looking up from his computer.

"Technicality," Deeks stated.

Howard nodded proudly. Kensi rolled her eyes and sighed.

"And what are we calling you?" Chin asked as he looked up from the work he had started.

"Ted, just Ted," Deeks answered.

"Hetty named him Theodore Xavier Blenkinsopp the Third," Kensi teased.

"I'm totally rebelling." Deeks stated.

"I heard that Mr. Deeks!" Hetty said into his ear.

"Sorry."

"Alright, enough with the introductions, we have got to get this lab wired and online," Howard stated.

"Is that the laser?" Deeks asked as he scanned the room and Kensi, Howard and Chin set up the surveillance equipment.

"Yes," Leonard answered and handed Deeks a pair of safety goggles. "Would you like to see how it works?"

"Heck yeah!"

"Alright," Leonard stated, "goggles on," He added and flicked the switch.

"Wow!"

5-0-NCIS:LA-TBBT

Steve and Sam walked onto the base like they owned the place. It was very much the mentality of a man who had been beaten down by training and made it through it. They had every right to act in such a way because they had been among those men who had made it all the way to the end of their training – they were the proverbial best of the best.

The admiral in charge met both men as they made their way to the intelligence offices.

"Good to see you lads, are you here to show our recruits how it's done?" Admiral Winchester asked jokingly.

"No sir, though I would love to, we're hoping for a little help from the powers that be," Steve answered seriously.

"I looked into it," Winchester stated and motioned both men into his office, "but I'm afraid I won't be much help to you. The man you are looking for has been AWAL for two weeks. He was supposed to be in Washington two weeks ago but when we contacted the D.O.D they hadn't seen him."

"He's still in California. We have him on surveillance footage from three days ago," Sam explained. "He's been off the grid ever since."

"Maybe not," Winchester stated and pulled a file out of his desk. "Holick and a man based out of Washington, with the Department of Defense, have been working on a top secret project involving technology that will effectively disable weapons simply by scrambling the signals that the weapons put off. As such the monitoring systems also involved a tracking device and those devices have been concealed in the uniforms of test subjects. Holick is one of them."

"Holick's uniform was found on the body of a man submerged in the ocean for several hours," Sam said. "Would that affect the device?"

"It most certainly would. The salt water would disable the tracking device he it had been submerged long enough. The device is made to withstand multiple washes, but the salt would have been enough to erode the circuitry," Winchester answered with a sigh.

"Who were the members of the test group?" Steve asked.

"I can get you that list," Winchester stated, "but it's going to be a short one."

"That would be a great help, and if possible, can you get us the name of the contact with the Department of Defense?" Sam asked.

"I'll do one better. I'll have him flown out here to debrief you on his project."

5-0-NCIS:LA-TBBT

"Whoa, Raj, can you go back just slightly?" Kono asked as she watched over Raj's shoulder as they scanned through hours of footage. "That is Frank Delano right there," She added and pointed him out of the crowd. "And I recognize, Rick, Joe and Baldwin," She said and highlighted the other three men. "I can pull up their files from the cloud file we have with Five-O," She added and sat down at another computer and began typing.

"Traveling companions?" Hetty asked as she just happened to come back into the ops center at the right moment.

"More like muscle for hire." Kono sighed and continued her work. "They are pretty much guns and that's all – Baldwin especially. Joe and Rick ran with Delano on a day to day basis. Baldwin was called in when someone needed to be persuaded into talking or if someone got in Delano's way. Later on, after Delano escaped, Baldwin was with him almost constantly." Kono felt the pang of fear and hatred as she talked about he man who had attacked her. Hetty saw everything, written like a story across Kono's face, as she spoke.

"Detestable," Hetty stated and then turned to Nell and Eric. "We need to get these faces into our system and start tracking them. You'll fill in Doctor Koothrappali so that he and Officer Kalakaua can assist you."

"What about Sheldon?" Kono asked as she watched the lone Doctor continue to walk a large circle around the ops center in deep contemplation.

"It has been brought to my attention that Doctor Cooper has an eidetic memory."

"Your information is correct, Miss Lange," Sheldon stated.

"Then it would be safe to assume that you have stored information that may be useful to me. I will be putting Doctor Cooper to work on another special project," Hetty stated.

Sheldon brightened up.

"As for the rest of you, I want you to find me the whereabouts of Frank Delano's henchmen and then I want them brought in for questioning," Hetty ordered.

"We're on it," Nell and Eric stated together.

"Please come with me, Doctor Cooper," Hetty said with a smile and Sheldon followed obediently.

"Can you get me Danny, he needs to know about this," Kono stated once Hetty was out of the room. "If anyone is going to recognize these guys, Danny will."

"We can absolutely do that," Nell stated, passed Kono a tablet and a Bluetooth ear piece and connected her with Callen's cellular phone.

5-0-NCIS:LA-TBBT

Hetty led Sheldon down stairs to a location familiar to all of her agents as her office. She sat Sheldon down in a chair, across her desk, and took up her own place.

"Doctor Cooper, I'd like your cooperation on a project that you may see as beneath you but, with your memory, may prove infinitely useful to us and the swift resolution of this case," Hetty stated as she folded her hands and tried to appeal to the genius and pride she knew Sheldon to possess.

"I'm all ears, Miss. Lange. I see this as my civic duty. I use my power for good and not evil."

"You will be working with files connected to the Department of Defense. These are high levels of security and consist of our governments secrets…"

"I don't like secrets," Sheldon stated interrupting the floor of Hetty's speech. "I'm terrible with keeping secrets."

"The secrets must remain within the group that is working on this case. You are not the only one keeping this secret," Hetty explained trying to easy the visible discomfort that had come over the doctor before her.

"I don't think you understand. I set back Howard's career when he crashed the mars rover. I can't keep secrets," Sheldon stated. "It has been my life's work to discover the secrets of the universe and make them known to the world. I'm not programmed to keep secrets hidden."

"Well, that works well for me," Hetty smirked. "I need you to break open these secrets and find a link within these file to the men we are hunting. You've seen the case. You know the nuances and the minute details, I know, because they are now stored in your mind. Sheldon, I need you to be the only one, aside for myself, who looks at these files. But I need you do to it because in the next two hours I have to return them to the people who have lent them to me and so I need you to remember everything that is in them," Hetty explained.

Sheldon coloured slightly and reached across the desk.

"I will do my best," Sheldon said shaking as he opened the first file, "but for the record, I don't do well with secrets."

"I understand but not to worry. We have ways of helping people keep secrets that aren't meant to get out," Hetty said with smiled that was almost frightening, and Sheldon felt the full force of the threat in her statement. "I will leave you now. Use my office, no one will bother you here," She added and stood to leave, "and, if it makes you feel any better, Doctor Cooper, we've known for a very long time that Howard Wolowitz crashed the mars rover and tried to cover it up. We know almost everything. You didn't set back his career." And with that Hetty left Sheldon alone.

5-0-NCIS:LA-TBBT

"Got it Kono thanks," Callen stated just before he ended the call and looked to Danny. "It sounds like Delano didn't arrive alone. Are you familiar with three men on his crew, Joe, Rick and Baldwin?"

"I know them to see them," Danny answered as he leaned on the car and then looked suspiciously at the run down dive bar they had arrived at only moments before Kono's call came in.

"What's on your mind, Detective?" Callen asked and watched the change in Danny's demeanor.

"I don't know if you know this, but I have amazing instincts. It's a gift and a curse," Danny answered and watched as a smile spread across Callen's face. "I could use a beer, Agent Callen, I've had a hard day and I feel like I need to pour out my sorrows to the local barkeep."

"Was it a bad day on the stock market, or perhaps striking employees are making you question whether or not you should shut down your business operation and move it to Mexico," Callen stated as he opened the trunk of his car, pulled a pair of ties out of a case that he kept there and tossed one at Danny.

"I'm feeling the stock market today." Danny smirked as he removed his badge from his hip.

"Here, cover your service weapon with this," Callen stated and tossed a suit jacket at Danny.

"And who are we to each other?" Danny asked as he threw on the jacket and smoothed out the tie.

"I'm your brother, Greg, and I'm in real-estate, but the house that my company has been flipping is way over budget and I'm not happy with the time it's taking to finish the project to get the house back on the market."

"Man, we're having a bad day," Danny stated and watched as Callen hung his tie around his neck loosely and tucked his weapon into the band of his pants for concealment and threw on a tailored leather jacket.

"That's why we're drinking at noon!" Callen stated, pulled a leather brief case out of his trunk and opened it. "We're going online," he stated and handed Danny an ear bud.