Sorry for the longer than usual delay in posting a new chapter. Kids started school, which brings all kinds of crazy with it ha ha! The good news is that I have chapter 11 almost ready, so there should be a shorter lapse between postings this time. Enjoy chapter 10!

"Wait, you said what to him?" Callen looked at his partner and shook his head. "Sam, I thought we've been over this before. Apologizing means admitting fault – your fault, not his."

"I did. I said I was sorry, but he kept twisting my words around like he was still mad. What was I supposed to say?" Sam was frustrated. Apologizing was not easy for him, but he had tried anyway. And Deeks had made it so difficult.

"What do you expect? Of course he's mad. Deeks is still dealing with the aftermath of his torture and physical pain, and what he probably sees as betrayal by you. He wasn't trained like you to withstand that kind of stuff. You wanted to say you're sorry and yet you brought up what you think are his short-comings. Not exactly the strategy I learned in 'Sorry 101'."

"I didn't betray him, G. You know that. I would never betray a team member."

"I thought you didn't see him as a full team member," Callen reminded him.

"I don't. Or I do. I don't know – he worked with our team but he was never totally one of us, you know?" Sam frowned and slammed his fist into the heavy bag hanging in front of him. After leaving the precinct, Sam had called Callen to meet him at the gym. He needed to blow off some steam before going home. "Why is this so hard? I really did mean to apologize to him. I am sorry. It is all my fault and I admit it," Sam confessed.

Callen took a couple of steps forward and steadied the bag. "Sam, you live by a different set of rules and standards than Deeks. It doesn't make them any more right or wrong, just different. You have to accept that about Deeks – just like you learned to with me. Remember when we first got partnered together?"

Sam nodded. Their partnership had not gotten off on the best foot. Callen was a lone wolf used to doing things alone in his own way. Sam was fresh from active duty as a Navy SEAL, used to being part of a team and following orders. They were like oil and water, and neither of them had thought their partnership would last more than a year.

"What do I do now? I don't think Deeks will ever speak to me again, and I don't know how to make things right," Sam said humbly.

"If it's important enough to you, you'll think of something Sam. Don't give up on our detective. He's a good guy – better than good. And so are you." Callen put his hand on Sam's shoulder and paused before walking out. "Good luck."

It had been a quiet morning at the mission. Kensi caught up on paperwork. Callen spent his time reading newspapers, some local and some in languages she hadn't seen before. Sam sat quietly at his desk, searching for something on the internet – probably another hard-to-find gift for his daughter's upcoming birthday.

A shrill whistle broke the silence. "Your presence is requested upstairs, ladies and gentlemen," Eric said in his best British accent. Then in his normal voice, he added "Not really requested, because Hetty said you had to be up here, but you get it, right? The accent? Trying to add an air of formality today."

The team headed up to Ops. As they passed Eric at the top of the stairs, Callen gestured towards Eric's clothing. "If you're going for formal, try some pants and real shoes."

Once everyone was assembled inside ops, Nell told them that there was a new lead in their current case. Several weapons had gone missing from Naval Weapons Station Seal Beach in the last few weeks. The only suspect they had so far was a petty officer who had been on duty at the time the weapons went missing, and who also had a very large amount of money in his checking account – larger than a second class petty officer would receive from his pay. The weapons had not been found, and the petty officer was not talking. There seemed to be no lead about why they were gone or who they were sold to. Finally the sailor was willing to work with NCIS to catch the players higher up in the weapons dealings.

Nell said Petty Officer Murphy informed them of a meet that night. He's supposed to talk with his contact, Mr. Sendic, about another deal of guns and ammo. They are meeting at a club downtown called Eclipse. Hetty told them to see if they can get close to the meeting, see who else is there, and find out as much as they can.

"Hetty, do you mean Mr. Allan Sendic?" Sam asked her. Hetty nodded affirmatively. "He's the business manager of Eclipse, which is one of the newest, hottest clubs in LA. It's impossible to get in, from what Michelle tells me."

"Nothing is impossible if you know the right people, Mr. Hanna," Hetty replied.

"Guess that means we've got a double date tonight, girls," Callen said wrapping an arm around Kensi's waist. Sam walked over and slung his arm around Jenny's shoulders.

"Um, guys, we have a case to work on tonight, right? Hetty just said so. Plus, Sam, aren't you married? I'm sorry, but I don't date married men," Jenny said with an alarmed look on her face.

They all looked at Jenny. Hetty walked over to her and patted her arm. "Mr. Callen was referring to the case, dear. That is your cover story for tonight, that the four of you are on a double date at the club. You will pretend to be Mr. Hanna's date for the evening." A look of understanding crept across Jenny's face.

"Oh. Right. Sorry. This undercover stuff is still new to me," Jenny replied nervously.

"Ms. Blye, Ms. Lowry, I need to see you downstairs in wardrobe. Gentlemen, I believe you know where your suits are located – complete with the pants, Mr. Callen," Hetty said.

They walked downstairs and stopped in front of the racks of clothes. Jenny ran her hands over the dresses. "Wow! These are gorgeous! And we get to like wear them, seriously?" She acted like a kid in a candy shop. "So we get to play dress up and get paid for it, huh? This is totally the best job ever!" she exclaimed, holding up the cobalt blue cocktail dress Hetty had handed her.

"Yeah, it's exactly like playing dress up, if you mean wearing Hetty's expensive clothes and trying to avoid getting drinks or blood on them all night," Kensi answered her as she stepped into a dressing room.

"Blood?"

"Either yours or someone else's. You know, from getting shot at when the deal goes bad and we have to pull the federal agent card – which we always do. Oh, and how are you at running in heels?"

Sam and Callen shook their heads as they got dressed. It was going to be a very interesting op.

A couple of hours later…

The four agents walked into Eclipse looking like two couples ready for a fun night. They made their way over to an empty spot along a wall and looked around. Kensi had already found all the emergency exits and counted the number of bouncers and bodyguards trying to act inconspicuous.

"Hey Michael," Callen said using Sam's cover name. "Why don't you take your girl out on the dance floor? Katie and I will hang out and get some drinks." He gestured to Kensi, who nodded in agreement.

"No, we're good. I think you and Katie are much more the dancing type," Sam responded shaking his head.

"You know I'm the more stoic, aloof one. You're the social butterfly. Go dance, have fun."

Jenny could barely contain her excitement. She grabbed Sam's arm while moving her body to the beat. "Please Michael? I haven't been clubbing in LA yet and this would be so fun!"

Sam frowned and then looked at Callen. "I'll do rock-paper-scissors for it."

"You really think I would fall for your east coast/west coast rules? I know how you play," Callen laughed.

"Caleb, man you are my brother. I wouldn't do that to you. I play honest and fair," Sam pretended to be offended while trying out Callen's cover name.

Callen sighed and stuck out his hand. "Ok, fine. On three. 1… 2… 3." Sam held out his fist, making the rock sign. Callen put his hand out, pinky finger and thumb held under the palm with three middle fingers extended and slightly bent at the ends.

Sam looked at Callen's hand. "What the hell is that? That isn't anything. I win! Go get your dance on."

Callen shook his head and flashed one of his trademark smirks. "Wrong, my friend. I win."

"By what rules? That isn't a rock, a paper or a scissors," Sam protested.

"Romanian rules."

"Ro- what?" Sam asked confused.

"Romanian rules. The rules of my people. It's a claw, and claw beats everything including your rock." Kensi smiled and kissed Callen's cheek, pretending to be the happy girlfriend.

"That's cold man. Just cold. I can't believe you would do that to me… making stuff up," Sam said with a hint of amusement in his voice.

"I think you better take your girlfriend dancing. My beautiful date and I are going to get a drink." Callen led Kensi towards the bar where they miraculously found a spot open.

Once on the dance floor, Jenny started dancing as if she was actually there to party and not work. Sam awkwardly grabbed her hands and tried to look like he was dancing with her. She smiled and put his hands on her waist, trying to get him to loosen up into the part they were playing. He shuffled his feet around a little but just couldn't get into a rhythm. Suddenly he pulled Jenny close to him and whispered into her ear and the comms at the same time, "I see him. Mr. Sendic is across the room, opposite the bar from you guys. Black suit, red tie. Looks like only one of his guys near him."

"Got him," Callen said looking over in that direction. "We just noticed Murphy talking to a few women by the dance floor. He's looked over a couple of times but didn't let on that they knew each other. How do you want to proceed?"

Jenny said this was her queue. She acted upset with Sam and stormed off the dance floor over to where Sendic was standing. After ordering a drink she noticed him and started to flirt.

Sam joined Callen and Kensi and ordered a drink. He complained about his girlfriend ditching him to keep up his cover. The three agents watched as Jenny talked, smiled and laughed with Sendic, flirting more and more as the minutes went by. She turned and pointed at Sam once, making an unhappy face, and then turned back to Sendic. Jenny placed her hands on his biceps and slowly moved them up to his shoulders as she moved herself in closer to his body. Sendic's smile got bigger and he put one arm around her waist. She fingered the collar of his shirt as she moved her face in closer to his, breaths now mingling together. While he was distracted by her close proximity, she slipped a bug underneath his collar. Sendic whispered something in Jenny's ear about a back room, and they walked away from the bar. Through their earpieces, the rest of the team heard Jenny giggling and talking about being in a VIP room for the very first time. Shortly after Sendic and Jenny entered the VIP lounge, Murphy made his way over and went in as well.

"I have to say, I'm impressed by her. Better than I thought," Callen said.

"Yeah, except for making me dance, it looks like she has a way of getting a guy to do what she wants," Sam added.

"All women do. We're born with that skill," Kensi said smiling.

"And you all start perfecting it around age 2!" Sam chuckled.

Callen laughed at Sam's joke until his fake girlfriend for the night glared at him. "Ok. Katie, let's move a little closer to the back of the club and check it out. Michael, I think you need to stay close to the doors, drowning your sorrows a little more. Am I right?"

Sam held up his drink. "Yep. I'm still pissed about those Romanian rules."

A few hours later…

"Wow, what a rush!" Jenny exclaimed as the team returned to the mission late that night. "I mean, it was so crazy, dancing at the club, a gun fight, running in heels; that was SO cool!"

"You did good tonight Jenny. Now go get some sleep. Busy day tomorrow," Callen said. He and Sam went to change their clothes. It had been a long night, and as it usually happened, nothing went as expected with their case that night.

"How did you enjoy your first undercover op?" Kensi asked her as they walked over to wardrobe. "Was it just like you thought dress-up would be?"

"Not exactly. I mean it was fun, mostly, but I can't believe they all run away as soon as you shout 'federal agent'. I thought they would stop, because we're kind of like the police aren't we? And a Navy sailor… aren't they supposed to follow orders?" Jenny said sort of confused.

They all laughed. "What exactly did you do in Spain again?" Kensi asked amused.

more to come, hopefully soon. Let me know what you thought of this chapter, please?!