"Oh my god!" Clara yelled excited and so did Leigh.
"You passed?" Leigh asked.
"Yeah. You?"
"Yeah me too."
"Congrats," Clara said as she flew her arms around Leigh's neck.
"Thanks you too."
"Thanks. I'm gonna call my parents."
"Yeah me too."
Clara pulled her phone out and dialed her mother's cell.
"Hey Clara," Jenny answered the phone. "Did you get the results?"
"Yes just now."
"And?" Jenny asked, curious to know if Clara passed or not.
"I passed," Clara announced happily.
"Oh my god! Congratulations sweetie."
"Thank you mom. I can't believe it. I'm so happy."
"You did great Clara, I was positive you had passed. When is graduation?"
"Next week."
"Ah okay. Are you free tonight? We'll go out to dinner then to celebrate."
"Uhm yeah sure. We were planning on going out to celebrate with friends but I can still do that afterwards."
"Okay. We'll see you then after work."
"Alright, I'll come to your place."
"Great see you then."
"See ya. Will you tell dad too?"
"Of course I will sweetie."
Jenny hung up the phone and walked downstairs to the bullpen where the agents were.
"Hey Jen," Callen greeted his wife. "Did Clara call already?"
"Yes she did, just now?"
"And…?"
"She passed."
"That's great. I knew she would."
"Yeah she was very happy. I told her we would take her out to dinner tonight to celebrate."
"Sure that's fine."
Just past 5.30pm everyone went home. Jenny and Callen stopped by the mall to buy a little present for Clara.
It was just before 6pm when Clara arrived at her parents' house.
"Hey Clara," Jenny spoke as she opened the door. "Congratulations sweetie." Jenny gave her a hug.
"Thank you mom."
"Hey sweetie," Callen greeted her. "Congratulations, I'm proud of you." Callen gave her a hug too.
"Thanks dad."
They all got in the car and Callen drove them to a restaurant. They went to the Cheesecake factory in Marina Del Rey. They were shown to their table and looked at the menu after ordering something to drink. Jenny ordered Quesadilla as appetizer and Louisiana chicken pasta as main course. Callen ordered Buffalo wings as appetizer and as main course he ordered smokehouse BBQ burger. Clara took Caesar salad as appetizer and pepperoni pizza as main course.
"So graduation next week and then off to FLETC?" Callen asked they were eating.
"Yeah, but I first have two weeks of vacation. Leigh and I are going to Palm Springs, just gonna relax after this last year."
"Ah that's nice."
"There are dorms on campus so I'm staying there when I get to FLETC."
"You're going to Glynco right?"
"Yep, so I have to fly to either Orlando or Jacksonville and from there I will see. I think I'll rent a car."
"Ah okay."
"How will long will you stay there?" Jenny asked.
"Uhm... I enrolled in a few courses. Some take two months others only a few days."
"Which courses are you taking?" Callen asked.
"CITP, ASTTP, AILEITP, LERTP, AFTCSI I, BTTTP, PROP and SSTPM."
"That are quite a few courses."
"Yes, I want to have as much as I can. Before I go to FLETC I have to go to DC. I have an interview with someone there. If I do get the job I can go straight to FLETC. I already had signed myself up for FLETC cus I heard there was a waiting list."
"Who do you have an interview with? Is it at the Navy yard in DC?"
"Yes it is. I have the interview with Anthony DiNozzo and Leon Vance. Do you know them?"
"Yes I know. Vance is the director of NCIS and Tony is one of the agents in the DC office. He took over from Gibbs when he retired."
"Ah yes I remember Gibbs. I heard you talk about him sometimes. Are they nice?"
"Yes they are. Don't worry, just be yourself. I'm sure you'll do great and will get the job."
"Thanks dad."
"You know after you get the job you're not a fully qualified field agent yet. There are still thinks you have to learn before that."
"I know that. I first have to go to FLETC and then I have to do a lot of courses within NCIS and I have to learn on the job with a senior field agent. Do you think I will learn under you?"
"Nah I don't think so. I think Kensi will teach you. But you might tag along with me and Sam sometimes too. If you get assigned to our office."
"Sounds good. I said when I applied for the job I was mostly interested in undercover work and that I wanted to work from the LA office."
"Ah okay. We'll see what happens but I'm sure you'll get the job."
They finished their meal before going home. Clara went out with some friends to celebrate the graduation.
In the morning Jenny called Jamie to see how he was doing.
"Hey mom," Jamie answered the phone.
"Hey Jamie, how are you?"
"I'm good. How are you and dad? Did Clara pass?"
"We're both fine and yes Clara passed."
"That's great, so she's on her way to FLETC now?"
"In two weeks yes. How's it going with you at school?"
"I still have one more week. I have a couple more exams to do but I think I will pass and then go to the next year."
"That's great. I'm really proud of you, you're doing really well in school."
"Thanks mom. I've gotta go, gonna meet up with some friends. I'll see you next week."
"Yeah see you."
….
Graduation was in three days. Clara was really happy to finally get her diploma. Callen, Jenny, Jenny's family and everyone from the NCIS office sat in the crowd. Callen and Jenny were really proud parents and Jenny took some pictures as Clara received her diploma. They all went back to Callen and Jenny's place to celebrate.
Two days later Clara and Leigh left for Palm Springs. They were staying at the Palm Canyon resort. They had a junior villa room. They entered the room and came into a small hallway. Left of the front door was a bathroom with toilet, vanity, bath and shower in one. They walked through and came into the main area. They had a small kitchenette, a dining table and a couch and coffee table. The kitchenette featured a blender, microwave, small fridge, toaster oven, two burner stove top and a tea and coffee machine. Behind the couch was the bedroom area. They had a queen sized bed with two night stands and a low closet with a TV on top. They had a big balcony with table and chairs and a small balcony with some deck chairs. They overlooked the pool from their balcony. The hotel was built around the pool area. There was a pool with some deck chairs on the side and a waterfall. There also was a Jacuzzi and some waterslides. There were also a couple of palm trees and a pool side bar. The hotel had a spa and you could do several activities on site like aerobics, fitness, yoga, several ball sports and a game room. Nearby was a grocery store so they could buy stuff groceries for breakfast, lunch or dinner or some snacks. There were also some activities they could do nearby like horseback riding, biking, visit some gardens, movie theaters, shopping and water parks. They hadn't decided on anything to do yet, they would see what they felt like. They were mostly there to relax after spending four years in college. They were staying there for seven days.
…
Jamie was finished with school and on his way home. He has passed this year and was moving onto the next. He still had three more years to go. He was going to spend a few days with his parents before going on vacation with his friends. They were making a road trip along the west coast, ending in Seattle and then back via Salt lake City and Las Vegas. They had booked some small hotels along the way. Callen and Jenny had a vacation planned too. They had taken the week off already to spend it with Jamie and next week they would leave for vacation for eleven days. They were going to Blanes, Spain.
Callen and Jenny were at the airport to pick up Jamie just before noon.
"Hey Jamie," Callen called when Jamie walked out of the terminal.
"Hey mom, hey dad," Jamie replied when he was closer and gave both his parents a hug.
"How are you?" Jenny asked.
"I'm good mom, happy to be in LA again. Massachusetts is so cold during the winter."
"Haha yeah I bet, but hey you wanted to go to MIT."
"I know, I'm just not used to winters that cold."
"Yeah I had that too when I was there. But at school everything is going fine?"
"Yes everything is good. I love the courses. I've learned a lot already."
"That's great."
They spend a couple days together before Jamie left by car. Their first stop was San Francisco, from their they would drive up on the one hundred and one alongside the coast all the way up to Seattle.
…
The next Monday Callen and Jenny left for Barcelona. Their flight left LAX just before 7.30am. They first had to fly to Charlotte, NC. They were in Charlotte just after 3pm. They had a little more than an hour overlap here before their flight to Barcelona would leave. Just before 5pm they were up in the air and they flew to Barcelona. They managed to get some sleep on the flight. It was just after 7am, local time, when they landed in Barcelona. They rented a car at the airport and drove to their hotel in Blanes. It was just over an hour drive. They were staying at the Beverly park hotel.
"Buenos días, bienvenida al hotel Beverly park," the woman behind the desk greeted them. "Cuál idioma? Which language?"
"Español está bien," Callen replied in perfect Spanish.
"Vale, tiene usted una reserva con nosotros?[Okay, do you have a reservation with us?]"
"Si, Señor y Señora Hathaway."
The woman typed something on her computer. "Sí que veo, ha tenido un buen viaje todo el camino desde Los Angeles?[Yes I see, did you have a good trip all the way from Los Angeles?]"
"Sí que estaba bien."
"Bueno. Me vas a quedar en la habitación de cuatro veintiuno. Eso es en el cuarto piso. Usted puede tomar el ascensor y entonces es a la izquierda en el pasillo. Aquí hay alguna información sobre el hotel. Si usted tiene alguna pregunta no tenga miedo de preguntar. [Okay. You are staying in room four twenty one. That is on the fourth floor. You can take the elevator up and then it's to the left in the hall. Here is some information about the hotel. If you have any questions don't be afraid to ask.]"
"Gracias," Callen replied and he took the room keys and information. Together with Jenny he took the elevator up to the fourth floor and went to their room.
They had a superior room. They room was twenty three square meters and had a terrace which overlooked the pool area. If they looked to the left they could see a bit of ocean between the other buildings. They had a double bed, plasma TV, bathroom with vanity, bathtub and shower in one and a minibar. They walked into the room and immediately to the left stood a double vanity with mirrors, behind the vanity was the desk. There was a room further to the left which was the bathroom. Across from the vanity was a closet. They walked further and there stood a double bed with two nightstands. Across from the bed hung the TV on the wall and next to it stood a couch. On the deck stood a small table and two chairs.
They just enjoyed some time at the hotel to relax. On Wednesday they took a day trip to Barcelona. The touring bus left from their hotel. They would be dropped off in Barcelona and then be picked up at 11pm at the same location. After breakfast they went to Barcelona. It was a little more than an hour drive to Barcelona. They were dropped off on the parking lot near the Camp Nou. They would be picked up there too. They first took a tour of the Camp Nou. They both weren't big on soccer but since they were here now they would go there. It looked really old from the outside. They got their tickets and went inside. They first came into the museum. They took a walk around the museum and saw all the history of the club. From the museum they took walk onto part of the seats. They were now just a little bit above the street level but there still was a big part of the stadium below them. They walked through the stadium and came into different areas. They saw the visitors dressing room, the press area, the interview room, the catacomb(as it was called in Europe, this was the hallway leading up to the field), while going down the stairs they passed by the chapel. The walls had drawings on them. They walked down and came onto the pitch. They could just walk down the small part beside the pitch. They looked up from the pitch. The stadium was really high. They walked further, they could go up to the commentator stands too. It was really big and high. When they walked out of the stadium they came into the fan shops. They looked around and bought some souvenirs.
Just in front of the stadium they could get onto the Bus Turistic. This was a hop on/hop off bus. They could tour the entire city with this bus and it wasn't really expensive. They got earphones when they got on. They could plug them in on their seats and they would hear some information about the places they drove past. The stadium was on the blue route so they took that first. They drove over the Diagonal, this was the big street in Barcelona which went from one side to the other. They got out at the Sagrada Familia. They went inside and explored the church before getting back onto the bus. The next stop they got off was Park Guëll. This was a public park designed by Gaudi. They had to walked up the steep road to get to the park. They had a beautiful view of the city from the park. They strolled through the park and had some lunch before going back down and get back on the bus. They got off at the stop on the Diagonal and got on the Red line. They first took the bus to Placa D'Espanya. This was near the Royal Palace. They could see it from the bus. They went to the shopping mall Las Arenas. They could go up here and enjoy the view of the city. Callen asked a tourist to take a picture of the two of them on top. They went back down and cruised through the mall before taking the bus to Montjuïc. Here they got out and took a stroll. They visited the Olympic stadium. After they had explored it they went back to the bus stop. They drove past the harbor. And after that through the Gothic area of the town. They got off at Placa de Catalunya. From here they took a stroll on Las Ramblas. They went back at the Diagonal with the bus. They got off here and went to find a place to eat since it was 8pm. They found a small dinner there. They had dinner and took a stroll back to Camp Nou, it wasn't that far. They walked past the old Masia, which was the training ground for FC Barcelona. They were at the parking lot at 10.45pm. The bus was already there. They got on the bus and waited for the others to arrive. They had taken some pictures during their tour of Barcelona and bought some souvenirs along the way. At the FC Barcelona fan shop they had bought a bottle of red and white wine. They were back at their hotel just after midnight. They went straight to bed.
The next day they just relaxed around the pool.
"Clara has her interview today at NCIS right?" Jenny asked as they were laying by the pool after lunch.
"Yeah she does. But it's only like 7am in DC."
"Ah yes. She had it at 2pm right?"
"Yeah I believe so."
After dinner they went up to their room and played a game of poker on the balcony with a glass of wine.
…
Clara had already gotten to DC on Wednesday, to make sure she was on time. She had stayed at The Phoenix park hotel. From her hotel she took a bus to the Navy Yard. It was about twenty minutes by bus. She walked toward the Navy Yard and reported to the front desk.
"Hello, I'm Clara Callen, I have an appointment with Leon Vance and Anthony DiNozzo, NCIS."
"Do you have your ID with you Miss?"
"Yes of course." Clara fished out her ID and handed it to the security guard.
The security guard scanned it and compared it to the records on file. "Yes Miss. They are expecting you. Take the road left here and then go right. It's up down the road."
"Thank you."
Clara walked to the NCIS headquarters. She walked into the building and went to the desk.
"Hello, I'm Clara Callen, I have an appointment with Leon Vance and Anthony DiNozzo."
The receptionist checked her computer. "Ah yes miss. If you have a seat over there someone will come and get you shortly."
"Thank you."
Clara sat down on one of the seats. She really hoped she would do well and get the job.