Author's Note: As they do before breaching a door... 3

The next 48 hours were non-stop, all out action for the team chasing down false lead after frustrating false lead. They could feel the pressure of the clock ticking down as they sat in their respective cars, watching Reid's house, hoping to catch a glimpse of him. To date, they had zero luck finding him and they were clutching at straws.

Back in Ops, Eric and Nell were searching high and low for more clues. Hetty did her best to remain optimistic and bolster her flagging team's spirits, but the ever increasing phone calls from Assistant Director Granger, who in turn was being called by his boss, were even starting to make her doubt her team would pull this one off.

Sitting in the black Challenger with Sam, Callen chewed on his lower lip, which didn't go unnoticed by his observant partner. Sam reached past the worried blond into the glove box, pulled out a tootsie pop, unwrapped it and handed it to his partner. "Take it before you chew a hole in your lip."

Sheepishly, Callen accepted the treat, twirling the stick between his fingers for a few seconds as he contemplated Reid's house thru the Challenger's windshield. "We're missing something here, Sam."

Sam started making creases in the lollipop wrapper as he summarized. "We know Reid intends to kamikaze the USS John Paul Jones. To do that he needs a plane, which he owns, which we have under surveillance, which is not currently loaded with explosives."

Callen ran his free hand over his face. "Which means we have the wrong plane." Callen watched as the object, being sculpted by Sam's hand, began to take shape. "So where does one get a plane?"

Sam made a few more folds. "You own one, you rent one, you buy one, you borrow one."

Callen gave Sam a sideways glance, noting it was an airplane Sam was folding, as he tapped his comm unit. "Apropos." When the Op tech answered he said, "Eric, re-check people associated with Reid that own planes."

"Probably fairly close acquaintances," Sam added. "You don't let just anyone borrow your plane."

"On it," Eric quickly replied as his fingers flew over the keyboard.

Sticking the orange lollipop in his mouth, Callen sucked on it for a few seconds. "You'd lend me your plane, right Sam?"

"If I had a plane, no, I wouldn't. The last plane you flew crashed." Sam took the origami plane in his hand and spiraled it into a fake crash on the Challenger's pristine dashboard.

Callen thought for a minute, then his eyes narrowed. "Are you talking about Columbia?"

"Just how many planes have you crashed Callen?" Deeks piped up over the comm link from Kensi's car, which was also staking out Reid's house.

"To date, two that I am aware of," Sam answered drily, much to his partner's chagrin.

"Actually three," Callen corrected. "Well depending on how you define crash. Do you count shooting one down as a crash?" He took a few more hits off his candy before continuing. "And for the record, technically I didn't crash the planes."

Sam snorted. "True. You jumped out and let them landed on their own. Badly."

"It works. Well assuming you have a parachute." Putting his lollipop back in his mouth, Callen glanced out the car window.

"Which," Sam pointed out. "You didn't."

Using his tongue, Callen pushed the pop to the side of his mouth. "You are talking about Columbia! Aren't you over that yet?"

"Damn straight and no. I had to save you, again, because you threw your chute out the plane's door."

"Whoa there big fellow," Callen said removing the pop. "I threw the chute at the guy who was holding his gun on you, thereby preventing him from killing you. It knocked him and the gun out the open bay door of the plane."

"The guy, the gun and your chute all went out that door," Sam reminded him. "Then you and I had to tandem jump 'cause you didn't have a chute."

"But I did save you from getting shot Sam," Callen said smugly.

"And I saved you from crashing into the earth with the plane, G, " Sam one-upped.

Grinning, Callen crunched to the middle of his candy. "So were even on that save."

The excited voice of Eric came over their Comm link. "I think I found it. Reid has been using a friend's plane while his own is supposedly being repaired. The friend's plane is at a small airfield out near Bakersville. According to the crew at the airport, it is being prepped for a flight this afternoon."

"Timings right," Sam said looking worriedly over at Callen.

"Address on your phones guys," Eric informed them.

The Challenger roared to life as Callen gave instructions to the rest of the team. "Kensi, Deeks, stay here in case this is another false lead. Sam and I will check out the plane. Eric, make sure that plane stays grounded."

"Got it," all parties acknowledged.

Forty-five minutes later, Sam and Callen stood in the shadow of a beige, correlated metal hanger, scanning a small white plane with a blue stripe that was sitting on the hot tarmac. There was no sign of any life around the plane at the moment.

"I'll go check it out," Sam indicated as Callen pulled his SIG out of the holster to cover his partner's journey to the aircraft.

Pulling a logo emblazoned cap down over his forehead, Sam made his way over to the plane and started an inspection on it like he was part of the ground crew. Callen kept his eyes peeled but the immediate area around the aircraft stayed deserted. Sam slowly made his way over to the door of the plane, tested the handle and found it unlocked. With a last look over his shoulder, Sam scurried in the plane, closing the door behind him.

The lights from the few windows in the cabin provided enough luminance for Sam to easily see inside the plane. It wasn't an overly large aircraft and he could see most of it other than the cockpit, restroom and small cabin in the rear. Gun drawn, he silently moved to the front of the plane and cleared the cockpit which was empty. Changing direction, he moved towards the rear, checking the restroom first, finding it deserted too. As Sam moved to clear the final room in the back of the plane, a small maintenance hatch in the floor behind him tipped up slightly; it went undetected by Sam. As Sam opened the final door, poked his head inside and discovered it was a bedroom that was empty of humans but full of explosives. As Sam walked further into the bedroom, the man under the hatch lifted it quietly and slid into the cabin undetected by Sam.

Pulling out his phone, Sam contacted Callen. "Jackpot. This..." Finally, Sam sensed someone behind him, but before he could take action, a large wrench smacked him across the back of his head, causing a deep gash in his skull and driving him to his knees. The phone clattered to the floor when Sam fell the rest of the way to the plane's deck. Callen, still on the other end, knew something went terribly wrong and he sprinted from his concealment to the side of the plane.

Inside the plane, the assailant took advantage of Sam's dazed state and secured his hands behind his back with cable ties, as the agent lay dazed on the floor. The assailant knew he was trapped, since the plane only had one exit and it was obvious the downed agent had a partner who,would arrive shortly. Therefore, his only hope of escape was to use Sam as a bargaining chip. Forcing Sam back on his knees, which was no easy feat, he pressed the gun to the back of the clean-shaven agent's head and waited.

Callen entered the plane, clearing the cabin area as he would any hostile space. Seeing the partially opened door to the rear cabin, he crept forward and opened it fully with a powerful kick.

"Federal Agents," he yelled as the door burst inward and the scene of Sam on his knees, hands tied behind his back with a gun pressed against his skull became visible.

"Drop your weapon," Callen barked at the wielder. "It's over Reid."

Callen's conversation was being heard by the Ops Center as well as the junior partners and Kensi started the car when she heard Callen call out Reid's name.

Deeks looked baffled. "How the hell?"

"We must have missed him leaving somehow. Eric, we're on our way to the airport," Kensi stated pushing her car to the limits traffic would allow.

Back in the tech hub of the Ops Center, Eric worriedly glanced at Nell and Hetty who were standing nearby. "Their forty-five minutes out. Callen's on his own," he said nervously stating the obvious.

Callen had his gun trained on the would-be-bomber, who was using Sam as a human shield. Behind them were the explosives, enough to take out the whole of the USS John Paul Jones and then some. Silently studying his partner, Callen determined Sam was too stunned to fight his way out of this situation so whatever Callen chose to do, he was on his own.

The blond agent's agile mind was running scenarios through his mind and none were great choices. There was one spot, were he could place a bullet, that would theoretically kill Reid and not hit Sam or the explosives. But if Callen was off by a millimeter, Reid could survive to shoot Sam in the head killing or if his bullet hit the explosives that Reid and Sam were situated in front of, everyone would die. Lovely choices.

Sam was fighting hard to stay upright and conscious. He raised his pain-filled, brown eyes for a second, just long enough to meet Callen's calculating and concerned, blue ones. This was the moment of truth where Callen had to get over his fear and take the shot or back doen because he was afraid thereby ending his career. In that spilt second glance, Sam conveyed his entire trust to his partner. It was as if he had spoken aloud saying, 'Take the shot. I trust you. I know you can do this G.'

A tentacle of doubt tried to thread its way into Callen's mind saying, 'What if your hand trembles? Like it did with Alex?' Ruthlessly, the agent shoved his doubt away, trusted his training like a wise outlaw once told him, and squeezed the trigger.

Back in Ops you could have heard a pin drop, as they all held their breaths at the sound of a gun discharging. With no visual, only audio, they had no clue whose gun had just been fired and who was still alive.

Remaining professional, Callen kept his weapon trained on Reid until the man slumped to the ground, releasing his hold on Sam who toppled to the deck. As much as Callen wanted to run to his partner's side, he stuck to proper procedures, cleared the gun and ensured Reid was down for good. When all was confirmed, he holstered his weapon on his back and quickly headed for his partner. Reaching out, he placed two tentative fingers on Sam's carotid artery, checking his pulse, which was strong.

"Suspect is dead. Plane is secured. Threat is over," Callen stated for the benefit of his team mates who couldn't see what had transpired. "Eric, send an ambulance and bomb squad."

"Mr. Hanna?" Hetty's voice calmly asked from Ops, though her hands were clasped tightly in front of her.

Still kneeling next to his slumped over partner, Callen visually inspecting the bloody gash, then let a little grin escape. "He's gonna have a hell of a headache."

Callen felt Sam's hand rise and grasp his forearm. Slowly, Sam lifted his heavy, aching head until his eyes met Callen's. "Thanks."

Reaching out, G grasped Sam's shoulder gently, even while giving a little indifferent shrug. Try as he might, Callen couldn't hide the last vestige of fear in his eyes from his partner, who knew him too well. Callen had been terrified something would go wrong.

With Callen's assistance, Sam rose to his knees and then to his feet, lightly swaying. The shorter man helped shore up his unsteady partner. "You know Sam. I think you have the concussion this time."

The two men slowly made their way out of the plane and over to the shade of the warehouse where Callen helped Sam lower his protesting body to sit on a crate.

Sam winced from the sun's glare, even in the partial shade. "You should have moved quicker, caught me before I hit the ground," the hurting man groused.

Making a slight variation, of the oft asked question of people with concussions, Callen asked Sam, "So how many of me do you see?"

Sam didn't even glance up at his partner. "Doesn't matter. One, is one too many."

"That's hurts considering I just saved your life." Callen glanced over by the plane where people were starting to gather. "I'll be right back," Callen told his partner as he headed back to the plane.

"Hey. No problem. I'll just sit here, alone, hope I don't pass out and hit my head again."

Callen knew their banter was their method of tension-relief so he didn't take offense and went right back at his partner. "With your hard head, wouldn't be an issue if you fell again," Callen tossed over his shoulder with his trademark smirk.

Waving the people off, Callen had the area around the plane cleared and secured by the time the bomb squad arrived on the scene. In the background, he heard the sound of the ambulance and Callen saw the EMTs take Sam over to the rig where they began examining him.

Kensi and Deeks arrived then spilt up, Kensi heading for Sam and Deeks walking out to join Callen near the plane.

The two male NCIS agents stood to the side, as the suited-up bomb experts went inside the plane and surveyed the scene. After some discussions with the tact team doing the cleanup, the dead body of Reid was removed and the plane was towed off to a deserted part of the airfield to empty the explosives.

The head of the bomb squad walked over to where Callen and Deeks stood. "One of you the guy that shot that man?"

Folding his arms across his chest and taking a slightly defensive stance, Callen quietly answered, "I am."

A look of admiration appeared on the man's face. "Hell of a risk, shooting a gun amongst all those explosives. No margin for error."

"My partner's life depended on it," Callen said matter-of-factly, his face portraying no emotion.

The head of the bomb squad reached out and clapped him on the shoulder. "I hear you." With that, he turned away and went back to his team.

Deeks, who had watched in silence, turned to Callen. "How small?"

Callen held up the thumb and forefinger on his left hand, positioning them less than two inches apart. Deeks whistled in awe as Callen headed off, back to the ambulance.

As he approached the EMT working on Sam he asked, "Concussion?"

The med tech straightened up. "Yes. Pretty severe in my opinion. However, he is refusing to go to the hospital."

Kensi looked over at Callen apologetically. "I tried. He's nearly as stubborn as you."

After giving Kensi a 'thanks a lot' glare, Callen turned his attention to his injured partner. "Go to the hospital, Sam."

"Don't need to. I'm fine." Behind Sam the EMT was shaking his head no.

Theatrically, sighing, Callen reached into his jeans pocket and withdrew his phone. He started thumbing thru his contacts searching for a number.

"Who you calling?" Sam asked suspiciously. "Hetty? She doesn't scare me."

Callen raised his eyebrow at his partner, as he dialed the phone. "I can't believe you said. Now I definitely know there is something wrong with your head."

Kensi, who had worked with Callen enough to know he was running a scam on his partner, joined in. "He doesn't have to call Hetty. Ops is still dialed in. She can still hear everything you say."

Sam realized Kensi was right. "Crap," he whispered and the expected "I heard that, Mr. Hanna," came in over the link.

Meanwhile, Callen had switched his phone to speaker and everyone could hear it was ringing. "Then who are you calling?" Sam asked a little panicked now since he probably knew the answer.

"Michelle," his partner answered succinctly.

"Stop G," but it was too late. Michelle answered with a slightly hesitant 'Hello'. Callen rarely called her and when he did, it usually was not good news.

"Hey Michelle. Callen."

"Callen. What's up? Something wrong?"

The team could hear a slight edge of concern in her voice and Callen hastily assured her. "Nothing major. Sam just had a little accident today and he hit his head. However, he is refusing..."

Even though it hurt him incredibly, Sam started shaking his head 'no', mouthing he would go to the hospital. The injured man went as far as to get up and climb in the back of the waiting ambulance.

Smirking, Callen restarted his sentence. "Sam is on his way to the hospital. I thought you'd like to meet him there. You might want to bring an overnight bag for him."

"Thanks Callen. I appreciate the call. Are you Ok?" she asked with genuine concern.

"I'm fine," he assured her, even though in the background his partner was calling him a rat bastard and threatening to kill him.

After exchanging a few more pleasantries with Michelle, Callen hung up the phone. Deeks snapped an imaginary whip at Sam. Sam reminded him he could be next on the hit list after he took care of eliminating Callen. At that point, the EMT closed the doors and the ambulance drove off with Sam safely ensconced in the back.

Kensi held up her hand. "Nicely played." Callen gave her a high five as the group, sans Sam headed back to Ops.