Callen walked upstairs and knocked on the door.
"Come in," Zoë called from the other side of the door and Callen walked in. "Ah agent Callen, come in, have a seat on the couch."
Callen looked around the office. It looked different than Nate's office. There now stood and relaxing arm chair and a large sofa, exactly how he always imaged a shrink's office. Callen sat down on the couch and Zoë took her seat on the arm chair.
"Miller's family okay?" Zoë started.
"Yeah they are fine, a little shaken up but the should be fine."
"That's good to hear. I've asked you up here to just have a talk so I can get to know you all. Nate left some files for my but I would like to find out through conversation as well."
Callen sighed, he had no desire to talk to her about his troubled past or anything for that matter.
"I read in your file that you got shot about a year and a half ago. What happened there?"
"An old teammate of me from the CIA had crossed over to the other side and he needed to eliminate everyone in his former team to make cash out of an oil company he started under a new name. He faked his own murder and murdered the other teammate. He tried to do it with me too but fortunately for me Sam was there, otherwise I'd probably wouldn't have survived."
"It also mentioned that the case was cold for about six months so you had no idea who shot you."
"Yeah that's right. Sam dropped me off after work and as I walked to my apartment a van came by. I didn't know what happened. It all happened so fast, before I knew it I was lying on the floor and Sam picked me up. We found out who killed me and that's when I learned who he really was and why he wanted me dead. But we got him so that's closed."
"What can you tell me about Alina Rostov?"
Callen sighed, he had no desire to talk about that. He still felt guilty for her dead.
"Alina was a Russian girl, a daughter of a family I stayed with," Callen reply like she wasn't more than that to him.
"She was more than just a Russian girl. You called her моя маленькая сестра right?" Callen looked at her surprised. He didn't expect Zoë to speak Russian. "You stayed with this family the longest of all your foster placements and you're now living in their house, correct?"
"Yeah I am and yes I stayed with them the longest. I actually liked them."
"It must have been hard for you than you couldn't stay with them."
"They were just another family walked out on me, I was used to it by then," Callen replied without showing any emotions but Zoë could tell that it had been hard on him to leave to Rostovs.
Zoë was determined to get something more out of Callen but now wasn't the time to push, not in their first talk.
"I know you didn't like talking to Nate but I hope I can change that. My door is always open when you want to talk to me."
"Thank you Zoë. Are we done here?"
"Yeah you can go. Can you please ask agent Hanna to come up?"
"Will do."
Callen walked out of the door and back downstairs, happy that that was over. If it was up to him he would spend as little time as possible in that office.
"Survive it up there?" Sam teased his partner, knowing how his partner felt about shrinks.
"Yeah, she wants to see you too."
"Alright."
Sam got up from his desk and walked upstairs. Sam knocked on the door and walked in.
"Ah agent Hanna, welcome. Please sit down."
"Please call me Sam."
"Alright Sam, I just want to talk to you all to get to know you. Nate wrote some things down for me but I prefer to get to know people in person."
"Sure, you can ask me anything you want."
Zoë was surprised by Sam's attitude, totally different than his partner.
"I read in Nate's notes that your married, the only one of the team."
"Yeah that's right."
"It must be challenging sometimes, managing this job with married life."
"Yeah it's not always easy. I had to miss some nice moments with my wife and kids because of this job. But my wife is the best. She's former CIA so she knows what the job can be like."
"I also read you're a former SEAL. I bet you saw some things in country you wish you hadn't."
"Yeah I did. It wasn't always easy, sometimes we got captured or we got shot. I lost some buddies of mine in service. I am proud to have served my country and now serve it as a NCIS agent. I like working at NCIS and to be in one place, especially now that I have a family. This job doesn't make it easy on family live but my wife is very understanding and she does an amazing job with the kids."
"That's good to hear. What about your partnership with agent Callen?"
"He's like a brother to me, but it wasn't always like that. When we first got partnered up I really didn't like him. He was too lone wolf, always wanting to go at things his way, on his own. I'm a SEAL, we don't work like that, we always work in a team. So that was a little bit challenging in the beginning. But it turned out great in the end. We work together really well. I think it has been good for G to have a partner like me. Someone to keep him grounded, keep him from going lone wolf, someone who trusts in him. He hasn't had that often in his time growing up, having bounced around so many foster homes. G has changed a lot since I first met him."
"I can clearly see that you're all like a family here."
"Oh yes we are. We spend more time with the team than we do with our actual family. G knows I trust him and he trusts me."
"That's good to hear. If you ever want to talk, my door is always open."
"That's good to hear."
"Are the others still here as well?"
"Yeah they are."
"Good, can you send agent Blye upstairs?"
"Of course. Have a good night Zoë."
"Thank you, you too Sam."
Zoë waited until Kensi was upstairs.
"Please have a seat agent Blye."
"Call me Kensi."
"Alright Kensi, I just wanted to talk to you to get to know you a bit better. Your file said you joined NCIS to find out what happened to your father. Can you tell me more about that?"
"My father was killed while on duty but it was all very secret. They wouldn't tell me what really happened and it sounded suspicious."
"Your father was a marine correct?"
"Yes that's correct. When my father died I was pretty pissed and I vowed to myself I would find out what really happened. That was my first goal when I came to NCIS, but after not really finding anything out I put it on aside, especially after coming to the OSP. I feel at home here. Callen and Sam are like two big brothers to me."
"And your first partner, agent Dominic Vail, he died while on duty, right?"
Kensi felt herself tearing up a bit as Zoë mentioned Dom. "Yes that's right. He was captured and we had no lead whatsoever to find him. In the end it turned out he had been in LA for all these months. We found him but the bad guys had us pinned down. Sam was the first one who found him. Dom gave his life trying to protect Sam. He got in front of the shot to protect Sam. We should have had a better eye on him, he was still a rookie. We should've trained him better."
"It's not your fault he died. Even seasoned agents get taken and they don't always make it out. It's not on you."
"He didn't deserve to die, he was too young to die."
"No one deserves to die, but he knew the risk when he signed up for this job. How about your new partner, Detective Deeks. I heard he's LAPD."
"Yes that's right. He joined us for an op and since we were still a man short Hetty recruited him as the LAPD liaison, making the partnership between NCIS and the local police easier. At first I wasn't sure what to think of him but he growing on me and I think he's a good fit for NCIS. He gets on my nerves sometimes but we trust each other."
"That's good to hear. If you ever want to talk my door is always open."
"That's good to know. I think you will fit right in here at NCIS."
"I hope so, I'm glad to be here. Can you send Mr. Deeks up too?"
"I will, have a good night."
"Thank you, you too Kensi."
Zoë worked on her notes of Kensi's talk as she waited for Deeks.
"Hey doc," Deeks spoke as he walked in.
"Please have a seat Mr. Deeks."
"Just call me Deeks. What do you wanna talk about doc?" Deeks asked as he sat down on the couch.
"Just wanted to get to know you guys better. You're with NCIS for a few months now right."
"Yeah. We worked a case together and afterwards Hetty recruited me as LAPD liaison."
"How do you like working here at NCIS?"
"It's great. I'm an undercover cop so I'm not really popular with some of the LAPD cops. I've been doing undercover ops for a while now so I'm good here. Of course there's some difference cus I'm a cop and they are special agents but we work well together. They are teaching me things and I feel like part of the team."
"And working with Kensi?"
"I like working with Kensi, I think we make a great team together. Wait.. did she say something else? I know I can get on her nerves sometimes but we make a good team. Even though I'm a cop Kensi and I really work well together. We trust each other," Deeks startled rambling.
"Relax Deeks, Kensi didn't say anything bad about you. She thinks you two work well together as well."
"Okay, that's good to hear."
"Do you think you'll stay working here?"
"Yeah, I like it here. I fit in better here than with the LAPD. I mean if Hetty will want me I would like to keep working here."
"That's good. I heard something about you shooting your father and that he was abusive. Can you tell me about that?"
"What's there to tell? My dad was a bad man and he abused me and my mom so one day I did what I had to. I took his shotgun and shot him."
"How old where you?"
"I was eleven."
"What happened after that?"
"I didn't have a happy childhood. My mom, I do love her, but she didn't always know how to raise me but I think she did a good job. I mean I turned out okay."
"It's a lot for a child to deal with. Getting abused and watching your mother get abused is something that no child so go through. If you ever want to talk about it I'm here for you."
"Thank you doc. Was that it?"
"Yeah. Have a good night. Are Ms. Jones and Mr. Beale still here?"
"I think they were."
"Good, can you ask Mr. Beale to come here?"
"Of course. Have a good night doc."
A little later Eric stepped into the room.
"You wanted to see me Zoë?" Eric asked as he walked in.
"Yes, I just wanted to talk to you. Get to you know."
"Oh sure. What do you want to know?" Eric asked as he sat down on the couch.
"You graduated MIT before joining NCIS right?"
"Yeah that's right. After completing MIT I did some more courses before applying to NCIS. First I worked out of the DC office but when they opened up the OSP they asked me to join it. I feel at home here in LA. It's close to the beach which is good, cus I love surfing and the weather is better here than I DC. I've got my state of the art ops center here which is awesome, from there I can basically do anything. Me and Nell guide the agents from up there. There's hardly anything I can't do behind a computer. Sometimes these agents give me the most impossible jobs but I always find what they are looking for. I guess they have gotten so used to it that they expect miracles of me," Eric rambled.
"And you like working upstairs or do you prefer to be in the field?"
"Oh god no. I don't want to be out in the field with all the people shooting at me, I'm safe up there behind my computer. It's what I do best. Does Hetty want me out in the field? Did she say that? I'm not ready to be out in the field. I can't."
"Relax Eric, nobody said you should go out into the field."
"Okay good," Eric relaxed.
"And how's it working with Ms. Jones? I heard she recently joined the ops center."
"Yes she did. She hasn't been here long so we're still getting to know each other but I think we make a great team. It's nice to have someone up there with me, it sometimes was a little lonely. And now we can find things faster, with two sets of eyes and hands. Nell's really smart. She's a great addition to them team. I like having her around."
"That's good to hear. If there's anything you need, like insight into a suspect, my door is always open. Also if you ever want to talk to me about something, I'm here for you."
"Thank you Zoë. I'm really glad you joined NCIS. I think you'll fit right in here."
"Thanks Eric, I'm glad to be here. Can you send Ms. Jones in here please?"
"Of course, have a good night Zoë."
"Thanks, you too Eric."
Not soon after Eric left Nell walked into the room.
"You wanted to see me Zoë?"
"Yes, please have a seat. I just want to talk to you, to get to know you better."
"That's fine."
"So, you're here the shortest of them all. Do you like working at NCIS so far?"
"Yeah, it's really great here. They are all a family here and I'm glad to be part of the family here. I like working with Eric. I think we make a great team. Eric and I are still getting to know one another but I think we work pretty well. I was happy when I got the chance to work at this office. This is one of the best NCIS offices out there."
"You're an intelligence analyst right?"
"Yeah that's correct, but I can help Eric with more. I'm also qualified to carry a gun should Hetty ever need a tech out in the field."
"That's good. Nate left me some files on the agents here but he didn't leave a file for you so is there anything I should know about you?"
"Yeah he didn't leave a file because I joined NCIS after Nate left. Well, I am a type A personality with borderline and control issues with man I admired, but I've got it under control. If you don't know me you hardly know it's there."
"That's good to know. If there's ever anything you want to talk about my door is always open."
"Thank you. I hope you enjoy it here."
"Thanks, I'm sure I will. Have a good night Nell."
"Thanks you too."
Zoë worked up her notes and put them in the files before logging off and walking downstairs.
"How was your first day Ms. Moore?" Hetty called from her office.
Zoë walked to Hetty's office. "It was good, getting settled in nicely. Had a talk with the agents and techs, just to get to know them."
"Did Mr. Callen cooperate with you?"
"Yes he did. He talked to me but I could tell he wanted to be anywhere but in my office."
"Yeah Mr. Callen doesn't like talking to shrinks. Mr. Getz never really got a chance to get Mr. Callen to open up to him. Maybe you have better luck."
"I will definitely try my best."
"That's good to know. I'm glad you're here Ms. Moore."
"Thanks, I'm glad to be here."
"Have a good night Ms. Moore."
"Thanks, you too Hetty."
Zoë left the office, ready to start a new day tomorrow. Hopefully she would earn the trust of the agents and can get Callen to open up to here more.