The next morning Callen was already making coffee when Zoë walked into the kitchen.
"Morning," Callen spoke when he noticed Zoë walking into the kitchen.
"Morning," Zoë replied.
"Did you sleep okay?"
"Yeah, it was okay," Zoë replied as she sat down at the kitchen table. "Thanks for staying here last night."
"It's no problem at all," Callen said as he put a cup of coffee down in front of Zoë.
"Thanks. Sorry I called you last night, I didn't know who else to call."
"It's absolutely no problem, don't worry about it," Callen replied as he sat down across from her.
"Thanks."
"Don't worry Zoë, you'll get through this and we're all here for you. Just try to take it easy and if there's anything I can do, don't hesitate to call."
"Thanks Callen."
"You're welcome," Callen smiled at Zoë. "Are you gonna be okay today?"
"Yeah don't worry about me. I'll be fine, you can go to work."
"Just rest up and if you need me just call okay."
"I will, but I'll be fine, I promise."
"Alright, I'll talk to you later," Callen spoke as he stood up.
"Thanks again for coming here."
"No problem, see you later."
"Tell everyone at work hi for me will you."
"I will. See you."
Callen gave Zoë a reassuring touch on the shoulder before he walked out of the house and went to work.
….
That Saturday afternoon Zoë sat at home on the couch just watching some TV when there was a knock on the door. She stood up from the couch and went to open the door.
"Hey Callen," Zoë spoke surprised.
"Hey Zoë, I was just in the neighborhood and I thought I'd stop by to see how you were doing," Callen lied, he wasn't exactly in the neighborhood.
"Thanks Callen, come on in."
"Can I get you a drink?"
"Some coffee would be nice."
"One coffee coming up."
Zoë returned with two coffee and sat down next to Callen on the couch while keeping her eye on the TV, she was watching some soccer.
"How was work this week?"
"It was just the usual, nothing really exciting."
"Good." Zoë suddenly yelled at the TV: "Ah kom op, dat was toch geen overtreding, stomme scheids."
Callen looked at Zoë surprised as she yelled at the TV in a language that was unfamiliar to him.
"Uhm… you okay?"
"Huh?" Zoë questioned as she looked back at Callen. "Oh yeah, just can't stand stupid referees. That totally wasn't a foul. He shouldn't have given the others a penalty."
"I didn't know you were so passionate about soccer."
"Oh yes I love football. It's my favorite sport."
"Football? Don't you mean soccer?"
"Right soccer."
"What language was that you were speaking?"
"Oh, that was Dutch."
"Dutch? You speak Dutch?" Callen asked surprised.
"Yep I do. I lived in The Netherlands till I was seventeen."
"Oh wow, I didn't know that."
"Yeah, I'm half Dutch on my mother's side. I was born in The Netherlands and moved to America with my dad when my parents split up after I finished high school. My dad is American."
"Ah okay. So you grew up in The Netherlands?"
"Yep I did. My mom still lives in there along with my brother, my sister does live here in LA."
"So you still speak Dutch fluently?"
"Yep I do, I kept it up ever since I moved to the states since I still have family there."
"Ah okay, that's nice. I didn't know you were part Dutch."
"Have you ever been to Holland?"
"No I haven't, not really. Once had a stop at the airport in Amsterdam but that was only for like an hour or so. Is it true they have windmills there?"
Zoë laughed. "Yeah they do have windmills but not so much in use anymore as in the old days. A lot they have now are museums or restaurants or something. Not many are being used like in the old days but they are still a beautiful landmark in Holland."
"Where did you grow up in Holland?"
"In the south of Holland."
"In the small town or in a city."
"In a small town, so it was a bit getting used to when I came to LA first."
"Yeah I bet, LA is pretty busy."
"Yeah for the first few months I was living here I had to get used living in the big city and finding my way around. But I love living here now."
"What made you decide to come to America and not stay in Holland?"
"I had already been here a few times, visiting my dad's family and I just loved this place. I always felt more connected to my American part then to my Dutch part so when my parents split all of us were giving a choice if we wanted to stay in Holland with my mom or go to America with my dad. I always loved it here in America so I decided to move here with my dad. I still miss my Dutch family but I feel at home here in LA. I never once regretted moving here."
"That's nice."
"How about you?"
"How about me what?"
"I just told you were I grew up. Care to tell me more about your foster homes?"
"Not really. There's not much to say anyway. Some were bad others weren't."
"It must've been hard for you to go through some many foster homes and group homes."
"Yeah it wasn't easy, but it is what it is. So you're into soccer huh?" Callen changed the subject.
Zoë looked at him for a second, he was good at changing the subject he didn't want to talk about. "Yeah I love it. I've been a football since I can remember."
"Why do people in Europe call it football? What do you call our football?"
"Because it is football. Ball you play with your foot, so football. It's called American football. Europe's football is more logical than American football. I mean in American football you hardly play the ball with your feet, except for with those free kick thingies."
"Have you ever seen our football?"
"Not really. I don't really understand it."
"Alright, that settles it. I'm gonna take you to a football game, a real football game."
"Okay, I guess."
"How about basketball? Have you ever seen basketball or baseball?"
"Oh yes that I have. I love basketball and I like the occasional game of baseball."
"What's your favorite team?"
"Of basketball or of soccer?"
"Basketball. I don't know that much about soccer."
"The Lakers. I've always been a huge fan of Kobe Bryant. He's just amazing."
"He's a great player yeah."
"A friend of mine works on the staff with The Lakers, I can try to ask her for tickets. If you'd like to go."
"Sure that would be amazing."
"Great, and then I will take you to a real football game as well," Zoë smiled at Callen.
Callen smiled back at Zoë. He had just sorta agreed to go on three dates with Zoë. Callen finished his coffee and got up to leave. "It's good to see you're doing okay. We all miss you at work."
"I'll be back before you know it. Thanks for coming by."
"No problem. I'll see you later."
Zoë showed Callen out and watched as he got in his car. One day she hoped he would fully trust her and tell her the stuff that he was trying to deal with from his past.
…
Three weeks later Zoë was cleared to go back to work. She walked into the office bright and early, the others weren't there yet.
"Good morning Ms. Moore," Zoë heard Hetty call as she was about to walk upstairs.
"Good morning Hetty," Zoë replied as she walked to Hetty's office.
"Good to have you back."
"It's good to back, I was going crazy at home. Anything exciting happen while I was gone?"
"Nah not really much. Mr. Hanna and Mr. Callen finally got the man that killed Moe."
"How's Sam?"
"He's okay. It's closure for him. It really hit him hard when he found out that Moe had been killed."
"Yeah it did. I'm glad he captured the man."
"Me too. I'll let you get back into work."
Zoë walked upstairs and sat behind her desk. There was some paperwork on her desk that she needed to catch up on.
….
Callen saw Hetty go into wardrobe and decided to follow her. He'd been looking for her the entire day.
"You avoiding me?" Callen told her straight up.
"If I wanted to avoid you, Mr. Callen, you wouldn't find me."
"What's going on, Hetty?"
"Oh, many things. Perhaps you should be more specific."
"I have to flinch first, is that it? Fine. I got a nut job running around the city with a dirty bomb. He's already tried to kill us. You haven't weighed in on this."
"I have alerted the NEST teams. And apprised the local authorities of the appropriate emergency protocols."
"Thank you," Callen told her sincerely.
"Is there something else you think I should be doing?"
"I don't know."
"Well, I think you've got it covered, Mr. Callen. If I didn't I'd tell you."
"That's good to know."
"Being in charge sucks, Mr. Callen. Everyone looks to you for guidance and answers, even when you have none to give."
"Well, I've never known you to ever be at a loss for words."
"The true test of a commander is when he is as frightened and confused as those who look up to him. In that moment, when you can't find it in yourself you will find it in them. That's leadership."
Callen looked at Hetty as she spoke. She had never spoken to him in this way. Something was definitely up with Hetty, he just couldn't figure out what. Hetty walked off, leaving Callen thinking about what she had just said.
..
Zoë was in her office, trying to think of how to help the team when there was a knock on her door.
"Come in," Zoë spoke and Hetty stepped in.
"Any new development Hetty?"
"No not much, Mr. Beale and Ms. Jones are still looking. I just wanted to talk to you, if you have time."
"Yeah no problem, what's up?"
"How do you like being here at NCIS?"
"I love it, I love working here. Everyone here seems like a family and now I'm part of that family too."
"That's good to know. I hope the agents are threating you right and talking to you."
"Yeah they are, some are more difficult that others though."
"Mr. Callen had a though childhood and he doesn't open up so easily. But I have noticed that Mr. Callen seems more open to you then he ever was towards Mr. Getz."
"Yeah, he does tell me some things but I can tell that there a lot more things he's keeping bottled up."
"Just be patient with Mr. Callen, he'll open up eventually. It doesn't matter how slowly you're going as long as you don't stop."
"I won't give up on trying to get Callen to open up."
"That's good to know." Hetty got up and got ready to leave when she turned around. "Just don't give up on yourself either. You may be here for the agents to open up to you but don't forget yourself in the process."
"I won't Hetty."
..
After they had apprehended the bad guy Callen starting thinking about the things Hetty said to him.
"Yo, you okay?" Sam said when he didn't get Callen's attention immediately.
"Yeah, I was just thinking."
"About what?"
"Something Hetty said. I'm worried about her."
"She's worried about you."
"Why would she be worried about me?"
"You can be a worrisome guy. She pulled me aside and wanted to talk about it today."
"Me too," Kensi stated. "But not about you. We had a real heart-to-heart today about the future."
"Me three. She's talking about things changing."
"Guys, she's putting her affairs in order," Callen suddenly realized and they all hurried back to the office.
..
Zoë just walked out of her office when she stumbled upon someone entering OPS, someone she didn't recognize.
"Excuse me, can I help you with something?" Zoë asked.
"I was looking for the OPS center."
"And you are?"
"Lauren Hunter, Hetty's replacement."
"Hetty's replacement? What? What's going on?"
Upon hearing the commotion Nell and Eric came out of OPS.
"Hetty's replacement?" Nell said. "Where's Hetty?"
"I don't know, she just told me to take over from her. She tendered her resignation, effective immediately."
The three of them couldn't believe it. Hetty was gone just like that and now they had a new operations manager.
"Hetty?!" Callen as he walked into the office, followed by the others. "I've been calling you," Callen told Eric as he came out of Hetty's office followed by Nell and Zoë.
"I'm sorry."
"Why didn't you answer my call? Where is she?"
"Miss Lange?" Hunter spoke from the stairs as she walked down. "She's gone. She tendered her resignation effective immediately.
"Who are you?" Sam asked, not trusting this woman for a second.
"Lauren Hunter. Her replacement." Callen looked at her with raised eyebrows.
"Her replacement?" Deeks questioned.
"Is this a joke?" Kensi added.
"I'm not much of a joker, Agent Blye."
"Nell, get me Director Vance on the phone," Callen told Nell and he was about to walk upstairs.
"That won't be necessary." Callen and Nell stopped and turned back to Hunter. "Director Vance is coming online in OPS to brief you all momentarily." Hunter turned around to face Callen. "Agent Callen, I'd like to have a word with you in my office when you're finished."
Callen looked after her as she walked off. Who the hell was this woman and where was Hetty? They all walked upstairs to be briefed by Director Vance.
"What the hell is going on?" Kensi asked.
"I have no idea, but I don't like it," Callen replied.
"Did you say something to you Zoë?" Sam wondered.
"No not really. She just came into my office to talk about a few things, how I was doing here and such. It was a bit weird but I didn't think much of it until now."
"She didn't say anything where she was going or anything?" Callen asked a bit angrily.
"No."
They were briefed by Director Vance who was just as shocked as they were and he would be on the next plane. With the help of Director Vance they tried to track Hetty down and to see what she was doing. They figured out it she was working on operation Comescu and that they had Hetty.
"Comescu's people have Hetty," Callen stormed into Hetty's office where Director Vance, Hunter and Nell were after they had gone on a mission to get close to one of the Comescu's.
"Yeah, I heard. We'll find her. I'm putting on team on it," Vance replied.
"You have a team," Callen replied surprised.
"Not in Prague I don't."
Called looked surprised. "How long have you known she's in Prague?"
"Miss Jones just told me."
Callen looked to Nell who nodded. "I need a ticket on the next available flight."
"Not necessary. I'll send a team from the field office in Paris."
"Great. They can pick me up when I land in Prague."
"You're not going to Prague."
"I speak Czech. I speak Romanian. I have contacts in Prague that can help us."
"You are no longer on this case, Agent Callen."
"THEN GIVE ME A REASON. TELL ME WHY? WHAT IS OPERATION COMESCU ABOUT?!"
"It's about you, Agent Callen. Operation Comescu is all about you."
Callen was shocked at these words.
"Operation Comescu is an ongoing investigation into a Romanian crime family. Dream up the worst pain and suffering a man can inflict on another man. Comescu family has done worse. They've done much worse. I don't have to ask if you remember Dobrashin Garasovic, do I?" Of course Callen remembered him. "Garasovic was Romany. Just like the Comescus. He was trying to contact you. He was trying to warn you."
"Warn me about what?"
"That's what Hetty's trying to find out. That's what she was working on. Operation Comescu is hers and hers alone."
"She found out….?"
"She found out the Comescu family wants you dead, Agent Callen."
Callen was shocked. Why would somebody he didn't even know want him dead.
"Why?" Sam asked.
"Some sort of long-running family feud as far as we can tell."
"I don't have any family. They think I do?"
"They probably mistake you for somebody else."
"Probably. Hetty was trying to protect me."
"And that's why you can't go to Prague."
"That is why I HAVE to go to Prague."
"Hetty has resigned her position. She's operating outside of the authority of this agency. We will send a team from Paris. We'll find her. We'll try to bring her back. We'll try to get her the hell out of there. And you will not, YOU WILL NOT be a part of team."
Callen took his badge and gun out and put them on the desk with Sam and Kensi following behind him.
"I would if I could," Deeks said.
"Yes you would Detective."
The others all watched as the agents walked off. Director Vance send Hunter after them.
"What did Hetty found out about the Comescu's?" Zoë asked Vance.
"I don't know. Like I said, operation Comescu was hers and hers alone. She just told me the minimum details."
Director Vance walked off. Nell, Eric and Zoë all went upstairs. Nell and Eric went to OPS as Zoë went to her office, trying to find out if she could find anything about Comescu. Perhaps there was something in Hetty's history or past cases that would suggest what this case was about. Hetty had worked in Romania for some time back when she was with the CIA but nothing about the Comescus. She must know them somehow and know that they wanted Callen dead, but how and why?
Zoë wanted to know how Callen was, this was maybe somehow connected to his past. Maybe he would find something out about his family. Maybe it was true after all. Maybe he was part of the family feud.
…
After a few days the team was back in LA. Zoë walked into the bullpen as the agents walked back into the bullpen.
"How's Hetty doing?" Zoë asked.
"With some rest she should be fine," Sam told her.
Zoë watched as Callen absent mindedly packed his stuff in his bag, ready to go home.
"How's he?" Zoë spoke softly to Sam.
"A lot has happened. Give him some space and then try to get him to talk to you. He needs to talk about this."
"I will." Sam had told Zoë a bit what had happened in Romania.
"See you guys later," Callen spoke as he walked off.
"Callen wait," Zoë spoke as she caught up to him.
"I'm not in the mood to talk Zoë," Callen said as he threw his bag into the car.
"You don't have to talk now. Just know that I'm here for you and you can always call me if you wanna talk."
"Thanks Zoë but not right now. A lot has happened. I just need to process this."
"It's okay Callen. I'll be here when you wanna talk."
Zoë gave Callen a smile as he got into his car and drove off. Zoë really hoped that Callen would talk to her about this. It would be good for him to talk about this, he needed to talk about whatever happened in Romania.
…
After a few days of time off they were back at the office. Hunter was still there at the office while Hetty recuperated. They all still didn't trust Hunter completely but they tried to just focus on doing their jobs.
Callen wanted to know what was going on but Hetty wasn't cleared yet to see him, she was still in hospital. He had so many questions for Hetty, he had found out so many things while in Romania and he wondered how much Hetty really knew. She must have known more then she had led on. Zoë watched Callen closely, trying to get him to open up to her but it wasn't working just yet. He wasn't talking to her yet. But Zoë wasn't going to give up. Callen needed to talk to her and it would be good to him if he would just talk about it. But everything that had happened was a really big deal to Callen and he needed to process this. Zoë just hoped he would confide in her, she could help him process this.
That Friday evening after work Zoë decided to stop by Callen's place.
"Hey Callen," Zoë spoke after Callen had opened the door.
"Zoë, hi," Callen spoke surprised he hadn't expected her but he wasn't totally surprised. He knew by know that Zoë wasn't going to give up.
"Hi, can I come in?"
"Yeah, come on in," Callen sighed.
"Thanks."
"I suppose you're here to get me to talk to you."
"I was just coming by to see how you were doing and yes." Callen sighed. "It would be good for you if you talked about it. You can trust me Callen."
"I know I can, it's just… a lot has happened. I don't even have to whole story myself."
"So, talk to me. I can help you."