It was the beginning of December now, which meant that in a few weeks it would be Christmas. This year would be the first Christmas Callen and Zoë would spend together living together. They had decided to spend Christmas eve together with just the two of them. The entire team now knew that they were together. After what had happened when Vasile Comescu had found 'Callen's father' they put two and two together and Callen and Zoë had told them when they asked.
It was weekend now so they were at the store to look for a Christmas tree. They found a nice big tree. Callen strapped the tree onto the roof as Zoë loaded the rest of the stuff into the car, they had bought some decorations as well. Once at home they brought the Christmas tree inside. They put the tree in the corner left of the fireplace. Once it was secured Zoë started decorating it as Callen started decorating outside. This was the first year he actually decorated his house for Christmas but so far he was loving it, to do this together with Zoë. Zoë hung the lights in the tree and then added the decorations and the tree topper. Once she was done with the tree she decorated the rest of the house. She put some figurines on the mantle and hung a wreath on the fireplace. Around the rest of the house she placed some figurines and other Christmas decorations as well. When she was almost done Callen came walking inside. Zoë went outside to look at Callen's handiwork. He had put a string of lights over the porch and around the support beam, another string of lights in front of the window of the dining room. In the garden stood a reindeer and Santa with sled.
"It looks really nice," Zoë stated.
"Yeah it looks very festive."
Together they walked inside. The house looked very nice all decorated, Callen had to admit. Growing up he never really had a Christmas, sometimes he was at a foster home during Christmas but sometimes he was at a group home or on the street. Ever since he had come to work with NCIS he had spent some Christmasses at Sam's place but now would be the first time he would celebrate it at his own home with the woman that he loved. Callen hoped a case wouldn't keep him over Christmas. But considering criminals usually took Christmas off as well Callen wasn't so worried about that. Callen had already figured out a perfect Christmas gift for Zoë, he just needed to buy it. He was scared at first about how it was gonna be like for them to live together. But he absolutely loved it. He loved being together with Zoë and waking up next to her every morning. Ever since he had been together with Zoë he slept better than before and now that they were living together he only slept better. Most nights he actually got about seven hours of sleep. Zoë was glad he was sleeping through the night now, she remember what it was like when they first got together. He would hardly sleep and went out a lot at night to work on his languages or pull kitchen appliances apart. But whenever she was with him he actually slept most of the night.
Callen was really happy about how his life had turned out and he wouldn't trade it for anything in the world. He knew Zoë was the one for him. He couldn't imagine his life without Zoë. It was for that reason Callen had decided he was going to ask Zoë to marry him. He never thought of himself as the marrying type but that all changed when he met Zoë. He was pretty sure that Zoë wanted this too but he also knew that he would be the one to make this move. Zoë would never pressure him into anything like this, so he knew it was up to him to make it clear that he really wanted to marry her and spent the rest of his life with her. He loved her so much and asking her to marry him seemed like the right decision. He had already planned the whole thing. He would get the ring as a Christmas present for her and he would hide the ring underneath the tree with the other presents. He just had to find the perfect ring.
Callen said he would do the groceries this weekend, this was the perfect cover for him to look for an engagement ring. Callen went to the shopping mall, where the grocery store was near and he went to the Jewelry store.
"Good afternoon sir, how can I help you?" A friendly woman behind the counter asked him.
"I was looking for an engagement ring," Callen tried to speak without any nervousness in his voice. He wanted this but he was nervous about the whole thing, hoping he would do it right and that Zoë would say yes.
"You've come to the right place. What kind of ring are you looking for?"
"I'm not sure."
"Well I can show you a few selections. Do you know what ring size you need?"
"No, but I have one of her other rings here." Callen pulled out one of Zoë's rings, which he had taken from her jewelry box, and showed it to the saleswoman. The saleswoman took the ring and measured the size and went to grab a few display racks. Callen looked through the rings, there were so many to choose from. But when his eyes landed on a ring he knew that was the one.
"That one," Callen said as he pointed towards the ring.
"Excellent choice sir." The saleswoman grabbed the ring from the rack and put it in a blue velvet box.
"Do you perhaps also have a gift box to wrap it up in?"
"Yes of course. Is it for Christmas?"
"Yes it is."
The saleswoman grabbed a gift box and put the blue velvet box in it and Callen paid for it.
"Enjoy the holidays and I'm sure she's gonna be very happy with this."
"Thank you for your help and happy holidays to you too."
Callen put the gift box in the inside pocket of his jacket and went to get the groceries. Once Callen had gotten all the groceries he went home and put them away and put the gift box in the back of his nightstand for now. He would put it underneath the Christmas tree later.
"Did you get everything?" Zoë asked once Callen walked back into the living room.
"Yes I did."
"Good, was it busy at the store?"
"Yeah a little bit."
"Ah yeah, you were gone for a while."
"Yeah it was pretty busy and it took me a while to find everything," Callen lied, hoping Zoë believed him.
"Ah okay."
...
Eric appeared at the top of the stairs and whistled to get the agents' attention.
"We've got a new case," Eric announced and walked back to OPS, knowing that the agents would follow him.
The agents walked into OPS and joined Eric, Nell and Zoë.
"What have we got Eric?" Callen spoke once everyone was in OPS.
"Late last night LAPD responded to a home invasion in Inglewood. When they arrived this is what they found," Eric spoke as he put several pictures on the screen.
The agents looked at the pictures. The saw the inside of the living room completely trashed. In the home office was a safe that was open but nothing was in it.
"Why is this a case for us?" Kensi wondered.
"Well," Nell continued. "This house belongs too Lieutenant Commander Jemma Cooper. She's with Naval Intelligence. She's missing since last night. LAPD found signs of a struggle inside and some blood. It's being tested right now but it looks to be Jemma's and that someone took her."
Hetty walked into OPS. "Ms. Cooper's commanding officer is waiting for you in the boatshed."
"Kensi, Deeks, why don't you talk to commanding officer, and take Nell with you. Sam and I will check out the house," Callen spoke.
"Address is on your phones," Eric stated.
"Great, you see what you can find out about Cooper or who attacked her last night. Zoë will help you."
Everyone left to go do their jobs.
"You have any plans for Christmas?" Sam asked as he was driving them to the crime scene.
"Yeah. Zoë and I are gonna spend Christmas Eve with just the two of us."
"That's nice. How about you and Zoë come by on Christmas day for dinner?"
"I will talk to Zoë about that, we were going to her father's as well but I'm not sure if that was during the day or in the evening."
"Great, just let me know."
"I will."
They pulled up to the house and Callen and Sam went inside. They put their gloves on before they went to search the house.
"No signs of forced entry on the door," Sam stated as he looked at the front door. "She probably opened the door for whoever attacked her and they forced their way in."
"Do we know who alerted LAPD?"
"According to the reports it's the neighbor across the street."
Callen went outside to see if he could talk to the neighbor as Sam went to look through the house.
"Steve," Callen approached a cop. "Do you know where the person is who called it in?"
"She's across the street," Steve pointed to the house. "Another cop is taking her statement."
"Thanks Steve." Callen walked across the street and inside the house. "Excuse me, I'm special agent Callen," Callen spoke as he showed his badge. "I was wondering if I could ask you a few questions?"
"Yes of course," the woman replied still a bit shakily.
"You saw what happened last night?"
"Yes I did. I was just about to go to bed for the night so I went to close the window and curtains when I saw two men forcing their way into Jemma's house. I immediately knew something was up so I dialed nine one one. I kept watch on the house to see what was going on and I saw them leave with Jemma. She appeared unconscious as they dragged her into a van."
"Did you see who the men were?"
"No, it was dark and they were wearing ski masks. I could tell it was a dark van."
"Do you perhaps have security cameras?"
"Yes I have, but I'm not sure if you can see anything on them, they are mostly pointed at the house."
"Can I still have a look at them?"
"Yes of course."
Callen followed the woman to the home office where she opened up a cabinet to reveal the camera feed. Callen inserted an USB drive and called OPS.
"Yeah Callen," Eric picked up the phone.
"I have a camera feed across the street. I've got the USB drive inserted into the system."
"Alright, copying now," Eric pressed a few keys and started copying the drive. "Got it, we'll look through it and let you know what we found."
"Thanks Eric." Callen removed the flash drive. "Thank you for your help," Callen told the woman. "If you think of anything else please give me a call," Callen said and handed her his card.
"Thank you, I will."
Callen left the house and went back across the street to where Sam was.
"Got a few security cameras, OPS is looking through them. Did you find anything here?"
"The safe wasn't broken open so they either had the code or they forced Cooper to open the safe. There's no laptop or computer here, so she either didn't have one or they took it with them when they took Cooper."
"They could be getting her to access some of her classified files."
"Then they would have to do it fast because according to Nell they revoked her access the moment they found out she had been taken."
"We better find her fast, cus if they can't use her to access the files.."
"They might kill her."
Callen and Sam wrapped up at the scene and went back to the office. At the moment they walked in, Kensi and Deeks came walking back in as well.
"Did you found out anything for her superior officer?" Callen asked.
"They have no idea so far who could've taken her," Kensi started.
"Cooper wasn't working on anything at the moment that would cause her to be kidnapped," Deeks continued. "Nell is still in the boatshed with him looking through some of her files to see if anything jumps out."
"What did you guys find?"
"Door wasn't broken open," Sam started. "So she probably opened the door for them."
"The neighbor across the street saw what happened but it was dark so she couldn't make anything out. She did have security cameras, so OPS is looking through them right now," Callen continued.
"The safe was empty and we couldn't find a laptop or computer. They could have taken her to access her classified files."
"Yeah, but her superior officer said they revoked her access so that's probably not gonna work," Kensi stated.
"Yeah, either that or she's payback for some past mission or something."
Just as they finished Zoë came walking down the stairs to brief them, in the absence of Nell.
"Have anything new for us?" Callen asked.
"Eric is still looking through the security cams and the traffic cams in the area," Zoë spoke as she walked into the bullpen. "Nell did send us some names we checked out. One guy jumped out at me." Zoë typed some keys on the tablet and the information appeared on the screen in the bullpen. "Meet Kyu-Yung Pak. He's a Korean national. Cooper was stationed in Asia about six months ago. She was there working with a team of Navy SEALS and providing them with intel. They were after Pak for a number of things, drugs, arms smuggling, you name it. She went to a believed compound of Pak's crew to retrieve intel after the SEALS breached it. But that mission went south, they were ambushed. Three SEALS died on that raid. Cooper was separated from them and she was caught by Pak's crew. But before any serious harm could come to her she was rescued. They never caught Pak. The trail on him had run cold so Cooper returned home after a month. I've looked into the information there is on this Pak guy and he's ruthless. He's never been convicted cus they simply haven't been able to catch him. He always lets someone else do the dirty work but it's clear he's the brain behind everything. And the guys that are caught are so loyal they would rather die than give him up. He also seems like a guy who doesn't like loose ends."
"You think he's come back to finish something with her?" Deeks interjected.
"That is the theory yes."
"Do you have any reason to believe that Pak or his crew is in LA?" Callen asked.
"Yes. We looked into the latest chatter and it seems like they are definitely planning something. Plus there's this," Zoë spoke as she put a security feed on the screen. "This picture was taken at a private airstrip just outside LA two days ago. We were able to identify two of the five men in this picture." Zoë put their ID's on the screen. "They are both Korean national who are suspected of having ties to Pak's crew. And we have reason to believe that this guy in the middle is Pak."
"You have reason to believe?" Sam interjected. "They have no idea what this guy looks like?"
"Nope, he's never present at the attacks. He's never out in the open long enough to be caught on camera. Nell was able to get some pictures and sketches Navy Intel thinks he looks like. Eric did his magic on the pic and he came up with a close resemblance with the guy in the middle," Zoë continued as she put the composite Eric had made on the screen.
"But why would he come in the open like this, why now?" Deeks stated.
"Probably because he views Cooper as a threat. They have never been able to get so close to him then with the intel provided by Cooper."
"How did he find her?" Sam wanted to know.
"When he caught her when she was in Korea he probably found out who she is. We have a theory how he found her and how's he's always been able to stay one step ahead of any capture attempt. He has someone on the inside. You don't get to where he is without having friends everywhere."
"You think he has a mole?" Callen questioned.
"Yes that's the theory."
"But who?"
"We're still looking through data," Just as Zoë finished saying that her tablet pinged. "Looks like Eric found the van. It is parked near an abandoned warehouse in Burbank."
"Close to the airport?" Sam asked.
"Yes."
"That must be where Pak is, near the airport so they can make a quick exit."
"Let's hope they haven't already left," Callen stated. "Zoë, tell Eric to look into outbound flights from Burbank airport and ground all flights until further notice."
"Will do."
The agents left and went to the address Zoë had given them as Zoë made her way upstairs.
"Ms. Moore," Hetty called from her office.
Zoë walked over to Hetty's office. "Yes Hetty?"
"I need you and Ms. Jones at the airport."
"For what?"
"In case our agents don't find Pak or Ms. Cooper at the warehouse and they've already made their way over to the airport. It's a private airport so there's no security check."
"Alright, I'll go pick up Nell."
Zoë left and went to the boatshed to pick up Nell before driving to the airport.
In the meantime the agents had made their way towards the warehouse. They saw the van parked in front of the warehouse. The agents got out and geared up before they carefully made their way over to the van. Kensi and Deeks made their way towards the front as Callen and Sam went to the back.
"Front is clear," Kensi called.
Sam carefully inspected the door to make sure there was no wire or anything before opening it.
"It's empty," Callen called.
Carefully they made their way over to the warehouse. There was a small window in the door to peak through. Callen cautiously peaked through the window but he couldn't see anything. The door was unlocked so quietly Callen opened it before the agents went inside. They went through the entire building but there wasn't anyone. They did found evidence that Cooper had been there.
"Guys," Eric's voice was heard over the coms. "We looked at cameras near the warehouse and spotted a car leaving. Kaleidoscope is tracking it and it's pulling up to the parking lot of the Burbank airport. Nell and Zoë are at the airport."
"We're on our way. Don't let that plane take off," Callen responded.
"Got it."
The agents quickly left the warehouse and went to the airport.
Zoë and Nell had arrived at the airport in the meantime and were dressed as airport security. Eric had notified them that Pak's crew and Cooper were on their way towards the airport and that the agents were coming soon. Nell and Zoë were in the entrance hall, looking for Cooper.
"Guys, Cooper and Pak just arrived at the airport. How far out are you?" Nell spoke through the coms.
"We're twenty minutes out," Sam replied. "Don't let them leave."
"Copy that." Nell walked up to them. "Good afternoon everyone. We're having a little technical problem at the moment so all the flights are grounded at the moment until we can fix it."
"I have a private plane that leaves in fifteen minutes," Pak answered.
"I'm sorry sir but air traffic has grounded all planes until further notice. We apologize for the inconvenience and hope to have it fixed soon. You can have a drink in our bar while you wait."
Pak mumbled something in Korean before he and the others walked off. Nell had to keep up pretenses so she informed the other passengers that came through of the delay. Zoë was outside keeping an eye on everything.
"Pak just disobeyed the orders and he's headed for his plane," Zoë spoke over her earpiece.
"Do whatever you can to keep that plane from taking off. If Cooper gets on that plane she's as good as dead," Callen spoke. "But be careful."
He didn't like to put Zoë in harm's way but she was the closet to stop Pak.
"Excuse me gentlemen," Zoë called as she ran up to the group as they were getting ready to get aboard the plane. "Currently there aren't any flights taking off due to some technical difficulties. Can you please go back inside to wait there? We apologize for the inconvenience but I'm sorry you really have to wait inside."
"This is my private plane! And I'm leaving now!" Pak almost yelled at her.
"You are no cleared to take off."
"Watch me," Pak said and he walked inside the plane as he motioned to one of his men.
The man pulled out a gun and aimed it at Zoë.