As Callen approached the cafeteria, he couldn't help but take notice of the prevailing silence that engulfed the large room. He didn't remember much from his teenage years or from the millions of different high schools he was forced to attend while drifting around the foster care system. But he did recall that in each and every one, the cafeteria was never quiet. There were about twenty or so kids sitting uncomfortably, scattered across a fw different tables. Three counselors circled the room, offering their comforting hand to the heartbroken teens. Just then a young woman, who looked to be in her mid-twenties, approached the agent.

"You must be Agent Callen," She smiled sadly, offering her hand. "We were told NCIS would be over to ask a few questions. I'm Kriss Guerrero."

"That's me," Callen smiled back, shaking her outstretched palm. "The kids seem pretty shaken up... I'm sorry for your loss."

"Thanks, I can't imagine what the students are feeling right now," Kriss shook her head, glancing at the teenagers before turning back to face Callen. "I'm studying education at UCLA, I volunteer as a mentor for the kids...Jackson and Laurel were amazing, I can't believe they're gone."

"We'll find who did this, Kriss."

"That won't bring them back…" Kriss muttered under her breath, earning a sideways glance from the agent. "Anyway, the students all agreed to just get this over with as soon as possible, but I think it would be best to speak to them two or three at a time...moral support, you know?"

"Of course, I'll try to be quick."

-LINE BREAK-

The first students were from student government, both informing Callen that Laurel was a wonderful friend and one of the smartest in the entire senior class. For the next hour, he received the same information; great kid, great friend, real smart. There were only two students left to speak to and Callen was beginning to get discouraged. So far, he had yet to receive anything that could contribute to the case...maybe speaking to the kids so soon after the accident wasn't such an awesome idea after all.

As he sat down with two girls from NHS, Callen braced himself for the tears.

"Hi, I'm Agent Callen with NCIS, I need to ask you two a few questions about your friend, Laurel," Callen recited as he offered his hand to the two young girls.

"I'm Katie," The first girl offered. Her hair was short, straight, and blonde with a red bow pinning it back from her face at the right side. Her pale face was streaked with tears, and her eyes were red and puffy. "I can't believe Laurel is gone, we were so excited about graduation."

"Laurel was the most excited out of all of us," The other girl, Yanira, commented. She had long, brown, straight hair and tan skin. "We were decorating our graduation caps just last week… My carpets are still full of glitter." She chuckled sadly at the memory.

"We'll find whoever did this to your friend," Callen promised. "But first, I need to know whether or not Laurel was acting strange in the days leading up to last night."

"Not really," Yanira answered. "She and Jackson were fighting a lot than they usually do, but-"

The girl stopped suddenly as Katie nudged her in the side, giving her an odd look.

"But...what? Why were they fighting?" Callen probed.

"It has nothing to do with what happened," Katie explained. "It's just… there's this girl, Alex…"

"She has some sort of thing for Jackson, that's all. And Laurel was beginning to think that he may have had a thing for her too." Yanira provided.

"Laurel is our best friend, and we stand behind her for everything," Katie said. "She and Jackson had been together since middle school. If she thought Jackson was cheating on her, then he was."

"As much as we dislike Alex for taking Jack from Laurel, I can't believe she would do something like this though," Yanira added quiety. "After all, I mean, Laurel and Alex didn't like each other from the beginning, but Alex would never kill anyone…"

"Why didn't Laurel and Alex every get along?" Callen questioned.

"Different walks of life, ragingly different personalities, you name it." Katie explained.

"Laurel used to pick on her a little when we were kids," Yanira said. "But we grew out of that, we realized it was wrong and we stopped. Alex just kept a grudge I guess."

"Is Alex here right now? I don't think I've gotten a chance to speak to her." Callen said while glancing around the room.

"She should be, she's in NHS with us." Katie said.

"I'll find her. Thank you, both of you, for your time."

The girls nodded before rising to leave as Kriss approached the agent once more.

"Get any good information?" She asked, sitting down in the seat that the two teenagers had just vacated.

"Yes," Callen smiled at the young woman. "I believe that I may have missed a student though...Alex?"

"Oh yeah, I saw her around earlier," Kriss furrowed her eyebrows. "I'm not sure where she ran off to, I'll call her."

Kriss reached into her back pocket, pulling out her cellphone. "Hey Alex," She said when the caller picked up. "Where are you? ...Alex? Alex?"

Kriss pulled the phone from her ear. "She hung up. Must be bad reception."

"You know, don't worry about it. I'll find her." Callen said, standing up.

"I'll come with you, she couldn't have left school." Kriss began walking, gesturing for Callen to follow her lead.

They walked down the hall, stopping at the girl's bathroom. "I'll check in here. If you keep walking out those doors, Alex' locker is on the left, she may have just needed to grab something."

"Okay, thanks." Callen nodded before following her directions.

As Callen exited the metal double doors, he turned to the right, spotting a small girl that couldn't be more than seventeen years old. She had dirty blonde-brownish coloured, wavy hair that reached just below her shoulders. She turned to face Callen as he exited the building, piercing him with her bright green eyes. She wore baggy jeans that reached the middle of her shins and a purple flannel shirt. The hair in front of her face was pulled back with a small rubber band and the rest framed her strong jawbones. There was something familiar about her features, something Callen couldn't quite put his fingers on. It was almost as if he had seen her before, but he knew he had never met this girl in his life.

The girl slamming her locker closed is what brought him out of his revere. She shouldered her blue bookbag, turning to face him fully. "Do you need something?" She asked, raising her eyebrows at him.

"You wouldn't be Alex by any chance, would you?" Callen asked, still trying to place where he had seen her before.

"And you are…?"

"Agent Callen," He introduced himself, flashing his badge and I.D. to confirm his words. The girl's face changed slightly to show an emotion that Callen couldn't place; surprise, recognition, worry…?

"No...I'm uh… I'm not Alex." She finally breathed out, shifting her eyes anywhere but to his face. "But I saw her going into the gym a little while ago, you might be able to catch her if you hurry."

"Okay, thanks…" Callen said, waiting for her to say her name.

She didn't however, simply turning with a nervous smile and walking away. Suddenly, Kriss burst through the doors. "I didn't see her in the bathroom, did you-"

Kriss stopped mid-sentence, catching a glance at the back of the girl as she walked away from them. "That's her!" Kriss nudged him. "Hey Alex, Agent Callen wanted to ask you a few questions about Laurel and Jackson."

The girl only kept walking, speeding up her pace a little and refusing to look back.

"Stay here," Callen muttered to Kriss. He could tell that this was going to be a chase, and there was no need for Kriss to follow him. The fact that Alex had lied about who she was and now was attempting to leave without giving him her side of the story meant she knew more than she wanted to let them know.

"Alex," Callen called as he slowly began to follow her. "It's just a few questions, nothing more nothing less."

Suddenly, the young girl broke out into a full sprint, turning the corner without slowing down, just like a pro. Callen sighed, jogging after her while reaching into his pocket to dial Sam, telling him to pull around with the car.

Within a few seconds, Alex' path was blocked off by Sam's black charger, leaving her the only option of running into a dead end alley between the wall of the school and a fence. Shooting Sam an eyeroll, Callen followed the teen into the alley.

"Nowhere to go from here, Alex." Callen pointed out.

"Thanks, Captain Obvious, I didn't notice." She retorted, glancing around for some way out.

Callen approached with his hands in the air, showing that he didn't intend to hurt her. "We're federal agents, we just want to ask you a few questions about what happened last night. Judging by your reaction, you probably know more than you're letting on."

"I don't want to talk," She responded, backing into the wall as Callen walked towards her.

"We just want to get to the bottom of what happened to Laurel and Jackso-" Callen put his hand on her shoulder to offer some comfort, however she quickly grabbed his wrist twisting behind his back and kicking him in the back of his right knee, forcing him to the concrete.

Bracing herself to run, Alex felt a large hand grab her left wrist. There was no escaping this grip as her hands were pulled around her back and cuffed together.

"Dammit," Callen muttered as he got to his feet, rubbing his wrist.

"She's barely a hundred pounds, G," Sam smirked at his partner as he ushered the girl towards the car.

"Yeah well, she has a strong kick."

"I'm sure…"

"Why don't we let her take you down and see what you think then?"

"Kensi and Deeks are gonna hear about this," Sam said with a chuckle, failing to notice the slight twitch in the girl when he mentioned the names.

"Just drive." Callen commanded as he got into the car.

-LINE BREAK-

Sorry I haven't updated in awhile. I'm working on the next chapter, not sure when I'll be able to get it up. School's out for now, but I am taking summer classes so I don't know how busy I'm gonna be for the foreseeable future. Thanks for sticking with it anyway. Remember to review!