Happy days... The prologue uploaded okay! Here's Chapter One :)


CHAPTER ONE – TWO DAYS EARLIER (FRIDAY)

Callen sat at his desk – and he still thought of it as Hetty's desk, no matter how hard he tried – with his head in his hands. In the background, he was vaguely aware of the customary banter between Sam, Kensi and their newest addition, Agent Connor Hill, across in the bullpen, but it was as if the light-hearted voices belonged on another planet. Callen felt detached from it all. He jumped when he heard a familiar voice close to him.

"You okay?"

Callen looked up to see Sam leaning on the pillar, looking down at him with a shadow of concern in his eyes.

"Why wouldn't I be okay?" Callen countered.

"Even for you, you're being pretty reclusive," Sam said. "What gives?"

"It's nothing, Sam. Just a headache." Sam gave him a 'pull the other one' stare.

"We may not be partners any more, G, but I can still tell when something is bugging you. And something is bugging you, isn't it?"

Massaging his temples, Callen sighed.

"I need to go up to Washington for a couple of days," he said by way of answer.

"Again? You've only just got back…"

"Bureaucracy beckons," Callen said casually, pulling himself together as he stood up. "How's Connor doing?"

Phased only for a moment by the change of topic, Sam nonetheless hesitated before answering. He'd wanted it to work out with the young FBI Agent, Devin Rountree, so badly. It had taken months to narrow down other potential new candidates to just one that was worthy of replacing Callen as Sam's new partner, and Callen knew in Sam's eyes, the young Connor Hill was still only the best of a bad bunch. He'd been with NCIS just over a month now, and in Callen's estimation was handling himself well, slotting naturally into the team and working well with both Sam and Kensi as the need arose. He was a talented shooter and although he had very limited experience in undercover work, the two cases he had been involved in so far had gone without a hitch. Callen had been impressed with the insights drawn in the twenty-two year old's after-action reports that had duly landed on his desk. The kid had potential, sure enough.

"He's not that bad, surely?" Callen prodded. "I mean, I know nothing compares to yours truly…"

"Don't flatter yourself," Sam said gruffly – but Callen was right. Nothing did compare to having Callen as his partner. They'd worked together nearly fifteen years, and if Sam was totally honest with himself he did sometimes think he had underestimated how easy it would be to move on. The ease with which operations could be completed when he and Callen were partners seemed a distant memory. The two had worked together for so long, they almost didn't need to communicate, each knowing the other so well. Sure, there were times Callen kept him on his toes with an unexpected or devious action, but even those times the glint in his partner's eye had informed him something was going to happen, and he'd always been able to play off the younger man. As Callen had once said, they completed each other.

With what had happened over the past few months, Sam suspected Callen was having difficulties in his new role too, but, like always, Callen kept his cards close to his chest.

"Well, I'm going to need you to take charge for a bit," Callen told him, interrupting his thoughts.

"For how long?" Sam asked suspiciously. "Is something going on, G? Washington needing you again… What's up?"

Callen kept his eyes downwards as he wondered how much he could reveal to Sam at this point. Director Vance had sworn him to absolute secrecy on the mission he was about to embark on, and in years gone by, going off on his own wouldn't have bothered Callen in the slightest. But fifteen years with a partner as loyal as Sam… he'd be kidding himself if he said it hadn't changed him. Solo missions had, in his youth, been his bread and butter. Something he was renowned for across all the alphabet agencies with his ability to slip into any undercover role, to become a ghost, to do whatever was needed to get the job done, relying on nobody but himself. And Hetty occasionally, he allowed. She had been there to pick up the pieces more than once.

Hetty wasn't around much now, and the thought of working a dangerous mission alone again no longer filled him with enthusiasm and excitement, but trepidation. Damn, when did he get old?

"I can't go into details," he said eventually, realising Sam was still waiting for an answer. "There's some drama up in DC, and I'm needed... Boring political nonsense which is far more Hetty's gig than mine, but there you go." He spoke lightly, hoping Sam would let it go.

"A couple of days?" Sam echoed Callen's earlier comment.

"Yeah. Well, it might be longer, I guess. Just hold the fort will you? Keep on top of things?"


Stood in the dark Operations centre half-listening to Eric as he outlined the latest case, Sam was still brooding about his conversation with Callen. Since Callen had taken over Hetty's role, he had slowly become ever more secretive, similar to how he had been when they first met, and it was driving Sam crazy. Sure, Callen was running the place just fine, better than fine in fact. He sometimes still took an active role in the field, but mostly he oversaw operations from a managerial perspective and ran interference as necessary with SecNav and the big guns in Washington. They'd all been surprised with how easily Callen seemed to handle the men in suits, but it appeared that many years of working with Hetty had rubbed off. The tight leash he'd been kept on to begin with had gradually lengthened, and by now, nine months in, Callen had been granted much of the freedom previously bestowed on Hetty, with only minimal supervision from John Rogers and Director Vance.

That wasn't to say it had been easy. Both men were finding it a strain. Training Connor took a lot of Sam's time as he determined not to let another tragedy hit their unit with a rookie agent. Connor was performing well, Sam allowed, looking at the young man as he stood next to Kensi, studying the screen intently while Eric wittered on. He was a good agent. But Hetty's voice echoed in Sam's head, "In this business, 'good' gets you killed… he needs to be 'elite'." Wise words from a wise woman, and Sam knew he had been right in his response, "Elite takes time."

Sam always felt extra-vulnerable whenever Callen was away and wasn't around to fill in for Connor in the field if they landed a case that demanded experience. Hopefully that wouldn't happen over the next few days. If it did….

"What do you think, Sam?" Kensi asked, breaking his thoughts.

"Sorry?" Sam pulled his attention back to the case.

"I'll take Connor with me to check out the golf course?" Kensi said patiently. "You go and see the Chief Petty Officer in the hospital. If that's okay?"

"Sure," Sam said. "Call me if you need anything." Kensi nodded, and Sam watched as she and Connor left the room. Kensi had taken on a new intensity over the past few months, throwing herself into her work and her new working partnership with Connor. Sam half felt sorry for the young man – what with Kensi using work as a distraction, and Sam intent on training the best team of agents he possibly could, expectations on Connor were high. But that was no bad thing. They were an elite team, and demanded the very best out of anyone in it.

"Eric?" Sam said, turning to the tech who half flinched as he spun his chair round to face Sam.

"I thought you'd gone!"

"Yeah… in a minute. I just wondered if you knew anything…"

"If I knew anything about what?"

"Callen," Sam said in a low voice. "He's heading back up to Washington again… asked me to hold the fort for a few days. He's… I dunno, it just seems odd. I wondered if you knew anything about why he's been asked back there again so soon." Eric looked puzzled.

"I don't," he said, fundamentally untroubled. "Believe it or not, Callen doesn't share minute details of his agenda with me." Sam rolled his eyes as Eric continued. "He hasn't asked me to book a flight. I can check with Nell if you'd like?"

"Well. Discreetly, then."

"You don't want Callen to know you're checking up on him?" Eric teased.

"Something like that," Sam responded, trying to sound light-hearted.

"I'm sure everything is fine, Sam. So he has to go to Washington again for a bit. That's kind of his job now isn't it? He probably just doesn't want to bore you when there's an active case on. You know what Callen's like... He'd let you know if something was up, wouldn't he?"

"Yeah," Sam said darkly, remembering Callen's earlier evasiveness. "Yeah, I know exactly what Callen's like."


Callen drummed his fingers uneasily on the café table where he sat waiting, dragging out a single cup of coffee, no food, much to the disgust of the hovering waitress hoping for more profitable customers to grace her table.

He was impatient, and his contact was late, which didn't help his mood any.

It was too late to back out now, but what they were about to put into play was a huge gamble and he didn't like it. He wished he were working with Sam and his usual team on this: but that wasn't an option. And in any case, he wanted Sam safe. As far as possible – another continent would do – from anything going down with this high-risk mission... Though he knew that too was impossible. All he could hope was that Sam would be kept at arm's length from any of the real action, but he'd learnt from long experience that tricky ops seldom went exactly to plan, and this one was as tricky as they came. He considered it highly unlikely that his team wouldn't get drawn into it one way or another. They were too good to have the wool pulled over their eyes the way Vance seemed to think it would go down. That knowledge wasn't helping his mood either.

He spent hours, sometimes, in his job waiting. It never got any easier. He read through the notes he'd prepared once again, though he knew them by heart.

There were a lot of 'what ifs' for this mission... He shook his head, cross with himself for all this second-guessing. This op had to be done, and that was that.

Finally, his contact slipped into the seat opposite him.

"Hey Callen," she said with a half-seductive smile. "It's been a long time…"

"Yeah, well, let's not waste any more of it on pleasantries," Callen said grumpily. "You're late. What's the score here? Vance was sketchy with some of the details…"

"I can imagine how that pleased you!" His female companion was still jovial, still half-flirting.

"Look, can we just get on with the plan for this mission?" Callen said again. "You're running this guy the CIA caught?"

"Yeah. Look, I know how hard this must be for you… This is a crazy plan, and yet…"

"And yet…" Callen echoed. "I know. We have no choice. So let's make it work, okay?"