Callen grabbed his gun as he ducked behind the small wall that was on the side of the curb. When the shooting stopped Callen carefully peeked his head above the wall. He saw the motorbike riding away. Callen ran after it and tried to shoot at it but he was already too far gone. Callen looked back to the scene, some people had been hit. Callen quickly called it in and asked Eric to search for the shooter.
"You okay Sam?" Callen asked as he made his way to his partner.
"Yeah I'm good. You?"
"Good too. Eric's trying to find the motorbike."
"Did you get a good look at him?"
"Nah no luck, he was wearing a helmet and the glass was tinted so no luck."
"Why would he shoot at us?"
"Maybe what Miller was involved in he didn't want us to find out or maybe Miller wasn't the intended target and he came back to finish the job. I'll have Eric and Nell look through the footage to see who he was aiming at."
Once Callen and Sam finished up at the scene they went back to the office. When they walked into the bullpen Kensi and Deeks walked in as well.
"How did it go at the hospital?" Callen asked.
"Unfortunately he didn't make it," Kensi told him. "How did you guys make out?"
"Well we were shot at."
"What? By who?" Deeks wondered.
"We were looking at the scene when a guy on a motorbike showed up and he started shooting. We don't know who he is or why he was there. Eric and Nell are looking into that now."
It was about two hours later when Eric and Nell came down the stairs.
"No ID on the shooters yet but from the second shooting we think we determined who he was shooting at," Eric spoke and he put the footage on the screen.
The agents looked at it.
"He was after me?" Callen remarked surprised.
"It seems that way."
"We looked at the two shooters," Nell continued. "But it appears that it were two different shooters. They don't match in height."
"So two different shooters," Sam said. "One of them showed up first and opened fired knowing the case would be brought to us and then the second shooter showed up to take G out? It doesn't make any sense."
"I know it doesn't, but that's what the footage is telling us. Now it could be a coincidence that he shot at Callen, but we have to assume the other possibility too." Nell's tablet beeped. "We just got confirmation on one of the bikes, the bike from the first shooter, it's registered to a Brandon Stevens."
"Name doesn't ring a bell," Callen spoke. "Do you have an address for us?"
"Yeah it's on your phones."
"Alright, Sam and I will check it out."
Callen and Sam left and drove to the address.
"What if someone is really after you..." Sam spoke once they were in the car.
"Wouldn't be the first time. It's just weird if they would go about it this way. I mean they could have send anyone to the crime scene at the federal building after the shooting."
"Yeah, it's a long shot to get to you."
Sam drove them to Stevens' house. Sam parked the car a little down the road with a view of the house. They would wait until Stevens came or went.
"So, how are you doing G?"
"I'm doing good. Why you ask?"
"Just asking after this whole thing with Joelle."
Callen sighed. "We both agreed that it wasn't working and that this was the best thing for both of us. I miss her but it's fine."
"You two were practically living together already. You even bought furniture for her."
"I know. Just for the record, I didn't buy the furniture just for her. It was time I got some more furniture."
"You're damn right about that."
"I really liked spending time with her but it just wasn't working anymore. It wasn't fair to either one of us. It's fine, I'm over it. Okay, so just drop it okay."
"Okay." Although Sam could tell Callen wasn't over it he decided to drop it.
"Here he comes," Callen said when he saw a car drive onto the driveway.
Callen and Sam got out of the car and walked up to the house when Stevens exited his car.
"Brandon Stevens," Sam called and Brandon turned around.
"Yes, what's this about?"
"Federal agents, we wanna talk to you about a shooting this morning."
The moment Sam said federal agents Brandon froze up and Callen saw his hand moving. Callen and Sam both had their hand on their weapon.
"Keep your hands where we can see them," Callen warned him.
Brandon stopped for a second but then moved his hand inside his jacket. Before Callen and Sam knew it he had pulled out a gun. Callen and Sam quickly dove behind the car parked in front of the house. Whenever they could they shot at him. Eventually Callen managed to hit him.
"Down," Callen spoke and he and Sam moved in.
Callen kept his gun on Brandon as Sam removed the gun from his reach and checked him. He was still alive, Callen had shot him in the shoulder.
"Eric, we're gonna need an ambulance, Stevens has been shot, Sam and I are fine."
"Copy that," the tech replied.
Callen and Sam waited until the EMT's were there. They took Stevens to the hospital. Callen and Sam went inside and looked through the house. Maybe they could find something why Stevens was involved with the shooting. Callen found a laptop and a cell phone, he would take those back for Eric and Nell. They couldn't really find anything on why Stevens would be involved with the shooting. Maybe Eric and Nell would have some luck with finding something on the laptop. Callen and Sam went back to the office. Kensi and Deeks had gone to the hospital so they could question Stevens. When Callen and Sam arrived Nell was just downstairs.
"Ah Nell, got something for you. A laptop and cell phone found at Stevens' place. See what you can get off of it."
"Will do."
Nell took the laptop and cell phone and went to the gadget room.
About an hour later Kensi and Deeks came back from the hospital.
"And, did he give you anything?" Callen asked as Kensi and Deeks walked into the bullpen.
"At first not but we manage to get him to talk. He said that he and his partner were hired by someone, they were told to open fire on the federal building and once the authorities showed up shoot again."
Callen could see that there was something more. "And? What else?"
"They were told to aim for you at the crime scene."
"They were after me, after all?"
"It seems that way."
"Why? Who hired them?"
"He said he didn't know. His partner handled the contact with him."
"Did he give you his partner's name?"
"Yes, a Michael Roberts. Eric's already checking on him."
Nell couldn't find anything useful on the laptop or cell phone so she went back upstairs to help Eric.
Two hours later the two techs came downstairs.
"We found some information you have to see," Eric announced.
"What have you got?" Callen asked.
"We looked into Roberts and in his email accounts we found out who hired him." Eric pressed a few keys on his tablet and the email appeared on the screen. "The email explains what Roberts and Stevens were supposed to do. It said specifically to get you."
"How could they know I would be there?"
"They didn't, it also said if you didn't show up there to try again."
"Who hired him?"
Eric and Nell looked at each other and Eric enlarged the screen so the name would be better visible. Callen looked at the screen and was shocked to see the name there.
"Bogdan Comescu," Callen spoke with anger in his voice. Damn it, again a Comescu was after him. "Do you have a location on either one of them?"
"We managed to track the motorbike Roberts used to this West Hollywood house. Now we checked the security cameras and just ten minutes ago this car pulled up," Nell explained.
Nell zoomed in as the passenger got out of the car.
"That's Comescu," Callen said.
"Yes and we believe he's still at the house."
"Good work, let's gear up guys."
They grabbed their gear and drove to the West Hollywood house. They parked the car a little down the street and carefully made their way to the big house.
"Kensi, Deeks, go around back. Sam and I will take the front."
Kensi and Deeks went around back as Callen and Sam made their way to the front door. Sam knocked on the front door.
"Michael Roberts, federal agents! Open up!" Sam yelled.
The door didn't open so Sam kicked it in. Immediately they had to duck away from flying bullets. The moment they heard the bullets flying Kensi and Deeks burst through the back door. Once the front door was clear Sam and Callen moved in the house as well. They found a beaten up Roberts tied to a dining room chair but no sign of Bogdan Comescu.
"Where's Comescu?" Callen asked Roberts. "Tell me, where is he?'
They heard some noise in the garage. Callen looked through the window and saw Comescu making a run for it. Without thinking twice he ran outside. Comescu was getting in the car. Just as Callen reached the sidewalk Comescu pulled away from the curb. Callen stood in the middle of the street and shot after him. Callen managed to shoot out one of the tires causing Comescu to crash into a tree. Callen quickly ran up to the car with Sam hot on his heels. Gun raised he walked up to the car. Comescu was still alive. Callen kept his gun on him.
"It's over Comescu," Callen bitterly spoke to him. Callen pulled Comescu out of the car and cuffed him. "Get him out of my sight."
Sam took Comescu from Callen and took him away. Callen couldn't believe that there was another Comescu after him. Luckily they had captured Bogdan and the others.
They wrapped up there before going back to the office. They finished their paperwork before going home. Callen walked into the empty house, it was still a bit getting used to for him. Sam was right, Joelle was practically living at Callen's place. It was still weird to not see her when he would come home from work, not smelling her delicious cooking coming out of the kitchen. He missed her more than he would let on to Sam and the others. He thought about giving up his job so he could be with Joelle but being a federal agent is who he is and Joelle had told him not to give his job up just for her. He just wished they could have made it work somehow. He tried to share as must information about his job as he could with Joelle, hoping she would understand it better and not worry so much. He knew his job put him at risk but he was always careful when he was out in the field, well most of the time anyway, and he had Sam to back him up, even if Callen didn't want it or thought he needed it. Sam was lucky to have someone who understands what it's like to be an agent. Maybe that was the only way for him to have a real relationship, with a fellow agent or cop. But that didn't coincide with Callen's rules. Maybe he should just forget about those rules, but then again there wasn't a female agent or cop he had in mind who he could see himself dating. He still had strong feelings for Joelle. He was hoping that she would change her mind and come back to him. He had told Sam he was over it but he wasn't just yet. He had accepted that she was out of his life but he still missed her. He loved waking up next to her almost every morning, loved her cooking, loved spending time with her and he loved making love to her. It felt just right when they were together. She really was a sweet person. Callen had never seen her at work but he could tell that she was a great teacher. Callen was sure one day Joelle would make a great mom. He just wanted her to be happy. He had wanted that to be with him but it wasn't going to happen.
Callen missed her as he looked around his house. Her smell was still hanging in the house. Callen stepped up to the mantel and pulled a picture off of it. It was a picture of him and Joelle. It was a selfie Joelle had made, it was a really beautiful selfie so Callen had it printed and framed. They looked happy in this picture. Maybe if Joelle hadn't found out what he really did for a living they'd still be together but perhaps that wouldn't have been fair to her either. Before things had gone south Callen had thought about asking Joelle to move in with him permanently, but he didn't know if he, if they, were ready for that and then things turned differently that he would have thought and now he was here alone, no more Joelle in his life. Callen put the picture back on the mantel and went to the kitchen. He pre-heated the oven and put the pizza in it. He sat at the dinner table to enjoy his pizza and bear. It was still a bit strange to eat alone, of course Callen had been used to it before and while he was with Joelle he ate alone sometimes too but he had liked it to share a meal with Joelle, especially if she had cooked it. Her cooking was really delicious. She had taught Callen a few things and Callen could actually cook now.
After dinner Callen watched some TV before going to bed. Ever since he and Joelle had slept in the same bed his sleeping patterns had changed, he slept more now and he had to admit it felt good. Once in bed Callen turned the side where Joelle would lay, the bed felt empty without her. Callen wondered if Joelle missed him too. Besides Callen's job thingy they had a good thing going. Callen was glad that they still had spent the holidays together, one last holiday together. It had been a nice holiday, despite the fact that they said goodbye. Callen remembered New Year's Eve very well. It was such a nice evening with Joelle and their last time sleeping together was really wonderful. They both put everything in it for their last time together. Callen could still feel her skin underneath his fingers, his lips against hers, her hands roaming over his body, the way she clung to him. It was just perfect whenever they were together like that.
When he woke up the next morning he took a nice long cold shower to cool down before going to work. He changed into his gym clothes and went to do some exercises.
"Morning G," Sam spoke as he walked into the gym a few minutes later.
"Morning Sam."
They did some separate trying before sparring together for about twenty minutes. Eric came down to the gym and told them they were needed in OPS. They grabbed a quick shower before going up to OPS.
….
That Saturday afternoon Callen went to do some groceries. His kitchen cabinets and fridge were getting empty. He was looking through the fruits. He reached the grab some but he bumped into a woman next to him who was reaching for the same fruit.
"Oh I'm sorry," Callen spoke and then he saw who it was. "Hey Joelle."
Joelle looked up surprised. She wasn't expecting to see Callen. "Hi Callen."
"How are you doing?"
"I'm doing good. How about you?"
"Good, busy at work again. It was nice to see you again but I've gotta get going, Sam is coming to pick me up soon."
"That's fine. It was nice to see you too. Say hello to Sam for me."
"I will."
Callen and Joelle grabbed their fruit and continued their shopping. Callen was busy putting his groceries into the car when he heard a car screeching over the parking lot. Callen looked to see what was going on. The car was driving really fast over the parking lot. He saw Joelle walking in the parking lot. The car was going in her direction.
