Callen knew Joelle probably wasn't going to like it and he had no time to go home before leaving. After packing up his stuff Callen quickly called Joelle.

"Hey G," Joelle answered the phone. "Are you on your way home?"

Callen had called earlier saying he would have to work late. Callen took a deep sigh. "No unfortunately not. In fact I won't be home in a while. We have to go somewhere for this case, out of the country."

"Oh." Callen heard in Joelle's voice that she didn't like it one bit. "For how long?"

"I'm not sure. I'm really sorry about this Jo."

"It's your job G. Just promise me you'll be careful."

"I promise Jo, I promise I'll come back in one piece."

"Okay."

"I'm really sorry I'm leaving you alone with Jack and Nora."

"It's okay G, I'm sure I'll manage and otherwise I'll ask my mom to help. Don't worry about it G, just focus on the case and come back to me."

"I will honey. Give Jack and Nora a kiss for me."

"I will. I love you."

"I love you too."

"G, we gotta go," Sam interrupted.

"I've gotta go Jo. I'll try to call you when I can. I'm really sorry."

"We both know this could happen, be safe out there."

"I will. Love you."

"Love you too."

Callen hung up the phone and went with the others. Callen really didn't want to leave but he knew this could happen. He was just glad it didn't happen when Joelle went into labor. But their kids were just two weeks old, Callen didn't want to leave Joelle alone with them for a longer period. But they both knew that this could happen with Callen's job, but that didn't mean that Callen had to like it. He just hoped they would be over with the case fast so they could go home.

"How did Joelle take it?" Sam asked his partner, shocking him out of his thoughts.

"She said she was okay with it but I could hear she didn't like it. And I don't like it either, I don't want to leave her at home with our two little newborns."

"I know G, I had that too when Aiden and Kamran were born. I can ask Michelle to check in on her if you want."

"Nah it's okay, she said she would call her mother if she needed to, but thanks."

"We'll be back home in no time G."

From the airport in Jordan they went towards Syria. They changed into some clothes that wouldn't stand out in the dessert. With their guns they made their way up to the location their target was hiding out.

"Confirmation. That's him. That's Asakeem," Deeks spoke.

"Yep. Be a whole lot easier just to shoot him," Kensi replied as she looked through her sniper rifle.

"I'd like to get out of here alive, if possible," Sam stated.

"Yeah, cus going and grabbing him is gonna be so much safer," Deeks spoke.

"Kensi, Deeks, this starts going south, you get the hell out of here," Callen told them.

"Not a chance," Kensi said.

"Well, there's a little bit of a chance, though, right? I mean, if it goes like, really south, then we can go?" Deeks remarked.

"Shh."

"Moving," Sam announced.

"I got you."

Callen and Sam moved closer and waited for an opportunity to grab Asakeem. He came outside and Sam and Callen grabbed him and took him with them before quickly getting the hell out of dodge. They went to the rally point where the helicopter was waiting for them to take them to the USS Carl Vinson.

Once they were inside the chopper the banter started between Kensi and Deeks.

"Guys, don't make me stop this chopper," Callen spoke with a smirk, as he was trying to sleep. "You're setting a very poor example for our guest."

"You're all very smug," Asakeem spoke.

"Actually, no, I'm sarcastic, she's goofy, he's aloof, and he's much bigger than me, so I don't say anything condescending about him. And you, you're out of the terrorism business," Deeks summed up.

"I'm a drop of water in an unstoppable ocean of change."

"I don't see any water out here. All I see is a whole lot of dirt," Sam told him. Suddenly the helicopter started shaking. "We've been hit, hang on."

They all tried to brace themselves as the helicopter went down. Callen could only think of one thing as they went down, Joelle and their kids. He really didn't want to die like this. He wanted to go home and see them again. The crash must have knocked them out because when they came to the helicopter was in pieces and they had some aches.

"G, yo, wake up man," Sam spoke as Callen started to come to and Sam helped him sit up.

"I think I'm sitting on one of my kidneys." Sam got up and checked Asakeem. "He dead?"

"Not that lucky."

"Kens! Deeks!" Callen called since there was no sign of them. The helicopter had split into multiple parts.

"Over here!" Deeks called back.

"Check on them," Callen told Sam. "I'll check the flight crew."

The both got up and Callen went into the cabin and found both pilots dead. Once he checked on the pilots he grabbed his and Sam's guns and walked up to where the rest of the team was. Sam walked up to Callen.

"Pilots?" Callen shook his head.

"Everyone here all right?" Callen asked.

"Kensi's stuck, but she says she's okay."

"They must have used a rocket launcher to take us down. How far do you think we are from those guys who shot it?"

"Not far enough. This terrain may slow 'em down a bit, but I guarantee you they're already on the way."

"Well we're not hanging around for them to get here." Sam grabbed his weapon from Callen. "We need to put some space between us and this crash site."

"Yeah, well I guess we better get Kensi out of there and find Deeks some boots."

They looked around for things they could use to get the chopper off of Kensi but so far everything they tried wasn't working. They couldn't get Kensi out of there. They were trying but had to stop because the helicopter started shifting.

"Baby? Baby? Kens? Guys, she's cold." Deeks spoke.

"She's got no radial pulse," Sam stated.

"Baby."

"She's got a carotid."

"So, what does that mean?"

"It means her blood pressure is dropping."

"It means we need to get her out of here now," Callen added.

"Son of a bitch," Deeks stated.

Sam and Deeks went to pack Kensi's neck in case she hurt it as Callen tried to call for a way out of there. They needed to get Kensi out of there so they could move. The people who shot them down were probably on their way. Callen and Sam went to look to see if they could find something to tip the helicopter over with, just enough so they could get Kensi out of there. Callen found a couple of ropes and an inflatable cushion they could use. They secured the lines to the helicopter and to their backpacks. Callen and Sam would pull as Deeks pushed and pulled the strap on the cushion.

"She's out!" Deeks spoke a little later and Callen and Sam stopped pulling.

It was worse than they thought. Kensi's leg was injured pretty badly and she had lost some blood. They were all concerned about Kensi but they needed to move. Sam tried to fix her leg up as best as possible as Callen kept watch.

"Think we've controlled the bleeding. She still got a carotid, but it's weak."

"I'll stay with here. You guys should good," Deeks offered.

"We're not leaving you," Callen replied.

"Come on. We both know, if we all stay here, we're gonna die. And I'm cool with that. I mean, I'm not cool with that, but I'm obviously not gonna leave her."

"None of us are," Sam said. "If she doesn't have surgery within six hours, she's gonna lose this leg. We're here together."

"And what if we don't get help?"

"Then we give them one hell of a fight. We still have Asakeem. We can use him as a bargaining chip," Callen said.

Then suddenly they realized that they left Asakeem in the chopper with no one to keep watch on him. Callen and Sam went back to the chopper but Asakeem was gone. They made a plan that Callen would go find Asakeem and that Sam and Deeks would get Kensi to safety. Callen left and Deeks and Sam made a stretcher for Kensi to transport her. Callen managed to find Asakeem and he took him to the place where he was going to meet up with Sam and Deeks. They were ambushed and had to fight their way out. Thank god there was a drone that helped them, probably the team from back home they thought. They managed to kill the rest of the group. A little after that the chopper arrived and took them to the ship. Sailors were waiting for them on the deck and quickly transported Kensi to the OR.

"Come, let's go. OR's ready. You're gonna have to wait out here, gentlemen," the doctor spoke as he stopped Deeks.

"No, no, no, I'm not gonna leave her."

Sam put his hand on Deeks' arm.

"We got her."

"Hey, Deeks, they got this," Sam told him. "You'll only be in the way."

"Come on. Let 'em work," Callen said and they watched as Deeks walked off.

They were all concerned for their teammate and they hoped she would pull through. Callen was glad they had gotten out of there. They stayed there in the hallway outside of the operating room, wanting for an update on Kensi. Finally after what seemed like forever the doctor came out.

"We repaired the damage to her femoral artery and Ortho put an IM rod in the femur. She's got good bounding pedal pulses now."

"She going to Landstuhl?" Sam asked. Landstuhl was a military hospital in Germany. Since they were in Europe that was the closest one for Kensi to get the things she needed.

"Yes. She needs a head CT And an MRI, which we don't have on board."

"Is she awake?" Deeks asked.

"She's still in a coma. We're incorporating therapeutic hypothermia to preserve her brain function. She's gonna be kept cold until after neurosurgery. Assuming she needs it."

"Does she need it?" Callen asked.

"We need the CT and MRI to say for certain."

They watched as sailors carried Kensi passed them on a gurney with a tube in her mouth and a neck brace. Deeks wanted to go with her but no one else was allowed on the chopper, besides Kensi probably wouldn't be there for long. As soon as she had the scans and she was still stable they would transport her back to the States. The three guys watched as two sailors came down the stairs with Asakeem. Asakeem noticed them standing there and looked at them briefly before the sailors took him away.

"I hope he was worth it," Deeks stated.

They would have to wait now until they could catch a ride home.

"The captain would like to see you agent Callen," a sailor spoke as she walked up to them. "You all can get yourself cleaned up. Follow me please."

They freshened up a bit and Callen followed the sailor to the meeting room.

"Ah agent Callen, thank you for joining me, Captain Robert Riley. Please sit down." Callen sat down at the table. "I'm sorry for what happened to your teammate but my doctor said she should be okay."

"Yeah I hope so. Any chance on when we can get out of here?"

"We're putting together the transport to the Naval base in Rota, Spain. From there you can fly back to LA."

"Thank you sir and thank you for taking us in."

"No problem at all. I'll let you know when the transport is up, should be within a few hours."

"Alright thanks. Is it possible to call home?"

"Yes of course. There's a phone right there, you can use that. You can hang out in the mass decks until the transport arrives."

"Alright thank you."

The captain left and Callen went to make some phone calls. He first called Hetty.

"Mr. Callen, is everything okay?"

"Yeah, we're on the Carl Vinson now and Kensi is being transported to Landstuhl as we speak for scans and then she'll go to LA from there."

"How is she doing?"

"She's okay considering. The doctor repaired her leg but we don't know the complete assessment of her injuries until she has had the scans."

"And the rest of you?"

"We got checked out, we're good Hetty."

"Alright, good. I'll make sure Kensi will get the best care."

"Thanks Hetty."

Callen wanted to call Joelle but it was in the middle of the night in LA. The team hung around the mess decks and had some food until they would leave. About three hours later they could leave on the chopper towards Rota. It was around 3pm, Spanish time, when they were in Rota. Their flight would leave at 4pm. It was now 6am in LA. Hopefully Callen could call on the flight. He really wanted to call Joelle but he was afraid he would wake her up and he didn't want to do that. At 4pm sharp the plane took off for Coronado, from Coronado they could take a chopper back to LA. Sam and Callen could both see that Deeks was worried about Kensi, as were they, but for Deeks it was different, Kensi was his girlfriend.

"She's gonna be okay Deeks," Sam told him.

"You don't know that."

"You're right, I don't. But we have to stay positive. Kensi's strong, she's a fighter. She'll pull through this and you're gonna be there for her when she needs to."

Callen impatiently sat watching the clock, waiting for a good time to call Joelle. He would wait until 8am, the babies would probably be up around that time as well. Finally at 5pm Callen felt it was good to call Joelle. He grabbed the phone on the plane and called the number he knew by heart.

"Hello," Joelle answered the phone a little sleepily.

"Hey Jo, sorry did I wake you?"

"G?!" Joelle spoke relieved as she sat up in the bed. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine."

"What's wrong?" Joelle could hear that something was wrong by the sound of his voice.

"Kensi got hurt."

"Oh no, is it bad?"

"We're not sure yet."

"What happened?"

"Our chopper got shot down as we were on our way back."

"Oh god," Joelle gasped.

"Don't worry honey, I'm fine, I promise."

"What about Kensi?"

"She's probably already in the States. They operated on her on the ship but she needed to get scans. I don't know how she is."

"I'm so sorry to hear that. Are you sure you're alright? Did you get checked out?"

"I'm fine honey, I promise. Yes we all got checked out. We're okay, just some bruises and aches. I'm fine honey. How are things at home?"

"The babies missed you, they could tell that you were gone."

"I'm sorry I had to leave honey."

"It's not your fault G, it's your job. We both know that. I'm just glad you're alright. When will you be home?"

"I'm on my way home. We left Spain about an hour ago, will be in Coronado around 4pm I think. So I'll be in LA around 5pm."

"Alright. I'll see you then."

"I love you honey, give Jack and Nora a kiss from me."

"I will honey. I love you too. Can't wait to see you again."

"I'll be home before you know it. See you."

"See you."

Callen couldn't wait to be home again and see Joelle and his kids again. He really missed them. He hated leaving them at home, and leaving Joelle alone with them.

Once they were back in LA they first went to the office.

"Any news on Kensi?" Deeks asked Hetty.

"She has settled into the hospital here in LA. The scans looked okay, they can't say the exact damage until Kensi wakes up."

"I gotta go see her."

"Of course Mr. Deeks."

Deeks quickly grabbed his stuff and left.

"Are you two okay?"

"We're fine Hetty," Callen answered. "If you don't mind, I'd like to go home now."

"Of course. I'll see you all on Monday again, you can have the rest of the week off."

"Thank you Hetty."

Callen and Sam quickly grabbed their stuff and went home. Callen was really happy to be going home again. He had only been gone for a few days but he really missed Joelle and their kids. Callen parked the car in the driveway and quickly went into the house.

"Jo," Callen called softly into the house in case Nora and Jack were sleeping.

Callen didn't see her but Jack and Nora were lying in their playpens, peacefully sucking on their pacifiers.