A/N: Thank you for the great response to this story. I was going to wait a little before posting this chapter but I already had it written so I figured why not. I'm a lot happier with this one than the first. Chapters will be posted as i finish them and Callen's POV will be in the next chapter.

Hetty sat at her desk, an array of papers laid out in front of her and a steaming cup of tea in hand. She planned to spend the rest of the evening reviewing and signing case files her agents finally turned in, but a creak from the mission doors caught her attention. Putting down her tea cup, she looked to see one of her senior agents approaching her, sweaty and frustrated.

"Mr. Hanna, I didn't expect you back from your run so soon. Where is your partner?"

Ignoring how she even knew where they were, Sam turned to his boss to tell her what happened. "He's gone. While we were approaching a corner, a black van pulled up, stopped us. No plates. Four masked gunman and one driver. The passenger got out, ordered Callen to get in the van while I was surrounded by three gunman. We were outnumbered and had no weapons. Callen didn't listen and they shot him. They forced him inside then drove off, headed east."

As Sam spoke, Hetty's expression changed from curiosity to worry and fear. They both knew how close the other was to Callen, and Sam realized the news would hit her just as hard.

"Where was he shot?" Hetty spoke slowly with her certain calmness and air of professionalism Sam could not duplicate

"Left shoulder. We need to call in the team, the longer we wait the less chance we have of finding him."

"I am aware of this Mr. Hanna, I will call Eric and Nell." Hetty raised her hand to stop her agent from interrupting her. "There is nothing our agents can do until we find him. It's best if Ms. Blye and Mr. Deeks get some rest other than worrying all night. I suspect you will all need as much rest as you can get. That includes you, Mr. Hanna." Sam knew he couldn't argue against his boss, but there was no way he could sleep through the night knowing his partner had just been abducted.

"I'm not going home, Hetty. Not when Callen is out there." Sam confessed. Hetty could see the guilt and anxiety building up in his eyes, and knew she could not convince him otherwise.

"I wouldn't expect anything different, Sam." Her sincerity and use of his first name caught his attention.

After a moment, he turned to the bullpen and headed toward his desk. Sitting down, he glanced across the way to his partner's desk while he overheard Hetty calling in Eric and Nell. Thinking back on what happened not even an hour ago, he silently vowed to catch whoever did this and to bring Callen home. Alive, he added. He picked up a pen and paper and wrote down what little he knew.

Sam had been working on his report of the incident all night and anything he could remember about the suspects, although Hetty did convince him to at least shower and rest on the couch for a couple hours in between notifying Director Vance and the other proper authorities. He was still in his gym clothes and her office was starting to smell.

Eric and Nell had arrived at the Ops center an hour after Hetty called them and two hours after Callen's abduction. They had been working tirelessly to find their leader, searching out any leads they found.

While the rest of the team was working, Kensi and Deeks strolled through the doors of the mission, coffee and doughnuts in hand. Walking into the bullpen, they found their senior agent on his laptop looking exhausted and pissed.

"Wow," Deeks began, "You look like-" Sam shot him a look and Deeks quickly changed course. "Uh, you-you look great."

Kensi rolled her eyes at her partner and turned around toward her desk. Deeks kept his mouth shut and sat down next to Sam. Setting her bag and precious doughnuts down, Kensi glanced next to her catching sight of the empty desk. Turning toward the missing member's partner, Kensi inquired, "Hey, where's Callen?"

Sam stopped typing on his laptop and looked to her. Meeting his eyes, Kensi saw a hint of guilt before he broke contact, confusing her even more.

Suddenly, Sam shut his computer and stood up. "Ops, now." His tone left no room for argument. He quickly left and climbed up the stairs. Looking at her partner, they both stood up and quickly followed. They were unsure of Sam's behavior, but his urgency and lack of a clear answer worried them. They entered Ops and saw everyone already up there waiting for them, even Hetty. They all seemed eerily quiet, and the junior agents knew something was very wrong. "Hetty," Kensi slowly asked, afraid of the answer, "what happened?"

Hetty turned toward her techs and signaled for then to start.

"At approximately 10:00pm last night, a black van pulled up near Callen and Sam during their run on a residential street about five miles north of us. Four gunman then climbed out of the van, shooting and abducting Agent Callen." Nell's voice grew shaky, showing how the briefing was emotionally difficult for her. "The van then took off heading east. It had no plates and the suspects wore masks. There is little we have to go on, however we were able to find a video on a nearby street camera."

She pressed play and everyone in the Ops center stared intently at the screen, watched the turn of events happen in seconds. The video ended with the van disappearing and Sam setting off in a sprint in the direction he came. Sam stepped forward to give more information to his teammates.

"They came out of nowhere, we had no weapons and no phones. These guys moved fast, like pros. Whoever they are, it looks like they targeted Callen. He definitely has a long list."

Hetty looked toward her team, noting their behavior. Deeks showed concern on his face and became serious and focused, for once not having a single comment to add. Kensi looked completely worried for her leader, the person she saw as her big brother. Eric and Nell were afraid for his safety and defeated that they had found so little to help. Sam… Sam looked like he wanted to punch something, but even more he looked completely guilty that again his partner was shot in front of him and he could do nothing to stop it, that despite his struggling he couldn't find a way to help his partner.

"I don't have to remind you how important this mission is. Ms. Jones and Mr. Beale will continue tracing the van, where it went and where it came from, and go back the last month and see if anyone was watching Mr. Callen. You three will search Mr. Callen's home, and please be aware of anyone watching nearby. Then compile a list of suspects who would have the finances and resources available to target Mr. Callen. It looks like these men were guns for hire. Mr. Hanna, do you believe you two were followed from this location?"

"No. We checked for tails, no one was following us."

"Good, then it is safe to assume our operations center is not compromised. Now, you all have work to do. We protect our own at all costs." she emphasized, meeting each person's eyes. Looking at Sam's last, she continued. "Mr. Hanna, a word."

As the others quickly got to work, Sam sauntered over to his boss.

"Sam, this is not your fault."

"I was right there. I should have done something to stop it, instead I just let him be taken."

"You couldn't have prevented this, and you were surrounded. If you had tried to do something you probably would've gotten yourself killed. Now I know that wouldn't have done anything to help your partner and you know he wouldn't have wanted that either."

"He's my partner, Hetty. It's my job to watch his back."

"And sometimes, Mr. Hanna, these things just happen. Now put away your guilt and focus on finding him. You know that the one thing Mr. Callen can count on right now is you." Hetty scolded. Sam knew she was right, but it did nothing to quell his guilt. The only way to do that was to find Callen, and he knew that his partner would hang on for him until he was saved.