A/N: Okay, so this was supposed to be only half of this chapter but I'm going out of town now without my laptop until Saturday and figured you'd rather have half than none at all. Callen POV when I get back! Please leave a review, I really appreciate them, they make my day!

Sam pulled up the mission, parking his Challenger in its spot near the large wooden doors. He turned off the engine, sighing as he remained in the car. He looked over to the passenger side, an assortment of takeout bags occupying its seat.

Four months.

Four months to the day, he thought, since his best friend had disappeared. No matter what Sam had seen, he couldn't believe Callen was dead. He just knew he wasn't. Call it a gut instinct, partner's intuition, whatever. Deep down, he didn't believe it.

Even after weeks had passed with no information on where Callen or his kidnappers had ended up, and the case was labeled cold, Sam hadn't stopped looking. He had used his free time and took some long weekends to chase down even the slimmest of leads he'd found, always turning up empty. The rest of the team let him be, knowing nothing could stand in Sam's way. As reluctant as they all were, they had eventually resigned to the fact that Callen was gone. They knew Sam wasn't convinced, but they decided it was best to let him come to terms with it himself.

Once the case was declared cold, Sam naturally assumed the role of team leader. The criminals wouldn't stop because they lost a team member. So they moved on to the next case, and the next, and the next. Kaleidoscope still ran in the background of Ops, looking for his killers, but as time went on they stopped asking Eric for any results.

During the first few weeks, Sam could tell Hetty was ready to leave; for the news about Callen had hit her hard. He knew the team would fall apart with her also gone, and he couldn't bear for that to happen. The rest of the team depended on her guidance and wisdom, now more than ever. She seemed to be there for her agents, but Sam could tell that Hetty didn't plan on being at the mission for much longer.

He had kept an eye on her afterwards (as much as anyone could when it came to Hetty), however as time went on, she was still around and in charge of OSP. One night after a case, Sam was headed out when Hetty called him over. She had noticed him watching her for weeks and had asked what was on his mind. Sam expressed his confusion over Hetty's initial reactions and admitted he had been worried she would resign.

Hetty revealed that she was going to resign, getting as far as having her letter ready to hand over to the director. She continued to explain that she was reminded of how Callen had stopped her from doing the same thing many years before, and the memory had made her reconsider her decision. Hetty explained that she knew Callen wouldn't want her to leave their team behind. She decided that she needed to stop running from the situations she'd always feared and knew she should stay for the sake of her agents. Ultimately, Sam was relieved by her answer and agreed that it was what Callen would want her to do, however, he was still concerned and inadvertently still kept an eye on her since.

Sam's phone rang, bringing him out of his reverie and into the present. He dug his phone out of his pocket and cleared his throat.

"Yeah?"

"Hey, you back with the food yet? Kensi is starting to get cranky."

"Deeks!"

"Okay, make that is cranky." Deeks winced.

"I'm outside, be there in a minute." Sam replied

"Awesome, thanks."

Sam ended the call, sighed, and grabbed the bags of food. He exited his car and walked through the doors of the mission.

He entered to find the two partners arguing, chuckling to himself. There hadn't been as many times that they'd all banter or laugh together in the past four months. The bullpen was often times silent rather than filled with their usual conversations, so it was nice to see his teammates acting normally.

"Stop lying, I know you stole it." Kensi accused.

"Why would I steal it?"

"To make me angry."

"Why would I want to do that? I'm not crazy!" Deeks asked, exasperated.

"What did he do this time?" Sam pushed, smiling lightly.

"I didn't do anything!"

"He stole my last twinkie from my desk." Kensi declared.

"I don't even like them! Are you sure you didn't eat it?"

Kensi glared at him.

"Okay, okay, well I didn't take it. Hey, maybe new guy over here took it." Deeks, trying to deflect the blame, pointed over to the new agent sitting next to Kensi, trying remain unnoticed. Kensi tilted her head and squinted her eyes toward the man next to her. He had been there only a couple months, since Director Vance finally made them choose a replacement for Sam to work with. The three of them had pushed it off as long as they could, but eventually they chose Evan Campbell, a medium height, dark-haired agent who'd started in San Diego a few years ago.

He was a junior agent with potential and proved to be a good shot. None of them held anything against him personally, but the three of them had a rocky start with him replacing Callen and quickly they all learned it was best if they stuck to business only with him. In turn, Campbell learned not to ask any questions about the agent he replaced after one too many angry glares sent his way.

Over the months, Sam, Kensi, and Deeks had grown closer as a team since they'd lost their leader. Whether they wanted to admit it or not, they each had depended on the others throughout the months and looked out for each other. They also had backed each other up when it came to dealing with their new teammate in the beginning, like whenever he would get curious about the agent no one would mention around him. Soon though, he learned his place and eventually got to the point where they could work cases together, but nothing more.

Campbell looked at Kensi, his eyes widening at her look. "Nope, no way. I'm not that stupid." He looked back at his computer, finishing up a report.

Kensi's eyes narrowed further and she looked back at her partner.

Choosing to spare Deeks, Sam drew Kensi's attention. "Kensi, I'm sure he will buy you a whole box of twinkies later," he started, sending Deeks a look as he spoke, "but for now, I brought back lunch."

Sam held up one of the bags in his hand, offering it to her. She contemplated a second before getting up from her desk and retrieving her food, Deeks sending a silent thank you toward Sam as she walked. Sam handed out the rest of the lunches. They ate in silence, working on their respective stacks of paperwork for the next few hours until Eric called them up to Ops for their next case.