(In Callen's Car)
(Callen's P.O.V.)
I pulled up at Sam's house at five past nine and saw he was waiting by the side of the road.
And he did not look happy.
Sam walked over to my car, took his bag off his shoulder, opened the car door, and got inside. Closing the door soon after.
I watched my partner as he put his bag in between his feet on the floor of the car, then stare straight ahead.
"You're mad." I said.
"Nope." Sam said, shaking his head a little. "I'm not mad."
"You're angry with me." I said.
"I'm not angry with you." Sam insisted, still not looking at me.
"Yes, you are." I said. Knowing better.
"Nope." He said.
"Sam, I'm only-" I began.
"Fifteen minutes late." Sam said.
"And I'm sorry." I said.
Sam looked at me, and did a double take. Looking me over.
"Are those the same clothes you were wearing yesterday?" He asked.
"Yeah." I said. "But-"
"Were you WITH someone last night?" Sam asked. "Is that why you're still in yesterday's clothes?"
"Sam," I began.
"You WERE with someone last night." Sam said. Then, he smiled. "And you were with her the WHOLE night, weren't you? THAT'S why you're late."
I stared at Sam. A little surprised he knew I stayed somewhere else last night.
Despite the reason being completely different than the one he was thinking.
"So, when am I going to meet her?" Sam asked.
"Who?" I asked.
"The girl that made you late this morning." He said.
"Why do you want to meet her?" I asked curious.
"So I can tell her that she's wasting her time." Sam said. "And that you're just with her to prolong the inevitable."
"And what's that?" I asked, amused.
"You eventually being with Emily." He said.
I laughed.
"I'm serious, G." Sam said. "You should act on your feelings now, before she ends up with someone else."
"Sam, you know the rule." I said.
"You know what you can DO with that rule?" Sam asked.
I narrowed my eyes at him, then, I began to drive toward work.
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I pulled into my parking space, and shut the car off.
Sam and I got out of the car.
After I closed my car door, I grabbed my bag from the back seat, and began to head toward the door.
"G.," I heard Sam say.
"Yeah, Sam?" I asked.
"Where are your shoes?" I heard Sam ask.
I stopped walking and looked at him confused.
"Come again?" I asked.
"You're not wearing any shoes." Sam said.
Still confused, I looked down at my feet.
And sure enough, I wasn't wearing any shoes. Just socks.
That's impossible, I thought, I always have-
Then, I remembered taking my shoes off before getting on Emily's bed last night.
Shit.
This wasn't the first time I forgot something at Emily's apartment when I slept over.
But it was the first time I forgot something noticable.
"Huh," I said, acting as if it didn't matter. "I guess not."
Then, I began to head toward the door again.
"But you always wear shoes." I heard Sam say behind me. "You NEVER leave the house without your shoes, badge, and gun. You told me that yourself."
"Ever thought maybe I didn't FEEL like wearing shoes today?" I asked, as I opened the door to the NCIS building, and went inside.
"No." I heard Sam say. "Because you know Hetty wouldn't allow it, unless you wanted to be on desk duty for the day. So, what's the real reason?"
"Why do you want to know so bad?" I asked, as we walked into the bull pen, where Deeks, Kensi, and Emily were already sitting at their desk.
"Curious." I heard Sam say, as I walked toward my desk.
"…..Dude, where's your shoes?" I heard Deeks ask, as I sat my bag down by my desk.
"Has anyone given it any thought that shoes may be overrated?" I asked, as I looked at them.
"Well, no." Kensi said. "I mean….They're cute, comfy, and stylish."
"They also protect your feet." Deeks said. "I mean, what if you stepped on a rusted nail and it got infected? It could have been prevented if you wore shoes. Which leads me back to my question, uh, where are your shoes?"
"Does it matter?" I asked.
"Are those the same clothes you were wearing yesterday?" Kensi asked.
"Does it matter?" I asked.
"Now it all makes sense." Sam said. "Your shoes are at that girls place, aren't they?"
"What girl?" Kensi asked, clearly interested.
"Hold up, Callen has a girl?!" Deeks asked, clearly surprised.
"Care to share?" Emily asked, a hint of teasing and amusement in her voice.
"There's nothing to share." I said, smiling a little at her.
"But there IS a girl?" Deeks asked, amazed.
"Is that hard to believe?" I asked him.
"Well….Kind of." Deeks said. "You seem to be the opposite of the relationship type of guy."
I raised my eyebrow.
"Not that you're not capable of it." Deeks said quickly. "You just come off as 'never gonna commit no matter what' because of past experiences."
I just continued to stare at him.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Sam grin and shake his head.
"….And I'm going to shut up now." Deeks said.
"That may be the wisest choice you ever made." I heard Kensi say.
Suddenly, I heard the familiar whistle.
I looked toward the whistle and saw Eric at the top of the stairs looking at us.
"We got information for you." Eric said.
Deeks, Emily, Sam, Kensi, and I left the bull pen, and headed up the stairs to OPS.
Once we entered OPS, Nell asked:
"Callen…Where are your shoes?"
"Does it matter?" I asked.
"Well, kind of." Eric said. "What if there was a rusted nail on the floor and you stepped on it?"
"Thank you!" Deeks said.
"Just tell us what you got." Sam said.
"Well we looked up Stewart Annabel like Emily has asked." Nell said. "And we discovered that he was let out jail a month ago."
"Where is he now?" Emily asked.
"Los Angeles." Eric said.
"Concidence?" Kensi asked.
"I don't think so." Emily said. "Do you have a location?"
"Yes." Nell said. "We already sent it to your phones."
"Let's go then." I said.
Then, Sam, Kensi, Deeks, Emily, and I left OPS, and headed for the stairs.
"Callen,"I heard a voice say behind me.
"I stopped at the top of the stairs, as Kensi, Deeks, and Sam walked by me, to see Emily behind me.
"Yeah, Em?" I asked, hoping everything was alright.
"I have your shoes." She said.
I laughed. Relieved that nothing was wrong.
"That's good." I said. "Because I don't think Hetty will give me any shoes unless it's for an undercover op."
Emily laughed a little.
"Probably not." She said.
Then, Emily walked by me, and began to go down the stairs.
I followed her. Smiling a little as I did.
When Emily and I entered the bull pen, Sam, Kensi, and Deeks were already gone.
Emily then walked over to the lockers. I followed her.
When Emily got to her locker, she opened it, took my shoes out, and closed it.
"Here you go." She said, holding my shoes out to me.
I took the shoes from her.
"Thanks." I said.
Then, I kissed her check.
Emily looked down, blushing. Which I found quite adorable.
"I'll, um," She began. "Let Sam know you're coming."
Then, Emily walked away.
I watched her leave.
Then, I smiled a little, and began to put on my shoes.
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(In the Boatshed)
(Emily's P.O.V.)
After we arrested Stewart Annabel for murder, we brought him back to the boatshed where Jake and his partner Hank were waiting for us.
Kensi and Marty brought the suspect to the interrogation room, and he admitted to killing Tyler Bradley, Sophia Farrell, and Maxwell Stevens.
After the confession, Kensi and Marty rejoined Sam, Hank, Jake, Callen, and I in the main room of the boatshed.
"You guys are good." Hank said. "Well done."
"Right back at ya." Marty said. "Now, if we're done here, I'm gonna go grab a burger and a beer."
"I'll take you up on that." Kensi said.
"Sam? Hank? Jake? Callen? Emily?" Deeks asked quickly.
"Why the hell not." Sam said.
"I could eat." Hank said.
"I'm good." Jake said. "Plus, someone has to process Annabel."
"I'll keep you company." I said.
"I'll stay too." Callen said.
"Suit yourselves." Marty said. "Come on, Fern! Let's go eat!"
"What did I say about calling me that?!" Kensi snapped at him, as her, Marty, Sam, and Hank headed toward the exit of the boatshed.
"I'll go put handcuffs on him." Callen said.
Then, Callen headed toward the interrogation room.
Once Jake and I were alone, Jake said:
"So, I'm guessing you forgot about our date last night?"
"Oh my god! Jake, I'm so sorry!" I said, as I remembered. "Something came up and I completely forgot."
"It's ok." He assured me, with a smile. "You could always make it up to me by going out with me tomorrow night?"
I smiled a little at him.
"Ok." I said. "It's a date."
Jake smiled more.
"Can't wait." He said.
Then, Jake headed toward the interrogation room.
I began to follow him, but stopped in my tracks when I saw Callen looking at me as if I did something wrong. Holding Stewart Annabel's arm.
"Thanks, Callen." Jake said.
"Yeah." Callen said, still looking at me.
Jake took Stewart Annabel's arm, and headed toward the exit.
Once Jake left the boatshed with our murderer, it was silent for a couple seconds.
Then, Callen asked:
"When were you going to tell me?"
"Tell you what?" I asked.
"About you and Jake." He said. "How long has it been going on?"
"The 'it' you're referring to, isn't going on." I said. "All Jake did was ask me out on date."
"And you said 'yes'." Callen said, sounding a bit angry.
"So?" I asked. "It's just one date."
"Don't go out with him." He said.
"Why?" I asked.
"Because you shouldn't." Callen said.
Getting a little angry myself, I walked up to Callen and said:
"If you can give me one good reason as to why I shouldn't go out with Jake, then I won't…..Just give me a reason."
Callen and I stared at each other.
Just say it, I thought, Say it, and I won't go out with him.
But as the silence continued, Callen said nothing.
Pain made its presence known in my heart.
"Now, if we're done here, there's someone I have to go see." I said.
Then, I walked by Callen, and left the boatshed.
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I pulled up to Hetty's house and parked the car.
I then got out of the car, and headed toward the door.
Once I reached the door, I knocked on it, and waited.
A couple seconds went by, then the door opened.
Standing on the other side of the door, was Ryan.
"Hey," Ryan said, a bit surprised to see me.
"Hey," I said. "Can I come in?"
"Of course." Ryan said, stepping aside. "This is your home after all."
"Actually, it's Hetty's house." I said, stepping inside.
Ryan closed the door, and looked at me.
"Hetty told me everything." Ryan said. "From how you met her, how she threw our father in prison, and how her and someone named Jethro Gibbs took care of you."
I was silent for a moment, then I said:
"I know about the restraining order….Callen told me."
"Told you I had no choice." He said.
"Why didn't you tell me?" I asked. "Before you left, and in Montreal…..Why didn't you tell me?"
"I didn't think you would believe me." Ryan said. "And, back then…You probably wouldn't have understood what a restraining order meant."
"I was eleven." I said. "You could have explained it me."
It was silent for a moment, then Ryan said:
"I'm sorry."
"…Me too." I said.
Then, Ryan walked over to me, and hugged me.
I hugged him back.
"I'm so happy to have you back." I heard Ryan whisper.
We stayed like that for a couple seconds, then we pulled away.
"I see you two are catching up?" I heard a voice ask.
Ryan and I looked toward the voice and saw Hetty standing not too far away from us.
"Yeah," I said. "We are."
Hetty smiled warmly at us.
"How about we continue this over tea?" Hetty suggested.
"With all due respect, Hetty, I'm not fond of tea." Ryan said.
I laughed a little.
"Of course you're not." Hetty said. "But, humor me Mr. Taylor. Won't you?"