"Why that mom?" Lori asked confused.
"I got a great job offer here at the hospital," Richard explained.
"But what about Seattle? You love it there."
"We do, but this is a great opportunity for me and that way we can see our grandkids more often."
"I'm sure they will love that. Have you talked to Sylvie about this?"
Lori's brothers had already moved out of a Seattle for jobs. One was living in San Francisco and the other was living in Houston.
"We talked to her about it and she was okay with it. She's even thinking about coming down herself," Susan replied.
"That would be great."
It would be really nice to have her parents and sister close by. Lori missed them.
"It's not final yet. I have an appointment at the hospital this Monday," Richard stated.
"What will the job be here?"
"Chief of cardiothoracic surgery. Pacific beach medical has a great program here. The best of the best work here. Their head of cardio just retired and they contacted me to replace him."
"Wow, that's great dad. I hope you get it."
"I hope so too."
The family finished their dinner. After dinner Susan and Lori took the girls upstairs. Lori filled the tub as Susan undressed the girls. Once was full enough the girls were put in and they played with their water toys.
"They really are sweet girls," Susan spoke.
"Oh yes they are. G and I love them both very much."
"And now a new baby on the way."
"Yes, We're both very happy about that."
"How are you feeling so far?"
"I can't complain so far."
"That's good. Do you know what you're having already?"
"No not yet. We haven't decided yet if we want to know."
"Well, there's still time for that."
"Yes there is."
After a while they pulled the kids out of the tub. They dried them off and put them to bed.
"Gwandma, stowy," Myra spoke.
"Alright, which story?"
"Cindewella," Julie replied. It was their favorite.
Susan grabbed the book of Cinderella and started reading. By the time the story had ended the girls were asleep. Lori put the night light on and they quietly left the room. The four adults sat around the living room chatting before going up to bed.
"So what do you think about your parents and sister moving down here?" Callen asked as they were in bed.
"It's would be nice to have them close by, for the girls as well."
"Yeah, it would be and for the new baby too."
"Yeah. I really miss them but I would miss you more if I went back to Seattle."
"I would miss you too," Callen replied as he pulled Lori closer to him.
Lori gave him a smile. "I knew I would miss them when I decided to move out here. But it was a great opportunity for me to work at the OSP."
"I'm glad that you did. Cus otherwise I wouldn't have met you and we wouldn't be married right now with twin girls and a new baby on the way. I really love my family."
"And we love you honey."
Callen pulled Lori closer and gave her a kiss. Lori snuggled into his arms and together they fell asleep.
…
That Monday Lori had a doctor's appointment. It was after work so Callen managed to go with her. Susan and Richard were at their house watching the twins. They hadn't gone home yet since Richard had the job interview today at the hospital. Lori was so busy during the day she didn't have a chance to ask her father how it went so she would ask him when they got home after the appointment.
Just after the sat down in the waiting room Lori was called in. Callen followed her. Lori changed into a hospital gown before lying down on the bed. A little later the doctor came in.
"Good evening, how are we feeling?"
"Not too bad, can't complain so far."
"That's good. Well, let's see how you are doing."
The doctor felt around Lori's stomach first. Then she took Lori's blood pressure and her weight. She also took some blood for testing.
"Why don't you lay down and we'll see what the little baby is up to."
Lori lay down on the bed as the doctor got everything ready. The doctor sat in between Lori's legs and pushed the wand into Lori's vagina.
"There's the little baby," the doctor spoke as she pointed to the screen. "I don't know if I can see it yet, but would you like to know what you're having?"
"We haven't decided yet," Lori answered.
"Alright, just let me know."
"Is everything alright?"
"Yes, so far everything looks fine. The baby is right on track. Everything looks fine."
Callen and Lori were very pleased to hear that. Lori got a new ultrasound picture before she went to dress herself. They made a new appointment for in three weeks on their way out.
When they got home Susan was in the kitchen preparing dinner. Richard was in the living room playing with Myra and Julie.
"Hey guys," Lori spoke as she walked in.
"Hey you two," Richard replied. "How did the appointment go?"
"Very well. The baby is doing very well."
"That's good to hear."
Myra and Julie came walking over to Callen and Lori.
"Hey you two," Callen and Lori spoke as they crouched down.
Myra walked to Lori and Julie walked to Callen. Both of them gave the girls a kiss.
"Did you behave today?"
"Yes they did and they had fun at school this morning."
"That's good."
"Dinner's ready," Susan called from the kitchen.
Callen and Lori picked the girls up and placed them in their high chairs.
"Mmmmm, it looks great mom."
Callen and Lori cut the girls food in little pieces and let it cool off for a little while.
"So, how did the job interview go today dad?"
"I think it went very well. You know how it is. They have to talk amongst themselves. I should have an answer by the end of the week."
"Great. I hope you get it."
"So do I."
"Are you staying here the entire time?"
"No, we're going home tomorrow. I still have to work at the hospital in Seattle."
"Okay."
"But if I do get word before the end of the week and I get the job we'll probably move out here on the weekend, cus I think they want me to start next week already."
"Ah okay. Please let us know if you got the job or not."
"Of course I will."
After dinner Callen and Richard brought the girls up to bed.
…..
The next morning before working Callen and Lori brought Susan and Richard to the airport.
"Have a safe flight," Lori called as Susan and Richard walked to the gate.
Callen and Lori waited until they had past customs before going to work.
"Good morning," Callen spoke as they walked into the bullpen, only Sam was there.
"Good morning."
A little later Kensi and Deeks arrived too and Eric whistled them up.
"What do we have Eric?" Callen asked as the agents walked into OPS.
"This morning a bomb went off at the federal building," Eric spoke as he put some pictures on the screen.
"Yikes," Deeks stated.
"How many casualties?" Kensi asked.
"So far there are four reported dead and a lot of people injured. They are still looking through the rubble," Nell told them.
"Can you tell if something or someone specific was targeted?" Sam wanted to know.
"The bomb squad is still looking through everything. We haven't gotten their report yet."
"Alright, we'll go check out the scene. Lori, work with Eric and Nell. See what you can find out about the attack. Maybe someone claimed the attack."
The four agents left. Lori stayed upstairs with Eric and Nell and they went to look for anything that could help them. Lori hated not going out in the field anymore but she knew with her being pregnant it was not good to be out in the field.
About fifteen minutes later the agents pulled up to the federal building. Part of the building had been completely destroyed. They showed their badges to the LAPD officer. They could go onto the scene but not near the building yet, it hadn't been cleared yet by the fire department. Callen walked up to the fire chief.
"Agent Callen, NCIS," Callen introduced himself as he showed his credentials. "What can you tell me about what happened here?"
"We got the callout around 8.30 this morning. When we got here part of the building had been destroyed. My men are still looking through the rubble for people. The bomb squad is looking through it now, looking for any kind of device. We don't have much right now. You guys will have to wait to examine the scene until we've cleared it."
"Alright, thank you."
"Do you know where the chief of the bomb squad is?" Sam asked.
"Over there."
Sam walked up to him and Callen followed him. Kensi and Deeks went to speak to a few witnesses who were stable enough to answer questions.
"Excuse me, Agents Hanna and Callen, NCIS. What can you tell us so far?"
"We've only found bits and pieces of what looks like to be a bomb, but we won't know exactly what we're dealing with until we've found everything. By the looks of it the bomb was detonated in the west wing. We've done a couple of simulations to determine where exactly." The chief grabbed his computer and the simulations to Callen and Sam. "This is most likely simulations we could make with the information we have so far. By the pieces we found of the bomb it's most likely a bomb with C4. Looking at the damage it's mostly likely they used about four bars. Now when we put that in and place the bomb on the third floor we get to most accurate result, the one that matches the scene the most."
The chief showed Callen and Sam the simulation. Callen called Eric.
"Yeah Callen," Eric answered the phone.
"Eric, can you find one what's on the third floor in the west wing?"
"Yeah, just a minute." Eric typed in a few things. "According to the latest schematics those offices were empty."
"What about the floors above and below?"
"The floor below houses the archive room and above is the server room."
"Okay, thanks Eric. And see if you can find anything about missing C4."
"Will do."
Callen hung up the phone. "According to Eric those offices on the third floor were empty and below is the archive room and above is the server room."
"That makes no sense," Sam stated. "Why place a bomb in part of the building where hardly any people are?"
"Unless you didn't want to blow up people but send a message," Callen added.
"How soon can we go onto the scene?" Sam asked.
"That's up to the fire department."
"Alright, thank you."
Kensi and Deeks hadn't gotten much from the witnesses. All of them reported a loud bang and then part of the building collapsed. Callen called Eric again, asking him if he wanted to look through the security tapes to see who was in the room the bomb supposedly was placed in.
Lori sat behind one of the computers and looked through the security tapes.
It was about two hours later when the agents finally could go onto the scene. They put their gloves on and searched through the rubble. Sam found some more pieces of the bomb and brought them over to the table so the bomb squad could reassemble the bomb.
Suddenly Callen saw some of the rubble moving. There was no one around him and he was standing still. Callen waited a few seconds and saw the rubble moving again. He cautiously walked closer to the rubble and carefully removed some of the top rubble until he saw a hand coming in sight. The hand moved, meaning the person was still alive.
"I've got someone here! He's alive!" Callen called.
Quickly firefighters and ambulance personal came over to Callen's location. Callen helped them take the rubble off. A little later the man was freed. He was quickly placed on a back board. Before he was taken down he grabbed Callen's hand.
"Thank you," the man's weak voice spoke to Callen before he was taken down and into the ambulance.
"Good work Agent Callen," the fire chief told him.
The fire chief questioned his men who was responsible for searching that area and they were told off for having missed that person.
The agents continued to search the rubble for anything that could help them. There wasn't much left so they hoped Eric, Nell and Lori had better luck.
Just as they stepped off the rubble Callen's phone rang.
"Yeah Lori," Callen answered the phone.
"Hey G, I've gone over the security tapes and there are two people who have entered the office on the third floor. Since the office is empty there are no cameras inside. One of the people was a janitor who went in there with his cart and the other person was a construction worker, he was carrying a toolbox. I got a clean shot of their faces, their names and addresses are on your phones."
"Thanks Lori," Callen spoke and hung up the phone.
Callen told the others what Lori had told him. It was weird that both people would walk into the room while the room was empty. Both of them could have carried the bomb in their cart or toolbox. Callen saw that one of the security guards was still on sight so he walked up to him.
"Excuse me, can I ask you a few questions?" Callen addressed the man.
"I've already told your colleagues everything I know."
"We have some follow up questions. Do you remember any of these guys?"
Callen showed him the pictures Lori had sent him.
"Yes, I've seen them both around. The janitor has been working here for quite a while and we're currently doing some construction work on the fourth floor offices."
"Do you have any idea why they would go into the vacant offices on the third floor of the west wing?"
"No, they shouldn't have any business there, the offices are vacant and as far as I know they are not gonna be filled anytime soon. Now that I think about it I didn't see the janitor coming in today."
"Alright, thank you."
Callen walked back to the others and told them what the security guard had told him.
"Kensi, Deeks, why don't you go visit the construction worker, we'll go visit the janitor."
"You got it," Kensi replied.
All the agents got into the car and drove to the address.
Callen and Sam got out and knocked on the door. A little later the man opened the door. It was the same man as in the picture.
"Yes, how can I help you?"
"Agents Callen and Hanna, NCIS," Callen replied as Callen and Sam showed their badges. "We would like to ask you a few questions about the explosion at the federal building you work at this morning."
"Yes, I saw it on the news. It's devastating. Come in, I'll answer any of your questions."
Callen and Sam walked in and sat down on the chairs in the living room as the man sat down on the couch.
"Why weren't you at work today?" Callen asked, not beating around the bushes.
"I called in sick today."
"That's pretty convenient, since today the bomb went off."
"Do you think I had something to do with it?!"
"Did you?" Sam asked.
"Absolutely not!"
"Then why did you go into the vacant offices on the third floor?" Callen asked.
"Even though they are vacant, doesn't mean they don't get dirty. I was just cleaning them. Is that where the bomb was found?"
"We believe so."
"I would never do anything like that. I love my job and the people that work there are always friendly to me. I wouldn't set off a bomb. I've never even gotten a parking ticket."
"Did you see anything suspicious around or in the offices?"
"No, when I cleaned them two days ago they were empty. Please, find out who did this. I swear to you, I didn't do it."
"Don't leave town," Callen spoke before he and Sam got up and left.
"Do you believe him?" Sam asked as they walked to their car.
"I think he's telling the truth."
"Yeah so do I. Maybe Kensi and Deeks have better luck."
When they walked into the office Kensi and Deeks were already there.
"How did you guys do?" Callen asked.
"Not good, he wasn't home. What about you?"
"The janitor was home sick. He swore he didn't do it and I think he's telling the truth."
"Eric and Nell are looking for the construction worker."
"Let's hope they'll find something."
About an hour later Eric came downstairs.
"I checked several places and found that the navy base in Pendleton had reported a couple of bars of C4 missing two days ago," Eric told them. "I've pulled the security tapes and one of the guys seems to match the construction worker. Except we have no idea where he is. His phone has not been used and neither has his credit card."
"What about the others guys on the video?" Callen asked.
"They never show their face to camera."
"Alright, keep searching for them, check cameras in the area, maybe they spotted something."
"Will do."
Two hours later they had a location on the guys. They were held up in a warehouse. The agents geared up and went to the warehouse. They breached the warehouse, which to their surprise was empty.
"Bomb!" Sam suddenly called and everyone ran outside as fast as they could before the building exploded into a million pieces.