A/N: Thanks to Izzie, terken, ChlollieRockz, Rebel Magnus, and TwilightPony21 for reviewing; sheeponthemoon for favoriting; and Neville and Luna1812, JanApril, The-Seilent-One-96, Aria Medley, and hatback for subscribing to story alerts.

Today's chapter explores more of Callen and Kensi's relationship and sets up the rest of the story - including the forboding prologue (grins evilly).

Chapter 4: Four Days Earlier

"You sure you're ready for this?" Sam asked as he and Callen drove to the rendezvous point.

"Sam, I've gone undercover hundreds of times before, and I've been paired with Kensi fairly often, too. It'll be fine."

"But you've never been at odds with Kensi during an op before," Sam pointed out as he steered the car into a turn.

"Sam…" Callen started.

"G." Sam's tone as he cut him off was serious. He turned in his seat to look at his friend. "Promise me you won't do anything stupid."

Callen was a little taken aback, but he replied lightly, "Like what?"

"I'm serious, G. This op could be dangerous. You saw what happened to Campbell."

"What do you want me to say, Sam? The job's dangerous. We all take risks. It's what we do."

"Just promise me you won't let this thing with Kensi make you careless," Sam said earnestly. "I don't want to lose either of you."

Callen nodded in understanding. "Kensi and I will be fine, Sam. We may not be on the best of terms right now, but we're not the best undercover operatives in OSP for nothing. I'm sure we can bury the hatchet long enough to get through the op."

"And what about after?" Sam wanted to know.

Callen sighed. "You know I can't promise anything about after."

"Are you ever going to tell me what happened between you and her?"

Callen thought about that for a minute. "I'm not sure," he admitted. "That depends on whether we manage to work it out or not. I hope I will be able to tell you, one day."

Sam nodded. He knew this was the closest he was going to get concerning Callen and Kensi's issue – at least for now.

The rest of the drive was spent in silence. Sam kept his worries to himself, and Callen was preparing himself to get into his role.

Presently they drove up to a supermarket. Callen shared one last glance with his partner before climbing out of the car and closing the door. Then he disappeared into the building.

"Be safe, G," Sam muttered as he drove away.

The supermarket was wide and spacious. The floors were kept pristine by the particular janitors, the air-conditioning was cold, and the PA system occasionally made announcements. Callen breathed deeply, falling into his character, and set off.

He found Kensi by the dairy aisle, a cart filled with groceries next to her. She looked up the moment she heard him, and put on a bright smile.

"Hi, honey," she greeted cheerfully. "Did you have a nice time with your friend?"

"Ah, it was the usual," Callen said easily. "We had a few drinks, he bored me with tales of his life, and we reminisced about the past."

Kensi chuckled as she tossed a pack of cheese into the cart. "Well, I'm almost done here; why don't you go check out the frozen foods section and get some sausages for me?"

"Right," Callen agreed, knowing full well this was code for: Gordon's in the frozen foods section; go run surveillance.

They parted, and Callen allowed himself a moment of satisfaction – even after all that had happened, they could still flawlessly play their characters together. Of course, this wasn't their usual type of op – only time would tell if they could continue to keep it up.

The plan outlined by Hetty and Renko was simple: pose as a newly-wed couple who had just moved to LA, 'accidentally' bump into Gordon, pretend to recognize him as a friend of a friend, get close to him, and find out whether he was running a drug trafficking ring or not.

Of course, for this to work, their covers had to go deeper than your average run-of-the-mill types. Both Callen and Kensi were sporting brand-new aliases – Mr. Jacob Carmel and his wife Mrs. Alison Carmel – the backstopping of which had been created by both Eric and Nell and ran back up to fifteen years. Hetty had even secured a small apartment for them in downtown LA that they had to stay in – together – for the duration of the op.

While Callen and Kensi played the happy newlyweds, Sam, Deeks, and Renko would run surveillance and keep looking for leads on Campbell's murder and the drug ring. Eric and Nell would keep an eye on them via the cameras hidden in their new apartment and other electronic devices.

None of them was expecting this operation to run more than a month, at the very most, but this sort of business was unpredictable – so while it wasn't exactly deep cover, it came close. Callen, however, had every confidence that he and Kensi could do this. They'd played a couple many times before, and were good at it – plus, they had personal experience none of their colleagues knew about.

So this particular op? No problem. Piece of cake.

He hoped.

"Did you get the doughnuts?" Callen inquired as Kensi let herself into his house.

"Yep." She showed him the box she was carefully balancing on her palms. "So what are we doing tonight?"

Callen grinned at her. "How are you at Monopoly?"

"You're kidding, right?" she said skeptically. "Monopoly? Really?"

"What's the harm in shaking things up a little?" he asked. "We've never played a game before."

"I'll tell you what's the harm," she said. "I suck at Monopoly."

"Really?" he asked in surprise.

"Yes, really," she told him, moving into the living room. She stopped short at what she saw. "Callen…"

"Yeah, uh – I kind of already set it up." He gestured sheepishly at the board game on the floor.

Kensi scowled at him. He just looked back at her with a question in his eyes.

"Oh, all right, fine," she relented, setting the box of doughnuts on the floor next to the game. "I'll play – but only to humor you. And I give you fair warning now; you won't find me much fun to beat."

"We'll see," said Callen, sitting down. In truth, this was their first night together since the day he'd failed to complete his sentence during Project Runway; and he'd opted to go with a game because it would recreate the light-hearted atmosphere they thrived in. He figured it was the simplest way to thaw the slight frostiness between them lately and to ease them back into their happy camaraderie.

He got out the tokens. "Choose one," he said to Kensi.

She picked the shoe and took a doughnut from the open box. He selected the moneybag.

"Planning to be a property tycoon?" she asked playfully with a pointed glance at his token.

"Positive visualization," he replied with a smirk.

The game began, and an hour later the board was half filled with houses and the box of doughnuts was almost empty. Both Callen and Kensi were laughing.

"This is what you call being a property tycoon?" Kensi asked, gesturing at Callen's measly stack of game money. "You're worse than me – and that's saying something. I can't believe I'm actually winning!"

"At least you've had experience buying houses," Callen retorted. "I bounced between homes, remember?"

"You bought this one," she pointed out.

"Technically, Hetty did," he corrected. "All I did was sign the deed and pay the money." He smiled wryly.

Kensi giggled; Callen moved his token.

"Ha!" she exclaimed jubilantly. "That's mine! You owe me six hundred."

"That is just cruel," he remarked as he studied his stack of money. "I don't think I have enough."

"Well, then you'll have to declare bankruptcy." Kensi smirked. "Looks like I win."

"Is that so?" Callen reached over and pulled free a handful of her neatly arranged paper money.

"Callen!" she shrieked. "Give that back!"

"Make me," he said, grinning mischievously.

She did. She dove at him in a tackling motion, upsetting the board and sending cards and houses everywhere.

By the time their tussle was over they were both breathing hard. Callen was lying on his back, and Kensi was over him.

"I think you've ruined the game," Callen said.

"Doesn't matter." Kensi leaned down to kiss him.

Neither of them spared another thought for Monopoly that night.

Callen walked up the frozen food aisle, spotting his quarry with ease. He 'accidentally' bumped into Gordon, and then hastily apologized.

"Hey, sorry, man," he said, oozing sincerity. "I wasn't looking where I was going. You okay?"

"Don't worry about it," Gordon told him. "No harm done." His manner was friendly and easy; as far as Callen could tell, he was just a regular nice guy. It was too early to say for certain, though. Time to lay the trap.

"Hey, you know what?" he said in a puzzled tone of voice with an equally puzzled expression. "You look like someone a friend of mine once told me about."

"Well, I don't know about that," Gordon said with a laugh. "Who's your friend?"

Callen didn't miss a beat. "James Campbell. He's a Marine."

"Yeah, I know James. Went to high school with him. Met up with him a couple of days ago, actually."

"You did?" Callen pretended to be surprised. "I didn't know he was in LA." They'd decided beforehand that 'Jacob Carmel' shouldn't know too much about Campbell.

"Well, I don't know if he still is – he said he had to redeploy in a few days."

"Life of a Marine," Callen agreed. This conversation was coming along fine. "Hey, I didn't catch your name."

"Alex Gordon," Gordon replied.

"Alex," Callen repeated. He extended his hand for a handshake. "I'm Jacob."

Just then Kensi, right on cue, came up to them, wheeling the cart.

"Oh, hey," Callen greeted easily, as if they hadn't prearranged this scene. "You done with the groceries?"

"Just about," Kensi responded. "Did you find the sausages?"

"Uh, not yet," Callen admitted. "I was talking to Alex over here." He gestured at Gordon. "Alex, this is my wife, Alison."

"Pleasure to meet you," Gordon greeted politely.

"Likewise," Kensi replied with a smile. "I hope my husband hasn't been talking your ear off – he has a tendency to do that sometimes." She smiled sweetly at Callen, who held his hands up.

"Just being friendly."

"Uh-huh. The sausages, Jake?"

He caught the point in her tone. "Going to get them now," he promised, backing away with a glance at Gordon that said, 'The wife rules all', leaving Kensi with their target.

"So how long have you two been married?" Gordon asked.

"Two months," answered Kensi. "We just moved to LA a couple of weeks ago." She looked at him. "What about you? You got a special someone in your life?"

Gordon chuckled. "Not likely. I'm a bachelor. Probably always will be."

"Oh? Why's that?"

Gordon shrugged. "I run my own business," he replied. "It's kind of a full time job. Hectic schedule."

"I see." Kensi nodded absent-mindedly, pretending to check through her groceries – although right now she was the farthest thing from 'absent-minded'. This 'business' of Gordon's could be the drug ring they were tracking.

"Got the sausages," Callen said as he returned with a package of said sausages. He tossed it into the cart. "Shall we get going?"

"Okay," Kensi agreed. "I'll go pay for these." She walked away, and Callen started to follow after her, before he turned back, as if in afterthought.

"You know, Alison and I are planning to grab something to eat on the way home. Care to join us?"

"Well, I don't know…" Gordon sounded hesitant.

"Come on," Callen coaxed. "Our treat. We can talk about James and see if we have anything else in common."

Gordon smiled. "Okay. Why not?"

Callen grinned. "Great. We'll meet you by the café on 31st and Ocean in, say, an hour?"

Gordon nodded. "See you there."

Callen looked satisfied as he left.

The sound of the doorbell ringing interrupted Callen and Kensi from the movie they'd been watching together. Both glanced at the door, then back at the other.

"Are you expecting someone?" Kensi inquired.

"No," Callen answered, his tone puzzled. He lowered his voice. "Stay here."

He went to get the door while Kensi looked for a place to hide in case it was anyone they didn't want to find out about them. Easier said than done; though Callen had invested in a couch and a bed since Kensi had started staying over, his house was still quite bare – there was no furniture for her to hide behind.

Keep cool, Kensi told herself. It's probably nothing to worry about. Callen will send whoever it is away and then we can get back to the movie…

What she heard next stripped her calm away from her, however.

"Oh, hey, Sam," Callen said from the hallway, in a too-cheerful voice. "What are you doing here?"

Shit, Kensi thought, as she raced into the next room to make herself scarce.

Out in the hallway, Callen stalled at the door, hoping Kensi could hide herself in time. He kept his face smooth and neutral as he talked to Sam.

"Thought I'd ask you if you want to go to the bar – have some drinks and play a game of pool," Sam invited.

"I'd like to, buddy, but I've got things to do."

"Like what?" Sam asked.

"Paperwork," Callen lied immediately. Sam's eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"You never take paperwork home to do."

"There's a first time for everything. And I really do have a ton of reports to write. Hetty's been on my ass for weeks about some mission logs I owe her." Callen put on an apologetic face. "Sorry, Sam. Some other time."

"Okay," Sam agreed, accepting his excuse. He knew all too well how terrifying Hetty could be when she didn't get her paperwork. "See you tomorrow. Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Sam," Callen said, before he closed the door. But he didn't give Kensi the all-clear yet. He waited until he heard the engine of Sam's car fade into the distance before returning to the living room. Kensi was there waiting for him.

"That was close," he commented.

"What'd you tell him?" Kensi asked curiously.

"That I had paperwork to do."

"You never take paperwork home," she pointed out.

"I managed to convince him." He settled back down on the couch. "Where were we?"

Kensi smiled and turned back to the laptop they'd been watching their movie on (since Callen didn't have a TV).

"Seriously? 'Allie'?" Kensi demanded as Callen unlocked the door to the Carmels' apartment. "Did you really have to call me that?"

"Well, that depends," Callen replied with a smirk. "Did you have to call me 'Jake'?"

"I wanted to make it seem more natural," Kensi protested as she and Callen stepped into the apartment, groceries in hand. "Jake is a common nickname for Jacob."

"And Allie's a nickname for Alison," Callen countered, relocking the door behind them.

Kensi scoffed. "Yeah, okay. If you say so."

"What?" Callen said innocently. "It's true."

"Mm-hm." She played innocent too. "I'm gonna go put the food in the fridge – you can call Sam and update him."

Callen chuckled to himself as he pulled out his phone and dialed his partner's familiar number. "Sam."

"G. You're on speaker."

"How did it go, Mr. Callen?" Hetty's voice inquired.

"Pretty good," Callen answered. "We took him to the café and talked for about half an hour. Got his number and email."

"We any closer to finding out whether he is what we think he is?" Renko questioned.

"Uh…getting there," replied Callen. "He mentioned that he runs his own business. Could be the drug ring."

"You're not going to get any more information from him if you keep playing with kids' gloves," Nate pointed out.

"I know. Don't worry – we sprinkled our conversation with numerous mentions of Campbell… and we've invited him over for dinner tomorrow night – we can start digging deeper then."

"Okay," said Sam. "Deeks, Renko, and I will take turns to stake out your apartment – see if there's anything suspicious."

"Got it." Callen hung up, just as Kensi came back into the room.

"Sam and the others updated?" she asked.

"Yep."

An awkward silence descended on the room. Neither of them knew what to say to the other. Eventually, Kensi broke the stillness first.

"You know, I've missed this."

"What?" Callen looked up at her. "Playing a couple?"

"No," Kensi said, flashing him a slightly annoyed look. "The banter. I've missed that."

"We can do it again," Callen said.

"Can we?" Her brown eyes stared into his blue ones.

Callen knew she was looking for an answer to a question that was different from the one she was asking, but he wasn't ready to give her the reply just yet. He sighed as he broke the eye contact.

"Come on, we'd better get lunch started."

Kensi glanced down at the floor, disguising the fleeting flash of disappointment that crossed her features.

"Yeah, we should."

A/N: For some reason, this chapter seems shorter to me...but my word processor says it's over 2,800 words. Oh, well.

No episode reference today - the two flashbacks came straight out of the creative powers of my head.