Predator

Callen and Sam were on their way to meet Captain Briggs at the boatshed when they decided to stop by for lunch. They did have to eat and Nate was babysitting Captain Briggs. After arguing for a couple minutes on where to go, they settled on a place in Santa Monica.

One thing Callen was not expecting when he walked into the restaurant was his teenage daughter sitting in it, with several guys around her. His parental spidey senses kicked in full gear seeing his daughter being the only girl at the table. Yeah, not okay.

"Daddy," Taylor said, smiling and rising to kiss him on the cheek, before sitting down.

Sam was behind him, mouth dropped. "Is she…"

"Taylor Vandenhoven. You are?" she said, smiling. Callen thought the smile was one of Taylor's signature "smirks." She had a lot of faces, that's for sure.

"His partner. Sam Hanna," Sam said, extending a hand and Taylor shook.

Callen had kept quiet during this whole exchange, watching the group of guys and Sam's reaction to meeting Taylor. "Dad, you didn't tell me your partner was a guy permanently on 'roids and Super SEAL." He hadn't told Taylor that his partner was a SEAL. She had figured that one out all on her own.

Sam choked back a laugh. "G, is this your daughter?"

"I wouldn't think me calling him 'daddy' gave it away, at all, don't you think?" Taylor smirked. "I call every guy daddy," the sarcasm in her voice was quite heavy. After all, that was the famous Taylor Vandenhoven. Always one to use sarcasm.

Sam actually laughed this time. "Aren't you supposed to be in school?"

Callen narrowed his eyes and the look said I'm-your-father-and-you-better-not-be-lying-when-you-answer-me. "Yeah, Taylor."

"And if I am skipping school?" Taylor smiled sweetly.

Seeing some serious shit was about to go down between Taylor and her father, the guy sitting to Taylor's right, wisely replied for her. "We have a spare before lunch."

"And you are?" Callen's eyebrows were raised, waiting for a response.

"Cody James," the boy answered. Callen just nodded. He filed that one away in the back of my mind.

"Sam, why don't we let them eat in peace. Taylor, we're not done," Callen said, guiding Sam away from Taylor and the boys. All he heard was Taylor laughing.

"That's your daughter?" Sam asked, back in the car. They had been silent for several minutes, Sam trying to figure out how to bring it up and Callen, trying to avoid the conversation all together. "She seems…" He tried searching for words but couldn't come up with one, albeit the short encounter of meeting his partner's daughter.

Callen laughed. "Sweet?"

Sam nodded, looking at Callen. They were almost at the boatshed. "Sweet, would be a good description. She doesn't look like you. At all. Looks more?"

"Like her mother and her aunt. She's definitely my dochter, though."

"What language is that? The 10th one you speak?" Sam joked.

Callen looked away. "Frisian. Taylor's mom was from Fryslan, a small province in The Netherlands. Taylor and her aunt speak Dutch to each other."

" Huh," Sam said. They were pulling up the boatshed now.

"Sam. Nate doesn't know about Taylor. I'd rather him not know. I don't need him pyscho-analyzing me even more."

Callen didn't realize he was holding his breath the whole time Briggs took over manning the UAV. He released it after Briggs managed to fly it into the ocean. What if that high school the terrorists had targeted was Santa Monica High, where Taylor went? What if?

He told Hetty was leaving early and showed up at Santa Monica High, and watched his daughter come out of the school, laughing and joking, with Cody James and the rest. He was leaning against the passenger side door.

She stopped once she saw him and gave him a slight smile, even from the distance. She gave Cody a hug goodbye and then walked away from them.

"I definitely wasn't expecting you here," Taylor said as she walked up.

"Do I need a reason to see you?" Callen asked.

She rolled her eyes. "No. But a text or a call is common courtesy."

Callen put his arm around Taylor's shoulder. "Do you have practice today?"

She nodded. "Yeah. At seven. Why?"

"Grab some ice cream?"

"What's your angle?" Taylor cocked her head and put her hands on her hips as Callen went over to the driver's side. Even though she could drive, being a junior, she elected to get a ride from Cody today.

"No angle."

"I don't believe you."

"Get in the car."

Taylor rolled her eyes and finally relented, probably the one and only time in her life. But she was glad to be spending time with her father. "Fine."