NCIS Ops Center

Granger stood in front of the operations tabletop as two intelligence analysts furiously clicked away on their keyboards as they searched for the missing agents. The assistant director was still fuming and in all honesty, embarrassed at what had happened at LAX. Four non- English speaking Tongan was the only tangible evidence of the missing agents. However, if someone didn't find the agents ASAP, he was going to pull out his gun and make the count of four Tongans down to 0.

"Any day now would be nice," Granger growled. One of the analysts, a tall Arabic woman turned in her seat with her tablet in hand. In seconds, the woman pulled up the passports of the four Tongan on the big screen.

The fearful analyst stammered, "Sir-sir, if you look and see-"

"I don't want a damn electronics or history lesson, you idiots," Granger exploded, "I want to know how and where the hell Hanna, Callen, Deeks, and Blye are. And it better be soon….real soon."

The female analyst was beginning to sniffle. "But-but-but, I have to tell you something-"

"WHAT?" Granger roared. The female analyst's trembled and the woman began to cry. Granger rolled his eyes and reached out to take the tablet, but was stopped by the other analyst, a dark haired man, who jumped in between of the crying analyst and the homicidal Granger.

The male analyst stated as loud as he could, "Sir, we found video of how they did it. Now if you look the screen, "he pulled up the video onto the flat screen, "Both groups check into two separate flights that were leaving from the same terminal. The Tongans were signed up to take an Air New Zealand flight while as the agents, as you know were on, the Air Pacific flight."

Granger narrowed his eyes in anger when the male analyst took a long pause. "And?"

"And- um," the male analyst swallowed and continued, "One of the agents and one of the Tongans that you arrested went to both the Air New Zealand and Air Pacific gates, talk to the gate attendant and then they….go…on each other's flights."

"You've got to be freaking kidding me!" Granger yelled. He walked over to the flat screen and jammed his finger over a picture of the disguised agents walking onto the Air New Zealand flight. "Where did this flight go?"

Both analysts darted over to the computer and started searching for the flight itinerary. Less than a minute later, the female analyst unintentionally raised her hand, but dropped at Granger's glare.

"The Air New Zealand flight went to Shanghai where we lose them, sir," she stammered.

"So they could be anywhere from Shanghai-"

The female didn't want to say the words that everyone was already thinking, but had no choice. "To the United States. It's been days, sir. The agents might be here in the States."

Interstate 90- 46 miles south of Seattle, Washington

A red Greyhound bus on its way to Las Vegas coasted down the interstate under a clear night sky. Passengers on the bus were mostly asleep; most falling asleep to the song of You only wanna dance that was playing through the speakers. Only three passengers were awake- a young teenage girl traveling to Las Vegas to follow her dreams, an older gentleman returning home from a business trip, and the quiet passenger sitting in the back of the bus, none other than G. Callen.

The blue eyed, who was actually wearing a green contacts, sat alone in a college sweatshirt, a dark blue baseball cap, and light blue jeans. He also wore headphones that only made it seem like he was listening to music. The plan was for him to ride the bus to Carson City, Nevada and then somehow get to a very small town called Goldfield in Nevada to meet his teammates. Goldfield would get them seven hours outside of Los Angeles.

His plan to get the team out of Tonga had so far gone off surprisingly well. The hardest thing wasn't finding four people to help make the switch; the hardest thing was creating multiple passports to help each agent fly through different countries to make it back to the States. Because the Air Pacific flight that they were supposed to be on took longer than usual to get to Los Angeles, Callen had been able to fly in straight from Shanghai hours before the Air Pacific flight landed. Kensi and Deeks were supposed to land only an hour ahead of the Air Pacific flight into New Mexico while Sam had to fly into Western Nevada on a flight that landed an hour after the Air Pacific flight.

Callen shifted in his seat when the bus hit a small bump in the road. The lead agent was exhausted and very on edge even though he was on a bus in the middle of nowhere. No news on his teammates, on the switch at the airport and even on the welfare of Hetty, Eric, and Nell. Callen began to tap his foot lightly at the thought of Deeks. Right before everyone had gone their separate ways at the airport, they had all given their goodbyes. Callen had hugged Sam, Deeks and Kensi and reflected on the five years that they had known each other. With Deeks, there was a small difference- Callen had left feeling guilty for not bonding as much with the probationary agent. Deeks was such a different personality that it made it hard.

Callen closed his eyes and made a mental promise to bond more with Deeks if they were able to continue their luck. When Callen reopened his eyes, he saw an iPad sitting on the lap of a teenage girl, who was sitting across from the agent. On the top of the screen, Callen could see the small letters '3G', which meant that she had access to the internet, which could get him access to the news. I need to know if Granger figured out about the flight switch, Callen thought. He sat up just as he noticed that the teenager girl was staring at him with a smile.

"You're cute," the teenage girl said, her cheeks blushing a bright red.

Callen mustered up a smile and replied hesitantly, "Thanks. Um…What's your name?" in a deep Boston accent.

"Kate. Yours?"

Callen thought back to his cover story for flying into the States. "I'm Matthew Nicholson. It's a pleasure to meet you."

Kate brushed her hair behind her ear and giggled. Callen decided to use the girl's crush on him to his advantage. "Hey, Kate. Does your iPad have Wi-Fi?"

Kate nodded her head and held out the tablet towards Callen. "Yes, it is- I got the 3G during Black Friday and-and my dad actually gave it to me for my birthday. Isn't it nice? Look, the Facebook app-"

Callen's patience began to run thin. "Yes it is, but Kate- I just got back into the States after touring Zimbabwe for the Peace Corps and I hadn't been able to access the internet or even a United States newspaper in months. Do you mind if I just check the New York Times for just a second?"

Kate pushed back another strand of hair behind her, trying her hardest not to giggle like a school girl. "Oh wow….Peace Corps….Alright, do you promise to give it back?"

Callen held up a hand. "Scout's honor."

Kate passed the iPad over to Callen, who scooted over towards her to receive it. Callen quickly pulled up the web application Safari and pulled up the New York Times website. The headline on the front page made him nearly drop the iPad. He had been so sure that the team's plan to get back in the States had gone so well.

Apparently it hadn't.

The front page headline read- Navy Criminal Investigation Services Agent Arrested