Love you all, as usual! Thanks for the enthusiasm and for waiting for each chapter, as my life is unpredictable and does not always allow for regular updating. I'm still writing when I can. And here we go...

"Ladies and gentlemen, where are we with this case? It's been two days. We have a dead Marine in the morgue and another Marine unconscious in the hospital. I don't want there to be any more," Hetty stressed to her team, who was assembled in ops.

Nell began. "We haven't had any more luck identifying the men in the video footage. We've tried everything we can think of to clean it up, but their faces are still too blurry for facial recognition."

"Traffic cams in the area don't show any vehicles entering or leaving the alley except for a beer delivery truck hours before the attack happened, so there's nothing to track through kaleidoscope," Eric continued, shaking his head in frustration.

"We talked to a guy yesterday at Pendleton," Jenny spoke up. "He's in Looten's platoon, and they were in boot camp together. He said Looten seemed more nervous and on edge the last few weeks. Originally he thought it had to do with the extra work they were doing on base. Apparently a month ago, Looten mentioned looking for a side job to make money but this guy never heard any more."

Deeks continued. "Looten's buddy said our dead PFC was always checking his phone for messages, said they were from his girlfriend back home. However, Looten never mentioned a girlfriend any other time than when checking his phone."

"Eric, have you been able to check Looten's phone that we found in the alley?" Callen asked.

"Yeah, we checked it out. Except for his mom and a couple guys from his platoon, all the other calls were to or from various burn phones. None of them are in service anymore, no way to trace them."

Nell shook her head as she picked up the conversation. "There was nothing of real significance among the messages, either. We checked every text, every email, and every picture. There were a few in Russian, again from a burn phone, but the messages themselves were vague and didn't provide any new intel."

"I have something," Kensi shared. "I've been talking with Jensen at the LAPD gang unit. The design we saw in the video on the back of Looten's attackers is actually two Russian alphabetic characters. They are the symbols for the New Czars – a group that's part of the Bratva, or Russian Mafia, here in the US. The New Czars are specifically known for their drug business. Word on the street is that they recruit non-Russians, and especially young males, for the lower level jobs such as deliveries. The idea is that if a delivery person is caught, it would be harder to trace them back to the main players of the Bratva, who are all Russian."

"Arkady has to know something about this," Callen said with a slight tone of anger in his voice. "Even if he's not involved, he knows almost everything Russian in LA. I knew he was holding something back. Sam, you and I are heading back to his place to get some real answers out of him."

Sam nodded in agreement and the two men left ops. The rest of the team returned to their work spaces, following up on any angle they could think of relating to the case.

Sam and Callen arrived at Arkady's house to find him sitting at a table on his back patio, having brunch.

"To what do I owe such pleasure today, Mr. Callen? And your partner, too, the big guy there," Arkady greeted them with a nod of his head.

Callen wasn't in the mood for small talk and social pleasantries. "What are you holding back from me Arkady? What aren't you telling me about Russian activity in LA?"

"Why you think I know more? I tell you I will ask around, see what I hear. How long we know each other, Agent Callen? Long time. And you still mistrust me?"

"You're a criminal, Arkady. Why should I trust you?" Callen asked.

"You cannot prove I am criminal, or I would not be at my home now." Callen shot him a look and Sam took a step closer with closed fists. "OK, I might know some little things." He paused to sip his orange juice and motioned for the guys to join him at the table. They remained standing.

Arkady reported that he made some calls and asked around. He confirmed that there is a Russian group in LA in the heroin business – a new, special blend of heroin.

Callen interrupted him. "Would this group be called the New Czars?"

Arkady looked surprised. "How you know about the Bratva group? It's very dangerous to speak of them or get mixed up in their business. I ask my questions very carefully because I value my life. You cannot just go ask on the street about them, or start blaming them for things."

Sam started to get impatient. "We saw three men on a video wearing shirts with their gang symbol, beating up a U.S. Marine. You need to tell us now everything that you know – we'll protect you."

Arkady thought about what he wanted to say while finishing a croissant. "I think I should tell you more. Ok, here is what I know, but you didn't hear it f— AH!"

Suddenly gunfire rang out across the yard. Sam and Callen pulled out their weapons at the same time Callen reached out and pulled Arkady down to the ground. The two agents returned fire while trying to retreat back toward the house with Arkady at the same time.

BANG! One intruder went down at the edge of the lawn.

"Sam, look out!"

They shuffled backwards quickly, alert in all directions at the same time. They both took aim in front of them, and two more went down.

"G, to your left!"

Callen aimed and fired at the target without hesitation. BANG! BANG!

"Got him." Out of the corner of his eye, he saw one man climb back over the garden wall, trying to escape. "Sam, the back wall!"

Sam cautiously ran forward a few steps and took a few shots, but the man was already dropping down the other side. They heard a car engine rev and race away.

"Damn. Got away."

They started to turn towards the house. "Arkady, you good?" Callen shouted out.

At the lack of response, he looked closely at his informant. Arkady was silently lying on the stonework near the door into the house.

Sam grabbed his phone and dialed Eric immediately while Callen ran to check on the Russian.

"Eric, we need an ambulance and a cleanup crew at Arkady's house ASAP… No, we got four of the five. Last one drove off before we could get him… Thanks."

Sam looked down at the two men on the patio. "Help's on the way. Is he –?"

Callen had his fingers on Arkady's neck. "No," he said slowly shaking his head. "There's still a weak pulse." Callen carefully patted Arkady's torso, checking for wounds. His hands came up bloody after touching the right side. In one fluid motion he stripped off his jacket and pressed it into the bleeding wound. He turned his head and looked out over the yard. "Who the hell were those guys?"

"Not sure, but I'm guessing some of the Bratva brothers. Your man there said it was dangerous to go asking questions. They probably found out he was sniffing around and wanted to stop the inquiries into their business," Sam theorized.

Callen didn't respond. After a moment of silence, Sam looked over at his partner. "G, were you hit?" he asked with worry in his voice.

"Huh? No, I don't think so," Callen said slowly while looking down at himself. Then he saw the blood all over the front of his shirt.

"That's not mine, Sam. I wasn't hit," Callen assured his partner. "It must be from Arkady. Got on my shirt when I leaned over him to stop the bleeding."

The ambulance and crime scene investigators arrived to work the scene. Arkady's body was on the way to the hospital, and Sam and Callen headed back to OSP.

"Matthew?"

"Nope. Murderer."

"Nathan?"

"Bomber."

"Michael?"

"Uh uh. Arsonist."

"You two playing name that criminal?" Jenny asked as she sat down at her desk with a fresh cup of coffee.

Kensi shook her head. "We're trying to find names for the baby that we both like."

"But every name I suggest is shot down because it reminds her of a case," Deeks replied.

"I'm not going to name my son after some threat to society. Every time I say his name I'll think of what crime that name committed. I can't do it." Kensi was adamant.

"OK, I get that. How about Cody? Seems like a pretty innocent name."

"You'd think, but no. Drug trafficker."

Deeks sighed loudly. "Shane? Craig? Thomas? George?"

"A thief, a hacker, a train and a Jetson." Kensi denied each suggestion as it came.

Jenny laughed. These two were better than any sitcom on television.

"So now cartoon characters are out as well?" Deeks whined. "There go my hopes for having a little Fred or Barney."

"Barney? Really Deeks? I thought you'd go more for… Whoa!" Kensi suddenly noticed Callen and Sam, who were walking in the mission. "That's not Hetty's shirt, is it?" she asked as she pointed at Callen.

Callen looked at Kensi and continued on to his desk. Sam set his things down on his desk.

"Is that what happens when you guys question someone? Because I've been doing it all wrong if that's the case," Jenny tried to joke. Her smile faded quickly when no one reacted.

Callen took off his shirt and put it in a plastic bag. He grabbed a clean shirt out of the bag next to his desk, then sat down quietly staring into space.

Sam dropped the bag on Deeks' desk. "Deeks, can you run this over to the lab? They want all the evidence, even though we know whose blood it is already."

"Sure, no problem."

"Sam, what happened out there? Why is Callen covered in blood?" Kensi didn't like the unsettling quietness of their team leader.

"We went to talk to Arkady. Gunfire broke out in the back. Arkady was hit, Callen tried to stop the bleeding until the paramedics arrived," Sam explained. He looked at his partner. "He's been like this since it happened."

"Were you guys hit at all? That's a lot of blood," Jenny remarked. She had never seen Callen like this, and they had worked some tough cases since she had started with OSP.

Sam shook his head. "No, that's all from Arkady. He's a shady guy, but G still considers him a friend of sorts." He turned and talked directly to his partner. "G, let's get you cleaned up and then we can head over to the hospital. Come on."

"Mr. Hanna, stay with your partner through all of this. He is going to need you." Hetty half-whispered to him as he led Callen toward the showers. "The others can handle everything here. Just be with him."

Sam nodded and walked down the hall with a still stunned Callen.

This case isn't over yet... but the next chapter will give us a little reprieve from the tension of the action... Would love to hear your thoughts if you have a little spare time.