DISCLAIMER: I do not own the rights to the NCIS:LA characters, I'm only borrowing them.

Katy had a horrible time trying to fall asleep, it didn't matter what she did, and sleep evaded her. Just as she started to drift off to, her phone rang. She groaned loudly and rolled over to get her phone from the nightstand. It was Ops. "You're so lucky it's you Nell. Had it been anyone else my hands would be reaching through the phone to strangle you." She said. Callen laughed.

"I know I'm so sorry for calling so late. We're about to wrap things up here for the night and I wanted to let you know that Lena and Lera are at the Falls Church address with an unidentified male. We're running him through the facial recognition software and will hopefully have and ID on him in a few hours." She said.

"Alright, thank you. Have a good night Nell." She said.

"I'll be back online by six your time in case you need anything." Nell told her.

"No, get more sleep than that. We've still got a lot of stuff to go over with the teams going in with us. We have to wait on the warrants and such." Katy said lifting her head so Callen could put his arm under her neck.

"Don't worry Katy; I'll talk to you in a few hours." Nell said and hung up.

Katy sat her phone on the nightstand and rolled over into Callen's side. Within minutes, she was asleep and didn't awake again until her alarm went off at six. She got out of bed and walked to the bathroom and got into the shower. Callen heard the water come on and smiled, tossing the covers back. Seven minutes later, Katy walked out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around her and found Callen's legs hanging off the bed. She walked over to him and leaned over. Startled, he grabbed her.

"You're done already. I was just going to join you." He told her rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

Katy laughed. "You fell back to sleep. Go ahead and shower then we'll go get some breakfast with the team."

Callen stood and walked to her trying to grab the towel off of her. "Why don't you come join me?"

"Go, shower now." She smiled kissing him.

He mumbled darn and walked into the bathroom. By the time he came out of the bathroom, Katy was dressed and in the process of French braiding her hair. He got himself dressed and watched as she tugged and pulled tightly, grabbing handfuls of her thick hair, working it into the braid. Callen loved the wave her hair had when she took the braid out. He grabbed his weapon, badge and credentials off the dresser and sat down on the bed next to her.

"So what was Nell's call about last night?" He asked.

"She was letting me know that the Kirkin girls were at the Falls Church address with an unknown male and that she'd be back in the office in a few hours." Katy looked at the digital alarm clock on the nightstand. "Like right about now."

"Did you really tell her that if it had been anyone else you'd be reaching through the phone to strangle her?" he laughed.

Katy smiled and turned red. "Yeah I did. We got back here at nine and were in bed by nine thirty, I had such a horrible time falling asleep. I'd just started to doze off when the phone rang."

"Why do you think you couldn't sleep?" He asked.

"I was thinking about today." She told him.

"Don't worry, everything will be fine. Hopefully we catch them today. Then we'll be off to Oregon. It's only Wednesday, I'm not leaving your side until Sunday." He reminded her.

Katy grinned. "I know I'm so happy Hetty let you come out to see me."

"What part of Oregon are you going to?" he asked.

"I believe it's just outside of Portland, a little town called Oregon City." She told him tying off the braid with a hair tie.

Callen nodded and stood as she did, following her over to the dresser and then out the door. Cassidy was walking out of her room at the same time. They greeted her and rode down in the elevator together. The rest of the team was sitting at their usual table waiting. They drove across the street to the Waffle House before heading to the office. Gibbs was walking in from his car when they pulled in and waited for them.

The three talked while following Gibbs over to his coffee cart. Katy had had four cups of coffee at breakfast alone and was so thankful when Gibbs handed her a cup. He chuckled and told her that she looked like she needed it, told her to relax that everything was going to be fine. Callen gave her an 'I told you so' look. To which she responded by shaking her head and rolling her eyes. Director Vance was walking over to them as they walked through the quad towards the front door.

"How are you three this morning?" He asked with a warm smile.

"Here." Katy smiled. "Ready to wrap up case eight and head to Oregon. Please don't think I don't appreciate the hospitality, I just want to wrap up these last seven cases so I can get back to LA."

The Director nodded. "I completely understand. I hated being away from home in my early years with NCIS. I was able to secure three additional teams for you. Gibbs and his team and two tactical teams."

"Well, as of about two this morning, both of the Kirkin girls were at the Falls Church address. I don't necessarily know that we need to his both houses now. Though I'd rather hit both just in case some of Vitaliy's weapons made it out here." She told him.

Al three men nodded in agreement. "They're yours for the day. McGee and the rest of Gibbs team are already in MTAC going over the information Eric and Nell sent out over night. The other two teams will be there shortly. One is coming from NAS Oceana and the other for Norfolk."

Katy smiled. "Thank you very much Director Vance."

Callen held the door open for her and let the others follow before he walked in and caught up to them at the security desk. He and Katy showed their credentials and were issued guest IDs. They rode the elevator up to the bullpen and stepped out. Her team was standing outside MTAC with coffee in- hand talking. Jason and Anthony looked down and gave her a wave. She smiled at them and asked them to hold on a few minutes. Quickly she wrapped up the conversation with the director and headed up the stairs with Gibbs and Callen. Gibbs stepped in front of the eye scanner and let them all in.

Tim was standing at the screen talking to Nell and Eric when Katy reached the bottom of the stairs. She sat her bag in one of the seats in the front row before walking to the camera to say good morning. Nell got right down to business by telling her that all three of them were still at the Falls Church address. The unknown male that entered the house with the two women had been identified as a local college student Chad Collins. After going back through the traffic cams, it seemed the two women picked him up at a local bar. Tim informed her that the warrants should be ready within the hour and that Nell and Eric had sent the blue prints for the two houses to them over night.

Katy thanked Nell and Eric and disconnected the call while she and the two teams looked at the blue prints. It was going to be a little more difficult than Katy had planned. The house the girls were at was two stories. They would have to quickly clear the bottom level and move upstairs to endure either of the women went out the windows. Katy asked Gibbs if he and his team wanted to join her team at the first house or if they wanted to take the second house. He looked around at Ziva, Tony and Tim. All three agreed to take the second house. She gave Callen the option of going with Gibbs team or staying with her team, but let her team know two of them would have to go with Gibbs team to even the numbers. Jason and Michael volunteered to go to the second house with the other team.

Thirty minutes later, the other two teams arrived, they all introduced themselves and took a seat while Katy, Tim, Nell and Eric gave the briefing and discussed the plan with them. She made it a point to tell them that the team going to the second house is primarily looking for weapons, that the two suspects were located at the first address. Callen sat back and watched Katy in action, he was very impressed. She was handing everything by the book and then some. He looked over at Gibbs who smiled and nodded his head through the entire briefing.

When they took a break after the briefing, Callen and Gibbs both approached her. "You've covered every possible situation. There is nothing these teams won't be prepared for." Gibbs told her.

Katy smiled and thanked him. When the teams came back in, Tim brought Nell and Eric back online to see if there was any new information. The only thing they had to offer was that the three were still in the house and their best wished. With that the feed was cut and they got ready to head out. Katy and Callen were down in the evidence bay when Abby, Ducky and Jimmy walked in. They too offered their best wished on a successful apprehension. Katy smiled and thanked them. The other teams loaded up in their respective vehicles while Katy and Gibbs spoke one last time.

"You got the easy house." Katy told him.

"You'll be fine. You've got Callen with you. Take a deep breath." He told her.

"Good luck. I'll call you when we're through." She said and walked to the team's rental van and got in.

They pulled up down the street from the house just before nine that morning. With the search warrant and arrest warrants in her back pocket, they all got out. The tactical team joined them. "We'll take the front, you go in the back. On the count of three we got in quietly. Leave a member outside to be sure they don't take off out one of the windows. Anthony, you stay out front. I'll call for you when we have them in flex cuffs." She said.

The team nodded and headed towards the house. Callen was ready with his lock pick kit and had the door unlocked before she could tell him to do so. She cautiously opened the door and waited for an alarm to sound. When they heard nothing she entered with the others following close behind. The other team came in through the back door and nodded at her. Room by room they cleared the bottom level. With Katy leading the way up the stairs, she stopped and listened. Everyone heard it too and had to stifle their giggles. Quietly, they cleared the bathroom and three bedrooms upstairs, checking the storage closet in the hall before they got ready to enter the fourth bedroom.

Katy dropped her head and laughed quietly at the noises coming from inside the room. She brought her hand up and counted down from three before she kicked the door open and the room filled with Agents. All three of the occupants in the room looked up in horror. Poor Chad was tied to the bed while the sisters were working a certain part of his anatomy. The entire team had smiles on their faces. While Katy told them to get dressed, one of the women untied the scarves at Chad's wrists and he shot off the bed covering himself. Katy told him to stop being so modest, they'd already seen everything there was to see. Still, he walked to the corner of the room and put on his pants. He grabbed his shirt and had Carson escort him down stairs to the living room.

The sisters eyed Katy and spoke to one another in their native tongue. Callen quickly told them to stop talking and get dressed. They looked back at him shocked that he spoke Russian. Once they were dressed, Katy and Cassidy put flex cuffs on them and led them downstairs. Once two pairs of flip flops were found the two women were taken out to a waiting car and onto the office for questioning. Katy walked into the living room to find Chad flipping out. He was going on and on about how his father was going to kill him for getting arrested. Katy laughed and assured him he wouldn't be arrested at his point, only taken in for questioning. Her gut told her the kid had never met the two before and was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Callen agreed.

Katy stepped out and called Gibbs. He told her that they'd been though the house with a find tooth comb and weren't able to find anything. She sighed and told him to meet her at the office. Katy hoped that after talking to the women, she'd find out where the weapons were if they had any. Knowing who their father and uncles were, she was positive they had something hidden.

Once they got back to the office, Katy went in to talk to the first of the women. She'd already been fingerprinted and Abby confirmed that she was Lena. The twenty-eight years old refused to talk to Katy at first, until Callen came in and sat in the corner. The girl flirted with him and thus they were able to get everything they wanted out of her. When she was taken away, she blew Callen a kiss. He shuttered and laughed.

It pretty much went the same way with Lera, however, Callen was in the room when she got there. Like her sister, she flirted with Callen and sang like a bird. Once both of the sisters had given the same information about the whereabouts of their weapons stash, she dispatched Jason, Michael and Carson to take a few of the other agents and retrieve the weapons. When they returned two hours later they had literally crates of weapons and bomb making supplies. As Katy inspected and took inventory of the weapons, Director Vance walked up behind her.

"Good work out there today. Both of the teams said you handled everything very professionally." He said.

"I have to admit I was worried about how it was going to go, especially since I knew you'd be in MTAC watching. I have to admit I never expected to walk into that room to find the sisters giving that kid a fellatio." She laughed.

"I heard rumors about that, but I wasn't sure if they were right or not." He laughed.

"Oh no, they were true." Katy said.

"When are you and the team leaving for your next destination?" He asked.

Katy looked at her watch, "As soon as we can finish things up here and get to the airport. The jet is already fueled and on standby."

"You've earned an evening off, leave first thing in the morning." He said.

"I've got roughly twelve weeks to wrap the rest of the seven cases. I think we need to head out as soon as possible." She told him.

"It really wasn't a suggestion. I know Gibbs and his team would like to take your team out for a little celebration." He smiled.

Katy sighed and smiled. "I'm sure we can manage that."

"Very good." He smiled. "I knew you'd see things my way."

Katy laughed. "Yes Sir."

Gibbs and Callen stepped off the elevator as the Director walked towards them. "Gibbs, Callen." He nodded and stepped into the elevator and then stepped back out and pointed at Katy. "Remember, it wasn't a suggestion."

They looked back at the director. "What was that all about?" Callen asked.

"Oh he asked when we were leaving and I told him as soon as we finished here and got to the airport. He told me to leave tomorrow." She said.

"We would like to take your team out to celebrate before you take off." Gibbs told her.

"I know and I appreciate it. I'm sure the team will be happy too." She told him.

When they stepped off the elevator into the bullpen, her team was standing talking at the picture window. She walked over to them and they all looked at her, expecting her to tell them to go back to the hotel to pack and be ready to head to the airport. Instead, she told them to shower, change and be back at the office by five. No one really understood, but did as Katy told them. Three months ago, when this all started, she was nervous. Thinking they'd see her as a 'probie' and a kids, when in actuality, she had most of them beat by a year and they were truly kids, fresh out of college.

They worked well together and would miss working with them, but the ached to be back in LA with Callen, Kensi and the rest of the team. That was where she felt she belonged. Before Callen and Katy headed back to the hotel, they stopped by the hospital to see Anastasiya. When they walked into her room, she was all smiles and sitting up in her bed.

"I heard the good news. The Agent outside told me." She said with the slightest of an accent.

"Yes, we got them. They've been questioned and will be charged in the morning. I think it's safe to say you're not going to be looking over your shoulder the rest of your life." Katy told her.

"I can't thank you enough. All these years of living in fear, feeling like I was being hunted like an animal, it was horrible." She said shaking off the memories.

"You're very welcome." Katy said leaning in to give her a hug.

"Is this him, the one you were telling me about?" Anastasiya asked.

Katy smiled and looked back at Callen, "Yes, this is him. This is G. Callen."

"You're right, he does have beautiful eyes." She said "You two look so good together"

Callen walked to her bedside and offered his hand. Anastasiya grabbed his hand and pulled him in for a hug. "Oh no, you're not getting away with just a hand shake. In this family, we hug."

Callen laughed and hugged her back, trying not to hurt her. "Can I take a picture of the two of you?" He asked,

"No, get the agent outside to take it; I want you in the picture too." Anastasiya said.

Callen and Katy looked at one another and smiled before he opened the door and said something to the agent outside. When he returned, Callen sat on one side of Anastasiya while Katy sat on the other. The agent snapped a few photos and handed the camera back to Katy.

"I am going to get one of those, aren't I?" the woman asked.

"Of course, I'll make copies and send them to you. I probably won't be until after the New Years when we're done with all the cases, I'm going to put them all together and give everyone all of our contact information. So far, none of our half-siblings have refused to make contact with the others. I know our brothers Sergi, Paul and Alexey have already talked on the phone. Last I heard Paul and Alexey were going to meet around Christmas. Both live in Europe. "Katy told her.

"I would love to meet everyone; maybe we can plan something for next summer?" She suggested.

"Katy and I will be in San Francisco in June, so maybe everyone can meet up there." Callen said.

Katy smiled. "You want to meet the rest of the single births?"

"They're part of your family, yes I do." He said with a genuine smile.

The young woman sitting between them beamed. "Who knows, maybe in a couple years we might be attending a wedding."

Katy laughed. "You sound just like Reggie."

"I want to meet him too. Is he still in San Francisco?" She asked.

"Yes, he's still looking for a new house. He said he hoped to have one by Christmas." Callen told them.

Katy looked at her watch. "I hate to have to do this, but we have to get going. The office here is taking my team out tonight." I will call you in a few days to check up on you."

"Alright, Katya thank you so very much. Take care of my sister, please." She said to them.

"She seems nice." Callen said.

"She really is I haven't met a one of them I haven't liked. They're so grateful for what we've done for them. I want to introduce Ana and Reggie to one another, I think they'd be good together." She told Callen.

"Playing matchmaker with your half-siblings already?" He laughed

When they finally got back to the hotel it was four and the team was waiting for them in the lobby. Quickly, they ran up to Katy's room showered together and changed. Within fifteen minutes, they were back in the lobby, headed back to meet up with Gibbs and his team. Gibbs and his flock were standing outside the office waiting for them. They offered to give them a ride to the restaurant, but they all chose to take their own cars. So, Carson fell in between Gibbs and Tony as they drove to the restaurant.

Jimmie, his wife Bree and Ducky were already waiting for them when they parked and walked in. Almost immediately, they were shown to their tables in the back of the restaurant. They all sat and ordered drinks. The waitress brought baskets of fresh tortilla chips and salsa before their drink order was ready. Callen and Katy were sitting next to one another, across from Gibbs and Abby. When the drinks arrived, Abby stood and offered a toast.

"To Callen and Katy; may you have many years of happiness together." She said and raised her glass.

"Gee Abby; you make it sound like we're getting married." Katy laughed.

"Maybe not now, but I see it in a few years." Gibbs said.

"Alright my turn." Katy said standing. To the cooperative efforts of two of the best NCIS teams in the country. I cannot thank each and every one of you enough for your help in this endeavor." She said and raised her glass to everyone.

"I'll second that." Gibbs said with a smile. "It was a pleasure working with all of you and I hope to see those of who are with NCIS somewhere in the field in the future. I guess that goes the same for you guys over there from the CIA."

Carson, Ray and Michael laughed and raised their glasses. The group laughed and carried on until the wee hours of the morning. By midnight, Katy ushered her team back to the van so they could get back to the hotel and off to bed. Gibbs and Callen were talking over by Gibbs' car. Katy walked over and offered her hand.

Gibbs smiled and looked at Callen, then pulled her into a hug. "You're one hell of an agent, Katy. Take care of Callen."

"I will, don't worry." She said when he let her go.

Abby and Ziva were next with their goodbyes. Katy truly hoped to get a chance to work with them again soon. Tim and Tony shook Callen's hand before Katy's. She thanked Tim for his help in MTAC; he nodded and told her anytime. Ducky, Jimmy and his wife had left hours ago, so Katy and Callen said goodbye one last time before walking to the van and pulling out of the parking lot.

Their flight left for Oregon at eight the following morning. There were reports of bad weather along the flight path. The pilot promised he's stay as far away from the weather disturbances while sticking as close to the flight plan as possible. Katy was worried that the team would take exception to Callen joining them on the flight to Oregon, but they asked him the night before if he was. Jason, Anthony, Carson and Michael broke out the deck of cards and poker chips like they did on every flight. Cassidy curled up on one of the couches with a book while Callen and Katy sat in the back side-by-side.

The flight got really rough over Colorado, a blustery snow storm had moved in over Denver south to Colorado Springs and Pueblo. The pilot asked that they put their safety belts on and get up as little as possible. Katy was thankful she didn't get motion sickness, a couple of the guys we positively green by the time they got on the other side of the storm. There was turbulence flying over Wyoming and Idaho, but nowhere near as bad as over Colorado.

They landed in Portland only a half hour behind their expected arrival time. They unloaded their gear and walked to the waiting van. Again, they were able to secure a full sized van, loaded it and headed down to Oregon City and their hotel. After getting lunch, they headed out to the last known address for Mikhail. As luck would have it, he was home and willing to talk with Katy and Callen. Without much coercion, he went into protective custody and offered up an address and phone number for the twins American identity; Peter Christian.

Within two hours, the team was dressed out and standing outside the house. Thirty minutes later, Vlad and Roman Elkin were in custody, along with close to a million dollars worth of weapons. With the quick apprehension of the brothers, and the fact that Callen wasn't due to leave until Sunday, she decided to give the team Friday and Saturday off as long as they were packed and ready to board the flight to Seattle and then over to Moscow on Sunday.

They agreed and rest of the team set off to explore Portland. Katy and Callen set off for Portland as well, but with camera in hand. It had been months since Katy broke her camera out for pleasure, instead of work. While getting some coffee, they asked one of the other patrons; who had a camera bag on his back where they could go to take some good photos. He was very nice and gave them a list of places they could go. Callen asked about hotels in the area and the man suggested staying at the Governor Hotel; it was a city landmark and the inside of the hotel was beautiful. They thanked him and set out to find the hotel.

Callen called and booked a room for the next two nights. As it turned out, the hotel was just a few blocks from where they were, so the checked in and dropped off their bag. Once they unloaded their stuff, they stopped back by the desk to ask for a map of the city. In one of the sitting areas, they sat and figured out where to head first. The man from the coffee shop had his daughter with him, the little girl suggested going to Powell's City of Books over between eleventh and twelfth avenues. She went on and on about how it was three levels and took up nearly the entire block. Callen and Katy literally salivated over the thought of so many books in one place.

They boarded the street car right outside the hotel and straight up eleventh to the bookstore. The girl was right, it was huge and every book Katy could possibly think of was there. She and Callen spent nearly three hours in the store before their stomachs told them it was time to get something to eat. They'd seen an advertisement for Jake's Grill in the lobby and headed back to the hotel. They stood outside the restaurant looking at the menu and were a bit taken aback by the prices.

"They're got a really good selection, Katy. It will be our one splurge this trip." Callen told her.

"Yeah, between the price of the hotel and tonight's dinner, we may not eat for the next two days." She laughed.

"We haven't seen one another in three months. We haven't been able to celebrate out six month anniversary. Consider the next two days our anniversary celebration." He said pulling her to him.

"You have a point." She smiled. "Alright, our anniversary weekend it is."

They walked in and were seated immediately. The hostess took their drink order and within minutes, the waiter was there with their glasses of wine. Katy and Callen were still looking at the menu and asked him to return in a few minutes. He smiled and walked over to the computer terminal to open their check.

Callen looked up from the menu and gave Katy a sultry look. "You want to order some oysters?"

Katy laughed. "Do you really think we need oysters?"

"I know they can be a pretty good aphrodisiac." He said letting his eyes travel down to her breasts.

"I don't like raw oysters, but if you want some, knock yourself out." She said shaking her head.

When they were ready to place their order, Callen waved for the waiter. Katy ordered the Jake's Traditional Bouillabaisse; with clams, mussels, scallops, prawns and Dungeness crab. Callen ordered The Alaskan Halibut Cheeks; pan seared picatta style with capers. Like they always did, they shared their dinners. The price was well worth it. The food was superb. Callen was happy he had decided not to get the oysters because the portions were huge. Very full, they paid the check and set out into the street to walk off some of dinner.

There were several bars along the walk, but neither was inclined to stop in one of them. They boarded the Red line transit down to the river and walked along the river. At just before ten, Katy got a text from Cassidy telling her that they were headed back to the hotel in Oregon City and wondered if they needed a ride back. Katy told her that she and Callen had gotten a hotel there in Portland for the next couple days. Cassidy sent back a smiley face telling her to have fun.

Katy showed the text to Callen who pulled her close and told her that he intended on having fun since this weekend would have to last three months. She smiled and started to say something when Callen kissed her. Under normal circumstances, she'd be angry but with a kiss like that; that she felt to her toes, she didn't mind. When the kiss broke, they continued to walk up the river another mile to the street car and rode back to the hotel. Before heading up to their room, Callen stopped by the front desk and asked that a bottle of champagne be delivered to the room. The clerk at the desk looked at Katy and smiled, telling them it would be there within fifteen minutes.

No sooner had they set foot in the room and Katy took out her camera to look at the pictures she'd taken while they wandered the city that evening and the champagne was delivered. Callen tipped the young man and closed the door. Giving Katy the same look he had at dinner. While he popped the cork on the bottle, Katy went to the bed and pulled off all the shams and throw pillows. He walked to her with a glass of champagne and handed it to her. She took a sip and sat it on the nightstand before she pulled him close and kissed him.

Almost immediately, they undressed one another and lay down in the bed, making love for hours. Waking at eight the following morning when Cassidy texted to let them know they were headed back to Portland. They begrudgingly rolled out of bed, showered and headed out for breakfast. After partaking in the pastries at Starbucks in the lobby, they headed out to the Washington Park; to the Japanese and Rose gardens.

It was cold and overcast as usual for that time of year, Callen stopped into one of the shops and bought an umbrella when it started sprinkling. By the time they got to the park, it was pouring down rain. He apologized to Katy about the fact that she wouldn't get good pictures, but she smiled and said they'd still be great shots. They stopped by the Japanese garden first. It was beautiful with the lush vegetation and pagodas. Katy was able to slow the shutter speed and get the raindrops dropping into the pond and bouncing off the rocks.

From the Japanese garden, they walked over to the rose garden. No much was in bloom, so they left within twenty minutes of getting there. They walked back out of the park to the blue line and took it to China town. Like in San Francisco, they wandered through some of the shops, had an early lunch and walked through the Lan Su Chinese Garden. The sun had started to peek through the clouds so it offered a little more to the photos Katy took. They walked another quarter of a mile down to the Union Station and took some pictures there as well.

They decided to hit the mall in the Pearl District and wander around for a while. At one point, Callen took Katy into one of the jewelry store. He stopped at the case holding the engagement rings and wedding sets.

"Callen, what are you doing?" She asked awkwardly.

"Calm down, I'm just looking for future reference." He laughed.

"Do you really think we're ready for this? We've only been together for six months." She told him.

Callen turned to her and took her hand. "Eventually, we will be, but for now, I want to get a feeling of what you like."

Katy sighed and shook her head. "I don't want to jinx anything, Callen. Things are going so good right now. I'm afraid even looking at rings would throw us off."

"Just try one on, please. I just want to see what it's going to look like when you do agree to marry me." He smiled.

"Callen, I'd really rather not." She said stubbornly.

The sales associate walked over to them and smiled. "Is there anything I can show you?" He asked.

"No, we're just looking." Katy said quickly.

Callen shot her a look as she started to walk away and pulled her back to his side. "Actually I'd like to see what would look best on my girlfriend's finger."

The associate looked into the case thinking. "Well, platinum is very popular right now. As for the shape of the stone, round, emerald cut and several others are popular as well."

"Katy, can you please look at the rings and show me one you'd like?" Callen asked giving her a sad look.

"As long as you promise that you're not getting one or asking me to marry you any time soon." She insisted.

The sales associate laughed. "I promise Katy, now just pick one." Callen said.

Katy looked closer at the rings in the case; she didn't know what to do. She didn't want to try on engagement rings. She didn't even want to think about marriage. Finally, she chose a half-carat solitaire ring set in platinum. The associate took it out of the case and handed it to Callen. The look on his face alone when he slipped the ring on her finger broke her. In that moment, she seriously thought about letting him get the ring. The love in his eyes sent a rush of warmth from her head to her toes and she could feel her face redden.

"It's beautiful, Katy." Callen told her never looking up from the ring on her finger.

"It is." She agreed. "I don't know about the shape of the stone, though. I'd be afraid of catching the prongs on something. What about a round stone?"

Callen took the ring off her finger and handed it back to the associate, who wiped it down with a cloth before placing it back in the case. "I don't have another half-carat in the round; I've got a three-quarter carat solitaire." He said taking it out and handing it to Callen.

Again, the look on his face got her. Her breath hitched in her throat. "I like this one better Katy." He smiled finally looking up at her.

Katy choked back the tears trying not to let him see the tears welling in her eyes. "It's definitely very pretty."

"What's wrong?" Callen asked.

"It's nothing. I never imagined I'd be this emotional just trying on rings. I'm sorry." She said.

"Do we need to stop?" He asked softly, brushing a tear from her cheek.

Katy offered a small smile. "Yes, please."

Callen reluctantly slipped the ring off her finger, handed the ring back to the salesman and thanked him before he walked out of the shop with Katy. They stopped at a bench right outside the store and sat down.

"I'm sorry, Callen. I don't know what's wrong with me." Katy said.

Callen took her hand. "What happened exactly?" He asked.

"I don't know it was the look on your face when you were putting the rings on my finger. I saw at that moment exactly how much you love me and I guess I got scared. For a moment, I almost told you right then and there that I'd marry you." She said looking at the marble tiles on the ground under her feet.

"You what?" He smiled. "How about I get you a little ring; a promise ring. We'll be engaged to be engaged. I just want something on your hand showing the world you're mine."

Katy smiled. "I think that's better than full-on getting engaged."

They stood and walked back into the store. The associate smiled and asked if they wanted to see either of the rings again. Callen told him no and asked to see some other rings with gemstones in them, not necessarily diamonds. He led them over to another case and Callen told Katy to start looking. With a hesitant smile, she looked into the case. It was a small step, but still a step at a commitment. Scared out of her mind, she asked the salesman to show her a ruby and diamond channel set band. The man looked to Callen who nodded. The sales associate pulled the ring out and handed it to Callen. Again, he place the ring on her finger and smiled up at her.

"What do you think?" she asked him.

"I like it, not exactly something I would've chosen, but it you like it. You're the one who will be wearing it and with our job, I think a band would be best." He said. "We'll take it."

Katy took off the ring and handed it back to the salesman. He cut off the tag and handed the ring back to Katy. She slid it back on her finger and followed Callen to the register.

"You can also consider that your anniversary present." Callen said and kissed her.

Suddenly, Katy's phone pinged over and over. When she looked at her phone, she had at least eight text messages from the team. All she had to do was read the first one and knew they were in the mall too. Sure enough, she looked up and out the door and there they were. Cassidy rushed in the store and looked at the ring and gave her an awkward smile.

"Oh, we thought it was an engagement ring." She said with a frown.

"No Cass not yet, but it is a promise ring." Katy told her.

The woman burst out laughing. "I didn't think people still did that promise ring stuff."

"It's also an anniversary present." Callen told her. "We're celebrating six months together."

Cassidy nodded, "You might want to just tell everyone it's an anniversary present."

Callen signed the sales slip and handed it back to the salesman in exchange for the receipt. They three walked back out to the team and showed them the ring. The team was obvious about their disappointment that it wasn't an engagement ring. They all walked through the mall until they found a suitable place for dinner. Cassidy and Michael mentioned that they were headed back down to the downtown area to a bar they'd found and invited Katy and Callen to join them. With nothing else planned for the evening, they agreed.

It was a nice bar, with a fun atmosphere. Callen went to the bar to order drinks for he and Katy while the others found a table. Then the Michael and Carson went to the bar to get drinks for everyone else. Katy and Cassidy were talking when Callen walked back up. Katy gave him a smile when he handed her the beer. They sat for hours talking and listening to the live band. Cassidy tried to get Katy on the dance floor, but she was content sitting with Callen watching everyone else dance. During one of the slow songs, Cassidy and Michael were dancing together.

Katy and Callen both caught the look they were giving one another and smiled. In spite of the fact that Katy had given the team a very long lecture about fraternization within the team, she couldn't bring herself to enforce it since she and Callen had done the same thing. In fact, the only thing she could do was give them her blessing and hope things worked out for them. She felt like a mother watching her children fall in love and thought of Kari. Quickly she buried her head in Callen's neck and sighed. He knew exactly what she was thinking about, because he was thinking the same thing. Kari would never fall in love, they'd never throw her a wedding and neither he nor Reggie would ever have the opportunity to walk her down the aisle.

By eleven, Katy and Callen were saying goodbye to their companions and heading back to the hotel. On the walk, Callen mentioned something about his thoughts and feeling about Kari. Katy stopped him in the middle of the sidewalk and hugged him. Thanking him for thinking of her daughter that way. They continued on their walk until they reached the hotel and went in the lobby. After a few drinks, neither of them were in the mood for much more than going to sleep.

Bright and early Saturday morning they showered, dressed, packed their stuff and headed downstairs to check out. Like the previous morning, they grabbed coffee and what have you from Starbucks before they headed out to the Saturday Market at Tom McCall Waterfront Park. She carried the camera bag while he carried their overnight back. It was chilly that morning, but there was no rain in the forecast.

As they walked through the street fair, they stopped every so often to look at the wares available at that booth. They found so much they wanted to get, but had no idea how they'd get their purchases home. Several of the merchants offered to ship the purchases home for them. With that, they picked some paintings and figurines. By mid-day, the food was smelling so good, so they wandered down to the food court and tried to decide what they wanted, but there was just too much to choose from. They finally decided on fried calamari and fish and chips. They sat down on the grass with the other patrons and ate while they watched the boats traveling up and down the river.

By four that afternoon, Katy had called the team to see what they were up to. No sooner did Cassidy answer her phone, she and Michael appeared behind them. They talked for a while before they went to meet the others and head back to their hotel in Oregon City. Michael had mentioned seeing an A & W somewhere in town, so they chased it down and had burgers and root beer floats for dinner. It had been years since Katy had eaten at an A & W. They'd all but disappeared from California when she returned from the east coast after college.

They went back to their hotel and hung out in the lobby, by the bar before retiring for the night to pack up their stuff so they could leave for the airport the next morning. Callen's flight left at ten and the team's flight to Seattle left at eleven. So they'd have a little bit of time together to say goodbye at the airport. Katy wasn't looking forward to Callen's departure and hoped it wasn't as tearful as the one three months ago. The only difference was that this was only for three months, whereas before they thought it was for the full six months. Before going to sleep, Katy called Hetty and thanked her for allowing Callen to come up and visit.

Hetty told her she was welcome and that Callen had better return to work on Monday in a better mood than he had been when he left. Katy laughed and told her that he would. They talked for a few more minutes about the remaining six cases, particularly case number ten. The case involved Artur, Artem and Pavel Ysigler. Artur being the single birth, Artem and Pavel being his older brothers by almost eight years. Once their mother delivered Artur, he had her killed like he had the others. From the day of his birth, Artur's brothers vowed revenge against him and were more than happy to work for Dmitri. Katy had a feeling that this case was going to be a difficult one. Nell and Eric were able to find very little information on the brothers. Hetty wished them luck and said goodnight.

The following morning, Katy and Callen woke early and finished packing their stuff before they headed downstairs to meet the team. Surprisingly, they beat everyone else down. They sat in the corner wrapped in one another's arms. Katy told him that she would try not to cry, but had already cried several times. Callen just wanted to hold her until they parted at the airport and he boarded his flight. Both took comfort in remembering that it was only for three months.

With two and a half hours before Callen's flight, they let the team know that they were going to head to the airport so Callen could check in on time. Cassidy said that they'd be fifteen minutes behind them. By the time they turned in the rental car and got to the terminal, Callen had an hour and a half before his flight left. They both checked in for their respective flights and went through security and onto Callen's gate. They took a seat by the windows and watched the planes come and go from the gates. Once this plane landed and taxied to the gate, Katy became emotional again. He held her tight and kissed her telling her it was only for three months.

She smiled and told him how much she loved him and how she couldn't wait for this assignment to be over so they could be together again. The announcement was made for the boarding of his flight, so they said it all again, kissed once more and Callen walked onto the ramp. Katy stood there trying to hold in the tears until she felt a set of arms around her; she looked over to find Cassidy and Michael at her sides. Callen ran back out of the ramp and over to the three of them. Kissed Katy and asked that they keep an eye on her, kissed her again and ran back to the ramp before the flight attendants closed the doors.

Katy walked over to the windows and watched as the ground crew backed the jet out and it taxied away. Callen waved from one of the windows towards the middle of the plane, over the wings. She blew him a kiss and walked to her own gate. Within fifteen minutes, they were boarding their own flight for the short hop to Seattle. Fifty minutes after taking off from Portland, they landed in Seattle and had to run across the terminal to meet their flight to Russia, hoping their gear made the transfer as well.

Katy watched out her window while Jason watched from his. Their gear made it with just minutes to spare before they pulled back from the gate. Katy settled in for the long flight and thought about the wonderful week she'd had with Callen. Michael and Cassidy sat across the aisle from her and they talked a little about the case before Katy fell asleep.

Early Monday morning, Callen walked into the bullpen to find everyone already there. They gave him an expectant look. He smiled at them and told them he was fine, that he and Katy had a great week. Nell walked down the stairs cautiously and stopped at the entry to the bullpen, looking as if she was going to burst into tears. They all looked at her and asked what was wrong; she walked over to the television and turned it on. There was no need to change the channel; the report was on all of the local channels. Callen watched in disbelief as he sunk back in his chair.

"All that we know at this point is that the United Airlines Boeing seven forty-seven crash landed as it tried to land in very strong cross winds. Witness's say that the jet tried to pull out of its decent to land at a different airport and that the flight took a nose dive into the runway. Fire fighters are still battling the blaze. You can see that the entire fuselage of the plane is fully engulfed in flames. Reports are saying that the flight originated yesterday in Seattle. FAA has yet to give us a flight number as several other flights had to be diverted due to the severe weather. It you had a love one on one of the flights from Seattle to Moscow, please call the airline for more information." The reporter said.