Tools #2

Callen goes shopping for more hobby supplies.

Callen pulled over in front of Sam's house and dialed his partner's cell phone. "Hey Sam I need to go get some stuff at the home supply store, want to come with me?"

"Home supply store G, what do you need from there? You haven't already broken your basketball hoop have you?" Sam started grabbing his wallet and keys and heading towards the door. "I'll be there in a few minutes."

"Sure Sam, I'll be waiting for you." Getting out of the truck Callen leaned against the side waiting for his partner to come out.

The first thing Sam saw as he exited his house was the bright blue truck sitting in front of his house with his partner leaning against it. "I didn't know we had trucks in the carpool; you better not scratch this baby of Hetty will skin you alive. Throw me the keys and I'll drive."

"It's not from the carpool Sam, I bought it this morning." Callen patted the hood before crawling behind the wheel."I decided if I was going to have a hobby I would need a truck to haul stuff in so I wouldn't have to call you every time."

"Good thinking G, it's a nice truck but it seems a little flashy for you. Usually you go for something a little more subdued than this." He started checking out the interior, playing with the switches and going thru the glove dept. "Did you trade the Jag in for it?"

"No, I kept the Jag this is my hobby truck Sam, I need it to help me with my hobbies. It's not like I bought it just because I liked it that would be foolish." Stopping at a red light Callen looked over at Sam and smirked. "It's just a truck."

"Oh yea, try telling that to someone else man. I saw the way you looked at this truck why I bet you already have a name for it, right?"

"Come on Sam, when have I every named a vehicle? I told you I needed a truck to haul stuff in, that's why I got it." Callen avoided looking at his friend.

"You keep telling yourself that G, no one buys a fancy blue truck with stripes and sports wheels just to haul stuff. Look at all the extra's it's got piled on it, besides you wouldn't let me drive it. That says a lot right there, you always let me drive." He sat back with a satisfied look on his face. "You my friend are in love with this truck so just admit it."

Chuckling with his blue eyes twinkling Callen glanced over at Sam and smiled. "Ok maybe I did go overboard on the truck, but it spoke to me. I've never had a car or truck call my name like this one did. You got to admit, its one bad ass truck."

"Its bad ass alright, I just never pictured you as a truck guy. What's next cowboy boots and a gun rack?" He smiled to take the sting out of his words. "You got the country music tuned in yet? Don't worry about naming it, I'll think of one."

"Shut up Sam. Come on and help me pick out the stuff I need or I'll leave your smart ass here."

"Ok but maybe you should tell me what exactly we're here to get, that way I can be of more help." Sam grabbed a cart and they walked thru the doors.

"I want to build a table so I need to get some wood, nails and stuff like that."

Checking out the various types of wood on display he made his choice and loaded the items he wanted in the cart moving on to pick up the other accessories he would need for the project he had in mind.

"What kind of table are you building, is a dining room table, a bedside table or what?" Sam paused as they passed by a display of ladders he stopped. "I think you should get a ladder while we're here, and what about other tools don't you need some of those also? Like a hammer and a saw or maybe a drill."

"Throw a ladder In but I really don't need anything else, after all you've got plenty of tools, right?" Callen smirked at Sam "You don't have a problem letting me borrow your tools do you buddy?"

Ignoring the pained look that had appeared on Sam's face he pushed the cart up to the register and made his purchase flirting just a bit with the female sales clerk.

"Let's see you put those muscles to work and get this truck loaded Sam. I'll buy you lunch afterward."

"You better buy me lunch and a beer too for all this work."

"Hey G weren't you supposed to turn back there?" Sam twisted around in the seat. "Did you buy a new house to go with your new truck and hobby?"

Not bothering to answer Callen pulled into a self storage lot and keyed in the code before driving to a unit at the back. He sat there for a few minutes with a strange look on his face before getting out and unlocking the unit and pulling up the door.

"What is this G, who does this stuff belong to?" Sam had climbed out of the truck to stand beside his partner, taking in the neatly arranged boxes inside. "Talk to me G, I need to know what this is."

Shaking his head Callen walked in and grabbed an old red toolbox "It's my stuff Sam, stuff that doesn't fit in my back pack so I leave it here until I need it."

"Ok I get it's your stuff so why isn't it at your place? You've got plenty of room now."

"I don't want it there, some of this stuff has bad memories attached to it Sam. I didn't want to bring those into my house so I just left it all here." Callen looked up "Somehow I've managed to collect quite a few tools over the years so I figured why buy new ones. I can just use these."

"Sure G, let's just load up what you need and get over to your place." Sam could see that Callen wasn't ready to talk about the stuff in the shed. "Don't forget you promised to buy me lunch, I don't want any of that greasy crap you call food."

"Ok buddy, I know just the place to go; they have turkey burgers on the menu for you and cheeseburgers for me." Callen locked the unit and got back in the truck. "

"Sound great. Hey how about Reba? Yea Reba sounds perfect for this truck."