"Whoa, where are you going?" Sam inquired when halfway to Hetty's office Callen peeled off in the wrong direction.
Callen stopped, turned, and placed his hands on his hips. "Really Sam. I have to go to the men's room. Do I honestly need your permission?"
Sam did a quick mental check of the bathroom. It was on the inner core of the building. No windows. The duct work was too small for Callen to crawl thru and there were no other points of egress. Sure there were definitely items in there Callen could cause mischief with, but he'd still have to come out the one door that he entered and Sam was going to be watching that doorway like a hawk.
"My bad. Go ahead," Sam apologized congenially.
Which a definite edge of sarcasm Callen tossed a "Thanks Dad," over his shoulder as he disappeared into the bathroom.
He came out a few minutes later with his hands tucked in the rear pockets of his jeans. Sam eyes narrowed. "Turn around," he demanded.
Giving Sam an amused smirk, Callen rotated presenting his back. Sam scanned his devious partner, not seeing anything unusual; yet his Callen BS radar was sounding a silent alarm. "Let me see your hands."
Rotating back to face Sam, he held his hands out for inspection. "Don't worry. I washed them. See they are still wet." He gave them a little shake and droplets of water hit Sam in the face. "Oh yeah, did I forget to mention we're out of paper towels?"
Callen started moving nonchalantly towards Hetty's office and Sam followed. Walking side by side, they were passing by the bullpen when Eric unexpectedly appeared at the top of the stairs and called out urgently. "Everyone. Ops. Now!"
Halting, Sam focused on Eric, struck by the unusual urgency in the tech's voice. Sam turned back towards Callen only to discover his partner, in the spilt-second Sam's attention was diverted had vanished.
Kensi and Deeks were already swiftly heading for the staircase. Eric was turning back towards the Ops Center when Sam called up to him. "Eric. Who told you to call us into Ops?" Sam already had a good idea of the answer.
"Callen. He said it was urgent." Eric glanced around the lower floor of the building. "Ah, where is he?"
"Probably halfway to Mexico," Sam groused. "It's a false alarm, Eric."
Kensi and Deeks reversed and walked back into the bullpen. "What's going on Sam?" Kensi asked, confused.
"Yes Mr. Hanna. Please enlighten us." Hetty, in stealth mode, had slid in behind him.
"This is entirely your fault Hetty. You and that slingshot," Sam complained. "You'll be lucky if Callen ever shows up for work again."
Deeks bounced over to Callen's desk and grabbed his stapler. "Dibs on the stapler." He held it aloft triumphantly and Sam swiftly reached over and took it back.
"Leave G's stuff alone or I'll tell him. He may not have much but he is possessive." Sam placed the pilfered item back on the top of the desk.
Deeks raised his now empty hands in the air. "This is me, backing away." He sidled over to Kensi's side and whispered, "He's not gonna tell Callen is he?"
Kensi grinned evilly. "He may not but I might."
"You can't. You're my partner. You're supposed to be on my side," Deeks explained to her seriously.
At that moment Sam's phone buzzed and a glance showed him it was a text from Callen. 'Not feeling well. Went home. See you tomorrow.'
"Mr. Callen?" Hetty guessed with a raised eyebrow.
"Yeah. Says he's not feeling well. He went home," Sam confirmed though it was easy to see he was as skeptical of the message as his boss.
"I see," Hetty replied in a voice that clearly said she did not. With a little humph, she headed back to her office.
The rest of the day passed quietly. On his way out, Sam popped up the stairs to Hetty's area. "Goodnight Hetty."
Peering up from the document she was reading, Hetty smiled. "Goodnight, Mr. Hanna."
"Callen will show up tomorrow. Don't worry." Sam shifted his bag uneasily to his other hand. He seemed like he wanted to say more, and then changed his mind.
Hetty placed her pen carefully on her desk blotter. "I have no doubts."
"Yeah. Yeah," but it really sounded like Sam was trying to convince himself more than Hetty. "Well goodnight." He stared at Hetty for another moment before leaving.
Hetty shook her head slowly as she watched him depart. She predicted tomorrow would be an interesting day.