Callen hit the break and was able to stop them from crashing into the car in front of them. Callen quickly put the warning lights on to alert the cars behind him. Luckily no one hit them from behind. Zoya brazed her hands on the dashboard to keep her from falling forward.
"Everyone okay?" Callen asked concerned and he looked at Zoya and Maya.
"Yeah I'm good," Zoya replied.
"You okay Maya?" Callen asked as he looked at the back seat.
"Yeah, I'm good Uncle Grisha."
"It doesn't hurt anywhere?"
"No, I'm good."
"Okay." Callen turned his attention back to Zoya. "You sure you're okay? The babies too?"
"Yeah, I'm fine honey. I promise."
"Okay."
They look at the road in front of them. Everyone was completely still and nobody was even moving an inch. Carefully Callen got out of the car to see what was going on.
"There's been a big accident just about a few hundred yards ahead of us," Callen replied and he quickly grabbed his phone to call nine-one-one.
"nine-one-one, what's your emergency?" a friendly man on the other side of the phone spoke.
"Hello this is special agent Callen, NCIS. There's been a huge traffic accident on the Artesia Freeway heading west just before the exit for Knott Avenue."
"Any injuries?"
"Not sure, I will check." Callen quickly looked at Zoya.
"Go G, go see if you can help."
Callen quickly walked to the accident scene and told the operator what he saw. There were fours cars and one truck involved with the accident. One car was upside down which had a woman trapped and she was unconscious. One car hit the barrier in between the two sides of the freeway. The driver was conscious but his leg was stuck and he had a pretty nasty head wound. The other two cars where standing in the middle of the freeway and they seemed to only had mild damage. The truck was lying on it's side and the driver was stuck inside. Callen looked through the window and the driver was hanging in the cabin with his seat belt still on and he was unconscious as well.
A little later the place was swarming with firefighters, EMT's and police. The firefighters were busy freeing the trapped patients. Now that there was enough help Callen went back to his car.
"Everyone okay?" Zoya asked.
"Three were trapped and two of them unconscious. The other two seemed to be okay."
After about an hour part of the freeway was clear so the cars could take the exit towards Knott Avenue and down the ramp they could go back onto the freeway. Police was there to escort the cars so they could easily cross the street back onto the ramp. It took a while before everyone was through but once they were up on the freeway again Callen continued on their way back home. Once home Zoya got Maya out of her seat as Callen grabbed their bags. Zoya collected their mail before walking inside.
…..
That Monday they went back to school and work again.
"Morning Sam," Callen spoke as he walked into the bullpen, only Sam was there.
"Morning G, did you have a nice week at Disneyland?"
"Oh yes it was very nice. Maya really enjoyed herself. It was very nice. Zoya couldn't go in all the rides so I mostly went with Maya."
"How's Zoya?"
"She's doing very well. Easily tired but so far everything is going fine with her and the babies."
"That's good to hear."
Callen sat behind his desk and opened his laptop. He looked up the hospital near the Artesia freeway and called the number.
"West Anaheim medical center, ED, how can I help you?" A friendly woman answered the phone.
"Hello, this is special agent Callen, NCIS. I was just wondering how the victims of the car crash on the Artesia freeway this weekend are doing? I was there and I called nine-one-one, I was wondering if everyone was doing alright."
"Let me just look it up to see if I can find it. Yes all the victims were brought here. The truck driver is still unconscious after surgery so it's just a waiting game. The woman that was upside down in the car unfortunately didn't make it. The other three only had mild injuries, they have already been discharged."
"Thank you. Sorry to hear the woman didn't make it. Thanks for the update. Have a good day."
"You were involved in an accident?" Sam asked once Callen had hung up the phone.
"No not involved, but we were stuck behind it. It just happened a couple hundred yards in front of us when we were on our way back from Disneyland. We're all okay. Not exactly sure what happened but a truck and four cars were involved. One of the drivers didn't make it."
"Sorry to hear that."
The day was pretty calm, it was just after 5.30pm when Callen pulled up to the house. As he pulled into the driveway he saw Zoya just getting out of her car.
"Hey honey," Zoya said when Callen had gotten out of his car.
"Hey honey," Callen walked over to her and gave her a kiss. "How was your day?"
"Pretty busy. We caught a case that took us the whole day to even find any leads. So I was up sitting in OPS the entire day looking for anything that could point us in a direction of a suspect. Liam and Keira put some searches on so we'll see if they'll have something in the morning. How was yours?"
"Pretty calm. No new cases. So could just catch up on some paperwork."
They walked inside. "Hey guys," Zoya spoke as they walked into the house but no one was there.
They walked outside and found Maya and Esme in the pool so they walked down the stairs to the pool. "Hey guys," Zoya spoke again.
"Hey Aunt Zoya, hey Uncle Grisha," Maya called from the pool. "Esme and I are playing pool volleyball."
"Well looks like you're having fun."
There was a small net in between Esme and Maya and since the pool was too deep for Maya to stand she sat on her floatable unicorn. Callen sat on the couch near the pool as Zoya went to get started on dinner. Esme stayed for dinner.
"Did you have a nice day at school?" Zoya asked Maya.
"Yeah, it was fun. We could tell what we did during the vacation so I told them that we went to Disneyland and then I did some coloring and made a little artwork."
"That sounds very nice."
After dinner Esme went home. Callen cleaned up as Zoya took Maya upstairs for bath. While Maya was in the tub Zoya folded some laundry in the bathroom. She let Maya play with her toys for a little while before she went to wash her hair. After bath she could go downstairs for a little while. They all sat on the dinning table and played a game of kids monopoly. This was a nice game for Maya to play and she even learned a bit of math. In the end Maya won the game.
"Alright, now it's time for bed," Zoya stated. "Say goodnight to Uncle Grisha."
Maya walked over to Callen and gave him a goodnight kiss. "Goodnight Uncle Grisha."
"Goodnight Maya."
Zoya took Maya upstairs and read her a bedtime story before tucking her in.
"Goodnight Maya," Zoya spoke and gave Maya a kiss.
"Goodnight Aunt Zoya."
Zoya turned the nightlight on, turned the big light off and closed the door before going downstairs. Callen and Zoya enjoyed a quiet evening on the couch just watching TV.
Callen was already in bed when Zoya walked out of the bathroom. Callen lay on his side, head propped up with his elbow, facing Zoya's side. As Zoya was getting ready for bed she caught Callen staring at her with a smile on his face.
"What are you staring at honey?" Zoya asked.
"Just my beautiful wife. You look so beautiful with your baby bump."
"You really think so? I don't look fat?"
"No absolutely not. You look so beautiful and I love seeing your baby bump."
Zoya placed her hand on top of her stomach. "I can't even see my feet anymore."
Callen crawled over to Zoya's side of the bed and sat on the edge of the bed. "You look absolutely beautiful and I love you even more cus you're carrying our little babies." Callen cupped her stomach in his hands and placed kisses on it. "So beautiful."
"Thank you G."
Callen pulled Zoya down so she was sitting on his lap and he kissed her. "I love you."
"I love you too."
Zoya kissed him again as Callen started moving her nightgown up. They momentarily stopped kissing so Callen could take her nightgown off. Once it was off Callen moved his lips towards her neck.
"Wait G," Zoya moaned. "Let me lock the door first."
Zoya quickly got up and locked the door to the bedroom before returning to the bed. They lay there fooling around for a while before Callen lay behind Zoya and they made love.
…..
Zoya was now twenty-seven weeks pregnant. So far everything was still going very well with her and the babies but she was easily tired and if she did too much her back and feet would hurt. She had cut down her working hours to three days a week, doctor's advice. The other two days she was at home. Esme was still coming by on those two days as well so Zoya had a hand around the house with Maya.
Zoya was sitting at home when her phone went off. She looked at the display and saw it was Callen.
"Hey honey," Zoya picked up the phone.
"Hey Zoya."
"Everything okay G?" Zoya heard by the sound of his voice that something was off.
"Michelle has been taken."
Zoya walked out of the room so Maya and Esme didn't hear the conversation.
"Oh my god! Do you know who has her?"
"No, not yet. We're still working on it. But it seems personal. It seemed like they were targeting our team and specifically Sam."
"Oh no!"
"Are you okay? Have you noticed anything around the house?" Callen asked worried.
"Yeah everything is fine here. I haven't noticed anything strange or out of order. What about Aiden and Kam? Are they okay?"
"Yeah they are fine. Sam moved them to a secure location."
"Okay good."
"Just be careful and stay inside. I will let you know if I know more."
"Alright, please be careful."
"I will."
….
About an hour later Zoya's phone rang again. It was Callen again.
"Hey G, any news?" Zoya asked.
"We received a video call from the kidnappers and we talked to Michelle. She's good for now but she's being held in an airtight container or something, where we don't know yet. But they are asking for an exchange. A prisoner for Michelle."
"A prisoner? What's the connection to Sam?"
"It's Tahir Khaled. He has a beef with Sam. About six years ago Sam went undercover in his operations in Africa. His sister was Sam's way in. Sam took Jada to the states to give her a new life. Tahir still blames Sam for everything so he's after revenge."
"And since Sam took his sister away, he decided to take Sam's wife."
"Yeah it seems like that. Look, I want you and Maya to go to the safe house as well."
"Do you think he'll come after me too?"
"I don't know. His beef is with Sam. But I was there with Sam too, he could've found out about me as well. They took Michelle right from their house. How they got that information we don't know. But if they have Sam's address it's possible they have our address as well. I'm not taking any chances, especially with you being pregnant. Michelle didn't even stand a chance to fight them off. I want you to be safe."
"Alright yeah no problem. I will go there too, that way I can be there as well for Aiden and Kam. What's the address?" Callen gave her the address. "Alright I will take Maya and Esme and will go there. I'll make sure no one is following me to that address so I will not lead anyone there."
"It's quite a drive. Are you okay to drive that way? Hetty can get a private plane as well but I don't know if it's still okay for you to fly."
"I'd rather not risk that. They say you can fly up to thirty weeks but I'd rather not. Yeah I'll be fine. Esme is coming too so she can drive as well."
"Alright good. Let me know when you get there."
"I will. Just get Michelle back."
"I will. I love you."
"I love you too." Zoya hung up the phone.
"Everything okay?" Esme asked.
"Something came up at work. We have to go to a secure location."
"What's going on?"
"I can't tell every detail but someone has been taken and personal information has been leaked. Grisha just wants us to go somewhere safe, just in case."
"Alright, I'll grab some things for Maya."
Zoya grabbed some things for herself as well before they got in the car. Zoya drove them to the address Callen had given her, making sure that no one was following them. Sam had already alerted the agent with Aiden and Kam that Zoya was coming. It was a about a six hour drive before they were there.
"Aunt Zoya, is there any news? Have they found our mom?" Aiden asked with pleading eyes.
"They have spoken to your mom, she's alright. But they are still looking where exactly they took her."
"Do they know who took her?"
"They don't know who took her but they know why. They are still figuring it out. But don't worry, your dad and Uncle Callen are doing everything they can to find her."
Zoya looked outside for a while to make sure she wasn't followed but she didn't see anyone. Now it was just waiting for another update. Zoya really hoped they would find Michelle alive.
…
Hours later they still were no closer to finding Michelle. Callen kept an eye on his partner. He could imagine what was going on in his mind. If it had been Zoya instead of Michelle he would feel like this too. Michelle was like family to him too. They needed to find her. They had found a back account, now they just needed to find the LA connection. OPS still had the video link to Michelle.
"Sam… I know you've calculated this all out. You want to tell me what number you came up with?" Michelle asked her husband.
Sam thought about what to say to her. He didn't want her to worry. "You've got twelve to fourteen hours of oxygen left. Maybe a little more."
"That's funny, I came up with something much less. I started out with eight hours, and now I'm guessing I'm down to four. You want to go over you math with me?"
"We're gonna fine you long before that matters. Stop talking so much. You're using up oxygen."
"Speaking is not my problem. You've got no lead, baby. I'm a needle in a haystack."
"I need to talk to Hetty," Sam said and he left OPS.
"We're gonna find you, Michelle," Callen told her.
"Take care of him, G."
"I always do."
…
Night had already fallen and there was still no word on Michelle's location. They had released Tahir Khaled in exchange for Michelle's location but so far nothing. Michelle was running out time.
"Have you heard any news?" Aiden asked after Kam and Maya had gone to bed for the night.
"No nothing new yet," Zoya answered.
"Please tell me, my little sister is not here right now. Just tell me, is my mom still alive?"
"Last I heard yes." Zoya took a deep breath and thought about what to say next. She really didn't want to tell Aiden all the details but he was old enough to know there was something she wasn't telling him. "He has her in a airtight container or something and air is running out. How much time she has I don't know. But your father and Grisha will find her before it's too late."
"What if they are already too late?"
"You can't think like that. You have to have faith that they will get to her in time."
"I don't want to loose my mom," Aiden broke down. He had been keeping strong for his sister but now that she wasn't here he broke down.
They were sitting on the couch so Zoya pulled him in for a hug. "I know Aiden. Your mom is an agent, she can handle herself. She will not go down without a fight. And your dad will find her in time." Zoya and Aiden sat there for a while. "Why don't you try to get some sleep as well. I will wake you when I have some more news."
Aiden nodded. "Thank you for being here with us Aunt Zoya."
"You're welcome Aiden."
..
Callen walked into Hetty's office worried about why they still hadn't heard anything from Tahir's people.
"We just passed hour eight, there's still no word from Tahir's people," Callen stated.
"How is she?" Hetty asked.
"She's not good. Well, she's still breathing. I….," Callen felt his eyes getting a little watery. "Kamran's only twelve years old."
"I'm aware of the child's age."
"Zoya says they have been asking a lot if there's any news. I can't imagine having to tell them we didn't find Michelle in time. I don't even wanna think about that. But what if Tahir's plan all along was to not release Michelle. He knows how much that would hurt Sam."
"Just pray we find her in time, Mr. Callen."
..
Callen was up in OPS hoping to find any new leads while Sam was down in the armory watching over Michelle.
"Hey," Callen answered his phone.
"I don't know if she's still breathing," Sam replied, the worry very present in his voice
"I'll be right there," Callen spoke without any hesitation. Callen walked down to the armory. "We are close Sam. We will get to her in time." Callen tried to reassure his partner. He looked at the Michelle sitting there motionless. So many things were going through his head right now. What if that had been Zoya?
..
Deeks and Kensi were at the warehouse. The same warehouse they had been earlier today. Now they figured that Michelle had probably been there all this time. They were there and they didn't want to wait for backup.
"Deeks, whatever it takes," Kensi spoke as she looked him dead in the eye. Deeks nodded. Now way they were getting out of there without Michelle.
..
"Callen, Kensi and Deeks think they found Michelle. Address in on your phone," Eric spoke through the earwig.
"Sam, they may have found her."
Sam was already out of the building and Callen was hot on his tail. During the ride they were quiet. Sam didn't want to talk and Callen didn't know what to say. He prayed that they would still be in time but the changes were slim. They walked into the building, mentally preparing themselves. When they walked in the saw all these people standing by with a sad look on their faces. That was enough for them to know that Michelle didn't make it. Sam walked through the crowd and pulled the sheet off of Michelle. There lay his wife, dead.
"Give us some privacy please," Callen spoke and everyone walked out.
Callen couldn't help but think of Zoya as he saw Sam sitting there with Michelle's lifeless body in his arms. Right now he needed to be here for his partner but all he wanted to do was hold Zoya in his arms so he knew that she was alright. There was nothing Callen could say right now that would comfort his partner. Callen walked out, leaving Sam alone with Michelle. It was in the middle of the night but right now Callen just needed to talk to Zoya. Zoya was asleep when she heard her phone right. She looked at the display and noticed it was Callen. She sat up in the bed wide awake.