This was good. He was working up a good sweat, stretching his legs in a way that didn't involve a suspect and he wasn't writing a report. Which was the main reason why he came to the gym, let's be honest. Doing anything was better than writing up a report. And this way he was out of Hetty's line of sight. Not that that would help him but it would at least put off her demanding a completed report.

So, he was on a treadmill at a nice jogging speed. As much as he liked to tease and wind-up Sam, he did work out beyond sparring with people. He just didn't do it with Sam because, let's be honest, his partner was more than a bit intense about this sort of thing. He didn't need to run something like ten miles a day just to "warm himself up".

Speak of the devil, there was his partner himself, all dressed for working out. Which unfortunately meant no case. Yes, it had been an incredibly slow day. Wasn't the voluntary jogging enough to indicate that?

Sam took a look around the gym and decided that taking up the treadmill next to him was a good idea.

"Thought you didn't jog," he joked.

"Not with a stomach full of bacon."

Sam took a glance at his machine and snorted, not saying anything as he shook his head and got on the machine beside him. Callen couldn't help but notice that Sam turned the dial so that he was running just a little bit faster than him. His eyes narrowed. That was just a coincidence, right? Sam would obviously picker a higher speed than Callen's gentle jog for his workout. It was Sam, after all.

Nevertheless, just in case, Callen tapped the button on his treadmill to increase the speed. Just a little bit. That way he'd match his partner.

Then Sam increased his again.

Of course, he couldn't let that blatant challenge go and he reached for the button in front of him. Two beeps later and he matched Sam's speed, which made his partner snort at him. One further beep ensured that he was going faster.

Back and forth they went, the treadmills getting faster and faster. At some point, Sam had decided to increase the incline of his there Callen had to do so as well. He was not going to let the big guy think that he was taking the easy route.

Neither of them seemed to notice how difficult it was getting to keep up, due to them keeping their sharp eyes on each other instead of their machines. They didn't even have to look now to know where the buttons were.

Of course, this had to backfire on them eventually. And it did.

There was an almighty 'CRASH' and the next thing Callen knew that he shot backwards off the damn treadmill and crashed to the floor, skidding slightly across it. Oh, he was going to get a burn from that. A louder crash from his right indicated than Sam was most likely going to have similar injuries. Eurgh. Why did it ways hurt so much to crash to the ground? His very skeleton felt like it had been rattled.

This is why he didn't exercise. You got injuries for no good reason.

It was at this moment where Hetty decided that it would be best to enter the scene. Their short-statured boss stood over their panting and broken bodies with a thoroughly unamused look on her face.

"Of all the ridiculous antics you two boys have got up to, this really takes the cake."

Callen groaned loudly, not even trying to sit up, unlike his partner who stubbornly pulled himself upright. He swore he could hear Sam's muscles complain.

"Even more than the whole incident with the mafia and those pastries?"

Hetty thought for a moment and then nodded resolutely.

"Yes. Even more than that because that incident did not involve stupid, testosterone filled posturing with no good end goal."

"I count beating G as a good end goal," Sam managed to get out.

"You did not beat me."

"I did. I was going faster."

"We were going the same speed when we fell off."

"You fell off. I stepped off."

Callen raised an eyebrow at him.

"You stepped off while the machine was still going."

There was brief pause before Sam replied with, "I like a challenge."

"Of course, you do, big guy."

"Gentlemen," Hetty said warningly and they both shut up quickly.

You didn't mess with that tone. Even in their exhausted and aching state they were fully aware of that.

"Did you want to tell us something, Hetty?" Callen asked innocently.

Hey, she had to come into the gym for a reason, didn't she?

She gave him a look to which his response was an innocent look.

"You will be both pleased to know that a case has come up. One that requires your presence in Ops. As soon as possible, if you please."

"Can we shower?"

Hetty scrunched up her nose with a look of distaste. He would take that as a yes.

"And make sure to patch yourselves up," she threw in for good measure, looking them up and down. "I would prefer that my agents did not look like they belong in an MMA fight club."

Callen gingerly touched his face and frowned. Surely, they didn't look that bad?

"I do hope there will be a lot of running involved for you boys," she said far too happily as they groaned loudly. "May as well put all that training to good use."

She didn't even wait for any of their excuses or explanations before turning around, expecting them to follow.

"She set this up, didn't she?" Sam asked as they watched their boss walk away.

Callen swore there was a spring in her step.

"She wouldn't do that," he said unconvincingly.

She wouldn't create a whole situation that needed the OSP's attention just to teach them a lesson. Would she?