Turn of Events

Four months on

It all had gone pear shaped as Sam's cover was blown and he disappeared from radar. He'd been undercover with a local gang for three months, passing on details of his intel to Nell via a sleek handover at a local diner. No one had figured out what he was doing each time he placed an order at Pippa's Diner on E Thirty-Fourth Street. Or so he thought. Tied up to the pillar inside an abandoned warehouse somewhere downtown, he knew he'd been burned. He'd tried to remain in character as Big Bubba G, but the kicks to his ribs winded him and he curled up his body to defend himself.

Agent Nassir called in Sam's disappearance and immediately Eric searched for his GPS tracker that had been sewn inside his clothing, to locate him. Everything was a blank.

"I don't understand?" Eric Beale worked endlessly to locate Sam, but to no avail. "We tracked him to this location and then he just vanished."

Henrietta Lange stood over the Technical Operator feeling the hopelessness of the situation. She remained stoic to her people around her, being the tower of strength that they needed, but even she struggled to hold off the doubt that they would find Sam alive. "Send Deeks and Kensi to his last known location, Mr Beale."

She stood in the middle of Ops, watching Eric work his magic, but this time nothing appeared to be going their way. She'd called him in early due to the seriousness of the situation, but he needed his partner beside him to help. However, Miss Jones was needed elsewhere, so Eric Beale would have to wait for her to return to Ops and deal with the dire situation on his own. It wasn't a first, he was used to flying solo in Ops on many occasions, but with Callen still recovering from his heart attack and Sam disappearing like this, the strain was evident as sweat beaded across his forehead.

Nell's Apartment, Venice Beach

Nell Jones snuggled up to Callen in her bed, not wanting to leave the warmth of his body. Since that first morning four months earlier, they had spent every night in either of their beds, snuggling. However, this did not include the Doheny Road property. Callen continued to struggle in his acceptance of the news about his family's inheritance and he only stayed there during the day with his father or sister. His team continued to visit him at the Beverly Hill's residence during those long days, except for Sam. Callen had noted his partner's absence, and thought it was because he had failed him.

Nell came over whenever she had the spare time and progressed well with her counselling with Cheryl Sparks. She returned to work after a month's absence. Their companionship at night provided them with the comfort that they both needed to make peace with their demons.

Suddenly, Callen bolted awake, causing her to pull away from him. "Sam!" His breathing hitched as fear for his partner consumed him. He turned his head towards her. "Something's wrong. We need to find Sam."

Nell furrowed her brow. She'd never told him about Sam being deep undercover, nor her involvement at Pippa's diner. Although he had questioned her many times over why Sam hadn't been to see him over the past three months. She'd tried to hide her own concerns about Sam from him, without much luck. Callen had pried and prodded and he knew that she was under the directive order of Hetty not to tell him a thing. But it didn't appease him. She was due to meet with Sam later that day for another handover of intel, but as her cell rang and saw Hetty's id on the screen, dread grew within her too.

"Hetty." She stood up and walked out of the bedroom, hoping to speak with their boss privately.

"Miss Jones, we have a situation." Hetty didn't like it, but she knew she needed to send her analyst back under cover, in hope Sam makes their meeting.

Nell listened to her boss and looked over to Callen who leaned against the wall by the kitchen, studying her responses to the call. He saw the fear in her eyes and knew instantly that he was right. Sam was in trouble.