DOUBLE TAKE

Chapter 32

Eric whistled from the top of the stairs. "Guys, we have something for you." Callen watched his team bundle up the stairs without him. He had been happy while Sam, Deeks and Nell hung around eating lunch. Now, he felt alone again. He was bored. He needed something to do. Looking over to his desk, he saw his pile of paperwork. Better than doing nothing, he concluded. He sat down and began to tackle the pile of cases he had neglected since flying to Prague. He picked up the top one and shook his head. It was Charlie's case, which had led her to Los Angeles. It seemed so long ago, but Callen could still see it fresh in his mind. How crazy Nell had made him, with her playing Hailey. He was glad the case was in the past, and have Nell safe in the security of the mission.

He heard a gallop of noises pounding down the stairs. He looked up and saw Sam, Deeks and two other agents head for the armoury. He was curious as to what was going on. He walked over to the armoury. He stood in the doorway and watched his partner lead the team. Sam looked up and smiled at him. He looked more relaxed, Callen realised. Perhaps seeing him had made Sam feel better.

"I'll watch from Ops," Callen stated as Sam headed out.

"Go home, G. You need to rest," Sam responded. He worried over his partner that he wasn't resting enough.

"I can do that here," Callen reasoned.

Sam stood close to him, looking serious again. "Look!" Sam furrowed his brows. "I know you are sick of resting. But we need you back one hundred percent. Not like this."

Annoyance spread over Callen's face. "Are you saying you don't want me here?"

"G!" Sam really didn't have the time to deal with his partner's stubbornness. "You know that's not true. I miss not having you with me. Just get well, okay! Go to the beach, relax, read a novel. Get a suntan." Callen had become rather pale since being in the hospital.

"But I can't drive. To go to the beach and do those things I need to drive." For a man who had the tendencies for going off the reservation lone wolf, Callen craved his team. He had missed them. "And I'll still be on my own. At least here, I have you guys around."

"What? Are you telling me you miss us, G?" Sam responded with a smirk.

"Yes," Callen admitted. He missed them so much, he really didn't care if Sam ribbed him on this one.

"See you later, G." Sam chuckled as he exited the armoury, over his partner's persistence to stay with the team.

Callen climbed the stairs, a lot slower than he was used to. By the time he walked through the sliding doors into Ops, he was ready to sit down again.

Hetty turned and frowned when she saw him enter. "You shouldn't be here, George. Leon and Granger will have my head on a platter, if they saw you here now," she chided him.

"I'm only looking on, Hetty. I'm not exerting myself, or getting in the way." He explained to her. "I just wish everyone would stop treating me like an invalid, or weak. I'm still the same person I was before Prague."

Hetty sighed.

Nell glanced over, concerned over how pale Callen still looked. She could tell the climb up the stairs had taken more out of him than he would admit. She returned and focused on the task at hand. She, Eric and Kensi sat at their tablets or computers as they watched Sam, Deeks and their team surround a warehouse.

"Do you have eyes inside yet, Eric?" Sam's voice came across the comms.

"Yes, Sam. We have ten men inside the warehouse. Two near the front door, two by the side door and six in the main room in the warehouse." Eric relayed the information to him.