Agent Callen gasped as the bullets tore through his skin. He fell to the ground, trying to breathe though punctured lungs fast filling with blood. It should have hurt, but his brain was going fuzzy. He felt an electric shock go through his body before Sam lifted him from the ground, holding up his upper body. The former Seal was saying something, but G couldn't hear him.

Callen tried to focus on his partner, tried to keep his eyes open. Ironically, he found himself being forced into the numb blankness that eluded him everytime he tried to sleep. He closed his eyes and drifted away from the rest of the world.

A week later, he blinked open his eyes to too bright, painful light. He snapped them closed again and listened to the beeps of machinery and felt his lungs being fill not by their own accord. Wincing, he squinted open his eyes and glanced around the hospital room he was in. He noted the lack in windows and the door closed straight in front of him.

He was alone, but judging by the coffee on a nearby table, he wouldn't be alone for long. He painfully sat up, relieved to see his clothes sitting on the chair next to the bed within easy reaching distance. He painfully pulled on everything but his shirt, which he left off because he couldn't get his arms up far enough to get the shirt over his head. When he had tried, he had been met with white hot pain that made him collapse back against the bed in defeat. He forced the pain to the back of his mind and twisted his torso slightly, trying to get his feet off the bed.

The door began to slowly open, making Callen freeze and search for a weapon. Seeing none and having no time or energy at the moment to search more closely, he forced himself to relax as though he weren't expecting to be attacked. The door opened fully, revealing Sam Hannah and a petite woman.

"Going somewhere, Mr. Callen?"

"Yeah, Hetty. I'm going to get some coffee and then I am going to find out who tried to kill me this time." Callen said.

"I think not, Mr. Callen! You are still in critical condition! If you were successful in getting off that bed, your wounds would tear open and cause your lungs to fill with your blood and we would have to go through this whole mess again!" Hetty said, shaking her head.

"I'm just going to get coffee, then." Callen amended.

"No, you're not. No caffeine." Hetty said, turning to leave.

"Come on, Hetty! At least tell me when I can leave and get back to work!" Callen pleased.

"You need the vacation anyways, Mr. Callen. We will see. It all depends on your choices." Hetty said, actually leaving now.

"Glad you're okay, G." Sam said. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm feeling fine, Sam. I've been through worse than a couple of measly flesh wounds." Callen assured.

"Those weren't flesh wounds, G. You DIED! Your heart stopped for ten minutes! The doctors almost gave up on you. It was a miracle that it restarted with a bullet lodged in it, and even then the doctors were sure that you would never be able to wake up again and that you would spend the rest of your life on life support. If you did wake up, you would have brain damage. Never speak, never hear, never see again." Sam heaved.

"Sam, I'm fine. How's the new building?" Callen asked, changing the subject.

"The building? The building is fine, G. Nice, open space, hidden in plain sight, even close to a hospital, just for you, G." Sam snapped to his injured partner. Callen shrugged, refusing to show the pain that he felt with that movement. It would only result in Sam getting a nurse to administer pain medication, which would make his mind fuzzy.

A knock on the door stopped Sam from doing anything, even if he had seen the pain. Sam opened the door slowly, then stepped back quickly, going for his gun when he saw the muzzle of one facing him.

"Stand down, sir. These are just a precaution. The real gun are outside, ready to hit this room." The owner of the gun said.

"Aw, not this guy." Callen muttered, gesturing for Sam to stand down.

"Hello, Mr. Callen."

"We went over this last time. It's Agent Callen." Callen corrected.

"Agent Callen. Been a long time."

"Just wish that it could have been longer, Captain Lennox." Callen snapped.

"I did apologize for that. And its Major Lennox now. These are my colleagues Sergeant Epps and Ironhide." Lennox said, gesturing to the two men with him.

"You almost BLEW ME UP then you SHOT AT ME then you tortured me for information. Sorry doesn't cut it." Callen growled.

"To be fair, I didn't know you were undercover." Lennox said.

"You weren't supposed to. Kind of the point of being undercover. Because of you, a bomber almost got to the U.S." Callen snapped.

Callen shifted, wincing as his words made his chest compress and his lungs burn. He shifted again and was unable to keep the small moan of pain escape his lips. The machines he was connected to his began to beep until Callen forced it down. Sam was by his side in an instant, glaring harshly at the newcomers. Lennox took a step forward from the two men, giving Callen a better look at them. They were soldiers, both built like Sam, all tight shirts and big muscles.

"Major Lennox, are you going to say what you came here to say or are you going to send my partner into cardiac arrest?" Sam snarled.

"Of course Mr….?"

"Agent Hannah." Sam replied cooly.

"Of course, Agent Hannah. I am afraid that you and Agent Callen have to come with us. Now. You will be free to make any phone calls you need once we get there, but I must ask you not to try to fight us on this." Lennox said.

"Can't. I was told that if I moved from this bed, I would kill myself and I have no intention of doing that today. I want to get the bastard that tried to kill me back first, and maybe get Gibbs to give me my dog back." Callen smirked.

"You have a dog, G? Never took you as a dog person. Maybe a cat person. Maybe." Sam said lightly.

"Don't like cats. They'll turn their back on you in an instant if someone else feeds them." Callen mused.

"I am sure that we can get your dog for you." Lennox said impatiently.

"No need. I got him here." A silver haired man said from behind the three, unclipping a leash and allowing a young German Shepherd jump onto the bed and rest its head on Callen's lap. Its tail wagged happily as Callen weakly stroked its head, smiling softly as well.

"Hey, Buddy! Did you miss me? I missed you! Been in New York with Grumpy Grandpa Gibbs for too long!" Callen softly cooed to the dog.

"Callen, these three bothering you?" Gibbs asked, glaring between the bedridden 27 year old and the three soldiers in the doorway.

"Not yet, Gibbs. I think that they were just leaving, actually." Callen said.

"No, we weren't Agent Callen. Your care will be provided for where we are taking you. We have need of your skills, otherwise we would not be here." Lennox said mournfully. He casually loaded a dart into his gun and pointed it at Sam, firing. The dart hit Sam as the other two took careful aim at Gibbs and Buddy. The one fired at Gibbs hit, but Buddy's missed when Lennox pulled the soldier's arm up.

During that time, Callen found the gun that someone had thankfully hidden under his pillow and had moved it to be hidden by Buddy's growling body. Callen tightened his grip on Buddy's collar so the attack dog couldn't attack.

"What the Hell? You just attacked two federal agents and now you are threatening to kidnap a third!" Callen shouted, chest heaving painfully. He pulled out the gas mask thing that was over his nose and took a deep breath, coughing slightly as his muscles were forced to work on their own.

"Nothing personal, Callen. I told you, we have need of your skills. I don't know why, I'm just following orders. No one will ever know about it, not CIA, SHIELD, FBI, or NCIS, no one." Lennox said.

Callen glared at the Major as he pulled out the IV and the other needles in his skin. He felt light headed already and knew that he shouldn't have pulled it out, but he didn't want to risk drugs being put into his system and making it difficult to think.

Callen laid back against the pillow weakly, closing his eyes to gather up his strength for this conversation as the world swayed suddenly around him. He felt a pinch on his arm as the the IV was inserted back into his arm and liquid dripped into it.

"You should not have taken this out. You are dehydrated and you have no source of nutrition in your stomach." The one Lennox pointed out as Ironhide growled. Lennox subtly touched his ear, thinking that Callen was too distracted to notice. The man had an earpiece in.

"Now, where we are go-" Lennox began as Ironhide took a step back.

"Whoa, hold it, Major. I never said that I was going with you. I am pretty sure that I just told you no." Callen interrupted.

"Then we do this the hard way and kidnap you, which is not advisable with your current condition than if you came willingly." Ironhide snapped, raising his gun again.

"I choose the hard way, then." Callen said as he released his grip on Buddy's collar. The attack dogged pounced on Ironhide and Epps dashed over to help the other soldier handle the dog. Because of that, neither could shoot without potentially harming the other.

Callen brought up the gun and pointed it steadily at Lennox, even though his breathing was ragged and his chest now had five red stains blossoming over the formerly pristinely white bandages on his chest.

"Callen, put the gun down. You are bleeding and are too stressed." Lennox said as he took a step closer to Callen. Callen twitched the gun and fired, nicking the Major's ear and only millimeters from his actual head. Lennox froze as did everyone, even Buddy at the sound of the gunshot. Lennox felt the damage, pulling his hand away to stare at blood.

"Next one goes through your head." Callen snapped. "If whoever is on the other end of that earpiece hasn't realized it yet, I am dead serious."

"Slag it, Ratchet. What do I do?" Lennox snapped into the earpiece as the bandages began to drip. Lennox pulled out his phone and tossed it onto the bed. "It's for you." Lennox said.

Callen weakly raised the phone to his ear as it rang once. "Hello?"

"Agent Callen, I suggest you stand down and call off your animal. If you do not, you will lose consciousness in less than five minutes from blood loss. If you shoot Major Lennox, Ironhide will very painfully kill you after you have completed what we need you for. I do not wish to piece you together any more than I have to today, so I would do as I say." A voice over the phone said.

"Amice, toc." Callen ordered in Romanian. Buddy raced back to Callen's side, still growling. Ironhide and Epps were just fine, even if their sleeves were a little torn up.

"That is a good start, Agent Callen. Now put the gun down." Ratchet said.

"Not happening. I put the gun down, I get shot." Callen argued. A harsh, high pitched ringing emitted from the phone, making Callen throw it down and hold his ears in pain as the noise bombarded his aching head. Lennox took that opportunity to jab a needle into his neck and push down the plunger, drugging Callen into unconsciousness. Lennox picked up the phone, which stopped ringing. He fired a shot at Buddy, knocking the dog out as well.

"He's down." Lennox said. He brought a hand to his bleeding ear, wincing. "How did he get a gun in here? I thought you said he wasn't armed!" Lennox snapped to Ironhide.

"Well, I wasn't expecting him to hide it under his pillow!" Ironhide defended. "That Human is a very good shot." He admitted.

"I know. I did some research on him. From what I can find, he's a legend among legends, one of the best in the business." Lennox said as he placed a device on the wall. The device hummed and cut through the wall, revealing the inside of an ambulance waiting for its passenger to be loaded.

"I do not understand the term, 'legend among legends' Major Lennox." Ironhide informed him.

"No one knows who this guy is. Not even Callen himself." Lennox said.

"How can one not know who oneself is?" Ironhide asked.

"Maybe you should ask him that." Lennox said as they loaded Callen into Ratchet. Ironhide and Epps carried Sam and Gibbs to Ironhide's bed and gently set them down there. After some arguing, the dog was loaded in as well. A holoform began stabilizing Callen, working on quickly stopping the bleeding until they got back to base.

Lennox slid into Ironhide's cab and held onto dear life as they raced to base at top speed. They arrived at the base in record time, with Ratchet driving straight into the med bay. Sam, Gibbs, and Buddy were taken to a different room, where they soon woke and were informed about what was happening. The men didn't even flinch at the information of alien robots that were fighting a war on earth.

Optimus Prime was waiting for them when they got there, standing tall in the Autobot Hangar. Lennox exited the truck and Ironhide transformed to stand next to his leader.

"Are you sure this was the right thing to do, Optimus? Kidnapping Humans in critical condition with more secrets than even the CIA does? That's something you wouldn't normally agree to and if Ratchet didn't confirm your identity, I would never have believed it was you that said that." Ironhide said.

"I would not have done so unless absolutely necessary. You know that Ironhide." Optimus replied.

"Why is it necessary?" Lennox asked.

"He has a very particular skill that we need. He is what you Humans call a 'ghost'. He can be a completely different person in a matter of seconds and can blend in with a crowd if he needs to make a quick escape, and that is exactly what we need." Optimus explained. "The Decepticons do not recognize him and would be unlikely to attack him should they see him, whereas there would be an immensely high risk of you or your team being attacked and killed if you are seen."

"Sir, I have been trying to access his current file, but I cannot hack through to it. It seems to be classified to only give access to five people. All that it is showing up are heavily redacted mission reports. Very little personal records until you get to the point that Agent Callen was in the foster care system. His own name does not bring up anything on him. It is like he does not exist outside of the government. Though there is a recent certificate of death. Says that he is legally dead right now and does not exist in the world of the living anymore." Ironhide said.

"I know. One of the reasons he is doing the job. Who is going to attack a dead being?" Optimus asked.

Lennox tapped through his data pad, flicking through the redacted files. "This guy is serious black opps. No official post in the military, but definitely has served and had his file pulled. Can't have been 18 when these mission reports started. Been doing this for ten years now and is only twenty seven." Lennox said in amazement. "He grew up in the foster system. Was in 37 foster homes, including his current boss, Hetty Lange's care. His longest stay was only three months. Others it was for a matter of hours that he stayed, his shortest stay was five minutes. Child advocate didn't even make it to her car before Callen got back in telling her that they didn't think he was a good fit." Lennox read ahead a little bit. Then he decisively put the data pad down.

"What do you mean by not a good fit?" Ironhide asked.

"They didn't like that he wasn't their idea of a perfect kid so they returned him like a piece of clothing at the store." Lennox ground out.

"Major? What is bothering you? Other than the atrocity that someone would treat a child like an article of clothing." Optimus asked.

"I got to the medical file of when he was a kid. Kid had a habit of taking out the bullies and getting beat up for it. But he also took many broken bones, internal bleeding, severe burns, and even a whipping to protect the younger kids in the abusive foster homes he was placed in. Pictures are included with most of them. Kid was a very good liar, never gave the same excuse for his wounds twice but they were all believable. Once the other kids were gone from those homes, he would run. Sometimes for weeks, sometimes for days, others only hours. Tought himself to blend in with the crowd, how to pickpocket people, and how to charm his way out of almost any situation." Lennox said, putting the tablet down and racing to the nearest trash can when he saw a particularly gruesome picture of a 17 year old Callen, bruised, bloodied, and a number of stab wounds, obviously infected and made with the intent to torture the boy rather than kill him. Once the contents of his stomach were gone, he turned back to the Autobots.

"My faith in humanity is gone." He declared. The Autobots looked visibly upset with the pictures. If something like that had happened to an sparkling or a youngling on their planet, the bot responsible would be torture to death. "Man, I am going to slagging pit when I die."

"Why is that, Major? Did you commit these crimes?" Optimus asked.

"I tried to blow up a nineteen year old Callen, then kill him. The only reason I didn't was because he told us that he was a CIA agent." Lennox admitted. "Even then we took him in and tortured him for the truth, not believing him."

"You did not know his age and he could have been a potential threat to your country. I understand, Major." Optimus said, though he still looked angered by what Callen had gone through.

Ratchet chose that time to exit the med bay, optics tired. "He is stable. He has extensive scarring all over his body, evidence of many surgeries and half done quick fixes. It is surprising he was able to function, let alone do his job everyday." Ratchet said, confused.

"Read this." Optimus ordered as he sent Ratchet the data package. Ratchet looked deeply upset by the photos as well.

"I take back what I said. It is amazing the man is still sane with all of these memories to deal with." Ratchet said.

"He has sent fifty psyke evaluators to mental hospitals because he twists around what they ask and confuses them so much until they allow him to leave." Lennox said, chuckling slightly. "He has the record for that."

"Why are you not with him now?" Ironhide asked.

"I came with an update for you to give to his…. family?" Ratchet paused, unsure if it was the right word. "Your human doctors were not very capable. I had to undo what they did and replace most of his heart with a Cybertronian implant, otherwise his heart would have given out again. Much of his lungs are also now implants, the bullets and the surgeries shredded them. His shoulders should not have been able to shift, let alone allow him to shoot a gun so steadily, so I am concluding that to Primus and his stubbornness. His shoulders are now implants as well. He is healing from that and from the wounds I am rehealing at a very rapid pace due to Cybertronian technologies." Ratchet explained.

"Primus, you've made him into a cyborg!" Lennox said.

"My scans show that you are still bleeding. Maybe I should take a look at that, Major." Ratchet snapped.

"I'm fine, Ratchet. Just a nick on the ear. The guy could probably beat Ironhide's score on the target range. If he was trying his best, that is." Lennox said.

Ironhide made a noise of protest. "I will hold you to that, Major Lennox." Lennox laughed and held out his hand for the giant mech to shake. Ironhide shook it gently, though the force was still enough to jolt his entire body.

Ratchet suddenly raced back into the med bay, alarms ringing loudly. "What's going on?" Lennox asked.

"His body is reacting to the implants." Ratchet said.

"So? Doesn't that happen with all the implants? Don't they have built in measures to prevent the body from fighting them?" Lennox snapped.

"They are not fighting it. They are…. changing them." Ratchet said. "They are being connected to muscles and veins and wires are travelling through his body without my command. This is all his doing, which should not be possible due to the fact that the implants are mechanical. His mind has somehow managed to hack into it and take control."

"How is that possible? A human's body does not react like that." Ironhide snapped.

"I do not believe he is human anymore. His wounds are healing much more rapidly now, again that should be impossible. I predict he will be fully healed in a weak." Ratchet said.

"His energy readings are higher than they should be." Ironhide noted.

"Yes, Sam said that the cube sent out a pulse. It is likely that the pulse hit Agent Callen and that is the reason this is all happening to him. Would have happened just after he got shot, when his body was losing energy fast and most likely absorbed the energy to keep itself alive." Ratchet said.

"Well, lets hope nothing bad happens because of this." Lennox commented.

Callen's heart suddenly flatlined, then restarted at a much slower beating. It now only registered at twenty beats a minute.

"Um, that doesn't look good." Lennox said.

"No, though it does not seem to having the negative effect on him as I expected." Ratchet said as he lightly ran through a series of tests. Callen began to awake, and Lennox, quickly restrained his right arm then reached for his left arm. He wasn't fast enough and was met with a mean left hook that caught him square in the jaw. Lennox stumbled back, rubbing his quickly swelling jaw to relieve some pain. He quickly secured the other arm, then stepped back as Callen slowly woke up.

"Who'd I punch?" Callen asked, feeling slightly guilty for punching someone. He knew that he had a mean left hook when he was just waking. He didn't even blink as he stared up at two startled mechs, one a yellow green, the other a ebony black.

"Me. I deserved it though…. We read your file, Agent Callen." Lennox said.

Callen's eyes were resigned and defiant at the same time. He was used to people pitying him after they saw his file. Treating him like he was fragile glass that had to be handled carefully.

"Please tell me that those people are either dead or in jail, Callen." Lennox said. Callen looked up in surprise. That he hadn't been expecting.

"No. Most are still fostering kids because they wouldn't believe the statement of a trouble making runner." Callen said honestly.

"Would you mind if they died?" Ironhide asked. It was obviously Ironhide because they had the same voice.

"No… Though others might be mad at me for not giving them a chance at it as well." Callen said as Lennox gave him a look.

Callen glared at the needles sticking out of him. He hated needles. "Can I take these out? I am feeling much better than I was." Callen asked.

"Mr. Callen, I will have to decline your request. They are monitoring your heart and lungs." Ratchet said. Callen listened for the tell tale beep that would come when his heart beat.

"Why is my heart beating so slowly?" Callen asked. Ratchet didn't answer. Callen sat up the best he could while being restrained as he was.

"Agent Callen, I suggest you rest." Ratchet ordered.

Callen ignored him.

"Agent Callen, I suggest you listen to what Ratchet told you to do." Ironhide growled.

"Do you?" Callen asked. The snort he got from Ratchet was answer enough. "Then I don't think you have the right to order me to listen to him."

"Are you not surprised by our appearance?" Ratchet asked.

"I had a run in with Sector Seven a couple of months ago. Saw what they were doing and was a little too tied up to do anything about it. When I got out, I didn't want to go back." Callen said vaguely.

"Oh, well then you are going to love this." Lennox said as he handed Callen the data pad with a message from Optimus Prime.

:Agent Callen, we will meet soon. I am Optimus Prime. I apologize for the manner in which you were brought here. A lot has happened since you were shot and we have need of your immediate skills. We have a treaty with your people, the Treaty of Los Angeles is its proper title, that forbids us from going to the Hoover Dam to recover stolen technology. Sector Seven is based there are is holding onto various blueprints for weapons directly based on our technology, which goes against the treaty. They are refusing to hand them over and have them locked in the center of the Dam where it is hardest to get. We do not wish war on your country, but if the treaty is not upheld, we may have to wage it. What we are asking you to do is break into the Dam, retrieve the flash drive, and give it back to us and you may be on your way back to solving your attempted murder.: Callen looked up at the Major. Then he read through it again just to ensure he hadn't missed anything, though it was unlikely with his perfect memory that he kept hidden from everyone.

"This is asking me to commit treason! I would go to jail for the rest of my life for this and I don't even have a real reason to be doing this. For all I know, Sam and Gibbs are dead and you are going to kill me after this is over." Callen snapped suspiciously at Major Lennox.

"Everything has been explained to them and they are currently watching from behind that window over there." Lennox said, pointing to the heavily tinted window. The tint disappeared, revealing two very annoyed soldiers known as Sam Hannah and Leroy Jethro Gibbs. Someone that Callen couldn't see said something to them and Sam pressed an intercom button.

"G, you had better not be trying to get up from that bed." Sam said, the only one having noticed that he was slowly prying his arms out of the restraints.

"I'm fine, Sam. Shouldn't you call Michelle and tell her that you've been kidnapped again? She's gonna kick your ass if you don't." Callen gently reminded, smirking as Sam's face paled through the glass.

Sam cursed and pulled out his phone, eyes widening when he saw the number of missed calls from his wife. Sam pointed angrily at Callen through the glass. "I am blaming this all on you, G." He dialed his phone and put it to his ear, backing up so it wouldn't be picked up on the intercom. Callen gave a tiny sigh of apprehension, wincing as his lungs shot pain through his body.

"Callen, you stay on that bed or I'll have Buddy make ya." Gibbs snapped through the intercom.

"Gibbs, you did not teach my dog to make me rest." Callen growled.

"Well, someone has to keep you from getting up after twenty minutes and spouting Russian and taking apart the toaster then putting it back together over and over again, waking everyone up." Gibbs countered dryly.

"Like you're any better, building that boat in your basement until four in the morning." Callen snapped as he finally got his arms free. Ratchet had them securely locked in again before Callen could remove any of the sensors.

Sam hung up the phone wearily. "Thanks G. I got a nice comfortable floor to sleep on when I get home."

"Why not the couch?" Callen asked.

"I have orders that you are coming over to see your nieces and a nice, warm meal, then you are spending the night on our extremely comfortable couch. You don't want to, take it up with Michelle. You don't want to, I'm kidnapping you. You can face the music as well." Sam snapped.

"Wh- How is that fair? Making me face Michelle?" Callen asked in mock horror.

"You're injured. She'll take it easy on you. Besides, you've worked with her before, you know how she gets." Sam said.

"Yeah. I got a concussion and she killed half a compound." Callen said dryly.

"She was giving them a quick painless death for you instead of the bleeding out most would have suffered from your terrible aim." Sam said.

"That's true." Callen said evasively. Sam had never been with him at the shooting range, even though they had been partners for almost a year now. "Wish she had been there when I was at Sector Seven. Could have killed more of the bastards."

"Oh yeah, when did that happen, G?" Sam asked and Gibbs nodded.

"You were in Somalia at the time. Must have forgotten to tell you about it…" Callen said sheepishly, not looking at his mother hen partner.

Sam thought back and his face twisted in anger. "You mean when you got into that 'car accident' that had your nails ripped out, four broken bones in your left foot, a broken alna, a cracked femur, a massive concussion and put you in a coma for a week?" Sam asked.

"Well, the car didn't crash so much as I was getting into it and someone kidnapped me, as well as banged up the car, making my alibi believable. You remembered all that?" Callen asked.

"I have to, G. You are constantly deleting your medical history and I am the one they call in case of an emergency. I'm gonna have to start writing this down soon. You should really stop avoiding the doctors. They keep saving your sorry ass, after all." Sam quipped. "Why didn't you tell me? Now when I go to beat the Hell out of them, they might not even remember you!"

"Sam, we've been over this. You are my partner, not my mother. I can do fine on my own, have been for years." Callen said.

"You need a mother." Sam replied. Callen's eyes flashed with pain, but it was gone quickly. He knew that Sam was only teasing him.

"Well, maybe I'll steal yours. She likes me more than you, anyways."

"G, don't make jokes about my mother. Or else I'll tell her you got shot again." Sam threatened.

All lightheartedness disappeared from Callen's face. "You wouldn't." He said.

"I would." Sam said holding up the phone which already had the number dialed.

"Sam. That's not funny. Sam!" Callen snapped as Sam turned away, phone audibly ringing.

"Oh, I'm dead. I am so dead. Kill me now." Callen said, closing his eyes and waiting for Sam's mother to come bursting through the doors to scold him for getting shot again.

He squinted his eyes at the window, glaring at the smirking Sam who had put the phone away. "I hate you, you know that? Absolutely hate you. That wasn't funny." Callen said.

"That was so funny." Sam disagreed.

The Autobots were very confused as to what was going on in this exchange. Lennox saw this and quietly said, "They're partners. It's a partner thing. They make fun of each other, annoy each other, but they trust each other with their lives. Kind of like you two." Ironhide and Ratchet looked at each other and shrugged, still not really understanding it.

Because of their confusion, they missed part of the conversation.

"Name one time." Callen was saying.

"Argentina." Sam said.

"No, no, I did not commit treason in Argentina. I traded low level information for your life then I killed the guy." Callen argued.

"Iran?" Sam said.

"False information. Not treason." Callen said.

"Afghanistan?" Sam challenged.

"No, doesn't count." Callen said.

"You traded classified information to get me out of being tortured for the same information." Sam deadpanned.

"No, I gave them an empty flash drive and got our asses out of their before they figured it out." Callen said.

"Brazil, then." Sam said.

"Which time?" Callen asked.

"Third time. You blew up the American Embassy building." Sam said.

"Okay, that was an accident. How was I supposed to know the car I was driving was rigged to blow up in five minutes!"

"Check the car!" Sam said.

"Fine, your point is made. I'll do it." Callen snapped. The data pad beeped at him, telling him there was a new message from Optimus Prime.

:I am glad, Agent Callen. Maybe you can find what you lost when you were there the first time. Do not get caught. A similar ordeal might ensue.: Optimus warned.

"How did you….?" Callen asked in amazement. He had never told anyone he had lost something while there.

There was a knowing chuckle from Ironhide. "He knows things."

:I have unrestricted access to your entire file, something that few people have. Not even Henrietta Lange has access to it.:

Callen dropped the data pad as though it had burned him. Hetty had never told him she had any access to his personal file. He didn't even know he HAD a personal file. With speed he hadn't shown, he remove the restraints and got off the bed. His movements were done with the catlike grace they always had, a show of how use he was to moving with pain.

"Callen, where are you going?" Gibbs snapped as the younger man passed the window. Lennox tried to block him, but found himself on the ground so quickly he couldn't even remember what happened.

"The Hoover Dam." Callen said.

He walked out the door and into the night.

"Well, are you going to go after him? I haven't seen him that pissed since he got partnered up with Sam here!" Gibbs snapped.

"No, this is worse. Way worse. Then he only knocked me out and did our first partnered mission on his own. Now he doesn't care and will probably kill whoever is in his way." Sam argued.

"Really? He knocked you out?" Lennox said after he radioed Optimus.

"Callen is a lone wolf. Doesn't trust anyone else. Has more secrets than I can count, and even more that I can't even imagine. He joined the CIA at seventeen and went to Russia with Gibbs. Callen trusted Gibbs, and only Gibbs." Sam said.

"Wouldn't even talk to the other guy. The kid wasn't supposed to have any combat time. Just part of our cover. His cover was as my son. We got there, and we got made. The kid saved our asses from getting killed by acting like he was calling the police then grabbing a gun and holding the head guy hostage, which happened to be the other guy we were working with. He thinks fast on his feet, faster off them and can read people like a seventy two font book." Gibbs said.

"Callen left the CIA and went to various other organizations and joined the military until he finally came to NCIS. We didn't get along. I didn't like his attitude, he didn't like that I was all uptight and serious. They partnered us up so we wouldn't kill each other. First mission, I go to lock him in a closet until its over, he knocks me out and does the whole thing by himself. Made a treaty between us and we've been partners ever since. Though I can say that I wish I could kill him for his stupid decisions most of the time." Sam said. "I've worked by his side for over a year and I have never gone to the shooting range with him, I only know that he was in the foster system, and that the guy has more enemies than numbers in Pi." Sam said.

"You let a twenty six year old hot headed agent get the jump on you? Aren't you a Seal?" Gibbs asked him in disbelief.

"G is not to be underestimated when determined. Hasn't even showed those moves when taking out a bad guy or when we spar until now when he knocked that Marine over there on his ass." Sam snapped, pointing Major Lennox who was still dazed.

"You don't know what he went through as a kid?" Lennox asked as he got up.

"Callen isn't the telling sort of person." Gibbs snapped.

"Then you should look at this." Lennox said. A data pad was given to each of them with Callen's file pulled up. Sam had much the same response as Lennox did, losing his dinner to the trash while Gibbs punched a wall.

"Please tell me these bastards are dead." Gibbs snapped.

"No. Most still are fostering kids." Lennox said in disgust.

Gibbs pulled out his phone and dialed some numbers. "Dinozzo. Need you and McGee to find some people for me." He went away from the intercom, ordering around his people. Sam also was doing the same.

"What are they doing?" Ironhide asked.

"Getting either revenge or long awaited justice. Most likely there will be a body count." Lennox said.

"Shouldn't we be going after the severely injured Agent Callen?" Ratchet asked.

"Right. Move. Optimus should have stalled him by now." Lennox said as he raced out of the bay. The other two bots transformed and followed after him, sighing in relief as they saw Callen sitting in Optimus Prime's hand, leaning against it heavily

"You almost ran me over." Callen complained. The Autobot leader set him on his feet gently.

"I apologize, Agent Callen. You should not have left the med bay so soon, you are not nearly stable in your condition." Optimus scolded him.

"I am fine. I have done missions in worst health." Callen said as he began walking again.

"How are you planning on getting to the Hoover Dam, Agent Callen?" Optimus suddenly asked.

"I am going to walk to my hotel that my car is parked at then I am going to drive." Callen said as he turned around and began walking skillfully backwards.

A growl of an engine made him turn and stop in shock as he saw his car driving itself over to him. It was definitely his, license plate was the same, not a scratch on it, nor a speck of dirt. Callen sputtered as it transformed in front of him, revealing a bot.

"We have been watching you for some time G Callen." Optimus said to him as he came to stand behind him.

"Meet your Guardian, Prowl. You make his job very difficult from what he has informed me. He has asked to blow his cover many times to keep you from getting injured." Optimus added.

Prowl jolted forward, catching his charge as Callen was injected with a needle and a tranquilizer pushed into his body.

"Sir, thank you for bringing him here. I apologize if he was stubborn." Prowl said as he calmly brought his charge back to the med bay. Sam stared as the bot transformed back into Callen's Aston Martin Rapide.

"Since when is Callen's car a robot?" Sam demanded.

"Since he first got a car. Simply changing forms when he gets a new one." Prowl growled from his speakers.

"How many cars has he had?" Lennox asked.

"Fifty six. They tend to either crash or get shot at." Sam said.

"Sorry Prowl. Sounds tough." Lennox said.

"He has a very bad habit of destroying his cars." Prowl said.

Optimus sighed and shook his head. Prowl was a very over protective mech and was complaining over nothing. He probably enjoyed changing cars every once in a while.

Ironhide chuckled. "Well, at least your charge doesn't have a little one. That would be even more challenging."

"Callen refuses to have a relationship after his ex-wife turned on him and left him behind to continue the mission they were on." Prowl said.

"Whoa whoa whoa, Callen was married?" Sam asked?

"They were married for a mission and he fell in love with her. When she turned on him, he was devastated." Prowl informed him. "Though I do believe him dating Agent Kensi Blye has helped."

"Wait, him and Kensi? What? When did this happen?" Sam asked.

"Agent Hannah, you are blind." Gibbs said as he slapped the former Seal upside the head. "Even I guessed that when I got here."

"But… Callen doesn't…" Sam sputtered. Then he buried his head in his hands. "You might want to bring Kensi over here then."

"She is already on her way. She was very worried." Prowl informed him. "She will be arriving in precisely twenty seconds at the rate she is going."

Twenty seconds later, a very pissed off Kensi Blye stormed into the med bay. With a loaded gun. She took careful aim of Major Lennox, glaring at him.

"You have five seconds to tell me where Callen is or I shoot." She ordered.

"Agent Blye, you- need to understand that Callen is in critical condition." Lennox said, catching himself before he said her boyfriend. Why were women so terrifying when mad.

"Agent Blye, Agent Callen is currently resting as he recovers from surgery." Ironhide said. Kensi raised her gun and shot at the robot and screamed in fear.

Ironhide stumbled back, activating a magnet that relieved her of the gun and saved his optics from being shot out. Kensi looked up at the robot in terror, but it quickly turned back to anger. She marched right up to the black mech and began hitting and kicking him. "Damn it, tell me where he is!" She ordered. Ironhide stared at the Human in shock as she continued to strike him, mostly hurting himself. This continued for another half hour of Kensi breaking down in tears. No one dared go to comfort her or pull her away from Ironhide and Sam and Gibbs were still locked in the viewing room.

"Kens! Over here." Callen called over blearily as he woke up from the drugs, tied down again. Kensi perked up and ran over to him, gently cupping his face.

"You died. You died on me. You promised me you wouldn't die." Kensi said.

"I'm not dead, Kens. See? They had to tie me down cause I was so alive." Callen joked. Kensi slapped him across the face. Everyone winced and Ratchet took a step forward to ensure that the angry woman didn't kill his patient.

"Ow." Callen said.

"Don't you ever do that to me again, G. Ever." Kensi ordered.

"Was that really ne-" Callen was cut off as Kensi kissed him. When she pulled away, he smiled. "You know, if that's what I get for almost dying, I might have to do it again."

"That's not funny." Kensi said as she pulled over a chair and sat in it. Callen saw her bleeding hands and glared at her.

"What you do? Punch a wall? Or a dozen?"

"No, just the giant black robot over there that took my gun." Kensi said.

"Did you shoot him?" Callen asked.

"Yes."

"Dang it, I wanted to do that." Callen teased.

"Too slow. You think too much to ever do anything." Kensi teased, ignoring the stares they were getting from the bots. She had just gone from being on a rampage to being a happy and concerned girlfriend in less than a minute.

"How many times has my thinking saved your life?" Callen countered. Sam facepalmed.

"I am blind. Blind as a fucking blind person." He said. Gibbs laughed at the former Seal.

"Well, I am glad he's happy right now. My team is flying over from D.C. right now. Should arrive in a couple hours. Hey Major! Got any place for us to sleep?" Gibbs asked.

"Yeah. We built guest quarters for any visitors. Right this way." Major Lennox said as he led them out of the viewing room and down a series of hallways.

"Oh, and Major. When you show Agent Blye the file, make sure she doesn't have a gun and that she isn't near any cars." Sam said.

"Why no cars?" Lennox asked.

"She is very good at hot wiring them." Sam said vaguely. Lennox nodded and left to go check on Callen and Kensi.

"Major Lennox. I'm sorry I shot at your truck." Kensi said.

"It's fine, Agent Blye."

"Kensi. Call me Kensi. I'm not on duty right now." Kenis said.

"Then it's Will. Wish I had a name to call Agent Callen…." Lennox said.

"It's just Callen. I wouldn't call him G, Sam might shoot you." Kensi warned.

"Of course. Are you armed, Kensi?" Lennox asked, pulling out the data pad.

"No, why?" Kensi asked.

"I want to get this over and done with now." He handed her the file and watched her break down again as she read it.

"I need to clean my sniper rifle." Kensi said determinedly.

"That won't be necessary. There are multiple teams hunting for the ones that did it now." Will assured. Kensi nodded slowly, her fingers twitching towards where a gun would be had she still had hers.

"Got it." Lennox looked at her hands, which were still bleeding and dragged her over to Ratchet.

"Ratchet, her hands are bleeding from the dent she made in Ironhide's side." Lennox said. Kensi sat down and patiently got her hands wrapped.

"Thank you for sitting still, Kensi. It was much easier to stop the bleeding then." Ratchet said, giving a hard look at Callen who had successfully removed the restraints once more.

"I promised to stay in bed until you said that I can get up." Callen said. A soldier opened the door and Buddy streaked out, freshly groomed and wagging his tail happily. Kensi bent down and ruffled the dog's ears.

"Is this Buddy? Your att-" Kensi started to say before Callen wrapped his hand over her mouth, shaking his head.

"Yes, this is my highly trained field dog, Buddy. Key words are orders to him. Be careful not to say them." Callen warned, removing his hand.

"Agent Callen, you need rest and non drug induced sleep." Ratchet ordered. Callen looked like he was going to protest when Ratchet held up a large syringe. "Or it can b drug induced." Ratchet threatened.

Callen glared at the medic and laid back obediently. He hated needles. Too many trips to the hospital when he was younger. "No need to bring out torture instruments." Callen commented.

"Kensi, you need sleep as well. Please take Buddy-" Ratchet began. Callen tightened his grip on his dogs collar.

"No, Buddy stays." Callen said, sounding childish. "If I can't have Kensi and I can't have a gun, then I am keeping my dog." Callen explained heatedly. Kensi smiled at him and kissed his cheek softly before leaving with Major Lennox.

"Callen, you cannot have a dog on your bed! I cannot allow it! His hair could get into your wounds or dirt from his coat and it could cause infection." Ratchet argued.

"Are you saying that your skills in bandaging my chest are bad enough that hair and dirt can get into it?" Callen challenged. Ratchet growled but didn't answer. Prowl chuckled as his charge out witted the medic. As revenge, Ratchet injected some pain medicine into Callen's body, though Callen had refused it earlier.

With the pain gone and the safe feeling of his dog by his side, Callen drifted to light sleep.

::I am amazed you are still sane, Prowl.:: Ratchet commed him.

::As am I. He will not stay asleep for long. I suggest you place something out for him to tinker with so he does not awaken the base with his pointless practicing of languages." Prowl advised.

::I'll let him tinker on you then if he dares get out of that bed.:: Ratchet warned.

::He has before. He is a very adept mechanic.:: Prowl said. Ratchet did a quick scan of the tactician to ensure there was no damage and was surprised to see all of Prowl's systems were functioning better than they ever had been.

::So it appears. He does have a lot of time on his hands, does he not?:: Ratchet asked.

::Too much. Too much has happened to him, that I couldn't protect him from. Most infuriating thing about him is that he does not care about the rules if he is determined to get a certain outcome. Or maybe it is the fact that he tells himself that he will probably die every morning before he goes to his job.:: Prowl said sadly.

::Indeed. He is a Human scout, is he not? Much like Bumblebee?:: Ratchet asked.

::Very much like Bumblebee. Were I able to, I would have him in the brig for the next three lifetimes for all the trouble he has caused.:: Prowl growled.

Medic and tactician sat in silence until Callen began to wake again.

"Callen, sleep. You are safe here." Prowl assured. Callen snapped fully awake at his voice, searching his surroundings for anything familiar to tell him exactly where he was. Assured that he hadn't moved from the med bay, he searched around for the source of the voice, eyes landing on Prowl.

"You know, the first thing I assume when someone tells me that I am safe is that they are about to kill me." Callen whispered.

"I have no intention of killing you, Callen. That would go against my vow to protect you." Prowl responded in a normal tone that echoed around the bay.

"Prowl, you slag head, keep you vocal processor down." Ratchet hissed quietly.

Callen sighed as the two began to argue, but relaxed back against the pillows. He drifted back to sleep slowly, dreaming of beaches and toy soldiers.

When he woke up again, Ratchet and Prowl were no longer arguing. Or at least, not that he could hear. Sunlight filtered in through a high window, lighting up the bay with early morning light.

"Did I actually sleep the rest of the night through?" Callen asked.

"Saying as it was only three hours, it was not truly that long." Ratchet said.

"For a man who normally sleeps for twenty minutes at a time, that is a miracle." Callen said.

Buddy lightly licked Callen's hand in greeting as he too woke up, happy that he could sense little pain coming from his human.

"Hey Buddy. You slept all night, too, huh?" Callen cooed softly to the dog.

Buddy gave a little bark of affirmation, making Callen laugh. It didn't hurt to laugh, he found, but the pain medicine was still being dripped into his veins slowly.

"Ratchet, I want off the pain medicine." Callen demanded angrily to the medic.

"Good luck with that, Callen, because I am not taking it out. You are much less temperamental and more compliant like this. Less likely to get up and start walking to the Hoover Dam." Ratchet growled.

Callen glowered then happily remembered that he was no longer restrained to the bed and could move his arms. He skillfully pulled out the IV and the other sensors, solving his problem.

"Callen, those are there for a reason. Stop removing them!" Ratchet snapped as he went over to put them back where they were.

Callen, always quick to move, messed around with some of the wires on Ratchets arm before the medic could begin. Ratchet glared down at his clever patient when he found his fingers unable to close around the IV.

"Callen, I do not take kindly to having my hand immobilized. Please undo what you just did." Ratchet growled threateningly. Prowl was recording the whole thing and sending it to Optimus, who was watching with amusement.

::Prowl, enough. Put a stop to it before Ratchet hits your charge with a wrench and accidentally kills him.:: Prime ordered.

Prowl vented and moved forward, gently grabbing Ratchet's arm and scanning it. "Ratchet, all he did was move one wire. Just move it back yourself." Prowl reasoned.

"No." Ratchet said. He had a strange gleam in his optics that had Prowl backing away. Ratchet slowly bent down to stare directly into Callen's eyes. "I want to see what exactly you did." Ratchet explained.

Callen, interested, tinkered with the wires again, putting them back where they had been with a frown. "There." He said, still frowning.

Ratchet nodded and cocked his head. "How did you know that that wire would stop my hand from closing out of all the other wires? How did you even get past my armor so quickly to get to the wires, anyway?"

"I just watched. I do have reasons for causing harm to myself, after all." Callen said simply.

"It is a very dangerous game you played, Callen. Had you moved the wire right next to it, my hand would have clenched into a fist and most likely killed you." Ratchet said. But Callen wasn't paying attention to the medic, he had gone back to messing with the wires. Ratchet was still, watching in amazement as the Human rewired his hand before his eyes.

"There." Callen finally said. Ratchet twisted his hand and was shocked to see how much easier it moved now.

"How did you do that?"

"Some of the wires layered over each other. While it would make it difficult to cut through, it was unnecessary because they are protected by your armor. I just made it so they wouldn't overlap and stretch every time you moved your hand." Callen explain sheepishly.

"That was very kinds of you, G Callen. I think that it would be okay if you went around the base for a short amount of time, but only if Prowl is with you. I advize you to stay away from Ironhide. He wants to have a shooting competition to see who has the best aim." Ratchet warned. Callen grinned and got up from the bed, glaring at the wheelchair the medic pulled his way.

"You're kidding me. I can walk!" Callen said stubbornly.

"It's either in the chair or the not at all, Callen." Ratchet said. Callen sighed but sat down in the chair, rolling himself out the door with experience. He had gotten very good at riding in them over the years. Buddy raced after him and lightly hopped in his lap for the ride.

Prowl zoomed after his charge, glaring at the medic for allowing him to leave the bed when injured. Ratchet just shooed him away after his charge faster, reminding him that, "Callen can get in more trouble in a breem than the twins in a joor."

Prowl growled and caught up to his charge, easily driving next to the man. "Callen, I could drive you to wherever you want to go." Prowl said.

"I can get there by myself." Callen panted stubbornly. Prowl scanned his charge and saw the heightened levels of pain in his body as he pushed the wheelchair forward.

"Callen, you are stressing your body too much." Prowl warned as Callen continued to stubbornly continue forward.

"I'm fine, Prowl. I can handle a little pain." Callen said as he rolled onto a ramp and slid down it, giving him a short rest.

"Callen, your body is showing signs of heightened levels of pain." Prowl said worriedly.

"So? Not too bad." Callen grunted as he got to the mess hall. Gibbs and Sam waved him over, and Callen started towards them. He slowed slightly when he saw they were sitting by a kid that couldn't have been older than seventeen.

"Hey, kid. What are you doing in a military base full of uptight army guys?" Callen asked as he finally got to their table. His car joined a black and yellow camaro that Callen would bet money on was an Autobot.

"Um, I bought a car. Turned out to be an alien robot." The kid said. "My name's Sam. Sam Witwicky." Sam Witwicky held out his hand.

"Do you mind if I call you Sammy?" Callen asked. Sam Witwicky shook his head.

"No, I don't mind. Who are you." Sammy asked.

Callen was about to introduce himself when Sam cut him off. "This is my partner."

"Oh. The guy that hates listening." Sammy said.

"Hey, I listen! My name is G. G Callen." Callen said, introducing himself the same way Sammy had.

"What's the G stand for?" Sammy asked.

"I don't know. No one ever told me." Callen said with a smile.

"So why are you here? You don't seem like the type to be here either." Sammy said.

"I got kidnapped." Callen said simply.

"By the Autobots? Why?"

"Sector Seven isn't keeping their part of the treaty. I have to go in and make it so they do. And apparently my car is an alien robot as well." Callen said, pointing to the Aston Martin. "Is the Camaro your car?"

"Yeah. His name is Bumblebee." Sammy said. As though hearing his name, which he probably did, Bumblebee transformed and walked carefully over to them. Sammy smiled up at the yellow and black bot.

"Did you need something, Bee?" Sammy asked.

"No. I simply wanted to meet these three. Prowl has told me much about them, mostly Callen, though." Bee said.

Callen looked around the room, noting the stares they were getting from the soldiers. Callen subtly shifted the chair so that his back wasn't to any of them.

Major Lennox snuck up behind him, intent on getting back on the agent for knocking him to the ground the day before, clapping a hand on his shoulder lightly. Callen reacted instantly, flipping the Major over his head and onto the floor. All chatter in the room stopped as they turned to see what was the commotion, a few of them drawing their weapons.

"Told you, Lennox. You don't sneak up on Callen without facing the consequences." Sam said, not even offering to help the Major up.

The room erupted into laughter at that comment. Even Lennox laughed.

"You did tell me. I wasn't expecting that to happen. Aren't you supposed to be in the med bay recovering?" Lennox said.

"Recovering from what?" Sammy asked.

"I.. got a couple of bullets in me about a week ago, I think. Nothing major" Callen said.

"Yeah, if you call taking five to the chest and your heart stopping nothing major." Gibbs snapped. Callen was silent, not meeting their eyes.

"Then insisting on moving around and removing medical equipment from your body the moment you wake up while still in critical condition, as well as shooting at nice people trying to kidnap you." Sam said.

"Then actually storming off the base after a surgery that replaced most of your heart and lungs, as well as your shoulders." Lennox added in.

"Like I said, nothing major." Callen said, shrugging then wincing. Gibbs and Sam were quick to begin mother henning him.

"You sure you're okay Callen?" Gibbs asked.

"G, you okay?" Sam asked at the same time.

Callen leaned towards Sammy. "And they wonder why I don't tell them when I'm injured." Sammy laughed.

"Bee's the same way. Course, so is my mom. Was your mom like that?" Sammy asked.

Sam and Gibbs froze, as did Callen. "Oh, sorry, Callen. I shouldn't have asked that. Just ignore that it was said. I-" Callen cut the floundering teen off.

"I think she would have been just like that." Callen said softly. He rolled himself away from the table, leaving a dismayed Sammy behind.

"Oh, Primus, I am a complete idiot." Sam Witwicky said as he banged his head on the table.

"No you're not, kid. You just need a filter for that mouth of yours." Gibbs assured.

"He's going to hate me." Sammy said.

"Are you dead?" Sam asked.

"Um, no?"

"Then he likes you." Sam assured.

"Really? If he doesn't like you, he kills you?" Sammy asked.

"That or you disappear, never to be seen again." Sam said spookily. Sammy looked terrified, until he realized that the former Seal was pulling his leg.

"Don't mind him, kid. Callen is a real softie once you get to know him." Gibbs said.

"He a softy to you? He's not a softy with me!" Sam said.

"Point made." Gibbs joked. His phone rang. "Gibbs. Right. On my way. Well why did you touch it them, Dinozzo? Uh huh. Is that so? Well, then you should have listened to Ziva. Alright. Uh huh. Well, don't touch it again. Yeah. Make sure Ducky takes a look at it. Yeah. Bye." Gibbs hung up the phone and shook his head. "My teams arrived. Dinozzo already is screwing up." Gibbs said as he walked away from the mess hall.

Bumblebee transformed and beeped at Sammy and Sam. "Want to go for a drive around the base?" Sammy asked the former Seal. Sam shrugged and nodded. He had been wanting to check it out anyways.

Prowl caught up to his charge, growling at him angrily. "Yeah yeah. Go complain to someone else. It's not like I was in any danger or anything." Callen snapped.

Prowl drove in front of his charge, transforming to get him to stop. With extreme care, he pulled Callen from the wheelchair and stepped on the rolling device, officially confining Callen to his hand. Callen was less than pleased with this.

"Prowl, put me down!" Callen protested.

"Negative, Callen. You could be injured if you tried walking and your chair has… unfortunately been crushed." Prowl said.

"Yeah, because you stepped on it." Callen argued. "How long until I am allowed to go to the Hoover Dam and get the things?"

"One week. Your wounds should be completely healed in three days, but Ratchet wishes to keep you for a few extra days to ensure it." Prowl informed him.

Callen groaned and sat down more comfortably on Prowl's hand. "You're a jerk, you know that, right?" Callen snapped.

Prowl rolled his optics and set off to Optimus' office. "Where are we going?" Callen asked.

"Optimus wishes to speak with you." Prowl said as he walked into an office-like room.

"What's on your… processor, Optimus?" Callen asked.

"Callen, I know that with your past you are used to getting the minimal treatment for your wounds then going on dangerous missions and getting new ones, the process repeating many times over, but I must ask you to be careful." Optimus said, inclining his head slightly towards Callen.

"I feel fine, Optimus, sir. I could have gone last night if I hadn't been knocked out." Callen said.

"That is what worries me. You have no care for your body's needs and care more about the mission than your life."

"Most of the time, there are others lives on the line for the mission and would die if I waited for my body to heal." Callen said.

"Yes, but one day you are going to go on a mission, injured, and those people who are relying on you will die because of it."

"Then they'll send someone else. I'm expendable." Callen dismissed.

"Oh no you are not, Mr. Callen." A voice from his pocket said. Callen grabbed his phone out of his pocket in shock. He had had his phone this entire time?

"Hey Hetty. That's really creepy, you doing that." Callen said dryly.

Hetty's face filled the screen and she glared at him. "Mr. Callen, never think you are expendable. If you were expendable, you would be dead!" Hetty said, waving her hands with her words.

"I would not, Hetty." Callen argued.

"Yes you would. Do you know how many doctors I had to threaten and blackmail to get them to start your heart again? Thirty seven. Thirty seven doctors until you were brought back to us, Mr. Callen. And I have been thanking whoever decided you were still needed on earth everyday for that." Hetty said.

"Hetty, you're going into mother hen mode. It's scary." Callen said, leaning away from the phone a little.

"Well, Mr. Callen, you seem to need one, getting blown up every other week." Hetty snapped.

"Hey Hetty, meet my car." Callen said, distracting her for the moment. He moved the screen so that the spy could see Prowl.

"Ah, hello, Prowl. Nice to formally meet you." Hetty said.

"As with you, Hetty." Prowl said. Callen sighed and rolled his eyes. Of course she knew.

"Not even surprised anymore." Callen said.

"Mr. Callen, if I find out that you are stressing your body too much, I will fly over there and rip you a new one." Hetty warned.

"Okay, Hetty. I'll be careful." Callen said, crossing his fingers behind his back childishly.

"I saw that, Mr. Callen." Hetty said.

"How?" Callen asked in disbelief as Hetty disconnected the call.

"That's scary how she does that. Sometimes I think that part of her mind is connected to the computer." Callen said.

"I heard that, Mr. Callen." Hetty's voice came from the speakers. Callen jumped, looking around.

"She's not here. She's not here." Callen assured himself quietly.

"Aren't I, Mr. Callen?" Hetty's voice asked.

"Hetty, that's not funny." Callen said, his slow heartbeat subtly picking up pace, but enough for his guardian to notice.

"Hetty, might I suggest you cease your actions? I do not wish to suffer Ratchet's wrath for allowing him to have a cardiac arrest." Prowl said. No answer was given. Callen sighed in relief.

"She's like the principal at school. You hear her over the intercom and you feel like you are in big trouble." Callen commented.

"I do not understand your thinking." Prowl informed him. Callen sighed.

"Can I file a complaint? He crushed my wheelchair!" Callen said, pointing accusingly at Prowl. Optimus watched them, amused.

"Take it up with Ratchet. He is the one that made it." Optimus said, trying hard not to laugh at the fear on both Callen's and Prowl's faces.

"I think that Ducky's down there now as well." Callen said.

"Ducky?"

"Doctor Mallard." Callen supplied. "This is bad. I can only imagine them befriending each other and then making the whole base take a physical and eat healthy food! And no coffee!" Callen said in horror.

Prowl had seen Callen without coffee. He was surprised that the scout- no, Humans called it a spy, was able to last this long without sneakily drinking it.

"Let's go down to prevent that, then." Prowl said, walking from the office. Prime watched them leave, amused.

::Ratchet, they are on their way down. Hide your plans to make all the coffee makers serve only decaf.:: Optimus warned jokingly.

::Thank you for the heads up.:: Ratchet replied dryly.

Optimus closed the link and vented. He stared down at the pile of paperwork on his desk and began to work.

Callen winced as Ratchet scanned him. The beem made his skin tingle and when it hit his chest, tingling skin was not welcome.

"Is that necessary?" Callen snapped, resisting the urge to rub his chest to make the pain stop.

"Mr. Callen, it is very necessary. If you were to go out now to the Hoover Dam, there is a very high chance of you killing yourself!" A british voice answered instead of Ratchet's.

"Hi, Ducky." Callen called.

"Hello, G Callen. Jethro has told me a lot about you. Do you truly not know what the G stands for?" Ducky asked.

"No one ever told me. Guess they didn't think I was going anywhere and I wouldn't need it." Callen said.

"Perhaps. Have you ever… guessed?" Ducky asked as Prowl set him next to Callen on his palm.

"Of course. I'm running out of G names. Gavin, George, Gabriel, Geoffrey, Gill, Garrett, Gabe. More that I'm not even going to think about…." Callen said, trailing off at the end.

"Why do you not just choose to go by one of those names?" Ducky asked.

"Because I want to find out my real one. Not just give up and take a fake one." Callen said softly.

"I understand. What do you tell people when they ask for your name?" Ducky asked.

"I don't." Callen said simply with a smirk. Ducky humphed and continued with his check up.

"This is very unusual for me." He finally said.

"What, that I'm alive?" Callen asked.

"No. That there are tiny nanites in your body repairing your skin and tissue." Ducky said as he continued his examination.

"What?" Ratchet said as he came over, scanning Callen more closely. "That's not right. The implants I put in did not have nanites in them."

"Well then, the question is how did they get there." Ducky said as he poked Callen's side. Callen jumped as pain shot through him, then glared at the doctors.

"Hey, yeah, still alive over here. Can still feel pain." Callen snapped.

"Oh, sorry, Mr. Callen." Ducky said.

Gibbs entered the bay with a steaming cup of coffee in one hand and a juice box in the other. "Rule number six, Duck."

Callen glared down at him. "That is just mean, Jethro. Coming in here with coffee, taunting the injured." Gibbs tossed up the juice box, smirking.

"No coffee for you, G." Gibbs said. Callen stabbed the juice box viciously. There was a sharp pop as it broke through the thin aluminum and spattered up slightly.

"Damn it." Callen cursed as he wiped orange juice away from his eyes. His eyes were stinging from the acid of the juice, and he blinked them rapidly.

"How are you still working, Callen? You just got beat by a juice box!" Gibbs teased. Callen childishly threw the now empty box at the former Marine, hitting on the back of the head.

"Now you have too." Callen joked as Gibbs stumbled and turned to glare at him.

"Careful, Callen, I know where you sleep." Gibbs warned.

"Then I'll move again." Callen said cheerfully. Gibbs huffed and rolled his eyes.

"Be careful, Callen. It would not be very advisable to have another Serbia incident." Prowl reminded him.

"No frozen ocean for him to throw me in this time." Callen said grumpily as he was reminded of it.

"No, but I am sure I can still dump you in a not frozen ocean." Gibbs snapped.

"Um, am I interrupting something?" A snotty voice said from the doorway. Callen recognized the voice vaguely, something from his childhood. He searched his memory for it, and eyes widened in realization.

"DiNozzo?" Callen asked.

"Callen?" DiNozzo asked.

"You're an agent?" They asked together.

"You two know each other?" Gibbs asked impatiently.

"Callen's file states that he was a foster child at the DiNozzo residence for one month, three weeks, and four days." Prowl stated.

"Yeah. I was a special case for them. Mr. DiNozzo wanted friend for his son after...' Callen shut up when he saw the tiniest the of his head from Tony. He pretending to be thinking. "Oh, what was that reason? Oh yeah, after Tony got back from boarding school for the summer. We got along. Mr. DiNozzo didn't like me, though. Said that I was a bad influence on Tony." Callen said.

Tony slumped slightly in relief."Yeah. My father was a sick bastard like that. Take in a kid then get rid of him when he realizes they aren't perfect." Tony said with a forced smile.

"Yeah. Couldn't accept the fact that I didn't have a first name, either. He called me Gale." Callen said in disgust.

"Yeah, you are definitely not a Gale. Maybe a Gavin." Tony joked. Callen chuckled at the old joke

"Gavin Callen. Not for me." Callen said. Ducky chuckled and prodded Callen's side again. "Hey, watch it. If I'm going to the Hoover Dam, I need to be alive." Callen snapped.

"You got shot?" DiNozzo asked.

"Yeah." Callen said as Prowl gently set him on his feet when Ducky finally finished. Buddy hopped off as well, circling around Callen protectively with all the new people in the room.

"Oh. You have a dog. Nice doggy." DiNozzo said as he crept away from the pooch.

"Yeah, he's my attack dog. Oh, wait, no, Buddy!" Callen shouted as Buddy growled and leapt at Tony. "Amice, toc!" Buddy bounded back to his side, wagging his tail happily.

Tony got back up, wincing as he did. He checked his suit and was relieved there were no tears. "Nice dog, Callen." He said dryly.

"Well, he's trained to only knock down and growl at guys in suits. Too many bills for replacements." Callen said as he bent down slightly and petted his dog. Ducky and Ratchet protested.

"Mr. Callen, your body should not be bending down! In fact, it shouldn't be up and about yet, either. How you are managing it, I cannot possibly comprehend, the pain must be dreadful." Ducky said as he guided Callen back to his bed and forced him to lie down.

"Dr. Mallard, is correct. You should try not to move as much as possible for another couple of days." Ratchet said.

"Days? Really, is that all? I predict a few hours and he will be completely healed, with the mystery nanites in his body." Ducky argued.

Ratchet and Ducky then began a conversation full of medical jarvin that Callen only half paid attention to. His chest was aching and he decided that maybe it would be best if he simply took a quick nap. He hadn't noticed that needle that someone had somehow gotten into his skin was now empty of the tranquilizer that had been in it.

"I've never seen him sleep so peacefully with other people in the room. Heck, I don't think I've ever seen him sleep…" Tony said.

"Even so young?" Prowl asked softly.

"Callen is just one of the people that never sleeps, I guess." Tony joked. He wolf whistled as Kensi walked in, talking to Ziva David.

Kensi looked and glared at him. "I'm taken, not like you would have a chance with me." She snapped.

"Ooh. Burn. So who's the lucky boyfriend, because I don't see a ring." Tony asked cockily.

"The lucky boyfriend is on that bed, sleeping." Kensi replied cooly.

"Ooh. Now I know the world is ending if Gavin Callen can get a girl like you." Tony said.

"I'll have you know that G Callen is a by far better man than you. I am sure that the one night stand you had last night would agree that a man who know's loyalty is a thousand times better than a rich looking guy that is afraid of commitment, Agent Tony DiNozzo." Kensi replied.

"Right. Ouch. That was painful." Tony said, mock wincing. "You got any ice for that burn?"

"Yes. It was nice to meet Callen's favorite foster brother." Kensi said. Tony was speechless.

"Oh dear. It appears that that comment got into Tony's heart of fire." Ziva said.

"Heart of ice, Ziva. Ice." Tony automatically corrected.

"Right. I knew that." Ziva said. "I have met Agent Callen before, now that I have seen him. He saved my life from an American Black Ops team. I do believe he got taken instead." Ziva said quietly. "I never got to thank him."

"Why would he save you? You were on different sides." Tony asked.

"I asked. He did not give me a straight answer." Ziva said.

"Well, what answer did he he give you, Ziver?" Gibbs asked impatiently.

"He said that I had done nothing to him, so why allow me to be tortured for information I got fairly. It does not make sense." Ziva said.

"Yeah it does. Callen didn't think you deserved to get tortured for nothing." Kensi assured.

"No, I mean, It does not make sense is what he said. Though, It truly does not make sense when he said I had done nothing to him. I had just tried to kill him when we heard the American team coming." Ziva said, still confused.

"Maybe he saw something in you that made him stop." Tony said kindly.

"I had orders to kill him. I failed my mission when he saved me." Ziva said quietly.

"Well, you're not going to kill him now, are you?" Gibbs asked.

"No, of course now. I am no longer a part of the Assad. I am an NCIS agent. Why would I kill him, Gibbs?" Ziva asked determinedly.

"So, when he wakes up again, just say thank you." Gibbs said patiently.

Major Lennox walked in and froze as he saw the new people. "Morning. Wasn't expecting so many people to be in here already. Anyone seen Sam Witwicky or Sam Hanna?" Ziva turned in shock.

"You're the leader of the Black Ops team that took Callen after he saved his life." She said emotionlessly.

"Yeah, I'm sorry about that, really! I was just following orders." Lennox said as he took a step back from the angry assassin.

"You saved his life, or maybe mine, in a way. I had orders to kill him or be killed myself." Ziva said, still emotionless.

"Um…. so you are mad about….." Lennox asked, confused.

"I am mad, Major….?" Ziva asked.

Lennox, forgetting that she was mad at him, stuck out his hand for her to shake. "Lennox."

She grabbed his hand and tugged him off balance before elbowing him in the nose and kneeing him in the stomach. Lennox collapsed to the ground, groaning.

"I am mad, Major Lennox, that you took an innocent man and tortured him." Ziva said. Ironhide, hearing the comotion in the med bay, zoomed in, optics narrowing when he saw his charge lying on the ground groaning.

"Who did that?" He growled, cannons firing up.

"I did. And if you do not wish me to turn you into scrap metal, you will do nothing of it." Ziva said, glaring at him.

::Why are Human femmes fiercer than Megatron?:: Ironhide commed Prowl.

::Data unavailable.:: Prowl commed back. Ironhide scanned all the Humans, noting that all were armed.

"I am going to have to request you hand over your weapons." Ironhide said.

"I think not." Ziva said.

"Nope." Gibbs replied.

"Not a chance." Tony insisted.

"Nope. I just got it back!" Kensi said.

Ironhide growled and forcibly removed them, the guns and various knives flying to his hand. He closed his fist, crushing them so they could not be used ever again.

"Hey! Those were my favorite set of knives!" Ziva snapped indignantly.

"Now you can find new ones." Ironhide countered. Ratchet and Ducky laughed at the murderous expressions on both their faces. A loud screech and a shout moved their attention to outside. Everyone crowded around, staring as a yellow and black camaro zoomed past the med bay with one very excited teen and a very terrified former Seal.

"Ironhide. He's your youngling. You put an end to it." Ratchet growled.

"I got it, I got it." Ironhide snapped as he transformed and raced out in front of the camaro, making it screech to a sheepish stop. Bumblebee backed up slowly before wheeling around suddenly and shooting away. For hours the beings in the med bay watched as Ironhide and Bumblebee raced back and forth, Ironhide trying to catch up to the speedy little bot. During those hours, Callen woke up again, his chest all but healed. He slowly got off the bed and went to the window where everyone was watching.

Prowl saw him and Callen grinned and gestured to the two racing vehicles. Prowl got the idea and transformed, allowing Callen to climb in. They silently snuck out of the med bay and zoomed in between the two cars, giving Bee time to escape and forcing Ironhide to stop. Ironhide revved his engines threateningly. A cannon rose from his hood and took aim at them.

"Oh sag." Prowl said through the radio, gears locking in fear.

"Let me drive." Callen ordered, gripping the wheel and shifting the gears forcibly. Prowl allowed him and relaxed, relinquishing control. Callen gunned it and screeched in a circle, facing Ironhide fully. He honked the horn tauntingly. The cannon fired up. Callen gunned it again, shooting right by Ironhide and flinging something out the window into his cab, laughing as he did.

Ironhide's voice came through the radio. "Human, did you just throw a jelly bean air freshener into my cab?" Callen smirked as Prowl laughed at the cleverness.

"What are you going to do about it?" Callen challenged.

"You are going to get a taste of my cannons, Human. There is no way you can escape, I know Prowl's driving pattern too well." Ironhide growled over the radio.

"Prowl's not driving. I am." Callen said, gunning it once more and taking off. He spun around swiftly, Ironhide passing them with barely an inch to spare. Callen zoomed after Bee, who had stopped when he noticed the new development.

"I would move!" Callen shouted as he raced past them. Sam had opened his eyes and glared at him. Callen's phone rang. Callen answered it.

"Hey Sam. How you doing in there?"

"This car is a worse driver than Kensi on a sugar rush!" Sam snapped.

Bee jerked to the left, making Sam shut up. "Why did Ironhide start chasing you?" Callen asked.

"Bumblebee was driving recklessly with Humans in his cab and refused to return to the med bay then follow Ironhide to the brig for punishment. Ironhide was trying to make him." Sam explained heatedly. "So what is he chasing you for?"

"Threw a jelly bean air freshener in his cab. You guys were supposed to run." Callen said. Bee chortled through the radio. Callen jerked the wheel in a sharp turn the had Prowl going on two wheels momentarily from the force. Ironhide zipped past them again, barely missing them. If Callen hadn't turned when he had, Ironhide would have rammed into Prowl's bumper. Callen laughed.

"Gotta be smarter than that, Ironhide!" Callen called out his window. Prowl revved his engine in laughter and Callen made another sharp turn. Ironhide's voice came through the radio again.

"Slag it, Human. When I get through with you, there won't be anything for Ratchet to repair!" Ironhide growled.

"Tell you what, Ironhide. If you can find me and catch me in two hours, I will take you up on that target challenge." Callen said. "But you have to give us a twenty minute head start." Callen said, not slowing.

"Fine, Human. You have twenty minutes. Then you are mine." Ironhide growled.

Callen roared off the base as Ironhide stopped. "Maybe you can chase Bee around while you wait." Callen said. There were sounds of protest from the still open phone. Callen drove at high speeds until he suddenly pulled over on the side of the road just outside of the city.

"See you, Prowl!" Callen said as he dug out the battery of his phone and disabled all other electronics he had, pulling on a spare shirt that he always kept in the car and a baseball cap.

"Be careful, Callen." Prowl warned, disabling the tracker he had placed in Callen's body, just at the base of his neck. Callen didn't know about the tracker, but Ironhide did.

Callen weaved through the streets, stopping at one of his safe houses to get a gun and cash. He set out again, sticking to crowded streets and blending in with the crowd. He entered a mall and went to the food court, getting a large ice cream and sitting down at a table. He glanced at the clock hanging high for everyone to see. One hour to go. He had been wanting to get some ice cream for a while now.

He was on his third ice cream and half an hour to go when he saw the GMC Top Pick pull into the parking lot and begin searching the lot. Callen smirked and walked away from the food court, sticking to the non windowed areas. He even went up a floor and just walked around for a while, buying some dog treats for Buddy then some tootsie pops for himself. He opened them and glanced at the clock. Three minutes to go.

He sat back down in the food court and propped his feet up, sucking on his favorite treat. Three, two, one. Callen smirked and looked out the window and waved. The GMC Top Pick was parked out front of the mall, engine idling. Callen waited twenty more minutes before he put the battery back in his phone, holding it up. The phone began to ring and Callen answered it.

"I win." Callen said.

"Because you hid in a crowded no car zone!" Ironhide protested. "I still found you."

"Ah, but the challenge was to find and CATCH me." Callen replied. "I stayed in the same place for over an hour!" Callen mocked.

"Just get out here, Human." Ironhide growled. Callen looked around for Prowl.

"Sorry, my ride's not here. Stranger danger." Callen said. Ironhide growled in his ear.

"Prowl is back at base expecting me to already be on my way back with you." Ironhide growled.

"Call him. I don't believe you." Callen said. There was a noise on the other end, then Prowl's voice came on.

"Yes, Ironhide?"

"Tell your Human to get out of the mall." Ironhide growled. There was a laughing noise on the other end.

"You didn't catch him, then?" Prowl asked.

"No." Ironhide growled out.

"Hey Prowl!" Callen interjected cheerfully.

"Hello, Callen. My congratulations for winning. But Ironhide is truly the one driving you back to base." Prowl said. "If you are not back in an hour, Ratchet is going to come there himself." Prowl warned.

"An hour, huh?" Callen asked, slowly getting up from his chair. He walked slowly out the door, then hit the ground as a gunshot rang out next to his head. Ironhide looked like he was about move, but Callen was faster. He whipped around, dropping into a defensive crouch, eyes widening when he saw a robber.

"Nobody leaves until I get what I want." The masked guy said.

"Hey, no need to shoot!" Callen said, raising his hands in surrender. "I got a family back home to go to." Callen said.

"Get away from the door." The man ordered. Callen lowered his hands and subtly put the behind his back, drawing out his gun as he passed the robber. The masked man turned with him, just as Callen wanted him to. Callen disarmed the guy, probably breaking his arm and then slamming a knee into his back. He pulled out his badge that he had luckily thought to bring and flashed it to the crowd.

"NCIS. Calm down, someone call the police." Callen ordered. Twenty minutes later, the cops had his edited statement and Callen was walking out the doors of the mall.

"Callen, are you alright?" Ironhide asked, sounding surprisingly gentle.

"What do you think would have happened if I hadn't stayed as long as I did? How many people do you think would have been hurt?" Callen asked quietly as Ironhide drove.

"Many people. Do not dwell on it." Ironhide advised.

"Right." Callen said.

"You are not off the hook, Callen." Ironhide warned. Callen sighed and grabbed the air freshener. He flung it out the window with a huff.

"Happy?" Callen asked sarcastically.

"More so than I was." Ironhide said.

"Good. I just want to get back to base." Callen said tiredly.

"En route two minutes." Ironhide informed him. "Then you owe me a shooting competition."

"For what?" Callen asked.

"For making me worry." Ironhide said. Callen sighed.

Two minutes later, he got out of the cab and got literally tackled by Kensi. "Hey, Kens." Callen said, holding her close and kissing her softly.

"What did I tell you?" Kensi demanded.

"To not die. I didn't die." Callen said.

"You almost did! You were just shot! You are supposed to be on bed rest! Not stopping robbers! I got a call from Hetty and Nate and Director Vance asking me just what the heck you were doing!" Kensi snapped.

"I didn't mean to be there!" Callen said.

"You never do!" Kensi sighed.

"I have a shooting competition I have to lose." Callen whispered.

"G Callen, I suggest you actually try. Otherwise the outcome would not be what it should be." Ironhide said. Callen was suddenly nervous.

"Shoot to kill…?" Callen asked.

"Why do you ask?" Ironhide asked.

"Not very good at the other one." Callen said as Ironhide drove beside him to the shooting range. He pulled out his gun and took aim at the first target.

"Why are you aiming at that one? We are shooting in here." 'Hide said.

Callen turned and laughed at simulation room. He grabbed one of the laser blaster and entered the room. Ironhide stayed behind, transforming and staring through the viewing glass. "You need to beat my high score to win this." Ironhide stated.

"What do I shoot at?" Callen asked as holograms popped up.

"The spark. Hard to hit, glowing blue." Ironhide replied. Callen's keen eyes spotted the flash of blue. The buzzer sounded and Callen shot, hitting the spark in one shot, then moving onto the next one. He dodged around a cannon blast and shot again. He didn't miss one Decepticon. The room was also intact by the time he passed Ironhide's score and crushed in the dust. He developed quite a crowd as more and more Decepticons kept popping up, Ironhide hacking into it and making more and more difficult settings, getting frustrated when Callen still didn't get hit by a single blast.

The simulation would not stop unless Callen died, but Callen was quickly passing the levels that were safe for Humans to go through. Now they were Autobot advanced training levels that Bumblebee was even banned from. Lennox handed Gibbs a fifty dollar bill.

"Alright. But Prowl is going to realize exactly what level Callen is on soon enough." Lennox said.

"Until then, G just passed to the next level. That's another fifty bucks there, Major." Gibbs said. Lennox sighed and fished out the fifty and handed it over.

"WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?" Optimus roared. Callen didn't pay any attention to the loud noise, simply rolling out of the way once more. Callen shot and found his gun did not shoot.

"Uh, gun's not working!" Callen called as he rolled again. He ducked, almost getting hit.

"GET HIM OUT OF THERE!" Optimus roared.

"Sir, I can't. He has to get hit to end the simulation." Ironhide reminded.

"Ironhide. Agent Callen has passed the normal Human levels, and the advanced ones. He is a highly trained Human scout and is trained to never be hit. Of course he has not been hit!" Optimus said, trying to regain his composure.

"Callen can make it out of there. How many levels until the end?" Gibbs asked.

"Five. But not even Ironhide can get through them. Your weapons are put on lock and are useless during these final ones." Optimus said gravely.

"Callen is a weapon. Gun just makes him more dangerous." Gibbs said. Sam and Kensi were watching in awe.

"G does not shoot like that on the job. Or fight." Sam said.

"No, he's trained not to. He could kill a lot of people if he did." Gibbs said, taking a sip of coffee.

"He could save a lot of people if he did." Sam argued.

"He does save a lot of people." Gibbs said, wincing as a shot got so close to Callen, it tore through his shirt.

"Are these live shots?" Gibbs asked angrily. Optimus nodded, venting in relief as Callen climbed up the side of the Decepticon and stabbing the spark, killing the Decepticon.

Four levels. Three. Two. Final level. Optimus watched in horror as the hologram of Megatron appeared in the middle of the room.

"Ironhide, shut it down." Optimus ordered.

"I told you, sir. I can't." Ironhide said nervously. Megatron fired up his cannon and fired carefully at Callen. Callen dodged, his eyes glazing over.

"Um, anyone else see that?" Lennox asked.

"I see it. He's thinking." Gibbs assured. Callen backed up, climbing at the same time. He stopped when he reached a random point. Megatron fired again, hitting Callen and the rock behind him. The rock crumbled and set off a chain reaction that ended in a single shard of rock striking Megatron's spark, ending the simulation. Callen fell, landing on his back with a groan.

"Did I beat the score?" Callen asked.

"Yes, Agent Callen. You beat the score. I need to talk to you and Ironhide in my office. Now." Optimus growled over the intercom.

"Um, what did I do wrong?" Callen asked as he limped from the room. Bumblebee started playing a mournful funeral march, not helping his sudden nerves.

He entered the office, hiding his limp the best he could. Ironhide was already there, his head bowed in shame as Optimus scolded him.

"G Callen could have been seriously injured or even killed in there. There is a reason that those levels are restricted to only Autobots. Because they are not safe for the Humans. You know better, Ironhide!" Optimus growled.

"Yes, sir." Ironhide said mournfully.

"Sir, don't be too hard on him. He probably only meant for me to do the first Autobot level then get hit. It was mostly luck that I got through them.

"Silence, Agent Callen. You should not have agreed to this in the first place." Optimus growled. Callen flinched back subtly, shocked by the anger and worry in the tone.

"Sir, with all due respect, I don't even have to be here. I appreciate all the help you have given me, but I never asked for it. I am not a child and I can face the consequences of my actions. I don't need someone else yelling at a fellow soldier because that soldier didn't realize that I would make it past those levels. That room is to test our abilities in the field and I showed mine. I had every right to agree to that challenge and I regret none of it." Callen burst out.

He crossed his arms and glared at the much larger being. Optics glared down at him.

"G Callen, you are right when you say you had a right, but those rules are in place for a reason." Optimus said. "Humans should not be going through those levels."

"Well, Ratchet says I might not even be human anymore." Callen snapped.

Optimus froze. "When did you hear that? You were knocked out when it happened."

"I can hear in my sleep. Took a while to learn how to do. I also have perfect memory. Helpful when going under cover and gathering information." Callen said. Optimus nodded.

"G Callen, I expect you to not do that again and to go see Ratchet about that limp and your burned shoulder." Optimus dismissed.

Callen didn't move, just glared at Optimus. "Let 'Hide off the hook. He saved my life earlier today. I saw the shooter in his window and was able to move just in time, otherwise I would be dead or in critical condition again." Callen said.

Optimus did not look happy that Callen was still there. "I will deal with my soldiers the way I see fit, Agent Callen."

"Well, then, I'm just going to sit here." Callen said, going to the side of the room and leaning against the metal wall.

"Taking into account earlier events, your punishment is that you are banned from the target ranges for the next three orns." Optimus said gravely.

Ironhide nodded and left, scooping up Callen and ignoring the protests from the spy. He held him tight until they got out of receptor distance.

"Why did you lie, Agent Callen?" Ironhide asked.

"I didn't." Callen said firmly as Ironhide carried him to the med bay.

"You did. The angle was not correct for you to see anything." Ironhide insisted.

"It was. Just unconventional." Callen argued as he was set down before Ratchet and Ducky.

"I am going to kill, you Agent Callen." Ratchet said, hefting a wrench threateningly.

"I might help, Mr. Callen." Ducky added. They removed the remains of his shirt, gaping at the already healed skin. Ratchet scanned Callen and vented softly.

"What?" Callen asked nervously.

"It's spreading." Ratchet said as he made the scans visible. Callen looked at the scans, the body moving with his movements. Callen touched his side where metal plating now covered. He tapped his side, shocked to hear a metallic clink.

"It will take a lot more than a bullet to the chest to stop you now, Callen." Ratchet said. He jabbed a charged rod into his side, making Callen yelp. Barely noticeably, the metal grew, resting at his stomach now. Callen panicked.

"That's not supposed to happen." Callen said.

"I suggest you stay away from electric items. It seems to be feeding off them." Ducky said.

"I'm going to the Dam before it spreads any more." Callen said, going over to Prowl, who reluctlantly transformed. Callen grabbed one of his spare shirts and gunned it out of there, so no one but Prowl saw his panic attack.

"Prowl, what's going on? Callen asked.

"I do not know, G. I have never seen it happen before." Prowl told him honestly.

"Prowl, I have metal under my skin and growing on my bones at a steady rate. What am I going to do? I can't do my job like this, my job requires me to be able to slip through airport security unnoticed!" Callen said.

"I know, Callen. Of course, you could always work for NEST." Prowl suggested.

"Prowl, I don't want to work for another secret organization." Callen snapped.

"That may end up being your only option, G." Prowl said. Callen was silent as they drove to the Dam. Prowl pulled over at the gates. "Good luck."

Callen got out the car and glanced at the Dam. It was a public place, so no one was questioning his being there. He walked down the length of it, looking over the edge at the water. At the same time, he found the blind spot for the cameras and stuck to them. No one stopped him when he went into the maintenance only door and entered the secret base quietly. He landed lightly, taking the same route he had taken to get out of the base, stopping once to grab the thing he had hidden there.

He crept into a room, high security that was now out of the job most likely. He found the flash drive and switched them so quickly not even the cameras saw the switch. Since there was not a register of tampering, the alarms did not sound. Callen left just as easily as he got in, meeting Prowl not even a half hour later.

"That was easy." Callen said, tucking the flashdrive into his pocket. Alarms began to sound and the entire place began to lock down. "Spoke too soon. Dam it." Callen cursed. "Prowl, we should get out of here." Callen said.

"Notice the gates with military personnel surrounding them." Prowl snapped.

"So? Drive through them. They'll move out of the way of the car. But first, might want to change your form." Callen suggested. Callen watched the subtle shift in the car and marveled at the freaking tank he was now in. "A tank? Really? I was thinking a police car or something…." Callen said. The car shifted again and Callen looked in the side mirror.

"Yeah, that'll work." Callen said as they raced to the weak link in the fence. The men didn't raise their firearms until Prowl actually rammed through the fence, knocking the flimsy thing over. Then they started shooting. Callen ducked, allowing Prowl to get them out of there. They were three miles out and had changed back to his Aston Martin and slowed to reasonable speeds.

"Good job. You okay?" Callen asked.

"I am fine. Are you okay, Callen?" Prowl responded. They pulled over to the side of the road as police vehicles rushed past them. When they passed, Callen had Prowl turn down a side road then get back on the interstate until they got back to Diego Garcia.

"Why did you have me go down the side road?" Prowl asked.

"They were setting up a roadblock." Callen said. He climbed out of the car and walked into the base, his Guardian walking beside him. They entered Optimus' office, Callen a little hesitant.

"Got the flash drive." Callen said, pulling it out. Optimus took it and crushed it in his hand. "Well, if you wanted it destroyed, I could have done it. Saved some time." Callen commented idly. "Plus we could have found out if I actually got the right one." Callen added.

"You did. Thank you." Optimus said. He threw them in the trash, a small fire starting up and melting the crushed object. "Did you find what you lost?"

Callen put a hand in his pocket and pulled out a toy soldier. He twisted it in half, revealing a flash drive hidden in the toy. "Everything I have found out about my past is on this." Callen said sadly. He chucked in the trash as well.

"Why did you do that?" Optimus asked.

"Perfect memory. Don't need someone else seeing it." Callen said softly as he walked away.

"Callen, you are bleeding heavily from your shoulder." Optimus suddenly said from behind him. Callen reached up and touched it, drawing back his hand to see red liquid smelling like copper coating in.

"Doesn't hurt." Callen said. He walked down calmly to the med bay. He realized that he was very familiar with the place now.

"Callen! You've been shot!" Ducky exclaimed.

"Doesn't hurt or anything. Must have happened when we were getting out of the place." Callen said.

Ducky removed the bullet, which had been stopped by the armored plating lying just below the skin. When the bullet was out, the skin seemed to ripple before healing just as painlessly, not even scarring.

"I do believe that it has spread further, Mr. Callen." Ducky said as he continued his check up.

"Makes my job easier. Somewhat." Callen said.

"You could always just say that you have a metal shoulder and you would get through security at the airports in no time at all." Ducky said.

"Ducky, I'm not even sure they would believe me then. I am pretty sure they take x-rays to make sure you aren't lying about that and if they saw this, they would lock me up in some facility and do experiments on me." Callen said with bitter honesty.

"Oh, but they'd have to catch you first, Mr. Callen." Ducky said. "And from what I've heard about you from Jethro, that is next to impossible if you don't want to be caught." Ducky consoled.

"Oh, I don't know about that. Even I can't run forever." Callen said.

"Oh, I'm sure they would stop looking after a while." Ducky said.

"Negative. I do not believe they would." Ratchet said. "They would be too enthralled by it." Callen sighed quietly.

"Well, they'd have to get through Jethro, first." Ducky assured.

"Damn right." Gibbs said from behind him. Callen froze slightly before relaxing.

"Hey, Jethro. Been standing there long?" Callen asked.

"Long enough." Gibbs said vaguely. He smacked the back of Callen's head, making the spy wince.

"What was that for?" Callen snapped.

"For storming off the base with no back up and then going into a top secret base with no back up, then getting yourself shot." Gibbs said.

"Well, I am back on vacation now. Maybe I can head down to D.C. for a visit." Callen said.

"What, you gonna drive there?" Gibbs scoffed.

"Why not?" Callen asked. "I have a couple years of vacations saved up, after all." Callen said.

"They let you do that?" Gibbs asked.

"I'm a special case." Callen said vaguely.

Gibbs snorted and sighed. "You have someone that wants to thank you." Gibbs said. The door opened and a young Israeli woman entered, someone who Callen recognized.

"Assassin!" Callen said happily.

"How are you so cheerful? I was supposed to kill you! Oh, and thank you for saving me." The woman said.

"Were you actually given my name?" Callen asked.

"No. I was given your description and an alias." The woman said. "Gabriel Chandler."

"Yeah. Signed with my real initials and had to make a quick one. Turned into one of my favorites." Callen mused.

"I am Ziva David. Nice to meet you." Ziva said, holding her hand out for him to shake. Callen eyed it warily.

"Last time I shook your hand, you knocked me on my ass and tried to stab me." Callen stated.

"I am not armed." Ziva said.

"Neither was I. Make me any less dangerous?" Callen replied.

"Good point." Ziva said, withdrawing her hand.

"But nice to meet you. Glad you didn't get found." Callen said.

"Why? I tried to kill you! You should have turned me in to save your own life." Ziva protested.

"You never could have killed me. You weren't trained up enough. They sent you into that mission, expecting me to kill you." Callen explained.

"Normally I would disagree, but I watched you in the simulation room. Quick thinking when you are in a squeezed hole." Ziva said.

"Tight spot. The saying is tight spot." Callen said.

"Yes, that's what I meant." Ziva said. Callen laughed and walked over to her.

"Jethro trust you?" Callen asked.

"Gibbs does." Ziva said.

Callen hugged her. "Then I trust you." Callen said. Ziva smiled at him.

"Your Kensi is a very good talker. Though I must admit, she was wrong about your eyes. They are bluer than she said." Ziva said.

"Well, she didn't want you getting any ideas. She doesn't like killing her new friends." Callen said, stepping away. A figure moved to stand behind him and looked like they were about to jump on him. Callen turned and caught Kensi, twisting her around and holding her arms so she couldn't mock punch him.

"You are loud." Callen said.

"I'll get it someday." Kensi swore as she danced away from him finally.

"There has got to be a better meeting place than here." Callen said.

"Not if you are coming back in here every couple of hours." Ratchet responded dryly.

"Yeah, Callen. You might as well have your own area to come to when you get hurt." Ironhide said.

"Pot meets kettle." Callen responded.

"Oh, I got that one!" Ziva said happily.

"Good job, Sass." Callen said.

"Sass?" Ziva asked.

"Assassin shortened the nice way." Callen replied.

Ziva opened her mouth in confusion, then closed it as she got it. "Oh. Thank you for not choosing the other way."

"Yeah, sure thing." Callen said, he grabbed a railing, not seeing the warning sign in it. He drew back his hand to his chest in pain as an electric current shot through his body. "Shit. I think it's spread more." Callen said. Ratchet scanned him and nodded in confirmation.

"It was spread to you lower arms and legs. I suggest you either touch the rail again and complete your skeleton, or you stay away from it and try to stay away from electric currents." Ratchet said.

Callen thought about it for a moment before grabbing the rail again. He collapsed against the wall as he suddenly felt drained. "Maybe that was a bad idea." Callen said. Kensi went over to him and helped him up, allowing him to lean on her until he got his balance back.

"No, that was a good idea. Your skeleton is now completely metal. I believe that it should stay like this, unless it takes over your muscles." Ratchet explained.

"Great. I'm Robocop now." Callen said with a groan.

"Hey, Robocop was a great cop." Tony said.

"He was controlled by power hungry assholes who wanted money." Callen snapped.

"Right…." Tony said.

"Lennox! Any power hungry assholes I should look out for?" Callen asked.

"Um, yeah. We got a liaison by the name of Garraway." Lennox said. "He should be arriving in a couple of hours." Lennox said.

"Anyone else?" Callen asked.

"That would be me, Agent Callen." A voice said from the door.

"Agent Simmons." Callen growled hatefully.

"Nice break in to a government facility. You know what I could book you for? I could lock you up, forever and no one would ever notice, because you have no family." Simmons said, taking a step into the room, guys with guns behind him.

"What are you doing here, Simmons?" Lennox asked.

"Agent Callen broke into the Hoover Dam and stole classified information." Simmons snarled.

Callen backed up slightly, a hint of emotion his eyes. "No. I followed orders and retrieved stolen information and returned it to its rightful owners." Callen said.

"We were its rightful owners!" Simmons shouted. Ten guys took aim at Callen. "And we want it back."

"Destroyed it." Callen said strongly.

"Not the blueprints, the toy soldier. We like to keep tabs on dangerous people and know who we are dealing with." Simmons said cockily.

"Destroyed that too. Not like you could break the encryption I put on it." Callen challenged.

Simmons was silent for a moment. "No, we haven't. Can't figure out what language you used." Simmons admitted.

"Not supposed to." Callen snapped. "It's personal." Callen said.

"Well, saying as it was the only piece of information we got from your…. interrogation…. we wanted to check it out. But you left before we could ask you to nicely break the code." Simmons snarled.

"Oh well, I forgot it. I don't need it. Got all the information memorized." Callen said, pointing to his head.

"Well, we would like in on your past." Simmons said. Half of the soldiers took a step towards Callen.

"Too bad. I don't trust you with that information." Callen said as he took another step back, next to the railing edge. He grabbed the railing, wincing at the shock he received, but he used it to support himself as he took yet another step back.

Simmons came forward himself and grabbed the railing, intending to seem intimidating. Instead, he screamed like a little girl and dropped like a fly. His men stared at him.

"I suggest you don't come closer. NCIS Agents." Callen said as Sam, Kensi, Gibbs, Tony, and Ziva along with Callen showed them their badges.

"We have orders to take you in and interrogate you, Agent Callen." One said nervously.

"Really? You think you can take me down?" Callen asked. One of them shot his leg, a sharp spark and the bullet ricocheted to the ground then back up, hitting the shooter instead. "Ow?" Callen asked.

"We have you surrounded. Stand down Agent Callen." Another ordered.

"No. That's not my style. You see, you have no business getting that information. If you don't have the clearance, then you don't need to hear it." Callen snapped. "And you won't hear it anytime soon."

"Is that so?" The first one asked, pulling out a gas canister. Callen pulled out his gun.

"See how many of your men I shoot before I'm down." Callen said. He aimed it at the man furthest from him and shot, the man crying out as his arm began to burn as the bullet passed cleanly through it. "I am not joking." The first man froze.

During this whole time, the Autobots had been frozen, unsure what to do, until Callen fired. "Callen! When did you get your gun back?" Prowl asked.

"Safe house." Callen said simply, not taking his eyes off of any of the men. "How about you guys just leave and we can all forget about this." Callen said.

"Never. You would just come after us and kill us." The second guy said.

"No, I won't. I'm a very forgiving person." Callen assured, backed by numeral nods behind him. The first guy pulled the pin and Callen fired again and again, his aim not affected by the smoke for now. He coughed as the gas chloroform filled his lungs and trickled into his bloodstream, making his mind go numb. Shooting one last shot off, he collapsed, vision going dark for what seemed to be the infinite time in the past three days.

When he woke up again, he was a nice, familiar bed, in a nice familiar med bay, in a nice, familiar secret military base on Diego Garcia, home to NEST. He sighed in relief.

"He is awake." Ratchet said near him, and Callen turned his head.

"Oh, good. Bastards left." Callen said groggily.

"Yes. You shot all of them. A few of them had to go to the hospital. No one killed. Ironhide is attempting to beat your high score with one of his tantrums right now because of it." Prowl informed him.

"Anyone else hurt?" Callen asked.

"They knocked out Witwicky on the way to the med bay, that's why the kid wasn't here. Epps got jumped too, but was relatively unharmed." Lennox informed him.

"Do me a favor. Tell the kid to get out of this life before it kills him. He's too young to be a soldier." Callen said.

"You can tell him yourself. He's on his way down to thank you for keeping Ironhide distracted for two hours and letting those two get off the base." Lennox informed him. Callen sat up and watched the door. Moments later, Sammy walked in.

"Hey, Sammy. How are you? Guys didn't beat you up too bad, did they?" Callen asked.

"No, I'm fine." Sammy said, though Callen could see the bruises on his face and the way he leaned on his right leg when he walked.

"Sammy, do me a favor?" Callen asked.

"Yeah, sure, anything." Sammy said immediately.

"Go try to live a normal life. You are too young to be a soldier." Callen said.

"Finally, someone agrees with me about that!" Sammy said. He looked around at the soldiers in the room. "Not that what you guys do isn't great, I'm glad that you guys do this, but I'm just a kid! I-I-I want to live a semi normal life and-and-and go to college and finish high school." Sammy sputtered.

"Good, kid. You do that. Drop the stutter when you're nervous, too. Makes you a terrible liar." Callen said. Sammy smiled at him. "Besides, do you really want to be jumping out of planes and shooting at people, potentially taking lives, at seventeen? I can tell you from personal experience that it isn't fun." Callen said.

"I think that I've fallen off enough buildings for this part of my life." Sammy agreed. "Did you really become a spy at seventeen?"

"No, I joined the marines at seventeen under the command of the CIA. I became an agent at eighteen." Callen said. "First time I killed someone was when I was twenty." Callen admitted. "Couldn't even drink yet. Not that I do, anyways. Makes your mind fuzzy." Callen said. He looked at Ratchet. "Did that gas have something in it?" Callen asked.

"Yes. I assume it was to help interrogate you." Ratchet informed him.

"Great! Anymore questions, kid?" Callen asked.

Sammy hesitated. "Why do you do it? Why do you still fight for people's lives when you've seen all the bad they can do?"

"Because there are some very special people that need me to fight for them because they can't fight for themselves, I am terrified of telling Hetty that I resign, and if I did quite, I would spend the rest of my life running from all the enemies I've acquired over the years." Callen said.

"Huh. Never thought of it like that…" Sammy said.

"Most don't." Callen said. Sammy smiled and his head snapped up as Bee beeped at him.

"I have to go. My mom's going to kill me for this." Sammy said as he raced out, getting into a conversation with his car.

"Well, what's the news with Sector Seven?"

"Sector Seven has been shut down and you are free to go home in a few days. After that, I suggest you don't go into work for a few months, you ARE supposed to still be recovering from being shot in the chest." Ratchet advised. "I would also like you to come back here for regular check ups so I can ensure the implants do no damage." Ratchet said.

"Yes, because ruining my job is no damage." Callen said dryly.

"Yes, well, they seemed to have fixed that problem themselves. They do not activate the metal detector." Ducky said, appearing out of no where.

"Great." Callen said happily. He sighed and fell back to sleep.

Four months later, he walked into the new base of operations. "Hey, G. Good to see you." Sam said.

"Oh, there's my favorite person!" Kensi said, hugging him.

"Mr. Callen! What are you doing here, you aren't due back for another month!" Hetty exclaimed.

"Nice to see you too, Hetty." Callen said.

They soon had a case and they were working on it, no one mentioning what had gone down only months ago, though they all would probably talk about it over drinks at Kensi's after the case was over. And the rest was history.