A/N: A new story. It's a prequel to Happy Sinterklaas. It centers around Callen and Zo?. Hope you like it.


Zo? grabbed her stuff and got in the car to go to work. It was her first day today at her new job. She was going to work at the NCIS office of special projects in Los Angeles. She was taking over there from her friend Nate Getz. Nate was leaving the office to do other work for NCIS. He had recommended her for the position. They had gone to college together and stayed friends after that. Before joining NCIS Zo? worked as a shrink for the Navy, mostly working out of Pendleton. Operational psychology had always been an interest to her so she was happy to accept the position at the OSP.

Zo? pulled up the mission. This was her first time at the mission. She was surprised by how the building looked on the outside. It totally didn't look like a federal building. She parked her car and walked inside. The inside totally surprised her. It didn't look anything like the outside. The outside looked like it was falling apart but the inside was totally renovated, making an office in the condemned building.

"Ah good morning Doctor Moore," Hetty greeted Zo?.

"Good morning Ms. Lange."

"Welcome to NCIS."

"Thank you, I'm happy to be here."

"Come on, I'll show you to your office so you can settle in."

"The agents not here yet?"

"No not yet, you'll meet them later today."

Hetty took Zo? upstairs. "This here is the operations center. Our technical support is in here and the agents are briefed here," Hetty told Zo? as she took Zo? into the OPS center. Nell and Eric looked up as Hetty walked in with someone they had never seen before.

"Miss Jones, Mister Beale, this is Doctor Zo? Moore. She's our new operational psychologist."

"Nice to meet you," Zo? spoke.

"Nice to meet you too. I'm Nell Jones, intelligence analyst," Nell replied and shook Zo?'s hand.

"And I'm Eric Beale, technical operator." Zo? shook Eric's hand as well. "So you're replacing Nate?"

"I wouldn't call it replacing. But yeah I'm your new operational psychologist."

"Well, welcome aboard to the OSP," Nell said.

"Thank you, I'm happy to be here."

"Please call Doctor Moore when we have a new case," Hetty told the techs.

"Will do," Eric replied.

Hetty showed Zo? to her office. Her office was upstairs in the back, across from OPS.

"Dr. Getz left you some files on the staff here so you can get caught up on what's going on with the agents."

"Thank you."

"Well I'll let you get to it."

"Thank you."

Hetty left and Zo? sat behind her desk. She looked at the files Nate had left for her. They all weren't that thick except for one. Zo? grabbed the thickest file.

'Special Agent G. Callen,' Zo? read on the file.

Zo? opened the file and started reading.

'Agent Callen is the special agent in charge of the OSP. They all have their own baggage but Agent Callen has the most troubled past of them all. From the age of four till the age of eighteen he was in and out of foster homes. He went to thirty-seven foster homes in total, not counting the group homes and orphanages he stayed it,' Zo? read and was shocked. Thirty seven foster homes was a lot. 'He doesn't know anything about his past. He doesn't know where he came from or who his parents are. The only thing he had with his name on it was his bag with G. Callen on it. He doesn't know what the G stands for so everyone calls him Callen except for Sam. Sam calls him G. He and Sam are like brothers. Callen was reluctant to have a partner at first but they have developed a great partnership. I've lost count on how many times Callen has crashed on Sam's couch. Callen didn't own a house until recently. He just moved from place to place. About a year ago he found his foster sister again after she had been killed and he went back to the house she lived in. With this family was the longest he had stayed out of all his foster placements. Hetty insisted he would buy a house and she found this house for him. Callen is now living in this house but it's not really a home. He doesn't own any furniture or anything, he says he doesn't need them. He has a roof over his head which is enough for him. He is what you call a lone wolf. When he first got to NCIS he liked to go at things on his own. He had been used to that for so long. He had spent time in some bad foster homes so he doesn't really let anyone get close to him, they would only betray him in the end. But he has a good thing now here at NCIS. They are his family. Before joining NCIS he worked with the FBI, CIA and DEA. He was good with undercover mission. He had no one at home or family he would leave behind so he didn't mind going on long term undercover missions. With NCIS is the longest he's been in one place. It has been good for him but he still has some of this lone wolf persona in him. He doesn't easily trust people, except for his team and Hetty. Hetty took Callen in when he was eighteen. Callen was in juve and Hetty took him in to put him on the right path again and she made him a federal agent. Hetty is like a mother to Callen.

Callen's family history is very thin but there are some things you should know about him. I've put the important cases and history in this file. I've tried talking to Callen about his past but he doesn't like talking to shrinks. He's always good at reverse psychology, steering the conversation away from him. Maybe you have better luck with trying to get him to open up.'

She felt bad for Callen when reading that. No kid deserved to be in so many foster and to be abused. She started reading the other things in Callen's file and read about the shooting that nearly cost him his life. He had an impressive service record and was specialized in many languages.

She was shocked out of her reading when there was a knock on the door.

"Come in," Zo? spoke and she saw Nell come through the door.

"We have a new case Doctor Moore."

"Thank you. And please, call me Zo?."

"Alright, Zo?."

Zo? went to the OPS center and waited there for the briefing. Callen was the first one to walk in of the agents and he immediately noticed the new person in the OPS center. He wondered who she was and what she was doing here.

"Good that you're all here," Hetty started. "As you may have noticed we have a new member on our team. This is Doctor Zo? Moore. She is our new operational psychologist."

'Oh great,' Callen thought. Nate was gone now so he didn't need to talk to him anymore but now there was a new doctor, who would probably want to talk to him as well.

"Welcome to NCIS," Sam spoke.

"Thank you, I'm happy to be here."

"I trust that you all will make Doctor Moore feel like home here."

"Of course," Sam replied.

"Miss Jones, Mister Beale, please proceed with the case."

"This morning LAPD responded to a B&E. When they arrived at the house the burglar was still there. The owners of the place weren't home but the burglar was still there. Luckily for us the house had security cameras," Eric spoke and played the video on the big screen.

They saw a man come into the house and look through some of the stuff. When LAPD arrived the man pulled out his gun and started shooting at the police. He escaped through the back door.

"This looks like a normal B&E. Why are we getting this case?" Callen questioned.

"Because the house belongs to Adam Rogers, he's a Naval technician and the person that broke into his place is petty officer Liam Miller," Nell spoke as she put the two ID's on the screen.

"So this petty officer goes into another Navy man's house and steals what? New drawings for a project or something?" Deeks asked.

"I'm guessing if he did that he didn't have access to it," Sam reasoned.

"No he didn't, Mister Hanna," Hetty spoke. "LAPD contacted Mister Rogers. He came to the house to see if anything was missing. He had some classified material in his safe which is now gone."

"What was the classified material?" Callen wanted to know.

"Plans for a new weapon. A state of the art missile."

"And with these plans, he can build one?"

"Yes he can, if he has the right material."

"There are a lot of people who would pay top dollar for plans like that," Sam said.

"Why would he do this?" Kensi wondered.

"Doctor Moore, your thoughts on this," Callen asked, he was going to test her.

"Please call me Zo?," Zo? started. "Usually with things like this is either one of two things. Money or leverage. He's either planning to sell this to the highest bidder to make a quick buck or whoever is behind is has leverage on Miller."

"What kind of leverage?"

"It could be a couple of things. Maybe they have someone of his family or they have some dirty laundry on him that they are threatening to expose if he doesn't cooperate. But whatever it is, he stole classified material he's not supposed to have so we have to find him."

"Does he have any family here in Los Angeles?" Callen asked Eric and Nell.

"Yes, he lives with his wife and two daughters in Inglewood," Nell answered.

"Kensi, Deeks, you go speak to his wife. Sam and I will check out Rogers' house."

"Actually Mister Callen," Hetty said. "You and Mister Hanna are required in the boatshed first. Miller's commanding officer will meet you there."

"Alright. Zo?, work with Eric and Nell. See if you can find something in Miller's personal life."

With everyone knowing what to do everyone went to work. Zo? sat with Eric and Nell in the ops center and looked through the information they found on Miller, to see if they could find something that could help them.

..

"So what did you think of Zo??" Sam asked Callen as they were driving to the boatshed.

"She seems very capable, but we'll see."

"I didn't think we'd be getting a new operational psychologist after Nate left."

"Yeah me neither," Callen sighed, already dreading the fact that she might want to talk to him.

"Guess she'll probably want to talk to us soon to get to know us."

"Yeah probably." Callen was so not looking forward to that.

"Don't worry G. Maybe it might be good for you to talk to someone else. Maybe she can finally get through to you."

"I don't need to talk to someone Sam. I'm good."

"I'm just saying, it might be good for you. Somebody new."

"I'm fine Sam," Callen replied annoyed, hoping his partner would drop it.

When they arrived at the boatshed Miller's commanding officer was already there.

"Chief Reynolds?" Callen spoke as he and Sam walked in.

"Yes that's me. You must be agents Callen and Hanna."

"Yes, I'm special agent Callen, this is special agent Hanna," Callen introduced them.

"Thank you for coming here."

"Sorry to hear what happened. Do you have any idea why Miller would do this?" Sam asked.

"No, Miller is a straight up guy. Good sailor. Never had any problems with him, no one had."

"What about his personal life?" Callen wondered.

"He has a wife and two kids. They've been married for ten years or so now. As far as I know he didn't have any problems at home. I have no idea why he would be doing this."

"We're trying to come up with one too. Maybe they have leverage on him or something."

"His family? Are they safe?"

"We have agents going there now. Anything else they might leverage him with?"

"No, not that I can think off. He's a standup guy, never had any problems with him. If there's anything we can help you with please let us know. We can't have the plans that he stole get in enemy hands."

"We will do that. Please do the same if you can think of anything that might help."

"Will do that."

Callen and Sam left the boatshed and went back to the office. Once there they went upstairs to OPS.

"Anything new?" Callen asked the techs.

"We haven't been able to find Miller yet. But Kensi and Deeks did call earlier. Miller's place was broken into and his family is missing."

"So they could hold his family for leverage," Sam spoke.

"Yes it's quite possible."

"If they are threatening to hurt his family, it could explain why he's doing this," Zo? stated.

"Any leads on who took his family?" Callen asked.

"We're looking through cameras in the area to see if they caught something," Eric answered.

"Kensi and Deeks are looking through the house to see if they can find something," Nell added.

"What about the people behind this? Any idea who they are?"

"We're combing through Miller's records to see who he had contact with the last weeks but nothing stands out so far," Eric answered.

"Keep digging. Let me know what you find."

As Callen and Sam wanted to walk back downstairs Eric's computer beeped.

"Looks like we got a hit on Miller. An ATM camera just spotted him on West Washington Boulevard. Security cameras caught him walking across the street into Paradise Inn & Suites, address is on your phones."

"Good work."

Callen and Sam geared up and went to the motel. It was only about a ten minute drive from their office. They parked their car in front of the entrance and walked to the manager's office.

"Federal agents, we're looking for this man," Callen spoke as Sam showed his badge and Callen showed the picture of Miller.

"Yeah he checked in here earlier today. He's in room two-oh-four. That's right up there."

"Thank you. Do you have a key?"

"Yeah, this key card works on all the doors."

"Thank you."

"Should I be worried?"

"Just stay inside," Sam said.

Sam went up the front steps and Callen went up the back steps, in case Miller would make a run for it. Just as Sam came upstairs Miller came out of his room.

"Liam Miller! Federal agents, hold it right there!" Sam yelled.

Miller tried to make a run for it, going the other way, but Callen came up from behind him.

"Stay right there Miller."

"You don't understand!"

"We understand Miller, we know about your family," Sam told him.

"Then you know why I have to do this."

"We can help you Miller. Let us help you. We can help you get your family back."

"You don't know what they are capable of."

"We will help you get your family back, you have my word."

"I'm supposed to bring them the files in an hour. If I don't show up they'll know something is wrong and they will kill my family."

"We won't let that happen, you have my word. Just let us help you. You don't want to do this Miller."

"You promise me my family will be safe."

"You have my word Miller. We can help you."

Miller grabbed the files out to the room and went with Sam and Callen to the boatshed. They took him into the interrogation room.

"What do you know about these people who have your family?" Callen asked as he sat across from Miller.

"Not much. I got a video message earlier today. They had my family tied up, I don't know where, some warehouse it looked like or something. They told me what to do. I was supposed to call them when I had the files and they would give me a place and time to bring them. They never showed their faces on screen, they just spoke as they filmed my family. The voice didn't sound familiar to me. I have no idea who could do this. I never had any threats before and my wife never told me about any threats either. They would kill my family if I didn't do as they asked. They knew where they plans where and how I could get them."

"They knew the address of Rogers' and that he had these plans?" Callen questioned, worried that there might be a leak.

"Yeah, I don't know how. But they told me exactly where I could find the plans and the code of the safe."

"Did he contact you already where to drop the plans?"

"Yeah he did. I'm supposed to drop them at the pier. On a bench there would be a man in a brown coat and a blue baseball hat. I would have to sit next to him and drop the bag on the bench. He would leave and once it was verified I would get a call to where I could pick up my family."

Callen looked at Sam. This could very well go wrong. They could very well still keep his family after Miller made the drop. They needed to come up with a plan.

"Can you please help me get my family back?"

"We will, you have our word," Sam said.

"Do you have the video message and the phone number they contacted you with?" Callen asked.

"Yeah it's right here in my phone."

Miller handed his phone to Callen and Callen and Sam went back to the main room where they contacted Eric and Nell.

"What's up Callen?" Eric asked as his face showed up on the screen.

"Eric, I'm sending you a phone number and a video. See if you can get anything of the video and see if you can get a location on the phone."

"Will do Callen."

Eric disconnected the call and he and Nell went to work. Zo? was in the ops center and together they looked at the video. Just like Miller said they only showed his family on screen and all they heard was the voice of the man who had taken them.

"There's not much on the video where we can see where Miller's family is being held," Zo? stated. "No windows or significant building architecture. This could be anywhere in LA."

"Maybe we can't see anything on the video but there might be something in the meta-data," Eric said.

"Can you tell us anything about the kidnappers Miss Moore?" Hetty asked.

"Based on how he talks I can say he's calm. He knows what he's doing and what he wants. From what I can tell it will be likely that he won't release Miller's family once Miller delivers the plans to them. Either they will kill them all or they will keep wanting things of Miller."

"But how will that work? The navy knows what Miller did now. It's not very likely that he will be able to steal something again," Eric interjected.

"Which is why we have to find Miller's family before he makes the drop," Hetty told the tech.

About thirty minutes later Eric and Nell had found a location on Miller's family. They had tracked the cell phone to a warehouse in Inglewood and the cameras in front of the building caught Miller's family being dragged inside.

Callen, Sam, Kensi and Deeks geared up and went to the address. With their SIG's drawn they walked towards the warehouse. Callen looked through the window to see what the situation was. He saw Miller's family tied up in the center of the room with three armed men around them. Kensi and Deeks went up via the outside ladder to the first floor.

"In position," Kensi spoke over the coms.

"On my mark, three, two, one," Callen counted down.

They breached the warehouse and moved towards the main room. They managed to stay out of side until they were close enough.

"We've got a shot on the two left men," Kensi spoke.

"I'll take the right one," Sam said.

"I've got the family," Callen added. "On my count, three, two, one."

"Federal agents!" Callen spoke as he came out of his hideout. As they turned to him Kensi, Deeks and Sam shot them and Callen moved in on Miller's family. "It's okay. We're federal agents. You're safe. We have your husband, he's safe."

They took Miller's family back to the boatshed an confiscated the plans Miller stole.

"Thank you for your help," Miller told Sam and Callen before they left the boatshed. "What's going happen now?"

"That's out of our hands. But we'll make sure they know the circumstances."

"Thank you again for your help."

Miller's family left and Callen and Sam went back to the office. As they were working on their paperwork behind their desks Callen's desk phone rang.

"Callen," Callen answered the phone.

"Agent Callen, it's Zo?. Can you please come up to my office? I'd like to talk to you."

"Yeah, I'll be right there."

Sighing Callen hung up the phone.

"Everything okay G?"

"Yeah. Zo? just wants to talk."

Callen got up and walked upstairs, already dreading that he has to talk to the new shrink. He had no desire to talk to her whatsoever. He know how to play Nate, he didn't know how to play her.