Disclaimer:Nope, don't own.

A/N-Spoilers for season two...um vague ones. And kinda spoilers for the most recent ep but not for the case parts...just the fun extra stuff with Hetty's awesomeness...

"G!" Sam's voice sounds far away to his ears.

He winces, sucks in a breath and calls back.

"Sam!"

His hands dig into the sharp edge of the rooftop, concrete biting into his skin as he struggles to hold on a little while longer. His arms scream in protest, burning and sore as they hold his weight.

Callen chances a glance down at the ground; it's not too far, he could just let go. He'd walk away with a bunch of bruises and strained muscles at best; at worst…well, he doesn't think about that.

Sam is down below, staring up at him with wide brown eyes.

Callens not that far up, it's a two-story house, but it's still a bit of a drop. He'd really rather not have to make the drop.

But his hands are damp with sweat and his body is screaming at him to let go, even as his mind tells him to hang on.

"How'd you get up there?" Sam calls up to him, agitated and worried.

"Ladder." It's not the first time he's chased a suspect up a ladder and it probably won't be the last but he's seriously regretting the decision at the moment. The house is old, abandoned and sealed off. The ladder had been the only way in or out.

"Okay." Sam says mostly to himself but the sound carries up to Callen. He's probably realized that there isn't a ladder there anymore. He isn't sure where their suspect's girlfriend moved it to and with the way his grip is slipping, they don't have time to find it.

"Okay," Sam says again, louder this time. "Jump."

Callen blinks, frowns and tries to unclench his teeth long enough to reply.

"What?" Because he must have heard him wrong.

"Jump!"

Tension is tight between his shoulders and his sneakers scrabble uselessly against the smooth wall of the house for some extra hold that will take some of the strain off his arms. His left hand starts to slip.

"Are you going to catch me?" He demands, voice high with stress.

"Yeah."

Callen looks back down, finds Sam watching him again but this time there's determination written across his face.

"Just like the climbing wall." He calls up to him and all Callen can think is how it was the mats that caught him, not Sam.

But.

He breathes in, adjusts his grip and readies himself. If it were anyone but Sam he would tighten his hold and wait for a ladder or something.

It's not a big drop, he tells himself. If he lands right, the worst he walks away with are some bruises and strained muscles. It's not a big drop he tells himself again.

"Ready?" Sam calls up and Callen nods, forehead bumping the wall. "Okay, one…two…three." Sam barely makes it to three as Callen lets go, grip slipping.

For one terrible moment he's in free fall, his stomach and heart up in his throat. And then he comes crashing back to reality.

Sam catches him with an arm under his legs and the other coming up around his back but they both crash to the ground under the force, the breath knocked from their lungs.

Callen blinks, breathes and groans as the blood comes rushing back into his hands and arms. He gives up on lifting his head and lets it fall back to where it was resting on Sam's chest. He's sprawled out on top of Sam and it can't be that comfortable for the other man but when he makes any attempt to move, the arm around his waist tightens.

"Well." He says eventually, voice muffled by the fabric of Sam's shirt.

"Yeah." Sam snorts. Callen makes a disgruntled noise as Sam's chest shakes with laughter under his cheek.

"We should probably get up." His arms are throbbing and he's going to need some pretty good painkillers for this one.

"Kensi and Deeks are on their way, wouldn't want them to get any ideas." Sam agrees but he still hesitates in letting go of him.

He groans as he tries to sit up, and eventually gives up letting Sam do all the hard work for him. There's a screech of tires from the front of the house announcing the other pairs arrival.

"Like they don't already suspect." He says and grins when Sam reaches out to squeeze the back of his neck gently.

"Yeah," He lets his hand linger for a moment longer before Kensi and Deeks round the corner, guns drawn. "But it's more fun watching them try and guess."