It had been a long, uncomfortable day, and all Sam wanted to do was go home and lick his wounds. When Hetty finally released the team for the night, Sam grabbed his keys and meant to make a beeline for the door.

"You look like you could use a drink," Callen said, stepping in between Sam and the exit.

"Not really," Sam answered moodily.

"Maybe you should rephrase that," Eric, who had suddenly appeared out of nowhere, said helpfully.

"I think you're probably right," Callen replied with his characteristic grin. "Sam, we're taking you for a drink."

"I'm not going," Sam answered with his characteristic scowl.

Twenty minutes later, the trio sat at a table at the local brewery, sipping microbrews as Eric and Callen chatted idly, and Sam brooded.

"So," Callen said, finally turning to Sam. "How bad was it?" Sam shot him a look. "Those jeans were a good choice I'd say, wouldn't you, Eric?"

"Well," Eric considered for a moment, matching Callen's teasing smile, "you would think so, but Hetty's shockingly strong for her size." A brief moment of panic came across Eric, but after quickly scanning the dimly lit room and finding it to be decidedly Hetty-free, he relaxed again.

"And I suppose," Callen added, "depending on the level of Hetty's displeasure, the jeans might even have been moot."

"Oh, I wouldn't know about that," Eric replied. "I've never managed to make Hetty mad enough to find out."

"That's probably for the best," Callen answered, still grinning like the Cheshire Cat.

"Wait! You knew about this?" Sam demanded. "You knew what she would do to me? Why didn't you tell me?"

"How would that have been fun?" Callen replied.

"Fun?" Sam shouted. "What's fun about…" he trailed off, having noticed others in the room were staring at him. "What's fun about getting your ass beat by your boss?" he growled quietly.

"I didn't mean fun for you."

Sam clenched his jaw, and gave Callen a threatening look. "I'll give you a 3-second head start before I come after you."

Callen turned to Eric, ignoring Sam's bluster. "You took it a lot better than he did when you found out," he said, shrugging.

"Yeah," Eric answered, "but I suppose I don't have the same tough-guy reputation to uphold. It didn't really matter that I didn't know until after the fact."

Callen nodded, mockingly, "That is an excellent point." Then sobering, he turned to a still fuming, but now slightly confused Sam. "Look, Sam, it happens to the best of us eventually. And when it happened to me for the first time, and the second time, now that I think about it, I didn't have anyone to commiserate with."

Sam looked from Callen to Eric and back again. "You still should have told me," he finally answered, softening.

"Maybe, but what would you have done if you knew?"

Sam considered this for a moment. "Ok, you're right. It's better I didn't know. But believe me, that is the last time!"

Callen turned to Eric. "He's adorable," he laughed.

Sam lunged at Callen who dropped the twenty he was holding on the table and made a run for the door, followed quickly by Eric. Sam watched them leave then sat back and resumed sipping his beer. An evil grin spread across his face. "Just remember G," he said to the air, "payback's a bitch."