Author's Note: This is my first published story so I hope it's worthy and that you enjoy! – M Rae
It was a simple infiltrate and arrest, no fatal shots permitted unless absolutely necessary. The team began clearing the abandoned office complex in search for the suspects. Callen lead his team silently, room by room. Once each member determined their room was safe, they checked in quietly through comms, "Clear west side…" Silence. "Clear north, east corner."
The building was virtually silent as they swept each room and Agent Callen lead the group towards the final set of stairs. He ascended, Sam trailing his partner not five feet behind him. As he made his way to the emergency exit door, G froze and signaled with his hand that he heard voices on the other side of the door. "Movement detected, at least two."
Hetty, Eric, and Nell listened on. They had eyes on each of their agents from the tactical glasses they each wore, Callen's screen enlarged in the center of the console as the lead. Watching an op play out and not being able to physically assist was the hardest part of the job for Henrietta Lange. She trusted her team whole heartedly, but these situations were not something she ever got used to, nor did she think she ever would.
"Eric, heat signatures in the area?" Hetty inquired as the team seemed to hold position.
"Callen, at least four heat signatures detected in a twenty-foot radius, two within ten feet of your current position." G nodded at the provided information and Sam moved in next to the door, his hand resting silently on the handle. Callen looked back at Kensi and Deeks who were stationed three steps below him. He would infiltrate first, Sam would cover his right, Kensi would move in left, Deeks moving in last and aiming straight ahead to cover his team leader. They've practiced it a hundred times.
Eric and Nell exchanged looks and waited in anticipation for their team to move in. They watched as Callen signaled with his hands and with a quick nod of the camera, Sam tightened his grip on the handle and pulled.
"Federal Agents! Put your hands in the air!" G boomed through the corridor. Sam broke right and positioned his weapon on a tall lanky man with shocked eyes. Kensi did the same on the left while Callen kept his gun fixed on the perp straight in front of him. Deeks moved in last and scowered the area, not seeing the fourth apparent 'heat signature'.
"Three secured." Callen reported to OSP. "Deeks sweep the area for the remaining suspect."
Deeks nodded his understanding and moved through the hallway as the rest of his team secured the three, nearly secured, offenders. Sam had his perp cuffed while Kensi hit her target a top the head when he tried to resist. G had his suspect pinned face down on the ground, one knee a top his back as he cuffed him.
"Мы знали, что вы придете." The man jostling with Kensi spit out in Russian dialect, looking directly at Callen. Kensi looked up to meet her team leader's eyes, not understanding the remark made of her now secured enemy and waited to see the senior agent's reaction. G looked up at the man with a questioned expression on his face. "что я сделал?" G countered back, shaking his head in amusement. He immediately heard Hetty's warning tone through his ear wig.
"Mr. Callen-"
G unexpectedly caught movement to his right and looked over to see a foreign figure move in behind Sam.
"Sam down!" Callen aimed his weapon just over his partner's shoulder when a sudden crack of glass and impact was heard. G Callen felt a piercing hit to his chest, so forceful and sudden he was knocked backwards onto his back. Sam whipped his head around to see the cracked window and immediately announced. "G sniper! Everyone down!"
Callen rolled to his front, gasping for breath, not able to inhale as the wind was completely knocked from his body. He slid one elbow under himself preparing to move his position out of the line of fire. As he went to move, he felt another shot blast into his back as soon as he straightened his elbows, a second shot then blew through his shoulder sending a splattering of red exploding through the air. Callen dropped to the ground like a bag of bricks and cried out. Deeks made his way around the corner of the hall and took in the scene.
"G!" Sam screamed in horror as he quickly slid towards his partner. Once Sam got to him he grabbed the younger man's underarm and vest and pulled him back, causing Callen to flip up on his side and his back to collide into Sam's front. Another shot rang out and two more hits splintered the tiled floor right where G's feet lay a moment prior, luckily two misses.
"Pinned down, Callen's hit!" Kensi screamed through comms.
Hetty looked at Callen's POV screen revealing his sideways view of the world from the Ops Center. She watched as her prized agent reached out of view of the camera and came back into view revealing a bloodied palm. She could also see the bobbing of the camera, evident Callen was struggling to breathe. Another shot was suddenly seen piercing the ground inches in front of Callen sending shards of broken tile up into G's face. He reflexively turned his head away from the debris and the screen cracked and darkened as his face was hit with shrapnel. Hetty flinched in surprise and gasped.
"Get him out of here!" Deeks screamed as the sniper clearly was not letting up on their team leader. Sam wrapped a protective arm across his friend's chest and pulled him even closer to his own body against the wall. Half a dozen shots were then heard blasting into the floor next to Callen's face and above Sam's head. Tiles exploded and the dry wall burst sending dust and debris flying. Sam bent his body over his partner to shield him from any further damage he could in desperation.
Deeks slid across the wall, making sure he was not in view of the window Sam and Callen were currently in, and grasped at his superior's vest. G reached up and covered his eyes feebly with his hands, his chest was heaving, evident he still couldn't catch his breath as more shots rang out and more debris went soaring.
Hetty watched on, now looking at Deek's POV camera and saw the side lying form of her prized agent, blood dripping down his vest and arm in mini red tendrils. He had his hands limply covering his face. Callen was in a ball of sorts, Sam holding him against his chest looking straight at Deeks.
"Move him!" Sam screamed. Just as Deeks was about to slide Callen towards him, several shots rang out from down the hall and Deeks felt a hit from behind.
Kensi slid into Deeks' back, turned, and shot at the perp providing him with cover fire. "No good, fall back to the west wall." She yelled over the loud hallway. "Deeks!?" She asked gripping his bicep and forcing him to make eye contact with her. He was gasping for breath but nodded, "Good… vest… stopped it." He straightened his back out and was pulled forward by Kensi who now had a grip on Callen's vest, ready to assist Sam in relocating him, and the team, out of the line of fire.
Multiple shots then riddled the floor causing the tiles to crack and explode which sent ceramic shards airborne at the team. Half of Callen's face was still pressed into the ground, his hands weakly covering his eyes from the new debris and he gasped for breath. G felt fresh cuts litter his hands and arms as the shots did not lessen. Sam's forearm was becoming cut up as well and he huffed in frustration. "We can't stay here!" Sam declared. Another hit sent a large piece catapulting into Callen's knee causing him to grunt in pain and surprise. He couldn't breathe. "Sam- …" He pleaded.
At the sound of his best friend's plea, Sam clasped one hand into the side of Callen's vest while Kensi gripped at the front. "Pull!" Sam ordered and the two of them slid their team leader away from the window despite the continued gunfire. Callen kicked at the ground and panted at the sudden change in position. Deeks grabbed G's holster around his waist and heaved with the rest of his team, sliding a painfully breathless Callen away from the chaos.
Hetty looked on at Callen's POV screen. The lens was cracked and darkened on one side but she could still see the agent's feet being dragged down the hall as he was pulled by the rest of his team to hopeful safety. Nell had both hands clasped around her mouth as she continued listening to the grunting and rasping noises coming from her normally sarcastic and grinning friend.
Abruptly, the gunfire quieted to nothing and all that could be heard was the struggled gasps coming from their team leader on the floor. When Sam saw they were no longer in view of the window, he halted the team's progress. "Stop for a second." He turned to his injured friend.
"G, you with me?" Sam gripped his partner's shoulder and turned his cheek so he was looking up towards Sam. The older agent saw the left side of Callen's face littered with dirt and cuts that were bleeding sluggishly underneath his tactical glasses. Two shots slammed through the wall above the older agent's head just then, forcing him to duck and causing G to flinch away from the newly damaged plaster. Callen was still gulping for air but forced his eyes open to slits, "M' here... but…" He grunted. "Can't breathe… Sam." He finished while squeezing his eyes shut in pain. Sam tapped his friend lightly on the chest. "I know buddy, but we got you. Just stay awake and we'll do the rest."
"They'll get him out," Nell broke the silence up in Ops. "They'll all get out." She looked directly at Sam's POV screen, finally seeing Callen's state and not liking what she saw.
Eric chimed in, "Back up's still 15 minutes out, what the hell happened? What did that guy say to Callen?" He asked no one in particular, not expecting an answer.
Hetty was looking up at Sam's screen, one hand wrapped around her mouth, the other wrapped around her stomach. She was looking grim. "We knew you'd come." Is all she offered to her two tech agents.
Deeks and Kensi exchanged looks at Hetty's remark. Someone had planned this, they had successfully ambushed their senior agent and they had no clue it was going to happen. Deeks closed his eyes in frustration and then opened them, his focus shifting quickly back on the op.
"Sam, do we need to move?" Deeks asked, one hand still on his lead agent's holster, glancing up at the damaged wall above as he spoke. "No, as long as we stay low and watch the hall, the sniper has no eyes here, we need to patch him up, then we can work on an exit strategy."
"Sam, backups about 14 minutes out still." The team heard Eric through comms. "Copy, we're holding position for now, I need to check Callen's status…" responded Sam.
"Alright buddy, let's see what we're dealing with here." Sam shifted all his focus to his best friend lying on his side on the floor. Callen still had one hand over his face as a shield, clearly not aware of what was going on. Sam placed trained hands first along Callen's back, looking for the first slug he hoped had lodged itself into the younger man's vest. His fingers traced the side and found its mark. The bullet was there but deep inside the material, clear the sniper rifle had power behind it. Callen had likely cracked a rib due to the shear force behind the shot but the vest had saved his life, so far. Sam then moved his fingers to his partner's shoulder, a clear gunshot wound was oozing blood down G's arm.
"Gunshot wound, I don't see an exit, angle looks bad-" His exam was interrupted by Callen's hand softly batting at Sam's prodding fingers in obvious discomfort. He mumbled something that Sam couldn't make out.
"G, you know the drill, gotta check you out and patch it up, we have…" Callen mumbled again and Kensi bent down to listen to the senior agent. "Vest off." He grunted.
Kensi looked up at Sam, staying low while Deeks continued to cover the hallway. "He said he wants the vest off." She stated while keeping her grip secured around Callen's forearm, not wanting to break the contact quite yet.
"G, we can't," Sam sighed, he wanted to do whatever his friend requested considering the pain he was in, but he couldn't risk making his friend more exposed, even if it meant he would be more uncomfortable. "I'm sorry, the enemy is not neutralized yet, I–"
"No, hurts, need it off- " Callen interrupted. He was beginning to panic, his speech was slurring and he gripped at Sam's arm and at the vest. Deeks looked over his shoulder at the restless agent hearing his pleas and then turned his attention back down the hall. He had never seen his stoic leader like this before. It was scaring him.
"Callen listen to me." Kensi placed her gloved fingers firmly against the team leader's non- bleeding cheek. "Look at me."
Hetty, Eric, and Nell watched from Kensi's POV camera and saw the senior agent's eyes slowly open and lock onto Kensi's. He was gasping but had stopped his restraints. It was unnerving to watch from Ops as it looked as if Callen's was staring directly at them. His pain and struggle was unbearable to watch. Nell turned away from the screen, she couldn't see him like this.
"You need to hold tight. I understand you can't breathe, I want to help you but someone has targeted you. You could take a fatal hit Callen and we won't let that happen to you. The vest stays on." And that was the end of it. G let his eyes shut and he nodded his understanding. He would just have to hold out.
"How long…" the lead agent started but the talking caused him to cough and grimace.
"Less than ten minutes, G." Sam answered quickly, understanding his best friend's inquiries. "I need you to turn onto your back."
If Callen had heard Sam, he made no signs of showing it. G would try and hold out but he just couldn't focus on anything but breathing and staying awake. Sam looked at his friend's face and saw his eyes were clenched shut. "Kens help me out." The senior agent stated.
Kensi and Sam rolled Callen gently onto his back who kept his eyes screwed shut, he continued to pant. Sam reached for his partner's vest and immediately found the first slug that hit him which was dug deeply in the material. He sighed in relief that was short lived when half a dozen shots suddenly penetrated the wall above them, racking the silence and startling the entire team. Deeks, Sam, and Kensi ducked low out of reflex to the gunfire, Sam instinctively moving his body above his partner's to shield his breathless form from further harm.
The gunfire then stopped but the team remained unmoved, half out of shock and half anticipating more shots to be fired. The silence was broken by Callen's mutter. "Sam… really can't… breathe gonna… I'm… sor- " His voice trailed off to incomprehensible mumbling and then to nothing. Sam moved to look at his friend's face, startled by his most recent words and not liking how quiet the team leader had just become.
"G." Sam grasped his friend's pale face in his hand, seeing that his eyes were shut and face slack, for the first time tonight. "G!" Sam yelled in fear. He ripped his glove off and placed two fingers on his carotid artery. This couldn't be happening.
Kensi glared at Sam's face, waiting to read his features and learn the fate of her team leader and friend. Hetty, Nell, and Eric held their breath.
"Pulse is weak but there, what the hell?!" Sam was scared. A cracked rib couldn't be killing his friend, and then it struck him. "Take his vest off." Sam stated.
Kensi stared at Callen as he lay on the ground, unconscious, his chest making a wheezing noise every time he exhaled. Kensi slowly turned to look at Sam, "We can't, we don't even know-"
"Eric, how long until back up arrives?" Deeks interrupted both agents. Eric peeled his eyes off Sam's POV camera view and onto another monitor. He looked at the GPS for the location of the tactical support team. "They're two blocks out Deeks, a minute or less."
Deeks nodded his understanding, "Do it."
Sam gripped at the corner of his partner's vest and ripped at the adhesive Velcro until it crackled and the material opened. Callen's body bounced limply as the vest was jolted open and Kensi hated how frail her friend looked. There was no blood on Callen's t-shirt and Kensi let out a slight breath, fearing the lead agent was bleeding out underneath the vest but seeing no evidence of such. Sam flipped the front of the vest so he could better see the inside and then exhaled in defeat. "Oh no…" Sam exclaimed, panic laced in his tone.
Deeks turned over his shoulder again, startled by the eldest's tone and statement. "Sam, what happened? What is it?"
Kensi didn't know what prompted Sam's doubtful words and inspected Callen's vest for an answer. Sam didn't respond. He gripped the collar of G's black shirt and tore a rip in it down towards the team leader's chest. Sam moved his hands frantically, separating the material away in an attempt to see the skin that lay under the thin cloth. He scrunched his face in fear once he saw what he was dreading. "Hetty-" Sam stated shakily. For the first time in his life, he didn't know what to do.
TBC