I do not own any of the NCIS: Los Angeles characters.
"Face it G, I'm champion of the world." Sam said with a smile. "You got no came, and that's cool." Kensi and Deeks looked up as Sam and Callen walked down from the workout area back to where Kensi and Deeks sat at their desks, filling out paperwork.
"One game," argued Callen. "You beat me at basketball one time. That makes you champion of the afternoon." Sam laughed.
Kensi and Deeks watched Sam and Callen banter back and forth with amused grins. The team was still exhausted from their last case—putting away an entire ring of military arms dealers was rewarding but it had taken its toll on the team both mentally and physically. Sam and Callen decided to take a break from writing up their reports to play some basketball.
"It's cool, you know," Deeks chimed in. "I mean, I understand why you guys never ask me to play. It would be embarrassing for you guys to always lose to me. I got game." He sat in his chair, leaning back with his feet up on the desk.
"Kensi's your partner. You want to play ball, you ask Kens." Sam looked from Deeks to Kensi.
Kensi snorted. "No way. Deeks is a baby when he loses." Sam and Callen chuckled.
"Please," said Deeks. "Anytime you lose at anything you sulk and pout for days."
"He's got a point," Sam and Callen said in unison.
"Not true!" Kensi stood up, indignant. You all-" She was cut off by Eric's whistle. All the agents looked up at him, expecting him to direct them all up to Ops for a new case briefing.
"Deeks! Upstairs, 911!" Eric stood at the top of the Mission steps, frantic. He turned and ran back into Ops, not waiting to see if Deeks followed.
Deeks looked at the rest of the team, puzzled, springing into action. His long legs broke into a light sprint as he hustled up to Ops.
Kensi, Callen, and Sam exchanged a confused glance before all following Deeks up the stairs.
"Eric, what the hell?" Deeks asked as he entered the room.
"Phone call," answered Eric. "A man called saying he had an urgent message for you, and that a woman is in danger. He'll only speak to you." Eric typed something into his tablet and a man appeared on the large Ops screen.
"Detective Martin Deeks," sneered an overly large, muscled man with a shaved head. A tarantula tattoo covered most of his brawny neck.
"What's this, Harley?" asked Deeks. "You miss me? You just want to see my sun-kissed face? Since when are inmates allowed to make video calls?"
Harley chuckled. "I'm out, dick. No thanks to you. Your personal testimony did earn me a life sentence, but don't worry. Harley knows how to play the game. I made some deals with some prosecutors and now I'm free as a bird. As nice as it is to catch up, this is a business call."
"I have no business with you. Why are you calling me?" Deeks said, frustrated. He folded his arms against his chest, leaning back on the Ops desk. Kensi looked at Deeks. She could see he was tense.
Harley smiled. "The business is, of course, making you pay for what you did. You betrayed me, and now you have to pay. You infiltrated my brotherhood, you made us believe you were one of us. We treated you like a member of our family. But you were a cop, and you played us. Your games cost me and my brothers. And now they are going to cost you."
"Really?" asked Deeks. He smiled, a cocky smirk on his lips. "Like you said, I handled you BY MYSELF and now you're threatening me in front of my entire NCIS team. Threatening a police officer is more than enough to undo any deals you made, and federal agents make very credible witness. Plus, I'm sure Eric is recording and tracing this phone call." Deeks glanced over as Eric gave him the thumbs-up sign.
"I'm not threatening you," Harley smiled. "Killing you would be so easy, and what's the fun in that. Besides, you're kind of a masochist. A masochist with a hero complex. So, I think the way to make you suffer is to make you watch someone else suffer."
Deeks stomach dropped. Callen, Sam, and Kensi all looked at Deeks, alarmed. Harley stepped out of view of the webcam. Only an empty, windowless room could be seen. Deeks exhaled sharply.
"Do you think he grabbed a girl?" asked Kensi. Kensi didn't want to admit it, but the easiest way to make Deeks suffer was to hurt someone else. He was too brave and strong, and self-sacrificing, and yes, perhaps even masochistic to be too concerned with his own well-being. Grabbing an innocent girl, on the other hand, would kill him. It would destroy him to know someone else was hurt as a result of things he did.
"Oh yeah," said Sam, his dark features furrowed and his jaw set. "He wouldn't make a call like this without being able to show force."
"He's enjoying himself," Callen added. "He looks like the cat who ate the canary. He looks really excited about something. He knows if he called us without a hostage we would just find him and pick him up. He wouldn't risk going back to jail without having acted on his plan. And he knows we wouldn't take him so seriously if he didn't have a hostage."
"The call is still connected." Eric said. "I won't hang up." The agents all looked to the screen. Muffled noises and shuffling could be heard in the background. The camera showed only a small, windowless room.
"Harley!" Deeks shouted, frustrated. Deeks put both his hands on the Ops table to support himself. "Fucking hell," he muttered under his breath.
"Keep calm, Deeks," Kensi murmured. "Don't let him bait you. We need to keep cool and figure this out." Kensi tried to calm Deeks, but she knew it was futile. She knew how deeply her partner's cases affected him, and how deeply he felt the pain of victims he encountered.
Harley reappeared on the screen, still smiling. "Boys, bring her in." Two men dressed in black combat pants, black t-shirts, and black ski masks covering their faces entered the room dragging a petite woman between them. The woman's hands were tied behind her back and a cloth bag covered her head. She wore a long-sleeve white t-shirt and a denim mini skirt. The men tossed the girl to Harley, she stumbled, and he grabbed her roughly by the arms.
"Let her go," Deeks said. His voice was calm, but Kensi could see he was shaken. It was one of the qualities she most admired in Deeks—he always showed calm in difficult situations, even when he was freaking out inside. "She doesn't have anything to do with this. If you want to make me suffer, come and get me."
Harley chuckled. "See, I know you well, Deeks! You are so chivalrous, you'd hand yourself over to save some stranger. I reiterate, I'm going to make you suffer by making you watch her suffer. She and I are going to have all kinds of fun together. And the whole time we're hanging out, I want you to keep in mind this is happening because you're a rat and traitor." He put his hand on the girl's stomach, and ran it slowly up and down her body. The agents noticed her tense up and shudder at the unwelcome contact.
Callen cleared his throat. "Harley, can you hear me? This is Special Agent Callen here."
"Yes."said Harley. "Go ahead, Special Agent Callen." He spit out 'special agent' like it was a dirty word.
"Listen, I know you're pissed at Deeks. Who wouldn't be? Trust me, even cops don't like Deeks. His undercover games have burned a lot of good men."
"Too true, " said Harley. "Go on."
"Look, obviously the prosecutors didn't think you were as bad as Deeks said you were. They wouldn't have made any deals with you if they did. Deeks has a tendency to talk a lot of shit. Obviously the evidence didn't back up his story. You got out of jail! So, I'm proposing you let the girl home so we can all call it a day. You see, kidnapping is a felony. You'd be doing another life sentence. You let her go and we can chalk this up to a misunderstanding. You can keep your freedom, as long as she comes back to us completely unharmed," Callen reasoned.
"Thanks," said Harley. But I know how that would end. "I hand over the girl and you still arrest me. What I've got planned is going to be so much more fun. For me. And for Detective Deeks." He twisted the girls arm. She let out a whimper. "Oh, and Detective Deeks, this girl is not some random girl."
The screen went black.