Felt like writing something a little angsty before finishing up The Game. This one will be short (really) just a couple of chapters. References to the episode "Little Angels." And a word of warning, this chapter ends in a cliffhanger.

xxxxx

"G?" Sam called as he knocked on the door to his partner's apartment. "Come on, man, we're gonna be late." He sighed to himself when there was no answer. Callen sleeping late? That just didn't happen. Worried now, he bent down and quickly picked the lock to the door. "G? I'm coming in." He entered the apartment and after a quick search, including closets, found it to be empty. His partner's car was outside, but where was G?

xxxxx

Sam walked towards the bullpen, his strides long and purposeful, his body filled with obvious tension. "Anything?" he asked Kensi and Deeks who looked as worried as he did.

"Not yet," Deeks said, with a shake of his head.

"Have the wonder twins traced his cell?" Sam asked. He hadn't found it in the apartment, in G's car or anywhere in the bar.

"Just sent the address to your phones," Eric said as he and Nell joined the concerned team members.

Sam was already headed back towards the exit. "You coming?" he called. Kensi and Deeks quickly got to their feet to join him and the three went outside to the Challenger. Deeks got into the back seat, allowing his wife to sit in front with Sam.

"When's the last time you talked to him?" Kensi asked as Sam started the engine.

"When I dropped him off at the bar last night."

"Do you think he's on a case?" Deeks asked.

"Without a car?" Sam snapped.

"Maybe someone picked him up," Kensi said, trying to ease Sam's tension. Sam said nothing though, his sole focus on getting to the location of Callen's phone as fast as possible.

xxxxx

"I don't see it," Deeks said, as he, Sam and Kensi carefully explored the isolated area.

"It has to be somewhere," Sam said. He was trying to keep his emotions in control, but none of this made any kind of sense and it was getting harder and harder to do so.

"Sam! Over here." Sam and Deeks hurried over to Kensi who handed Sam Callen's cell phone.

"Anything else here?" Sam asked, as his eyes scanned the ground where the phone had been.

Kensi shook her head. "I don't see anything." The three of them inspected the area slowly and carefully, searching for any clue which could lead them to Callen, but they found nothing.

"Come on. Let's get this phone to Eric and Nell. Maybe they can find some clue to G's whereabouts."

Sam had just opened the driver's side door to the Challenger when someone called out to him. "Sam? Sam Hanna?!"

"Who the hell are you?" Sam asked as the newcomer approached, a middle-aged white male, slim with thinning grey hair and a menacing look in his eyes.

"Whatever are you doing out here in the middle of nowhere?" the man asked, ignoring Sam's question. Looking for something? A lost puppy perhaps?" He smiled coldly, obviously enjoying whatever game he was playing.

"Where is he?" Sam growled, grabbing the man roughly. "Tell me or I'll shake it out of you!"

"Sam!" Deeks grabbed the irate man and pulled him away. "You won't find out anything if you kill him."

"Sorry, I haven't seen any puppies out here. I think you'd best look in another location," the man said. "There's nothing for you here."

"Cuff him," Sam ordered. Deeks quickly did as Sam wanted and ushered the man into the Challenger.

xxxxx

The first thing Callen realized as he regained consciousness was that he was cold and his hands were cuffed. He was lying on his back and was also blindfolded. He took a few deep breaths to calm himself as he tried to remember what had happened. Based on his pounding headache, someone had likely coldcocked him. He had no clue who though. He didn't remember a thing except entering Deeks' bar after hours. Luckily, his hands were cuffed in front of him and not behind him. He quickly reached for the blindfold so he could see what he was dealing with. When he removed it though, to his dismay, he found that he was engulfed in blackness and couldn't see a thing.

xxxxx

"Who the hell are you and what did you do with my partner?" Sam snarled. He and Deeks were with the suspect in the interrogation room at the boat shed.

"I'm hurt you don't remember me," the man said with a self satisfied smirk. "It was nine years ago though so I suppose that could have something to do with it."

Sam stared at the man, trying to recall hm. He looked at Deeks but the younger man wasn't showing any signs of recognition either. "Who are you?"

"Randy Madison. Ring a bell?"

Sam shook his head impatiently. "What did you do with my partner?"

"I assure you he's quite safe, except for a bit of a headache, I'd imagine. He sunk like a stone, didn't have a clue I was in the bar until I hit him." Randy grinned. "I thought you agents were supposed to be more observant."

"Where is he?"

"What's for me to know and you to find out."

"I'll find out all right." Sam leaped at the man as Deeks quickly grabbed him to hold him back.

"We're not going to find out anything if you kill him, Sam."

"Where is he?" Sam repeated slowly, stress evident in his voice.

"First, let me tell you a bit about myself," Randy said, seeming to enjoy the power he held over the other two men. "I was born in West Virginia. My parents were humble folks, kind but not exactly wealthy."

"Cut the crap," Deeks ordered, his blue eyes flashing with anger. "Or you won't have to worry about Sam. I'll beat the crap out of you myself."

"Fine." The smile left Randy's face and he cast a cold look in Sam's direction. "You arrested me for gun trafficking. All I wanted was to earn a bit of extra money. I didn't deserve to be imprisoned."

"Seriously?" Deeks asked. "Haven't you ever heard of that three letter word called a job? It's what most people do to earn that money you were after."

"I had a job. It wasn't enough!" Randy was focused on Deeks now. "I still didn't deserve nine years in prison. It gave me lots of time to think...lots of time to make plans."

"What the hell did you do with my partner?!" Sam's patience had reached the endpoint, his imagination going into overdrive as he remembered what had happened to his wife and the untimely and tragic end to her life.

"I learned lots of things in prison. There were others who weren't exactly big fans of yours either. I found out you had a family, a wife, may she rest in peace, kids…"

"Man, you are asking for it." Deeks cast a concerned look at Sam who looked like he was at the end of his rope.

"Don't you mention my family, EVER!"

"Don't worry, Agent Hanna, killing children would be very distasteful to me...even women. I never would have harmed your wife. Suffocation wasn't it?" Randy gave a mock shudder. "Very distasteful business."

Sam had reached his limit. He lunged at Randy and put his hands around his neck. "WHERE IS MY PARTNER YOU SON OF A BITCH?!"

xxxxx

Callen easily got out of the handcuffs which had fit a little too tightly. He rubbed his wrists to regenerate the circulation then stretched his arms up overhead. That was when his hands hit the wooden ceiling. Swallowing back a feeling of panic, he felt around him and realized he was inside of a wooden enclosure. His heartbeat began to accelerate as his mind explored multiple scenarios, none of them favorable to him. One particular scenario kept coming back to him although he didn't want to face it, knowing it would mean he was going to come to a very bad and unpleasant end.

xxxxx

"Sam!" Kensi entered the room and helped Deeks to pull an enraged Sam off of Randy. "Sam don't!"

Breathing heavily and fighting to regain his composure, Randy stared at Sam hatefully. "You want to know where your partner is, Agent Hanna? He's underneath the ground, five or six feet beneath the surface, waiting to die."

Sam stared at Randy in shock. It had given him many nightmares over the years, being trapped underneath the ground as he had been all those years ago. Only this time it wasn't happening to him. It was happening to his partner and best friend. It was happening to G.