A "Blip" on Hetty's Radar
a/n: I've often wondered how, with access to so many agents and agencies, one LAPD detective out of hundreds could ever had gotten Hetty's attention. This is my little AU to answer that question...of course this is pre-series—probably two or three months before Callen was shot...
...NCIS LA...
The blonde headed man slipped into the basement room quietly, offering the hallway one more, quick look before closing the door and settling his curious gaze to the man tied to the chair in the middle of the room.
They eyed each other critically for several tense seconds before the blond man finally asked, "So, you really a federal agent?"
The man got a silent, glare in response to the question, and just shrugged casually, "Really, with the attitude...must be true all feds have their sense of humor surgically removed..."
The man in the chair remained silent, his frown deepening; the agent wasn't quite sure what to make of the man standing before him. He'd seen the man with their suspect on several occasions, and the sullen hardness the agent had come to associate with the blonde was noticeably absent from the man standing before him.
Moving to look out the small windows on the opposite wall the blond man continued to monologue, "I mean, really, you are the one trussed up like Sunday dinner, so I'd say we are past the whole keeping secrets thing..."
Unable to contain his curiosity, the man in the chair ground out, "What do you want?"
Turning to the man, the blonde said with exaggeration, "Ah, it speaks."
Seemingly satisfied with what he saw, or didn't see, out the window, the agent watched as the blond moved back to the door and opened it a crack to again peer up and down the hallway; before moving towards him.
Noting the man on the chair stiffen up in a defensive posture (as much as one can be defensive when tied to a chair), the blond stopped, "really, you're lucky I'm such a nice guy...that might hurt my feelings..."
The agent was beginning to wish the guy would just shoot him, at least then he wouldn't have to listen to the man's inane prattle and responded dryly, "so, sorry...wouldn't want to hurt the feelings of the guy sent in to kill me..."
Looking momentarily surprised, the blond moved behind the agent and said with seriousness, "not me, man...Harker wants to keep you 'til after the buy; he knows the feds are moving in and he wants a bargaining chip in case everything goes sideways—it's too late for either side to back out, so they moved the meet from the west port to the warehouse over on sixth..."
The agent couldn't help showing his surprise, both at the information the man they had pegged as one of Harkin's trusted men, was freely sharing; and also at the feel of the bonds dropping from his nearly numb wrists.
Bringing his hands in front of him in an attempt to rub away the numbness and restore circulation the agent continued to eye his benefactor warily as the man stooped down and pulled a back-up weapon from his ankle holster.
Handing it towards the agent, the blond said, "I'd really like this back..."
Taking the weapon warily, the agent commented evenly, "You're not really one of Harker's men," causing the blond to chuckle and respond dryly.
"Gee, you feds catch on quick...look, we don't have much time...Harker is due back in less than an hour..." the blond said, moving back towards the door and peering out, "you should be able to make it back to your people and coordinate the take down before Harker knows your missing..."
"Wait, what about you...if Harker finds out you helped me..." the agent said, laying a hand on the man's arm to stop him. He knew how ruthless this arms dealer was, has seen the autopsy and crime scene photos of both enemies and allies, that had displeased the arms dealer; and he wasn't about to leave a fellow peace officer to suffer for helping him escape.
"He won't...I'm the one responsible for keeping you on ice 'til the meet. Harker won't suspect a thing until it's too late..." the blonde responded, noting the less than convinced look on the agent's face the blond said in put upon exasperation, "look, I've been under with Harker for close to five months...the man trusts me, won't suspect a thing; now we need to move..."
As the agent followed the blond he couldn't quite quell the sudden uncertainties rising in his mind; this was one thing that always bothered him about undercover: with so many agencies, both foreign and domestic and so many different angles and in-roads to the "bad guys"...he always had this very fear in the back of his mind-that Ops would overlap and an agent or cop would get caught in the cross fire because of their undercover status.
And up until thirty minutes ago, the man he was currently following through the warehouse—the man currently helping him, at great risk to himself, to escape would have been just another suspect to him; one he wouldn't have hesitated to put a bullet into. He couldn't help the feeling of dread that momentarily came over him at the thought of accidently shooting one of the "good guys".
The agent shook off the morbid thoughts, concentrating on getting himself out of the situation and back to Ops. He wanted this take down go off without a hitch...he didn't want the five months the man in front of him had invested in this op to be in vain, he owed it to him.
Coming out of the back of the warehouse the blonde turned to the agent, "keep your head down and avoid the camera's...there is a car two streets over, keys in it...Harker and the buyers are meeting up at sundown; can you have your people in place?"
The agent nodded, asking, "...what about yours?"
"Kinda' hopin' you could help out with that; haven't been able to get away long enough to call in since Harker changed the game plan," the blond said, handing the agent a small scrap of paper, "that's my handler...the take down needs to be coordinated so we don't take out our own guys..."
The agent looked down at the note, surprised that it was an LAPD contact; wondering how LAPD make more inroads to this case—managed to get a man undercover, when his federal agency had not. Not having the luxury to ponder the irony, he pocked the note and nodded, giving the gun a little wave, "...care of LAPD then..."
Smiling, "yeah, drop it at LAPD, tell 'em Deeks—it'll get back to me..."
"Thanks man, I owe you..." the agent said.
"We're the good guys right...it's what we do," the blond replied cheekily, scanning the area critically and adding with a sudden seriousness, "you better get going, I've got to get back..."
The two men nodded at one and other before parting ways...
...NCIS LA...
The take down went without a hitch, LAPD and NCIS having the Intel to coordinate a sweeping op.
Harker growled out a threat to the big, dark agent manhandling him into cuffs, "...you want your agent back in one piece you'll cut a deal..."
Whirling the man around and shoving him against the SUV, Sam said lightly, "What, you mean that agent?"
Harker followed the agent's line of sight to see Callen sauntering up.
"You...but, how..." Harker exclaimed in surprise.
The two agents exchanged smug looks before their eyes tracked across the chaos to the blond man Callen had encountered earlier at the warehouse; to maintain his cover, the blond was also being cuffed and put into the back of a squad car.
Harker looked at the two agents in confusion, "Sully...what, how'd you find the warehouse..."
The agents didn't answer the man; Callen merely opened the backdoor to the SUV so Sam could shove their suspect into the back...
...NCIS LA...
As the sun set over the LA coastline, casting shadows through the few sparse windows in the old Spanish style building a small woman poured herself a cup of tea and settled into her desk. Taking a sip of her tea, she set the cup down and pulled a file closer to her, giving the LAPD personnel file a curious look before opening it up to the first page...
Applicants full name: Brandell, Martin Deeks...
...NCIS LA...
a/n: I've been thinking about this one for a while and this is what came to me today and I had to get it down before it got lost in the scary abyss that is my brain...and already "sequel" is swimming around in my mind...keep in mind that with as many cases and people our agents and our cop encounter it wouldn't be that far-fetched for them to 'forget' someone they briefly encountered on a case...and when you encounter them later, you can 'recognize' someone without being able to place them...