Disclaimer: NCISLA characters belong to Shane Brennan. All original characters and this story are mine.
Part 1
Chapter 1
October 21, 2015
Like every weekday, G. Callen strolled into the Spanish style mission for work. It was a Wednesday, half way through the week. He couldn't wait for Friday night. He had a date.
He could hear the banter between the rest of his team ahead of him in the bull pen. He slowed his step, listening intently to them. A smirk hinted on the edge of his lips. He loved coming here. It was like coming home. The people he worked with had become his family.
"Today is the day when hover boards will infiltrate our society," Eric announced to the field agents.
Kensi and Sam chuckled at his comment—Deeks nodded and smiled.
"I'm waiting for mine to arrive in the post." Deeks looked up from his desk, waiting for Eric to respond. He was jesting with him, but the serious expression that appeared on the Technical Operator's face, made him realise that Eric thought he was for real.
"Eric, I'm joking."
The tension released from Eric's body immediately. "You had me there for a minute."
Callen entered and slipped into his chair. He'd come in through the back entry, past the water fountain.
"G. Where have you been?"
He merely shrugged. "At home."
"No. You weren't there. I came by to pick you up."
Sam Hanna narrowed his eyes. "Were you at Joelle's place last night?"
The mention of Joelle Taylor, had Callen shift uneasily in his chair. He hadn't the heart to tell his partner that he'd broken it off with her a month ago. The line of work they did, really wasn't fair to inflict on the Kindergarten Teacher. She was too innocent to the cruel world they faced everyday. If anyone came after him, he'd put her in danger. No. He decided, he needed to protecter her. Instead, he broke her heart.
The tears had been heart wrenching. It had been nice being in a relationship—a long term one, with someone who knew the real him. But he faced too many bad guys he'd put away, who'd cast their anger—threatening to come after him and his family.
Instead of consoling her, he'd walked away. He'd spent many hours afterwards, punching his emotions out on the black sand bag that hung in the gym—until he felt numb inside his heart. A lone wolf. That was what he'd been for so long, he accepted his fate. Besides the team, he was on his own.
"No." His reply was short and sharp, resulting in looks from the team.
An agent needs assistant alert rang out on all of their phones. Memories of Dom returned to the forefront of their mind.
They all looked at their cells. Callen's heart fell.
"Nell's in danger," Sam said out loud. Worry for their Intelligence Analyst hung heavily on his shoulders.
The team ran for the stairs, taking two at a time. Eric moved swiftly to find her location.
Callen narrowed his eyes. None of this made sense. He reined in his emotions. This was personal.
"She's about three blocks from her apartment. It's an abandoned group of apartments, sold recently for a re-build," Eric muttered, his nerves haywire.
"Culver city beside La Bona Creek Chanel, on Jefferson Boulevard. Address is on your phones."
No one said anything, the field agents ran down the stairs to the cars.
"I don't understand who would take Nell and why?" Sam firmly gripped his hands on the steering wheel and pushed heavily on the pedal. The absence of Hetty and Granger couldn't be at a worse time. Both had been called to D.C. for a meeting with Director Vance and the SecNav—Sarah Porter.
Callen remained silent as his mind tried to figure out his partner's questions on his own. He knew the answer. He was to blame for everything that happened to her.
Sam screeched to a halt outside the apartment block, Kensi braking behind them. With their guns drawn, they scanned the area and shielded each other as they made their way inside.
Their footsteps echoed on the stairwell. Bare concrete steps ran up the six floor building. They had no idea which floor Nell's cell pinged from.
The partners split up. Deeks and Kensi took the first floor, Sam and Callen, the second. Once they cleared the floor, they made their move, two floors up, alternating. Finally, Sam and Callen reached the sixth floor. They moved swiftly through the door and scoured the floor. In the middle of the area sat a laptop and Nell's cell.
Callen's heart beat rapidly inside his chest. He swallowed hard and ran over. Nell's image came up on the screen. Her mouth was taped over, he saw the fear in her hazel eyes. She was tied to a chair and she tried to move.
"Nell." His voice was barely a whisper. Sam scanned around them for an intruder—they were alone.
A voice chuckled. "If you want to see your pretty little woman again, Agent Callen—you better do as I tell you."
It was a recording. It went in a loop, but it came from somewhere—they just had to figure out where. They listened to the demands by the kidnapper. None of it sounded good. They needed Hetty and Granger back ASAP. The clock was ticking.
Sam narrowed his eyes and stared at his partner. Callen's body was tense and his eyes wide. "G."
He placed his hand on his shoulder to grab his attention. "G. What's going on?"
Callen looked up, his cerulean orbs were cold as ice. He licked his lips. "They took Nell to get to me."
"Who took her?"
Callen furrowed his brow. "I have no idea."
"Okay. We'll get Eric to figure out where this link is coming from." Sam turned from him and called it in.
Deeks and Kensi walked in and halted. They'd expected to find Nell there, not her image on the screen. Fear for their friend clenched tight in their jaws and stomachs.
"Do we know who's taken her?" Deeks tried to see if there was anything in the background, any reflections that could help them find her.
It had been too easy. Callen knew it was too good, to find her so quickly. He fisted his hands at his side. His stomach lurched. He walked away from his team and vomited. Fortunately he'd found an old bucket to heave into. Still, it wasn't a pretty sight.
"Callen, are you okay?" Kensi looked over to him with concern. In all the years she'd known him, not once had she seen him ill at a crime scene.
He nodded and wiped his mouth. "Yeah. Must of eaten something bad for breakfast."
"I thought your stomach was tough like steel, with all the rubbish you eat from those food trucks." Sam's comment gave him no relief from the fear for Nell, inside of him.
His partner walked over to him and studied him. "Why would someone choose to take Nell and not Joelle?"
Deeks and Kensi gave each other a quizzical look, they were missing something.
Callen heaved out a sigh. He looked at his team who watched his every move. "I ended it with Joelle a month ago. I feared that an enemy would come after her to get to me. She's not prepared for the life we live and face everyday on the job."
Sam nodded, he'd said the same thing to Kensi recently. He met her gaze, Kensi gave him a knowing look. "So why Nell?"
Callen crossed his arms over his chest and shrugged. "I've no idea."
Sam narrowed his eyes, he watched the defence mechanisms go up immediately. "Where were you this morning, G?"
Sam stepped in front of his partner, forcing him to look at him. He noticed the small creases in between his brows. He was hiding something. "We need to know, so we can find her, before—"
"I was at Nell's."
The team looked at him, surprised.
"I crashed there last night." He stepped back, he needed some air.
"How long has this been going on?" Sam knew the signs. His partner had crossed the line, like the younger members of their team had done ten months earlier.
"Since she found me…" He couldn't say it. Explain how or why. It just happened. He was wretched. He'd broken the tender heart of Joelle to protect her. He berated himself over it in the gym. Nell had found him—anger laced in his breath, tears in his eyes.
"I was struggling with my decision to end things with Joelle. I did it to protect her." Callen heaved out a heavy breath, his eyes darted around the area, looking for an escape. Sam's gaze followed. Callen knew he wouldn't make it.
"It was nice to have normal. But I knew it was too good. I couldn't put her in that kind of danger. So I had to accept my decision. But it wasn't easy." He took a few steps back towards the laptop and halted.
"Nell saw the pain, my pain." He looked back at Sam. "I never expected anything. It was just supposed to be one night."
"How long have you and Nell been together?" Sam knew something had been on his partner's mind recently. Now he knew why. He just wished Callen was better at opening up to him.
"Every night for the past month." His admission surprised them. Nell had consoled him after his break up with Joelle. Kensi knew Nell had a crush on him, but she never expected this. Her eyes widened at the news. Her gaze shifted to her partner's, he was just as shocked.
"Okay." Sam pulled him in for a hug. "We'll find her. This gives us a time frame to work with. Someone's been following you for the past month. Before that, they would have chosen Joelle."
A thought came to Sam, he dialled his cell and walked away from the team. "Shell. We need someone to protect Joelle for a while. Someone is after G, they've taken Nell."
They watched Sam's soft brown eyes harden, he was taking it personal, that someone on their team had been taken. Just like he had with Dom. Always the big brother, looking out for the others.
He disconnected the call. "Shell's having Joelle brought back to our house for a while. We need to get back and see what Eric's found."
He looked at Kensi. "We need that laptop fingerprinted. G has no idea who's taken her."
"No problem. We'll bring it back."
"Watch your backs. We don't know if someone is watching us."
Deeks and Kensi nodded, they knew the risks.
