A/N - Just trying to get into all their heads a little during the last minutes of Found. Don't know if I've managed it but it was worth a shot. Just a one shot.
No beta'ing, so mistakes are all mine.
Disclaimer - own nothing NCIS LA related, just playing around in their heads for a bit. Won't hurt them. I promise.
Love to know what you think.
Callen.
He stood looking at Sam, seeing the tears fall down Sam's face as he knelt over Dom. He saw Dom. Dead. Blood everywhere. Dom's blood. Too much blood. He looked away and saw Kensi, far off, on the stairs. Even from a distance he could see her shoulders shake as she held her head in her hands. He knew there would be tears on her face as well. He also knew that there was a 99% chance that she would hate anyone to see her like that. He turned back to Sam and Dom. They were all in their own little world's of pain. He could feel the tears that wanted to fall but he wouldn't let them. They'd been so close. They'd found him, had him even, but they just couldn't get him out. Even though he'd taken down Kalil, they'd failed. They'd failed Dom. They'd failed themselves. He hated to fail.
Kensi
She saw Callen shake his head at her. Her mind screamed NO! Not Dom! They'd only just got him back. She turned and sat down on the stairs, before she fell down them. Not real, must be a dream. A Bad Dream. A Nightmare. She felt the tears fall. If I close my eyes and open them again, this will all go away. Dom missing, yes. Dom dead, no. Let me wake up. Please, let me wake up. She closed her eyes tight and wished, wished with everything that she had, that this was all just a dream. But when she opened them, she was still there on the stairs, tears falling down her face and she knew it was a nightmare, a living nightmare. Dom was dead. He wouldn't be back. They'd failed. She hated to fail.
Sam
Dom dead. He'd taken bullets for him. It should have been the other way around. They were here to save him, not for him to save them. He hadn't wanted to give up, even after G had assured him they hadn't. Dom dead. So much blood. He saw the injuries other than the bullets. At least Dom wasn't in anymore pain. That was about the only good thing he could think of. Moe had been involved. He'd failed both of them. He hated to fail.
Nate
He had watched it play out on the screen. Had heard it all. He was still watching the video feed, but he couldn't believe his eyes. It couldn't end like this. They were the good guys. They were supposed to win, not the bad buys. No, not all the time, the psychiatrist in him said. Yes, all the time, the man in him replied. Sometimes the good guys fail, the psychiatrist added. He had just discovered how much he really hated to fail.
Eric
He knew the feed was real. He knew what he was seeing was real. He couldn't help but stare and hope that someone would tell him it was all just one of his games. A very realistic one, but a game none the less. If only it had been a game, he could have helped. They could have gone back to the last save point and kept trying until it ended as it should. Dom home, Dom safe. The team back together as it should be. Not this, not one chance to get it right. He wondered if there had been something he'd missed. Some little detail that would have pointed them to where Dom was sooner. He didn't think so, but it didn't matter anymore. They'd failed. They couldn't try again. He hated failing. That's why he always saved the game.
Hetty
Not again, she thought. She'd watched the video feed. She'd listened. She'd hoped not again. She'd prayed not again. But hope hadn't helped. Prayer hadn't helped. All the favours she'd called in, hadn't helped. She took one last look at the screen, at four of her agents, four of her family. One dead, three greiving. She turned to leave, looking at the last two of this family. Neither looked like they could move, just staring at the unbelievable scene in front of them. She left, pausing at the door, but she couldn't turn and face them. It had happened again. She had sworn she wouldn't let it. That she would do everything in her power to make sure it didn't happen again. But she'd failed. She'd failed to protect her family. She hated to fail.
They all hated to fail. That's why they worked so well together. That's why it hurt so much that they had failed one of their own. That's why, when the pain eased, they would keep going, keep trying to find a way to not fail again.
