Disclaimer: If you recognize it...I don't own it.
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Sam Hanna leaned back in his desk chair, stretching his arms behind his head to surreptitiously glance towards the OSP sitting area. Nell was still slumped into the cough, cradling a small girl and whispering quietly in her ear. As Callen met his gaze, Sam knew they were thinking the same thing: How did this get so messed up, so fast?
The cases that seem the most simple are the ones that bite you back. G had decided that a while ago, and today made Sam inclined to agree with him. It had started as a simple, if heart-wrenching, case. Bad guys break into Navy officer's house after officer drops his kid off at school. Bad guys are surprised to find navy officer has stopped back by the house, and shoot him. Off-duty police sergeant who lives two doors down and across the street from Navy officer hears gunshots, calls for backup, and holds the guys at gunpoint until the cavalry gets there. Bad guys go to boatshed and confess almost immediately. Navy officer goes to hospital and is in medically induced coma but expected to make a full recovery. The entire case was a textbook for law enforcement working exactly as it should.
Until Sam and Callen went to pick up the kid. A little paper-pushing and Hetty-wrath had convinced DHR to give NCIS emergency custody until the dad was out of the hospital. Sam and Callen were dispatched to an elementary school to collect Natalie Swanner, aged 8. That was when everything went straight from textbook to nightmare.
Sam was heading through the school playground toward the office when his trouble alarm went off. Not the "someone is about to start shooting at me" kind of trouble, but the "something is seriously wrong with those people" kind. A glance confirmed G felt it too. The agents glanced around before identifying the source of the nudge; in the far corner of a sports field, a cluster of big, tough-looking boys were encircling a terrified little girl.
Before Sam could even ask Callen if they should do something, his partner was speed-walking across the field. "G!" he hissed.
"What?"
"Don't do anything you'll regret."
He nodded stiffly before squaring up the boys. Unfortunately, the boys apparently had an "I'm being squared up" meter because they promptly scattered, leaving their pint-sized victim nowhere to be seen. A quick glance around confirmed that she must have wriggled into the hedge, and a few seconds later, Sam identified a terrified form near the center of a bush. He knelt down on the turf and pulled his shield off his belt.
Leaning forward to rest on his elbows, Sam quietly greeted the girl. "Hi. Are you okay?"
Head shake from inside the bush.
"I can help you if you can come out. I'm Sam, this is Callen; we're cops." Sam held his shield where it would be visible to the small child.
Slowly, the girl crept out of the hedge, stopping to sit down just under the safety of a few overhanging branches. Sam could see blood oozing from several scratches along her face and arms.
"Can you tell me your name?"
"N-n-natalie," she whispered.
Callen glanced significantly at Sam.
"Are you Natalie Swanner?"
She nodded. "How'd'you know my name?"
Sam grinned inwardly; she was starting to get her confidence back. "We're navy cops."
"NCIS?"
Callen crouched down next to Sam. "Wow, cool, most adults we meet don't even know what NCIS is!"
She grinned brightly, than frowned. "Is daddy OK? He said if anything ever happened that I should always go with the people from NCIS."
"Natalie, your daddy is going to be just fine. Some bad guys came to your house today, and he had to go to the hospital but the doctors said he just needs to sleep for a while. We can go see him tomorrow, but right now we need to get your things and go to NCIS."
"But school's not over yet!"
Callen smirked. "NCIS has its perks."
"Do…do I have to go back to my classroom to get my stuff?"
Callen sighed inwardly. His suspicion that Natalie had snuck off had been correct after all. "It's fine, Sam, all I need is a room number and I can get it."
Natalie looked a little less dejected. "Two ought seven. My locker is two ought seven tango, combination tango alpha November."
"Okay," Sam replied reluctantly, sending out a 'this is not a good idea, G' vibe, "we can go to the office and get Natalie checked out."
Callen slipped quietly to the door of room 207 and knocked sharply. A few seconds later, a young woman appeared inside and opened the door slightly. "Can I help you?"
"Agent G Callen, NCIS," Callen introduced himself softly. "I need to get Natalie Swanner's things."
"Of course, is everything alright?" her teacher asked, concerned.
"Okay," Callen conceded, trying not to make the situation seem too normal. "Her dad got hurt and he's going to be in the hospital for a day or two. We're taking care of Natalie."
"Sure, of course, if you have just a minute I can get her assignments for the rest of the week. Do you want to tell Natalie, or shall I?"
Callen barely resisted a half-smirk. "Actually, she's on the way to the front office right now with my partner."
The teacher looked somewhat shocked, glancing around the room worriedly. She seemingly shook off the feeling, retrieving a few books from an empty desk and placing a folder on top before slipping them in a backpack. "Here you go, Agent Callen, and I do hope everything is fine. Natalie is quite the amazing girl."
"Thank you. I hope to bring her back to class beginning of next week."
The agent slipped down the hall, opening Natalie's locker and retrieving her jacket and what looked like a sports bag. He rejoined Sam and Natalie by the office just as they finished checking out.
Once Natalie was settled in the car, Callen braced himself for the difficult question he had to ask. "Natalie, when Sam and I got there, what was going on with those boys."
"Nothing," came a quiet yet sharp reply.
The tone of the single word told Callen more than a straight answer would have. "Natalie," he asked again, carefully but more firmly, "what were those boys telling you or doing to you."
She apparently settled for stubborn silence.
G inwardly swore at the crampedness of the car that prevented him from making more than fleeting eye contact.
He noticed Sam's stance tighten, and saw in the rearview mirror that Natalie's chin was quivering dangerously. Through a series of looks, gestures, and mouthed words, Sam communicated that she was sitting on the edge of either complete meltdown or tantrum. Neither of which was a good option, given the circumstances, so Callen dropped the subject.
They arrived at Ops a few minutes later, and Natalie sullenly settled into a chair and stuck her nose in a Nancy Drew book from her locker. "Hey, Nell?" Callen inquired quietly.
"Yeah?"
Callen beckoned her over. "When you get pack upstairs, buzz Nate and see when he's available. This just got a whole lot more complicated."
A/N Stir plot until thickened. Reviews, please?