AU: Yes, I shouldn't be posting anything else. I know. But those plot bunnies have been killing me to write this! Anyways, slight spoilers for season 2, not really though. No Dom, yes Deeks. I cried when Dom died and I miss him, but honestly I think Deeks has a much more interesting character.
Please review! I absolutely love it when people do and if I get five reviews I'll update Wed. and if I get more, I'll try hard for Tuesday!
Merry Christmas to all!
Chapter 1 Trouble
" Mr. Callen. Mr. Hanna." Hetty's sharp voice cut through the bull pen as the partners walked into OSP Headquarters, late for the third time that week.
" Hetty." Sam acknowledged the smaller women's presence. G hadn't even turned, his head in the clouds. Strange...
" Mr. Callen." Hetty repeated and Sam nudged him in the ribs. Callen jumped and glared at Sam who diverted his gaze to Hetty.
" Sorry Hetty." G apologized. Hetty sighed, but more out of concern for his well being than annoyance.
" Yes, Mr. Callen, as I was saying," she considered giving them the reprimand she had prepared for their lateness, but decided against it as she saw G's head slide away again. " we have a case. The others are waiting for you." she nodded upstairs and the two men dropped their bags and headed for the stairs.
Hetty frowned. Something was wrong. Years of experience told her not to disregard her feeling, but to hold it close to her busy mind.
Sam eyed his partner warily. G had been acting oddly all week, late and quiet. Even for him that was odd. He had even refused to come to dinner at his house last night, something Sam knew the guy enjoyed. Sam's wife was a great cook.
They entered Eagle's Nest, ignoring Deeks' smirk and Nate's questioning look. Sam smiled hello to Kensi before taking a spot behind the counter. G wandered aimlessly to his usual place, his head obviously somewhere else.
" Okay, so this was taken at oh five hundred this morning by a street camera." the blond tech announced, pulling up a dark screen of an alleyway.
There wasn't much to see, no cars, a dimly lit street was the only source of light, casting a bare glow over the randomly placed alley.
One figure, a shadow really, stood, and looked pissed. A man from his plump figure and meaty hands that made rude gestures toward the brick wall.
Suddenly he raised his hand and brought it crashing down. The bare sound of a scream came through the audio system.
" Eric, can you enhance sound?" Sam demanded, and the tech immediately worked on it.
Suddenly the video came to life. A soft pattering of a bird resting for the night, the low, distant growl of a car, and the barest sound of someone cursing and yelling.
" Bitch, get up! Be useful for once!" the man roared. A few more moments of cursing and screaming passed when suddenly there was a loud gun shot, a shout, another gun shot, some more yelling, and a final gun shot.
Two figures appeared from the alley. One was obviously the man, fat, bald, and a mean, drunk look to his face.
The other was much shorter, with their long hair loose on their shoulders. Even from a distance they looked terrified.
The man grabbed the smaller figure, and spun them around. A fist came from nowhere and slammed itself into her stomach. A second punch. A third. A fourth. A fifth. The punching repeated.
Finally they twisted and planted a foot into his shin. The man tried to grab them again, but they were already gone. Sprinting down the street.
The video ended.
Eric's usually happy face had gone solemn.
" The locals found a body in that alley a few hours later. A Marine by the name of Paul Hinderlan." Eric pulled up the photo of a man about thirty eight, with rough buzzed light brown hair, and soft green eyes that looked proud to be in this photo.
Sam glanced at G and was shocked at what he saw.
Pale with sweat forming at the edge of his face. His hands trembled a little, and Sam's partner had to grip the table to keep from showing the reaction.
Sam's eye narrowed. This was bad. Nothing got this sort of reaction from G. Nothing.
" They find anything else?" Sam asked, still looking worriedly at his partner. Eric shook his head, then paused.
" Well yeah, but it could be nothing." At the agent's looks he pulled up a photo.
It was a necklace, crude in the making, but held a sort of dignity to it. Hung on the strip of worn twine was a rough piece of wood. Etched inside was a basic star, shaky but definitely a star.
" They think it was just something from the alley except for the blood." The screen zoomed in on the dark splotches covering the star.
" They identify the man?" Kensi asked. Eric shook his head no,
" But I can try pulling something from the video." he offered.
" Do it." The tech whipped back to his computers and silence fell over the team as they did what they always did, waited.
" Umm okay. This is the best I could do, but hopefully we can run it and-" Callen cut Eric off as the fuzzy picture of a Caucasian man, bald and fat came up.
" Don't bother Eric. His name's Terrance Erlof." Everyone stared at G, who had seemed to gotten a better hold of himself, the sweat was gone and his hand had stopped shaking, but he still looked unusually pale.
" How do you know him?" Deeks asked " You play his wife too?" Callen didn't smile at the joke and Kensi elbowed her partner in the ribs.
" He was my foster father for a month and a half."
Crap.