The four of us are approaching the back part of the convention center. From the looks of the door that were approaching that our madman was already waiting. On door that was shut we could see his logo, while the other door was propped open, as if inviting us in.
"Hetty we're going in." Callen said.
"No you're not." I say.
"Deeks this isn't the time for heroics." Sam said.
"You're right, so unless any of you have had your booster shots updated then I suggest securing the rest of the building." I say.
"We're in this mess because we didn't trust Deeks in the first place." Kensi said.
"Come back in one piece, Mr. Deeks." Hetty said over the ear piece.
"The device isn't a bomb." I say. "They couldn't get the heat threshold high enough for the virus to survive the blast. So they decided to use a timer and disperse it into the air."
"Well they couldn't have picked a better spot." Eric said over the ear piece.
"Times a wasting?" Nell said.
Sam and Callen peeled off and went to scan the rest of the building. Kensi remained to say bye, but couldn't think of anything. I lean in and give her a kiss.
"Don't worry Fern. I'll be back." I said, and then entered the door.
N.C.I.S. L.A.
Five hours ago, Ops-
"Here's the play." Eric said.
Nell brought up the blue print of the convention center, and Eric continued.
"The most likely place for them to deploy the device for maximum impact." Eric said pointing to the ventilation system main port. "Hook it up to any of those and the building is done for."
I step away from the group, feeling a bit woozy. I reach for the syringe in my pocket and inject myself, and I can feel the effects kick in. They aren't as strong as they were a few days ago, but it'll do.
"Mr. Deeks." Hetty said.
I look up to see what Hetty wanted. "A word in my office." She said.
I pocket the syringe, and follow Hetty to her office.
N.C.I.S. L.A.
Five hours later, the Convention center-
"What do you have Deeks?" Callen said sweeping the east wing of the building.
"I haven't gotten to the room with the ventilation system, although this guy is pretty creepy." I say.
"How creepy?" Kensi asks, as she was sweeping the lobby.
"Oh you know, the usual mantra and declaration of war against the unworthy, that kind of stuff." I say.
"They never think of anything original can they?" Kensi asks.
"Nope." Sam said.
"Cut the chatter, how are we looking Deeks?" Callen cut in.
"I'm right outside the door." Deeks said, but there was static on the line "Just what I needed, wish me luck."
"Godspeed, Mr. Deeks." Hetty said, over the line.
"Thanks Hetty, Alright I'm going-" Deeks never finished his sentence because of the jammer.
"Eric! Nell! See if you can find a possible place to hide a jammer." Sam said.
"On it!" Eric said.
There was silence on the line for a time before either Eric or Nell came back on the line, "Callen we found the spot, but there's a problem." Nell said
"Aren't there always." Kensi asked.
"Not like this." Eric said.
"How bad?" Callen asked.
"They posted a mini-gun near the jammer." Nell said.
"Oh how colorful." Callen mutter.
"They sure know how to make your job harder." Sam said.
"That's putting it mildly, Mr. Hanna." Hetty said joining the group.
"I'm guessing that the gun is on a separate system?" Callen asked.
"That goes without saying, Callen." Eric said.
"Can't blame a guy for asking." Sam said.
Down in the hallway leading to the ventilation system, Deeks was having fun dodging bullets, and other traps that the psycho had left behind. Deeks was about to turn a corner when he had a flashback. He turned around and pulled the trigger. The person he shot was the lunatic that start everything.
"You can't… win. My will… has already… been done." the man said, and the coughed up blood.
"I wouldn't be so certain. You know that woman you killed when I escaped she gave me a syringe, to slow the spread of the virus, and a disarm code for your device." I say.
The man tried to reaching for shirt as if to stop me from going to his device, but he started to cough up more blood. And before I knew it, he had passed from this world. I attempt to remember the man's name. I think it was Emerson, or at least I thought it was. Out of respect, I close the man's eyes, and keep moving. I enter the room with the device, and it takes me a few minutes to find the panel that will allow me to enter the disarm code. I punch in the code, and I wait the thirty seconds as instructed, and then punch in the second line of code. After I finished entering the second line of code the device shut down. I pull the device off the wall, and take it with me.
I make it back to the door leading out of the in the main hall when I collapse. Where I collapse is in full view of a camera. A few hallways over from me, Hetty was contacting Callen.
"Mr. Callen, Mr. Deeks has made it back to the main hall with some sort device with him. Whatever is coursing through his body is winning out, so make haste." Hetty said.
"On it Hetty." Callen said.
Callen, Sam, and Kensi all run back to the door where they left me when they went to go find the jammer. They weren't able to get past the mini-gun. So they called in an engineer to interfere with the guns systems, which bought the team a few minutes to work on the gun. When they got to me Kensi was on edge, seeing me unconscious, while Sam just picked me up and threw me over his shoulder and ran for the door with Kensi behind him.
"The ambulance is five minutes out, Mr. Hanna." Hetty said.
"Roger." Sam said, grunting under my weight.
Callen secured the device and followed after the other. When Callen exited the convention center, it was to Sam kneeling on the ground performing C.P.R. on me. Kensi was barely holding in together, behind us was the emergency service vehicles pulled in, and a person from bomb squad arrived to secure the device. The paramedics jumped out as soon as the ambulance come to a stop, and relieved Sam on trying resuscitating me. It was another five minutes of C.P.R. before any of the paramedics spoke. "I got a pulse! Let's get him loaded up, and to the hospital!"
"Where are you taking him?" Sam asked.
"Cedars-Sinai Medical Center." The lead paramedic answered.
"You got that Hetty?" Sam asked.
"Yes, Mr. Hanna. I'll send the package." Hetty said.
"We're heading over there now." Sam said.
"The hospital can wait Agent Hanna. I want the three of you to return to Ops." Granger said. "I want to know why our liaison officer was at the center of this case."
"And were supposed to leave Deeks there by himself?" Callen asked.
"Detective Deeks will be in surgery for a couple of hours, and my assistant will be there waiting for any news from the medical staff. I want the three of you back here now." Granger ordered.
"On it, Director." Sam said. "We were going to have to pay the piper sooner, or later. Might as well do it now."
N.C.I.S. L.A.
Five hours ago: Ops-
"Why exactly am I letting you back into the field, instead of letting Mr. Hanna, Mr. Callen, or Miss Blye secure the device?" Hetty asked.
"To shut down the device you basically have to contract the virus. The rest of the team will contract the virus, and likely die before making it to the hospital." I say.
"How wonderful." Hetty says.
"I didn't ask for this duty Hetty, but now that I have to do, I'm going to finish." I say.
"See you on the other side, Mr. Deeks." Hetty
"Save me a drink when I come back." I said.
"It'll be waiting." Hetty said.
N.C.I.S. L.A.
Five hours later: Ops-
Callen, Sam, and Kensi entered ops to see both Granger, Hetty, and to agents surprise Director Vance on the big screen.
"Agent Callen, I was just informed that Detective Deeks was having a rough week before he left. Care to explain." Director Vance said.
"More like a few months." Sam said. "And in our defense, Deeks was recalled a couple of times by Lieutenant Bates before leaving work on a task force with the C.I.A., the F.B.I., and the D.E.A. Somehow N.C.I.S. didn't get an invite to the party."
Director Vance look at Hetty and Granger.
"I was in Washington with you, sir." Granger said, quickly.
"I got in contact with the director of the F.B.I., seeing as how they were running the task force, and he said that our presence wasn't necessary." Hetty said.
"Oh, really?" Director Vance said.
"I argued, but seeing as how I'm just an operations manager, Director Weylan said his decision was final." Hetty said.
"I'll be in touch, after I have a chat with Director Weylan." Director Vance said, and then look off screen to somebody to end the call.
"That ought to be an interesting conversation." Sam said, shortly.
"Not as interesting as you think. Why was Deeks months leading up to his recall rough?" Granger asked.
"He was distracted, a few bad case back in L.A.P.D., made a few bad calls and missteps." Callen said.
"And you didn't think to get him help?" Granger asked. "Or are you the type to just beat on him until he gets it right?"
"No, I didn't get him any help." Callen said shamefully.
"By the time he was recalled, I was going to put him on administrative leave, with pay, to help Mr. Deeks recover." Hetty said, seeing as how I was under her care. Granger just looked at Hetty, giving her the third degree with a stare, and she looked away. At this time a phone starting ringing, and it was coming from Granger's coat pocket. "Granger," he said, answering the call.
There was silence, with Granger giving an uhuh every few second. "That was my assistant. They said that Deeks is still in surgery, and given the nature of the illness, it might be a few more hours before they finish. Blye head to the hospital to relieve my assistant, while you two remain here to fill out after action reports. Someone will be along to relieve you later, Blye." Granger said, after ending the call.