Chapter 1

We were in Callen's car heading towards the warehouse. We had finally gotten the info we needed from that loser Michaelson.

It had only taken Sam, Callen, and me to get him to squeal like a little girl. It may have had something to do with us threatening him with some form of bodily harm… maybe a lot of bodily harm. Like the kind it's hard to recover from.

Callen had started, trying to build a rapport with him. Michaelson wouldn't take the bait, so Callen started hinting physical injury. When that didn't work, Sam went in and took over.

Up until that point, Sam and I had been watching Callen work on the screen in the observation room. Then Sam saw that it was his turn at the piece of scum. As he opened the door, he gave me a look that screamed "Don't you dare interrupt"

We all wanted to save Kensi, but I'm almost certain that I had a completely different reason than wanting to save a friend and coworker. We're close. Really close.

Sure, she was a good friend of mine – she's a good friend of mine – and of course we're coworkers. But in the year since I joined NCIS as a liaison with the LAPD, I had become one of the team. And because Kensi was my partner, we had become really close (as partners go). At the beginning of our partnership, it was hard for her to trust me because of everything that had happened with Special Agent Vail, but she eventually she warmed up to me (I always tell everyone it's because of all my charm, but they just roll their eyes at me and scoff).

Anyhow, Sam went into the interrogation room and picked up where Callen left off. Because he's bigger and more intimidating, Sam seemed to be getting more answers than Callen had. And when he said something about wanting to find Kensi, Michaelson smiled. He fucking smiled. That bastard. Something inside of me snapped.

I stormed into the interrogation room, dragged Michaelson out of his chair, and threw him against the wall. I didn't really notice them at the time, I barely registered the muted shouts, but Sam and Callen were both calling my name. I was too far gone.

"Where is she?" I shouted. His back hit the wall again, harder this time, and he winced. He didn't reply. "Where. Is. She."

"I don't know," the scumbag had the balls to lie to my face while his life was on the line. And with complete apathy, of all things.

"If she dies, you die."

"No, please don't kill me." he's so pathetic, begging for his life like it's more important than hers.

"Then tell us where she is."

"All I know is that they were talking about some prisoner – they didn't say it was an agent – they're taking them to an abandoned warehouse downtown. I swear, that's all I know."

"What warehouse?"

"The one on 52nd street, near Santa Fe Ave."

"If we get there and she's not, you might cease to exist."

The last thing I heard as I was leaving was his sorry pleading, "Please don't kill me". I know I was too harsh with him, but I was desperate. I just wanted to find my partner. I just wanted to find Kensi.