Author's Note:
Okay, so a few things before the second chapter. One- I am so sorry for the long wait. Concussion will do that to you. Headaches and lack of concentration…not exactly fun. That being said I hope this chapter is sufficient. Some of the other ones I posted today haven't been to my usual mediocre standards... Anyways, I just wanted to say I am blown away by the response this story got after a single chapter. With almost seventy follows since I posted it, I have high hopes. Please let me know what you think, it means the world to me! Sorry for the long note- on with the story!
-C
Kensi experienced a brief bout of disorientation as they were left in total darkness in a tangle of limbs. At last she felt the rumble of the car and the taillights emitted a soft glow, barely illuminating the faces of the two agents. Deeks was lying right below her, pressed flush against her body.
"Well, this is comfortable," Deeks mumbled as they hit a bump in the road.
"Shut up, I'm trying to think!" Kensi snapped, trying to avoid resting her face on top of his.
"Release button?"
Kensi tried to hide the scowl for the fact that he was right. Immediately a huge smirk began growing on his face in the eerie light. To avoid looking at him, Kensi surveyed the compact area for the glowing button.
"Can't find it. How about you?"
"Well, considering the circumstances there's only about one thing I can really see right now."
The brunette tried to punch him in the shoulder, but it only caused her to slam her elbow against the top of the trunk. Muttering a curse, Kensi worked on the next best thing. She examined the tail lights, and saw that there was no metal frame surrounding them.
"I need to turn myself over and get my shoe off," Kensi said. She flipped over so her back was pressed up against Deeks's chest. With one foot, the she kicked off her other boot and knocked it into her hands.
"I have the better angle," Deeks informed her, immediately taking the footwear and slamming its heel against the plastic. He hit it time after time, but it had no sign of giving in. "Nothing," he concluded. "And your shoe is pretty much decommissioned."
"We have bigger problems than that!" Kensi exclaimed, banging her fists against the roof of the trunk.
"I realize that we're in a bit of a tough spot right now but you need to calm down, Kens."
She took a deep breath and tried to slow her breathing. Facts and scenarios from training about these situations ran through her head. The first thing was air. A person usually had twelve hours in a trunk before falling unconscious. That time frame would lessen depending on the heat and how big the trunk was in relation to the person's size. With two adults cramped together, that twelve hours would be significantly reduced.
"You need to move over as much as you can," Kensi said. "You and I can't get enough air stacked on top of each other like this."
Eventually they were in a more comfortable position, though their bodies were still pressed tightly up against each other.
"I'm more worried about the heat than us running out of air," Deeks answered. "It's at least a hundred degrees in here."
"Just try to breathe normally. When overheated, a person will respirate two to three times more, and we don't know how long we'll be in here."
"And there's my Wikipedia coming through again," Deeks quipped. He banged the top of the trunk, but rather quite pointlessly.
Kensi ignored this and tried to take as much note of everything as possible. They were stopping and starting, meaning that they weren't on the high way yet. Although a sudden increase in speed quickly changed her conclusions.
"We're on a freeway," her partner concluded. "Ever been in a situation like this before?"
"Not with somebody else with me."
"Glad I could provide the company."
"Yeah, this isn't quite an instance where I would want you with me."
They were thrown into silence, quite literally, as they hit a bump in the road. Kensi hit her head against the top, sending a flurry of curses from her lips.
"I think we're slowing down," Deeks whispered at last.
"And I think you're imagining things."
The car stopped.
"I'm sorry, I didn't quite catch that."
Kensi rolled her eyes. "Oh shut up."
They turned onto another road, and made some turns, but it wasn't too long before they were stopped for a long time. At this point, the heat was unbearable. It was well over a hundred degrees in the compact space, and even Kensi was beginning to panic a little.
At last, the trunk was sprung open. The glaring Los Angeles sun kept her blinded for a moment. Kensi blinked against it, and when her vision finally cleared, was faced with a barrel of a gun.
"Out," a voice commanded.
Kensi held her hands in front of her as she climbed out of the stuffy trunk. The temperature was in the high eighties on that particular day, but it felt like air conditioning compared to the car.
Greg Santhers, Trevor Harris, and another man of Asian descent Kensi didn't recognize were standing there waiting for them. As soon as Deeks joined her on the pavement, they were ushered quite forcefully towards what looked like an abandoned club. Kensi made no attempt to conceal her looking around, although she couldn't spot any noticeable landmarks. Instead of heading into the main part of the building, they were forced up the stairs and into a second story loft.
Harris pushed open the door, revealing a scene much more gruesome than they originally thought would become of this case.
In the middle of the loft was Ensign Erika Cardoza, bound to a chair. She was bleeding heavily from several places, but most prominent was her head. It seemed to have swelled to one giant bruise. Perhaps even more eye-catching than Ensign Cardoza was a banner in a foreign script that Kensi immediately recognized as Korean.
"The North Koreans are behind this?" Kensi voiced aloud. She was shoved forward by Santhers from behind.
Immediately the two agents were swarmed by other assailants, who quickly forced them into separate chairs across from Erika Cardoza and secured their hands using zip-ties. If she was conscious enough to notice Kensi and Deeks's sudden arrival, she gave no indication.
There was quite a bit of shuffling around from the other people in the loft. Kensi counted about a dozen total, only about half North Korean and the other half American.
"That's why they want our ship technology," Kensi muttered to Deeks. "We've been putting pressure with our Navy on them."
There was a flurry of harsh Korean, but there was no translation needed for the message to be clear.
Deeks nodded, and turned his attention towards their other companion. "You alright, Ensign?"
When she didn't reply, Kensi concluded that she must have been unconscious. With a head wound like that, the brunette couldn't imagine how it would be any different. The unknown man who gave such the warm welcome sauntered over to Deeks and drove a hard punch to his stomach.
"We told you to shut up!"
The grunted, and then managed to wheeze, "Last time I checked, I don't speak Korean."
Deeks's attitude was rewarded with another blow to the jaw, and several more to his torso. Kensi flinched every time she heard the unmistakable sound of fist meeting his skin. As the apparent translator moved away from them, the brunette hissed, "Deeks, please just shut up."
"You don't have to tell me twice," he coughed.
Kensi kept her eyes on the bustling activity within the large room. People were scurrying around, packing away computers and files spread out on tables. There was no doubt in her mind that they were going to kill them as soon as they cleaned up shop.
However, that theory proved to be incorrect. As several minutes later, they were approached by three men plus the translator. Two of them were carrying a utility bucket between them, which they promptly dumped on top of Ensign Cardoza.
She sputtered awake, although she didn't look much better than before. One of her eyes was completely swollen shut and her wheezing was louder. The translator stood off to the side, as he man who appeared to be the leader overlooked.
"The blueprints we have acquired have proven to be incomplete." The translator held them up for emphasis, and then cast them aside. "Tell us what is missing from them, or we will kill her." He gestured towards the ensign.
Kensi didn't even take one glance at the file before defiantly raising her chin. "We're not military. You'll have a hard time finding information from us.'
"Yep. We're just measly law enforcement," Deeks quipped once more. One of the men who carried the bucket of water pistol-whipped the blond across the face.
Kensi couldn't help but roll her eyes. She knew what he was trying to do, taking the attention away from her. "Ignore my partner. He can be an idiot sometimes."
The leader said something to the translator.
He moved over towards Ensign Cardoza and yanked her head back. "Okay, Ensign. I'm going to offer you a deal. If you don't give us the information, then we'll kill them both. If you do, only one of the feds dies. Lessen the casualties, will you?"
The ensign's good eye flicked back and forth between the two. Kensi held her breath. Where were Callen and Sam with their backup?
Erika looked at them with resign in her gaze. She mouthed: I'm sorry.
"The rest of the blueprint can be found in my apartment. My bed frame has a false compartment underneath it. It's on a flash drive," Erika rasped, and then began coughing up drops of her own blood.
The translator turned to the two men. "Search her house again until you find it! I want it in an hour!"
Kensi searched Erika's eyes and discovered why she had given it up. She was dying. And once dead, there would be nothing stopping these miscreants from killing them- not that it would matter now anyway.
The translator moved behind the two agents, causing both of them to tense up. Deeks shot a look towards Kensi, blood dribbling out of the corner of his mouth. He put a hand on both of their shoulders, squeezing them tightly.
"I am a man of my word," he said.
Kensi tried not to squirm under the pressure of his nails into her skin. He moved over towards the brunette and ran his hands up and down her arms.
"Don't touch her!" Deeks protested, struggling against his bonds.
"You care for this one very much, this is evident," the translator teased him.
"Yeah? Cut me loose and you'll see how much I care about her!"
"Deeks," Kensi warned, although her gaze was following the translator's hands instead.
"You silly Americans," he spat. "You are no longer the mightiest power of this world. A new age is beginning. How should I kill her?"
"You won't get the chance!"
The next minute or so was filled with the sound of punches and strikes assaulting Deeks. He jabbed them with insults and sarcastic remarks in between grunts and groans. Kensi wanted to close her eyes and block out any image of Deeks being hurt, but somehow she couldn't.
Blood was pouring from his nose, and several new bruises were already forming.
"How about snapping her neck?" The translator offered.
Deeks struggled with all his might against the zip-ties, but it was useless. The translator slid his cold hands up to Kensi's cheeks briefly, before moving one under her chin and the other on top of her head.
"No!" Deeks screamed, just as the translator applied the necessary pressure.