A/N: A bit of a longer chapter for you all to enjoy. Again the shows characters are not mine.
"Deeks, what the hell is going on? Who was that? Who is she and … who … are … you?!"
Deeks heard every ounce of trust he had ever earned from the man vanish in those three words. He leaned forward onto the table to pull the battery. He sighed and dropped his head before a hand was placed on his shoulder, causing him to look up. He silently asked to tell him everything, but when Sabrina shook her head, he nodded in reply.
"Explanations will be easier, and better once we have rescued your partners and father. Tonight we rest, we prepare for tomorrow." She said in Russian.
"No! I want answers now! That man said 'My sons,'." Before Deeks or the woman could say anything, he had backed up to a cabinet, pulled open a drawer and retrieved a weapon. "I want answers now, Deeks!" Callen hissed the last name, not knowing if it was the man's name.
"My name is Deeks, short for Deacon. Deacon Martin Resnikov. And I am your brother."
Callen's face flashed a look of confusion, shock and disbelief. As he watched them and tried to get his head around what he had heard he saw Sabrina grab Deeks shoulder.
Deeks shoved Sabrina's hand off his shoulder as she tried to stop him from saying anything and turned to her. "No, Brie, I know you want to wait till we get them back, but he has to know his name at the very least." The two held a silent staring contest and for a moment, Callen thought he was looking at a younger version of himself in Deeks. After a few minutes, Sabrina nodded. "You'll have to tell him, I don't know it." Deeks said a little shamefaced. "You never told me."
Callen looked at the young woman, gun still held up at her. "How do you know my name? And why doesn't he?"
"Your father never told him, he thought you and your sister had died in Romania. When he heard whispers about the Comescues heading to America to look for him and you, that was when he sent me here to watch out for you. I arrived too late to stop them killing Shribor, but I have been following you ever since, knowing that these men would turn up eventually. The Comescues had asked several of them for information about you. I knew it would only be a matter of time before they came." She took a breath "Your full name is Callen George Reznikov."
Callen lowered the gun and lent against the cabinet he had pulled it from. His breath was a little fast as he processed what he had just been told. He looked over at the younger man as he handed Sabrina some tablets. They hadn't told him everything, but Sabrina had said they wanted to wait until they had their partners back. Callen realised that he wanted them back more than finding out everything else. He also realised that the young woman must have put on hold whatever was going on in her life to help them.
Deeks was getting more upset by the minute as he thought about what their father had said. While he didn't understand everything, he had caught enough to know that something had happened to Kensi. He saw Sabrina's movements as she spoke to Callen and dug into the first aid kit for some painkillers. "What did father say?"
"They tore at her shirt until she told them the number. They've covered her with a blanket. She's ok. Sam's fine."
"Thank God." Deeks said as he found the tablets. He held them out to her and when she refused to take them, he admonished her. He was shocked when Callen joined him.
"Take them. When was the last time you got some decent sleep?" He asked, taking the tablets from Deeks and holding them out to her along with a bottle of water. "Or food?" He had noticed that her ribs were showing slightly.
Sabrina looked at him for a moment, seeing that he meant it. She took the tablets and with a small smirk at Deeks, washed them down before answering. "A couple of weeks. Not the first time."
"Hetty?" He called out over his shoulder, then turned to look at the screen. It blinked and the three saw Hetty appear on the monitor.
"Mr Callen."
"Can you organise some food for us please? And a car?"
"I will. When they call in the morning we will have a trap and trace ready to find them. A SWAT team will be ready to go in ten minutes."
"This is not your business." Sabrina suddenly said. Her voice meant it.
"They have taken my agents; that makes it my business, Miss ...?" Hetty said, looking at the youngest of the three. She suddenly realised that they didn't know her last name.
"And the men who have them don't know about her." Deeks said. "They will be safe for tonight. Tomorrow, we do as he asks. They want to kill the three of us, Callen, me and our father. Once they have us, they'll release Sam and Kensi. Sabrina will help us escape, but it will only work if it is just us."
"Several of them have diplomatic immunity, you cannot touch them. Once your agents are clear, we'll show them what happens when you mess with the Reznikov family." Sabrina said it so clearly and so calmly, that Hetty was slightly shocked that she was a little afraid of her. She quickly amended that to include the other two and she wondered slightly at where her loyalty to Nikita came from. The three of them looked ready to do anything to protect Nikita and the rest of their team.
NCIS: Los Angeles NCIS: Los Angeles NCIS: Los Angeles NCIS: Los Angeles NCIS: Los Angeles NCIS: Los Angeles NCIS: Los Angeles NCIS: Los Angeles
It was around three am when Callen went downstairs. The gentle rocking of the boat had actually lulled him to sleep shortly after putting his head down around ten pm. The three had discussed plans until then. There was no point, until they got the phone call the next morning, in planning anything more.
He saw a light on and saw Sabrina sitting on the couch, her hat and sunglasses on still. In her hand was a book. She looked up when he entered the kitchen area. "Still hiding your face?" He asked casually.
"Partially," She said in Russian. "Also, until the age of ten, I didn't see anything brighter than a candle." She stood and made her way over to the counter where Callen was making a drink. "The sun's too bright for me." She took the offered cup and went back to her seat.
Callen watched her and saw the stiffness in her movements. He found the bottle of painkillers and took a couple of them over to her. "Here." He sat opposite her and after she took them, asked; "Where did you grow up, how do you know my father? Why didn't Deeks say anything about being my brother? How is he my brother?"
"He didn't know, until he followed you to Romania. He started guessing and put some of the pieces together from the small number of things Nikita told him."
"Why didn't he tell me?"
"I was following information about some of the people after your family. They lead me to the beach house, where I came across him watching the same place I was looking into. He was having a gelato when I approached him. I recognised him from descriptions I was given. When he told me what he was doing here, and the names of the people he was with, I realised that I had found his sons; Deeks and you." She took a drink and a breath before continuing.
"There were and still are a lot of people that want to see all Reznikov's and Callen's dead, and until they are imprisoned or killed themselves, none are safe. These men that have your partners and father now, as far as I can tell, are the last big threats.
"Why didn't he tell me?" Callen asked again.
"Do you know who at the LAPD was better than him at undercover work?" She asked instead. When Callen shook his head, she continued. "No one. He was the best there was. He had no one to challenge him. Until he started to work with you. Within a year, he finds out that you are his brother, and aside from the fact Nikita did not want him to tell you, he wanted to gain your approval, your trust. He has heard stories about you from everyone and he wanted the trust, respect and friendship of his big brother. He wants to be as good as you." She stood and took her cup to the sink and when Callen handed her his washed it as well.
Once she was finished, she retook her seat and continued, lying a little. "Unlike you and I, Deacon didn't instinctively have to learn how to be someone else to survive. He only spent a few months in foster care until Rita recovered from the beating Brandle gave her. That was all the time he had to learn how to survive. You and I," She hung her head and sighed, "We learnt from a young age how to survive by becoming someone else and not trusting anyone. Aside from not telling you because he was obeying his and your father's wishes, he didn't tell you in case you didn't believe or trust him."
"You trust Deeks." It was a statement. Callen was leaning back in his chair, watching the younger woman. She had numerous scars on her shoulders that clearly ran under the tank top she wore. She constantly rubbed at the wound she had reopened that day. Whatever she had been doing in her life, it was a hard one.
"That was not hard." She smiled and before Callen could ask anything, she said "Do you?"
Callen's smile dropped as he thought about the question.
"Forget about what you have been told tonight, and focus on everything he has done. You have known him for almost six years and in that time he has followed you to Romania, been badly tortured and not revealed what they wanted and has had the backs of you and your team." Sabrina lent forward, and wincing slightly at the pain, looked straight at him. "Do. You. Trust. Him?"
"Yes." Callen didn't need to think once she had pointed out the three biggest things that he himself had been thinking about for years. Yes, he was pissed that Deeks, Deacon, had kept his past from him, but he also knew the man only did as he had been asked. And besides, doesn't being a big brother mean that he can get back at little brothers? He smiled at the thought.
"Why are you here?" he asked her after several minutes of silence. He noticed that he was speaking to her in Russian.
"Resnikov asked me to come and watch out for you." She said, repeating what she had told him before.
"What do you owe him?"
"My life. He saved it, and more."
"Your family? Surly they must be missing you."
"Resnikov, Deacon, they are family." After a moment, Callen heard a tone chime, and watched as Sabrina pulled out a phone.
"What's going on?" He asked.
"A backup plan. I know the man that has Resnikov. I know how he thinks, operates. Anything we put into place will most likely be obsolete when the trade takes place. He doesn't know about me. I am what you would call the ace in the hole."
"Up the sleeve, but I get what you're saying. Anything I can do to help?" Callen asked as he stood with her.
"Watch from the street and help me when I call." She said as she headed outside.
"Sabrina, what are you doing?" He asked as he grabbed her arm.
"The last thing we need is weapons tied to a federal agency being used in this. I have many contacts here in Los Angeles. One of them is bringing me a few guns and they are meeting me two piers over." She said as she grabbed the backpack off the floor. She had been carrying it all day and it had never left her hands.
She looked at him, and despite the sunglasses and cap, Callen could tell she was not only telling him the truth, but trusting him. Trusting him to have her back. He nodded and followed her outside. "What about Deeks, Deacon?" He asked, wondering what to call him.
"Deeks is the nickname Resnikov gave him when he was small." Sabrina said, looking over her shoulder as she left the building. "He's not used to functioning on a handful of hours of sleep a day, unlike you and me. Let him rest. The sleeping tablet I slipped him will knock him out until dawn."
"I was wondering why he wasn't awake, pacing about Kensi." Callen said as they headed down the street.
After several minutes, they reached a pier. "Wait here. My contacts don't know you and they might not show up if you're with me."
Callen nodded and went and sat in a nearby chair. Callen watched as she headed to the end of the pier and waited. He realised that they must be coming by boat. No sooner had he had the thought when he heard the sound of an engine. Sure enough, a boat came alongside the pier and Sabrina helped the three men to tie up. Callen saw them unload a large box and just made out her shaking her head in response to a question and saw her arm wave in the direction of the nearby street. It was when she handed them the backpack, which Callen suspected contained money, that they pulled a gun on her. Callen rose and was about to help her when she snatched back the bag and turned while she lifted her top slightly to reveal something underneath. Whatever was there, they lowered their guns and backed off. They got into the boat and left. Once the boat was out of sight, he went over to her.
"What happened?" he asked as he reached her.
"They had obviously forgotten who they were dealing with." She replied as she lifted the lid. "They recently had a change in leadership and the new boss thinks he can rewrite the rules with me." She removed a cloth covering the contents and revealed several hand guns, semi-automatic rifles and a box that seemed to be the right size for a sniper rifle.
"Expecting a war?" Callen chuckled a moment before sobering at her reply.
"Yes." She covered the contents again before motioning him to take the other end. Between the two of them, they got the box back to the boatshed. "As I mentioned before, several of the men have diplomatic immunity, therefore they cannot be touched. They have hurt a lot of people." They put the case on the floor next to the table and started to pull the contents out and onto it.
"I take it you want to clean them?" He asked once all the weapons were on the table. There were three of everything in the box, along with enough ammo and clips for another three for each weapon.
"Yes, I don't trust anything I get from anybody unless it is from a legal dealer." She said as she started to strip a handgun. "You have no idea who had it last."
Callen mentally timed her as she pulled it to pieces. It took her less then ten seconds. "Nicely done. My partner Sam has the same notion." He sighed as he remembered where his partner was. He went and collected a couple of cleaning kits and passed one to Sabrina as well as a bottle of water.
They had been cleaning for a couple of hours when Callen asked something that had been tugging at his mind since the weapons buy. "What did you show them?"
"Do you really want to know?" She asked in reply as she reached for a bottle of gun oil.
"Yes." Sabrina looked at him for a moment before standing and lifting her shirt. Callen gasped as he saw the tattoo on her back. "That can't be real." He said as he stood and went over to touch it. She flinched slightly at his touch but it confirmed to him that it was genuine, and old. He looked at her in shock. "The only way you get that is if…" He couldn't finish the sentence, unable to believe it.
"Is if you serve in a certain prison and befriend a certain person." She dropped her shirt, sat and resumed cleaning the sniper rifle. "Resnikov almost got caught about seven years ago by some of the people that have him now. I managed to help him escape, but got caught in the process. Using the friends I made, I faked my death and escaped six months before Romania." She never once took her eyes off her work and her voice never wavered.
Callen had resumed his seat and looked at the woman in stunned silence. He had heard of the prison and knew its reputation from his many years operating in Russia. He knew of the people Sabrina had to have dealt with in order to not only survive, but to escape. "You managed three years in that place?" He whispered in awe. When she lifted her face to answer him, he saw a flash of horror, torment and pain in her features and heard it all in one word.
"Yes."
She went back to cleaning but dropped the brush she was using. The clattering in the otherwise silent boatshed caused Callen to look back to her. She was looking at the hand like it had just betrayed her. She growled, clenched and released it before getting up and shaking it. After a moment, Callen noticed she was doing it to both hands.
Callen put down his cleaning equipment and went over to her. In hindsight, he really should have called out to her, but he wasn't thinking about that when he reached for her arm. A second later he found himself slammed against the wall of the boatshed with enough force to send it rocking.
A/N: thank you to all those who are reading this story and leaving reviews, and those who don't. I am amazed this story is so well liked.
