Author's Note: I just want to say, before you guys start reading, that I really hope you enjoy this chapter. It is actually one of my favorites so far, and really starts to pump up the action side of the story. That said, Enjoy
Partners
Chapter 7
Kensi steps out of the Baghdad International Airport terminal, and into the blinding glare of the desert sun beating down from above. The hot, dry air of the region scrapes against her delicate skin and makes her glad that she remembered to pack that bottle of moisturizing body lotion. She straightens the strange garb that she's wearing, and then begins searching the moving crowds for her mark. She stopped in the restroom after de-boarding the plane, and changed into something more appropriate given the current venue. Honestly, she wishes that she didn't even have to bother with such silliness, but it is important that she blend in for the time being.
She spent practically the entire flight over from D.C. mentally preparing herself for the daring rescue plan she and her team have set into motion. Callen and Sam will not be backing her up for this one—not this time. No, the time restraints alone meant that there would be no way they could meet up with her in time. Besides, it was necessary for the secrecy of their mission that the team leader and his partner remain behind. Time, which is seriously against them at this point, and which also dictated many of the details of the elaborate plan.
She will still have back-up for the mission though, and it only took calling in a few old favors to get it. There is one other piece of the puzzle that remains somewhat of a mystery to her, but Hetty had said she would take care of it. So Kensi altogether pushes that one detail towards the back of her mind, so that she can focus on her part in the rescue of her partner.
Over her shoulder is slung the go-pack she brought with her from home, stuffed with useful items such as her passport (created with a false identity specifically for this mission), an encrypted satellite phone, a supply of the local currency (courtesy of Hetty of course), some bubble gum, an envelope containing mission crucial Intel (encrypted for safety purposes of course), and a few girly products, like the body lotion—just in case.
A man, a local by all appearance, finally approaches the disguised federal agent after a few minutes, and begins to talk to her in Arabic. Her Arabic isn't great, to be honest, but nevertheless she still manages to glean enough from what she hears to understand the stranger's intentions. Once he finishes, Kensi nods to indicate that she understands.
The man moves to one side then, and motions for her to follow him. She had been informed earlier that someone would be sent to the airport to collect her, and make sure that she reached the designated rendezvous point hopefully without delay. As the two of them approach a worn, and probably very old car, Kensi thinks back over the events of the last several hours—events that ultimately led her here.
Thanks to the combined hacking talents of both Eric Beale and Nell Jones, the NCIS team was able to learn the exact whereabouts of the elusive Kareem Hafeez. Kensi then boarded a red-eye flight bound for Washington D.C., all the way over on the other side of the country, with only one goal in mind—find Kareem and learn what he knows.
Kensi pilots the rental car expertly through the network of streets crisscrossing the bustling district, as she searches for the spot indicated in the Intel obtained, secretly of course, from the CIA database. Beads of moisture dot the vehicles' windshield, and are remnants from the latest rain shower to pass over the city. The weather here is certainly different from what she's used to in Los Angeles, California. Instead of bright, warm sunshine she finds a cooler, wetter climate.
She glances back down at the car's built-in GPS system, and then checks her surroundings to confirm that the directions are indeed correct. They are. She proceeds to slow down then, and carefully pulls the dark blue sedan up to the curb just outside a very unassuming-looking brick building.
Here goes nothing. She thinks to herself, as she shuts the car off and unbuckles her seatbelt. Next, she reaches across the passenger's seat, and opens up the glove compartment. Concealed inside the compartment rests a Sig Sauer and a single spare ammo clip, which she acquired through a discreet and not-quite-legal source for the sole purpose of avoiding any kind of paper trail that might lead back to her or NCIS in any way.
She pockets the spare ammo clip, and then readies the weapon for use before exiting the vehicle. As she steps out onto the curb she very discreetly hides the weapon in the waistband of her jeans, which she then covers up with her sweater. She then closes the car door, and makes one quick sweep of the surrounding area with her eyes before continuing around to the front entrance of the building.
Stepping inside the building a few minutes later finds the female federal agent face-to-face with a potential problem. Several official-looking men are camped out in the building's main lobby area, and Kensi suddenly feels as though she's walked right into some sort of trap.
The man closest to the front door is the first one to spot her. He quickly walks up to the brunette, making a point to flash his service piece as he nears her. "Stay where you are." He says in a very authoritative tone of voice.
Kensi thinks quickly though, and instantly adopts the 'helpless tourist' façade. "I-I'm so sorry. This is really embarrassing, I must have the wrong address." She says, feigning embarrassment. "I'm not from around here—as I'm sure you can probably tell. I'm in town visiting a friend, and I was actually looking for the-"
A second man silently appears directly behind Kensi. The first man nods a quick 'go-ahead' to his colleague. "Search her." The first man says, once again in that cold, authoritative tone.
"Hey, hands off buddy." Kensi snaps, as she tries to dance away from the man who is currently attempting to frisk her. However, the first man successfully blocks her movements. At this point, the other three men in the room have been alerted to Kensi's presence.
"Got something." The second man says at last, as his hand finally comes to rest over the spot where her Sig Sauer had been concealed. The man lifts the bottom of her sweater, and then proceeds to pluck the weapon from within the waistband of her jeans. "She's packin'." The man tells his colleague, as he holds the weapon up for all too see.
Kensi knows at this point that the whole 'helpless tourist' charade is a complete bust.
"Let's try this again, shall we?" The first man says, leveling his eyes at the brunette. "Don't suppose you feel like talking."
Kensi remains silent, and only stares coldly back at the man.
"Alright then. Take her upstairs." The man tells one of his colleagues. Instantly two other men come along side Kensi, and begin leading her towards a staircase on the far side of the room.
The group makes it about halfway up the stairs with Kensi before she finally speaks up. "You're making a big mistake." Kensi says plainly.
"Oh, and how's that?" the first man asks from behind her.
"You think you're the one in control here…but you're not." She tells him, very nonchalantly.
"Yeah, you just keep thinking that miss." The man replies.
"You were keeping someone here—someone I need." She says, in a more serious tone than before. "That's your second mistake, thinking you can hide him from me." She adds.
"And your mistake, was thinking you could outsmart Us." The man replies.
"Ever read 'Art of War', by Sun Tzu?" Kensi asks, as she secretly begins tensing her core muscle groups.
"Yeah, why?" the man asks.
"Good. Then you already know what happens when you underestimate your opponent."
"What?"
Suddenly, Kensi yanks her right arm free and immediately elbows the man standing to her right in the stomach. Then she follows up by grabbing the man to her left and slamming him down hard across her knee. The man just ahead of her lunges forward in a loose attempt to subdue the female federal agent—but to no avail. Kensi darts to one side, and narrowly avoids the man's grasp. All of this takes place in a lightning fast blur of colors.
The first man tries to pull himself through the tangled mess of his colleagues, but it is not an easy task, especially when going up a flight of stairs. "Idiots. Someone grab her, now!" he calls angrily, at the top of his voice.
Kensi flies up the remaining section of stairs as fast as her legs can carry her until she finally reaches the second floor landing. She stands at the top looking left to right, left to right. Which way. She wonders. Voices coming from below startle her from the state of thoughtfulness she had sunk into momentarily.
A door all down the end of the right corridor catches her eye suddenly, and she immediately decides to take the gamble. She reaches the door within seconds, and without the slightest inkling of hesitation rips it open with such force that it would have knocked anyone else off their feet.
Her gamble pays off. Just beyond lies a second flight of stairs. She figures they probably lead all the way up to the roof, and that's good enough for her.
She throws open the door at the top of the stairs finally, and emerges out onto the roof. The cloudy skies above greet her mockingly as if to say 'end-of-the-line'. Kensi isn't about to give up though—where there is a will, there's a way.
She can see from here that the distance between her building and the building directly across from it is completely manageable, and there's no reason she shouldn't be able to make the jump if she gives it her all. All or nothing. She tells herself, as she inhales and then exhales to steady her nerves.
Kensi exhales one last time, and then starts off at a quick trot first. Behind her though, the door flies open once more, and the first man from earlier steps through. He has his service weapon trained on her back, and the look in his eyes clearly says that he won't hesitate to put a bullet right where it counts.
"Freeze!" the man shouts at the top of his voice.
Kensi slows to a halt, but doesn't turn around. She stands silently, her heart beating fiercely in her chest as she struggles to formulate a new plan of escape.
"Turn around. Put your hands in the air…where I can see them!" the man yells commandingly.
Kensi slowly turns her body around to face the man, and at the same time she carefully raises her arms up over her head. She wills herself to go 'stone-faced', and not show any emotion at all—especially not fear.
"Good girl." The man says, with a slight smirk. "Now, get down on the ground—slowly." He tells her, motioning towards the ground with his gun.
Kensi never takes her eyes away from him. She folds her body up in sections as she lowers herself to the ground. She's about half-way down, when the door behind the man opens up once again. One of the other men appears in the doorway looking out at the two of them.
The first man turns and looks over his shoulder for no more than just a split second, but that's all it takes. The sound of shoes pounding against the rooftop catches his attention, and draws it back to the feisty brunette. "Stop. I'll shoot!" he yells as he takes off after her.
Kensi reaches the edge of the rooftop, and puts everything she's got into the jump. Her entire body soars through open air, seemingly in slow-motion, but then at last her feet touch solid ground once again. She has to tuck-and-roll in order to avoid breaking her legs on the landing.
She pulls herself up to her feet afterward, and catches herself glancing back across the way at a frustrated looking CIA operative. He swears to himself, and stamps his foot angrily as he watches Kensi trot off defiantly towards a ladder at the far end of her rooftop.
"Get down to the street." He says over his shoulder to the other man. "Circle around—we can cut her off before she gets too far."
The worn, old car finally pulls to a halt just outside what appears to be a cantina of some kind. She thanks the man for driving her, and then she exits the vehicle. She looks around quietly before heading inside the rather seedy-looking place.
Inside, the crowded place is noisy and smells of liquor and exotic tobacco smoke. She scans the crowd with only her eyes searching for the people she's supposed to be meeting with. Then a familiar face near the back of the room finally catches her eye, and brings with it some minor relief.
She pushes her way through the dense crowd until she finally reaches the table where the balding man is sitting in wait.
It doesn't take long at all before he realizes he's being watched. He looks up to find Kensi staring down at him, and even though most of her face is covered—he can tell she's smiling underneath.
"This really is no place for a lady." Joe White says, a small grin tugging at the edges of his lips.
"Cute." She replies sarcastically.
Joe lets out a low, hearty laugh at the feisty female federal agent. "Its good to see you Kensi." He tells her. "Though, I have to admit the circumstances could be a hell of a lot better."
She nods. "I know. Where's McGarrett?" she asks, looking around to see if the ex-Navy Seal is anywhere around.
Joe nods. "He and Danny are waiting out back, trying to keep a low profile." He tells her. He seems to read what she's thinking, and lets out a small sigh. "I know. It's only a matter of time before those two get into trouble…so we'd better go while we can." He says, motioning with his head to a hidden back door just several yards away from where they are at.
"Look, I'm just saying I don't understand why you had to bring me." Danny says, waving his hand in the air at McGarrett. "Alright, cause, personally, I think Chin or Kono would be much better suited for this kind of thing."
The two Five-O team members are standing alone in the space between the cantina, and the adjacent building. Between them sets a rather old looking jeep—this is too be their primary mode of transportation while they are in the city limits of Baghdad.
"What, I thought you'd like it." McGarrett replies. "You know do a little sight-seeing, take in the culture. Like taking a vacation."
Danny looks at his partner as if the man may have finally blown a gasket. "Are you serious?" he asks. It is a rhetorical question of course, so Danny does not expect an answer.
"Forgive me then," McGarrett replies. "For trying to do something nice for my partner."
Danny rolls his eyes, and turns away from McGarrett. "I'm not speaking to you for at least a month." He says over his shoulder.
"What are you two ladies arguing about now?" Joe asks, as he and Kensi step outside to join the two other Five-O team members.
"Steve's idea of a vacation." Danny says, motioning with his hands to indicate quotation marks.
I only wish it were a vacation. Kensi thinks to herself.
Kensi manages to avoid her pursuers after finally climbing down off of the rooftop, and reaching solid ground once more. It was not an easy feat either. They practically chased after her for two city blocks before she was finally able to successfully evade the group of CIA agents.
She enters a coffee shop just about another block down from where she originally lost her pursuers. Inside, she immediately asks the on-duty barista about using their restroom. The younger man behind the counter motions towards the back of the shop, and tells her that it should be unlocked.
Kensi thanks the man, and then heads off quickly in the direction of the restrooms.
She ducks into the women's restroom, and immediately locks the door behind her—making sure that she has complete privacy. She then digs her cell phone out of her jeans pocket, and with one hand dials the number for Eric's cell phone.
Kensi listens intently as the phone rings, once…twice…and then finally the tech analyst answers. "Hello? Kensi?"
Kensi proceeds then to switch her phone to speaker mode, and then she lays it down on the nearby counter next to the sink. "Eric, we have a problem." She tells him, as beads of sweat trickle down from her forehead.
"Problem?" the tech analyst repeats what Kensi said just seconds before.
"Yeah." She replies, bracing herself with her hands against the counter top. "They knew I was coming. They moved him."
…TBC…
Author's Note: I really hope that you guys enjoyed this latest chapter, and that you will remember to comment/review, because remember feedback is the lifeblood of any good writer.