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Trouble
The convoy of vehicles entered the gated compound of the DEA office. After the last SUV passed through, the heavy gates grinded together and the prisoners were escorted into the processing area via the side entrance. The foyer quickly became claustrophobic with seven prisoners, two MPs and about fifteen DEA agents, and the noise level increased dramatically, with the Perez family and their farmhands talking rapidly in their native Spanish. Nicholls and McCoy struggled to make themselves heard above the din, and Sam who had been standing behind Callen, manoeuvred his way through to Nicholls. Callen seized the opportunity to slide his way through the bodies towards Miller, who himself was attempting to move to the back of the room to Catalina.
"Woah, not so fast lover-boy," one of the DEA agents grabbed Miller by his left arm and guided him to the front desk. "Last thing we need is you two creating alibis for each other."
Miller swayed as he stepped forward and all colour suddenly drained from his face. He turned to his left, his eyes barely focussing on Callen as he collapsed to the floor.
"Medic," Callen shouted loudly. "Over here, prisoner down."
With his hands tied he could not catch Miller as he fell, and again shouted for a medic, making eye contact with any agent that looked at him.
Sam rushed to Miller's side and unlocked the handcuffs, quickly followed by a serious looking man in a white shirt and grey trousers, carrying a bag. The man knelt besides Miller, peeked into his eyes with the aid of a flashlight, and checked his pulse. Miller stirred and opened his eyes.
"What happened?" He muttered as he took in the multitude of faces staring down at him.
"I'm Dr Garcia and you just passed out." The man kneeling next to him said. "Looks like you've had a bit of a bump to the head, so I'm going to take you to the medical room to examine you some more."
Callen peered at the large egg-like lump which was evident on Miller's temple.
"Looks like Nicholls' handiwork to me," he said loudly to anyone in earshot. "Look what he did to me earlier!"
"Jeez you just don't shut up do you?" It was Nicholls who reached out to Callen, grabbed him roughly by the arm and led him through to door towards the furthest cell. Pushing him inside he said, "May be some time on your own will quieten you down some."
Callen stumbled and landed on the single bed attached to the side wall. With his hands still tied there was little he could do to either keep his balance, or to protest.
"Hey, what about untying me?" He glared at Nicholls, who then marched into the cell and hauled Callen to his feet.
"You should've thought of that before you started playing at undercover criminals," Nicholls hissed. "I'm not playing at anything; I'm just the Senior Agent dealing with an unruly prisoner."
"Protocol states you have to untie me," Callen's steely stare held firm and he could feel Nicholls's hatred of him seep through every pore.
"And since when have you been a stickler for the rules? You used to bend them to suit your own ends, and it doesn't look like you've changed one little bit."
"Yeah, well rules are made to be broken," Callen broke away from staring at Nicholls and suddenly smiled, knowing it would rile Nicholls more than anything else at the precise moment. "You know that more than anyone." He took a step back and as the backs of his legs touched the edge of the bed, he sat down. "And you know damn well I can prove it."
These last whispered words at last provoked the desired reaction from Nicholls, who roared as he grabbed Callen by the collar and again hauled him to his feet by his collar.
The noise caused several DEA agents, quickly followed by Kensi to pour into the cell. It took three men to break Nicholls hold of Callen. Nicholls threw Callen a dirty look and allowed himself to be dragged back down the corridor, leaving Kensi and McCoy in the cell with Callen.
McCoy shook his head and once he was happy the other men were out of earshot he said, "I've worked with Nicholls for five years now and I have never seen him behave like that."
He stared accusingly at Callen and waited for an explanation. None was forthcoming.
"I think you'd better stop winding Nicholls up" Kensi warned Callen. "At the rate you two are going, one of you is going to blow this op."
"Well it won't be me." Callen replied nonchalantly. "Get me out of these ties will you?"
Kensi pulled out a knife and slit through the zip ties. Callen loosened his shoulders and arms, rubbing his hands around his wrists to get the circulation going again. He then raised a hand to his cut eyebrow. "Miller might not be the only one with a headache."
"As soon as the doc's finished with Miller, I'll send him your way." McCoy turned to leave, adding. "We're on your side, y'know. Don't make this anymore difficult than it needs to be. I'm sure you can have more fun playing the bad guy once you're in the brig."
Kensi watched McCoy leave. "He's right you know. I think Miller's got the message that you're a real bad ass. And what is it between you and Nicholls?"
Callen leaned his elbows on his legs and thought about his self imposed predicament. "Nicholls and I are just picking up where we left off."
"Which is?" Kensi prompted Callen.
"Nothing."
"Well it's not 'nothing' if you two blow this entire operation before it's barely started." Kensi knew how awkward her Team Leader could be, but she had never seen him act so recklessly with no obvious reason. To be honest, she thought his attitude had started as soon as Hetty had given them this case. True, Callen often questioned the reason for their involvement in certain investigations but he never actually jeopardized them.
"Fine, just keep us away from each other." Callen rubbed a hand over his head, and again fingered the cut by his eyebrow and the bruise he could feel by his eye. "Does this look really bad? It feels really bad." He asked with a gleam in his eyes.
Kensi smiled sweetly at Callen. "Just be careful it isn't Sam you provoke into giving you a matching one, he's still pissed at travelling down here with Deeks. Look, I'd better leave you now before someone thinks you've taken me hostage or something."
"That's not on today's agenda…"
Kensi cocked her head slightly to one side at that remark and exited the cell, locking the door behind her, leaving Callen alone as he lay down on his bed and closed his eyes.
She opened the door to the main prisoner reception area and was met with a much calmer atmosphere and a lot less bodies. A number of the DEA agents had now disappeared and Miller was nowhere to be seen. Still being treated by the doctor, Kensi thought as she surveyed the room. The three farmhands had just finished being processed and were being led past her through to the cells, and that left Catalina Perez and her father waiting. McCoy was talking to the father and as he saw the farmhands being escorted away from the main desk, he gently took the old man's arm and led him to the Sergeant for processing. Not seeing Sam, Kensi approached Nicholls who was pouring over some paperwork attached to a clipboard.
"Well everything seems to finally be under control Agent Nicholls," Kensi ensured she remained formal, in keeping with her role as MP.
"Thankfully," Nicholls glanced up at Kensi, noticing the seriousness and authority she emitted. She sure suited that uniform, he thought. "That prisoner Reed behaving himself now?"
"He's calmed down and assured me he wouldn't cause any more trouble."
"Did he give any indication as to why he was provoking me?" Nicholls was curious as to how close this team really were. The man he remembered hardly let anyone in. Even though they had bonded as rookies, Callen had always remained in tight control of himself and his emotions. It had been the loosening of tongues with alcohol which had seen the beginning of an irreparable rift between them.
Kensi met Nicholls' gaze, "Because he could. I think he has a problem with authority. Quite ironic really, considering his chosen career."
Nicholls nodded, realising the answer could equally pertain to Callen or his undercover alias. Whichever, he could see the bond which was present between the young woman in front of him and his former partner.
Before he could engage Kensi further in conversation, Sam entered with Miller who looked much better than when Kensi had seen him last. The pupils of his eyes were back to normal and his face now had an element of colour about it. The egg sized lump on Miller's head was showing more and within the next few days would change to a purplish colour. His hands were un-cuffed and he raked his fingers through his hair, stopping as the palm of his hand touched the bruise.
"So Major," Kensi turned to Sam. "What's the verdict on Miller?"
"He needs to rest up but the doc won't pass him fit for interview or travel until he's re-assessed him tomorrow morning." Sam replied. "He can rest in the cell with half hourly obs."
"No problem," Nicholls said as he motioned Miller towards the door leading to the cells. "I'll take him through."
Kensi quickly looked at Sam, concerned as to whether this would lead to another encounter between Nicholls and Callen. Sam caught the look, and although he didn't understand the reason for it, he understood the warning that Kensi's eyes conveyed.
"I'll follow to make sure he settles Ok." Sam said. "I also want to check on the other prisoner, Reed."
"Sure," came the curt reply and all three men took the short walk through to the cell area.
In line with the type of arrests made by the DEA, the cells were not open in the sense that bars separated them. Instead they were individual brick cells with tiled walls and a solid steel door that contained a hatch which could be opened to check on the prisoners. Sam guessed that Callen had been led to one of the farthest cells, where any disturbance he caused would not inflict distress on the others.
Nicholls led Miller to the open door of the cell on the far left. Miller hesitated at the entrance and Nicholls gave him a gentle prod. "In you go son,"
Miller remained silent as he walked through and sat on the bed.
"Just relax, as Major Williams and the doc said, we'll check on you every half hour so don't worry." Nicholls closed the door shut with a clang and the locking mechanism slid smoothly home.
"Which one is Reed in?" Sam asked.
"Here," said Nicholls. "Knock yourself out."
He opened the hatch to check the status of Callen, before unlocking the cell door. Basic training and years of experience was drilled into all law enforcement officers to visually check where the prisoner was before opening a cell door. Callen lay on his back on the bed, apparently asleep.
"Give us a minute?"
"Sure, I'll be back in five, but I'll have to lock you in together – since he attacked a federal agent and tried to escape," said Nicholls.
Sam looked at Nicholls, expecting there to be a hint of a smile but saw none.
"Fine, but please send Lieutenant Alva in, so I have a witness in case the prisoner tries anything."
Within thirty seconds, Kensi joined Sam and Nicholls locked them in together with Callen. The two agents stood silent for a minute, waiting for Callen to open his eyes.
"You gotta be kidding me," Sam muttered. "The man doesn't sleep normally but he can sleep like a baby in a prison cell..."
"Hey," Kensi prodded him gently so as to not wake Callen with a fright. The last thing either of them wanted now was an unsuspecting Callen to wake up thinking he was being attacked.
Callen opened his eyes. "I wasn't asleep y'know."
"Yeah, right," Sam said.
"Right, I heard every word you were saying Sam."
"Of course G, whatever you say." Sam had a broad smile on his face.
Callen eased himself up and swung round into a seated position. "So what did the doc say about Miller?"
"He has a slight concussion and is to rest up with regular obs until the doc clears him for interview and travel tomorrow." Sam's voice spoke of the frustration he felt at this delay.
Callen groaned slightly. "So I have to spend twenty four hours in a cell with SeniorAgent Nicholls waiting to pounce."
The emphasis he had placed on the word 'senior' was apparent to both his colleagues.
"What's going on G? I thought Nicholls was one of the good guys." Sam realised that Kensi's warning look a little earlier was to ensure that Nicholls and Callen didn't try for round three. And Callen didn't turn on people for no reason. "He's been exemplary so far, although you two were a bit heavy handed with each other in the field, and you were pushing his buttons here before he hauled your ass in to a cell."
"We got history and I just used that to my advantage." Again Callen's response shed no more light on the matter.
"Well it looks like you came off worse," Kensi said with a wry smile.
"Exactly, means that I'm in the same boat as Miller, with injuries caused by a DEA agent."
"I thought that Miller ran into a car door?" Kensi asked, puzzled.
"If Miller has any sense, he'll soon change that story into one of brutality at the hands of a federal agent." Having read Miller's file, Callen thought that his inbuilt street sense would ensure that lie would quickly roll off the tongue, and Callen would be there to back him up with his own story.
"Great, so let's hope he recognises that you're a kindred spirit tomorrow." Sam added. "Now, you were telling me about Nicholls..."
"No I wasn't,"
Sam rolled his eyes in frustration and looked at Kensi.
"Callen," he growled in a low voice. "If there is something between you and Nicholls you'd better tell me now."
Callen stared up at his partner and then to Kensi before moving his gaze to the wall behind them. He was silent, thinking. Kensi opened her mouth to speak as Sam held out his hand in a motion to stop her. Callen stood up and started pacing round the small cell.
"Short version will do," Sam added.
"Short version is all you're getting," Callen stopped and snapped his head round to Sam, again staring at him intently with hard blue eyes.
"C'mon G, you know I wouldn't ask if it wasn't important." Sam spoke with a soothing voice this time; anything to persuade his partner to open up a little.
Callen sighed deeply and started on his short version of the story. "Nicholls had something on me which he used, I had something on him which I still have today. He was the reason why I left the DEA."
The agents exchanged glances. Kensi felt as though she was intruding on the special bond which existed between the two men and had to physically prevent herself from taking a step backwards to give them more space.
"The reason you left..." Sam left the question hanging in the air, hoping that Callen would confirm his suspicions that Nicholls had forced Callen to resign. The other options wouldn't exactly leave Callen with the same level of respect he believed the team currently had for their team leader.
"Ok, I was asked to leave." Callen did not drop his stare for one second; it was an act of defiance and a challenge should either of the agents be willing to accept it. He wasn't ashamed of any of the actions which led him to being fired as a DEA agent and he certainly wasn't going into any further details.
Kensi's eyes widened slightly, the only giveaway that she was surprised and slightly shocked by the admission. But it was Sam who responded. "We'll talk about this later."
"No we won't," replied Callen, locking the door on the topic of his DEA career. "Look, I'll be fine and Nicholls will be fine. In less than a day we'll be on the move and we can both forget we ever worked together in the DEA." Callen lay back on down on his bed, effectively drawing the conversation to a close. As he closed his eyes he added. "Now if you don't mind..."