Promises to Keep
Chapter 10
...
Callen kept his eye on Deeks as he gave out duty assignments to the four members of the tactical squad staying on at Burke's mansion. He made sure that the lead agent would monitor Burke's security men and he assigned another to place video surveillance bugs in critical positions all over the estate, inside and out. When he finished his instructions he looked up to see Deeks staring sadly into the pool and the stark memory of the last time Deeks had been assigned to guard a child slipped unwanted into his mind. That time they had all failed to protect their charge, but it had been Deeks who had suffered the most from the loss of the little boy. He had been critically wounded trying to save him, but it was the emotional toll that had ravaged him. It had taken an intervention before he was able to deal with his grief and the powerful guilt he felt, a small vestige of which Callen was convinced he still carried, just as they all did. A strong need to comfort him rushed his senses, the force of it surprising him.
He found himself drawn to Deeks in a way he'd never felt before with anyone, including Sam, who was like his strong right arm. Deeks was beginning to feel like a part of him and he still found himself fighting that closeness while at the same time being amazed by it. Growing up as a foster kid, he'd had only one positive experience with family and it wasn't until Hetty had brought him together with Sam and eventually Kensi that he got a sense of what it meant. They formed a loose knit, makeshift family, but as close as he was to the others, he sometimes still felt alone, isolated by his experiences and his natural inclination to stay aloof from those around him. When he'd first begun to feel a connection with Deeks, he'd resisted the impulse, struggling to keep that defensive shell around his emotions. He didn't trust himself when he was emotional. He hated the lack of control, that feeling that something or someone was driving him in a direction he didn't want to explore. It was easier to deal with people when you kept your distance, but that hadn't worked with Deeks. The day they had found him in that tiny room in South Africa, so brutally damaged and so weak and vulnerable, it had been all he could do to stay in control of his anger. It was as if he himself had been attacked and he had been overcome by a deep need to protect him, to let him know he would not let any more harm come to him. But he had failed to do that, and the guilt he carried over that failure still left him feeling desperately hollow inside.
"Let the memories go, Deeks," he said as he rested his hand lightly on his shoulder, trying to do the same.
"She wanted to swim so badly and I finally just gave in," he said softly before looking up with a hint of sadness haunting his eyes. "It's still hard to think about him."
"We've both got enough to think about without dredging up that painful experience," Callen said as he pulled Deeks away from the edge of the pool.
"I can't fail this time, G," he said as they walked up to the small patio where he had talked with Burke.
"We won't let that happen," Callen assured him. "Not this time."
Deeks stared silently at the pool for a while, quiet again like he'd get for stretches at a time since his kidnapping and it concerned Callen. Whatever Preston Burke had said to him had made him introspective and slightly wounded by the fact that a man he neither liked nor trusted knew intimate details about his life.
"He told me I wasn't the kind of person he wanted around Ruthie," he said softly. "I used to hear that all the time when I was a kid. When I was a sophomore in high school I asked this girl to a dance..."
He hung his head, stopping in mid-sentence before mumbling something Callen couldn't make out.
"What happened?" Callen asked, trying to get him to open up.
"You don't want to hear all my old shit," Deeks said, snorting out an embarrassed laugh.
"I'm here, Deeks, and I'm listening," he said.
Deeks looked over at him as if trying to gauge the sincerity of his words, finally nodding and looking down at his hands.
"When I went to her house to pick her up, I found out she hadn't told her dad who she was going with," he said quietly. "He went ballistic when he saw me, calling me a couple of choice names and ranting about how I was nothing but trouble just like my father. Date never got off the ground. Funny, but that's what popped into my head when Burke said I wasn't the type of person he wanted around his daughter. Some things never change."
Callen had no idea how to respond, having had no experience to compare it to.
"Did you go to the dance without her?" he asked.
"Nah. Just went over to Ray's and drank beer," he answered.
"I snuck into a high school dance once," Callen said with a smirk. "I was living on the streets then, and just happened to walk by. It looked like fun, so I just went in through a side door. I was fourteen. They had all this food, cookies and cakes like I'd never seen before. Man, I thought I'd died and gone to heaven."
"Did you get up the nerve to dance with a girl?" Deeks asked, a curious smile on his face.
"You kidding? I only had eyes for the food," he laughed. "That's how I got caught. I hung around the food table so long a couple of teachers started talking and pointing at me and I knew my time was up, so I stuffed a handful of cookies in one pocket and four or five chicken wings in the other and I was out the door."
"Fast runner, yeah?" Deeks laughed.
"They didn't have a chance in hell of catching me," Callen said. "The chicken wings alone were worth it."
"I always figured you for a leg man, G," Deeks said with a crooked grin.
"When you're living under a freeway, any part of the chicken will do," Callen said, sobering at the memory.
"Yeah, I remember." Deeks' voice was barely above a whisper and his words caught Callen unawares.
"You lived on the streets?"
"Every once in awhile. When my mom couldn't handle me being around she'd lock me out," he replied.
Callen didn't press him for details and they both became lost in their own thoughts as they watched the sun slip lower in the sky. He'd always longed for a mother and father, imagining it as idyllic, full of happy times and laughter, but listening to Deeks and knowing a little of what he went through as a child made him realize there were no guarantees in life, no perfect scenarios. Hell can come in many guises and the two of them had lived through different, yet similar shades of that painful reality. They had more in common than he had ever thought and he reached out and put a hand on his shoulder, needing to make physical contact with him for some reason he didn't understand.
"Callen? Why is Paul Walker really here?" Deeks asked, bringing them both back to the present.
"Someone made a run at him this afternoon when he was being taken to the safe house," Callen answered. "The tactical squad managed to keep him safe, but it was a close call."
"You think there's an inside man," Deeks stated as he looked back at him.
"Yeah," he answered. "Nell and Eric are checking bank accounts again of everyone he works with for an influx of cash."
"You think he'll be safer here?"
"It's a good defensible location. Security cameras, good visuals of the perimeter," Callen said convincingly.
"Agreed, but after what happened today, I'm not sure how cooperative Burke's gonna be," Deeks said quietly.
"After Hetty's little talk with him, I think he'll cooperate," Callen smirked and finally got a smile out of Deeks. "The Walters are old friends."
"There's tension though," Deeks remarked as he stood. "Paul Walters seems like a decent guy. He sure put my mind at ease when he picked up Ruthie in the middle of all that today. He stood up to Burke, too."
"He loves Ruthie," Callen said as they made their way toward the house. "I think he's angry and afraid Burke might want Ruthie to know he's her real dad."
"Burke wants her to like him," Deeks said. "But, Ruthie doesn't want anything to do with him. He's a tight ass and she knows it."
"Are those her sentiments or yours?" Callen asked, getting a crooked grin in return.
They spent the next couple of hours doing a recon of the grounds and familiarizing themselves with the house, until Paul Walters found them and invited them to join the family for dinner. As they made their way into the living room, the three were confronted by Sandra Walters and she did not look happy, glaring at Deeks and not trying to hide her contempt.
"Agent Callen, I assume you know what Deeks did to his own father," she said bitterly. "And yet you allowed him near my family, my little girl, without informing us of what kind of man he is."
"What the hell are you talking about, Sandra?" Paul quickly asked.
"He shot his own father, Paul," she blurted out.
"Callen, is that true?" Paul turned to stare at the agent, taking a step back as his eyes settled on Deeks.
"Yes, it's true," Deeks confirmed softly. "I was..."
"I want him out of here," Sandra Walters demanded, interrupting Deeks' attempt to explain.
Paul Walters stared at Deeks, who's head dropped to his chest as he turned away.
"Do you want the truth, or do you just want Preston Burke's version of the truth?" Callen asked sharply.
"What's he got to do with this?" Paul asked.
"Preston told me everything," Sandra said loudly.
"Really? Everything?" Deeks turned to face them, his voice low and rough. "Did he tell you how falling down drunk my dad was that night? Did he tell you how he beat my mother unconscious before he aimed a shotgun at us? Did he tell you I was eleven years old and that I threw up after I shot him?"
"Deeks," Callen said softly, gripping his shoulder as he pulled him away.
"His father was sent to prison for attempted murder, assault and child abuse," Callen said quietly as he looked back at the shocked faces of Sandra and Paul Walters.
"I'll get my things," Deeks said to Callen and started to walk toward the stairs.
"No need for that, Agent Deeks," Paul said calmly. "Obviously Preston didn't have all the facts."
"Burke had someone hack Deeks' juvenile records," Callen said. "He had every fact, including pictures of their injuries, he just didn't give you all of them."
"He didn't tell me you were just a little boy," Sandra Walters said shakily as she stepped toward Deeks. "I'm so sorry you had to go through that. My son is only twelve and I can't imagine him having to do something like that."
"If you'll let me, I would still like to stay on as Ruthie's bodyguard," Deeks said.
"Of course," Paul said. "Please forgive this invasion of your privacy, Agent Deeks."
Deeks nodded and turned to go upstairs and Callen could see how shaken he was. The Walters called to him, trying to convince him to join them for dinner, but he shook his head. Callen begged off as well, saying he had a meeting with his Operations Manager, but he followed Deeks to the stairs, squeezing the back of his neck.
"You okay?" he asked.
"As much as I love being around Ruthie, I can't wait for this assignment to be over," Deeks replied.
"Keep yourself under control, Deeks," Callen cautioned. "Don't confront Burke about this. I'll talk to him in the morning and I have a feeling, so will Hetty."
"I have no desire to even be in the same room with that guy," Deeks said.
"Get some rest, Kid," Callen said as he turned toward the front door.
"Thanks for having my back, G," Deeks said, his body sagging wearily as he climbed the stairs.
Callen stopped when he heard Ruthie's voice tentatively say Deeks' name. He watched the two as they met on the landing, Deeks kneeling down in front of her when she tugged on his hand.
"Did that man hurt you?" she asked in a small voice.
"I'm tough. Don't you know that?" Deeks responded as he held her hand.
The little girl suddenly wrapped her arms around Deeks' neck and hugged him. Callen could see how stunned Deeks was by the gesture, unsure how to respond, his eyes locking on Callen with a questioning look, before simply hugging her back.
"You scared me again," she said as she broke away from him. Her voice had a scolding lilt to it that made Callen smile as Deeks nodded with a sheepish look on his face.
"You mad at me?" he asked.
"No. But you gotta promise not to get hurt again, okay?" she said earnestly.
"I'll try," he said. "Scout's honor."
"Who's Scout?" she asked.
"Tonto's horse," he said with a wide smile.
"Who's Tonto?"
"The Lone Ranger's friend, and one of my nicknames for Kensi."
"Why do you call her that?"
"Cause she can find her way through the desert or the deep, dark woods." He was grinning widely now as Ruthie stared at him.
"Who's the Lone Ranger?"
"I'm the Lone Ranger," he laughed. "I ride a big white horse and come to the rescue of little girls."
"You're just making that up," she said, crossing her arms but giggling at the same time.
"Nope. Scout's honor," he said as he stood up.
"You're silly," she laughed. "I'm hungry. Are you coming to dinner?"
"No sweetie, you go ahead," he said as he started up the remaining stairs.
Callen and Ruthie both watched him go and then looked at each other and smiled.
"He's funny," she said, before growing serious as she came down the stairs and stopped in front of Callen. "Is he really okay?"
"Yeah. He's tough, just like he said," Callen told her.
Ruthie looked at him, seemingly trying to judge if he was telling the truth. She finally nodded and walked off toward the dining room, leaving Callen hoping that what he'd just said was indeed true.
...
...
Moving shadows raced across the immaculate lawn, following the men they belonged to as they approached the house from the rear. The muffled grunt of one of the security guards as he went down barely stopped the silent progress of the ten men dressed in black as they moved past the pool. One man directed the others and two more security guards went down quickly, surprised before they had a chance to defend themselves. The electricity was cut, shutting down the outside lights and the security cameras and alarms just before the locks were picked allowing the team to move inside. The leader sent two man teams to their assigned targets as he moved stealthily up the marble stairs to a large bedroom where he encountered a guard who fought him valiantly, but lost as the dark leader's backup rammed a knife into the base of his spine. The occupant was alone and quickly hauled from the bed, a gloved hand over his mouth silencing any cry he might attempt. As they shoved him down the stairs the man managed to push his captor's hand aside and loudly shouted a warning before being knocked unconscious and dragged down into the living room.
Deeks rose instantly at the sound of Paul Walters' cry, keenly aware that the house had been breached. He moved silently, pulling on his jeans and shoes before gathering his gun and sending a quick distress code on his phone. His mind raced with possibilities and he felt his hands suddenly become slick with sweat, so he blew out his breath as he prepared to get to Ruthie before the intruders did. He slowly opened the door, looking for anyone not supposed to be there, but meeting one of Burke's security men motioning for him to be quiet. Together they watched as two men dressed in black reached the top of the stairs and they fired simultaneously, sending the two men crashing back down the way they'd come. Deeks motioned for the man to stand guard while he entered Ruthie's room, his heart pounding in his chest. She was sitting up in bed, clasping her Wonder Woman doll to her chest and he quivered as relief flooded his body. He signaled for her to keep quiet and saw her nod in the darkness before he gathered her into his arms and headed for the door.
"What's your name?" he whispered to the security man.
"Ross," he said. "Follow me. The back stairs should be clear."
They needed to pass the main staircase to reach their destination and the eerie movement of flashlight beams and the sound of gunfire from down below stopped Deeks. He could see Paul Walters on his knees between two men with heavy duty weapons and then heard a woman's scream and felt Ruthie tighten her grip around his neck. Sandra Walters was forced to her knees beside her husband and was babbling incoherently until one of the men slapped her. Paul charged the man, but a fist across the face and a gun placed to his wife's head stopped him and he sank back down to his knees. The voices of the attackers let Deeks know the men they were dealing with were foreigners and their coordinated attack and teamwork a sign they had military training like the men who'd tried to kidnap Ruthie earlier.
Deeks checked his weapon, preparing himself to try and stop the men from taking Paul Walters before turning to Ross and begrudgingly handed Ruthie over to him. She resisted and he saw fear in her eyes, so he squeezed her shoulder gently and shushed her quietly and she finally let Ross take her. He motioned for him to get her to safety and then moved unnoticed down the darkened stairs, stepping over the crumpled bodies of the dead intruders, making his way quietly down to the landing. As he raised his weapon toward the men below, Ruthie screamed his name. He whipped around at the startled cry just as Ross fired on him. His body slammed backwards against the railing as a searing pain followed the bullet that tore through his left shoulder, sending him tumbling down the stairs to the bottom. He fought the blackness dulling his senses as the men in the living room turned toward him, bringing their weapons up. He instinctively struggled to right himself as flashlight beams flickered over his body, sluggishly raising his weapon and firing before the men could respond. He saw two go down before his vision began to blur, his whole body feeling like lead as he continued to fire. As a couple of men rushed toward him, he saw their apparent leader turn his gun on the Walters, shooting down Sandra, her screams echoing through the dimness of his brain as he slowly blacked out.
"Deeks!"
The sound of his name pulled him toward consciousness and then a full on panic as he remembered that Ross had Ruthie and he wasn't one of the good guys. He opened his eyes to stare into Gus's face and he struggled to get to his feet.
"They have Ruthie," he managed to say as Gus helped him up.
Then he heard the unmistakable sound of a helicopter and he stumbled toward the back of the house, Gus barely able to keep up with him up as he ran, ignoring the pain and dizziness that threatened to stop him. He crashed through the French doors and then he heard Ruthie screaming his name, spurring him madly forward, making him desperate to get to her. Suddenly the lights came on, illuminating a scene that struck him with rabid fear as Ross rushed her toward the waiting helicopter. She was fighting him, but couldn't break free and Deeks felt weakness dragging at his legs as he ran after them. Then she simply disappeared inside, engulfed by the black chopper, which immediately lifted off the grass, rising quickly and leaving him bereft and empty as he shouted her name into the dark sky.
His head began to swim as he turned to look glassy-eyed at Gus before collapsing to his knees, softly repeating her name in a daze. He knew people were around him, but all he could see was Ruthie's tiny face disappearing inside the yawning mouth of the black helicopter and all he could hear was her yelling his name, expecting him to save her.
"Deeks?"
Callen's face swam in front of him and he felt strong hands grip him as he was lowered to the ground.
"I promised her, G," he kept repeating. "I promised her."
"We'll find her Deeks," Callen said.
"You incompetent bastard," Preston Burke shouted at him as he lay on the grass. "You just let them take her, you coward."
"Shut the fuck up, Burke," Callen screamed in the man's face. "He was wounded trying to save all of them."
"Well, he failed," Burke said angrily. "Now get him off of my property."
"Callen," Deeks choked out as he grabbed his arm. "It was one of his men."
"Are you sure, Deeks?" Gus asked.
"He helped me kill two of the attackers," he answered. "So I gave Ruthie to him. I just gave her over, Callen. If she hadn't screamed out a warning, I'd be dead."
"What was his name," Callen asked as the paramedics lifted him onto a stretcher.
"Ross," He mumbled. "I just handed her to him, Callen. How could I do that?"
"You thought you could trust him," Callen said as he walked along side the stretcher as they moved toward the waiting ambulance.
"She was so scared, G," he murmured, berating himself until he passed out.
Callen watched silently as the ambulance pulled away, his hands tightened into fists as he looked at the chaos around him. Sandra Walters was badly wounded and two men from his tactical squad were dead and three of Burke's security people were as well. Paul Walters looked to be in shock as he climbed in the back of the ambulance to be with his wife, while a glowering Preston Burke paced in front of the entrance to his white marble mansion.
Callen knew the shit would hit the fan over this. Burke would see to it, even though it was one of his men who had turned traitor. They couldn't blame Burke for that, since they had vetted the man themselves. Hetty had already heard from Director Vance, questioning once again her decision to assign Deeks to guard the little girl.
"G?" Sam shouted his name as he ran up the steps toward him. "How bad?"
Callen slowly spoke the names of the dead agents, men they had worked with on a regular basis and then the names of Burkes' security team. Even though Sam had never met Ruthie, Callen could see the anger and heartache her abduction was causing.
"And Deeks?" Sam asked softly.
"Bullet through the shoulder," Callen said.
"And?"
"And blaming himself," he answered.
"Kensi's on her way to be with him at the hospital," Sam told him as Gus walked up.
"Callen, you need to see the security footage from our bugs," Gus said, his voice breaking with exhaustion.
The three men started to walk inside to view the footage on Gus's laptop, but Preston Burke blocked their way.
"You're not welcomed here anymore, gentlemen," he said sharply.
"This is a crime scene, Burke," Callen growled, barely being civil. "Now, get the hell out of my way, or I'll have you arrested."
Burke's face grew dark with rage, but he let them pass.
The entryway was smeared with blood from the two dead intruders that lay sprawled there and the living room was even worse with large pools of blood soaking into the thick white carpet and blood splatters dotting the white fabric of the couches and chairs. The bodies of the dead were covered in black tarps that stood out starkly against the cold white marble floor, marking their failure to complete their mission.
Gus brought up the security footage that Eric had sent to his computer and the three men watched it in total silence, flinching only once when they saw Deeks get hit and tumble down the stairs. That he was able to continue firing brought a flicker of a smile to Sam's lips, but it was the cold-blooded nature of the shot fired at Sandra Walters that struck them all as odd. Gus and another agent entered the frame just as the leader had moved his gun over to point it at Paul, but was shot down by the two agents.
"Was he gonna shoot him?" Callen asked, turning to Gus.
"I didn't wait to find out," Gus answered. "But he was definitely trying to kill Mrs. Walters."
"Why kill them?" Sam asked. "I thought they wanted Paul Walters' research?"
"He might not have been trying to shoot Paul," Callen reasoned. "Maybe he was trying to get him to head toward the helicopter."
"Lot's of questions, but no one left to answer them," Sam said.
The three men stood among the silent chaos of death, unsure of what they had just seen and what it all might mean to their case.
"Whoever hired these guys has the money and the will to get what he wants no matter how many lives it costs," Callen said quietly. "And right now, that guy has Ruthie."
...
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