Too ree roo ree...
I'm here people, I'm here... *dances away to Lady Gaga's "Telephone"*
*shouts from afar* Enjoy!!!
CHAPTER 9
"Gibbs" Callen greeted as the NCIS team arrived to Lyon
"Have you missed us, G?" Sam asked jokingly
"Not really…"
Callen noticed Christianne's presence and tried to approach to her but she immediately rushed into the building, towards her office.
"Still no change?" Callen asked Sam who just shook his head
"What is this?" Sinclair asked confused by the scene. No one had informed him of the plans
"Director Sinclair, I'm agent Gibbs and this is my team" Gibbs said without much enthusiasm
"You're NCIS… what are you doing here?" Sinclair interrogated anxiously
"We've come to help"
"I do not believe that's necessary, agent Gibbs. My people and I have everything under control" The fat director replied
"I seriously doubt that. You've lost 3 agents during simple recognisance missions and you sent one of my own straight to the wolf's mouth. Believe me, everything is not under control" Gibbs said
"Or at least not under your control, director" Callen said
"What… what do you mean?" Sinclair stammered
"You are no longer in charge of this mission, Sinclair and you are to be detained until further notice" Gibbs said
"You have no authority to do this!" He exclaimed
"They don't, but I do" Christianne said walking to him with a paper in her hand "You might want to read this, Bernard"
Bernard took the paper and read it. His eyes widened in shock as he passed his eyes over the words.
"What is this? You can't do this! You are a traitor, Christianne!" He shouted
Chris stepped forward and slapped her once-boss and said "You are the traitor here, Bernard! The entire agency trusted you and you've let us down. You're nothing but a coward and you will be treated as such"
"You have no proof" Bernard said
"Not enough, yes. But once we've caught Katani, we'll have more than enough to put you and your best friend behind bars for the rest of your miserable lives" Callen threatened
"You are under arrest, Bernard Sinclair for the charges of treason against the Republic of France" Christianne said as Sam handcuffed him and 2 A.B. officers took him away
"Where are they gonna take him?" Tony asked
"In our own cells, at least until we've gotten to Katani's lair and found something to connect them with" Christianne explained
"You are now in charge, Christianne. Can we proceed with the operation?" Gibbs asked and Christianne nodded as they followed her to the operation room
They planned everything. Tony would get into Katani's headquarters by infiltrating into the oil order and once Katani's men had found him, he would activate his own tracking device which would lead Gibbs and the rest to them.
Gibbs assigned the teams this way: Sam and McGee would go through the north; himself and Ziva through the east and Christianne and Callen through the west. A larger raid team would wait for their signal to enter through the south.
After everything was decided, Christianne, who was not very happy with Gibbs' decision of putting her with Callen, remained in the now empty operations room, thinking about her encounter with Callen, without knowing that he was watching her leaning on the door frame.
She suddenly turned around and almost jumped as she noticed his presence.
"Callen! I thought… I thought you had gone with Gibbs and the others to prepare everything" She gasped
"I was going to… but… I wanted…" He started and then turned around to close the door "I wanted to talk to you first"
"I do not believe we have something to talk about" Christianne said seriously gathering the papers that were spread on the table
"There is, Christianne, you know there is" Callen said almost in a whisper approaching to her
"What do you want us to talk about, Callen? Everything has been said and done, if I remember correctly"
"No, Chris. You never let me convince you that I was not lying when I said I loved you…"
"You know what? Stop right there. I don't want to hear it" She then tried to walk to the door but he didn't let her, taking her by the arm "Let go, Callen"
"No, you're gonna listen to me. I love you, Christianne and I know I was wrong to lie to you back in Spain but even though I was in a mission and I had to accomplish it, I told you the truth"
"It's easy for you to say that, Callen. I opened my heart to you and I put my career at risk by telling you who I was! You made me love you and felt nothing in return! I was nothing but a job for you and I don't intend on making the same mistake and believing in your words. We are gonna do this because it is our job but it doesn't mean I've forgiven you or forgotten what you did, is that clear?" Christianne exclaimed
She intended to continue but a knock on the door interrupted her. The door opened and Tony walked in.
"I'm sorry to interrupt, but… we are ready" He said
"Yes… thank you, Tony" Christianne said and after shooting a deadly look at Callen stormed out of the room
"Is she…?" Tony started asking
"She's alright. Let's go" Callen simply replied and walked out of the room, heading towards the prep room
Tony followed and remained silent but couldn't help to notice the tension between Callen and Christianne and being his curious self, he approached to Sam.
"Hey, Sam…" He started
"What's up, Tony?"
"Uhmm… I was wondering… is there something going on between Callen and Christianne?"
"Why do you ask?"
"Well, the day Christianne came to NCIS she mentioned she wanted to kill him and a moment ago, when I came to the op room to find them, they seemed to be arguing…" Tony said
"Oh… yeah… I don't know if either of them would be too happy to know I've told you…" Sam replied
"Oh, c'mon, man… you can tell me… I won't tell them you did…" Tony insisted
Sam glanced at both Callen and Chris and then looked back at Tony.
"Ok…" Sam took a deep breath and continued "Almost 3 years ago, Callen had just joined NCIS; he was assigned to go undercover and follow a Colombian drug lord who resided in Spain. He became friends with this criminal and in the meantime he met a young woman called Ana. She happened to be involved with the drug lord Callen was after so he decided to get closer to Ana and obtain information through her. He made her fall in love with him and without realizing… he fell in love too"
"Wait… Christianne told me Callen had made her believe he loved her, not some other girl…" Tony protested
"I thought you'd ask… Ana was Christianne's undercover name…" Tony raised his eyebrows in acknowledge "Exactly. Christianne was still working for the French military intelligence and she had been sent to do exactly the same as Callen although, neither of them knew about each other's true identities. After almost 6 months, Callen doubted of his mission"
"Why did he doubt?"
"Because he was ordered to kill Ana but he couldn't. He asked her to run away with him. He offered everything, including protection"
"And she said no" Tony said
"She said no and a few days later, one of her informants told her about Callen's true identity. She faced him as Ana and asked for the truth. Callen was really in love with her and was unable to lie. He told her everything and in her anger, feeling betrayed and used, Ana told him the truth and revealed herself as Christianne" Sam paused and looked over at Chris who was checking some guns with Ziva "She was really hurt, I know it because we've been friends before that happened but I knew nothing about her mission so there was nothing I could do. Eventually, her superiors ordered her to retire from the case but she didn't do so. She kept posing as the drug lord's girlfriend for a while and at one point she almost kills Callen because the criminal asked her to do it. She couldn't and that's how her cover was blown. Both Callen and Chris killed the drug lord and completed the mission and after that, Chris returned to France and Callen to the US and she never spoke to him again, even when he tried to contact her several times. After that, she was hired by Alliance Base and well… you know the rest" Sam finished his explanation with a sigh
"Wow… that sounds like a Greek tragedy to me…" Tony commented
"Something like that, yes… it's very sad because they are both my friends and I know they still have feelings for each other but she hasn't been able to forgive him"
Tony looked at both Callen and Christianne and remembered the last few things he had said to Liz. He didn't wanna end up like them. He loved Liz and if he had to kneel down and ask for forgiveness, he'd do it. But first he had to find Liz alive.
In less than 3 hours, the operation was ready to take off. The team got on the same plane Liz had been on which took them to India.
There, they tracked the 2 trucks that were to deliver the oil order to Katani and waited for the right moment to start the plan.
"Are you sure you want to do this, DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked minutes before Tony got on one of the trucks
"I'm willing to do anything to get Liz back" He replied not caring if his boss discovered his relationship with Liz
Gibbs said nothing more and just nodded.
A couple of minutes later, from the small hut they had rented, the team saw from afar how the trucks approached. Luckily for them, they were unguarded.
"It's now or never, Tony" Callen said and Tony nodded
Guarded by the rest of the team, he got into the back of the second truck and left along with the oil.
For 2 days they heard nothing of Tony and for 2 days Tony remained in the back of the truck, except when nature called and the trucks stopped.
Until and before he knew it, they arrived to Kel. It was the middle of the day when the trucks stopped or best said, were stopped.
A group of soldiers halted the small convoy and started inspecting the load.
'Here we go' Tony thought and then raised his hands for the soldiers to see. They immediately pointed their gun machines at him "Whoa, wait, wait, don't shoot!" He exclaimed and then one of the soldiers commanded him (more like shouted) to get out of the truck. Tony didn't understand but started stepping out of it anyways "Take it easy, I'm unarmed"
The soldiers registered him for weapons and found nothing but his badge. They read it and handed it to the one who seemed to be the leader.
"Who are you?" He asked Tony with a strong accent
"My name is Anthony DiNozzo, I'm an NCIS agent"
"Agent? We were not told about any more agents" The man exclaimed and motioned his men to point their guns at Tony and to charge them
"No, no, wait! I know I wasn't invited but I came to see Commander Katani"
"Does he know?"
"Not that I'm aware of but I'm sure he won't refuse to see me" Tony smiled
Then, after discussing it for some minutes, the soldiers nodded at some orders the leader gave them and approached Tony. They tied his hands and covered his head and face with a woollen sack, just like they had done with Liz a month before, but they didn't hit him, since he didn't resist.
They put him in a different truck and took him to Katani's headquarters. Once they were on the truck, Tony pretended to be scratching his ear and activated the tracking device. This time, the plan wouldn't fail.
After a 2 hour drive, the soldier stopped the truck and along with another soldier, took Tony out of the car and into the same building Liz had been taken to.
They stopped walking and Tony heard one of the soldiers talking to a third man.
"کیا ہو رہا ہے? (What's happening?)" Tony heard the third man ask
"ہم ایک ncis ایجنٹ چھپواں میں تیل کے ایک ٹرک (We found an NCIS agent hidden in one of the oil trucks)" The soldier said
"کیا? مجھے کوئی اس کے بارے میں اگاہ کیا. ان لا مجھے! (What? No one informed me about this. Bring him to me!)"
With that, Tony felt how the soldiers took him to a different room and then released him.
At once, the man in front of him took the sack off his head and Tony had to blink a couple of times for his eyes to become accustomed to the light again.
"Who are you?" The man asked
"Very Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo… you must be Commander Katani" Tony said casually
"Do I know you?"
"No, you don't… but you happen to know a friend of mine…"
"Why are you here?" Katani interrogated
"I came to negotiate the release of agent Elizabeth Hadley"
"She is your friend, then" Katani said and Tony nodded slightly "You've come all the way from America to tell me this?"
"I have"
"Then you've wasted both your time and your life. Agent Hadley is dead"
Tony felt his heart tearing apart. He clenched his jaw and swallowed hard "You're lying"
"Why would I lie?" Katani smiled "She was of no use to me"
"Where is she?" Tony insisted "I know she's alive, where is she?"
Katani narrowed his eyes but the smile remained on his face.
"ان لا (Bring her)" He calmly instructed one of his men "I must say I'm impressed, agent DiNozzo, by your perseverance in the rescue of your friend. I assume my special taste in fine things gave me away"
"Seriously, man, who buys scented oil to light such a nasty place?" Tony commented and Katani laughed
"You Americans and your lack of culture… of education. I like to incorporate the finest things in my life, no matter what, when, where or how…" Katani said and then, the man who had left the room moments before returned, dragging a woman whose clothes were damp, filthy, torn here and there, her hair was messy, her skin was dirty but she was breathing. It was Liz "There you go, agent DiNozzo, your friend is alive"
Tony wasted no time and tried to kneel next to Liz who seemed barely conscious but Katani drew his gun out and pointed at him, stopping him.
"Not yet. Why are you here?"
"I told you I came for her" Tony repeated
"You said that but you're not so idiot to believe I was actually going to give her up so easily, are you?" Tony looked at the man suspiciously and furrowed his brows "You're not getting out of here, agent DiNozzo and neither is she"
"What if I stay instead of her?" Tony proposed
"I said no! Neither of you is leaving this place! Now I have you, agent Hadley and agent Beaufort in my power, what makes you think I'm willing to give up this huge advantage you've just given me?" Katani smiled widely and then looked at his men "ان کا دور ہے! (Take them away!)" He commanded
The soldiers took him and Liz out of the office and to a room that was a few hallways away from it.
The place was like a bunker made out of concrete which made it terribly cold and humid. Once they reached for the dungeon-like room, they were practically thrown to the floor and locked in there.
"Liz! Liz…" Tony said rushing to Liz's side "Liz, answer me"
He removed the locks of hair from her face and placed her head on his lap. She had several bruises on her face and body and a couple of cuts on her left brow, right cheek and lower lip.
"Liz, wake up" He insisted
"What are you doing here?" She replied as lucidly as ever; as if she wasn't hurt at all, opening her eyes
"Liz!" Tony exclaimed hugging her
"Ouch!" She winced at the pain
"Sorry… where does it hurt?" He asked
"You should ask: where doesn't it hurt? It would be easier for me to point those places… and faster… what are you doing here?" She replied sitting up
"I came to… rescue you…?" He said making it sound more like a question than an affirmation
"Oh, really? You came to rescue me and got captured while trying or your came to rescue me by being captured?"
"The second one…" He said and she nodded but remained silent "Why did you pretend to be barely conscious?"
"Well, during my first few days here I discovered that the more awake and lucid and healthy I looked for them, the more they tried to hurt me. If I look too weak to take a beating, they just slap me a couple of times and then leave me alone…" Liz explained as if it was the most natural thing "If I look strong and daring, they get angrier and beat the hell out of me… you probably might wanna do it too"
"Oh… ok… is that how you've managed to survive so far?"
"Yeah… well, Gibbs asked me to resist as much as I could… I said I would so, here I am… resisting… so what's the plan?"
"Wait a second… you knew we would end up coming for you?"
"Duh! Of course! But also I was aware that I would have to wait"
"What happened to the tracking device?"
"The day they captured me and took me to Kel, they tried to cover my face with a sack. I didn't want them to, fought them and they ended up hitting me on one side of the head with the butt of an AK-47, which of course damaged the device. I've been trying to fix it but it's so tiny and I'm such a wuss when it comes to technology… oh well…" She sighed crossing her legs, making her look quite childlike
Tony stared at her in shock. She was behaving as if nothing had happened. As if they hadn't stopped seeing each other for a whole month, as if she hadn't been captured by terrorists and beaten to dead almost everyday.
Without saying anything else, he leaned forward and embraced her as if his life depended on it, which in a way, he felt it did.
"What's wrong, Tony?" She asked confused by his behaviour
"I thought you were dead" He whispered making her smile
"I thought you might think that… but I'm ok, really!" She said, hugging him back
"No, Liz, you don't understand! I THOUGHT YOU HAD DIED! I thought I'd never see you again! And after all the things I told you on the phone the day you came here… I couldn't sleep fearing your ghost would come at night to haunt me for all eternity" Tony exclaimed dramatically
"You seriously need to stop watching so many movies, Tony…" Liz joked but Tony didn't smile and she sighed "I've been thinking about that too, you know? Everything I said that day… and the day before I left for Lyon. I shouldn't push you out of my life. I wanted a relationship with you, I demanded faithfulness and you delivered and I've been so scared of letting people down… of getting hurt that I haven't considered your feelings either… I'm really sorry"
"What do you mean by 'letting people down'?"
"Well… I haven't wanted to quit the SAS because it is like being a Marine… and if I quit, I fear Gibbs will be disappointed at me…"
"Are you serious?"
"Yes"
"That's the most stupid thing I've ever heard!"
"What?!" Liz asked feeling insulted
"No, please, don't take it like that… what I meant was… Liz, Gibbs sees you as a daughter…"
"Precisely because of that!"
"Would you let me finish? Thanks… he would never, ever be disappointed at you. No one in their clear mind could think that of you"
"You think so?"
"I know so…"
"And you? Would you be disappointed if I quit the SAS?"
"I'd be delighted if you did so" Tony said and she smiled even more
"So… it is not over?" Liz asked
"What do you mean?"
"I mean… you and I… that day, when we had the fight… I said it was over… can we… forget about that?" She hesitated
"I already did" Tony smirked and kissed her softly but after remembering where they were, Liz parted the kiss
"Sorry but…" She eyed the guards behind the door
"Yeah, you're right…"
"So what's the plan?" She asked after a while
"They are divided in teams. I'm wearing a tracking device and I can proudly say it still works" He said and she hit him in the arm "Ouch…"
"But they alone… they won't be able to get in here…"
"They are not coming alone… you see, Sam and McGee are coming through the north, Gibbs and Ziva through the east and Callen and Christianne through the west… and the south will be covered by a commando… sounds good to you?"
"It does… and what exactly is the whole idea?"
Hope you're liking it, my children!!!
And just so you know, we are slowly making it to the end... chan chan chaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan!
Thanks for reading and for your patience!!!
Koo Koo Kah Choo! xoxo