Ghost from The Past
Chapter ten
[NCIS Los Angeles]
Ki Soo was most concerned for the commander bringing back a North Korean suspect to the New Zealand police station. He looked thoughtfully at their only surviving evidence and then walked to Steve McGarrett. Callen looked annoyed.
"Agent Kim, I thought we were in a hurry." Callen called after him.
"I just need one minute to crack at him. He might know where Agent Kendricks and the two hackers." Ki Soo assured him.
"I'll give you fifteen minutes. Don't kill him. We need him alive." Callen smirked at him.
"I don't have to kill him because he's the perfect bait. Remember you'd asked me what happened in Washington DC? His men rigged explosives on the car five years ago. The three of us were supposed to be dead that day. It wasn't just a shootout incident. All I need to do is tell him when I do find Agent Kendricks, I'll tell him he'd cooperated and then, he's going to want protection knowing he just failed his mission. He won't get eaten by the big sharks." Ki Soo replied reasonably.
Callen chuckled. He looked impressed and briefly thanked Steve and Chin before going back to his new rental car. Then leaned against it and folded his arms across his chest. The leader will enjoy watching his skillset from the distance. The NCIS agent realised he was going to create a scene with the Five-0 leader. A look of amusement plastered across his face. After all, the Navy SEAL and the North Korean agent understood Korean.
[NCIS Los Angeles]
Ki Soo massaged his bandaged shoulder with his hand. The bandage on his injured shoulder began to itched him. He watched the commander thoughtfully. The Five-0 leader had put the North Korean shooter back to the car. The black mask on his face was now off. The agent squinted and frowned. There was something familiar about the hired hitman.
His thoughts were distracted by the Navy SEAL. The Korean man looked up and gave a long laughed. He felt a swell of pity for the Five-0 task force having to finally learned about his identity and even felt guilty for hiding it so long. Steve smirked at him and raised his eyebrows.
"Should we officially call you Agent Ki Soo Kim or Raymond Lu?" Steve asked seriously with his arms folded across his chest. He spoke in Korean.
"I prefer if you call me Kim Ki Soo than Ki Soo Kim. It sounds weird to me and as for being the name Raymond Lu hurts me ten times more. I got to say that was a poor choice of English name. The agency chose it, not me." Ki Soo complained. He spoke back in English. "Hey, for Chin's sake, I know English. You don't have to speak Korean with me. My English is fairly fluent, except for our dud friend there."
He nodded at the passenger in the car. "You got some history with that guy?" Steve looked from the NK agent then back at their suspect.
"Damned right I do." Ki Soo agreed, sounding cheesed off.
"We'll worry about him later. Right now, is about you." Chin raised his eyebrow at him.
"It's been awhile since my full and real name was called out. Nobody called me by my real name for years." Ki Soo said fairly.
"I'm sorry." Chin apologised sincerely.
"What do you have to apologised for? If anyone who should be apologising is me!" Ki Soo said dramatically. "I don't enjoy so much about having to live a lie every day. I kept telling the agency it was pointless to hide us."
"Yeah. Your agency still bought you enough time to lived, smart ass. So, let's hear it. What was so important that got you to be on the elimination list to make you go into hiding for five years?"
"All right, commander. I will tell you what I told your boy over here. I was on the elimination list as a North Korean agent because I defied my orders. You do not want to know what my orders. Trust me." Ki Soo repeated for the hundredth time.
"Try me." Steve challenged him. "I'm trying to understand why they come for you now. They got plenty of chances to finished you off back then."
"Yeah, damned right they'd tried to finished me off years back then. It's not fun being a fugitive. All right. My order was to gather solid Intel information on nuclear technology included to deliver the assassination of our top leader lieutenant. My supervisor suspected his superior was involved in a coup with Athena and IRIS. (The first and second terrorist organisation.) I was ordered to kill him because he was going to create a third war and shake the political nation alliance between the North and South for not sharing the technology." Ki Soo explained disheartened.
Steve stared at him disbelievingly. He went all silence, determined to digest what the agent had just told him. It was his turn to laughed because what he just said was hard for him to believed. Ki Soo didn't look like a person to be chosen to kill someone and to the commander, he thought he was another kid and he looks like one too.
"Wow, just wow. This just keeps getting better and better, huh. You got to be kidding me. Which agency do you work for?" Steve wondered.
"I kid you not, sun-bae. I worked with the NTS agency (National Anti-Terrorism Security) in South Korea and became a citizen there. I'm sorry you and your team almost got pan-fried back at my apartment." Ki Soo told him grimly.
"Forget that! We know how to look after ourselves. Right now, I'm worried for you. Besides, you're one of us and I don't care about your name. If you want them to be off your back. You need to work with us." Steve announced seriously.
Ki Soo stared at him. "You're recruiting me to Five-0."
"Yes, I am. We're your best shot at getting you out of this." Steve persisted.
"Think about what you are asking me. Besides, I'm retired." Ki Soo argued back.
"Well, since you're in NCIS protective custody. You're not officially retired or five years back." Chin pointed out.
"Hey! You don't know who you're dealing with and you cannot go after the third organisation. I don't need you to be looking over your shoulder." Ki Soo warned them intensively.
"Agent Kendricks shot Kono. You think he won't try again? If he's in business with the North Koreans which is today's proof, then there's no doubt he will send another hit squad to my team. We need to be ready, not to be send as a body bag." Steve responded equally. "He tried to kill you and Agent Callen."
Ki Soo stared at the commander without blinking. "Commander, I'm the last person to be seen wearing a badge. I'm a killer on the loose!" He yelled.
"You were ordered to kill a high-ranking officer which makes them the official killer, you understand?" Steve corrected him modestly.
Ki Soo shook his head and looked distraught. "It's not the same, commander."
"Ki Soo," Steve frowned, understanding why he was beat up. "We're cops. We know. We know what is like having to pull a trigger. You work with Agent Callen and NCIS. Then we don't have to talk about this ever again."
Ki Soo groaned. He pinched his nose with his own fingers.
"Ki Soo." Chin gave him a sympathetic look. "I was in your position years ago. I was an accused cop, unable to wear a badge for a long time. Boss wants to get you off the elimination list as much as you do. He doesn't care what you done. It's the action that you do counts."
"You two are being suicidal. You know that?" Ki Soo said weakly.
Steve chuckled at him. "Hey! The only person who's being suicidal is you." Steve said daringly. "You're not out of retirement until our job is done."
"Sounds fantastic. Fine. I will be recruited. Consider me gone after the job is done." Ki Soo finally caved in to their demanded request. He shook his head and wondered what he had just signed up.
"That's why Agent Callen came for you in the first place? NCIS protective custody. That's why he's involved. National security." Steve guessed.
Ki Soo shook his head.
"Bigger than that, commander. One of their own was murdered. I know her for a long time. Agent Grace Stevens was a mentor to me and she was killed because she discovered a third organisation much worse than the Athena's and IRIS." Ki Soo explained.
Steve's eyes widen in shocked. He felt stunned. "All right. Let's get this fact straight. So, until now they chase you across the world and you are the most wanted fugitive for murder in South Korea? Okay. I get why you don't want us involved. You know you don't have a choice. I'm still trying to understand why now. How did you manage to be hidden for five years?"
"Washington DC. 2008." Ki Soo scoffed. He sounded bitter about it.
"What's that?" Steve demanded. He felt his stomach churned.
"The three of us was allocated and escorted to our designated countries. We were supposed to be dead five years ago. Two cars were rigged with explosives followed with a shootout incident in the airport." Ki Soo explained.
"The agency fake your own deaths." Steve surmised. "Then there must be a leaked."
"The leak is old news." Ki Soo replied dismissively. "We always said the North Korean Security will always come after us. The guy you just put in the car, he's a North Korean Security."
"You sure you don't recognise him five years ago?" Steve asked thoughtfully. He pulled out the photo and passed it to him. "New Zealand police department picked him up to matched the missing employee to tie him for murder."
Ki Soo studied the photo and smiled about it. "We met briefly. Agent Tseo put him in the hospital after trying to kill us in the car accident at the airport. He's my leader and the best NK agent out of the three of us."
"Which country was this Agent Tseo allocated?" Steve wants to find him. "I take it he's the third agent beside you and Sun-Hwa." He stated.
"That's what I'm trying to figure out! Sun-Hwa and I woke up in two hospitals that day. She called me and wanted to see me to make sure I was okay. I told her to lay low because I wasn't sure how long they're there in the country to finish the job." Ki Soo advised him. "We went our separate ways after that. My CO sent me to warn her she's in danger. He picked up a chatter and warned me it's not just Sun-Hwa on the elimination list. So am I. That's why I'm in New Zealand."
"Let us go with you." Steve offered.
"You don't know, my sister. She trusts no one. This is my problem. You done enough for today, Hyungnim." Ki Soo insisted. "Please."
Steve shared a look with his colleague. He stretched out a hand to him. "Okay. Do me a favour and don't get yourself killed. Please. Be careful. We might not be there for the second time to save you."
"Thank you, Sun-bae." Ki Soo returned his handshake. "I'm sorry you have to find out like this."
"You don't have to apologise. You live in Hawaii for five years and should know I was once a fugitive once on the island. Do what you need to do and come home soon, Kim Ki Soo." Steve ordered firmly.
Ki Soo nodded in response. He paused on the way back to Agent Callen and turned back to Steve. He looked thoughtfully. "Oh, about our dud friend back in our car. Let him go, boss. Put a tracker on him and see where he leads you. He's too scared to get swallowed by the big shark. Trust me. He'll want protection. They probably demoted him for doing a poor job five years ago."
Steve and Chin stared at each other for awhile. Then, laughed lightly. "Did he just –" Chin started.
"Yeah. He did." Steve agreed stared at Ki Soo intently. "He's been hanging around with us way too long."
"That's your fault boss. Your influence even got on him." Chin teased lightly. He looked amused.
"Hey, I'm still here, you knob heads!" Ki Soo scolded, not appreciating being ignored by the two cops.
"Arasso. Arasso. (Okay. Okay.)" Steve said in Korean. He grinned broadly. He clapped a hand on his back. "Let's start at the four warehouses. There's a strong chance Agent Kendricks could still be there and the hackers." He told Chin.
"What about Agent Tseo?" Chin called after him.
"I won't worry about the punk ass. You don't have to find him. If he finds me, he'll eventually find the rest of your team. Trust me. The guy knows how to look after himself." Ki Soo responded over his shoulder confidently.
[NCIS Los Angeles]
Her eyes were wide open. It was well into the night. The lights were out in their room and her daughter was well asleep. The former female agent glanced at the clock. It was quarter to nine. Fifteen minutes was enough time for her to meet the two agents at the school as discussed. The two agents who'd delivered their warnings about her and her whole family being in danger.
She shifted in her bed, careful not to disturbed her innocent sleeping husband who'd knew nothing about her past at all. Her husband shifted. His eyes closed, sleeping soundlessly. Sun-Hwa shifted in her bed the same time he did and slowly, successfully she climbed out of bed. The woman stood up. Once more, the beautiful agent glanced at her husband. Quietly, she picked up her light jacket, proceeded out to the door and placed her hand on the door knob.
Then, turned the door knob as silently as possible. The wife proceeded down the staircase. Her feet against the polished floor, careful not to make a creaking sound against the floor. She walked towards the kitchen table and was about to retrieve her car keys when she thought she heard a footstep in the kitchen. Slowly, she moved towards the kitchen fridge. She switched the light on. Then, proceeded to the kitchen fridge and on the kitchen fridge. She looked at the kitchen fridge's mirror only to discover a man in black masked with his gun pointed behind her back.
One swift movement, Sun-Hwa Kim pushed his wrist forward, causing his aim to go astray. Still, the shooter managed to gripped on his weapon firmly with his hand. His shot had ended up cracking her glass window and the glass shattered. The Korean mother swung her right leg upwards, her heel ended up hitting against his jaw before punching his arms with her palm and kneeing him in the stomach twice.
The shooter fought back. He kicked her in the stomach and punched her in the face with his hand causing her to double back. Sun-Hwa hold onto her kitchen bench and saw just in time her assassin aim again. The tall graceful woman swung the kitchen fridge's door right on time just as he made his shot for the second time, twice. Thankfully, his shot missed her by several inches. She saw a frying pan on the stove and seized its handle firmly. She whacked him on the leg, causing him to kneel one feet to the ground.
She twisted his whole arm upwards and punched his weapon to the ground. Then locked her arms around his neck, suffocating him on the spot. Her attacker made a fruitless attempt to fight back. Sun-Hwa tightened a gripped around his neck, punched him several times in the stomach with her fist before twisting his neck with a loud snap. The stranger in her house now went limped in her grasped.
Sun-Hwa panted heavily, trying to digest what had just happened and allowed her so-called attacker to fall lifelessly on the ground. She looked up to find her now awake husband standing opposite her. Her eyes widened in shocked. Then, saw a second shooter now stood behind her husband. The former Korean female agent saw her kitchen knife near on the fruit platter. She seized her kitchen knife off the bench and threw it at the second shooter.
The second shooter fell to the ground instantly and his weapon dropped to his side. The husband hung his mouth opened. Questions filled his eyes. Sun-Hwa understood and knew her husband was wondering if she had gone mad and how she suddenly became a super woman overnight. His eyes swivelled from her to the now dead mask man, completely speechless. Sun-Hwa moved her long hair away from her face.
"Take Saemi with you."
Her husband stood frozen on the spot. Like his wife, he too, was trying to understand what had just happened. It wasn't until his wife raised her voice at him hopeful he will get back to reality.
"Now!" Sun-Hwa demanded.
The husband jumped before scurrying up the stairs. A third shooter came from the backyard. The third shooter is exactly like her last two: all dressed in black attire from head to toe. Her third attacker made a shot for her. Sun-Hwa ducked just on time. Her mask man used his gun and cracked the glass window from the backyard. Sun-Hwa saw the chair beside her. She seized it, gave a loud yell and use the chair to pushed her attacker off with all her strength.
The unknown shooter fell slightly. He caught onto her family's backyard table with his hand and use it as his own support. She saw her wok at the corner of her left where she usually cooks a stir fry meal for her family. The house-wife seized the equipment, used it as a weapon, made a whack on the unknown stranger. She whacked at him several times. Her opponent ducked her attack and managed to seized her by the arm.
The two ferociously seized each other arm. Sun-Hwa used all her strength to pushed him straight into the house and the mask man was determined to pushed her forwards to go back to the backyard. They looked as though they were merely waltzing in the house, each swinging each other's arms. The retired agent locked her hands with his, determined to steer his weapon away from her. She felt him aiming for her chest and knew right at this moment the two agents she met at her daughter's school spoke the truth.
She used her arms and pushed it upwards towards his jaw. Her pushed at his jaw caused him to fall slightly and his weapon fell back into the house. One hand on his arm and the other on his back. One tight squeezed made her swung her stranger around, causing him to smacked right into a second layer of glass window throwing him straight back inside to the house, causing the glass to shatter onto the ground.
She ran back to the kitchen where the attack all started. The Korean woman swung her leg straight to her attacker's stomach, causing him to fall backwards against the fridge. The shooter composed himself. His gun lay on ground and was all forgotten. It wasn't until they both saw the gun lying on the floor. The man sat straight up. His eyes widened and just as he was about to made a grabbed for it, Sun-Hwa beat him to it first, she punched him once against his jaw. One to his left and one to his right. Then, kicking him straight to the groin.
The stranger in the mask grunted in pain. His eyes watered. It was enough time for the well-trained female agent to seized his weapon and without hesitation, shot him more than once. The first shot didn't make him stay down completely. One full second made Sun-Hwa realised her shooter was wearing a vest because the Korean assassin sat straight up. She aims for his neck and shot not just once on the right, but, also to the left before sending the last shot straight to his forehead.
Sun-Hwa gripped on her new weapon tightly in her hand. She approached the dead mask man and crouched down with one knee. Her hand slipped under his shirt and felt another layer of clothing. A hard clothing. Perplexed, she pocketed her new weapon behind her blue jeans and ripped open his t-shirt. She gave a small gasped. Her eyes watered with tears as her heart pulsated with sheer anxiety coursing through her veins. He was wearing a vest. Her instinct proved her right.
The Korean woman turn him over and took his vest and strapped it on herself. Then, she turned her attention to his mysterious face and decided to investigate on him briefly. Her hand shook and moved it towards his mask. Unwillingly, she pulled the black mask off him and discovered the man was a North Korean. Her mind was filled with questions rather than the answers she was looking for, and then a sickening feeling rose in her stomach, causing it to churned horribly. It was then she realised her husband hadn't come back down to meet her and run away.
Perhaps to run and see to Agent Callen and her colleague, Ki Soo Kim…
Panic was now successfully gripping her very heart. She quickly stood up, dashed back upstairs. At the very stairs, a shooter had just walked out of her daughter's room. Anger flared inside her heart. The fourth shooter saw her and raised his gun at her. Sun-Hwa was too quick for him and pulled him by his arms with her hand. She twisted his whole arm, dislocated it with a sickening crack in his bone before pushing him straight down to the stairs. Her fourth shooter went down.
Sun-Hwa pulled out her new weapon from behind her pocket and shot him on the neck. The door behind her burst open. She whipped her head around only to discover a fifth shooter came straight out of hers and her husband's bedroom. Her new shooter pointed his gun at her. She made for the stairs and he started firing at her. The Korean wife was thankful she had made the right choice by strapping the vest on earlier. All shots hit her vest. The Korean shooter shot until there was no more bullets.
The Korean mother race down the stair case. Her shooter threw his gun away and seized the knife. He charged towards her, first stabbing her on her shoulder and her arms. Sun-Hwa cried out in pain. She clutched tightly on her gun and used the back of her gun to hit him on his back and his head. Then, she felt the blade from her attacker cut her leg. A sharp stinging pain flared on her leg. She used her non-injured leg and kicked him backwards.
Her gunman went sideways. She kicked him for a second time. The hired man fell forward. Then, the woman agent whirled her gun and send a neat shot to his neck. She fired five times to ensure he stayed down. She watched him rolled all the way to the bottom of the stairs. Then, hurried back down to check for his pulse. She panted heavily, out of breath and then race back up again.
She was aching all over. Her whole body was screaming with sheer agony. All she cared right now was going back to her family: her husband and daughter. Blood leaked out from her injured leg. Her clothes are now fully stain in her own blood. Her polished floor brushed with her own pool of blood. A sudden wave of dizziness swarmed her mind. She stopped at the top of the stairs and flatten her hands on the wall.
The graceful woman closed her eyes for a while only to achieve a wave of nauseas filled her stomach. The pain from her injuries was getting the better of her. Once the dizziness and nauseas went away briefly, the female Asian agent presumed her task and made her way to her daughter's room. The North Korean woman was shaking from head to toe. There, at her daughter's room, on her daughter's bed lay her husband and daughter.
Sun-Hwa felt as though a new nightmare had opened for her. Her husband and daughter was covered in blood. So was the bedsheet. Broken family photo on the ground and a silencer gun on the floor. She felt her own stomach twisted into knots. She felt her own lungs clog up. The gun in her hand dropped to the floor and clattered loudly. She clapped a hand over her trembling mouth and her eyes watered with tears.
Her vision blurred. Her mind racing wildly. So was her heart. She gave a stabbed of mingle scream. A scream that sounded like a wailing ghost. A scream that sounded like a banshee. A scream that pierced the night. She fell to her knees and screamed on top of her lungs. She screamed once, a second time and let out a howling wail that echoed through her house.
She wrapped her own arms around herself. It was all a bad dream. This wasn't real. It was all just a bad dream. The two sentences kept repeating itself over and over until it becomes her mantra. She wept endlessly. Her tears rain down her cheek. She couldn't stop. Her gaze fixed on her family, unable to comprehend what was in front of her. She cried until her throat became dry. Her face streaked with tears.
The thought of seeing the two strangers at her daughter's school was well forgotten. She just sat there on the floor, grieving and the grief weighed heavily on her heart. A strong surge of revenge boiled in her stomach. A strong hatred rose to her chest. Now, she wants answers. Now, with her family gone, she wasn't sure what to think because those she had cared for was gone before her. It was always her who'd survived against her enemies and it was always her who'd lost everything.
[NCIS Los Angeles]