Enjoy!
CHAPTER 10
After 2 days of waiting, the team received the signal from Tony's device, a few kilometres north from where Liz's last signal was registered.
"Kel is the parting point. According to this satellite photos, they leave their Hummers there and go separately in smaller cars up north until they get here" Sam said pointing at the virtual map they had in front of them in the accustomed hut
"Mount Nanga Parbat" Gibbs said
"The zone's climate allows them to hide their headquarters even more, especially at this time of the year" Sam continued
"Snow… how's the tourism, McGee?" Callen asked
"Quite high, at least in the zone but the closer to where Tony's signal is, the less tourists" Tim replied typing furiously on his lap top "Especially at the west"
"That gives me an idea…" Christianne said
"Yeah, me too… Chris and I are going through the west. It would be easier for us to pose as some lost tourists, climbers or something and then, it'll be easier for us to get in…" Callen said as if he had read Christianne's mind
"We'll be a distraction to them, giving the rest of you free passage" Christianne finished
"Sounds good" Gibbs said
"The security is high" Ziva interfered "You'll have to be extra careful as you give us the right sign to go in"
"I have the ear pieces ready for everyone" McGee said
"Ok. Callen, Chris, you'll leave in an hour to the nearest village and pretend to be a couple looking for some adventure, meanwhile, the rest of us will take our positions. This operation starts tomorrow at 1600 hours" Gibbs wrapped up
After that, Christianne started getting ready and Sam approached to her.
"Hey…" He said
"Hey, what's up?"
"Nothing… are you ok?"
"Yeah, why?"
"Well… someone told me you and Callen had an argument before we left France, wanna talk about that?"
"Not really… it's the same old story… the same old lies… I don't know how I'm supposed to withstand Callen's presence without…" Her voice trailed off not sure of how to continue
"Without forgiving him?" Sam suggested
"I could never forgive him, Sam"
"I don't think so… I think you've already forgiven him, you love him so much you've already done so"
"What? I don't love him! I hate him"
"That's even better" Sam said
"What do you mean?"
"You can't hate someone you haven't loved and there's no shorter path to love than through hate…" He replied
"You confuse me, Sam Hanna…"
"I tend to do that… but I think you know what I mean and that's what scares you the most"
"But…"
"You haven't wanted to talk to him because you know you'll give in and forget everything if you do so…"
"Now I think I hate you…" Christianne joked with a serious face but laughing lightly after a second, making Sam laugh
In less than an hour, Callen and Christianne were more than ready to head to Nanga Parbat.
McGee had managed to rent them a helicopter which took them to the desired location.
It was a snow-covered valley with mountains all around and the biggest of them all, Nanga Parbat to the east.
"Tony's signal isn't too far from here, Gibbs" Callen said into his ear piece
"But it's going to take us more than a day to get anywhere near. We'll have to reschedule the operation" Christianne added, inspecting the area
"When?" Gibbs simply asked
"In 2 more days, at the least" She honestly said
"Alright, we'll do this the day after tomorrow and I want the 2 of you there at 1200 hours" Gibbs instructed and cut the communication
"He's worried about Liz" Christianne said
"Me too" Callen replied as they started walking towards the mountain
"Do you… like her?" She asked with hesitation after a while in silence
"Who? Liz?" Callen asked and she nodded "Yeah, I do. She's a great girl and a good friend too"
"Just a friend?" She casually inquired, insisting
"Yes, just a friend" He said and couldn't help to smile "Are you jealous?"
"What? Me? Jealous? Of course not! I couldn't care less about your love life… I mean… personal life…" She hurried to answer
"Right… anyways, even if I liked her as more than a friend, it would be impossible"
"Why?"
"Because she's in a serious relationship with someone else…"
"Tony"
"You know too?"
"He 'accidentally' told me… apparently they don't want Gibbs to know"
"The thing with Gibbs is that he has these… rules…"
"Yeah, I've heard a few already"
"Well, I bet you haven't heard the one Tony and Liz fear the most…" Chris furrowed her brows and he continued "Rule #12: never date a co-worker"
"Oh, I see… but they've been together for over 6 months! How have they managed to hide it from Gibbs?"
"They haven't. I bet Gibbs already knows about it but he hasn't told them anything…"
"It's like a forbidden love…" Chris said softly
"Like us…" Callen completed and kept walking as she stopped "Chris! Are you coming?" He called
"Yes!" She replied and caught up with him
For the next couple of hours they walked and acted as if they were a couple of clueless tourists until they reached a small almost frozen lake.
At the other side of the lake, they saw a group of soldiers wearing Katani's group uniforms.
"Damn" Callen muttered as they hid behind a mound of snow "Those are Katani's men"
"Maybe we should let them get us" Chris suggested
"No, it would do us no good. The west side of the location would be left uncovered for the team to go in. We should go to the other side of the lake and ask for lodging in one of the cottages. There must be someone who will take us in" Callen said
Christianne agreed and they left their hiding place.
As discreetly as they could, they marched on the snow towards the small town they had made out in the distance but the soldiers saw them and pointed their guns at them.
It was clear that no tourist ever dared to go that close to their zone.
They started shouting at them in Urdu and Christianne decided to speak out.
"ہم سیاحوں کو نقصان نہیں, ہمیں! (We're tourists! Don't hurt us!)" She exclaimed and Callen covered her mouth "What?" She asked
"Tourists can't speak Urdu! Only Urdus and spies do!" Callen correctly pointed out
"Oh… yes… oops…"
And then, the soldiers started shooting at them. They weren't hit as they ran extremely fast to dodge the bullets but there seemed to be no hiding place anywhere near besides the snow mounds and that's when it occurred to Callen.
"Come!" He said taking Christianne's hand and pulling her towards the cold lake "We'll hide under the snow by the edge of the lake; they'll think we've fallen and died"
She didn't opposed to the plan but wasn't so sure about it. They threw themselves to the snowy edge of the lake and crawled carefully along side the waterline of the lake, trying not to fall.
The soldiers kept shooting although they couldn't see them anymore.
Christianne pressed her body against the ice-covered rocky wall beneath a thick coat of snow. There was a small fissure in it but big enough to let her hide better and give Callen some space to hide as well.
He held on to the wall but the ice made his fingers slip and he fell into the freezing waters of the practically still lake.
He emerged and Christianne stretched out her hand for Callen to reach for it and get out of the water which could eventually kill him but in that moment, the soldiers walked that way and Callen let go of Chris's hand, taking a deep breath and sinking back into the water.
She went completely silent as she heard the soldiers walking above the patch of earth over her and looked down at the lake. She couldn't see Callen anymore and she felt as if her own heart had frozen.
The soldiers shot a few times at the lake, near them and then, after hearing them laugh in satisfaction, Chris heard them walking away.
The sound of starting car engines let her know that it was safe to come out and to get Callen out of the water.
"Callen!" She called but he didn't come out "Callen, please, don't do this! Callen!"
After calling a fourth time, Callen emerged to the surface, shaking and barely breathing.
With the little strength he had left and with Christianne's help, he crawled out of the lake.
"Callen! Talk to me, please…" She said trying to give him warmth but it was impossible. The weather was about -25º C and he was soaked from head to toe "Come on"
Chris stood up and pulled Callen up, making him lean on her. He walked slowly as she led him to the nearest cottage.
Outside the cottage, a man who was shepherding 5 goats saw them and rushed to them, to their aid.
"براہ کرم, ہماری مدد کریں. انہوں نے جھیل میں گر گئی (Please, help us. He fell into the lake)" Christianne begged and the man nodded as they walked into the cottage
Once inside, the man's wife aided them too. They took Callen and Christianne to one of the small house's rooms and placed him on the bed.
"مجھے ان سے کمبل اور گرم پانی (I will bring him blankets and hot water)" The woman kindly said and exited the room
Moment later, she returned with several blankets, a pot with hot water and a tray of food.
"اپ رہ سکتے ہیں جب تک اپ خواہش (You can stay as long as you wish)" The man offered
"سب کے لئے اپ کا شکریہ. (Thank you… for everything)" Christianne replied as the couple left her and Callen alone "I have to get you out of these soaked clothes…" She said to Callen who was on the verge of losing all consciousness "Hey, hey… stay with me, ok? Callen! Callen!"
Feeling ashamed, as if someone was watching her, Christianne stripped Callen from his clothes (except his underwear) and covered him with a blanket but it didn't seemed to be working; he kept trembling terribly.
"Please, don't make me do this…" She told him but he wasn't listening, he was barely there "Ok… here I go…"
Rolling her eyes and blushing as much as the cold allowed her, she stripped off her clothes (except her underwear, too), took the blanket off Callen's body and pressed hers against his, rubbing her hands and arms along his to make the blood circulate again.
"C'mon, Callen…" She whispered "I have to fasten your heartbeat"
She continued to do this until Callen eventually stopped trembling and his breathing became steadier. His heart rate also increased and the colour returned to his face.
But he had no strength left. He had immediately fallen asleep.
Christianne, also exhausted by the chase, after covering him once more with the blanket, covered herself, and lied next to him on the bed.
"Please don't leave me…" She whispered facing him "I love you too much to lose you again…"
The next morning, Callen woke up to find himself in bed, without clothes and next to him, Christianne, also without clothes.
"That's… new…" He said to himself out loud
Chris looked as peaceful and beautiful as she had looked every single time Callen had woken up beside her.
Of course, the circumstances had been different and since he remembered everything that had happened the day before at the lake, he knew nothing too intimate had happened between them but he did remember a few nice things about her.
She slowly opened her eyes and saw him staring at him intently.
"Good morning" He greeted with a small smile
"Good… Callen!" She shouted and threw herself at him, hugging him "You're ok! You're ok, right?"
"I am… thanks to you…" He replied
"I… oh…"
It was then when it hit her. She was practically naked; he was practically naked; she had spent the night, so to speak, with him… she had to let go. And she did.
"Yeah… sorry…" She murmured as she parted the embrace and scooted a bit away from him and looking down
"You saved my life, Chris… thank you" Callen said, making her face him by lifting her chin
"I… I did what I had to do, Callen… for the mission's sake" She lied not looking at him in the eye
"Was that the real reason?" He insisted
"Why else would I have done it for?"
"I think you know why…"
He leaned forward, meaning to kiss her and for a moment, he though she might actually kiss him back but she stopped and looked away.
"We better get going" She said standing up wrapped in one of the blankets
"Sure…" He replied
Chris got dressed and exited the small room, to let Callen get dressed too.
As she walked out, she saw that the owners of the cottage were tied to their chairs and their mouth were gagged and that a group of 5 soldiers stood in front of her, pointing their guns at her.
"Who are you?" One of them asked
"My name is… Anne Burrows… I'm a tourist" She lied
"نہیں, وہ نہیں ہے! میں نے دیکھا کہ ان کے کل جھیل اور وہ بولا ہمارے زبان ہے! وہ تنہا نہیں یا (No, she is not! I saw her yesterday by the lake and she spoke our language! She wasn't alone either)" Another one said
"Who was with you?" The first one asked
"My husband… he fell into the lake… he died last night" Christianne replied
The leader turned to the couple who witnessed the scene terrified and shouted "کیا یہ صحیح ہے? (Is this true?)"
The couple glanced at Christianne who moved her head so lightly, the soldiers couldn't perceive it but the man who had helped them noticed and then looked back at the soldier and nodded.
"تلاش ہاؤس! (Search the house!)" The man commanded not fully convinced
Callen, who had heard everything from inside the room, rushed to the window and climbed out the cottage.
A couple of soldiers burst into the room and search every possible hiding place for Callen but found no one.
Once they were back in the kitchen, they tied Christianne's hands and took her out of the house,
"اس چھالہ اور اندر جانے کی (Burn it… and leave them inside)" The leader said and he walked out of the house and glanced that the helpless couple
Christianne protested but with no avail. She was loaded into the men's vehicle and saw how they threw a torch into the wood cottage.
"No!" She shouted but they didn't listen or care
As they started the vehicle, Christianne saw Callen hiding behind a mound of snow a few yards away from the cottage and then, they drove away.
Callen had noticed how Christianne had nodded at him before the soldiers took her and then he heard the muffled screams of the kind couple struggling to set free from their boundaries. He ran into the house and set them free. The 3 of them made their way through the fire and smoke and exited the cottage which was doomed to become ashes.
After checking that the man and his wife were alright, Callen retrieved their equipment (he had taken it with him when he escaped the house) and asked the couple to lend him their only horse. They agreed thankful to him for saving them.
"Gibbs! Gibbs, do you copy?" Callen called on Christianne's earpiece (his had been damaged with the water)
"Yes, Callen, I copy" Gibbs replied
"They have Christianne"
"What? What happened?"
"I can't explain right now, but it's good. I'm on my way to the headquarters. I believe we'll be able to run the operation today"
"At what time?" Gibbs asked
"At 1400 hours. I'll call you when I get there"
He cut the communication, got on the horse and rode as fast as the horse could.
At the hut…
"Gear up, people. We're heading to Nanga Parbat" Gibbs instructed to his team
The 4 of them got ready and were pleased hear from their people in Lyon that the commando was already on its way to Katani's headquarters.
Outside, a helicopter was waiting for them. They got on it and headed to the north.
Thanks for reading and I'll see you next time!!!
Koo Koo Kah Choo! xoxo