SAFE HOUSE

Matt watches the large plasma screen in ops. Suddenly, one of the green blips disappears. "Zach, Kensi?" He waits.

Kensi, standing up in the sunroof, waving away the smoke. "Zach?"

Zach coughing, "I'm here."

Kensi smiles, "We're good."

Matt closes his eyes and breathes a sigh of relief. "Get back here ASAP, bring both the Jeep and SUV back to the safe house."

"Will do."

Matt looks at his watch. It's still hours before the SUV is scheduled to pick up Mustaffa. He looks one last time up at the plasma screen . . . . thinking. Moments later he leaves the ops room. Five minutes after that, if any one was in the house, they would hear the low rhythmic thumping of a punching bag being hit.

SAFE HOUSE, ONE HOUR LATER

Kensi and Zach enter the safe house. They immediately drop their gear, head directly to the kitchen, and begin rummaging through the cabinets and refrigerator for some food.

Kensi throws Zach a water bottle from the frig and pulls out some left over take out from the night before, "I'm starving."

"You should be, we haven't eaten in about 5 hours." Zach opens the bottle of water and takes a long pull. He walks over to the silverware drawer and grabs two forks.

They both sit down at the kitchen table and dig into the food.

Matt having heard them, comes up from the cellar wiping his face on a towel. "What took you so long?"

Kensi and Zach look at each other incredulously. Zach speaks first, "Ahhh, we were a little busy."

Kensi swallows the large bite she has in her mouth, "By the time the smoke cleared Granger had caught up with us. He said he and his men would clean up both the rocket launcher and helicopter sites."

"So we drove back to get the Jeep . . ."

" . . . . and voil'a, we're back."

Matt nods his head and watches them inhale their food for a few seconds. "I'm going to take a shower while you guys finish eating. Meet you in ops in 20?"

Mouths full, both Kensi and Zach nod their heads.

OPS, 20 MINUTES LATER

They are all sitting around their planning table.

Zach finally says, "We may have gotten Hansen, but, I guess, the rest of the operation is blown."

Kensi nods her head in agreement, "No more body guards. Which translates into no one can pick up Mustaffa."

Matt sits forward and rests his elbows on the table, "I will."

Zach reaching for his cup of coffee. "You'll what?"

"I'll pick up Mustaffa."

Zach stops the cup of coffee mid way to his mouth. "You?"

Kensi looks over at Matt in disbelief.

Matt says with a smile, "We're adapting folks. Get ready for a wild ride."

There's silence in ops. The only sounds are the blips from the two remaining SUVs; Fahim's and the one outside the safe house.

Zach shifts from looking at Matt to looking at the screen and then back at Matt, "Matt, I don't think it's a good idea."

Matt determined, "It's the only choice I have."

Kensi, "We can walk away. Hansen is dead. That was our objective."

Matt disagreeing, "I don't want the drugs or weapons getting into the wrong hands, with or without Hansen."

"But,"

"But nothing. Those weapons will end up being used against us.

Zach slowly comes around to Matt's way of thinking, "And the drugs can be used to continue buying or trading for more weapons."

Matt looks at Zach, "Thanks to you and Kensi we've gotten rid of the money man. I'll get the drugs and the weapons in one big sweep."

Zach nodding his head, "That will set the bad guys back for a while."

Kensi, concern entering her voice, "Wonder if word has gotten back some how that Hansen is dead and their plan has been compromised?"

Zach, "That won't happen. We eliminated everyone."

Kensi, furrows her brows, "Hansen was cautious. He could have had a back up."

"He had his money. He didn't care if the deal failed after that."

"He still has the weapons guy, Poya."

Matt looks at Kensi, "You think he really cared about him?" Matt shakes his head, "'Cause I don't."

Zach takes a pause, "Okay, let's just say we go along with this idea. . . .

Matt nods. "Look, Hansen's done all the work for me. He's compartmentalized all phases of this."

Kensi, "True, none of the players know each other."

"That's right and I can use that to my advantage."

Zach questioning, "Are you thinking we can just drive up to each location and take them out one by one?"

Matt, "Not we, me. I look like a local, I speak Pashto a hell of a lot better than Hansen. Besides I don't really have to say anything to Mustaffa. As far as he's concerned I'm just a low level hired hand. He's not going to waste his time talking to me."

Zach, "You're not doing this by yourself."

Matt, "This isn't part of the mission, Zach. You and Kensi don't have to do this."

Zach, "I know I don't, but what makes you think I'm going to let you do this by yourself."

Kensi's head jerks around and looks at Zach. She thinks back to when that same phrase was said to her. She turns and looks into Matt's dark brown eyes, "Neither am I."

Matt is completely shocked not expecting this from his new teammates. "Are you sure? I don't want you to feel that you have to do this."

Kensi ignores his comment. "What's your plan?"

Matt gets up from the table. "It's rather simple. I'll tell you while we're doing a little recon. Come on."

Zach follows Kensi and Matt out of ops. "What could possibly go wrong?"

HOURS LATER, SHOPPING MALL

Inside the jewelry store Mustaffa is pacing along the window front. He looks at his watch for what seems like the hundredth time. "Where is he? Where is he?" Mustaffa, peers out from his jewelry store windows and sees Hansen's SUV drive up to the curb. "Finally." It's impossible to see if there are any other men in the SUV because of the dark tinting of the windows. Mustaffa yells for his man, who's in the back room, to follow, looks both ways up and down the sidewalk, quickly crosses the distance between his shop and the SUV, then gets in the backseat. His man gets in the front. Matt makes eye contact with his passenger in the front, and through the rear view mirror nods his head to Mustaffa and drives off.

Zach and Kensi, in the Jeep, pull out from the curb and follow.

Matt, having driven by Fahim's during the recon earlier that day, drives confidently to Fahim's location.

Forty five minutes later Zach and Kensi have slowly distanced themselves from Matt and hidden the car off road behind an outcropping. Kensi sets up her sniper rifle and scope.

Matt pulls up to Fahim's. He does a quick visual sweep of his surroundings. There is a house, one large barn and many greenhouses on the farm.

Fahim, having seen him approach from inside the house, waits for the SUV to stop just outside.

Zach, grabs the binoculars out of his backpack and looks around for suspicious activity. "Anything?"

Kensi says, "Matt, just pulled up."

Fahim turns to two of his men who are armed. "Any strange movements and you know what to do." They both nod. He points to a third younger man. "You're coming with us to get the guns stay here until you see us start to leave." The young man, outwardly nervous, nods.

Fahim cautiously leaves the safety of the building with his armed guard and approaches Hansen's SUV.

Matt watches Fahim exit the house. He takes note of the burly looking man with an AK walk out with him. He spots at least one in the house. He sees other men and women, but they seem to be working not guarding the area.

Mustaffa waits for Fahim to get closer to the SUV then says to his man, "Go."

The man gets out. Mustaffa and Matt watch the exchange between Fahim and Mustaffa's man. A few seconds later Fahim approaches the passenger car door and opens it. Mustaffa gets out. Before closing the door Fahim looks in and sees Matt.

Taken aback, Fahim says, "Who are you?"

Matt as calmly as if he doesn't have a care in the world says, "I'm the driver."

Kensi prepares to fire. Matt is ready to step on the gas and get out of there. Granger, listening through the comm is ready to move out with his special forces team if necessary. They are all listening for the distress word.

Suspicious, Fahim says, "You're not one of Hansen's regular drivers."

"No, but I am the one that will be taking you to the next location."

Fahim looks at him for what seems minutes.

Matt says, "Will this take long? I need to get you there soon."

Fahim snaps. "I realize that."

Matt shrugs his shoulders, "Just trying to stay on schedule."

Fahim takes another long look at Matt and slams the SUV door. He turns to Mustaffa. "I see you brought another driver."

"That's what I was told."

Fahim nods, "Follow me."

Fahim leads Mustaffa and his man to a barn about fifty feet from the house. In the back of the barn there are rows and rows of what appear to be poppy plants waiting to be processed. In the front of the barn there are two trucks. As they walk up to the well used trucks Fahim waves in the direction of the them and says, "Your requested shipment is packed and ready to go."

Mustaffa moves to the back of one of the trucks. "Open it."

"Why?"

"I want to see the merchandise."

Fahim motions for his man to open the back of the truck. Inside the truck there are boxes labeled perishable.

"Open a box."

Fahim's man looks at him and Fahim nods. His man opens one of the boxes and steps aside. Mustaffa looks inside the box and samples the product. "Now the other truck."

Fahim shakes his head in disbelief, but gestures to his man to do the same thing at the other truck. Mustaffa repeats the process. Satisfied he smiles at Fahim. "Very good." Mustaffa and his man each move to get in the trucks.

"Wait!" Fahim yells and his man brings up his AK and points it at Mustaffa.

Zach, looking through his binoculars. "Uhh, oh."

Mustaffa and his man stop.

Fahim looks in the direction of Matt, "Do you know this driver that brought you here?"

Matt looking from the SUV sees Fahim glance back at him. "This doesn't look good."

Mustaffa follows Fahim's gaze, "No."

"You've never seen him before?"

"No."

Agitated, Fahim says, "I don't like this."

"What don't you like?"

"I don't know him."

"You don't know me either."

"True."

"What are you afraid of?" Tilting his head in Matt's direction. "He brought me here. He knows he has to get you to another location. What's not to trust?"

"I'm afraid Hansen will rip me off . . . .if I let you go I'm out the drugs and the guns. I have no idea where this man," he waves in the direction of Matt and the SUV, "is taking me, if he takes me."

"Hansen's not going to rip you off. If he does he won't be able to work again. And the one thing I know about Hansen is he likes his money."

Fahim looks at Mustaffa for another moment and against his better judgement says. "Very well." He motions for his man to put the gun down and he does.

Kensi says through the comm, "Be careful Matt. I couldn't see the whole conversation, but Fahim is still wary of you." Matt watching the whole exchange nods his head in response.

Mustaffa and his man get in their trucks and head off. Fahim watches them disappear in the distance. Still cautious he turns to his guard, "I don't trust this man," discretely pointing to the SUV. "We need to be very careful." Fahim's body guard nods in response.

Zach watching the trucks through his binoculars, "Granger, Mustaffa just left with his guy. Two dark green trucks, heading in a northwest direction away from town."

Granger, "We're ready."

Fahim and his man walk over to the SUV. The house door opens and another one of Fahim's men quickly makes his way to the SUV and sits in the backseat behind Matt. Fahim's first man gets into the back passenger side, aims his AK at Matt, and ratchets it. Matt turns around to look at him and the AK.

Fahim gets into the front.

Matt looks at Fahim, "What's this all about?"

Fahim smiles, "Trust."

Matt looks at Fahim's men, and one last time at the AK. He turns and faces around to the front.

Fahim, all sense of humor gone says, "Let's go."

Matt puts the SUV into drive and heads to the warehouse.