Thank you so much for your great reviews so far! I try to thank you personally, but the ones posting as 'guest' or 'reader' cannot be reacted to. So, here it is: thank you!
As you all realize by now, this story is certainly AU now we've seen the promo's of S5x01, but it is still fun to play around with what might have happened…


Disclaimer: it is this great team again that I gladly borrow for a while. Thank you, Mr. Shane Brennan & CBS!


Chapter 12

There were footsteps on the sideway from at least three people. Then the sirens from a police car coming near. Shouting in French, in Russian. Running people.
She fought, but there was no way Chris could escape from the strong arms that kept her away from the street; the hand that covered her mouth so that she could not scream. No way could she reach her team that was so close.
She was frightened of what was going on, not realizing what happened and why her attacker stayed quiet too.

When she finally could take a look at the person that dragged her away so harshly, Chris could hardly believe her eyes.

/€/€/€/€/

Los Angeles, OSP NCIS, bit earlier

Eric managed to summarize what the translation program had just read. "He knows Chris Young is not Dutch anymore, she is not really working for the Dutch government and therefor does not fall under the rules of diplomatic immunity."

"But you have seen the backstopping, Hetty. It was thorough." Nell said. "Director Vance even discussed it with the Dutch guys."

"Oh, but I have no doubts about your work, my dear girl. We all know we can trust you on that". The small office manager was quiet for a while. Then she said "Get me Miss Blye on the phone. I want Miss Young out of there."

/€/€/€/€/

Paris | minutes before

It was clear that the Dutch consul now claimed Chris for another discussion with a group fo staff member of some sort. Again, they could not hear what it was about but at least it was less threatening.
Still, Chris managed to keep visuals on Sidorov and the people he spoke to.
There were two moments that Grace noticed Sidorov kept watching Chris' whereabouts too.

Kensi's phone rang and though the message she got was clear enough, it was also clear enough she did not like what she just hear. "Yes, Hetty, I do understand. We'll tell her—uh-huh, contact the director too." She rang off and simply told Grace and Tony that Hetty wanted Chris out of this case.

"She does not want to work with Chris anymore?" Grace reacted to what Kensi had just told the other two.

"I don't think it is that she does not want to. It's more because of what happened before. The boathouse, the Russians in here and now what went on tonight. Sidorov must have said things I still don't know, but according to what Hetty heard from Eric, the man knows more about Chris' background than he could or should know. She's a target now and Hetty convinced Vance that she might be a danger to us. She's not NCIS."

"So what? I mean, who cares if she's NCIS or not? To me what counts is that we're one man short from now on. Or well, in our case, one woman short," Tony said. "Do they know back there in Washington, in Los Angeles, in Amsterdam or where-ever, that every team working everywhere on this planet consists of four people? It is the only way to have each other's backs. We can and will have hers," he argued.

Kensi noticed the anger that suddenly appeared on Tony's face, but once again, before there was a chance to ask, there was a text message on her phone.

"Eric and Nell found a match with two of the pictures of this morning, now on screen", Kensi said. She showed them. "Driver was Mikhael Kondoljy, Russian. Known associate of Sidorov indeed. One of the others was, surprisingly, a Syrian, Musa el-Wasim."

"Syrian? How… odd. Remember that Chris mentioned that to Marcel Janvier?" Grace said.

And again, it was Kensi's phone that rang. She could not remember ever having seen Callen being busy like this, continuously answering phone calls. The number on her screen was one she'd always remember though: 'Deeks!
"Hey there, good to hear you alive and kicking—What do you mean, having dinner at Tiffany's? It's breakfast at Tiffany's and—Dinner. Here. Marty?—Paris? But… We're at work—Lookout at Boulevard Lannes. Yes. Oh, yes. Yes. Touché indeed."

She knew she was blushing. She knew Tony and Grace noticed. Oh, she knew, but above all, her heart had skipped some happy beats and for once Kensi Blye did not care what others thought. She wanted to tell Marty Deeks that she loved the way he called her 'Fern' and how she had loved his kiss.

/€/€/€/€/

Paris | 10 minutes later

Besides the cars with drivers that were just outside the gates of the Russian embassy, waiting for the visitors that were one by one leaving by now, three new cars stopped at the other side of the wide boulevard.

"There. Is that one of the same guys Eric just told us about?" Tony asked, motioning at a man that just stepped out of one of those cars. "Because if he is, he won't be here alone. And he might know Chris is in and will leave the building soon." They saw five more men leaving the cars, crossing the road and casually

"We should warn her, let her stay in there." Grace said.

"Or have the cavalry assist us to get her out of there, safe", Kensi said as soon as she noticed a car parking next to them. The posture of the driver was very familiar to her; as ever the large former Seal was the one behind the steering wheel.
Unseen from any possible watch on the other side of the street, she left the van and quickly discussed with Callen what to do.
Deeks and Sam would stay behind, in the van, making a call to the French police for assistance while Grace and Tony would sneak in from behind the cars that were parked near the suspicious men.
Kensi and Callen would approach the embassy entrance at the same time.

/€/€/€/€/

She struggled for freedom and managed to hit him more than once. Yes, he knew she was a good fighter and it hurt him to have to react this harsh. It was the only way to keep her out of danger right now.
So many things to take care of. Getting her out of sight. Keeping her safe. Finding out who was behind this, what was going on. Trusting Tony, trusting Grace. Relying on Kensi's judgment on this one. Expecting Sam and Deeks being able to keep calm and act like he was used to from them. Footsteps close by. Keeping her forced down without being able to move.
From a distance he heard Kensi explain calmly to somebody what was going on.
Sirens, coming near, slower than he'd hoped. A female voice asking in French and afterwards in Russian if those men knew how to reach the Russian embassy – definitely Grace. Perfect way to distract any possible attackers.

And then, persons running away. Farther away, a car quickly pulling up and driving by. Seconds from that, Callen finally breathed out freely and let go of the violent grip. He saw the pure hate in Chris' eyes, immediately after her eyes widened in shock when she finally noticed who she had been fighting.

"You're good?" he asked. Kensi had simply announced that these men might wait for Chris so she should not be seen. As long as Callen did not know the complete story, he was concerned about this member of the quick response team more than he should be.

She nodded. "Yeah. Yes, I'm good."

He helped her up. "Sorry for what happened. There was no time to explain", he said. "Did I hurt you?" There would be bruises on her arms for sure but then again, his ribs hurt after she kicked him hard.
He noticed scrapes on her elbow and knee. The green dress she wore was partly torn and from the ponytail, long curls escaped that Callen now automatically brushed away from her face.

"Why—How did you get here?" Chris asked him.

"Hetty sent us. No, Hetty asked us, in fact, and we wanted to."

"Us? You mean Sam's in here too?"

"And Deeks."

"They were in no condition last week. Neither were you," she said.

"This is not the place to talk about that. We need you off the street in here." Callen answered. Kensi came walking to them. "Let's go. Callen, take Chris to your car and get her out of here."

"Trocadéro?" He asked. Kensi nodded. For this night, it should do.

/€/€/€/€/

She was not as talkative as he was used to. "Sure you're okay Chris?"

"Of course I am," she answered.

"Why were you in there, in the embassy?" he needed to know. "Why alone, why not with Grace?"

"I wasn't alone. It was part of the job. From what I heard, your director Vance and Owen Granger arranged this meeting with some people of the Dutch intelligence agency."

"They could have arranged something for Grace too. She speaks Russian, you know."

"Yes. I know. Yes, they could have. I did not arrange anything." She was quiet for a while. "He knows I came from Los Angeles, Callen. Sidorov knows."

He raised his left eyebrow the way only Callen could and glanced at her. "Sidorov?" he asked. "You met Sidorov? And Vance knew about it?"

Chris looked at him, clearly not knowing what to say. She did notice the quick glance of concern in his eyes and then, he looked away. He clenched his jaw and kept watching the road.
"You can park the car in there, 'parking seulement aux résidents hôtel Trocadéro'", she told him.

"Change of subject?"

"No. Just saying." She leaned back, suddenly exhausted from all of it. The serious business talk, the threats this guy Sidorov made, the way Callen had been so rough, this day was far from good.

He parked the car, looking at her and sensing the way she now felt. "Chris? We should discuss this later."

"Uh-huh. I'd die for a shower," she said.

"I did have different things in mind," Callen said. The sparkle in her eyes said she understood what he meant.


Thanks for reading!