As I was swimming towards the rig, I came upon a perimeter fence. From what I could tell, even though the water was murky and the sun had set, the fence barely broke the surface of the water. What I saw next put me on the edge. When I approached the fence, I saw a hole big enough to accommodate a grown man, minus their tank. I fit perfectly, but I can almost guarantee that Sam would have problems getting his frame through. The first thought going through my head after clearing the fence is how there aren't supposed to be any other teams involved in this mission. I'm not exactly sure what is going to happen when I board that rig, but it proved my earlier thought about this mission being screwed from the get go. Not much we can do about that now.
Up on the rig, Callen, Sam and Kensi approached a security station. "I'm Special Agent Callen, they're Agents Hanna and Blye. We're with N.C.I.S." Callen said to the security guards.
"Our manager didn't tell us we were getting back up." the male guard said.
"Deeks was right." Sam whispered in Callen's ear.
"How many teams have land before us?" Kensi asked.
"There has already be one other team after the terrorist landed." the male guard said.
"How many terrorist?" Sam asked.
"Ten. Fifteen, when they landed. There had been at least one fire fight, and that was an hour ago." the female security guard said.
"You wouldn't know what this rig is used for?" Sam asked.
"Some kind of R&D, or I wouldn't have taken this job." the male security guard.
"A black site." Sam whispered.
"Can you point us in the directions of the lab?" Callen asked.
At this point, the sat phone that Sam had started ringing. Sam took the call, which last all of ten second. There was no room for argument. "Our orders are to engage the terrorists." Sam said.
"Let's go." Callen.
"Where are the terrorist located at?" Kensi asked.
"Three levels down, far right." The female guard said.
"Thanks." Sam said.
After Sam, Callen, and Kensi left the female guard picked up the phone and made a call. "We got three agents from N.C.I.S. heading your way." Was all she said when the phone pick up on the other end.
Callen and Sam came walking back a few seconds later. "What can we do you for?" the male guard asked.
All the partners did was draw their side arms and train them on the two guards. "What are you doing?" the female guard asked, as they raised the hands.
Kensi stepped into view. "We heard the phone call you just made. We're not exactly sure who you called, but we can't have you tipping off either teams." Kensi secured the guards, and stuffed them in the closet.
Callen pulled his sat phone made the call. "What is it, Agent Callen?" a man from mission control said when he answered.
"There was one other team sent into to neutralize the terrorist. The security guards have alerted either team to our presence on the rig."
"Proceed as planned. We will try to adjust for the discrepancy." The man said, and then hung up phone.
"What did he say?" Sam asked.
"We continue with the mission. They will institute the backup they have if we fail." Callen said.
"Are You There God? It's Me, Marty." I said, finally joining the party.
"Deeks." Sam said.
"The one and only." I said.
"Nice way to make an entrance. Do you have a status update?" Callen asked.
"Yeah. There is a third party on the rig unaccounted for." I said.
"That's a fifth party. There was another team sent into combat the terrorist." Kensi said.
"Okay. What's the plan?" I asked.
"Our official duties are to engage the terrorists, but our presence has been alerted to either team at the moment." Kensi said.
"I'm moving to the labs. There about three levels above me. Head to the terrorist, but be careful. Either team won't hesitate to shoot first, and ask questions later." I said.
"Stay in radio contact." Callen said.
"Same to you." I said.
Sam, Callen, and Kensi made their way down to the terrorist, while I climbed slowly up towards the labs. I found a console, and brought up the schematics of the rig. It was bigger than a normal rig, there was a note on future expansions to add more rigs. But if I had to guess that plan has been scrapped. I found the labs, and saw the people in there. The lab staff had been killed, but I can't get distracted by that. I looked for the terrorist, and found them posted up outside the stairwell that the team is using. "Callen exit the stairwell at the next level. If you exit at the level with the terrorist you will be walking into an ambush." I said.
"Copy that." Sam said.
I make my way to the labs. When I get to the door leading in, I noticed a biometric scanner next to the door: a palm and a retinal scanner. This is going to chew up some time. I look through the window and see a man and a woman at a computer downloading schematics, and I can see a storage unit had also been opened. For some strange reason, I placed my hand on the scanner and it accepted by print. I was weirded out by this turn of events, but I didn't think twice. I placed my eye in front of the scanner, and then I heard a hiss as the door opened. Just as I stepped into the door, one of the people fired two rounds at my head.
"I got this. Take the supplies and schematics and go." I heard a man say.
"But you promised that we would finish this together." his partner said. From the sound of their voice it was a woman.
"I won't be able to do that. He will kill us both." he said.
It seems that I'm known to the man I'm about to kill. I thought, but I was for the shock of a lifetime. "It's been awhile, Ashono MacLeod." the man said.
"You have my attention." I said. I decide to creep over to the storage unit that had been opened. I was able to make out a hazardous materials symbol on the metal frame. I felt my blood go cold, and not because of the missing the materials, there was only one container missing, but because of the revelation that was about to revealed to me.
"It never occurred to why you're still alive, after these four thousand years, as opposed to having rotted away and having your grave desecrated by time" he said.
"You're right, I never bothered to ask. Then again I don't really care to know why I'm still alive. But If I had to guess, you're going to tell me anyways." I said. I listened for where he was in the room, but I missed the woman sneaking out the door while we were conversing. "What special place do you hold in the history of Ashono MacLeod?"
"I'm the man that made you who you are." he said.
It took me a fraction of a second for his words to register, but I too had get out of my hiding spot because the man tried to pin me to the ground by tipping a table over onto me plus the equipment too. I get a good look at the man, not missing the fact that he was carrying a full-length sword. He was about five feet ten inches tall, caucasian male, with a stubbly horseshoe haircut, brown eyes, average frame, and goatee that didn't connect at the corners of the his mouth.
He didn't waste any time, he drew his sword back and swung. This encounter wasn't meant to be a battle of wills, it was meant to be a distraction, to let his partner get away. He put up a bit of a fight, but I stole his sword and cut his head off with little effort. The quickening was upon me in a moment's notice, but it lasted longer than the ones I had experienced before.
A few floors above me, the rest of the team was have problems trying to understand what was going on. "So you're telling us is that there never was a terrorist take over." Sam said.
"Yes and no." one of the scientist said.
"Explain what really happened." Callen said.
"There was a group of ten men that boarded the rig. The tied us up here, and then went down to the lab." another scientist explained.
"And then what?" Sam asked.
"The terrorist group left, but a few people stay behind to accomplish whatever they were sent here to do." Kensi said.
"But Deeks warned us." Sam said.
"That must have been a staging point for them to be extracted. We would have been in a fire fight if they were still there. We need to get in touch with Deeks." Callen said.
"How about we cut the scientist loose, and let them take inventory of the lab?" Sam suggested.
Callen mulled Sam's idea over for a second, and then they started cutting the scientist loose. They went down three floors to the lab. What they saw was a bunch of over turned tables with equipment, and shatter glass. The group heard moaning coming from the quarantine section, and went to check on it.
"Deeks." Kensi said when she saw me trying to get up off the floor.
"What's with the sword?" Sam asked.
"That's not the most pressing question that needs to be answered." I said, pointing at the storage unit with the door still hanging open.
"This is serious, Deeks." Sam said.
"He's not wrong Sam. Look at the metal casing." Callen said.
Sam looked at the casing, and his blood went cold. He was still mad at me for dodging the question, but when Sam saw the hazardous material symbol, he knew that this case just took a turn for the worse.
"Oh, no," said one of the scientist.
"What's wrong?" Kensi asked.
"We stored Brachytherapy containers in this unit." another scientist said, shutting the door quickly.
"What's Brachytherapy?" Callen asked.
"It's low-grade radioactive material." Sam said.
"And they got away with an entire container." I said looking at Sam.
"Is there anything else missing?" Kensi asked a scientist.
"We're taking inventory right now. Give us a moment." she said.
Kensi took stock of the team, but realized that I was still a little sluggish. I had just taken a seat when Kensi walked up to me. "You okay?" Kensi asked, kneeling down to check my vitals.
"Comes with the territory." I said.
"Does that usually come before or after you decapitating someone?" Sam asked.
"After," Kensi said remembering the rescue in Prague.
There was a moment of silence before I answered. I realized that there were people that didn't have the security clearance to hear that answer. "I'll answer that question, but there are people who don't have the clearance to hear that answer." I said. Sam glared at me. "I'll explain once when get back to the base."
"We expect to hear the full explanation." Callen said.
"I'm going to have to get Hetty on the line before we have this conversation." I said.
"Why?" Kensi asked.
"What you're asking me to explain is not above top secret." I said.
"What's above top secret?" Kensi asked.
"Black Ops." Sam said.
I waved for the group to step away from the scientist. "What I am is beyond Black Ops." I said.
"What could possibly be more top secret than Black Ops?" Sam asked.
"I can't discuss that here. This is a conversation that you need to have with Hetty." I said.
"Excuse me, but we have catalogue everything, and came up with a list of all the missing supplies." the female scientist said.
"What's missing?" Callen asked.
"Besides the Brachytherapy container, there were supplies for a top secret government project, which we aren't at liberty to discuss, that have come up missing." she said.
"Is there anything that you can discuss?" Kensi asked.
"Sorry, but the research and development being done here is classified." She said.
"Like I said, cover up." I said.
Sam rolled his eyes. If I had to guess, Sam is annoyed that I was right. "Well… he did call it." Callen said
"Let's head back up top, and call for extraction." Sam said.
Kensi took one last good look at the dead man, his face mainly, and then followed me out. We found an elevator, and took it back to the pad. As we rode the elevator, Kensi fussed over me, making sure everything was in order. I was tickled at first, having a woman taking inventory of my wounds and what not, but I let Kensi have at it. It's been a few thousand years since I let another person care for me. As Kensi was check out an abrasion on my arm, I could hear Callen finish the calling for an extraction, and Sam was glaring at me. I rolled my eyes at Sam, but kept my mouth shut. We had a few hours to kill before the bird came to pick us up, so I took a seat by the elevator and tried to get comfortable.
Kensi, Sam and Callen discussed the question that they would ask Hetty the entire time we waited for the helicopter to arrive, and they were questions I wasn't looking forward to answering. I dozed off for a moment, and when Kensi woke me, I could hear the whine of the helicopter engine. The one thing that bothered the most about this mission wasn't the fact that I was right about this place being a black site, called that before we even left L.A. What really bothered me was the fact that my biometrics let me into that lab. I have to make phone call when I get L.A., and I know who I'm going to call. We haven't spoken in over a decade, but seeing as how I just killed the man who made me an immortal, what's there to lose.
N.C.I.S. L.A.
As soon as we landed at Camp Pendleton, Hetty told us we had three days off. I wanted to call my associate, and ask them a few questions. But I knew I had to wait until I was alone. The drive back to OPS was long, boring, and painful. I just wanted to get away from everybody else. When we got back to OPS, Sam, Callen and Kensi started filling out paperwork. I sent the message to my associate asking for a meet. She said that she would be able to meet in three hours. I asked if we should meet same place as last time, and she said yes. I sat down, and started filling out paperwork.
"Who were you talking to?" Callen asked without looking up from his reports.
"I asked an old friend if we could meet." I said, sitting down to work on after action reports.
"What is it that you want to discuss with you friend?" Sam asked.
"That's a private matter." I said.
"What's so private about it?" Callen asked.
"What part of "private" don't you guys understand?" I asked.
"Not sure, maybe you could explain it to us." Callen said, as Sam grunted.
I wasn't in the mood for the crap. The information that I have discuss has nothing to do with this team and everything that happened on the rig. Mainly the part where I was able to let myself into the lab.
"Mr. Callen, Mr. Hanna, Miss Blye." Hetty said, entering the bull pen.
"Yes." Kensi said.
"My office." she said, and then walked away.
"Hey, Deeks… where'd he go?" Callen asked.
Sam and Kensi turned to see that I left in less than two seconds. Gear and all. "It looks like we will have to finish this discussion later." Kensi said.
Sam, Callen and Kensi were detained by Hetty, keeping them from following me. They spent three hours in debrief, but Hetty had dodge any and all questions about the decapitation. Hetty didn't give the three of them a chance to ask about the death. And when they finally had a chance to ask about it, Hetty brushed it off, and sent them home.
N.C.I.S. L.A.
In case the team tries to follow me, I grabbed a burn phone, and then went to the meet. To my friend, three hours is actually thirty minutes. How Hetty knew I was going to meet someone is beyond me. All I know is that I'm ten minutes late getting to the beach than I wanted to be. I take a seat on a bench. There was another bench behind me, and my friend was already waiting. The sun is about three hours from rising.
"What's going on?" she asked.
"My team and I had just come back from a mission in the gulf." I said.
To anybody watching it would seem that we weren't talking to anybody in particular. "So." she said.
"I couldn't get here as quickly as I wanted, or they would have followed me here." I said.
"I'm guessing they were detained?" she asked.
"Yeah." I said.
"What did you want to ask." she said
"Does the agency have any research labs in the gulf?" I asked.
"Yeah." she said.
"Can you discuss what the purpose of said lab is about?" I asked.
"You're no longer with the agency." she said.
"My biometrics are still in the system." I said.
"You know I can get in serious trouble for discussing specifics." she said.
"That lab is missing materials." I said.
"Like what?" she said.
"At the moment. All I know is that there is a missing container of Brachytherapy, but there could be more. I also saw an unknown woman get away with schematics. What for, I don't know. The science team wasn't very forth coming about the specifics of what was being developed at the lab, or anything else that was missing." I said.
"I'm going to have to check all this out. How did you know there was a lab in the gulf anyways?" she asked.
"My team had somehow got picked to take down a terrorist cell that took that rig over." I said.
There was a moment of silence before either of us spoke again. "I'll be in touch." she said, and then got up to leave. I didn't try to stop her. I knew there would be no use in trying. I decide to watch the sunrise. It was a rare treat to watch the sunrise. I felt my jacket pocket buzzing. I pulled my phone out, and saw that I someone left a voice message on my normal phone. I'm not exactly sure what's so important that I get a phone call at this hour. I skip the sunrise, and head home.
As I'm heading back to my car, my phone rings. "Hello." I answer the phone.
"Does Hetty knew you have this phone?" Nell asked.
"This phone isn't tied to L.A.P.D., or N.C.I.S.?" I said.
"Never mind." Nell said, and then hung up.
I look at my phone a beat, and then put it away.
