trscrny: Exciting for us… Callen is more exasperated and annoyed I guess ;) And yeah, he's definitely a protector and I like working with that core quality *g* Thanks for commenting

altarp2408: Yeah, indeed from bad to worse… though there might be some room for more escalation in the future *laughs* Thanks for commenting!

RabbitPaws17: thanks so much for the compliment. Glad you like it :)

Guest: Thank you. Glad you like the action and enjoy the description I put into the story :)

Have fun with Chapter 3 everyone!

Xxxxxxx

Come Hell or High Water

Chapter 3

Callen took in the scene: the bank manager had been dragged out of the vault and into the area that held the remaining fourteen hostages - including Kensi and himself.

The hostages were scattered through the small area, hemmed in on one side by several desks and an interior wall in their backs. On his left there were some tastefully placed potted plants that were supposed to give the vast inside of the bank a more comfortable feeling. It may work in a day to day basis, but right now, the plant didn't do anything for comfort - neither with its sheer presence nor with a vague promise of flimsy cover.

The main counter was also on his left behind the potted plants. He was facing the large open area of the bank and the main doors. The front and left side of the bank was mostly floor to ceiling windows, though the visibility was poor due to frosted over glass that had been chosen. If they couldn't look out, no one could look inside either and while that was good for privacy reasons, it was bad for sniper solutions. Callen shook his head and turned his attention to the rest of the room. Behind them were some closed office spaces and also the short corridor leading to the now open vault. Callen glanced over to the manager who had been forced to open the vault to the robbers.

The manager's face revealed a lump forming on his temple. He had been groggy and semi-conscious when the robbers fetched him from the vault to keep him within their view together with the other employees and patrons turned hostages.

Before either Kensi or Callen himself had been able to make a move towards the manager to check on him, a middle aged woman had scooted over to the man. Her moves were mostly calm and controlled, and Callen suspected her to be a doctor, nurse or some other kind of medical professional. There was a slight tremble to her hands, but she seemed mostly put together - a person used to dealing with high stress situations… through probably not those that entailed being in a potentially life threatening situation themselves. Still, she seemed competent enough and Callen decided to let her work instead of potentially drawing any attention to them.

The other hostages were in varying stages of shock and fear. There was one young child inside of the group, curled into his mother's side as he trembled, but for the moment, the young boy didn't make a sound. The mother's eyes were wide with fright and she gripped the boy protectively, her knuckles white.

All of the hostages around them were cowering, but no one was openly hysterical. As far as he could determine, there also were no injuries or other immediate medical emergencies.

That meant things weren't good, but they also weren't out of hand yet. Callen knew that as federal agents, they had the knowledge and ability to pull the other hostages through. He glanced over to his current partner. She was calm and composed, but he knew her well enough to be able to see the strain in her eyes and the tension in her frame.

He could relate. Usually he was able to compartmentalize to the point of cold efficiency, had been accused of being emotionless or even sociopathic, but right now, he felt the weight of being team leader as he had rarely ever felt it before – which was laughable considering that he had faced a multitude of situations that far outweighed this one in terms of long and short term danger to him, his team and the public. At the same time, the stakes were high and the odds were stacked against them.

All of the hostages were depending on them to lead them in this - and to do it in a way that didn't reveal who they were and without tipping their hand. And to do that, for the moment Kensi and he had to blend into the background and remain anonymous. Callen reserved the right to change the game though, if he felt it become necessary.

Before the robbers had withdrawn to discuss the state of things now that LAPD was outside, they had divested all of the hostages of their cell phones so no communication with the outside world would be possible… well, at least that would be the case if there weren't two federal agents in the middle of things, knitted out with state of the art comm.-systems and wired for live video.

The belief that there was no video feed had given the man the courage to take off their masks - though Callen had shared a glance with Kensi as he wasn't perfectly certain if that was stupidity or if it boded ill for the hostages survival.

Still, the fact that the masks were off let Callen know that Eric and Nell had begun running facial recognition, so he guessed their techs would have information about all of the hostages and the three armed robbers ready soon for when they would need it.

Callen turned his focus once more towards the three robbers clustered around the counter and discussing the state of things.

Within the first few minutes of the robbery, it had been clear to him that these men were professionals. He by now also had a clear picture of who they were facing. He might not know the men's names, but their profiles were taking rapid shape in his mind.

The ring leader was in his early fifties, athletic but sporting the beginnings of a beer belly. His hair was graying out and his goatee was accurately trimmed. The man's green eyes were focused and intense, neither hiding his intelligence nor strong hints at ruthlessness. The man's movements were controlled and smooth, efficient and effective. Callen suspected the man had been in the military or at least had gone through some kind of military training.

The second in command was a good fifteen years younger. The blond haired was a lot less in control of his behavior. His movements were edgy and frayed. Callen pegged him for the wild card. Being the second in command, he knew there was a power imbalance between the second and third man that he couldn't quite define yet, because everything he saw from their behavior would usually lead him to believe that the current second in command should actually be lower on the totem pole.

The third in the group was maybe a few years older than robber #2. His dark hair was tied into a loose pony tail that fell down his back and his face was etched into a perpetual scowl. There was hardness around his eyes that Callen had seen in many career criminals. He was rather certain the man had done time in prison for some - most probably violent - crimes. He remembered the man's behavior when the trio had been poised to leave, remembered the glee that had appeared in the man's eyes when his captives cowered before him. This was a man who fed off of the fear of others. The question was how much he craved that kind of adrenaline rush and whether or not he had fully embraced that simmering rage yet. If he had, they were looking at someone who had possibly killed before. And if he hadn't, they were looking at someone who could take that step in the right set of circumstances… and a high stakes atmosphere coupled with the pressure of a hostage situation might just become the 'right' circumstances.

The men had entered the bank with a lot of fire power. Additional to the automatic weapons, they had also brought handguns. While just as deadly as the assault rifles, at least a single pull of the trigger didn't end in a spray of bullets with a standard handgun. It was a small mercy that the robbers had exchanged their weapons and the rifles were put to the side for the moment.

Callen rested his forearms around his knees and let his head hang for a moment, closing his eyes and shoring himself up for the oncoming trials. He blinked his eyes open again when Kensi nudged his midsection with her elbow. Turning his head, he glanced over, giving her a questioning gaze.

"You ok?" she asked.

He gave her a small smile and a nod, uncurling and once more putting his arm around her shoulders. He drew her close against his side, keeping their button cams free to transmit the happenings in the room. "Just keep your head down," he implored, wishing fervently that she was somewhere safe.

"Guys," Nell's voice came on, "we've got information on the robbers."

"Go on," Callen murmured, his attention on Nell's voice while he observed the trio that was clustered around the counter, their heads bent together and deep in discussion. He could tell that #1 and #3 at least split their attention between the discussion and their hostages while #2 was nervously wringing his hands.

"Sgt. Paul Miller is the ringleader. Age 52, divorced, was in the army for over two decades. Two tours in the Middle East. Impeccable record until he killed a civilian. It was ruled an unjust killing and he was dishonorably discharged. Afterwards, he ran a small fitness club in Redding until the bank foreclosed it about five months ago," Nell rattled off.

Callen nodded slightly to himself. It fit well with his own observations and the profile he had put together.

"The youngest is Josh Haley. Age 35, no family. He has a criminal record with minor offenses like petty theft and being in possession of narcotics."

Callen glanced worriedly at the man in question. He remembered his earlier observation of frayed movements and wondered if the man was using. He watched him closely, but the agitation seemed more like it was born out of stress and less because he was coming down from a fix. At least Callen hoped that was the case, otherwise things could take a turn for the worse real quickly.

He focused back fully on Nell's report, listening as she detailed the connection between Miller and Haley. It seemed that Haley had been training at Miller's club.

Callen ducked his head down, tipping his forehead against Kensi's shoulder, "find out more about their connection. They seem closer than acquaintances," he muttered into Kensi's shoulder to hide his words.

Nell acknowledged his order while Kensi shifted to accommodate his position, hiding her face in his hair. She spoke up a moment later, "what's the deal with #3?" Kensi asked quietly.

It was Eric who took over and Callen suspected that their analyst had already jumped down the proverbial rabbit hole to find the information he had asked her to pursue. "That would be Ted Caroso. Age 41. He has an extensive criminal record up to and including aggravated assault. He was convicted several times and did several stints in jail. His last sentence ended 9 months ago and he has worked in an auto body shop until he was fired two months ago. The auto body shop also connects him to Haley as that's his place of work as well."

So it was easy to connect all three men to each other.

A phone on the counter shrilled, and every head in the room jerked up. He kept Kensi pressed against his side but they both sat up somewhat. Callen's attention moved back over to the three men who were still clustered around the counter, several steps away from their hostages, all their head turned towards the ringing phone.

It seemed the time had come for negotiations to start.

He idly glanced at the clock, noting that no more than twenty minutes had passed since the men had entered the bank with the intention to rob it. He wondered if the FBI was outside yet or if it was still the LAPD holding the reigns. Bank robberies by definition fell under the purview of the FBI, so it was just a matter of time until they took over.

Callen turned back to the robbers when Miller picked up the phone and listened to the other side. Only moments later, the man snapped, "I don't care who you are. I want a car, fueled up and ready in front of the entrance in ten minutes or we will start shooting hostages."

A small cynical thought that passed through his mind was that the bad guys weren't too original anymore these days with their demands. The rest of him was focused on what was going on around them, the way the threat reverberated around the room and the way several hostages reacted - an indrawn breath, a whimper, a jolt of body, Kensi tensing against him as if ready to counter an attack. He tightened his arm around her in response, keeping her anchored to his side.

"My name is irrelevant. You can call me 'boss'," Miller snarked, his voice hostile and sour. Callen hid his eye roll by closing his eyes before he glanced up once more. Miller was angry and agitated. Callen wasn't sure if it was because his previous plans had fallen flat and they found themselves in a hostage situation or because the negotiator had done something the man took as provocation. Miller was certainly intelligent and mostly controlled, but his current outbursts during the phone call suggested some impulsiveness.

"The FBI is en route and will be on site in ten minutes," Eric advised over their comm.-system.

So the FBI wasn't yet on scene and instead an LAPD officer had made first contact. Time wise it was the right thing to do as you didn't want too much time to elapse between the initial appearance of law enforcement and opening the lines of communication. Adrenaline and emotions ran high especially in the first few minutes and not making contact would only escalate the uncertainty.

Still, Callen hoped the LAPD had some skilled negotiators for those first minutes because they could use something going their way right now.

Xxxxxxx

Caroso was prowling around the hostages, delighting in making threatening moves towards the cowering patrons every now and then to assert his power and stroke his ego. At the same time he managed to get onto Callen's nerves, but the agent was careful not to let that show, instead keeping his head down and his posture non-threatening and intimidated.

The FBI had taken over from the LAPD nearly an hour ago but negotiations were going slow. At least the FBI negotiator had managed to cool the atmosphere down somewhat.

Nell had advised them that Sam and Deeks had made contact with the FBI. They had let the FBI know that there were two federal agents inside and that they had live video and audio feeds that could help them massively in getting control of the situation.

By now, their feeds had been linked to the FBI's mobile command post, giving them a good insight into what was going on inside of the bank.

While the atmosphere had cooled down some, negotiations were going slow, just as expected. It was a careful process, offering something and receiving something in turn. Sadly, so far no offer had been accepted and the last phone call ended with Miller throwing down the receiver with a frustrated shout that he would not let one singe hostage go until his demands were met.

Callen knew they were settling in for a longer wait.

Xxxxxxx

"You were right about the connection between Miller and Haley," Nell's voice roused him from his wandering thoughts. Callen glanced at the two men in question, seeing them standing close to the counter while Caroso was once more standing guard over the hostages. Miller was talking to an agitated Haley and Callen had the fleeting thought that the younger man had bitten off more than he could chew and hadn't realized what he'd gotten himself into.

Miller's body language suggested he was trying to calm the younger man down, soothing him with gestures and putting a hand on Haley's shoulder. Haley was fretting, his movements jerky and his expression clearly troubled.

At the same time, it was clear that he deferred to the older man. He may be a weak link, but until anyone could work on him to take advantage of it, it wouldn't help the anything that the man could be persuaded to lay his weapons down. They could only hope that the weak link didn't turn into a liability that got them all killed when Haley couldn't deal with the stress or the high stakes any longer.

Callen didn't speak up, instead waited for Nell to continue. "So, you know that Miller is divorced. His ex-wife lives in San Francisco. The FBI sent agents to talk to her and found out that they split up because Miller wanted kids, but she didn't - at least not with him I guess since she has a child with her current husband." Callen glanced at Haley and could already guess at what he would be told, "local police in Redding checked with a previous employee of Miller's fitness club and she said that Haley and Miller had grown close over the last months of the fitness club's business. She explicitly said that Miller had treated Haley like a son."

A father-son-relationship fit well to what they had seen of the two men's interactions so far and it also explained the hierarchy that wasn't really compatible with the three men's behavior otherwise. They might be able to use that bit of information later on, but for the moment, he wasn't quite certain how.

He was somewhat impressed by the speed with which they had uncovered that information. Merely two hours into the hostage situation, and they had gotten word back from two completely different and uninvolved police departments. It just went to show how much of a force his team was to be reckoned with because he was certain that it had been Nell and possibly Hetty who had lit fires under the right butts to get them the information they needed.

The shrill ringing of the phone interrupted his thoughts and he turned his focus to the half of the conversation he could hear.

"You know, Cox, unless you have good news for me about my car, this call is going to be very short," Miller growled after picking up. The man's posture was tense as he turned towards the big windows, even though the frosted glass prevented them from seeing outside.

Callen's eyes narrowed when the words made it to his brain and he turned his head down slightly so his face wouldn't be too visible for the guard across from him, "Cox? As in Agent Simon Cox?" he asked quietly.

It took only a few seconds before Eric murmured an affirmative.

He probably should have known.

Callen had crossed paths with Special Agent Simon Cox years ago on the East Coast when their cases overlapped, looking for the same perp - for different reasons though.

Callen had been impressed with the younger agent. He had been highly intelligent and intuitive, a capable man despite not having many years of experience under his belt at that point.

He had kept an eye on Cox for a while, knowing he would be going places and knowing a good network of intelligence was always imperative - and Cox would become a valuable asset to know, of that he had been sure. He hadn't been surprised when the agent quickly rose through the ranks, scouring several promotions before eventually secured a lead position in LA. Cox had been the lead agent of the local FBI's Violent Crimes Squad for some years now, but their paths hadn't crossed in the years since Callen took his position at NCIS - which was a bit of a wonder considering the characters of criminality they both took on.

Having this particular agent outside boded well for this case. Last time he checked Simon's case closure rate, he had been impressed again.

"Advise him of my presence and our cover identities," Callen ordered softly. It wouldn't do for Simon to ruin their covers because he addressed Callen by his name once they got out of there.

For the moment, Callen still lived in the hope that they could slip away unnoticed and use their cover identities to once more try and set up a meeting for their actual case - one could hope, he guessed.

Xxxxxxx