altarp2408: I did say there was room for things to get worse, didn't I? *innocent smile* Thanks for commenting.

trscrny: Thank you! Yeah, I just couldn't resist using modern technology against them *laughs* and sorry I'm not sorry about the cliffhanger ;)

ssl71: Well, I guess every investigation has leaks, so that's where the info would have come tickling out. Thanks for leaving a comment!

Guest: Thanks for commenting. Yeah, I do enjoy a cliffhanger every now and then. Sorry (not) ;)

anonkp: Thank you!

Have fun with Chapter 5 everyone!

Xxxxxxx

Come Hell or High Water

Chapter 5

Haley was agitated, his fingers nervously twitching around his gun - not a comforting sight.

Miller was disturbingly calculating as his gaze wandered back and force over the hostages.

Caroso was like a cat toying with a mouse, waiting for the right time to pounce.

And the cell phone that had produced that damning news feed was lying forgotten on the counter.

Ever since the media had gotten wind of the federal agent that was inside of the bank and blasted it all over the damn news some two minutes ago, the tension inside of the bank had escalated. The one good thing was that the media only knew of ione/i federal agent, so that could give them a little wriggle room.

Miller prowled closer, stepping into the ring of hostages. Like a droplet of oil falling into water, all of the hostages shied away from him as he turned around and mustered everyone. The man's eyes were dark and stormy, holding a promise of violence.

"I swear I will start killing one hostage after the other until you show yourself, fed," Miller threatened darkly, his gun tracking over the hostages. Again, the hostages shrunk back in fear, sounds of distress falling from their lips.

The bank's landline was ringing on in the background, ignored for the umpteenth time before Miller threw up his hands in frustration and backed away. He stalked over to the counter. "You have until I hang up, fed," he threw a parting threat over his shoulder without glancing back.

Callen heard the voices of his team in his ear, heard them strategizing with the FBI. The calls to breach the bank grew progressively louder as everyone knew that the situation had become more precarious for the hostages inside.

He didn't need Eric and Nell to calculate the odds for success if the bank was breached now. All three hostage takers were on high alert, their nerves even more frayed than just minutes before and Callen was certain that breaching now would result in a lot of casualties, no matter how good the incursion team was.

The layout of the bank was also working against them. With only one entrance, it would be difficult to gain control of the situation quickly and the tinted glass windows also weren't sniper-friendly, so help from that direction was out of the realm of possibilities.

Strategic thinking had long been part of his life and Callen allowed his brain to be swamped by countless of different strategies right now, his mind flitting through them faster than most would think possible. He counted and discounted possibilities, calculated success and failure and advantages and disadvantages. Nothing he came up with was good, but a breach was the worst of options. Instead, he settled on one strategy that held the best success rate and allowed nearly of the things he wanted to go right to work. At the same time, he knew it wouldn't guarantee his own survival, but he was fine with that.

From where his chin rested on Kensi's head, Callen watched the robbers for the break he needed. The moment the attention slipped away from him - Miller was shouting into the phone, Haley was looking at Miller and Caroso glanced away from them to the other hostages - he lifted his hand from her hair and quickly took out his earwig. He pushed the earwig into Kensi's hand just a moment later. "Hide it in the plant behind you. Follow my lead and stick to your cover as much as possible," he ordered in a whisper. His voice was calm but left no room for discussions.

There was no time for discussions with the team or with Kensi, no time to let anyone in on the only plan he would heve to make up on the fly. He had to trust his team - and mostly Kensi as his primary partner on this op - to follow his lead and seamlessly adapt.

They didn't have time to stall either. This could go only one way and he knew that the threats against the hostages would be escalating further as soon as Miller hung up the phone, especially if the shouting coming from that direction was any indication.

Kensi's fingers curled around the earwig and her eyes widened as she glanced up after identifying the object he had dropped into her hand. He didn't give her time to speak up, not when Miller threw the receiver down and whirled back around to face the hostages. Not giving himself time to take a breath either, knowing his path was set, Callen drew away from her. He raised his hands in a gesture of surrender and rose slowly to his feet. "I'm the federal agent."

Xxxxxxx

He saw the ruthless void of emotion on Miller's face when the man's eyes landed on him after he identified himself.

Callen was crumpled on the floor before consciously recognizing the pain ripping through his leg and registering the sound of a shot being fired that seemed to ring out belatedly.

He could hear Kensi's screamed 'no,' and he managed to briefly catch her gaze as she was restrained by Haley who had suddenly materialized beside her. He himself was flipped over onto his stomach by Caroso. "Maddy," he shouted when he saw her mouth shape around the beginning of his name as she started to try and break free of the man behind her. He hoped his voice would be taken as less of the command of a team leader and more of a pained scream for his girlfriend. He needed to keep her as safe as possible… and that meant taking the heat and making sure it passed by her.

His right hand was wrenched behind his back, drawn up high and threatening to dislocate his shoulder if he moved. Callen bit his lip and carefully did not move, falling still and swallowing any sounds of pain.

There was some kind of scuffle going on but he didn't pay attention, instead focused on not moving. Moments later, his other arm was also drawn back and his right hand lowered slightly, making him breathe a little easier as the pain slowly receded. The clicking of handcuffs followed the feeling of metal circling his wrists.

Callen was still wondering where they had gotten the cuffs from, his brain slow to connect the sounds of a scuffle with the bloody nose the bank's guard was now sporting, when he was dragged a short distance away from the others. He tried to roll over but a knee was planted firmly in his back while his pockets were searched. Luckily, they didn't find either his trusty bobby pin or the hidden knife that masqueraded as a belt buckle. Both might come in handy later. The fake ID though was taken from his person before he was finally pulled up into a sitting position and pushed against the counter.

He focused on the most important things first: Miller's gun was in his face and Caroso stood threateningly next to him. Haley was still over by the other hostages on his right side.

"So you're the damn Fed," Miller hissed before he drew his hand back when he held what he suspected was Callen's complete attention. It was just a fraction of a second before the hand came hurtling back towards him and Callen turned his head with the blow, the butt of the gun still making stars explode in his vision. He squeezed his eyes shut and waited for the ringing in his ears to stop.

Just as the noise in his head died down, the phone on the counter above him started ringing instead. While the shrill tone made another spike of pain waft through his head, he was also glad for the reprieve, knew it would be a reaction of law enforcement to the shot that had been fired inside. In a way he was glad that they would have a visual of what was going on inside of the bank due to their button cams because he knew the reaction to a shot being fired inside would be much more explosive otherwise. Only because they knew - would have seen on the feed from Kensi's camera - that he hadn't been killed, no one was storming the bank right this moment.

Miller reached over to the counter while Caroso remained standing over him.

Callen allowed his focus to drift away from the men and let his eyes briefly seek out Kensi's. He saw that she was poised for action if need be, despite Haley's hand still resting on her shoulder. It wouldn't be enough of a restraint if she chose to act, but the man didn't know that and it was imperative to keep it that way. While they would have the surprise effect on their side, trying to act now would be futile. Haley might go down from a swift strike that Kensi could deliver, but she was too far away to offer any assistance to him in taking down both Caroso and Miller. With the GSW in his leg, Callen right now couldn't be sure how well he might function. The GSW might tilt the odds in Caroso's favor if he acted now. He gave Kensi a minute shake of his head and deliberately relaxed his shoulders before turning his attention on himself.

Callen took some moments to take stock. The blow to his head had resulted in a dull throbbing sensation, but he wasn't seeing double, so he counted that as being mostly alright. Pain was still pulsing through his leg and he spared a brief glance for it. The bullet had entered just below his knee. Blood was spreading around the entrance wound, seeping into the fabric of his dress trousers. From the feeling of blood tickling down the back of his calf he suspected it was the same for the exit wound. At the same time, he gauged the blood loss not bad enough to have damaged an artery. Still, it was somewhat disturbing to see the blood smeared on the tile floor from when he had been dragged away from the hostages and over to the counter.

He widened his focus to the other hostages, saw the shock on their faces at the escalation of violence. The fear was more prominent now than it had been previous to them witnessing a man being shot in their midst. He could understand that, but he hoped no one would fall to hysteria as that had the potential to increase the general anxiety in the room and shorten the hostage takers' fuses even further.

Callen glanced up when Miller's voice rang out from above, "no, he's fine!"

Callen wouldn't go quite that far in his assessment… then again, if his team asked him now, he would probably utter that he was alright. So maybe Miller's assessment was pretty much spot on after all. He hid the small smile upon the thought.

"No, you will have to take my word for it." With that, the receiver was slammed back down and Miller turned his focus back onto the federal agent at his feet.

Callen did the same, returning his focus to Miller and taking a split second to gauge the man's state: he was still furious but the explosive anger seemed to have cooled down some. Good, that probably meant he wouldn't be executed right away - which suited Callen just fine because despite what his partner might say, he actually liked being alive.

He let his eyes be drawn to the gun that was once more pointed at him, ducking his head somewhat, making himself a smaller target and less of a threat. He had to modulate his behavior carefully. He needed to project enough confidence to make sure they believed who he said he was, but not to be taken for too big of a threat. So some cowering would have to be in his behavior… again.

Miller came to stand in front of him. "So, who are you?" the man growled. His gun rested against his side, ready to be brought up, but not an immediate threat.

While giving himself up had been the best projected outcome Callen could come up with, he didn't plan on giving up his real identity. Instead, he had done some careful and calculated editing in his head before standing up to reveal himself. He would use that carefully edited identity now. "Alex Vasnev, FBI," Callen answered the man's question quietly, projecting an intimidated demeanor. Having faced off against hardened international and domestic terrorists alike, these men didn't hold a candle against their usual ruthless enemies so they didn't actually rank high enough to really rankle him. The shot had been fired into his leg, not his chest. The criminals they were usually up against probably wouldn't have been so forgiving.

At the same time, Callen knew he was in a precarious position and things might still go bad. He had hoped that Miller wouldn't outright execute him when he revealed himself, but he hadn't been completely certain.

While the real threat of law enforcement stood outside of the doors, he was by association part of that threat - and contrary to the officers outside, he was within reach and vulnerable. Still, the first seconds after revealing himself had been more dangerous by far compared to the situation now. Miller was too calculating to outright execute him now unless Callen pushed him - which he didn't plan on doing - especially not with a whole town of law enforcement standing at the ready outside. Plus, for the last nearly six hours since the robbery had begun, Callen hadn't posed a threat to these men, instead had hunkered down with his girlfriend.

If Callen played his cards right, he might even be able to manipulate the situation in their favor.

Miller picked up the ID that had been taken off of him previously while Caroso ambled closer to the counter. By returning to the others, he left Kensi alone which was a relief. Tactically, it was a bad move to leave the hostages alone now, but Callen wouldn't be the one to point that out. He was glad the other hostages were being left alone.

Haley was moving jerkily as he approached and Callen could see that while he was focused on the situation, he was also uncomfortable with it. The other two men were more hardened and ruthless, but the younger man was way out of his league. This could either be very good for them or very bad. He wasn't sure yet.

Miller studied his ID before turning his eyes back on Callen, "where's your badge?" he asked.

Alex Vasnev didn't have one. He was a Russian business man looking to branch out into weapons trading.

Callen shrugged his shoulders somewhat jerkily, "it's…" he stuttered, "it's my day off. I don't have it with me."

"Gun?" Miller asked.

Callen shrugged once more, allowing some embarrassment to creep into his posture, "same," he admitted, not looking up.

"Doesn't the FBI teach you to wear your weapon at all times?"

He briefly glanced up before letting his gaze flicker away once more, "not the best idea in a bank. Makes people nervous."

Miller watched him for several more moments before he turned towards the other hostages, his weapon pointed towards Kensi.

Callen tensed, prepared to do something - anything - to get the man's attention back to himself if necessary.

"Who's she?" Miller indicated Kensi with his gun and Callen watched as Kensi recoiled from the man even though he was a good distance away from her. Good, she was playing her part, adapting on the fly. His eyes slid to Caroso who left his position standing above Callen and instead moved closer to Kensi, eyeing her gleefully and soaking up the fear she was projecting.

"She's my girlfriend. Please, don't hurt her," he implored, the shakiness in his voice only half pretended. She was an agent under his command, but what was more; she was a team mate, a friend, someone he thought of as family. He would do anything in his power to make sure she came out of this unscratched.

Caroso glanced over his shoulder upon Callen's words. He slowly meandered back towards Callen, drawn in by the fear he allowed to color his voice and probably intent on rankling him some more. Callen was alright with that, if that meant Kensi was left alone. At the same time he thought there was something not quite right with that man. Those behavioral traits were flashing neon signs of mental disorders. While Miller was the ringleader, Caroso was by far more dangerous than the other two. If he had some time, he might try to put a wedge between Caroso and the other two, sow dissent between the trio. It was another avenue to explore, another option to consider.

The phone was ringing again and Miller threw his hands up, frustrated and annoyed. He turned back to Callen. "You know this Cox guy?"

Callen gave a small nod, "yeah," he admitted, "I've worked with him before."

Miller's eyes narrowed and he took half a step forwards, "you're on his team?" The voice lowered into much more of a threat than it had moments before. The firming of his fingers around the gun visually confirmed the threat.

Callen shakily shook his head, backpedalling and leaning back into the counter, "no, man. He's doing the dangerous stuff. I'm just doing White Collar crimes."

Miller watched him for another moment and Callen once more demurely lowered his head. Miller was an intelligent man and obviously he was also working on intuition. Callen had to make sure to slide firmly into this new role so as not to set the man's alarm bells ringing. Luckily, immersing himself into an alias was his daily bread and butter.

"Ok, here's what you're going to do. You'll talk to Agent Cox and make sure our demands are met. Having an FBI agent as a hostage should count for something, don't you think? You've officially become our life insurance," Miller told him before he turned and moved over back to the still ringing phone.

Since he wasn't on comms anymore, Callen hoped that their microphones had picked up on the exchange so that Cox would know to play along. Callen glanced over towards Kensi and she read the question in his eyes, giving him a small smile and an even smaller nod.

"Yeah, fine, you can talk to him," Miller's words brought his focus back around to the rest of the happenings. Miller made a gesture and Callen hissed in pain when he was drawn up. His left leg refused to take his weight, buckling under him when he tried to get his feet under him, but Caroso held him upright and dragged him over to the phone. His balance was bad with his hands tied behind his back and only one really functional leg. Also, the wound was still bleeding - no real surprise since no one had yet made an effort to bandage it. Callen hid the discomfort of feeling the blood run down his calf.

The phone was put on speaker and Miller pointed his gun at him. "Tell him," he ordered harshly.

"Agent Cox?" Callen asked slowly, probing and careful. While Kensi had given him a nod, he couldn't be completely sure yet if she had read his question right or if she'd merely given him a reassuring nod that she would back his play. The next words could be detrimental or they could smooth the way.

"Agent Vasnev, you ok?" The voice was calm and even. Callen bit back the sigh of relief when Cox's addressing him by his cover identity let him know that his story would hold. He focused back on the phone call and the other agent. While he hadn't seen the other man in years, now that he heard him over the phone, he would have instantly been able to identify him by his voice.

"Mostly in one piece," Callen affirmed when he saw the way Miller narrowed his eyes at him in warning. He hadn't been told what to say and what to hold back before being thrust into the phone call, so he would have to feel his way through this. He settled for affirming Miller's previous demands. "Look Agent Cox, they are firm in their demands."

He heard the soft grunt on the other end, doubted this was the first time the other man had heard those words - not only today, but in other cases before this one.

Miller made a rolling motion with his hand, pointedly glancing at the phone.

"They want a car that's fueled up and a safe passage," Callen elaborated, reiterating the demands that had been listed before.

"We're working on it, Vasnev," Cox stated firmly, mostly for the ears of the robbers around Callen, instead of for the agent himself, "but you know those things take time." Yeah, Callen knew. Didn't mean he had to like it.

Glancing up, he caught the tightening around Miller's eyes upon the agent's words. "Maybe you need some incentive, Agent Cox," Miller threatened a moment before Callen felt Caroso draw closer. Another heartbeat later, his leg buckled beneath him, a scream wrenched from his throat upon the kick that had been placed meticulously. Fire spread through the previously attained bullet wound as Callen crashed to the ground, his chin barely missing the counter on the way down. With his hands tied behind him, he was unable to catch his fall and he tried rolling to avoid the worst of the tumble.

He would have succeeded in softening his fall if Caroso hadn't added a kick to his back on the way down, unbalancing him further and making him crash rather unceremoniously to the ground.

Despite the agony, Callen needed a split second to curb his reactions, to make sure he didn't go on the offensive and retaliate. FBI Agent Alex Vasnev wouldn't retaliate in this situation. He may have gone through the training, but he was a White Collar agent who didn't see much combat. So instead of going with NCIS agent Grisha Callen's reaction of a full blown counter attack, FBI agent Alex Vasnev instead curled up and tried making himself as small of a target as possible while he waited for the next blow he was sure would come.

In the background he heard Kensi's voice shouting for him - luckily she stayed in character, calling him by his cover name, but he still hoped she wouldn't draw attention to herself by trying to jump into the fray.

The attack was over moments later, after several more kicks to his torso had forced the breath out of his lungs. Callen lay on the ground, gasping, unable to draw breath. He didn't move when he was grabbed by the collar of his shirt and dragged over the floor. When the hand let go of him, he slumped to the floor, still unable to get his breath back, trying to inhale in aborted stutters that only made his chest tighten further. Several hands landed on his body and he jerked back in surprise until he recognized Kensi's voice over him, soothing him as she drew his head into her lap, her fingers trembling along his hairline, her other hand flittering along his side and over his ribcage.

He allowed himself a moment to sink into the caress and closed his eyes, taking stock and waiting for his lungs to expand fully once more. Holding his breath for several seconds, working against the instinct that told him to try and inhale again so he could get some precious air into his lungs, he deliberately exhaled a breath before finally managing to draw a breath that helped clear the fog from his brain.

Another set of hands on his left leg garnered his attention. Callen blinked his eyes open and raised his head from Kensi's thighs, meeting the worried eyes of the woman who had earlier taken care of the bank's manager.

She looked up at the same time and their eyes met. "Gotta stop the bleeding," she told him and he gave her a simple nod before he allowed his head to sink back into Kensi's lap. The fact that she went for the bullet wound and not the seemingly more imminent trouble of his still uneven breathing suggested that she was worried about the blood loss. Callen didn't feel woozy yet though, neither were cold fingers of shock reaching for him, so his own assessment didn't differ much from the one he'd done right after being shot.

Glancing up, he found Kensi's worried eyes on him. Callen let his features morph into his customary smirk for a fraction of a second. He may be wounded, but he was still very much in control of his actions and conscious of what he was doing. The brief appearance of her superior was obviously reassurance enough for Kensi as she drew a slow breath and her fingertips firmed against his temple.

"Why'd you do that?" she asked, her eyes flittering around and he could feel her settle back into the mindset of an agent. She was taking in the situation around them and he was certain she was just as aware of Caroso several feet away, as he was.

Callen gave a slow shrug - as much as his bindings allowed. "You know why," he replied softly. He grunted in pain when his leg was shifted this way and that before something was pressed firmly against it. Another moment later, the makeshift bandage was secured tightly, eliciting another pained hiss while his eyes slammed shut.

The woman shifted away from his leg and up his body. "Your ribs?" she asked when he blinked his eyes open once more.

Callen shook his head when she reached for his shirt. "They are fine," he told her calmly.

"I should still check. You took a few kicks and you had trouble breathing just now. The adrenaline in your body will mask the pain. If your ribs are broken, you could have internal injuries," the woman gave back, her fingers on the first button.

Shifting away wasn't all that easy considering he was bound and already in Kensi's lap with nowhere left to go. "Listen…" he broke off, waiting for the woman to fill the blank.

She glanced up, her fingers working on the next button, "Dina," she told him without stopping.

Callen once more shifted uncomfortably, "listen Dina, I've had broken ribs before. They are fine," he told her slowly, his voice low but insistent. Explaining away the scars from the bullet wounds of the drive by shooting or all of the other close calls in his life to the hostage takers was not something he looked forward to doing once his torso was exposed.

He had told them he was in White Collar Crimes and that wasn't exactly the most dangerous occupation an FBI agent could have. He'd said so because he wanted to minimize the threat he posed to the men. All of the scars on his body - even though many were faded and not standing out prominently anymore - told a different story though.

Those scars would be enough to raise questions he couldn't afford to answer.

Kensi obviously caught on to his reticence and she reached forward to still the other woman's hands. He could see the grip was firmer than Dina had anticipated, the small frown crossing the other woman's features enough proof of that.

"He'll be ok. I'll keep an eye on him, Dina," Kensi said quietly.

"But-"

"I'll be alright. Thank you, Dina," Callen said softly but with an undertone of finality, giving her a small, reassuring smile when her eyes came up to his.

The other woman eventually backed down with a nod, glancing up at the men that held them hostage and slowly sliding a small distance away from Callen and Kensi.

He allowed his focus to tunnel on Kensi for a moment. "You ok?" he asked quietly. He had to smile at the somewhat exasperated expression she wore, the raised eyebrow and the aborted eye roll. "Humor me," he prodded.

"I'm fine," Kensi murmured dismissively, "you on the other hand…"

It was Callen's turn to roll his eyes. "I'm alright," he told her calmly before shifting with a grunt, "give me a hand to turn onto my side," he asked her slowly. His bound hands were being compressed beneath his body and it made for an uncomfortable position. Of course he could work to get out of the bindings - his bobby pin was right where he had left it after all - but he didn't fancy the reaction to that, so in the meantime, he would let the men believe they had him properly secured.

Sitting up would be preferable to lying down and being in a prone position, but for the moment he suspected it would be better if he presented as little of a threat as possible, so lying down would be the way to go.

Staying with his head in Kensi's lap would be most comfortable and it would convey the picture he needed the men to believe - the one that would keep Kensi's identity protected and would serve to keep her unharmed.

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