Boulevard of Broken Dreams
Chapter 7
Author's note: Thank you for the heads-up, all of you! And also for reviewing, French fan, wotumba1, Morganluvr, Guest 1 and 2, F4llon, Pam11, Varvara11 and trscrny. Your kind words are very welcoming!
o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)
He said "Must be just a graze."
o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)
Los Angeles || Alhambra Hospital
Callen let his hand go over his side and before he saw it, it was clear. Not only did the spot feel very tender where he touched it, it also was sticky and warm. Still, he was experienced enough to know it was nothing really serious.
The fact that he was full of adrenaline must've played a part in feeling faint.
"Damn, Sylvia, again?"
Callen frowned, not understanding what Sam meant.
There was a chuckle from his friend. He pointed at the name-tag on the white coat Callen was wearing, by now stained with sputters of blood and other fluids and what he figured was scattered bone, all in an undefined grayish color. All next to a deeper red stain.
"I really don't get it, G, how you managed to get shot, again."
He clenched his jaw. "It's not that I ever do that on purpose, if that's what you think Sam. And I don't think it's funny either, you know".
He wiped his hand on the hem of the coat and stood up, motioning to another nurse.
"C'mon, buddy, I'm just kidding."
Sam watched how Roundtree made some arrangements with LAPD.
"You know what's really funny?" Callen said, still not in the mood for his partner's so-called kidding remarks. He pointed at the man who was wheeled away by the medical staff and continued "The real fun part is that thát person in there is Romanian. Same will probably go for the one I killed and the other guy who was shot with this bullet. Romanian, Sam."
A nurse now stood in the door and Callen walked her way, deciding to let Sam chew on that message.
o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)
"Wait, what did you say, Romanian?" Deeks' voice sounded an octave higher than usual when he heard Sam's message.
"You heard me," Sam said. "Go and see what Poliakoff says when you confront her with that fact. And mind you, the Ops team is already checking the identities of the four men."
Two of those men were in the morgue already. There was another one on an operation table somewhere in the hospital and the fourth one was taken into custody. From where Sam stood, he was able to peek into the hospital room and he was aware that he'd better not disturb his partner.
He glanced at how his partner for years seemed to be asleep, uncharacteristically in a chair similar to the one he occupied many times, his eyes closed and in quite an unusual and uncomfortable position — his head resting against the wall and his legs stretched completely. The shirt he wore was still dotted with some stains which he knew it was partly his own blood, and partly that of an unknow enemy.
Stubbornly, Callen had allowed the nurse to clean the wound and had it stitched without the required anesthesia. Indeed, it was a graze but Sam knew all too well it would be sore and his partner would not be operative for the first few days.
The chair he occupied stood close to the bed in which the woman was sleeping, apparently relaxed.
Sam heaved a sigh. Because they still didn't have the chance to talk to her, nor with Callen, and because she definitely was the one being hunted, it was rather difficult to delve into her career. For the first hour Sam supposed the only thing he could do was to wait and hope his co-workers came up with anything new.
He dragged himself to the waiting room where he sat down in one of the chairs closer to the elevators, his elbows on his knees and then let his chin lean in his hands.
Actually, Sam felt a bit ashamed and guilty that he'd kept teasing his friend. He could and should have read Callen's facial expression. He always had done so.
Was it because lately they needed to work harder to find the automatic balance in the team which had been there when Hetty had been the one in charge?
And hadn't it been Sam himself who opted, perhaps insisted to be the one in the field, training the green agents, while Callen ought to fill in the position that Hetty left?
Nowadays, both Sam and Callen acted crankier than before and the usual banter was kind of artificial. Whether it was it because of Sam's idea, because of a change in the team or even because both of them were investing in a love life, Sam didn't know.
Right now he regretted his previous remark. No wonder Callen was on the edge, knowing there were Romanians around.
He breathed in deeply, shook his head and decided to contact the ones who were most comfortable at doing some analyzing tasks. "Listen, Eric, can you or Fatima or perhaps even Nell go and find out anything new on the electronical footprint of Poliakoff? Money transfers, phone calls, we really need it as fast as possible." Again, he sighed and said "More specific, anything that has a connection with Romanians."
Sam ended the call and knew he needed to go through this matter with his partner soon.
o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)
He'd always felt uncomfortable, spending time in a hospital with its hideous chairs, plastic matrasses and antiseptic smells. He'd been around too many times to be still bothered by it.
But right now Callen had a different experience. He had a place to think. And thinking was what he needed.
Why on earth were Romanian people after Elisabeth? And could it be there was any relationship with the Comescus? During the past few years there weren't any of the Romanian crime family popping up any longer like mushrooms and actually, he figured they had lost their interest in him.
He let several scenarios play in his head, all of them so very odd that he immediately ditched them.
All he knew he needed to go through this matter with her, and with his friend and partner soon.
He opened his eyes and decided it would be best to do what he usually did. Exchanging thoughts, views and with that decide what the next step could be. Crap, they needed more information about Elisabeth Sharden, whose real name wasn't Sharden.
He got up as softly as possible so he didn't wake her up.
o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)
Getting up was quite a struggle and he flinched - something to dull the pain would've been okay, he now thought. Same went for a clean shirt. This one smelled like he felt - dirty, sticking and he surely would be glad to get rid of it.
He looked around, knowing Sam was somewhere near. Never mind the fact he had not found it funny at all how Sam had reacted beforehand, he knew the big guy was still around to keep an eye on his friend.
Callen slowly breathed out when he saw his partner sit, earphones in and obviously on the line in a private call. Either Kamran or Katherine, since Callen observed a softer expression on Sam's face, one that was rarely shown in any other occasions. Only when he stopped right in front of Sam, the big guy looked up.
"Call you back later." Then he finished the call with a smile and a "Promise. Bye."
Callen observed the people passing by, sitting down or already sat too close in his opinion. "Hey, y'think we can find a more private place to talk?" he suggested.
"Sure." Sam got up and looked around and motioned to a place closer to the room Elisabeth now lay in, which was a different one from the previous she stayed in.
He was all on alert, his gaze going from the closed doors and the corridor towards the elevators, until it finally rested on Callen's face.
"Listen, G, I'm sorry—"
With a single headshake, Callen stopped his partner from apologizing. "Never mind. Listen, it's... I'm not sure I should share this, but Sharden's told me that it is not her real name. Somehow, someone knows. Probably not Poliakoff."
"Wait… and you know this how?"
Callen shrugged. "She told me herself."
"C'mon, you hardly know each other."
For a short second he closed his eyes, hooking his thumbs in the pockets of his jeans and leaning the side that didn't hurt against the wall. He definitely was not in the mood to have to explain too much. "Well, she obviously finds me trustworthy. But right now, that's not the issue Sam. Thing is, I think this Poliakoff doesn't know what I just told you."
Sam rubbed his chin and stared ahead. "Which means someone knows the real identity of your Elisabeth but keeps it to himself. But I don't get the Romanian connection."
"That makes two of us," Callen said as he ignored the 'your' in Sam's conclusion. "And I don't like it a bit. Thing is, she is determined to leave this place. I think she's expecting more trouble."
"Then we need her to explain further. But first, let get Nell dig into the matter. We know she can keep a matter like this close to her chest, right?" He grabbed his phone again and was ready to press a pre-dial code.
Callen deliberated if he should share what she had told him, in confidence. Then he heaved a deep sigh and shook his head.
"Later. Let's just say Elisabeth Sharden doesn't exist at all. Poliakoff ought to know that, yet she doesn't. And she is the key to our answers, but like I said, I assume she's not in charge of what happened. But I — we — want to know how she's involved. Even more, the exact identity of those Romanians, and their exact involvement."
He paused for a moment. "Her doctor made sure she's resting for a couple of hours. With a concussion like hers, I shouldn't have had her move at all, but well..."
"You probably saved her life when you did, G. No need to doubt your action."
"I never doubted it. It's more that I think I need to get her out of here indeed. News travels fast, Sam, both good or bad news. Maybe I'd better find her doctor and discuss the matter"
Sam nodded. "Let me try the Ops team again."
He posed the question immediately "Anything new?"
Fatima replied "The camera's don't show any suspicious persons around. But we did spot two different cars which appear to post by turn near the entrance and exit doors," she said. "And Eric is still checking all the other things. Finances and so on. Connections to Romania too."
This time Callen answered. "There's got to be something… Just let Sam know the moment there's the tiniest bit of news, will you?"
Then he stepped away with a frustrated sigh.
o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)
Los Angeles || the NCIS boatshed || earlier
Kensi had watched her partner take a phone call, though from a distance. Saw him exclaim something. And she did her utmost not to try and listen, but just focus only on the woman opposite of her.
"You were saying?" Kensi said.
"What I mentioned was that maybe I'd better had this conversation with Miss Sharden myself."
Alexa Poliakoff studied a cuticle of her right ring finger. When Deeks reapproached she looked up and said "Is there, by chance, a way to find out how agent Sharden is doing?"
Whereas until now Deeks appeared to be the cooperative and the one most willing to share, right now his expression changed and his eyes hardened.
"Did you sell her out?" he demanded.
Poliakoff shrugged, again with more attention for her nails, and replied "What do you mean, selling her out... of course not."
"Because if you didn't you'd better help us further. There's been a shooting at the hospital."
Only he noted the shock in his wife's eyes and so he added "Two dead."
Now he had Poliakoff's full attention too and Deeks repeated "There are two dead, two wounded. One of them a federal agent."
Before Poliakoff or Kensi could react to his statement, Deeks' phone pinged again. He checked his screen then muttered "Need to take this call too, Kensi." He motioned wordlessly to Castor who simply nodded back: he'd keep an eye on the woman in the main room.
Kensi followed her partner into the street level interrogation room and closed the door. "What?" she asked.
Deeks shrugged "We'll find out." He put his phone on the table, put it on speaker before he dialed a number. Once it was answered he spoke "Nell, what's up?"
The younger woman answered with a sigh first "Got a phone call from the DOJ. They want Poliakoff to leave and lead the investigation on this matter from her own agency. I offered our help, of course, but…"
"DOJ refused it?"
"How did you guess?" Nell replied cynically.
Deeks shook his head. "C'mon… we all know she knows more than she's telling."
"Even more than we asked her so far," Kensi agreed.
From headquarters, Nell was quiet for a moment. "Never mind," she finally argued. "Since we're involved already, we'll continue our own investigation. I'll let the others know to trade carefully and leave no trails whatsoever."
"They shot Callen?" Kensi gazed to the phone, then at her partner.
"Just a graze. He's not in a mint shape, but we all know how he handles that. Right?" Nell explained. "Sam's with him. Roundtree should be back in there any moment soon, since he handed over one of the surviving aggressors to LAPD who will put him into federal custody. He'll be ours to interrogate too."
"And Sharden?"
"Asleep for another half hour at least, Sam just told me".
"So, we just let Poliakoff go, without being able to check her whereabouts. I don't really like that," Deeks said.
Nell sniffed nearly inaudibly and replied "Listen, Eric and Fatima already work on that. All the clues we have, Poliakoff hasn't. The only thing we need to find out is the Romanian connection."
"The WHAT?" Kensi exclaimed.
"That's right, Kenselina. Let me explain," Deeks smiled at his wife while he disconnected the call.
A minute later, it was Kensi who came towards Poliakoff.
The other woman now scowled at the two agents and said "DOJ just gave me a call. I'm not supposed to share any of the outcomes of our internal investigation."
She got on her feet and, with her left hand, she shook back her blond hair and rearranged her blouse and skirt. With a 'good bye' she strode to the exit door. All they could do was to watch her leave.
TBC