Chapter 18
Boulevard of Broken Dreams
Author's note: curious if this chapter is indeed what you expected? Feel free to let me know.
Linda: indeed, there are so many questions left to be answered. Hope this chapter helps in that part… And you're so right about Sam. He's the best friend one could wish for. Thank you for reviewing the previous chapter!
Wotumba: well, exactly: Sam is who everyone would like to have as a friend. Thank you so much for reviewing!
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Los Angeles || Sherman Oaks Hospital || 07:54 AM
Nearly unknowingly, Sam kept spooning his coffee and let his thoughts go over the matter of Poliakoff and the reasons and ways she had been playing her game.
A dirty federal agent… he could hardly remember having to deal with a case like this. Actually, she was more than an agent. After all Poliakoff was a high ranked senior manager, a deputy Marshal in their city.
None of his own team would be in a position to interrogate her, he was pretty sure about that. No way Nell was able to arrange such a thing, not even Hetty could've pulled that trick. Then, even it they would have the possibility, Poliakoff probably would keep her mouth shut.
Whereas Nell told him that with the sting that Callen thought out worked out well, Sam still felt a bit uneased. With the attempt to kill his partner and the previous one on Elisabeth Sharden, there may still be people searching for both persons.
Callen had done his utmost to keep Elisabeth into a hiding place he never even shared with his best friend. Which was a good thing, he was all to aware of that. But if they would want to keep her out of any trouble, they had to contact her, help her with the new papers at least.
He sighed, the aroma of the warm, dark beverage reaching his brains at the same time he sipped some of the machine brewed drink, enjoying its strong taste.
Minutes later he took Callen's second phone and pressed the 'home' number once again. Although it was still early in the morning, she answered within a few rings with a single 'hello?'
"Elisabeth, this is Sam Hanna," he started.
He was immediately interrupted. "It's Ellie."
"I know. Sorry for that. Listen, last night we've been in contact and you told me you need to be seen by a doctor today and also need new medicines. So I was wondering if I could make some arrangements for you."
She was silent for a moment, then replied with a simple "Okay".
"You think you could make it to Sherman Oaks Hospital?"
Without really knowing her, he sensed how she considered his question. "Not within the first two hours at least. Don't have a car myself and even if I had, there's the cast on my arm which would make driving hard, perhaps even impossible as it is in the LA traffic. And ordering a cab is a definite no-no to me. Which leaves public transportation and to be honest, I have no idea if that is a possibility."
"What if we pick you up?" he offered.
He heard how she hummed several times but was silent for a moment.
From the place Elisabeth was right now, she literally was reading a map and she finally suggested "The LA City Hall, East side, the stairs. I want to know who will be there. Describe the person."
She was well trained indeed, Sam concluded. Not what he expected. He wasn't going to leave this place himself, and Nell told him how she'd send Kensi and Deeks to interrogate the persons who were arrested at the same raid where Callen was wounded.
He grinned, glanced at his watch, estimated times and routes and decided "Alright… Be there at ten fifteen. A young, redhaired woman, driving a red Mini Hatch, with a white banner over its hood, will meet you there. Her name's Nell Jones."
"Okay. I'll introduce myself to her." She disconnected the call before Sam could confirm anything.
He knew he had to persuade Nell to be out in the field for a short moment, but she'd like it, he was pretty sure about it.
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"She's careful, Nell. Very careful," Sam said. "And I considered I could've advised that it would be Roundtree to pick her up, since they've kind of met, but if he helps Kensi and Deeks, well...So I just suggested —"
She interrupted and replied quickly. "Never mind, Sam. I could use a moment like this. Get away from behind this desk that isn't mine. "Besides, by now I'm quite curious about her as well. I need her input too as I promised Callen to arrange the paperwork too, remember?"
A second later she asked "Nothing new about Callen, by the way?"
"He was cranky enough when a nurse came in and woke him," Sam chuckled. "He didn't complain about having headaches any longer, though."
Sam didn't mention his suspicion that Callen deliberately forgot to mention his earlier complaints, just because he didn't want any further examinations and hoped he could escape the hospital room as soon as possible.
Nell nearly sniggered on Sam's reply and said "He's not too keen to be in there indeed."
"Nope," Sam said. "I'd better get him some proper clothing, before anyone teases him with the hospital gown like I did."
He continued in a more serious way "Let me know Nell, if anything out of the ordinary happens before or after you meet Elisabeth. Oh, and don't forget to address her as Ellie."
"Will do so," she said when ending the call. She still did have some time left to make arrangements for the team members for the first few hours.
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Los Angeles || Sakura Crossing, Little Tokyo
For a short moment, Elisabeth Sullivan, now known as Elisabeth Sharden, stood with the phone in her hand. Again, it was time to say goodbye to a period of relative safety.
She'd learned to trust someone she had lived with for nearly one and a half year. The two of them lived, next to each other and with each other in a house that was boring. After a certain period, it was like life at the university campus with a roommate. Knowing Marcus was gone forever still hurt.
She looked around in the apartment. If it were up to her, she'd stay. Again, it was relatively safe. Her 'brother's' place.
She let her hand go over her face. It was time to have something to eat before taking the last capsule of the medicines. After that, she should take precautions and change her appearance before leaving the place.
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Los Angeles || LA City Hall, East side || 10:10 AM
Nell Jones had already driven around the City Hall twice, making sure nobody followed her. This was a one way road, she knew, and the East side was less busy at this time of the morning anyway. She knew her car stood out in the usual LA traffic, and if Elisabeth was there already, she would know what to look for.
On the other hand, Nell had no idea if she would recognize the other woman. Nor Sam or Roundtree had described her that well and after passing by for the third time, slower this time, there was no one who stood out. She finally decided to drive her car into the parking and made sure she was in the open air at the arranged time.
There were several people sitting on the stairs, however nobody who met the description she had. It made her slightly nervous – what if something bad had happened? As a habit and more or less unconsciously she sucked on her lower lip as she let her gaze go over the public once again. Sure, there was some time to kill to the pre-arranged moment and so she decided to do what many other people did.
She sat down on the stairs as well and took her phone to scroll over the messages she received. Nothing in particular was interesting and meanwhile she glanced over her screen to watch the crowd.
Just a moment later, the person who sat closest to her stood up to throw away the disposable coffee cup he probably emptied. Once he'd done that, he turned and said "You must be Nell Jones."
Nell looked up. In front of her was a man, about 60 years, she estimated. All too average, in length and weight, and his clothes were average as well, jeans with a loose zip-up jacket over a plain shirt. Though she was aware of her surrounding and had not seen anything that looked suspicious, she never expected a stranger to address her. She swallowed, then nodded. "Who are you?"
"Ike Taylor. But that doesn't matter. You are looking for a woman, right?" He waited for a confirmation, but she wasn't going to give him that just like that. He kept his eyes fixed on her. "You agreed to meet in here at 10:15."
In the end, she decided this was not someone she should fear, even though she blamed herself for being in such an exposed position. She got up and nodded again. He smiled, turned around and raised his arm, thumb up.
As Nell followed his gaze, she saw how a woman also got up from the bus stop opposite of the street.
A minute later, the woman introduced herself to Nell. "Hello Nell Jones. I am Ellie and I contacted Sam Hanna."
Nell smiled at the other woman. "Hi, Ellie. Good to meet you. Indeed, Sam asked me to pick you up."
"Thank you, Ike, for helping me," Ellie nodded and shook hands with the older man. He gratefully accepted the ten dollar bill she handed him and turned around after a short "Thanks and welcome."
The Ellie in front of her looked far from how Roundtree and Sam described Elisabeth and different from what she expected. Ash brown hair, up in a short, messy ponytail and wispy bangs, dressed in summer dress and a thin, oversized marine blue cardigan. Sunglasses which she had pushed up when she introduced herself.
For anyone around, she looked healthy and energetic. However, Nell also noticed the puffy eyes, the small pain lines and the way she stood.
"Do you want to wait in here while I pick up my car?" Nell asked.
"No, I'd rather join you. Am I correct that it's another 20 minutes ride to the hospital?"
"That's my guess indeed," Nell informed her as they descended to get to the car park. "Once we're on the road, I need to contact my team to tell them. There's a doctor's appointment scheduled for you at eleven, and we need some paper work done as well."
She pressed the key of her car and after the bleeps sounded, she opened the door.
The other woman just hummed as a reply of the question Nell asked when she gratefully sank down in the passenger seat and closed her eyes for a moment.
"You're okay?" Nell worried.
Again a hum, then she scraped her throat and said "Sure. It was a busy morning so far. Had some pictures taken this morning, for a passport or driver's license."
Nell suspected that this woman wasn't a talkative person, so she said "Callen asked me to give a hand with that and our director agreed to do so. You know, our agency isn't allowed to issue papers or any new identities at all. But since we are able to create deep undercover identities, I do have the creativity to do so. I've actually done it many times for Callen too in the past. We can make somethings up, anything you prefer."
"As long as you sign an agreement and promise nobody else is going to know," Elisabeth said, leaning back in the car seat.
"Right," Nell agreed. When they halted before a red light, she quickly texted Sam they were on their way.
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Los Angeles || Sherman Oaks Hospital || 10.30 AM
Two nurses stood, waiting in Callen's room. They'd just informed Callen that never mind the remarks he felt much, much better, he was scheduled for a CT scan.
The look on his friend's face made Sam chuckle. "Not going to hold your hand in there, G. You will survive this easy checkup, buddy. In the meantime, I'll get your go-bag from my car, see if there's something more decent to wear."
For a moment he was surprised once again to see how Callen managed to look like a scared teenager once he was in the hands of medical personnel, then he remembered stories from a few years ago. Things Callen told him. Stories about physical and mental abuse, about growing up in the system without people caring for him. Never knowing what to expect, never knowing what grown-ups in a hospital decided you'd have to undergo.
Despite being an adult now, there still were wounds from a long time ago. Also, he picked up the remark of one of the nurses earlier that morning, that Callen still was feverish, though not worrisome.
More serious now, he said "G, it's just a routine physical examination. You know it's not going to hurt and you'll be back within a half hour. Oh, and Nell just let me know that she's driving 'Ellie' – he made the quote sign while mentioning her name - to this hospital as well. She needed a checkup as well, remember?"
Callen hummed a confirmation then wondered "Nell?"
"She welcomed the idea of leaving the office."
He stood for a moment when the nurses wheeled out his partner, then left the room as well.
TBC
Kni®benrots
There's another world inside of me that you may never see
There's secrets in this life that I can't hide
Somewhere in this darkness there's a light that I can't find
-When I'm Gone- 3 Doors Down