Falling Through the Cracks
Chapter 3
"-llo… hear me?"
Words… broken by lapses of focus and awareness.
Callen once more clawed his way back to consciousness. Somebody touched him and his instinctive reaction was to cringe away. The scant movement brought exquisite pain again and he couldn't bite back the moan. His body wanted to cower, to curl up and find some way to escape the pain, but it seemed to only get worse.
"-ay still."
Another hand on the back of his neck and he wanted to move, to hide, to fight, to get away, instinct after years of dangerous work deeply ingrained in him, but he simply couldn't, found he was at the mercy of whoever was around him.
"Shhh, it's alright."
A male voice, deep and gravelly, strong but soothing at the same time. Not a voice he knew.
Where was Sam? Sam was usually the first person around if he was injured.
Fingers on his wrist, questing for a pulse.
Hands on his body, bringing blinding flashes of agony before fading again.
A low whine escaped.
"- turn him over?"
"- damage to his spine if he fell down from there."
He fell?
More words washed over him, hovering just out of his reach and understanding. The only thing that made it to his brain was that he wasn't alone anymore and while that scared him as it put him at the mercy of these people, it also somehow meant the world to him.
The hands came back to his body, different this time, more purposeful, taking hold and manipulating the position of his arms and legs, making new agony scream through him.
"- easy… turn you over."
Two hands took hold of his neck and then his world turned, shifting and rolling and pain hurtled up and down and through and out of him. He didn't have the capacity or breath to scream. Instead he welcomed the darkness that rushed him.
Xxxxxxx
"Anything, guys?" Sam asked when he entered Ops.
Both Nell and Eric were working furiously on their computer terminals, checking whatever leads they had dug out of the virtual fabric of their reality. Sam didn't even pretend to understand what they were doing most of the time. And usually, he didn't care, as long as it got them the desired results… results that they were seriously lacking right now.
"No, nothing," Eric groused. "These guys are shoddy in leaving electronic footprints. No cell phones, no hard lines, no bank transfers, nothing that I can trace." The frustration was pouring off of Eric in thick waves. All of them were frustrated… and all of them were worried about G.
"Did you find the car they left in?" Deeks had told them it was an old Explorer; dark grey and frustratingly unremarkable, no stickers, no dents, no nothing.
"The license plate number he gave us came back as stolen. Not belonging to that particular car though," Nell spoke up as she stood from her chair and walked over to the big screen. Sam followed and hoped she would have something to share.
"They used the license plate several times to leave the compound as Deeks said and I've been able to confirm that with some CCTV cameras when I matched the days with those Deeks' said they'd used the car. Problem is there are not many functioning CCTVs in the closer area of the compound and those that do work, haven't shown the Explorer. I've taken into consideration that they might have changed the license plates once outside and have a list of grey Explorers in that area, but it's a long list. I'm going through them one by one, but so far I've had no luck."
Sam glanced at the collection of vehicles left for Nell to go through. It was hundreds of vehicles. "So we got nothing?" he asked, using irritation to mask his worry.
"Not at the moment, no," Nell said regretfully.
"Anything on the compound sketch Deeks gave us? Have you been able to match that with any location yet? Recent purchases through different intermediaries."
Eric shook his head without turning from the screen, his fingers flying over his keyboard as he continued his searches.
Sam knew he wouldn't get anything more right now. As much as he wanted to hover and urge the two techs on, he knew he would be more hindrance than help. Without another word, he turned and left Ops in search of Hetty, missing the worried look Nell and Eric shared behind his back.
Xxxxxxx
Sam sank down into the chair in front of Hetty's desk. She had been on the phone all morning, conferring with various agencies and turning up the heat.
He smiled slightly to himself when she threw the receiver down with a "get it done!" before following it with an "asshole".
Hetty rarely let her temper get the better of her and even more rarely did she curse and call anyone names, but even she was human it seemed. He gave her a few moments to collect herself, her fingertips at her forehead and her eyes closed. Only when she breathed deeply and glanced at him, did he speak up. "Nell and Eric have nothing to go on. We have no idea where the secondary compound could be. Nell is trying to find the car that they left with, but she has to eliminate them one by one as they must have changed license plates."
"These individuals are incredibly paranoid," Hetty groused, "they might have even changed vehicles."
A cold wave of fear washed down his back because Hetty was right. And if they had exchanged vehicles, their chances of finding the correct car diminished even further. They needed a miracle to find Callen if that was the case and knowing the men they were up against, they wouldn't have exchanged cars anywhere even remotely close to a camera.
"We're running out of options, Sam," Hetty said quietly, "SecNav wants the drones, wants this group shut down, but we don't have the necessary Intel for that. We have to operate under the assumption that not only Mr. Deeks' cover has been burned but also Mr. Callen's. I'm not willing to sacrifice an agent for the mission but haven't managed to convince the powers that be yet."
"Can we use Deeks' shooting as a reason to go in and raid the compound? Attempted murder…" Sam suggested.
Hetty shook her head, "if Mr. Callen isn't at the compound as we suspect, we could put him in even more danger if they get a hold of those with Mr. Callen and report Deeks' status."
Of course Sam knew this, knew this wasn't an ideal scenario but they had to do something. He hated the feeling of helplessness, hated not knowing where his partner was and if he was safe, assuming that he wasn't.
Xxxxxxx
Sam had gone another round with the heavy bag, his third one today and it was barely noon.
Kensi was with Deeks, trying to keep him in the hospital bed he was adamant he could climb out of. The Detective had tried, only to sway dangerously and flop back onto the bed with the help of Kensi and a nurse. He had lost quite a bit of blood and his body was struggling to patch itself up. He had no business being out of bed yet, but despite having been proven it wasn't a good idea, he still argued.
Sam could understand the notion. He was keeping a precarious grip on his emotions and his worry for Callen flared every few moments.
Deeks and Callen though… they had worked together on this assignment and Sam knew that forged a special bond, especially in such a hostile and difficult environment. Those two had trusted each other - and only each other - for several weeks and for Deeks to be forced onto the sidelines while his assigned partner was unaccounted for and most certainly in grave danger… Sam could sympathize with his need to get up and try to help.
The problem was, that there was nothing they could do right now. They would endanger Callen if they moved, but he was also in danger if they didn't do anything.
"Ops, now!" Nell called urgently from just inside the gym before turning back around and leaving as quickly as she had appeared.
Sam didn't hesitate; he simply stepped back from the heavy bag and left the room at a trot, grabbing a towel on the way out to mop up the sweat that had accumulated. He entered Ops just steps behind Nell and found that Hetty was already there.
"I found the car returning to the compound earlier this morning. They were caught on a CCTV," Nell told them and Sam glanced at the picture. Anthony Dorsten was behind the wheel. There were three other men with him and none of them was Callen.
Sam felt his stomach drop and turned to Hetty. He found the same worry in her eyes.
"They wouldn't have left him behind at the secondary compound. He didn't have that much pull in their organization yet. Deeks said that this Peter was in their inner circle of confidence and if they needed anyone to supervise anything up north, it would have been him, not Callen," Sam stated.
Hetty nodded slightly and Sam knew her own assessment wouldn't be different from his. "We have to move in, Hetty… now," he said, imploring.
Hetty drew a deep breath and turned her glance on him. "I'll make the arrangements and get you backup from the other agencies. We need everyone we can have to help out on this," she decided and turned to leave Ops.