Crosshairs

Chapter 7

They hadn't been run over by a yacht. Instead, they had been met by one of their tactical teams as planned once they reached the other side of the marina. Once dry, redressed and geared-up, they sped off to where Eric had found Escorpio holed up.

The tension had been palpable in all agents present. Everyone knew that these men had gone up against them before and had ambushed three of their colleagues who were still fighting for their lives in hospital.

Callen had checked in with Hetty on the way to their target location, and she had been quietly hopeful. Sam's stats were normalizing already. Considering Sam had just recently been shot and the venom hadn't had much time to wreck havoc on his body, Steve said this was to be expected that he would recover fastest. Nell and Deeks both showed no further deterioration, but so far they weren't really improving either. Their bodies had been fighting the venom for much longer though and therefore it would take longer for them to improve.

Xxxxxxx

The take-down had been somewhat anticlimactic. They had indeed surprised Escorpio and his crew of six remaining security personnel. Three of his men had been killed during the raid. Escorpio himself looked like he had just swallowed a lemon and Callen inwardly crowed in satisfaction. Finally.

He had once threatened to tie that man to a block of cement and sink it under the boatshed with him attached to it. He idly wondered if could get away with doing just that. He was rather sure Hetty would help him cover it up.

Callen glanced around the room at several open crates of weaponry. It seemed Escorpio was still in the business.

He turned back to the man with a smile. "And so we meet again. In another treasure cave," he gestured around, "just this time it's you facing an oncoming trial." He allowed his amiable smile to fall, allowed all the rage and frustration to come to the fore. Another spike of satisfaction rushed through him when he saw the man recoil.

Callen turned to the tactical team leader. "Take him away. I want a full escort," he ordered firmly, watching the man being dragged away. A full escort meant that a whole tactical team would sit practically on top of Alvarez during the transport to make sure he wouldn't be able to escape somehow. It would be real crowded in the vehicle.

Kensi stepped up beside him and put a hand on his shoulder, "you good?"

"Yeah, I'm good," Callen nodded, briefly drawing Kensi against his side in a half-hug before straightening. "Let's finish this."

"Mr. Callen."

He nearly laughed when Hetty's voice sounded in his ear. Kensi rolled her eyes and silently voiced 'how does she do that?' They still - after all these years - hadn't solved that particular mystery how Hetty managed to drop in on them in just the crucial moments. "Yes, Hetty?"

"Fetch Mr. Beale from Ops please and then come to Cedars to be with your team mates."

Callen tilted his head to the side, "we've got an interrogation to conduct."

"Your place now is here," Hetty insisted, "I will personally take care of Mr. Alvarez."

He shared a glance with Kensi, swallowing the urge to mouth an 'I'll pay to see that'.

"I'm sure you can watch the recording later on," Hetty said evenly, picking up on his thoughts without him vocalizing or even mouthing them. Sometimes he wondered just how psychic Hetty was or if she had implanted them all with some experimental technology that allowed her to read minds.

"Alright," Callen capitulated.

Xxxxxxx

Sam threw him out and ordered him to check on the others before coming back. Steve had put Sam on bed rest and threatened to chain him to it if necessary. While his partner's symptoms were already receding, Steve did not want him up and about. Sam's heart rate was still slightly elevated and the less he moved, the better.

Callen did as his partner asked, trudging back out of the room to go and see the others. When he closed the door to Sam's room, he came face to face with Steve. "How are they doing?" he asked quietly.

Steve leaned against the wall beside him. "The antivenin is working. Sam will be back on his feet in a few hours -provided I can keep him in bed that long."

Callen grinned, "it's usually more my style to sneak out."

"Don't I know it?" Steve rolled his eyes good naturedly, making them both share a quiet laugh before the physician sobered up. "Deeks and Nell are beginning to improve as well. Deeks' oxygen stats are going up. It will take a while for the fluid that has begun filling his lungs to be cleared. He's still on oxygen and will remain so for a while longer. His heart rate and blood pressure are slowly normalizing as well. He's still running a slight fever, but it's steadily decreasing."

Callen sighed, relaxing a little. "Good. And Nell?"

Steve grimaced slightly. "She's still heavily medicated and on the ventilator. The fever is finally beginning to go down though and she hasn't had another seizure since we've administered the antivenin. I'm in contact with some specialists and we're discussing another dose of antivenin."

"Any idea why she's displaying so much worse symptoms compared to Deeks? They have been shot within a few minutes of each other…" Callen queried.

Steve gave a half-shrug. "Could be two things. Either her bullet held a different concentration of the venom or it's simply down to her physical properties. Usually with animal venoms children are at greater risk because of their smaller size."

"Don't let Nell hear you compare her to a child. She might not take that well," Callen warned the other man with a small smile.

Steve tilted his head to the side, "duly noted," he said consideringly, "still, the principle is the same. She's smaller and has a lower body mass compared to Deeks which is probably why it took longer for Deeks to be affected by the venom and why his symptoms are not quite as grave."

"Can I go in and see them? My partner threw me out and told me not to come back unless I checked on the others," Callen grinned.

Steve shrugged, "sure. Kensi and Eric are already sitting with them so go ahead."

Callen gave the other man a nod. "Thanks, Steve." Both of them knew he didn't mean allowing Callen to go see his friends with that comment. They shared a small smile before Callen stepped past the physician and headed to Deeks' room.

Kensi glanced up when he entered the room and Deeks eyes too rolled over to him. His eyes were still glazed with fever and pain, but they didn't flicker rapidly from left to right anymore like the last time he had seen Deeks when he had collapsed in the waiting room. An oxygen mask was strapped to his face and Callen could see his breathing was labored and he was straining to take in enough air despite the mask that delivered high concentrations of oxygen.

He stepped over to Deeks' bedside, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Hey, man. Steve says you're doing better." He left the sentence as half statement, half question.

Deeks gave a small nod before he sluggishly reached for the oxygen mask. Both Callen and Kensi reached for his hand, admonishing him with a soft "don't."

Deeks persisted though and took off the mask. "Nell?" he asked, his voice rasping and his breathing labored.

Callen moved aside when Kensi reached for the mask and readjusted it. "I just spoke to Steve. She's beginning to improve, but the venom still has her in its grip. They are debating a second dose of antivenin. I'll go see her next."

Again, Deeks gave a small nod before his eyes slipped closed and he struggled to open them again. Not only Nell was still heavily impacted by what the venom had done to their bodies.

"Get some rest, Deeks," Callen told the other man quietly before he stepped back from the bed. He gave Kensi a smile. "I'll check in on you again later."

"Tell Nell we're thinking of her," Kensi muttered, her hand entangled with her partner's.

"I will," Callen agreed and then left the room.

Xxxxxxx

The visit with Nell and Eric wasn't any easier than the one with Deeks had been.

Eric had succumbed to exhaustion by the time Callen stepped into the ICU cubicle, his head bent at an uncomfortable angle while his body was somewhat awkwardly folded into the semi-comfortable looking chair. Callen stepped back out of the room and asked a passing nurse for a blanket.

Once she returned and handed him the blanket, he stepped back into the cubicle and carefully spread the blanket over Eric's sleeping form. It was notoriously cool inside of an ICU and Eric would be feeling the cold once he woke up.

Callen sighed and stepped over to Nell. Their technical analyst was a vibrant and active person. Seeing her laid up like that, completely unresponsive and dependent on machines once more made fury spike within him.

"Hey Nellverine," he murmured, bending down close to her so as not to disturb her sleeping partner on the other side of the bed, "the rest of the team says 'hi'. We got the bastards that did this. So you just rest and get better, alright?!" He reached out and brushed a thumb over Nell's forehead, feeling the still fever heated skin.

Straightening, he stepped back and away, glancing briefly over to Eric and reassuring himself that the tech hadn't woken. He remained fast asleep.

Callen quietly left the ICU and took out his cell, calling Hetty. He needed to do something. And sitting around the hospital wasn't it. He would go stir crazy and he knew the more he sat around, the more the anger would swamp him. They had gotten Escorpio and he wanted a pound of his flesh.

"Mr. Callen. Is there anything wrong?" Hetty asked upon establishing the connection.

"No, they are holding their own and slowly improving. Sam will be up and about in a few hours by Steve's predictions. Deeks and Nell will take longer. Nell might need another dose of antivenin," Callen told her, holding back on his emotions.

"I see. Thanks for the update."

"I'm coming back in," Callen told her, feeling she wanted to end the conversation.

There was a brief pause. "You should…"

He rarely interrupted Hetty, mostly didn't dare, but within a few hours, he did it for a second time. "Don't tell me what I should or shouldn't do," Callen told her, his voice deceptively mild. He was holding back on his temper. "I want in on the interrogation."

"I don't think that's a good idea," Hetty said evenly. She probably knew he was close to the edge. She knew him well after all.

"Hetty, please," Callen said softly, not above begging right now, "I can't just sit around here. I need to do something." He hadn't expected to feel so restless right now, after they had apprehended Escorpio, but in the privacy of his mind, he had to admit that seeing half of his team out of commission and fighting for their lives was impacting heavily.

"Very well," Hetty capitulated, "return to the boatshed." With that, Hetty cut the connection.

Xxxxxxx