Thank you so much for the nice response to the beginning of this story. This chapter is a bit slow. I'm still debating one of the major plot points, but there will be some answers in the next chapter.

xxxxx

"So, does anyone have any suggestions?" Callen asked after about 10 minutes of silence. He was continuing to struggle with the handcuffs to no avail.

"Not much we can do…not the way they have us secured. They made sure we wouldn't be able to get out of these cuffs," Sam said, observing Callen's attempts to get loose "You should save your energy, G. You're just going to mess up your wrists. Deeks is right that these guys are professionals. You won't be able to free yourself."

Callen finally stopped. "I wish we knew what this was about."

"It could be almost anything," Deeks said. "Look how many people we've brought down as a team."

Sam nodded. "Though I do wonder if whoever this is has a grudge against all of us or only one or two of us," he said musingly. "Some of us could be collateral…"

"That's not a very comforting thought," Kensi said, giving Sam a worried look. "I wonder where they're taking us."

"No way of knowing that…" Deeks said, "But I have a good feeling we're going to get out of whatever this is…"

"I really wish I shared your good feeling, Deeks," Callen said, grimly. Without thinking, he went back to trying to escape the handcuffs.

"G…" Sam said quietly.

"Sorry." Once again, Callen ceased his escape attempts. "This is just making me nuts," he admitted with a sigh.

"I know it is," Sam said, "but for right now, we just need to keep as calm as we can. We need to keep our wits about us until we find out what's going on."

"I wonder how long we've been in here," Deeks said. "There's no way we can even estimate since we don't know how long we were knocked out for."

"I guess we can speculate all we want," Sam stated, "But until this truck stops and someone opens up that door, it's all just guesswork…"

xxxxx

When Hetty, Eric and Nell reached the warehouse, they found Sam's Challenger and Deeks' and Kensi's vehicle parked outside. Nothing seemed to be amiss with either of them. "I guess maybe we should go inside?" Nell questioned, not looking like she particularly wanted to.

Hetty nodded. "Let's go." The three entered the warehouse and slowly began to make their way through it, searching for any clues as to what could have happened to the team. Nothing at all seemed amiss until they reached the location of the cell phones. All four of them had been tossed into a metal trash can. "Not good," Eric commented, looking extremely worried.

"No. This isn't good at all," Hetty replied. "I don't understand what could have happened. We need to see if there is any kind of a surveillance system here."

After performing a thorough search of the warehouse and coming up empty, they reached a locked office. Hetty picked the lock and they went inside. There, they found a computer as well as monitors which looked like a security system. "Eric?" Hetty said.

Eric sat down at the computer and immediately went to work as Hetty and Nell anxiously looked on. He began to rewind through the video footage and stopped when he reached the section which showed Callen as he was grabbed and then drugged. He continued on as one by one, they watched what happened to Sam, Deeks and Kensi.

"Eric…is there any footage showing the outside of the warehouse?" Hetty asked, her voice calm and steady, the direct opposite of what she was feeling inside. Each time she had seen one of the team members go down, she had felt more and more sickened. "Perhaps we can see the vehicle they used to transport them in?"

Eric shook his head as he searched the system. "There are outside cameras, but…I don't see any vehicles. I think they somehow got rid of the footage, but I don't understand why they didn't wipe all of it."

"Do you think they wanted us to see what happened?" Nell asked.

"Perhaps so," said Hetty. "Unfortunately, we don't appear to have any clues as to who may have done this." She refused to think the earlier phone call was a part of this. How could it be? It just didn't seem possible to her.

"I'm sorry, Hetty," Eric said, giving her an apologetic look. "As of right now, we don't. Maybe we can come up with something back in Ops."

Hetty nodded, but her hopes of that happening weren't very high at all.

xxxxx

After possibly another hour or so, the truck jerked to a stop. The four teammates immediately went on alert, all their senses heightened.

"Everyone keep cool," Sam said, his eyes focused on the truck's door.

Callen took a deep breath and slowly exhaled as he tried to slow his heartbeat, which had begun to increase, while Deeks and Kensi exchanged a meaningful look.

Finally, after what seemed like forever, the door slowly began to open. When it was fully raised, four men stood behind it, Burke and three other men behind him. Burke climbed up into the truck and faced the agents. "I don't want any funny business from any of you. Keep your mouths shut and do as I say and we'll all get along just fine." He then turned back to the men outside the truck. "Untie their feet and bring them to the helicopter."

Callen looked at Sam, his eyes alarmed. "A helicopter?" he asked, turning his head toward Burke. "Where are you taking us?"

"Mistake number one, Agent Callen," Burke said. "My boss won't be impressed if you keep this up. I do believe I told you to keep your mouths shut." He walked over to Kensi and punched her hard, on the left side of her face, causing her to cry out. "Sorry, doll face. You can blame your team leader for that one." Burke then turned back to the team. "So, now you see that disobedience has consequences. If one of you disobeys the rules, someone else will pay for it. So, unless you have a grudge against the other members of your team, I suggest you do as I say."

Callen gave Kensi a stricken look, and silently mouthed that he was sorry. Kensi mouthed back that she was okay. By now, the other men had entered the truck and were working on untying the team's feet. When that was done, they were roughly yanked into standing positions and pushed out of the truck, onto the ground. Once they were outside, they could see that they were in a very remote area. It appeared to be a deserted airstrip with an old building, which was obviously abandoned. It was in need of repairs and all the windows were boarded up. There was a black van, with a number of armed men outside of it, parked not too far from the truck. Up ahead, there was a large helicopter, which looked like a military aircraft.

"Damn…this isn't good," Sam murmured under his breath. Although his voice was barely above a whisper, Burke still heard Sam speak.

"Eenie…meenie…miney…mo…" Burke said slowly before he expertly aimed a vicious liver punch at Callen, causing him to double over in pain. I'm sure your partner appreciated that, Agent Hanna," Burke said with a sneer. "You appear to be slow learners, not a trait I would have expected from federal agents, especially with all I've heard about your team. I wonder how bad the punishments will need to get before you figure out that this isn't a game…the game hasn't even started yet…"

Sam cast an apologetic look in his partner's direction, but Callen didn't look back at him. He couldn't believe he had been so stupid as to speak. These guys obviously meant business. He didn't know what he had been thinking…well, he hadn't been thinking. He couldn't help but wonder who it was they were working for. It had to be someone with money and power and someone with a very big grudge against them. One thing was certain, he was going to have to be a hell of a lot more careful. Every move they made had the potential to cause dire consequences to members of the team.

Callen didn't hear a word Burke said. He was too busy trying to catch his breath and was barely able to keep from falling to the ground as he tried not to focus on the excruciating pain he was feeling.

Deeks looked at Callen sympathetically as he wondered what the hell this guy was talking about. A game? He was starting to think they were dealing with some kind of a psychopath. Any earlier optimism he had felt that they were going to get out of this was diminishing quickly. He glanced at Kensi and noted the redness of her cheek. That was definitely going to bruise. He hated that he couldn't comfort her in some way. He wished he could put his arm around her or hold her hand. He had to admit that such a gesture would be comforting to him as it well.

The team arrived at the helicopter and were harshly pulled onboard, then shoved onto the seats running along both sides of the aircraft. Callen and Deeks were on one side with Sam and Kensi facing them on the opposite side. They had been seated in the middle of the aircraft and, as the other men came aboard, they seated themselves on either side of the two pairs. "Same rules apply," Burke snarled at them. He then turned towards the other men. "If anyone hears a peep out of them, you know what to do." The 12 men nodded, some of them smirking or glaring at the captives, but most of them were stone-faced and seemed focused on whatever their mission was. Burke then walked up to the cockpit and called out that they were ready for takeoff. He buckled himself in and a few minutes later, the helicopter began its ascent.

As the helicopter rose up into the air, Deeks flashed a reassuring smile at Kensi who managed to smile weakly back at him. Kensi's smile didn't reflect in her eyes, however, and Deeks knew how anxious she was, although he also knew she would never show it. He wished they were seated beside each other, but was pretty sure they had been deliberately separated. It seemed like every move being made was well thought out and calculated.

Sam was seated somewhat awkwardly. With his hands cuffed behind him and being larger than his teammates, the seat didn't really accommodate him adequately. He needed to shift so that he was sitting more sideways than backed up into the seat. It wasn't very comfortable and he anticipated being tossed to the floor if they ran into any turbulence, since none of them were buckled into their seats. Once again he tried to catch his partner's eye, just to ensure himself that G was okay, but Callen seemed to be off in his own little world.

Ever since the hard punch he'd taken, Callen had been focused on his breathing, trying to normalize it and minimize the pain. Now, finally, the pain was beginning to subside a bit. He knew he was going to be sore the next day and he'd have a hell of a bruise, but he was pretty sure he hadn't sustained any significant injury. He glanced across the helicopter at Sam who was looking back at him anxiously. "Are you okay?" Sam mouthed at him. Callen nodded and he couldn't help but notice how uncomfortable Sam appeared with the way he was sitting. Everything about this situation sucked. There was nothing he hated more than being under someone else's control and they still had no idea who was orchestrating this situation. He wondered if Eric and Nell would be able to track them, but with the way things were progressing, he was relatively sure that steps had been taken to avoid anyone easily finding them.

It was hard to tell how long they were in the air, at least an hour and a half, maybe more, when the helicopter began its downward descent. The four teammates exchanged apprehensive looks as they mentally tried to ready themselves for whatever it was that lay ahead.