Author's note: I'm so sorry for the wait again guys! I kept getting writer's block and finally let loose last night and wrote nearly this whole chapter in less than two hours Also, I'm almost done with the next (and final) chapter (which is much shorter FYI) and will post ASAP. Thanks for your feedback and follows, each one truly makes my day. – M Rae
Another agonizing moment passed until finally, a familiar but pained voice broke through the speaker.
"Sam?" Callen's voice whispered.
"G! Where the hell are you? Are you okay?" Sam exhaled in obvious relief. The last thing he expected today was to get a phone call from his best friend who had been kidnapped not even an hour ago. He waited another moment but his anxiety skyrocketed when he realized Callen still hadn't responded. The only thing he could hear was labored breathing on the other end of the line.
Deeks pressed into his comm, his eyes glued to Sam's back. "Nell, I think Sam's on the phone with Callen right now, can you trace the call?"
The tech agent scrambled alert and fumbled at the keyboard trying to get audio and immediately start a trace on the connection. Hetty's head had shot up and she was now hovering behind her two tech agents, waiting for the audio to come up. She allowed the slightest bit of hope to swell in her chest.
"G, can you hear me?" Sam pressed again, worry laced in his words. He pulled the phone away to check if he had lost the call but his stomach twisted gloomily when he saw the seamless connection ticking away on the screen. He pulled the phone back to his ear and resisted every urge to shout at his friend to give him a location, explain how he got away, to say something. His hand shook with adrenaline and anticipation, but he kept his mouth shut and waited.
"Sam." Callen finally mumbled back.
"Where are you Callen? How did you escape?" Sam pressed on finally. He turned around and circled his finger in the air to indicate to his two co-workers to round it up because they were leaving, now.
Deeks and Kensi wordlessly jogged to one of the SUVs with Sam already sitting in the driver's seat. Their comms suddenly came to life and Sam's call was broadcasted into all of their listening ears. The SUV pulled out onto the street leaving the forensics team alone with the tags, samples, and cameras lying in the bloodied alleyway.
"I didn't." They all heard G slur back suddenly, breaking them from their train of thoughts.
Hetty's heart dropped.
"What do you mean… are you alright?" Sam asked fearfully.
There was a pause. "D'nt know where'm." He deflected as he let a minute hiss slip out at the end of his words.
"Tell them what's in front of you." A thickly accented voice sounded in the distance.
Nell turned her eyes on Hetty who was stoically showing no signs of distress at the eerie command Callen was just given. So Callen had not escaped. There was an infinite amount of things that could be in front of their lead agent right now, but most options did not bode well for him or his fate.
G sighed. "Oh y' know…" He began tiredly, sarcasm creeping into his words.
"I see brick walls, cem'nt floor, dim lights… four assholes – humf!"
The impact of fist to flesh thudded through the phone and Sam's jaw locked in anger as he heard his friend grunt in pain. Kensi shut her eyes and looked away hearing G undoubtedly get punched in the face and not being able to do anything about it. Sam kept his hands painfully gripped to the steering wheel with his mouth clenched shut. He wanted nothing more than to scream at these assholes and rip them apart, but he knew letting his anger out would do nothing but endanger Callen more.
"Let's try this again, Agent." The accented voice appeared again, slightly closer to the speaker this time. "Tell your friend what is in front of you."
There was a spitting noise followed by the tousle of chains against some sort of metal surface.
"There's a timer." The team leader finally declared.
Kensi shot a panicked look at Deeks and immediately patched in Nell. "Any luck on the trace yet, Nell?"
The tech agent understood the haste at Kensi's request, she was listening in on the call as well and feared for Callen's fate just as much as the rest of them. "I know, I know. We're trying but nothing so far. They must have a jammer or something; the locations are just pinging off the towers."
"So Agent Hanna, what do you think we are timing here in front of your rapidly fading friend, hm? Do you think-"
"Quit playin' w'them. We d't negotiae' w' idiots…" Callen interrupted which was met instantly by another crushing punch to the face.
The Armenian clapped his hand roughly around the lead agent's cheeks and jerked Callen's slumped head up so they were facing eye to eye. Blood stained Callen's teeth but he didn't make a noise as he stared back into the man's face.
The accented voice was aimed away from the speaker and was slightly muffled. "Your friends don't have a lot of time left Agent. I suggest you shut up if you want to keep all of your teeth…" Callen huffed angrily when his face was roughly released by the Armenian's death grip. "Or your limbs for that matter." He finished menacingly.
Callen may have shuttered at the threat earlier in the day, but he was just too damn tired now. He had had it with these morons, his team needed more information to find him and them.
"M' underground -c'n hear metro…" Callen suddenly blurted. A yell from an unknown person was heard in the background followed by a series of foreign shouts and a deafening clang of metal against a solid object. "No!" Callen shouted in pain but spoke again with desperation. "R'pd transit-" Callen roared in pain again, which was quickly followed by another blow, a grunt, and then nothing.
After a few seconds, the sound of a metal bar clanged to the ground some distance away and then a pair of rustling footsteps neared the speaker in the room.
"You have a choice to make now. Ignore the agent and chase us or…" More footsteps moved away from the speaker as another pair walked towards. "Come rescue your friend."
A new voice then spoke up, one they all recognized. "You have thirty six minutes." Narek chuckled and then footsteps echoed away from the speaker followed by a creaking bang of metal as a door was slammed shut. Then there was silence.
"G! You okay? G!" Sam all but shouted.
"Callen! Say something." Deeks chimed in. The NCIS agents waited in silence but Callen didn't speak.
"C'mon damnit, help us out, man." Sam pleaded, but there was still no answer.
"Agents, let us brainstorm the number of places Mr. Callen may be held up. Keep this line open just in case Callen awakens. Let's start with the purple and red Metro Rail lines within a thirty mile radius of the vehicle departure…" Hetty guided her frantic team.
x x x x
The line was indeed kept open while the agents worked viciously trying to narrow down the possible locations Callen could be held. They were literally on the clock and the time was down to nineteen minutes.
Sam, Kensi, Deeks, Nell, and Eric kept up their constant mantra checking in to see if Callen had woken up, if he could hear them, to say something, anything. He hadn't answered since the Armenians had presumably left the room seventeen minutes ago though, but they kept trying regardless.
The team also kept up their search when finally, a faint noise broke the silence on the open end of the line.
"Ughh." The lead agent groaned as he came back to awareness.
"Callen? Can you hear us?"
"Kns?"
"Yes, we can all hear you, are you okay?"
"Uh- th'nk my face is brok'n."
"We're looking for you, we're gonna find you, okay? Is there anything else you can tell us about where you're being held?"
There was a pause, and then, "M' bleeding alov'r the floor."
Callen was obviously disoriented so Kensi switched tactics. "Okay, it's okay, just stay awake and keep talking."
"K… you g'ys find me y't?"
The broken, incoherent dialogue was kept up between Callen and at least one member of the team at a time, mostly Kensi and Nell uttering sweet nothings to keep Callen with them and conscious. However, only minutes after establishing contact, the conversation had shifted to a one sided plea by the two female agents urging the team leader to stay awake, but Callen stopped responding all together after only a few minutes. We need to find him.
Once they had narrowed down the potential Metro lines the perps could be holding Callen, NCIS had ordered an evacuation of all red and purple line stops and entrances to the street to minimize casualties, just as a precaution. The evacuation itself did not take very long but their senior agent still had not been located and they only had eight minutes left on the clock.
Sam thundered his way through another service door at one of the underground red line stops and jogged down the skinny corridor. He glanced into every room and beat down the door if it was locked shut, only to glance in and find the rooms empty. We're running out of time.
Sam rounded another hallway and slammed his foot through another locked door. He planned to continue his jog to the last door and then round back to the stairs, but when he glanced in to the dark space, he nearly cried in relief when his eyes met the limp, restrained form of his best friend.
"Callen!" He screamed as he bustled into the room.
"Sam you found him?" Nell piped in, hope lacing her words. "Where are you? We'll send some reinforcements your way."
Sam ran forward and dropped to his knees in front of his battered friend, fearing the worst. "G! Can you hear me?"
Callen groaned and rolled his head across his chest. He was obviously suffering the symptoms of massive blood loss and looked as if he would pass out at any moment again. His eyes did not open. Sam reached up and cupped his friend's chin in his hand, gently slapping him in an attempt to rouse him.
"Wha-?" He asked blearily, eyes fluttering.
"It's Sam, are you okay?" Callen didn't answer, so Sam quickly rounded to the back of the chair in order to free his friend from the metal restraints eating into the skin to get them the hell out of there, but Callen started to come around.
"N- no, cn't move…" Callen mumbled moving away from Sam, slightly panicked.
"I know, it's okay partner. You don't have to move. Just relax, I'll get you out." Sam reached for his friend's bloodied hands and began cutting at the restraints that were keeping Callen strapped to the chair. They had to get out of this room now before the whole place blew.
"Wait n, cn't move, did smthn to ch-chair." Callen pulled his hands away from Sam's, breaking Sam's hold on the plastic digging into G's wrists.
"Hey, it's okay, just stay still, I'll get it." Sam tried to calm his rapidly panicking friend and reached for the plastic again only to be thwarted by Callen's boot slamming into the ground in challenge.
"Chk it-" Callen demanded as he let out a surprised yelp when his damaged arm was jostled, but he continued his struggles regardless.
Sam huffed in frustration. He knew he had to be patient with his friend but they just didn't have time. It was incomprehensible how G was even awake after the beating and the blood loss he had received, but a quick glance towards the red numbers showed a "3:00" flash across the display.
"I am checking it G, I can cut the plastic, just stay still damn it, we don't have time-"
"Ch'k chair, cn't m-move." Callen finally opened his eyes and crooned his head around to try and make eye contact with his partner who was behind him. The older agent looked up and met his pained friend's gaze. He saw pleading eyes beckoning him to listen. Can't move, check chair.
"Your chair?" Sam's brow furrowed as he looked down, giving his partner a chance to explain.
Callen nodded weakly. "Bomb."
The senior agent thought again. "You're saying there's a bomb on the chair?" Another nod.
Swiftly, Sam knelt down to all fours to get a look at the underside of the chair. Right there, slithering across the entire bottom of the silver surface was a detonator with red, green, and blue wires snaking across the metal exterior. His friend was sitting on a bomb.
Sam activated his comm. "Guys, we have a problem, it's a dead man switch, if we off load the chair Callen's sitting on, the bomb blows-" He glanced at the timer in front of them. "And we're down to a minute, twenty." He added.
G let his eyes close in relief. His message had been delivered, his friend understood the problem. Callen let his body relax some and then let out a soft chuckle. He was so close.
"But… cn't stay aw'ke…" Without warning, Callen slumped forward threatening to detonate the bomb as his body pitched down towards the ground, but Sam was there. He caught and gathered his battered friend up against his chest and placed one of his large hands against the side of his partner's face, effectively pinning Callen's head to Sam's shoulder. With his other free hand, he reached behind Callen's back and cut the plastic holding his partner's hands to the chair.
G let out a moan as his bloodied arm fell forward and bumped lightly into Sam's side.
"It's okay, I gotcha, we'll get this fixed up in no time." Sam gently gripped Callen's wrist and bent his arm up to stabilize it between Callen's chest and his own. G groaned in discomfort again but had no strength left to counter the move. His body was shaking and his breath was shallowing out.
"Sam, you and Callen need to get out of there now. Bomb squad is still three minutes out."
Sam sighed as he began to realize the predicament they were in now. Now that Callen was loose, if Sam let him go, the bomb would go off. He could restrain his friend again, but the chair still may flip over just from Callen's now dead weight. Help was too far away to relieve him of his job of holding his friend up, which left only one dreadful outcome. This was the end.
"M'ch time?" Callen slurred suddenly.
Sam glanced at the timer again, there was less than thirty seconds left before they would both blow to oblivion. He rested his chin on his partner's head and squeezed his eyes shut.
"Enough." He lied and pulled Callen in tighter to himself.
Hetty's voice spoke through comms now. "Mr. Hanna, you need to get the two of you out of that room. What's the hold up?"
Sam sighed and decided to share his fate with his frantic friends. "Can't, I'm the only thing keeping Callen from falling to the floor, if we move…" He didn't finish his thought, he knew his team understood what this meant, including a fading Callen.
"Sm, go." Callen mumbled into his friend's chest. He attempted to push his friend away but his strength was near gone, so all he managed to do was slide his head to the top of Sam's shoulder and groan miserably. "Go… please." He pleaded. He couldn't let his friend die because of him, one dead agent would be bad enough for their team, but two?
"G, this is my last job." The timer ticked to ten seconds. Distantly and a warped way, he was actually okay with this. They had had a good run together, it was only fitting that their partnership would come to an end on the job with one another by their sides.
"Oh God, Sam. We love you guys." Kensi suddenly sobbed through the speaker sitting in front of them.
"Someone had to show you what family was all about." Sam voiced into G's hair.
Callen's uninjured hand reached up and landed clumsily against Sam's bent up leg. He wrapped his fingers around the fabric and scrunched his grip ever so slightly without letting up. His breath hitched.
The little gesture meant worlds to Sam and he let a small smile creep across his face.
"Thk you, br'th'r." He slurred into Sam's chest as he let his hand fall back to the side of the chair. His consciousness then blacked to nothing as he passed out.
TBC