Chapter 11

The mission was simple. Infiltrate. Extract the kidnapped scientists. Exfil. All pretty standard, except they were breaking into a lab and it was heavily guarded.

"Easy pickings."

Simkins had called it when he set up overwatch. The rest of the team was taking up position. Ray peered through the darkness at the facility. He could see the guards and knew Simkins spotted them. He gave the call, "Take em out."

Infiltration past the perimeter was the easy part. It was when they got inside that it turned out to be… complicated.

"Stop. What are you doing?!"

Ray chewed his lower lip as he made adjustments to stay on the road. He sighed as remembered the cause of all this. It eluded him how Caldwell and Rawlings' knew about it, but that wasn't his concern now. Right now, he had to stop history from repeating itself. And maybe it would be some redemption for the lies he told.

He called his old contact who told him to leave it alone. He had to let someone know that was familiar with the op. He didn't know what to expect and he wasn't about to call Jo to rally the spec op team that he created with a side business as a PMC. Simkins was right in that he missed the ops he and his team had been sent on. It was painful and yet rewarding to have a team sent out on loan to the US government. The funny part was that they had no idea it was his team and company.

Perhaps it was shady in having someone else being in charge, but he wasn't taking chances considering that he knew the backgrounds of a couple of members of that team. That was why he wasn't going to call Jo to scramble them. Nope. This had to be done by him, and if Gibbs were there, he'd say the team was going in.

"We were waiting for you to. We were told you volunteered for this phase."

Ray clicked his tongue on his teeth. It drew a whine from Callisto who was sitting in the passenger seat. He glanced over and gave a slight smile before reaching over and rubbing her ear. He pulled on it gently as he took the turnoff that would get him to Leland. "It's okay, Cal. Just trying to make things right and keep friends out of trouble," he said.

We were sent to recover you.

Ray frowned as he pulled up observing the building. He saw the security gate and frowned. There was something off about it and drove up like he was there on business. It was hardly the case and he doubted anyone working at Leland would drive a jeep like his. He did have some excuse and he had his NCIS badge just in case. And he had a reason for Callisto being there.

Pulling up to the security booth, he frowned as he peered and saw no one there. Immediately he was suspicious and pulled up more. His breath hissed out when he saw the guard lying on the ground. The pool of blood told him the guard was dead. He turned his gaze towards the building. Everything about it was forcing him to remember that mission. Making a slight face and sighing, got out and opened the gate to drive in.

It was a feeling of déjà vu as Ray surveyed the building from the place he parked his jeep. It was the only place that gave him a good view though he was certain that whoever was doing this knew he was there. He peered through the binoculars that he kept in the crate in his jeep. If anyone saw what he had in his jeep, they'd think he was crazy, but being a SEAL, the last decade and just his nature of being prepared gave him the habit. Besides, he had stuff to be prepared if he got a flat. It was just an extension of it and he included stuff for Callisto.

Everything looked like normal and that was what worried Ray. He couldn't really see anything. A dead guard would have been good cause, but still… Sighing, he knew that he was going to have to go in. tucking the binoculars under his arm, he went to the back of his jeep and opened up the crate he kept hidden behind the other. He whistled to Callisto, "Come on, girl. Time for work."

Callisto loved to work and trotted forward eagerly. She put her front paws on the bumper to let him put the vest he had for her on. It was a basic Kevlar vest for her. The other cool stuff all belonged to the military or law enforcement. When he was done fastening it, he patted her and she got down and waited while he checked his gun and the clips he carried. He made sure everything was shut, but paused for a moment.

Could always count on you, Rook. You and computers.

Making a slight face, Ray reached over and opened another compartment. He pulled out a beaten and old bag and wrapped the strap around his body. It looked worse than the bag he carried his laptop in, but there were methods to his madness. Checking to make sure everything was secure, he pulled his gun and checked it. He wasn't willing to switch the safety off, but he did and his finger was in the trigger well. He took a breath and started forward, giving a click with his tongue, "Come on, Cal. Let's go."

Callisto let out a rumble and went with him. She trotted ahead of him sniffing out the way, making sure that there was no one on guard. The lack of guards had him worried and kept him on alert. He kept an eye on Callisto and on his surroundings. It definitely brought back memories and he wasn't liking where it was taking him.

He made it to the side entrance that seemed like what security and lab assistants used. He checked to make sure that there was no one around before he checked the door. He almost wanted to laugh when he saw the lock. "Double electronic key card," he muttered, "Child's play."

He gave a command and Callisto turned to watch his six while he opened the bag he brought with him and pulled out something that his assistant Jo once called an obsolete piece of junk. He may like messing with tech but he had an appreciation for the old school. He also wasn't about to let go of skills he learned growing up and he was through the door easy.

He huddled near the door and looked around. He patted Callisto to signal her to go to work. He held his gun at the ready while he followed her. He became more cautious when Callisto found a booby trap explosive near one of the doors to the main stairwell. He managed to disable it and continue onward and up the stairs. It was the best route since an elevator could be a death trap.

He made it a main lab and moved towards one of the computers to access the servers. He had to find out which lab they were going to hit. He was uneasy since he knew how meticulous Simkins was especially if he was calling the shots. At least in the sense when he used to be overwatch for the team. He swallowed slightly as he tapped a few keys. He didn't notice that Callisto had wandered off, caught on a trail of something and he broke form then.

He didn't catch the guy coming up from behind until he felt the barrel of a gun press on his temple. He rolled his eyes and closed them as he stopped tapping the keys. He stared at the console since it was a moment of truth and the guy could blow out his brains right then and there.

"So you did decide to show up after all. He knew you couldn't resist."

Ray didn't blink but continued to stare at the console. His hands were gripping the edges as he felt himself being padded down and his gun confiscated. He then said, "Had to check it out. Wanted to see if it was as he said."

His captor pulled him away from the console while holding the gun on him. "He said it was more along the lines of adrenaline. From the looks of it… he was right."

Ray felt his lip twitch at the suggestion. He would be lying to himself if he said he didn't miss his team and the work they did. Being solo was lonely work. His mouth opened slightly before he replied, "Nah, more like trying to see how pathetic he is for bringing up the past." He looked at his captor and a grin.

It garnered the reaction that he expected. His captor grinned back before launching a very hard elbow into his stomach. It had him double over and grunt from the pain. He couldn't help but say, "Not bad for an amateur."

The punch to the face followed up and Ray looked downward and spit when he felt the sanguine taste in his mouth. He was also given a rough shove, followed by, "You wanted to see. Get going."

Ray stumbled, not at all concerned that Callisto hadn't come to tear this guy apart. It meant that there was some hope of things going in the right direction. He just prayed that it wouldn't be too high a price. So he let himself be shoved and have a gun dug into his back as he was taken to see what he figured out and was desperate to believe wasn't happening.

Ray maintained his cool as he was led into a lab on the third floor and noted the route. It did occur to him that Simkins may have let him see purposely. He had to keep his options open. He walked in to see Simkins standing there with someone that Ray hadn't expected to see. He didn't lose his cool but focused on Simkins. He looked at the man that had been his sniper and said, "So you did decide to do it. Getting revenge?"

"No. Just making things right. And this was already planned," Simkins countered. He looked at Ray who was staring with a bland expression. "And I knew you'd be in. Can't stay away."

Ray chewed his lower lip before replying, "You're right. Couldn't stay away. I miss the job. Now I'm in a state of limbo and can't do a damn thing."

Simkins smirked and nodded. He even dared to chuckle as he left where his man was working to step towards Ray. He stood in front of the man and studied him before saying, "You know… I just might believe that."

Ray took the punch to the gut and across the face. He couldn't keep from grunting from the pain, but he took it better than most people would. He took a couple of deep breaths as Simkins' men held him up.

"Seems you forgot the plan, Sahib."

Ray felt winded when the next punch came under the ribs. He would have collapsed if the two men holding him weren't. He took a couple of breaths, trying to catch his breath. He looked up at Simkins with a narrowed look. It then turned into a chuckle and he replied, "Actually, I haven't, Simkins."

Simkins narrowed his eyes but still wore a smirk, "Oh you do, do you?"

Ray straightened up and chuckled, "Yeah, I do." He sniffed a little more to focus and get his mind off the fact that he had been sucker punched. He gestured over at the one on the terminal, "Since that guy doesn't know jack shit about what he's trying to open. And you're right. I do miss it."

Simkins stared at Ray. "Told you, Sahib. It's like a drug for you. Can't get enough of it."

Ray didn't flinch but watched Simkins. He didn't move so as not to give any reason for Simkins' men to shoot him. He swallowed slightly and added, "Which is why I am here. Do the job and do it right."

Simkins raised his brow and would have said something but noise caught their attention. They turned to see two more of Simkins' men dragging in someone. When they dropped the body in front of them, Ray could only raise his brow.

"Oh. Seems we have a visitor." Simkins then turned to look at Ray with a look of contempt, "Of course, you just lied to me about wanting it."

Ray took a look at the body on the ground trying to breath. It looked like they gave him a pretty good beating. He had to think fast and snorted, "Please. Like I would tell them anything."

"Says the bastard ordered to work with them."

"Doesn't prove anything." Ray crossed his arm over his chest with contempt clear on his face. "Only that they think that they can get information out of me."

"Because you're so good at giving that. Had to give away our position to the Israeli and tell the brass everything and we all got screwed."

"You weren't the one that was burned," Ray countered. He leaned forward and pointed at himself. "I was! I took the fall for all of you. Clean service records and to keep it that way I say nothing. You think I'm going to risk prison or death?" He narrowed his eyes at Simkins as he finished, "Now are you gonna let me fucking work?"

Simkins eyed Ray and the blazing look that he had. There was no faking rage and anger at an injustice and he had seen the man do it before. He waited though before relenting, "Alright, Sahib. You can figure out how to crack the vault… might be help for you yet."

Ray snorted in contempt before stepping forward. He eyed the man on the ground and saw the surprised look on his face. He looked at him. Stepping to the terminal while still looking at him, he sneered, "You really think that I would help NCIS, Agent McGee?"

McGee blinked in surprise as he watched Ray step to the console and started tapping the flat screen. He had been startled when Ray looked at him with such contempt. He didn't think that the man would come to Leland to help the people that were trying to steal whatever it was they were stealing. He couldn't believe that. Then again did they really know him?

Gibbs trusted him. Trusted him enough not to really give him the third degree when he disappeared. DiNozzo had his suspicions but followed Gibbs' lead and Ziva…? Ziva seemed ambivalent about the whole thing. Unusual for her, but McGee figured that she was watching and waiting. Then Abby…

"Are you seriously trying to pull the same thing you did last time, Sahib?"

"Last time I had the benefit of the actually password key card," Ray replied while he focused on the screen. "You know how terrible I am with revolving security systems."

"Did pretty well at DZ."

"Better."

McGee watched the back and forth. He had been hauled to his feet and held with a gun trained on him. He could make a break for it, but he wasn't one to risk odds since his chances of survival were not good. Focusing on Ray, McGee swallowed slightly and pressed, "Ray… why are you helping them? You wouldn't do something like this."

"Oh, he would," Simkins came up beside McGee. He hummed a chuckle as he wrapped his arm around McGee's shoulders and hugged him almost into a head lock. He gestured towards Ray as he worked on the terminal, "You see, Sahib there is an honorable sort. Really believes in the back of the man next to you thing. Also because he knows that if he doesn't cooperate… I put a bullet through your thick nerdy skull."

"And once again you've got it all wrong," Ray said as he typed in another code. "As much as I am for making sure there is minimal body count, I don't really care about agencies in general. They lie worse than an average person. I trust Mossad over any of our agencies."

McGee blinked at the callousness Ray gave in his response. He wasn't sure if he should be disappointed or what. It was like a complete one-eighty from the man that walked into NCIS that morning. He sputtered, "That sounds… weird."

It was the best that he could do at the moment. McGee was well aware that he sounded silly and it was evident at the laughs that he was getting. He swallowed as he focused on Ray who seemed to be ignoring everyone and concentrating on the panel in front of him. He felt his face go red as Simkins taunted him, "Is that what NCIS teaches its agents to say?"

McGee pursed his lips as he turned to look at Simkins. He was well aware that anything he said was up for mockery. It didn't matter as long as he said something from the heart. Finally, he countered with, "Plenty."

"Not impressive so far," Simkins mocked. He found it amusing that this agent was not even giving it his best in terms of a retort, or trash talk, or anything. "Maybe they are like those paper pushers on the hill. Right Rook?"

McGee looked over at Ray. The man seemed to be determined to ignore what was going on. Or he was listening and simply not bothering to entertain them. He was considering the latter since he was sure that Ray wouldn't blatantly help them out. And he knew that hacking into a system took time. It wasn't as easy as it was made to look.

"I wouldn't doubt NCIS. I mean Agent MacGregor is pretty tough. About as good as me, maybe better. Tommy and Lisa are like polar opposites but cover what is missed. As for Agent Tibbs…"

McGee blinked and at first thought that Ray may have been confusing fiction and reality. It dawned on him that the man did know the Deep Six series pretty well despite the careless way he had thrown out a business deal. It also had him look at the situation more closely.

"Tibbs is a man that's like a dog with a bone. He never gives up especially when one of his team is in trouble. In fact, you can count on him to plan something that you'd least expect." Ray paused in his work to look up and stare at Simkins with a nonchalant look, more like he was bored and didn't care about the discussion but would say something if only two cents worth.

McGee watched as Simkins seemed to take it in good humor. Even Ray was giving a slight smile. What McGee didn't expect was for Simkins to walk up and sucker punch Ray in the gut. He blinked wide eyed as Ray took the hit, but it was obvious that it was a painful one. He thought he heard the crack of ribs with that and tried to make a move but found a gun in his face and someone gripping his arm.

Simkins patted Ray's back in a patronizing matter while saying, "You were funny then. Now can you be serious and not talk about some stupid characters in a book?"

McGee winced as he watched Ray take deep breaths. Well, he tried to. The man was coughing a little, trying to catch his breath. He gave a small protest when Simkins pulled his gun and held it up to Ray's temple while in a sort of headlock. He was saying, "Now, are you going to do what you said you were going to do and not be a complete ass?"

Ray had put a hand on the console to steady himself. McGee watched as he lifted himself slightly to look at Simkins with a glare. The tension seemed to grow thick in the room. McGee couldn't help but blurt, "Ray… don't. Don't do it."

McGee didn't care if he got punched or hit upside the head from this. He felt compelled to support the newest agent. And he wasn't entertaining the notion that he would betray them. That was just not a possibility. He felt the barrel of a gun poke him in his middle hard enough to be felt and make the warning be know. He wasn't giving up on it though. "Don't do it."

Simkins turned and pointed the gun at McGee in an almost lazy manner. "Do you want to end up with a permanent status change?"

McGee stared at Simkins. It wasn't the first time he had a gun pointed at him and it wasn't going to be the last. He stared back, not backing down. It was probably dumb, but it was something Gibbs would do and McGee felt that he couldn't back down. He was an NCIS agent and he was going to act like it. He continued to stare while swallowing slightly.

"I wasn't kidding. They are real agents."

McGee blinked as Simkins shifted to look at Ray who was hunched over the console, but looking at everyone like they were idiots. Simkins looked at the hunched over man and demanded, "You're saying a bunch of fictional characters are real? Have you really stooped that low? Risking your baby-faced agent in your need for humor?"

McGee didn't say anything. He sensed that this was a moment between Ray and Simkins and that something was going to happen. He just didn't know what. He would have gladly retorted at being called a baby face and if DiNozzo were there… It was something he wouldn't be able to live down.

Ray looked at Simkins and replied, "Now you know fiction is based in reality, Simkins. They are real. I just won't tell you their real names."

Simkins stared at Ray as he straightened up and continued, "Now, I almost have what you want. Give me five minutes, you'll have what you want. But I have a request."

Simkins smirked since there was no way he was going to honor it, but he would humor the man, "Name it and I'll consider."

"Let the baby there go," Ray gestured at McGee. "He's harmless and I'm guessing alone since I haven't seen any sign of anyone else."

McGee took it as an opportunity to say, "It's true. I've been tailing Salazaar since he left our building. Knew I couldn't trust him."

"And yet you tried to convince him not to help." Simkins turned to look at McGee, amused at the turn of events. The whole thing was amusing as he glanced back at Ray before nodding, "Alright. Five minutes and this little baby face can leave."

McGee didn't know if it was a godsend or what. He watched as Ray went back to work ignoring any pain from the suck punch he had just received. McGee didn't know if anyone from the office would have come by now or they were biding time until he thought he saw something. He didn't want to give himself away and continued to watch Ray with a look of concentration.

After five minutes, there was a click. Ray was leaning heavily on the counter and looking at Simkins with a glare, "There. It's open."

"Now that wasn't so bad, was it Sahib?"

The vault door was opening and a bit slow for anyone's liking. You couldn't blame anyone there since they didn't design the damn thing. McGee thought Simkins was going to lose his patience, but he didn't. Ray just stood there, looking somber and defeated. McGee realized that he hadn't wanted to do that. He was being put into a position to do that and using words to cover for what he actually felt. He wanted to smirk when Ray replied, "Like pulling teeth. You fucking asshole."

"Don't fuck with me now, Sahib," Simkins warned as he shoved Ray in the direction of McGee.

McGee let Ray bump into him and managed to sidestep. Ray narrowed his eyes at Simkins while one of his men went into the vault. McGee looked downward for a moment and noticed that Ray had palmed something. Whatever it was, McGee didn't know and it looked like it might be used and sometime soon. He just had to be ready for it.

"Got it."

McGee looked over and saw one of SImkins' men holding up a case. He looked at Ray who was looking almost nonplussed at the situation and then at Simkins. He was not liking what he was seeing.

"Move out," Simkins ordered while his gaze didn't leave Ray or McGee. He lifted his gun and pointed it at them. "I know I said I would let him go and I could let you go, Sahib, but what would be the fun in that? Better I just kill you both. Maybe you'll be a hero, unless they print the console and oops, you aided and abetted."

McGee knew that there was some truth to that. The backlash would be horrible on Ray since he did give them access to the vault. He blinked and looked at Ray when the man replied, "This was coercion."

"Arguing semantics? Really?"

Ray shrugged like it wasn't important. McGee wondered if the man was crazy. That opinion increased when Ray said, "Just making a point. Talab."

It came from the right as a blur of fur charged at Simkins' outstretched arm and chomped on it. The weight forced it downward as his finger pulled the trigger. The last thing McGee heard was a shot and someone shouting.

A/N: Ray tries to break in and stop Simkins but runs into trouble. What the hell is McGee doing there? Stay tuned for next time on Operation Dead Zone...