CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

Banter rose gently from their comms from all but Callen. Sam and Connor were in position at one end of the building, with Deeks and Nell at the other. Callen and Kensi had a rooftop vantage point from a hotel across the street, offering them a good view through the windows into the empty rooms above the shop floor where they had been led to believe the auction would be taking place. Two further NCIS agents were situated in a café opposite the row of shops, and FBI SWAT were on standby a few blocks out, liaising with LAPD to hold a perimeter. They'd all been in place now for over two hours, wanting to make sure they arrived early enough to take up their positions well in advance of the deal going down, and despite the friendly bantering, boredom was starting to set in.

It was a pleasant afternoon, and whilst the others had whiled away the time contentedly enough 'til now, talking about everything from Connor's latest professional development course to Monty's favourite radio station, idle chat wasn't high on Callen's priorities. The talk had turned chiefly to food, namely the lack of it while they were stuck on the lengthy stake out, and led by Deeks they had all started chiming in their imaginary food orders to Agents Garcia and Miller in the café. Callen's stomach roiled. His eating habits since the boat were even more erratic than usual.

Tuning out, he allowed his mind to wander. He'd rolled onto his back yet again to give his ribs a rest. Kensi had set up for them both, though they had decided he would act primarily as a spotter for her, with his rifle only for back up should things turn bad. Periodically, he surveyed the area all around through the powerful little pocket scope that was part of Kensi's sniper kit, but he hadn't yet been able to identify anyone who looked like they might be part of Janvier's crew. If he did already have people on the ground, blending in to the general public, they were very good.

It bugged Callen that neither he, nor Kensi through her rifle sights, had been able to locate an enemy sniper, for he felt certain Janvier would have some sort of overwatch in place. He was still struggling to shift the notion that something about the site was wrong, but after Sam's reaction earlier that morning and without anything more quantifiable than a gut feeling to go on, he'd had the good sense to keep his continuing unease to himself. It wouldn't do him any favours to be labelled as paranoid – he was walking a tightrope to stay active on this case as it was.

Hetty had been reticent all morning, he mused. He suspected she wasn't wholly happy with him joining Kensi out in the field. They were all walking on eggshells around him, he thought with a sudden surge of irritation. Treating him with kid gloves, just because of a few scrapes.

More charitably, he considered that his out of character altercation with Kensi the previous evening had probably disturbed his team almost as much as it had disturbed himself, and Hetty was likely doing her best to respect his role as the official Operations Manager in this unexpected temporary alliance they'd agreed to.

"G, you good up there?" Sam's voice floated up to him, catching his attention and disrupting his thoughts.

"Why?"

"Well, I haven't heard you complain once yet about how long we've been here…"

Though humour was the last thing on his mind, Callen responded in kind. "That's normally your gig…" However, he looked at his watch and frowned. "Cutting it a bit fine, aren't they?"

"Err, guys…" Eric's voice came hesitantly over their comms before Sam had a chance to respond.

"What is it, Eric?"

"The tracker on Bebnev's car…. He's changed direction."

"What do you mean, changed direction?" Callen demanded, rolling to his side and cautiously pushing himself up onto his elbow to look around him. A warning glance from Kensi stopped him from sitting up any further. They didn't want to give their position away with any unnecessary movement. Kensi's ability to remain patiently quiet and still for hours in such situations was always a source of wonder for the team.

"He's no longer headed in your direction," Eric informed them uncomfortably.

"Could just be taking precautions, avoiding a tail," Sam offered.

They could hear Eric pounding his keyboard furiously in the background. "Maybe…" he said distractedly

"Eric…?" Callen pushed after a moment. "What's going on?"

"I, err…" Eric stalled, taking a deep breath.

"Beale!"

"I think I got it wrong!" Eric's words tumbled out in a rush. "Bebnev, he's headed somewhere else…"

Callen's face grew dark. "You mean there's no auction today?" His tone was aggrieved as well as angry, the thought of losing Janvier too much to bear.

"No, I… I'm sorry Callen," Eric spluttered. "I think he's going to the auction. I just don't think the auction is there. I think you're at the wrong place!"

"Dammit!" Callen cursed.

"Where is the right place, Eric?" Sam cut in before Callen could take his anger out on the troubled tech.

"He's headed north… He received a message before he left which seemed to just be confirming he was on his way, but I had this strange feeling there were some coordinates hidden in the text, so I started running all the messages we had through a different codebreaker, and then when he changed direction…" Eric garbled in an attempt to explain. "I'm really sorry guys!"

"Eric, it's cool," Sam strove hard to be reassuring. "Tell us what you've got…"

"There's a private airstrip, out towards Orange County... Bebnev is headed in the right direction for that… I haven't got any exact coordinates yet… I'm just going on my gut here!" Eric's agitation was clear.

"So, no What Three Words location then?" Deeks drawled, in an attempt to lighten the proceedings.

"No…" Eric was distracted only momentarily. "I'm narrowing it down… there's a lot of possibilities in that area. Some disused hangars, industrial buildings, a multi-level parking structure, wait, that's it, the meet's in there, actually in the car park…"

"Great," Sam muttered. A multi-level structure was going to be nigh-on impossible to fully cover, assuming they even got there in time. They were all scrambling to gather their gear and head back to their cars. "How long have we got, Eric?" Sam and Connor were only a hundred yards from where they'd parked, and soon everyone could hear the roar of the Challenger's engine as Sam gunned it and drove away at speed.

"Not long... Bebnev is only a couple of minutes away. I'll try to stall him…"

"No!" Callen interrupted quickly, banging his cast down with frustration on the sniper rifle he was having trouble breaking down quickly with just his left hand. He winced, and Kensi quietly pushed him out of the way so she could take over. "Don't stall him." Callen concentrated on directing Eric instead. "Slow him a little if you can, give him some red lights, but don't do anything that will put him on his guard. He's our only solid lead right now!"

"Got it," Eric responded with more confidence. "Sam, take a right there, there's traffic up ahead, you can cut through the next alley."

"Thanks. Less than five minutes out," Sam confirmed.

"We're about fifteen," Deeks chimed in. "Make that ten," he grimaced, glancing across at Nell who was once again relishing the challenge of manoeuvring the big SUV at speed through LA traffic. "Why do I feel like you enjoy this part of the job a little too much, Nellasaurus?" Nell grinned back at him, weaving deftly through two cars and a motorcycle and causing Deeks to sink lower into his seat with a wince. They all heard him protest, "Sonofa… Next time I'm gonna drive!" and in any other circumstances they might have enjoyed the moment of humour at his expense.

Ignoring the pull of the stitches in his thigh, Callen took the stairs down two at a time. "Come on, come on, come on," he muttered. From their overwatch position high up on the hotel rooftop, he and Kensi had the furthest to travel to get back to Kensi's car and he swore in several languages under his breath the entire way. Every second seemed an eternity as the very real possibility that Janvier was slipping through their fingertips played out. His mind was racing not just with curses but probabilities and potential disasters. He should have trusted his gut, held firm in his belief that something about this site was wrong. He had allowed himself to be reassured by Sam and his team, and now it was all going to hell in a handbasket.

"Can we do anything to help, Mr Callen?" Hetty's voice came calmingly over the comms.

"Yeah, pray," Callen grumbled, throwing his bag breathlessly into the back of the car and clambering in. Kensi was wheeling the vehicle out onto the road before he'd even shut his door.

"We're already doing that," his boss gave back. "Anything else?"

"Find us somewhere to set up," Callen instructed. "Not too close. Somewhere we've got as much visibility as possible over the whole building, all the exit points…"

"On it…" Eric assured him, though he doubted such a place would exist given the location and the nature of the multi-storey structure. Janvier had chosen it for that reason, no doubt.

"And re-direct SWAT and the tac teams to hold a perimeter, but we're going to have to make it a bit wider. Get more LAPD involved if you can, and make sure there's no obvious police presence! Unmarked cars only. If Janvier gets even a whiff of law enforcement, he'll be gone…"


Not for the first time that day, Callen cursed the injuries Janvier had left him with. He was pretty sure some of the stitches had popped on the wound on his thigh in the rush down the stairs from the roof at the hotel, and now here he was having to climb up several new flights of stairs to another roof, this time that of a large partly-built apartment block, to try and get a vantage point over the new site. He could only hope they weren't already too late, and Janvier, along with Incognito, hadn't disappeared into the wind.

Still climbing the stairs, Callen heard Sam's whisper over the comm, "I have eyes on Bebnev!" Callen swore out loud this time. The auction was taking place right now. Ahead of him, Kensi was picking the lock on the door to the maintenance stairs which accessed the apartment block roof. Sam's disembodied voice continued quietly in his ear. "I'm at the north stairwell, third floor. He has a bodyguard, he's carrying. Three others in sight but I don't think they're with Bebnev, perhaps more buyers. Not – I repeat not – Janvier. I'm too far to hear anything they're saying." Sam paused. "What do you want me to do, G?"

"Has anyone got eyes on Janvier?" Callen asked, unable to hide a trace of desperation in his voice. They were out on the rooftop now, and had taken cover behind a low wall at the edge. Kensi was hurriedly re-assembling her rifle.

Stilling his thoughts, Callen took a brief moment while Kensi set up to centre himself, preparing mentally once again to set eyes on his nemesis for the first time since the boat. Taking a deep breath, he took the scope out of his pocket and began looking earnestly over as much of the parking structure as he could see. It was a huge building. Now exclusively private, the airport had once served commercial flights as well, and the car park had been built for a high capacity. On this day it sat mostly empty, and was the perfect location for a meet. Expansive to cover, plenty of nooks and crannies, minimal visibility and a lot of escape routes. It was exactly the sort of building Callen had expected Janvier to use: and through careful misdirection, he had ensured Callen's team had no time to secure satellite back up to help them in an assault.

Continuing his visual sweep, Callen caught a glimpse of Bebnev before the man's bodyguard moved his mark further in amongst the empty parking bays and concrete support pillars, blocking his view. Even their overwatch was compromised. The half-built apartment block on the outskirts of the city was too high to have much of an angle on the third floor of the parking structure away to the north. It had been the best Eric could find that they could get to quickly and discreetly, but not only did they not have full visibility, it was also a long way out even for a sniper.

Callen trusted his team's skills, but at the same time he began to consider the possibility of failure. It wasn't a feeling he liked.

Connor was inside the Challenger parked on the street in sight of the main vehicle entrance and exit, and he responded, "Negative." After a beat or two, Sam murmured the same.

"How many hostiles, Sam?" Callen asked.

"Can't see," Sam muttered. "Moving to get a better angle."

"Don't get spotted… Get photos of anyone you can. Eric, make sure that perimeter is tight!" Callen ordered. "Lock down the car park too. Nothing in or out. He could be posing as a driver again. And run Sam's photos as fast as you can. We need to find out if anyone there has connections to Janvier and is running the auction for him… we need to take whoever that is alive!" Callen dug deep to remain calm as he continued to survey all around him with the pocket scope. Next to him, Kensi was doing the same through her rifle sights, casting brief concerned glances over at Callen every so often as he rubbed his finger and thumb together in the only outward display of the tension he was clearly feeling.

"I've got a better view… Moving closer to get photos," Sam whispered a minute later.

"We're closing in on the east side, Callen," Deeks' voice came over the comms. "Making our way to the third floor via the east stairwell."

Callen rapidly juggled scenarios in his head, and instructed Deeks and Nell to hold back and stay at ground level for now. They had the east ramps and stairs covered from there, and Agents Garcia and Miller were somewhere to the west. Callen worried that Connor was vulnerable on his own covering the south side, but there wasn't much he could do about it – they needed Sam's eyes and ears on the third floor. "Sam, stay in position until you think all the players are together. Everyone else, stay out of sight. Bebnev has only recently arrived, others might still be making their way to the meet - we don't want to get in their way. I want sight of Janvier before we close in!"

"Copy that," Deeks confirmed, but just minutes later they all heard Sam's voice again.

"G, I have eyes on the hard drive. It's just been passed between two of the unidentified men."

"Are you sure it's Incognito?" Callen asked urgently. He threw a glance over to Kensi, who was still using her rifle to intently scan the area for a glimpse of Janvier. She shook her head.

"It's a hard drive," Sam responded in a low voice. "Can't say more definitively than that from here." He paused. "Eric, I've got a dozen people up here. I've sent you pics of everyone I can get a clear shot of... The one with the hard drive in his possession now is Chinese: run his photo first."

"Got it, Sam," Eric confirmed.

"Janvier?" Callen repeated, but the response from all his teammates was still a negative. Callen tried desperately to control his rising anger. "Make sure the perimeter is tight!" he ordered again. He prayed Janvier had reverted to his MO of old, and they'd find him somewhere on the outskirts posing as a driver – close, but with an escape route.

"Bebnev is making his way to the south stairwell," Sam's voice alerted them. "The meet looks to be over. Let's round these guys up."

"We're at the bottom, making our way up," Deeks responded to Sam.

"Care…." Callen started to say, but his words were drowned out by Deeks swearing.

"Sonofabitch! Sniper!" he yelled. "Nell, are you okay?"

"Everyone okay?" Callen raised his voice anxiously over the comms, but the sniper shot aimed at Deeks and Nell had set off a frantic gun fight within the building and there was nothing he could do but stay quiet and leave his team on the ground to concentrate. For several long minutes all that could be heard was gunfire and the muffled cries of Sam, Connor and Deeks yelling 'Federal Agents!'.

"We're pinned down!" They heard Sam call amidst the gun shots. "Get that sniper taken out!" It was a reasonable directive given the circumstances, but Callen had worked with Sam long enough to pick up on the subtle strain in the normally laid back voice. From that, he knew that whilst things weren't quite 'end of the world' dire, not yet, his partner was most definitely feeling the pressure, and it frustrated him that all he could do to help was to continue cursing under his breath. They still hadn't heard anything from Nell on the comms and amidst the many other worries he had right now, Callen feared what might have happened to her.

Much of the action taking place on the third floor of the parking structure was out of sight for Callen, who had discarded his rifle in favour of searching frantically through the scope for the enemy sniper, but Kensi managed to take down two hostiles who took cover behind cars parked near the edge closest to them. It evened the odds on the ground, but with the sniper still at large, it wasn't enough.

"Callen, do you see the sniper?" Kensi asked urgently. Her shots would have given away their rooftop position leaving them at a dangerous disadvantage.

"I'm looking," he responded grimly. "There!" At last, he caught sight of the sniper on a rooftop to the north, and with his eyes darting to the rangefinder on his scope he sucked in a breath as he registered the distance. He quickly described the location for Kensi, watching as she swiftly proceeded to line up her sights. She'd likely only get one shot, and it was a long one in every sense. Callen held his breath while she took it.

"Sniper down," she stated calmly into the comms.

"Great shot," Callen said quietly, meaning it.

With the sniper finally taken care of, the rest of his team in the parking structure were able to turn the gunfight their way and almost as quickly as it started Callen and Kensi were relieved to hear all six of their team mates on the ground variously calling out 'Clear!' into the comms.

"That turned bad fast!" Kensi turned to Callen with her eyes wide with strain.

"Yeah." Callen pressed his lips together and took a deep breath before returning to look searchingly through the scope again in the increasingly vain hope of spotting Janvier. "Everyone okay?" he repeated. "Nell?"

"All good," Nell's voice came as a relief to them all.

"I have the hard drive," Sam confirmed.

"Good work, Mr Hanna," Hetty spoke with barely disguised relief. Pending verification of the drive, Incognito was secure.

"Janvier?"

"Not yet. We're sweeping the structure now. Kensi, sit tight up there in case we still need you. You too, G, we might need your eyes." Sam stepped in easily to take charge as the senior agent on the ground. "We've got two men to take in for further questioning – the rest are all dead. FBI SWAT and LAPD are holding a three-block perimeter and we'll fan out from here to find him."


Information was coming in from all angles. Alone in Ops, with Nell partnering Deeks in the field, Eric had been feeling the pressure. He was coordinating not only the NCIS teams, but LAPD and FBI SWAT. He already felt like he'd let Callen down by misinterpreting the data to find the site of the auction and so he was determined that the remainder of the operation would go without a hitch. The perimeter was secure, which was a miracle considering the hasty redeploy of the LAPD vehicles, and Sam was leading the men on the ground while Callen and Kensi remained in overwatch in case of any further surprises.

He barely had time to register his relief that Nell was okay. She was on her way back to him with the Incognito drive so that it could be analysed and verified. Securing that was a huge win, but Eric knew until Janvier was in custody there was still a very real threat to Callen and by extension their unit, and that meant an on-going threat to national security. All this weighed heavy, but Eric pushed the guilt to the back of his mind and concentrated on overseeing the joint effort to find Janvier and any other hostiles that had escaped the mass shootout.

However, within half an hour all the units were despondent. A full search of the parking structure yielded no results. Eric ran facial recognition on all the hostiles, alive and dead, but neither Janvier himself, nor any connections to him, had been found. The two men apprehended in the parking structure turned out to be unsuccessful buyers in the auction. They had been taken by the FBI for further questioning but neither had indicated any direct communication with Janvier. Everything had been arranged by an un-named proxy using coded messages and emails: they couldn't even recognise his voice, much less identify him from a photo they were shown.

Sweeping out carefully block by block, the closest they came to finding Janvier was a man parked in a small van on an alley opposite the car park's side entrance. He was identified as Marco Laurent, an ex con who had served some of his time in the same prison as Janvier. Sam swiftly apprehended him into NCIS custody, entrusting him to Deeks and Connor to take to the boatshed for interrogation.

Callen had grown frustrated of being isolated in their rooftop eyrie when it became clear there was no longer a need for overwatch, and consequently he persuaded Kensi to drive him the half mile out to the airport to join Sam.

"I was coming to get you," Sam greeted them abruptly.

Bristling slightly at his tone, Callen retorted that there was no need now, and could they perhaps get on with the search for Janvier. His eyes narrowed with irritation when Sam explained he had just been about to leave to collect Callen on his way back to the boat shed. Before Callen could argue that he was fine and perfectly able to be their point person on the ground, Sam expanded that he thought they might get further by starting to question Laurent.

Whilst Callen was reluctant to leave the area if there was even a slight possibility Janvier might still be within the secure perimeter, he had to admit Sam's suggestion made sense. The tactical teams and the FBI had the situation here under control, and he and Sam would be better placed interrogating their new lead.

Accordingly, they left Kensi to liaise with the tactical units before returning to Deeks and Connor and made their way in silence in the Challenger to the boatshed. Callen was afraid to speak for fear of letting a riptide of anger escape and he seethed silently next to Sam the whole way.

"It's not Eric's fault," was all Sam offered, and Callen clenched his jaw and didn't reply, for he knew at the moment anything he said would be unfair to the tech who had undoubtedly done his best, and couldn't be blamed for incomplete intel.

They pulled up outside the boatshed and Sam glanced worriedly across the car at a still-silent Callen. He understood just how hard the situation was hitting his partner. Hell, they'd all pinned their hopes on ending this today. Sam could only hope Nell would be able to verify the Incognito hard drive quickly, and at least put their minds at rest on that score. But he knew Callen wanted more: he wanted Janvier to answer for what he had done to Joelle and her family, and they all wanted him apprehended so that he was no longer a threat.

Sam's phone rang as he opened the door to the boatshed and he answered it after less than one ring, barely acknowledging Agent Castor who, stepping outside when Sam held the door, took his leave. Callen took a moment to look across at the boats in the marina, trying to allow the peace he usually felt near the water to calm his troubled thoughts. With a deep breath, he stepped into the building to catch the tail end of Sam receiving an update from Ops. He raised his eyebrows in question, and Sam's returned look did nothing to quell his unease.

"Absolutely nothing!" Sam said in disgust as he pocketed his phone.

"He must have been there!" Callen retorted explosively. "We missed him, Sam, he must have been…" Glancing at the table on his way to the interrogation room, Callen fell abruptly silent mid-sentence and Sam looked over to him in concern.

"G?" Sam crossed in two quick strides to stand next to his partner. Callen's face was ashen, and he was leaning on the table with his left hand as if it were the only thing stopping his legs from buckling at the knees. "G!" Sam said again, sharply, trying to catch Callen's focus. "What's…" Sam too fell silent as he looked down at the piece of paper on the table and the bleakness in Callen's expression suddenly made appalling, terrible sense.

"He's been here," Callen said, incredulously, in a voice little above a whisper. "In here…" Transfixed, neither of them could take their eyes off the table. The white paper stood out prominently on the otherwise bare wood. The words on it were hand-written, bold and clear:

"Agent G Callen... The game is not over."


A/N: Hands up, who was expecting that? ;)

Okay, so this chapter got *really* long. I could have tried to split it... but I've edited this one about a million times, at some point you just have to call it done... and anyway imagine how you'd have felt to only get half the action?

I really love on the show that the episode title always* appears somewhere in the dialogue - it's fun to try and spot it. This story is far too long to be a single episode, but nonetheless I wanted to squeeze the title in!

*nearly always. There are some I haven't spotted - but I am assuming that is down to me as a viewer missing them!