A/N those who know me will know I am away right now for work, however I found a really sweet internet cafe and the owner let me spend a few extra hours finishing this off this morning, without charging me extra, (Apparently he is a fan of my writing, boosted my ego no end I will admit.) So I will say thank you to him. I am posting this one as the internet here isn't brilliant, and Eric is no more, as he has a bullet hole through his middle. I am getting a replacement a week or so after i get back which I have just been told is Tuesday. so I will be able to work at home. Thank you all for your patience, and I have updated this one as i still had it on my flash drive.
Chapter 2
Callen's head jerked up as he heard the door open and footsteps come down the wooden stairs into the basement where he was being held.
He could only just focus through one eye, it was only marginally less swollen that the other one, the pain was intense but not as bad as it had been, for a while he had thought he was going to remain blind. However, a few days ago, he had started getting his sight back, fuzzy as it was; it was there. He had nearly cried with relief; however, he was not giving an inch. He knew it was a matter of time before Sam came to rescue him, he told himself again.
He looked over in the corner and saw a cocky version of himself leaning against the wall, 'Who are you kidding?' His alter ego snappily remarked. 'You've been gone for months, they don't want to find you...look...' the scene before him changed, the wall dissipated and the bullpen lit up in front of him like a scene on a stage in a theatre.
Kensi and Deeks were working in the bullpen as Sam strolled in.
"Working hard?" he asked.
Kensi and Deeks laughed, "Yes boss," Deeks replied, "You know since Callen left and you've been put in charge things are running much more smoothly around here."
Sam laughed, "Yeah, no more whining G man...I have no family, I don't know my name, no one loves me..." Sam said mockingly.
"Well he got that one right, I mean, how could we trust him, every chance he got he'd go lone wolf on us and get into trouble, well we don't need him, I mean he's so needy, how can anyone like that be a federal agent?" Kensi sniped.
"We don't need him, he's worthless, doesn't even merit paperwork," Sam laughed, "It's not like anyone will care if he's dead."
The scene faded and Callen let out a sob he could not hold in any longer.
He winced as he felt a hand in his hair pulling his head back, "Well...Mr. Federal Agent...crying like a baby, why are you still here, still hanging on, and no one is looking for you gringo." Rodriguez laughed, "I am thinking of hiring you out to one of my brothels, make you earn your keep, when you stop being so ugly, or maybe I will shoot you, leave your body out in the desert, will anyone miss you I wonder?"
Callen slumped in defeat, he had done what he needed to he knew that his team were safe, but damn if the fact that they had not found him yet did not hurt a lot. He wondered briefly if this was how Dom had felt while he was waiting for the team to find him.
"I tried ransoming you to your government; you know that they would not pay for your safe return?" Rodriguez laughed again. "So I did some digging...Found some interesting stuff on you...G...Callen. There are some very high up people keeping tabs on you."
Callen looked up in surprise, not once had he used his own name.
"Oh yes I know who you are, I know what you are worth...but do you I wonder?" Rodriguez asked.
"Not going to trade, I won't tell government secrets." Callen managed to get out.
"Government secrets...this is worth so much more, it is no wonder you tried to hide it, I mean you...a federal agent having access to that..."
"What?" Callen asked confused.
"Your family being who they are, they must have traded a lot to allow you to keep your job after your brother stole her."
"I don't have a brother, your information is wrong." Callen snapped.
Rodriguez looked surprised, "My information is never wrong, and even if your government will not pay for you, and we can't get what we want your family will pay handsomely to see their youngest safe."
Callen laughed, "Now I know you're crazy, I don't have any family."
His reply was cut off by a punch in the gut by Rodriguez, "We will see who is right and who is wrong, I am sure your family can spare 3 million dollars for you, all we have to do is ask nicely."
He opened a laptop and plugged it into a large video camera, he switched a bright light behind him on and Callen flinched as he was illuminated from all sides, his bare torso on show to everyone.
"As you can see Mr. Hawke your brother is unharmed...well ok so not unharmed, but not dead either, I want Airwolf and three million dollars in untraceable cash, in 24 hours, or he will join your mother and sister...in hell."
Callen blinked into the light, Rodriguez must be losing it to go so far as to create a video, he had no idea who this Hawke was but he hoped he was not missing anyone. He looked away from the light hoping that this man would be able to see he wasn't who Rodriguez thought he was and that whomever this man was missing would be able to see that and know his brother was safe.
String jogged down the stairs a bag of medical supplies in his hand, Sue stood up and walked over to him, "You be careful ok?" she pleaded the worry in her voice evident.
He turned and kissed her, "I'll be fine, watch my stuff." He said shooting a look at the others in the room.
He stopped surprise on his face as he noticed that Kensi, Deeks and Sam were all checking their weapons, "Where do you think you guys are going?"
"With you. You think you, your brother and a wolf will be enough to get G out of there safely?" Sam asked.
"No." String turned to his brother who had just jogged down the stairs, "Sinjin, tell them…no…"
Saint John looked at his brother and the others, "We can fit them in String, it means more help to get G out, and they know him." He argued back. He had been thinking about it, and he was thinking that taking them would be a good idea, if they worked with Hetty and G they could be trusted to keep a secret.
"There won't be enough room when we get G." String argued, knowing that there was no way he would go against what his brother decided.
Saint John did some mental calculations and realized that String was right; "We can take two of you, Aunt Hetty?" he called and nodded to an alcove.
She followed him and listened to his proposal.
A few minutes later the pair of them walked back into the main room, where String was glaring at the team from Los Angeles and they were equally glaring back at him.
"Ms Blye…Mr. Hanna, you will be going with Saint John and Stringfellow. Before you leave, you will need to sign this confidentiality form. What you see and where you see it will be is confidential and no one, apart from the people in this room are allowed to know where it is. Do you understand?" She asked them.
"Will signing this means that we can go and save G and stop messing around?" Sam asked.
Hetty, Sue, Sinjin and String all nodded in unison.
Sam looked at Kensi, "Sign it." He growled and grabbed his sheet from Hetty and signed it.
"Very well Mr. Hanna, you and Ms Blye, get your gear and you will head out with the boys, bring our boy back Mr. Hanna."
Sam nodded solemnly, Hetty may have vouched for the Hawke brothers and she said that they were G's family, but until he knew that G was safe, he was not going to rest.
Callen groaned as he was hit by another wave of pain, "Your family didn't contact me, and my people know they got the message, they really didn't want you did they. I even contacted a little man where you worked, Eric? He was too busy to talk and your boss and team have gone away for the weekend…I almost feel sorry for you." He picked up a vinegar dipped wet sponge and lay it against the open cuts on Callen's torso he flinched and then screamed as Rodriguez hit the button that shot 2000 volts of current through his body, "I said almost." He grinned apologetically as Callen hung breathing shallow, "If I don't get my money, then I will kill you." He told him and walked towards the door, "Well, it is time for dinner, do you care to join me... No?" He laughed as he closed the door and left.
Callen's body still shook with the aftershocks of the electric current that had run through him. The words that he'd heard ran through him as his stomach growled on smelling the food from upstairs, he had lost count on how long he had been there, it was in reality 6 weeks but in his mind he had been there for months, days had run into weeks, his mind losing all track of time.
The door opened again and a man brought a hunk of cornbread and a tin cup full of water, "Food." He snarled dropping Callen to the floor with a thud as he undid the shackles that were holding him. He threw the plate towards him, the bread falling onto the mud floor in front of him and the water spilling from the mug.
Ignoring him Callen scrambled towards the food like a starving man, he drank as much of the water as was left in the cup and ate the bread not even bothering to wipe the dirt off.
"You federales are pigs." The man laughed and walked off…leaving Callen retching in the corner.
He curled up in a ball, trying to keep warm in the cool basement.
The Jeep drove through the canyon, Sam and Kensi both wearing blindfolds and holding tight to the roll bar.
Finally, the jeep stopped and they heard Sinjin and String get out of the Jeep.
"You gonna take this off us now?" Sam growled. He blinked as it was removed from his head; Kensi was blinking adjusting to the gloom of the cavern, which was brighter than it had been behind the blindfold.
"You ok?" she asked Sam.
Sam nodded, blindfolded was not his favorite way to be.
"Where are we?" He asked.
String let out a derisive laugh, "If we were gonna tell you that we wouldn't have blindfolded you." He threw two jumpsuits at Kensi and Sam, "Try these on, Hanna you look about the same build as Dom was so this should fit you, Kensi, this is Sue's you're about the same size."
"Thank you…a flight suit?" Kensi asked.
String nodded, "Yeah, for the wolf."
"Plane?" Sam asked doing up the fasteners on the suit.
Saint John walked past them and laughed, "Hardly…follow me."
Sam and Kensi followed him down a cavern where the sound of a helicopter engine starting up assailed their ears.
They both stopped dead looking at the sleek, state of the art helicopter in front of them.
"What the HELL is that?!" Sam shouted over the sound.
Saint John smiled, "This is Airwolf. This is how we are going to get G. back."