Chapter 4

String ran towards the compound. He, as a rule, didn't like using guns, although he did understand they were needed. Right now though he was willing to do whatever was necessary to get to his little brother.

Sam and Kensi swept the compound, strangely enough there were only five people that had been reported on the site.

Out of those three were now dead.

"Clear!" Kensi called as she made her way sweeping the house with Sam and String.

"The house is clear." Sam said.

"Where is he?" String asked, he stopped for a moment listening, "Basement." He said heading for the kitchen area.

They looked for a door but couldn't find it, String lowered his gun and walked towards a shelving unit. "Look." He pointed to some scuff marks on the floor.

Sam nodded at him and Kensi and they pulled the unit out revealing a door and some stairs.

Rodriguez grabbed Maria's arm, "They are coming Chica, we need to get out of here."

"Where can we go?" She asked reaching for Callen.

"No…" Callen shrugged her off, "You go...I'll protect you...Go...Maria...please…"

"Callen we can't leave you…" Rodriguez argued trying hard not to smile, this was too easy. His attention was diverted as the bookcase hiding the stairs started to move away.

"Go...Please...Go…" He begged pushing the other man to the broken wall in the corner that he vaguely remembered trying to get out of himself, what seemed to be a lifetime ago.

The bookcase moved and a large figure blocked the light from the doorway.

"NCIS!" Sam's voice came.

"GO!" Callen's raspy voice met his ears and Sam looked for his partner.

"G!" Sam stopped, he looked into the murky darkness and saw Rodriguez behind his partner with a gun. He lifted the gun and ducked as a shot rang out.

"Go…" Callen's voice came again and Sam watched as he manhandled the guy who had been holding him back and away from Sam.

Callen fired one shot that went wide.

Rodriguez pushed Maria out of the small hole in the brickwork and turned and aimed his gun at Callen's head.

"NO!" Sam raised his gun and fired.

Callen flinched as he got covered in the blood and detritus from the remains of Rodriguez, "No...Sir...Damn you!" He cursed firing wildly at Sam.

Sam moved back, as Kensi got to his back String following behind her.

She stopped as another bullet ricocheted off of the doorframe above Sam's head.

"What we got?" She asked as Sam swore.

Sam shook his head, not wanting to say, but he had to. "Target is down, only one shooter in there now, a woman escaped…."

"G?" String asked as he tried to look around the corner to his brother.

"He's the shooter." Sam said flatly as he raised his gun.

String moved to point his own gun at Sam, "You are not going to shoot him." He growled.

Sam turned and ducked as another wildly aimed shot came through the door. "Of course I'm not going to shoot him!" he snapped. "But I don't want him to shoot me either….By my count he has maybe three bullets left. So we wait," He told them.

Callen smiled grimly as the intruders backed out through the door and he turned to make sure that Maria had got away. He breathed a sigh of relief as he saw her in the distance through the hole running away. He turned and looked at his benefactor, he fought back the scream of rage that bubbled up in his throat, the sound forcing itself out as a strangled moan.

Dropping to his knees he gently closed the man's eyes and covered him up with the blanket that he had been kind enough to give Callen a few...days? weeks? previous.

The sides of the room were shimmering, noises still sounded distorted. He had no idea who was at the top of the stairs, but like a nightmare it knew him and it had killed Rodriguez, the man had saved him from the hell he'd been in. He had had Maria help nurse him back to health...now he was alone and something was at the top of the stairs trying to kill him.

He pulled himself into a corner, holding the gun close as tremors overtook his body.

"I'm going down." String said moving to the doorway.

"He still has bullets...he may shoot you." Sam warned as the older man moved to the door.

String shot him a look of annoyance, he hated it when people made things harder than they needed too.

He turned his gun around and handed it to Sam, "Take this."

"You're not going down there unarmed!" Sam exclaimed.

String just nodded and turned towards the stairs ducking as a bullet shot wide over his head.

"Callen?" String said quietly as he stepped on the top of the flight of stairs.

"Stay back...I'll shoot you…" Callen said, his voice wavering.

"My names Stringfellow Hawke, I won't hurt you, I'm here to rescue you." He spread his arms wide to show he had no weapons on him.

Callen looked wildly behind the soft spoken man coming down towards him.

"Did you see it...it was just there?!" He whispered his eyes darting around the room.

"Did I see what?" String asked walking closer and crouching down.

"The monster...it was there...it...it...killed…" Callen shook as String gently put his hand on the gun.

"Give me the gun G. I'll keep you safe." String promised him.

Callen shook his head and moved away, "No...can't keep me safe, never been safe."

String put his hand on Callen's shoulder, but he flinched and moved off.

At his touch String could tell that Callen was burning up, maybe an infection on top of the drugs that were obviously coursing through his body.

The gun still in his hand shook violently and String gently took it out of Callen's hand and tucked it into the back of his jeans.

"G, it's time to go now." He said holding out his hand.

Callen had moved and was holding Rodriguez dead hand, "He needs help...can you help him?" he asked.

String looked over at him, "I'm sorry…" he said, "But I can help you."

Callen reluctantly let go of Rodriguez's hand, "Who are you?" he asked as he rubbed a hand down his face to remove some of the sweat that was building up over his eyes.

"My name is Stringfellow Hawke."

Callen moved away shaking his head, "Hawke? I'm sorry….I didn't mean to get you into all this, I'm not who you're looking for...why are you here?" he looked at him suspiciously.

"I'm here to get you home safe." String said.

Callen stood up and lurched to one side as the pain in his body from the earlier torture shot through him.

"Not worth the money, not gonna tell...wrong person…" Callen looked at String and then fell forward as his eyes rolled into the back of his head. The last thing Callen thought he heard was an almighty scream.

"Sam!" String called over the sound of Airwolf landing in the main yard.

"I'm coming down." Sam called, he came gun at the ready, but quickly put it away when he saw his partner out cold in his elder brother's arms.

"G?!" Sam ran the last few steps and dropped to his knees at his partners side. "What happened?"

"He passed out, help me get him upstairs and into the lady, we gotta get him out of here, he needs medical attention." String moved slightly to let Sam help him and they carried up up to the waiting helicopter.

As they passed Kensi she gasped at the sight of Callen, even Sam had to wince at the sight of the mottled bruising and marks on his body.

"Come on!" SinJin called as Kensi opened the door to Airwolf as they two men gently lifted him into the vehicle. "God!" SinJin cussed as he saw the state of his little brother, "String? Is he alive?"

String nodded, "Barely, we need to move and get him home, Call Archangel, we need a medic at the cabin for when we get back."

SinJin nodded and turned to his task.

As soon as the others were settled into the helicopter he headed back radioing ahead to Caitlyn who was, as he knew she would be, on the other end waiting to hear that they were safe. Putting speed to it he went faster leaving the place where his baby brother was hurt far far behind them.

Maria watched from her hiding place in amongst a grove of trees outside the compound. Her lover was dead and the man who had done it was now flying away, free as a bird.

"You will pay Callen...you will pay." she promised as she cried for her lost love.