Rhythm of Silence
Chapter 2
Callen split away from Deeks after signaling his intention, veering off towards the pool house. He swept left and right, carefully but quickly making his way past the open space of the pool - the statues made for flimsy cover at best.
For the moment they should be clear, approaching in silence, so he didn't expect trouble yet. At the same time, nothing rarely ever went smoothly, so it always paid to be prepared for trouble anyway.
"In position," he murmured, flattening himself against the wall beside the entrance door, while he waited for Deeks to signal his readiness. Sam, having the shortest distance to his point of entry, had long since called in to say he was ready and waiting for their signal to breach.
"I'm good. Ready on your mark," Deeks words drifted over their com.-link a few seconds after Callen had called in.
"The grounds are clear. No movement at the pool house. At least two persons inside the main building though. I see movement in the room facing the east," Kensi reported from her ventage point.
"Alright. On my go," Callen muttered, giving everyone another brief moment before giving the order: "Execute!"
His hand went for the doorknob, checking to see if it was locked while he heard wood splintering over his com.-link and shouts of "Federal Agents" as Sam and Deeks breached the main building.
The entrance to the pool house was locked and he used the butt of his gun to smash one of the rectangular glass panes that made up the decorative door before reaching inside and unlocking the door, throwing it open just a heartbeat later and proceeding into the room. "Federal Agent," he yelled as he ducked inside.
The pool house was mostly wide-open space, the walls a soothing beige, a designer couch facing a TV set that likely cost more than the whole team's monthly salary combined, a white fireplace behind the couch that contrasted well with the wall color and a guest bed with a brown comforter at the far wall. He swept left and right while he proceeded further into the room, making his way towards the only door, roughly shoving it open to check the inside of the small bathroom - it was still big enough to have a shower and a bathtub… with golden appliances of all things.
Finding no one inside the space, Callen turned, making his way back towards the entrance, intent on teaming up with Sam and Deeks inside of the main house where he could hear shots being fired and the sound of a hand-to-hand-combat going on via his earwig.
It seemed like the guys could use a hand.
Just before he reached the door, Callen abruptly stopped when there was a sound coming from the back of the pool house. He gave himself a moment to listen, waiting in tense anticipation. He knew the pool house was clear. There hadn't been any places to hide, so he didn't glance behind himself, instead merely crocked his head while concentrating.
There.
Outside.
Pushing forward, he left the pool house with quick strides and moved to the right, following the line of the building before quickly stepping around the corner, his gun in front of him, feet planted shoulder-width apart. Callen surveyed the area, his eyes sweeping the back of the pool house, taking in the neatly stacked firewood by the wall. He slowly moved forward and to the side, away from the building to give himself a better angle of approach, minimizing the chances for an attack from anyone hiding behind the stacked wood.
Taking several quick but near silent steps, he rounded the stacked firewood… only to find a racoon hissing at him from inside of a cage.
"Sorry, mate," Callen muttered and relaxed.
The racoon kept hissing, turning around in his cage, and making it rattle on the ground.
Surveying the area, Callen allowed his weapon to sink down. He turned away from the racoon, facing the open space behind the pool house that tapered off into a wooden area within thirty yards. His eyes flickered to the ground, looking for footprints to decide if it was worth venturing into the woods, checking the immediate area around his current position.
There was nothing out of place, nothing to indicate anyone had been here recently.
Callen shook his head, deciding to abandon any further investigation in this part of the property until later.
The force of the impact hit him like a sledgehammer and Callen staggered back, stumbling, and crashing into the stacked wood behind him. He flailed for purchase, trying to brace his fall even as he sagged down, unable to stop his descent.
Several pieces of wood clattered to the ground around him where he had torn them loose, striking his head, neck and legs but luckily missing his torso. Winded, Callen found himself on the ground, his legs stretched out in front of him as fire spread through his chest, taking not only his breath but the capacity to hold onto a shred of a thought.
He distantly heard his teammates declaring the main house clear. Silence fell over the com.-system again. Callen opened his mouth to call in, let them know that he'd been hit, that he was down, that he needed immediate assistance, but there just wasn't enough air in his lungs to get the words out.
Instead, he could only sit on the ground, trying to gulp in as much air as he could while waiting for the others to realize that something was wrong.
His hand trembled when he tried reaching up, tried to - he didn't actually know what he would try to do if his fingers managed to bridge the distance.
Cold spread through him slowly even as his heart raced, adrenaline and shock of injury taking over and robbing him of clear thought. As much as the cold reached for him, starting with his limbs, and creeping upward, fire burned in his chest, spreading outward and threatening to take him under.
And through the cold and the fire, he felt wetness seeping into the space between his vest and his body.
He continued fighting the cloud of unconsciousness that reached for him, battling it with all he had.
He knew he must have missed quite some time, too caught up in the shock of injury and his breathless struggle for more time. Callen continued to try and gulp in enough air to get words out, breathlessly mouthing the syllables necessary to alert his team, while at the same time hanging on to consciousness.
Losing consciousness held the prospect of never regaining it and that was simply unacceptable.
Eventually, there was a gurgling sound that shocked him in its frailness and the despair that was clinging to it. Still, it was the first sound he'd been able to make since going down.
"G?"
His partner's voice sounded in his ear, so he'd probably heard. Callen wrenched his mind away from the brink of oblivion and pain and fear, focusing on Sam, even if it was only his partner's voice.
Another second later and there was a flurry of activity. As if thinking about him had made his partner materialize at his side, Sam's knees slammed into the earth beside him, and his partner's hands cradled his shoulders to keep him from listing further to the side. And still, the fire in his chest spread and burned. Callen forced his eyes up to his partner, his mouth still open in trying to suck as much air into his lungs as possible. Sam's eyes were wide with abstract horror as he met Callen's.
The shared moment between partners stretched into an eternity before Sam visually shook himself out of it just a second before someone slammed into Sam's body, tackling him to the ground, taking Callen along with them.
His body hit the ground and agony exploded, robbing him of the last shred of coherency and consciousness.