KING'S RETURN
/Chapter 10/
A/N: Sorry for the delay in story posts (for any of them) but I've been dealing with report cards, difficult parents and the end-of- year standardize test prep & testing. But Soon...very, very soon (May 25) I'll be free of the little demons...and they can crawl back into the pits of hell they came from!
A/N: Also, after that Hawaii 5-0 XO I wanted to watch a few eps of that show to get feel for the characters and NOW have "another" TV obsession...love "Danno" (and I'm old enough to remember the original 5-0 & liked Danno in that on too!)
A/N: don't know if anyone will think David is a little OOC...I just know I didn't like how he treated Colby after the whole spy fiasco...yeah, it stings to be lied to but he was undercover...I really think David should have been written more supportive and understanding.
...NCIS LA...NUMB3RS...NCIS LA...NUMB3RS...NCIS LA...
Standing in OPS, the agents watched the large screen as Eric pulled up an area at the marina.
"Okay, Eric will coordinate from here..." Callen said.
"I can tie into multiple cameras to have eyes on the meet between Preston and Pomeroy...but the location of the GPS signal from Pomeroy's phone is to far outside city limits...no traffic cams anywhere," Eric reported.
"Preston's meet with Pomeroy is in little over an hour..." Don said, looking at his watch.
Sam nodded, "We can get to the GPS location by then...see if our men are there...if they are you move in and take down Pomeroy and Preston, if not we follow Pomeroy and hope he lead us back to King."
"There's an awful lot of 'ifs' to this whole operation," David said tightly.
"I know man, we're going in almost blind, but it's all we got," Sam commiserated.
"Sam's team needs to gear up and get moving...Callen, you and Agents Epps and Reeves need to prep Mr. Preston for his meet," Hetty said.
The agents all exchanged last looks with each other before heading out to their assignments.
...NCIS LA...NUMB3RS...NCIS LA...NUMB3RS...NCIS LA...
The drive to the GPS coordinates was being made in tense silence.
David sighed heavily and ran his hands down his face.
"Don't worry, we'll get them back," Sam commented.
"Yeah, yeah, I know we will," David commented without enthusiasm, giving another heavy sigh and looking out the window and muttering quietly, "At what cost this time...damn it."
Sam exchanged a confused look with Kensi in the rear view mirror before asking, "What's that supposed to mean?"
"What? Nothing man, just...nothing..." David said.
"Something's got you worked up..." Sam pushed.
Echoing his partners earlier thoughts David finally said, "It was hard, man...finding out about the whole 'triple agent spy' deal...letting us think he was a traitor, not trusting us—his team...all those years he lied to us. Now it's coming back again...and now he's caught someone else up in his mess..."
"You're blaming your man for this," Sam asked in surprise.
"And you don't..." David blurted out without thinking, then shook his head, "look, he didn't come clean with us, with me and they almost killed him because of it; hell technically they did—his heart stopped, we almost didn't get him back...they could both be dead already," David said.
"Don't talk that way...they're not dead...until we see bodies we're not gonna believe anything else," Kensi shot out.
David just nodded and looked out the window again.
"You gotta let it go man," Sam said quietly. "Holding on to that kind of anger...he's your partner..."
"He lied to me...for almost two years...he was my best friend. I don't know if I can do this again," David said tightly.
"Did he ever, in all the time he was your partner, did he ever give you reason to believe he didn't have your back..." Sam asked. "Did he ever not give a hundred and ten percent to his job as an FBI agent...to your team...and as your partner...?"
After a moment of consideration David shook his head.
"Don't confuse the manwith the mission," Sam said pointedly. "He's exactly who you think he is...I guarantee he never lied about his friendship."
David now turned to Sam, his anger tempered with curiosity, "And where exactly is this coming from...what would you know about it, you've never even met Granger."
"You're man is ex-military, special ops...I know where he's coming from; I've had my share of deep ops in the SEALS...even NCIS ops have left my team at odds with one and other," Sam said, again catching Kensi's eyes in the rear view mirror, "but at the end of the day we know who has our back."
"You're saying if you're partner looked in the eye and lied to you, it's okay because the end justifies the means..." David asked with mild sarcasm.
"It sucks, but sometimes it's necessary to complete the op," Kensi said with a tone that indicated a story behind the tone. "But at the end of the day...you remember what makes them a good partner...a good friend."
David turned to the back to look at Kensi, who met and held his searching gaze, "Deeks, he lied to you—left you out of the loop for the sake of an op?"
"Deeks, Sam, Callen; and all on Hetty's orders..." Kensi said evenly, "but it wasn't about friendship or lack of trust...it was about doing our job...*"
Understanding passed between them, before David turned around in his seat, "I can't lose him to this...not again..."
Kensi reached forward and gave David's shoulder a squeeze, "They're our partners...we will get them back."
The rest of the ride was made in silence, and ten minutes later Sam pulled the SUV to a stop fifty yards or so from an old farmhouse and barn.
Scooting forward in her seat, Kensi asked, "So how are we gonna do this?"
Sam surveyed the area with a critical eye for several moments before saying, "We'll go around the and through the barn, then approach the house from the rear...we need to get eyes on the inside from as many outside angles as we can..."
"I don't like it...not a lot of cover..." Kensi said, as she looked over the area.
"Not much choice..." Sam sighed.
The barn proved to hold no clues, and the agents were at the door of the barn looking towards the house when Kensi commented, "Sam, I don't see any cars around..."
Sam nodded, knowing that they were most likely to late, but not willing to voice the thought without proof, "we're not taking any chances...treat the area as hostile until proven otherwise."
David and Kensi nodded.
The three agents made their way towards the back of the house, Sam moving up to the back porch door while David and Kensi each went to opposite sides of the house to peer into the windows.
Moments later each agent reported, "Clear."
"Okay, you two take the front; I'll take the back..." Sam instructed.
On three the agents burst into the farmhouse and made quick work of searching the main floor; and again the all clear sounded from each agent's location.
Kensi stayed on the main floor while Sam and David made a sweep of the second floor.
"Just leaves the basement," David commented.
They approached the basement with the same caution as the rest of the search, thought they all were certain the house was empty.
Sam slammed open the large steel door the Kensi and David followed the ex-SEAL into the small, windowless room. The first thing they noted were two chairs, some garbage in a corner. The second thing they noted were the wallets sitting on each chair.
In tandem, David and Kensi went to the chairs and gingerly picked up the wallets, and holding them open to reveal the badge and ID of each of the missing men.
"They were here..." Kensi said.
"Bastards taunting us...knew we'd find this place eventually," Sam grumbled angrily, pulling out his cell to call his partner.
"G they're not here...but King left us a calling card...we're going to head back your way...whatever you do don't lose Pomeroy—he's out only link to our missing men."
Clutching their partners ID wallets like a lifeline they grimly followed Sam out of the house.
...NCIS LA...NUMB3RS...NCIS LA...NUMB3RS...NCIS LA...
*Refers to the NCIS LA episode, "The Debt", in which the team leads Kensi to believe Deeks shot an unarmed man to sell his cover...and she was "really" pissed when she found out!
Never planned on having Kensi in that scene, but it just seemed to sort of write itself...Deeks "betrayal" isn't quite on the same level as Colby's but lying is lying...