"Hey, wake up." Kensi was first aware of the fact that her head was killing her, and secondly that someone was lightly slapping her face, which did nothing to help the bruise on her cheek.
"Stop," she grumbled, knowing that the person holding her head was Callen. She squinted open her eyes, afraid that everything was going to be bright and painful, but found to her surprise that their surroundings was abnormally dark. She opened her eyes fully to stare at Callen who was eyeing her worriedly. "And stop looking so worried," she chastised him, feeling triumphant when he snorted. He helped her sit up slowly, not missing her wince as the blood rushed to her head. "Any idea where we are?"
"No, the door is locked and there are no other points of entry." She looked around the room and affirmed his statement. Only one metal door, in and out.
"What do you think went wrong back there?" she asked, referring to their failed exchange in the café.
"They probably figured out that John was about to give up valuable information. They apparently have the resources to take out threats and stir up a hell of a shitstorm by kidnapping two federal agents." He made his way over to the metal door.
"But I don't think they know we're federal agents," she pointed out, thinking back to the previous room they had been in.
"I think they've figured out that we're valuable. Otherwise we'd be dead already." She couldn't argue with that statement.
"How's your chest?" Kensi asked carefully, knowing he wasn't going to tell the truth.
"Better," he responded, masking the emotion in his voice. She knew that he was going to turn into an unreadable mask if she pressed any further, even though she was pretty sure that he was already concealing most of his pain. She was doing the same thing.
"Can you pick this lock?" he asked, motioning to the lock mechanism on the door. He found it odd that the door could be unlocked from both the outside and inside, but he assumed that this room wasn't meant to hold prisoners.
"My lock picks were in my jacket," she grumbled, pulling out a few bobby pins from her pockets. The piece of clothing had been taken from her sometime in-between being knocked out and waking up tied to a chair. She noted that Callen had been allowed to keep his jacket. "But maybe this will do." She approached the door, bending down to inspect the lock when the door suddenly opened. The same big man from before stood in the doorway, and she didn't have any time to make a move against him before she felt the tip of a gun pressed to her forehead.
"Try anything and I'll shoot her," the man growled at Callen and the agent held his hands up in front of him as a sign of peace. Both of them caught a glimpse of the room outside of the door, but could only make out a chair and a table with stuff on it. "Come with me," the big man continued, keeping the gun aimed at Kensi's face as she slowly stood up. Kensi didn't have time to glance back at Callen, but an unspoken promise that she'd be fine passed between them. The man led her out of the room and shut the door behind him, making sure that it locked.
Callen approached the door, carefully trying the handle with an ounce of hope that maybe it was unlocked. It obviously wasn't, and he searched the ground with the thought that maybe Kensi had dropped her bobby pins. He found one, but it wasn't much use to him.
There was suddenly screaming from beyond the door. His entire body nearly jolted in shock at the unfamiliar sound, but his mind immediately registered that it was Kensi screaming. He had never heard the woman scream before, much less cry in front of him, but the sounds coming from outside were unmistakably those of his youngest agent.
"Damn it," he growled, hitting the door with his fist. This wasn't supposed to happen; Sam and Deeks should have found them by now.
He began pounding on the door as the screaming continued, hoping that he'd make enough noise to warrant them to come and stop him. He could convince them that he was much more important than her. The screaming died down for a second and Callen continued to slam his fist into the door, cursing under his breathe when the screams renewed, louder than before. The noise finally stopped, but Callen didn't cease in his hammering until he felt his hands aching. Minutes passed before he paused, breathing heavily with both hands flat against the door. He closed his eyes, straining his ears and trying to make out what was going on outside. He didn't know how long he stood there, calming himself down and trying to figure out what to do.
The room was barren, no windows, not even any piping that he could rip out and use as a weapon. He trusted that his team would find them, but he didn't know how close they really were. G leaned his forehead against the door, feeling the weight of the situation settle on his shoulders. From what he knew, Kensi had never been tortured before. She'd been captured and probably interrogated, but not like this. She was one of the most strong-minded people he knew, and G was sure she'd do her best to keep her team safe. But her screams echoed in the back of his mind and he felt his chest tighten at the thought of what they were doing to her. That should be me out there.
An hour passed and he finally extracted himself from his position at the door, pacing around the room and surveying every single nook and cranny. He was about to start poking and prodding at the wall when the door suddenly swung open and Kensi was unceremoniously thrown into the room before the door was shut with a loud bang. She managed to catch herself on all fours, bowing her head to the ground and breathing heavily. He was at her side in an instance, reaching out a hand to touch her shoulder. She grabbed his hand and twisted, withdrawing into a defensive position as she tried to process who was in the room with her.
"Kens it's me!" Callen bit out in pain as she pushed down on his wrist sharply. The pressure vanished and he ignored his aching hand in order to get a better look at his teammate. She had scrambled backwards toward the door and was now staring at him with such intensity that he almost had to look away.
"Callen?" she whispered, hands out in front of her defensively. Her voice broke his heart.
"Yes, you're okay, it's just us." She dropped her hands slowly, trying to stand up on shaky legs. He offered to help her but she brushed him off, clutching at the door handle and pulling herself into a standing position. He studied her closely, hands still hovering close by in case she needed his support. Her face was starting to bruise from Mark's punches, but new cuts littered her face. She sported a split lip that probably matched his own, and there was a dark spot by her temple which Callen recognized as a burn. His gaze traveled to her arm which she was clutching protectively.
"Let me see that arm," he commanded, and she eyed him nervously, hugging the arm against her. "Kensi." He instilled a bit of command into his voice and she obliged, her eyes darting from her arm to his face. The shirt sleeve had been pushed up to reveal her entire forearm. It was red, raw, bloody, and blistered. Her hand was swollen and one finger was clearly broken.
"Boiling water and hot irons," Kensi explained softly, and Callen's eyes snapped up to hers. He wanted to apologize, comfort her somehow, but that wasn't how they worked. "I didn't give them away," she continued, almost stumbling over the words as they rushed out of her mouth. "I didn't give them away. I didn't." Callen hushed her, gently grabbing her hand where there was still healthy skin and turning her arm to inspect the damage on the other side. This side was blistered as well, and he could see a series of thin knife cuts. Her wrists were bruised from what he imagined were restraints. G felt more than saw Kensi start to sway and moved his hands to her shoulders in order to steady the agent. She tried to swat his hands away but ended up nearly tipping forward into him instead.
"I got you," Callen mumbled, carefully guiding her away from the door and sliding down with her towards the ground. She pushed against him feebly, not appreciating the help or the proximity, but she stopped struggling once he had settled her against the wall.
"I think it's the concussion," she breathed, trying to clear her blurry vision in order to focus on one of the ten versions of Callen that was swimming in front of her. He reached around her head to where she had impacted the ground back at the other house and his hands came away with sticky blood. "How's your chest?" she asked and Callen couldn't help but smile at the fact that she was probably more worried about him than herself.
"Peachy. I need you to stay awake Kensi." She had begun to blink very slowly and he recognized that he had to keep her from falling asleep.
"I didn't give them away," Kensi began again, eyes straining to focus on him. He gently cradled her face in his hands, forcing her to look him in the eyes.
"I knew you wouldn't," he assured her, instilling some pride in his voice and giving a slight squeeze when she tried to close her eyes. "Stay with me Kens." She tried her best to stay conscious, studying how blue his eyes looked when they were outlined by angry bruised skin. But the pull of unconsciousness was too strong and she soon succumbed to darkness with Callen worriedly calling her name.
A/N: Wooo. More detailed torture scenes coming up, I just wanted to take it easy with this chapter… Thank you everyone for your feedback, hopefully I'll be able to update this story pretty quickly.