Brothers in Arms
Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS:LA, if I did, my class mascot, a longhorn (preferably life-sized), would be somehow worked into the storyline.
A/N: Thanks to shestarsky, keviana, Msreadalot71292, and Sweet Lu for your reviews! Life is getting busy so my replying is lacking, but they are much appreciated.
Day 6
Sam and Kensi sat in their respective desks and stared at each other. The day had started like any other, people trudging in still in the soft glow of weekend relaxing while trying to ignore the fact that the work week had started again. Only this time there were two empty desks in the bull pen. Still, not unheard of, as Deeks was usually late usually due to good surfing or a hot blond discovered during his run. Callen never showed up at the same time two days in a row, sometimes he was overly early and sometimes a bit late.
So, when Eric had whistled down and Sam and Kensi trudged up the stairs without their partners, it wasn't the weirdest feeling in the world. Hetty had been up there, ready with a briefing and assignments. And that's where the day started to become not like any other.
Hetty motioned to the wall-sized screen which showing a collage of Latino faces. "These are the first group of our present targets. Each one has been confirmed to be a part of LDD and we have names, addresses, family connections, status in the gang, et cetera. These," she nodded to Nell, who switched the faces out with a new group, "are people that have often been found in the same pictures as the first group. Due to a lack of criminal record in the US and a shaky relationship with Colombian authorities, we're not sure who they are. This needs to change." She turned to Nell again who took over.
She tapped on her tablet and sent pictures of a strip mall up on top of the faces. "This area is known as the LDD's safe house. The businesses are legit, but if you actually measure the inside and the outside of the building you'll find that they don't stretch to the full depth, even accounting for storage rooms in the back. We believe that the American side of their operation is run out of that extra space.
"These heat scans were taken over the weekend, and the pictures are inconclusive. We have been able to estimate the space to be approximately 2,000 square feet."
Sam leaned back against the table, "that's a big space to be completely undetectable."
"Correct, Mr. Hanna. Your job is to detect it, as well as match as many faces to names as possible."
Eric, who was sitting in his chair, swiveled side to side and pointed at the picture of the mall. "Address is on your phone."
As they walked back down the stairs, Kensi pulled up said address on her phone. She read it off to Sam and he grimaced, it wasn't exactly the nicest part of town for him. Kensi would blend with her dark hair and eyes, but that was a definite Latino community and he could not pass himself off as Latino. They were going to have to be creative.
They grabbed their bags and headed out to the parking lot.
Where they each walked up to the driver's door of their own cars.
Kensi turned and looked at Sam over the roof of his Challenger. "We can't take your car, it's too memorable."
"My car's too memorable? Yours is a blinding silver Caddy."
"Drug dealers drive Cadillac's all the time."
Sam cocked his head to the side and frowned. "Not ones like that, the Escalades. They'd use yours for parts."
Kensi shrugged her shoulders and held up her hands, palms up. "Well then, what do you suggest we take?"
"Well we can't take the van, it'll get made right away." He looked around the parking lot and his eyes bounced from car to car. Finally they landed on an old 2-door Grand Am that looked like it was in surprisingly good shape for its age. It was a dark silver colour and the windows were tinted. It was clearly an older car, partly because they weren't manufactured any more, but the fact that it was well cared for suggested an owner that was invested in keeping it in running condition. He pointed at it, "that one; who's is it?"
Kensi stared at it, curious, "I don't know, maybe one of Hetty's?"
They trudged back into the building and found Hetty at her desk opening mail with the infamous letter opener.
Sam asked, "Hetty, we can't take either of our cars, and the van won't work. What about that Grand Am in the back corner, is that available?"
Hetty thought for a moment and then nodded. "The owner of that car is not using it presently, and you are right, it is the perfect car for the job. However, I warn you not to damage it in any way as the costs will come out of your salaries."
Kensi bit her tounge to stop her from asking whose car it was; she had a feeling Hetty wouldn't tell her anyway. Hetty got up and told them she would meet them there with the keys.
Sam and Kensi walked back to the cars, picked up their bags from where they dropped them, and continued on to the car, where they both walked to the driver's side.
They were both standing there when Hetty walked up with the keys. Clearly they both wanted to voice their opinions as to who should drive, but couldn't quite find the words.
"Now this is a wrinkle. Who will be doing the driving?" Hetty's eyes twinkled with amusement as they shifted between the two sheepish agents in front of her. "I suggest a comprimise. Mr. Hanna drives there and Miss Blye drives back." The new partners nodded in agreement and Sam took the keys from Hetty. They settled in and headed out towards the plaza.
Sam was finishing his third origami swan while Kensi munched on chocolate covered almonds. They had been watching the strip mall for two hours and had uncovered several unchangeable truths:
1. Sam was going to stick out like a sore thumb unless they came up with a good cover.
2. There was no breaking into the storage area; it was too well guarded with too many people.
3. They had confirmed the nameless faces where hanging around.
4. They were going to need solid covers to get in long enough to find out their names.
5. The restaurant was emitting some very delicious smells and they were getting hungry for a meal, not snacks.
With that, Sam started up the car and readied it to pull out. Kensi looked at him, hard. "You can drive all day today, but tomorrow, you're the passenger."
Sam pretended not to hear, but when Kensi punched him in the arm he glanced over at her and said, "Is this why it always seems Deeks is listing to one side? Always injured on that side?" At her glare, he gave in and added, "Fine, the driving's yours tomorrow."
They leaned up against the edge of Callen's desk and stared at the white board that they had unearthed from a forgotten corner. They split the board in half and 'Kensi' was written at the top on one side and 'Sam' on the other. The new partnership called for fresh techniques.
The ride back to Ops had consisted of them batting ideas back and forth of how to weasel their way into the compound. They had nothing solid by the time Sam parked the car, so they decided on the whiteboard. On Sam's side there was a neat bullet point list in blue marker whereas Kensi's side was more 'organic'; there were random words scrawled in the empty spaces formed by other scrawled phrases in red, green, blue, and orange.
Sam turned to Kensi and held out a black marker while he kept another for himself. They switched sides and stared at the other list. After a short while, first Sam and then Kensi pushed themselves off the desk and crossed off some of the ideas with the marker. They settled back, stared some more, and a few more ideas got crossed off before Kensi capped her marker and looked over at Sam. He tipped his head to the side, moved to cross off one more idea, and then capped his marker as well.
Sam crossed his arms and said, "Alright, let's take stock. On your side there is: looking for waitress job, illegal immigrant wanting to get family in, and reporter looking for a story. Here's what I think, you'd be a terrible waitress and that would get you in touch with the public, not our targets. The smuggler route is good, but it's a long game and we need a short one. The news story idea is best, but what if instead of a reporter we do a professor or researcher of poly-sci, social justice, or the like. I think they'd open up more if the information's going to be a research project as opposed to front page news."
Kensi pursed her lips and then grinned, "You think I could pass myself off as a professor?"
"Focus. Clearly Deeks has been influencing you."
She pouted. "Whatever. I like that angle. Social justice is a hot topic these days and Columbia doesn't have the worst track record, so it'd be a new experience for them. Now for you." She squinted and scanned the board. "I found only two that I think is viable: the charity wanting to put in a soccer field or the developer for that piece of land for sale."
"I think they might be a bit suspicious if two new people show up that want to do something for them."
"I agree. Real estate it is, but, I can always hold the idea for a new soccer field in reserve if I feel the need to bribe them a bit."
Kensi nodded, "let's go get Eric and Nell on it."
"Tomorrow, we invade."
A/N I: But seriously, between the two...who would drive?
A/N II: Next week we're back to Deeks and man, does he have a story to tell. Speaking of next week, it's a long weekend so the update might not come until Tuesday. It will come, though, I promise!