N/A: Thanks a lot for your comments, you're so generous and indulgent that I'm really flattered. I hope you like this one, emotions are running high :)
Chapter 13
After a long flight and a short road trip, Sam was welcomed to the NATO base on Cyprus by a fellow SEAL already aware of the situation.
- "Agent Hanna. This way, please,"- he said shaking hands and leading the way to an austere office with the walls covered by pictures and maps. – "General Miller will be with you in a minute. Can I offer you something to drink?"- he added politely.
- "No, thank you, Sargent, I'm fine."- Sam answered.
But this affirmation was far from being truth. The travel took a high dosage of Sam's mental energy. Too much time to think about Callen, his crazy idea, Washington's rescue, the terrifying fall from the helicopter; everything that happen since this mission started was covered by the invisible halo of unreality. The uncertainty about Callen's fate was the worst part; even death was easier to accept, but how to mourn him when it's not closure?
The absence of news, all the time lost in L.A., all the phone calls, all the interviews and meetings… he was a man of action and he knew his brother was out there wounded and alone needing him, him! not a bunch of bureaucrats. He didn't envy Hetty's job.
Absently he scratched his splinted finger. Damn basketball! The door opened and a very tall and lean blue eyed man in his fifties wearing a kaki uniform entered the room followed by the Sargent.
- "General Miller"- greeted Sam - "Sam Hanna. An honor, Sir. I really appreciate you find the time for receiving me."
- "Agent Hanna" – the General saluted with a strong Texan accent- "It's the least I can do given the circumstances. Please, take a seat. What can I do for you?"
- "Thank you, Sir." – said Sam sitting on the edge of a chair and crossing his hands upon the table- "General, I don't know if you are aware of the Operation Aleppo carried out two weeks ago by Captain Washington…"
- "I was in the committee who approved the operation, agent Hanna, it's my turn, now, to ask you who gave you information the about it. We're talking about very high classified mission, here, sir."- answered the General suddenly alert.
- "My boss, Henrietta Lange,…" – started to explain Sam.
- "Hetty!"- exclaimed the General exchanging his formal expression for a nostalgic smile -"Ah, Hetty, what a woman! Is she still hiding the knife to skin snakes on her cowgirl boots?" – and before Sam's blushing faces he added – "Never mind. So, let me guess, the operation failed and Hetty send her team to the rescue."
For the following half an hour Sam explained the whole situation to the General, supporting his speech with the satellite pictures Eric and Nell provided and presenting all the possibilities for a rescue mission.
- "Too many "ifs" on your case Mr. Hanna"- the General intervened – "I understand your feelings and I admire the loyalty you show for your partner. But I'm afraid that officially I'm bound hand and foot." – He said and before Sam could protest the General added – "However, extra-officially, of course, I can let you join a party of two SEALS that are going to recover the body of Marine García. You can enter the country with the SEALS and accompany them to the area, but then you'll be on your own."
- "I couldn't have asked for more, Sir. I really appreciate all your help" – thanked Sam.
- "You can thank me by bringing that brave partner of yours back home." – He affirmed standing and extending his hand to Sam, who shake it vigorously.
- "Be ready tomorrow at 5 a.m. Sargent Lope here will give you all the details, and show you the canteen and your room for tonight. Take care, Mr. Hanna." – He said walking out the room and one second after he added showing his face from the doorframe – "Ah, and please, tell Hetty… well… tell her that I hold her in high regard in spite of the rodeo, ejem, incident."
- "I'll do, Sir."- smiled Sam.
Some minutes after his meeting the big guy was starting to feel finally in control. The Sargent introduced him to the two men in charge of recovering the body of his fellow soldier and together they discussed routes of access, of escape and all the possibilities they could face. Too many possibilities and neither of them looked good for his friend.
That night before going to sleep he concentrated in a single thought:
- "Hold on G, do you hear me? I'm coming to you."
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The howling of the wind woke Callen up some minutes ago. He was freezing. The storm had worsened once the boat reached open seas some hours after leaving the Greek coast and the constant rocking of the waves made G sick. He was trying with all his remaining strength not to vomit the little food he got to eat before. For two days now he kept changing his IV and injecting the antibiotics on his much sored thighs, but in spite of feeling less weak than before, the persistent fever reminded him that he wasn't out of the woods. The pain was bad, just breathing normally was a luxury he didn't have, even though he resisted the temptation of using the painkillers he still had on the bag pack. He was afraid of not being able to wake up and kept trapped in a nightmare. The soft light of the lantern and, when he was lucky enough to have coverage, the little radio transistor were his only comfort.
It was really cold and damp on the container, but so far the water didn't enter the interior. The load, Turkish garments, served him well to isolate the metallic floor from his body and to finally get rid of the ragged uniform he was still wearing. He managed to create a relatively comfortable living space, where he was able to exercise to the best of his current abilities, and a bed where he was lying now curled in fetal position sweating and trembling under the sleeping bag Mesut had bought for him. At this moment he saw his glass nearly empty instead of half full, each attach of retching made him cry in pain. It would be so easy to give up…
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Deeks considered himself a down to earth guy. Certainly he allowed a little bit of fantasy in his life, but his experience as a police and his not so easy childhood made him a realistic person. Since he saw for the first time the video of Callen's fall, he believed his friend was death. It was a pill difficult to swallow, an unfair, totally wrong and painful situation, but with time he could cope with it, unless for a little detail: his team mates. They all believed unconditionally that Callen was alive, and worst of all, they were working restlessly to find him. One week had already gone since the mission failed and for any analytic mind the famous 5% had gone with it.
That night laid down on the couch with Kensi on his lap, finally at home after another exhausting and unproductive searching day at the office, he tried to suggest Kensi to accept the possibility of Callen's death.
-"You're kidding, right?"- Kensi said defensively ridding of his embrace and standing in front of Deeks– "We're talking about Callen here, and he is not death, he won't until I see an irrefutable proof. Is that clear?" – she asked really pissed off.
- "But honey, I think it's time to be realistic…"
- "Realistic? I'm being realistic! You're talking about a guy who survived a hell of childhood alone, battlefields, cartel drugs and five bullets in the chest!"- she yelled.
-"Kens, please…"- tried again Deeks.
-"You're talking about the guy who recruited me from the academy full of though men just because he believed in me, the guy that kept me calm and safe the first time I was injured on the field when he was worse wounded than me! He is my best friend and I'm not giving up on him."- she shouted.
Kensi's eyes were full of tears. She rarely cried, but all the cumulated tension was taking a toll. She hated with all her soul feeling that way, because in the bottom of her heart she recognized that Deeks could be right.
-"I thought I was your best friend"- replied Deeks without thinking.
-"You're impossible" – she showed her rage with a slam of the door when she left the house.
Since the argument with Kensi, Deeks was racking his brains about how he can help everybody to cope with the situation, and he concluded that maybe he couldn't find Callen, but if, in fact, the guy was out there, wounded, alone, lost in another country, he maybe could find a way to communicate with him. He needed to try, for Callen, for Kensi, for him, for everyone, because this situation was tearing the team apart.
Deeks checked the time on his watch, did a quick mental calculation and, determined, picked the phone up.
Two hours later Deeks, headphones on his ears and eyes fixed on the computer downstairs, was on the BBC radio music program in live.
- "Eh hello?!"- He said tentatively.
- "We have a new guest, the last of today's program. Good night Mister. You know the deal. Say your name to the audience, the song you want us to play, and then dedicate it to your special one."- Welcomed the conductor of the program.
- "Yes, hummm, my name is Marty and I want to dedicate Frank Sinatra's "I'll be home for Christmas" to G-man. Hey pal, I know it hurts and that it's cold outside, but, buddy, your family is looking for you. Just don't give up, we don't."
- "Thank you Marty. And here it goes for the mysterious G-man this Christmas Carrol. A beautiful song to say goodbye for today. Good night, I let you with The Voice."-
The notes of the song started to sound on the speakers, and Deeks noticed that he was deeply moved.
Two well-known arms, bear- hugged him from the back.
-"That was cute."- Kensi said also moved- "and that's the reason why I love you."
Deeks turned the chair and buried his head in Kensi's tommy hugging her tightly.
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Incapable of sleeping Sam was up and ready to go long before the departure time, even though the hard and persistent knock on the door gave him a start.
- "Agent Hanna, sir" – a voice called from the other side.
- "Yes Sargent?" – answered an alarmed Sam opening the door.
- "Follow me, please. You must see this."- Sargent Lope said walking out in a rush.
Soon the two men arrived to an office where the other components of the team still half dressed, but alert, were watching the news on a TV.
-"The bomb exploded near Konya letting five dead and for now nineteen injured of different degrees. The aerial space of the region has been closed by the local authorities and we are waiting for the President to declare the state of emergency…"
General Miller entered the room in two long strides.
- "Gentlemen, I'm afraid the mission is aborted."
Sam's heart missed a beat.
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-"Hey guys"- yelled Eric who come down from upstairs followed by Nell. Hetty, Kensi and Deeks approached them.
-"Bad news. The rescue mission was aborted. Sam is on his way home."
This simply phrase suddenly wiped away all of their hopes, prayers and dreams.
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The storm was dying down and with her Callen's heaves. He felt miserable. Then a familiar voice on the radio… It couldn't be possible… Deeks! - oh God!- the guys, my family… ha, ha, ha and the damn song that always made him sad… For the first time since all this crazy adventure started, G cried of joy. The tears of happiness erased the pessimism and gave way to a new determination. "I'll be home for Christmas" – told G to himself before succumbing exhausted to sleep.