I'm absolutely blown away by the response to this story. 190 views for 2 chapters, I'm in shock. Big thanks to Taisenokami for following this story and a huge thank you to EleleCrawford for following and adding it to your favourites, that means a lot to me.

Next week's update may be a day late because I am changing time zones this week (going from China to England for a month :)) but will also be travelling from London to Cornwall next Monday. I will update this next week have no fear, just maybe not on Monday.

xXx

Chapter Three

"Get down."

She grabbed his arm and yanked him down beside her, just as gunfire erupted behind them.

Callen couldn't believe what was going on. One minute he was on the verge of arresting a woman he found just a little too captivating (stop it!), the next thing he knew he was crouching behind a desk with said woman as gunfire rained down above him. A hand left his shoulder and he glanced over to see the woman he had come charging into the airport after peer around the side of the desk quickly before pulling back.

Kimberly swallowed slightly, taking a second to breathe deeply before turning back to her companion. "I can't see how many of them there are. But it does look like their firing randomly in the crowd; this could be a random attack." At Callen's raised eyebrow she shrugged slightly. "What? I'm a cop, I pay attention. Maybe you should call your team. Even with airport security I'm not sure on our chances."

Callen was already in the process of pulling his phone out, nodding as he did so. "Yeah, though knowing them they're already on their way here. My boss had a sixth sense about these things." He didn't say they were already on their way to the airport following his earlier conversation with Hetty. "Hopefully we can get some more eyes as well." He hit dial and connected instantly to OPS. "Put me on speaker Eric, we've got a bit of a problem at the airport."

He could hear fingers racing over computer keys, and the screams and gunfire behind him. "Yeah we already know Callen. We've been trying to find you and the Detective on the cameras since you called earlier. The team's still twenty minutes out, reckon you can hold on that long?"

The crack of a gun being fired close to him had Callen spinning his head around to see Kimberly take one of the gunmen out with a single shot, leaving him feeling both impressed and disturbed. He hadn't even noticed her drawing her weapon or moving into a position to take the man down. Maybe he wasn't quite as ready for this as he had thought this morning. It was however too late to be thinking that now. "Yeah, I'll be fine. Find out how many of them there are, who they are and what they are doing here. We need LAPD too, there are still civilians in here, and see if any of the other agencies are sending anyone over." He hung up and scrambled over to Kimberly. "Backup's twenty minutes out, at least. Fancy sticking around that long?"

Kimberly turned her head slightly to glance at Callen, managing to keep the gunmen in her sights. "I have a choice?" She grinned at him. "Not a problem Agent. Now how do you want to play this out?"

Callen grinned. "Cover me." Without waiting for a reply he ducked behind her, counting to three before launching himself away from the desk to crouch behind another one a few feet away. A hail of bullets followed his journey but none of them hit him. Kimberly tracked his path out of the corner of her eye as she continued to watch the gunmen. Unfortunately she was unable to get any more shots off without alerting them to her position. She could already see that these men were not professionals; their shots were wide, scattered, they didn't seem to be aiming at anything in particular and they looked completely disorganised.

Callen pulled his gun out, feeling his phone vibrate with an incoming text. "So what now?" Kimberly hissed at him.

He read the text quickly before looking over at Kimberly. "There are sixteen of them that can be seen on the cameras anyway, so possibly more. They're all in this terminal but are spread out. LAPD can't come in guns blazing whilst there are still civilians that can be used as hostages."

Kimberly rolled her eyes in disgust. "How can they have that attitude yet call themselves cops? And who the hell says guns blazing?" Something was telling her that she wouldn't be leaving LA anytime soon. Kimberly hesitated for two seconds before reaching up to grab the container holding her bag and pulled it down. The security guard she had given her badge to had managed to drop it in the container, thankfully, so she grabbed it and clipped it into place on her belt. She picked up the necklace and stowed it in a pocket in her bag, and grabbed the spare clip along with her backup. She slipped her backup into the back of her pants before stowing her bag under the desk and slipped the clip into a pocket. Kimberly looked back over at Callen to see him taking down another assailant. Their eyes locked and Callen pointed at her before gesturing towards the southern part of the hall. Kimberly nodded, taking a second to slip her shoes off her feet before easing over to the other side of the desk. Heels were great for meetings, not for armed conflict. She would rather have her feet cut up from glass then twist or break an ankle because of heels. She could see instantly where she needed to go. Unfortunately, three gunmen were in her way. Showtime.

"How long until Mr Hanna and the others arrive at the airport Mr Beale?" The voice of the Operations Manager drifted through the room, preceding her arrival.

"Still another fifteen minutes out Hetty. They're going as fast as they can." Eric was tracking the position of the majority of the team whilst simultaneously trying to keep an eye on the Special-Agent-In-Charge. "FBI and Homeland are also getting teams into place…who is he talking to?"

Hetty looked over the tech's shoulder, watching the security footage he had hacked into. "I do believe she is the young woman Mr Callen and Mr Hanna met earlier, and the same woman I told Mr Callen to bring in. I need to ask her a few questions."

"Can we trust her Hetty?"

She sighed heavily, watching her Senior Agent, a man who mere weeks ago was laying at death's door. "I do not know Mr Beale. Not yet."

Callen knew that once he and Kimberly started trying to take out more of the shooters, the assailants would realise they were there. He also knew that, once they started shooting, more people were bound to get hurt. Civilians were desperately trying to find cover but there were so many of them, and naturally a lot of them were in the same part of the building as him. Standing up but keeping as low as possible, Callen edged towards the side of the hallway he was in, keeping his gun aimed down at the ground in front of him, ready to bring up at a moment's notice. He was hoping that any shots he had to take would not result in loss of life, but knew that if push came to shove, he would shoot to kill. Anything to protect the innocent's around him.

Watching the shooters intently as he made his way into the main hall, Callen could see one man's wild aim was about to take down several people in front of him; without hesitating he opened fire, tapping the man twice in the chest. He went down like a sack of potatoes and the group kept on fleeing. Another of the shooters turned to Callen, but his aim was wide and he met a similar fate as his companion. Ducking behind a pillar Callen saw a member of the airport police force try to take one of the men before being gunned down himself. Callen cursed, taking down another of the gunmen. Where the hell was the backup?

Kimberly had also managed to get to the main hall, having used a service hall as a shortcut. She had also started to get some of the civilians to go down the halls and out of the line of fire. Planting herself behind a column Kimberly was able to start taking out any shooter she saw. Like Callen she was hoping to merely incapacitate rather than kill but already she had taken the lives of two of the shooters who had been firing into a crowd containing several children. She was forced to dive behind a counter as one of the assailants noticed her and starting firing his gun (a freaking assault rifle by the looks of it) at her. Several civilians were hit as he tore into the counter, several bullets hitting the stone and sending debris flying. Fragments of stone cut into her arms and face, causing Kimberly to curse. This day really wasn't turning out how she had planned. Dropping down to lie on the floor she peered through the gap between the bottom of the counter and the floor. She could see the boots of the man as he advanced on her position. Aiming carefully Kimberly took a deep breath, waiting till the left boot lined up perfectly and pulled the trigger. A howl of pain told her she had hit her mark, followed by a crash as the man fell to the floor. Without hesitating she pulled the trigger again, tapping the man straight in the forehead. Not letting herself think about what she had done Kimberly immediately jumped up and moved onto her next target. Thinking about the lives she had taken would come later. Staying alive was the priority right now.

The sound of an empty magazine hit the floor as Callen re-loaded his gun. He didn't have anymore, hell he was lucky he had forgotten to take this one out of his jacket pocket this morning. He hadn't exactly expected to be in a situation like this today. If only his doctor knew what he was doing right now; Callen was pretty sure that this sort of experience wasn't listed under 'light duties'. Back to the here and now, he was down to his last clip and had to make every shot count. Unfortunately he was also pinned down; three assailants had him cornered, backed up behind a column with no clear shot. His phone started buzzing in his pocket and he pulled it out, hitting answer. "Sam, please tell me you're about to appear from around the corner."

"Not quite partner. We're outside but LAPD are in charge. They're insisting it's a hostage situation." Sam sounded frustrated, and if the situation wasn't quite so dire Callen would have laughed. As it was he let out a huff as another volley of bullets flew past him. How much longer until their guns ran dry? "What was that G?" Evidently Sam had heard the familiar sound of bullets passing by far too close to comfort.

"This er…hostage situation Sam. I'm pinned down here. Got three guys on me and no clue how many more there are." He got two shots off, hissing as stone fragments cut into his arm. "The detective we talked to earlier is still here though. Helping, but I've lost sight of her."

Sam grunted. "I'll talk to the guy in charge. FBI is here and Homeland is two minutes out so we have more than enough people to come in. He has to…" whatever else Sam was saying was cut off as the phone was, quite literally, blown out of his hand. Callen dropped to one knee and spun around, tapping one of the men twice in the chest. The other two concentrated their fire on him. Their aim was damn near accurate, making him think they could very well be in charge. He ducked behind a billboard, dodging more bullets as he went. He would be able to take out one of the men from this new position but it would leave him open to the other one. A flash from a balcony above him caught his eye briefly, which was followed by the all too familiar burst of gunfire. Callen could only hope he wasn't about to have to deal with gunfire raining down on him from above either. And where the hell was Kimberly?

A scream caught his attention and Callen brought his gaze back down to his current position. The latest round of bullets aimed at him, whilst missing him completely, had flown into a group of people behind him. Apparently at least one person had been hit, possible more. Callen was running out of time. And fast. He could probably take out the second shooter, but he knew that he was more than likely going to get shot doing so. Yep, Hetty was going to kill him. A glint of something red moved in his peripheral vision as he moved away from the billboard, barely aiming at his target before pulling the trigger and firing. The man dropped like a stone and Callen dropped as low as possible, waiting for the bullets to slam into his body. But although he had heard the gunfire, none of the bullets hit him. What he did hear, strangely, was the sound of several bodies hitting the floor, along with glass shattering against stone. Looking up Callen saw what he hoped was the last assailant on the floor, lying in a pool of blood.

"Ouch." The soft exclamation of pain amidst the screaming, shouting and sobbing had Callen's head turning around fast. Lying a few feet away from him, on top of the body of a man (who guessing by the clothes he was wearing was another other the assailants) was Kimberly. She rolled slowly off the prone form onto the ground, shards of glass crunching softly underneath her. Callen shot to his feet and ran over to her, dropping his gun onto the floor next to him as he knelt down beside her.

"Hey, you okay?" He asked softly, even though he knew it was a pretty stupid question. She had just fallen from a balcony that looked close to three stories high.

Kimberly nodded her head slightly, opening her eyes to stare at Callen. Her vision was a little blurry, her head and back ached and she was pretty sure she had twisted something. "Yeah, I'm good. But something tells me that might not have been the best idea in the world." She groaned as she pulled herself into a sitting position, holding her head as her vision swam. Callen's hand rested on her shoulder, grounding her as she swayed slightly.

"Maybe not, but it's the sort of thing I'm usually doing." He grinned. "How's the head?"

She shrugged slightly, grinning weakly. "Tough. Sore but tough. Like I said, I'm good."

Callen barked out a laugh. "Yep, definitely like me." He turned his head slightly as he heard in the distance shouts of FBI and LAPD echo. "Sounds like the backup's finally arrived." He turned back to Kimberly. "How many did you get?"

"Eight. I saw airport police take out two of them. And you?"

"I got six of them. Spent most of my time trying to get my team in…hang on. Eight?"

Kimberly shrugged slightly. "I was motivated? Guys aiming guns at civilians is a bit of a sore spot for me. Speaking of sore, I'm sitting on glass. Ouch."

Callen laughed again, standing up and offering her his hand. Kimberly took it and let him pull her to her feet. The room still span a little but as long as she stood still, she seemed to be okay. And kept her weight off of her left leg. So much for not twisting her ankle. "So what do you think that was all about then?" Callen asked her, letting her hand drop from his.

"Beats me, this is your city. You're the one who should be on top of everything, right?" Her voice trailed off as she looked around the room. It was carnage. Her brain suddenly stumbled on a thought and she looked back at Callen. "What were you doing in here Agent? Don't tell me you saw them outside, you came in before the gunmen started firing, said your boss wanted to see me?

Callen stared at the woman in front of him. He could lie, hell there were four lined up on the tip of his tongue. He was an expert at lying; practically his job title. And with the exception of Hetty (whom nobody could lie to) no one could tell when he was lying. But now? Looking down at the young woman in front of him Callen desperately wanted to lie. He didn't want to know the truth. But he couldn't do it. Before he could answer her however the sound of booted feet reached their ears. Callen grabbed his gun off of the floor and spun around, Kimberly at his side with her backup gun, both aiming at the newcomers.

"LAPD. Hands in the air."

"FBI. Do it now!"

Scores of police, SWAT and people wearing FBI baseball caps and bulletproof vests were spilling into the building. About bloody time, Kimberly thought, rolling her eyes to the ceiling. A movement she immediately regretted as the room swam again. Lowering her gun Kimberly grabbed her badge and held it up as two officers approached them.

Callen straightened up and walked past the two officers, barely sparing them a nod as he tucked his gun back into its holster, his eyes focused on three people that had just entered the hall. The officers closed in on Kimberly, both taking note of her badge.

"I'm Detective T-Driscoll from the NYPD. I was here in the airport when things started going pear shaped, thought I would lend a hand."

"Oh really? And there's someone who can vouch for you, Detective?" One of the officers asked with a sneer on his fact, and a sarcastic tone when he mentioned her rank; Kimberly wanted to hit him.

"Actually I can, Officer Mernandez I was escorting the Detective through the airport when these men opened fire on the civilians here." Callen's voice came from her right. She turned to face him, an eyebrow raised slightly at his lie as he glanced at her, his eyes seeming to will her to go along with him. Her gaze slid to the three people behind him; Agent Hanna and two others, the rest of his team she presumed. Sam smiled at her and she returned the gesture, honestly glad to see them.

"And what are you doing in LA?" This time it was Officer Mernandez's partner who asked the question, holstering his weapon as the LAPD and FBI worked to secure the rest of the airport and begin evacuating the civilians. Kimberly was aware of two FBI agents walking up to their little group as she turned again to answer the officer's question.

"Following up on a case with NCIS. They had a recent encounter with a group NYPD has…history with." Kimberly was starting to become aware of a slight ringing in her ears. "My boss sent me here to pick up any information NCIS had on the incident. Of course it wasn't something they could just mail in the post; a lot of that information would be highly confidential."

Sam nodded. "Yes, it is. Our boss told us this morning that Detective T-Driscoll was here to collect the information. Straight in, straight out."

Kimberly shrugged slightly, kneeling down to slip her gun back into her ankle holster. She bent her head to make it look like she was looking down at the floor but in reality she had to close her eyes to try and centre herself a little. The ringing in her ears had gotten more noticeable and her vision kept swinging about and blurring. She had a sneaking suspicion why and hoped to hell she was wrong. Taking a deep breath she started talking again. "It's been eight years since we've dealt with this group, but if they have resurfaced, we need to know." Kimberly opened her eyes and looked up at the officers. "It's quite a personal case for my team, and especially for my boss. It was quicker, easier and honestly safer if I just came out here to get the information."

"What is the name of this group if you don't mind me asking?" One of the FBI agents spoke up and Kimberly answered without even thinking about it. "The Celtic Militia. An Irish gang that we are pretty sure was active in New York eight years ago."

"And where is this important, confidential information?" Officer Mernandez stared down at her and Kimberly fought back a shiver. The man was a creep.

"In my bag, back at the security check point. Kind of hard to take down armed hostiles with a bag hanging off of a shoulder." The agents all smiled at that. "I need to go and grab it." Despite standing up slowly the room still lurched and the pain in her head caused bile to rise in her throat.

Callen noticed her face pale slightly and he frowned. "You okay?"

Kimberly nodded, swallowing down the nausea. "Yep, I'm fine." She started walking forward; ignoring the wobble in her left leg and trying to angle around the pain in the ass officer, only to have him grab her arm. "Excuse me, what the hell do you think you're doing?" She glared up at his too smug face.

"The airport hasn't been secured yet. And it's an active crime scene; you can't just go wandering around."

"This place is crawling with LAPD and FBI. I've just taken down eight of those idiots that were trying to kill everyone in this place whilst you were standing around outside taking your own sweet time getting in here. As for this being a crime scene, I'm a CSI you idiot." The man seemed momentarily confused and Kimberly inwardly cursed. "Crime Scene Investigator. I know all about crime scenes and how to behave in one. So let go of my arm before I break your fingers." Kimberly felt his grip slacken slightly so she wrenched her arm free and took a step back. But she hadn't looked behind her and stumbled over an abandoned suitcase. Normally she would have been fine but she had stepped back onto her left leg, which was still feeling funny and the merry-go-round in her head wasn't helping her balance issues. Her leg gave way completely and she would have crashed into the suitcase if a pair of hands hadn't grabbed her.

"Woah, easy there darlin'. I got ya." The voice of a man Kimberly couldn't place echoed in her head and she closed her eyes against the swirling vortex that the room had become. The hands holding her up were replaced with another, rougher pair and she sagged into them as they guided her gently down to the floor. Yeah, maybe she had hit her head a little harder than she had first thought.

Callen looked up from the Detective he was supporting to the concerned looking FBI agent. "Quick catch, thanks. Can you grab a medic? She's gonna need one, fast." The guy exchanged a look with his companion before nodding and taking off. Callen then glanced up at his junior agent and liaison. "Can you two go and grab her bag? She's right; we don't want it lying around." The partners turned and headed in the direction of the security checkpoints.

"What's wrong with her?" Mernandez's partner looked down at Kimberly in concern. Before Callen could reply the insufferable officer spoke up.

"Just trying to get attention. Typical woman, sulking when there are people that really need help."

Callen nearly punched him. "Tell you what. Go and jump off of that balcony onto someone else and then tell me she's doing this for attention." With that he tuned the officers out and turned back to Kimberly, talking softly to her.

Sam was about to talk to the officers when another FBI agent made his presence known by clearing his throat. "Colby, why don't you take these officers and make sure all of the civilians in the departures lounge have been evacuated."

The second agent nodded. "No problem, shout if you need a hand." He gestured to the two officers to follow him away, practically dragging Mernandez and Sam shook his head. LAPD. Nothing quite like them. He turned to the remaining FBI agent.

"Thanks for that. I'm pretty sure someone was about to punch him."

The man shrugged slightly. "They still might if Colby has anything to say about it." Sam knelt down beside his partner and the FBI agent glanced down at the woman being supported on the ground. "Kimberly?"

Callen looked up in surprise. "You know her?"

The man shrugged slightly. "Barely. We met a little while ago. I only got her first name." He crouched down on the other side of Callen. "I'm Special Agent Don Epps."

"I'm Agent Callen and this is Agent Hanna. We're NCIS."

Don nodded slightly. "I'd say it's a pleasure, but considering the circumstances…" He trailed off, looking at Kimberly. "Hello again. You're not looking so great this time around."

Kimberly blinked her eyes open sluggishly staring at Callen for a minute before drifting to Don's face, her forehead creasing slightly in confusion, but she didn't say anything. Frowning Sam rested a hand against her neck, feeling for a pulse. "Her pupils are dilated and her pulse is slow. And there's one hell of a knot forming on the side of her head. She must have hit it really hard." He looked at Callen. "She needs a hospital G; she could have a pretty serious concussion."

"Find that medic, now" was Callen's reply and Sam nodded, straightening up and taking off to the closest exit where ambulances were pulling up by the dozen. Don shifted slightly so his hands were now resting on either side of Kimberly's neck, supporting it as her head lolled forwards slightly and Callen tightened his hold on her arms.

"Do you know if there's anything else wrong with her?" Don asked the other agent.

"Not sure, though her posture was stiff as hell and judging from the height of that balcony I'd be surprised if she only comes away with a concussion."

Don raised an eyebrow. "She really jumped off the balcony?"

Callen shrugged slightly. "I guess. I didn't actually see it; I was pinned down by two shooters. Took one of them out but it meant I was open to the other guy. I didn't get hit, but heard the sound of bodies hitting the ground. When I looked up my guy was on the floor, along with Kimberly who was lying on top of one of the other guys. Guess she used him as a pillow."

Don laughed slightly, though it was more in disbelief than anything else. "Christ. She's mad."

Callen grinned a little, about to reply when Kimberly's eyes rolled back into her head and her body fell completely limp in their arms. Don supported her neck and kept one hand on the back of her head whilst Callen eased her gently down to lie on the floor. Don continued to hold her head up whilst Callen changed position, moving so he could slide his leg under her neck and keep her head elevated in his lap. He glanced up. "Thanks."

Don nodded, stepping back slightly as two paramedics rushed up to them, Sam right next to them. He glanced down at his partner, raising an eyebrow at the new position. "Hetty is so going to kill you, you know that right?" Callen could only agree with him.