Bad Guys Never Forget & Never Forgive
/./ CH 9 /./
a/n: so terribly sorry for the delays...these next couple chapters are just not coming easily...multiple POV's & flashbacks are a real bitch to write and keep straight...(italics indicate the flashbacks)
...NCIS LA...
They'd only been on the ground no more than four or five hours but it already felt like a lifetime to the agent as he took yet another punch from one of Harkin's thugs. The beating that had started shortly after landing had been a rather casual and unhurried affair.
"You know, this is all Sully's, I mean—Detective Deeks, fault...he knows what happens to those that betray me..." Harkins said conversationally.
"Funny, it's not him I see here...it's you," Callen spat out angrily from his position tied to a chair in what he could only surmise was a garage or outbuilding.
"Ah, don't worry, he'll be here soon enough to put one of you out of your misery..." Harkin's said with a malevolent glint to his eye.
Callen eyed Harkins incredulously, his voice low and tight, "What the hell is that supposed to mean...you left him bleeding out...he won't be going anywhere but the hospital; if he's not dead already..."
...
Images assaulted Callen as he remembered the sudden appearance of the chopper, the explosions ripping through the SUV in front of him, as bullets riddled the vehicle he was riding causing the driver to swerve sharply and put them in the ditch. He remembered as he and the other agents rolled from damaged vehicle to defensive positions just as a second RPG stuck just feet in front of the transport van, causing the driver to swerve so sharply the van flipped on its side, skidding nearly twenty yards before coming to a stop.
In between the blasts from the weapons fire, Callen dared a look towards the transport van...and was dismayed to see two of the suspects reach the van and begin prying open the doors, putting Deeks in the exact precarious and dangerous position the NCIS team had feared from the beginning.
Looking the other two Marshall's pinned down with him behind the SUV, he snapped out, "Two suspects are going for Harkin's, we need to slow them down..."
"Back up should be here soon..." one of the men stated, as he wiped blood from the side of his face from a gash across his forehead.
"Not soon enough..." Callen snapped back.
Exchanging grim looks the two Marshall's nodded and slowly made their way around one side of the SUV while Callen went around the other way and they began making their way towards the van, hiding behind what little cover they could find.
Cautiously peering from around his current piece of cover Callen saw the two Marshalls' make their way around the flaming SUV, attempting to flank the van from the right. Turning his eyes back to the van he saw the two men help Harkin's from the van; watching as the three men conversed briefly before turning their attentions back to the inside of the van.
If Harkin's managed to survive the crash relatively unscathed there was a chance Deeks did also...but that little victory would be short lived if Callen didn't act quickly...
...NCIS LA...
"G's tough, he'll hang on 'til we find him," Sam finally said, laying a comforting hand on Deeks shoulder, "and this time; this time Harkins going down-and he's staying down."
Deeks just shook his head, "I don't know, Sam, Harkin's is a certifiable genius...he can make plans off the cuff that would take anyone else days or weeks to work through" Deeks continued wearily, "In all my years undercover, I've never seen anything quite like it. During my time undercover, I saw him make meticulous plans, only to discard them completely, sometimes in mid operation, when he felt that it could work in his favor—and not in that... 'oh, shit, everything is going to hell, what do we do now' kinda way, either. And somehow, it always worked out for him."
"Not this time," Sam commented tightly, "he decided to take on the wrong team."
Shaking her head in confusion, Kensi commented, "As smart as you say this guy is I can't believe he's willing to risk getting recaptured, to get his revenge like this—kidnapping a federal agent..."
Deeks shrugged his shoulders, "...he's already dying, what else, can we do to him?"
"So you're saying, Harkin's kidnapping Callen, to get revenge against you was a spur of the moment plan? Why? He somehow managed to plan and pull off an elaborate escape...and as much as I hate to point it out, Deeks, that bastard had you dead to rights during the ambush...why not finish it then?" Sam asked.
"I think that was his original plan...but he found something worse than putting a bullet in my head, "Deeks commented quietly before letting out a heavy, stuttering sigh, his voice cracking with emotion as he tonelessly repeated what Harkin's had said to him before kicking him unconscious, "The key to making someone suffer is to know what causes them the most pain."
With that statement it all became clear to Sam and Kensi and they exchanged worried looks. They knew exactly what Harkin's meant by the threat, and they could see the detective slowly shutting down, guilt tearing him apart: and though they well understood where it was coming from, in their opinions, it was misplaced.
In their line of work they made enemies, it was inevitable...and they accepted that danger for themselves, and prepared for the day when they might have to face down those that might chose to try their hand at revenge; but nothing could quite prepare any agent, take away that suffocating fear and guilt, when someone else got caught in that crossfire...whether it was a civilian or another agent, the guilt was still consuming.
"So, Harkin's sees an opportunity and takes it; but if this is all some sick game to him and he expects you to come after Callen why shoot you and leave you for dead..." Kensi asks.
"Well besides the fact that he's a controlling, sick, sadistic bastard that likes nothing better than to see other people suffer; he's not the one who shot me...it was one of his men; you might have seen him...the dead guy..." Deeks ground out.
"At least you got him..." Sam said grimly.
"Wasn't me..." Deeks said pointedly with a shake of his head.
"Wait, are you saying Harkin's shot the guy...he shot one of his own men..." Kensi exclaimed
Deeks just nodded...
...
Deeks return to consciousness was abrupt and confusing to the detective as the sounds of rapid gunfire and explosions assaulted his senses. He looked around blearily, wondering at first who had the TV up so loud and why his bed felt so hard and cold: but as his eyes began to focus and his sluggish mind began to process his surroundings he was jolted to wakefulness.
He was lying flat, his legs raised and slightly bent from where he was still strapped in, still in a seated position on the bench seat in the back of the transport van. His eyes darted around the interior of the van, noting almost immediately that the van was now resting on its side...he couldn't see the driver, but Masterson's body was hanging from the passenger seat, dead or unconscious, Deeks didn't know.
He startled when the rear door banged opened and sunlight flooded into the interior causing him to squint against the harshness...the figure, that he now noticed hunched at the door, blocking his view of the two blurry figures that stood at the open door, eying the interior critically.
He began fumbling with the latch on his seat strap as his muddled mind finally snapped into focus as he realized what was happening. Harkin's...it was Harkin's huddled at the door and the two blurry shapes were helping him out of the van...helping him escape!
Rising panic was making Deeks all thumbs as he continued to struggle with the seat belt, reach for his backup, and pull himself up from his awkward position in a an attempt to follow Harkin's out of the van.
As Harkins stood and straightened to his full height, one of the men waved a gun carelessly in Deeks direction, asking, "He the one?"
Casually following the wave, Harkins looked back at the still struggling detective and answered, "Yes...," turning back to the two men, "...are things going as planned?"
"Yes sir...area is being secured as we speak...plans are going as anticipated...RPG's on either side isolated the transport van and took out one of the SUV's and the other one took heavy artillery fire...the men are neutralizing any remaining thre..." the man's report was cut off by several angry commands; one of which Deeks recognized instantly and he couldn't help a small grin as he heard one distinct voice amongst the many..."NCIS...freeze right where you are..."
'Things might not be so hopeless after all,' Deeks thought as he made his way cautiously to the door of the van...
...NCIS LA...
a/n; I know it was short and ended with a bit of a cliffy, but it just flow better when its presented scene by scene instead of one big lump...