The Bad Guys Never Forget & Never Forgive
Chapter 12
a/n; so very sorry for the delays...but this proved to be a damnably difficult chapter to piece together, I literally struggled over every paragraph—rewrote it dozens of times from different angles...I hope it doesn't feel like too much of a jumble...just pulling a TV stunt where half the investigation takes place "off camera" so we can focus on the "reveal"- and if I didn't do it this way, then this chapter might not ever have gotten written as I felt like I had written myself into a corner...and I'm to OCD to leave things unanswered, or at least not get them to the point the reader can't fill in the blanks on their own (like they do to us when we watch these shows)...
a/n: and because it has been so long I'm posting the last two chapters and a very angsty Callen/Deeks epilogue in one post...now on to finish some other stories...
"italics" indicates flashbacks
...NCIS LA...
"What the hell, Harkins; you weren't supposed to take out the whole damn team and nabbing that NCIS agent was not part of the plan...what the hell do you expect me to do now..." the man hissed angrily into his phone, "that detective was supposed to be my lead for the assault team...how in the hell I'm I supposed to get them there now?"
"Things are still going according to the plan, with some modifications," Harkins replied.
"Modifications...this whole plan has gone to hell, what were you thinking. I can't control what NCIS does...hell; they had the whole convoy on satellite imagery...saw the whole damn thing..."
"Really...did they manage to track the helicopter," Harkins asked with interest.
"Only for about six miles before it was out of range..." Craig snapped back.
"Then I don't see the problem...now instead of following the detective you follow the agent..." Harkin's said with mild impatience as he picked up a small ear bud and rolled it in his fingers...
"What...how the hell am I supposed to do that...?"
With a heavy sigh, Harkins replied, "Your boss gave our agent Callen one of your ear buds...I guess we missed it when we searched him..."
"They'll never believe that...that it could be that simple," Craig shot back, "and that detective certainly knows you're not that careless...besides it's too late to use that..."
"Marty is a bright one...how is he by the way...?" Harkins asked curiously, "...he'll be making it to the party...can't have the man of the hour missing his party after all the trouble I went through to get him here..."
"The shot was a through and through, he'll live...you gave him damn concussion though..." Craig answered in exasperation, "he's in the hospital..."
"Conscious...?" Harkins inquired.
"Yeah, I guess...why..."
"Then he'll be here...a little thing like a bullet hole won't keep Marty from coming to me...he knows what will happen if the doesn't..." Harkins explained conversationally, adding, "you just make sure that you point Marty and the rest of his team in this direction in the next few hours...agent Callen is getting rather restless in his wait..."
Giving an angry sigh, Craig snapped, "I don't get you...you were supposed to get you sick jollies on that detective and be long gone by the time we got there...you sound like you're gonna be on the welcoming committee...how the hell does that help you...or me...you're just gonna get yourself arrested..."
"I've still got some surprises up my sleeve...for the both of us..." Harkins said with growing impatience, "you just get Marty Deeks here."
Harkins flipped his phone closed and stood looking out the window into the deepening shadows of evening, absently mulling over Craig's options...while he rarely found anyone who had the mental prowess to figure out his intricate plans he none the less never underestimated his adversaries, never let pride, as would a lesser man, to muddy his thinking...always working on the opposite assumption that they would eventually get lucky. He worked through every scenario possible...from a bumbling adversary that couldn't find the answer if you handed it to them on a silver platter to that one rare individual who could keep up with his ever fluid thinking. No matter how NCIS or Craig played it, it would be a win in his book; because, before this was over, Marty Deeks would be destroyed.
Harkins eyes came to rest on the storage building the NCIS agent was being held...soon it would begin...once Craig steered the agents towards this location it would be just a matter of a few hours before his revenge would be complete...before he utterly and irrevocably destroyed everything that made Marty Deeks who he was...before he was free of everything.
...ncis la...
Every minute that passed since regaining consciousness was unadulterated torture for Deeks, and with every minute that ticked off the clock the fear in his gut twisted and tightened until he felt like he was being torn in two.
The files Craig had provided the NCIS team on Harkin's original investigation yielded little clues to where the madman may have taken their missing agent.
"How much longer are we gonna sit around and wait..." Deeks complained bitterly, "we need to be out there... Callen is..."
"We are well aware of the danger that Mr. Callen is in Mr. Deeks...and we will find him..." Hetty intoned somewhat impatiently, "But as of right now we only have a general direction the helicopter went...without more accurate readings we are left with thousands of acres to search in those mountains."
"Eric used a satellite before..." Deeks cajoled.
"And the next satellite will be in position in three more hours," Hetty responded.
Slamming a hand down on the worktable, Deeks ground out angrily, "Callen doesn't have three more hours...it's already been over twelve hours; do you have any idea what Harkin's is capable of doing in that amount of time..."
Sam put a steadying hand on the distraught man's shoulders as Deeks outburst left him breathless and tilting dizzily to one side, "hey...settle down...you think we're not doing everything we can to find my partner...?"
Kensi had wheeled a chair over and bumped it against Deeks legs, Sam gently forcing Deeks to sit.
The detective hit the chair boneless, leaning slightly forward with his injured shoulder/arm pulled tightly to his body, his voice a rough whisper, "this shouldn't be happening..."
"Uh, guys...think we finally have something..." Eric's voice interjected.
"You found something Mr. Beale..." Hetty asked.
"I finally broke the encryption on Masterson's files...and I found one, code named—'Chameleon' and I got a hit on Harkin's name...and Deeks..."
"We've also been digging through Craig's files and financials..." Nell chimed in.
"Put it up Mr. Beale; let's see what the Marshall's didn't tell us..." Hetty instructed the tech operator.
...ncis la...
John Craig pulled up at the rather non-descript looking boat shed and shut off his car. He eyed the boat shed and the surrounding area guardedly as he ran a hand through his hair. The NCIS operations manager had called and said that they had uncovered new information and wanted to run it past him to get him opinion. The thought left him edgy...he knew the files he had supplied the team held nothing that could help...and surely the detective's old files didn't hold anything that the teams didn't already know...
Despite what they might think they had, Craig still wasn't sure exactly how he was going to play this...he knew suddenly being able to track their missing agent with the Marshall issued ear bud was weak, and hours overdue; but his only other option was to read them in on the original plan...not only would that likely get him punched in the face (if the team was inclined to feel overly generous) when the NCIS team found out they had attempted to use the detective-it could prove disastrous if NCIS dug to deep.
The decision was taken from him when his door suddenly flew open and hands grabbed him bodily by the collar and hauled him roughly from his car, slamming him against the car, "what the hell..."
"You son of a bitch...I should kill you right now for what you tried to do to Deeks..." Sam growled out angrily, giving the man a shake he added, "...and if my partner dies, I may still..."
"Sam," Kensi said as way of warning, laying a hand on her team mate's shoulder, adding dryly, "let's at least hear what he has to say first...then we can kill him..."
The female agent's toneless voice and total lack of facial expression sent a sliver of fear crawling through his gut. Craig had no doubt by the hard set of the woman's face she wasn't just saying that to get the large man to back off-he saw it in her eyes, she meant it; and he had no doubt that these people could pull it off.
"Whatever it is you think you know...I can explain..." Craig sputtered out, attempting to push the large angry man away from him.
"Your damn right you'll explain..." Sam growled as he pulled Craig from the car and shoved him towards the boatshed.
...ncis la...
The Marshall was shoved bodily into a chair in front of a large screen bearing the NCIS logo; he didn't have time to take in any more of his surroundings before the diminutive operations manager walked into the room, followed more slowly by the injured detective.
Craig stiffened at seeing the detective, expecting a similar assault to come from the man, surprisingly, none came: the detective merely looked at him with an unreadable expression before settling heavily onto the nearby couch.
"We seem to have a bit of a problem Mr. Craig...I don't take kindly to my people being used...this job is inherently dangerous enough without our own side needlessly adding to that danger," Hetty said evenly as she came up to stand in front of the seated man, her eyes boring into him.
"Excuse me...use your people...we had no idea that Harkins would take your agent..." Craig asked, shifting uncomfortably and quirking his brow in confusion.
Sliding a quick look to the injured detective sitting on the couch, Hetty responded, "I'm not talking about Agent Callen..."
Nodding towards Deeks, Craig said slowly, "...he's an LAPD detective, he's not an agent?"
Towering over the Marshall, Sam said evenly, "he's our detective...and no one messes with our team..."
"Mr. Beale, if you would..." Hetty said as she turned to the screen as it popped to life showing Eric and the ops center.
Eric's fingers flew over his keyboard and seconds later the screen split to show the tech and the front cover of a file, before he said, "File name—Chameleon..."
Jumping from his seat and interrupting angrily, Craig pointed to the screen and all but shouted, "How the hell...that's classified...how the hell did you get hold of that file..."
"Sit down, Mr. Craig..." Hetty intoned evenly.
"That file is 'eyes only'...how did you get it...?" Craig demanded again as he waved a finger at the screen.
"I said...sit down, Mr. Craig..." Hetty again said, her eyes moving to Sam, who stepped into Craig's space.
Turning, Craig gave a heavy sigh, running both his hands down his face before moving the few steps to the nearby table and leaning heavily on his hands. Coming up with a plan to steer the team away from the Marshall's original plan no longer an option he said resignedly, "It was all Masterson's idea..."
"But you went along with it..." Sam accused, "you willingly set up Deeks to get to Harkins...knowing full well what that psychopath wanted to do to him...that he wanted to kill Deeks...do you even know what side your on anymore, man..."
"It wouldn't have gotten that far...we had him wired..." Craig defended.
"How far was too far..." Kensi cut in angrily, "you were willing to let Harkins kidnap my partner just to find one more hiding place...a few thousand in assets...was Deeks life worth that...?"
Craig looked at the agents, and then at the screen, "You've read the file..."
"Yes, Mr. Craig, we read the file...we know you and Mr. Masterson were basing an entire operation on the word of a less than trustworthy source...that you were willing to let a convicted and very dangerous man escape to lead you to more of his assets and organization in hopes of it leading you to new players...and you were willing to risk Detective Deeks life to do it..."
Craig just shook his head and gave a small sigh; this whole operation was spinning out of his control. This was definitely not the way he wanted the NCIS team to find out, but it could still serve his purpose; he could still lead the team to Harkins...recover assets...hopefully save the agent and still achieve his end goal...he just had to change his part...play the subordinate...just following orders, surely each person in this room had been in the position in the past of having orders they didn't agree with...but followed, because that was their job.
"How..." an emotionless and far to calm male voice pulled him from his thoughts, "...the ear bud? Harkin's would have dumped it immediately...same with my cell...so how was I wired that you could have followed me...that Harkins wouldn't have found?"
"Because Harkins was in on the plan from the beginning...when you put yourself out there as an agent that could be bought..." Hetty supplied.
With another heavy sigh, Craig nodded slowly, "we got a tip from a snitch on the inside...heard rumors that Harkins was going to use the convoy to attempt to escape...wanted to get to his un-seized assets to pay for his cancer treatment...and from there try to re-establish himself in the game."
"So you decided to help him along..." Hetty prodded.
"The treatment he needs is expensive, even for him...would have tapped out any of his remaining assest. He may be brilliant...can manipulate anyone and nearly anthing...but what he needed most was time and information. We figured he would try to cut corners, look for inside help...with times, dates, with the route...and he would look to the transport team first...but we knew Harkins was too smart to fall for planted financials...so we worked out a plan to approach him directly..."
"You realize Harkins played you...do you really think anyone who knows Harkins...of what he's capable of, would purposefully double cross that psychopath, there's nothing the Feds could offer as a counter to Harkins temper..." Deeks said quietly, "he counted on you expecting him to make an escape attempt. He took everything you knew about him and used it against you...he just waited for you to make the first move, then gave you back exactly what you expected..."
...ncis la...
Deeks and Sam stood impatiently in one of the visitor rooms of the CSP, turning when the door opened to reveal a tall, balding, and slightly overweight inmate being led by a guard.
The inmate looked at the two men before looking at the guard, "I don't know these two..."
"Yeah, they know you Tiny..." the guard said with a snort, looking to Sam and Deeks he said, "he's all yours..."
"Have a seat...Tiny..." Deeks said, waving to a chair.
"I think I'll stand...don't know why you are but I ain't got nothin' ta' say ta' either of ya'..." the inmate sneered.
Quicker than Tiny could follow, he suddenly found himself slammed forcefully into the seat, Sam commenting lightly as he patted the man's shoulder, "the man told you to have a seat."
"What's this all about...who the hell are you guys...?" Tiny demanded, turning towards the door and shouting, "guard...hey guard...I wanna go back ta' my cell..."
"You're not going anywhere Tiny, not 'til you answer some questions..." Deeks said casually as he turned a chair around and sat down so he was eye level with the felon.
Looking back and forth between the men the inmate crossed his arms and said stubbornly, "...I ain't got nothin' to say..."
Exchanging looks, Deeks said, "Hear that Sam, Tiny here doesn't want to talk to us...that's a real shame 'cause he might want to hear what we have to say..."
"Yeah, he might want to know why he's gonna be moved to death row..." Sam replied conversationally.
Sitting up straighter in his seat and looking back and forth between the two men, Tiny questioned angrily, "...death row...what the hell you talking about..."
"What'd you get out of it Tiny...money...time off your sentence...what...?" Deeks asked.
"Get outa' what...who, the hell, are you..." Tiny demanded in total exasperation.
"Me, you don't know," Sam said, pointing to himself, then pointed to the seated detective he said, "him, you might have heard of...Detective Deeks..."
Tiny's brow crawled up his forehead, "no...No, can't be...you should be...but...how..."
The two agents traded looks, Sam asked, "...now what were you gonna say, Tiny...you're looking kind of pale there..." Sam turned towards Deeks, "Tiny here looks like he's seen a ghost..."
"See we know that you told the Feds about what you heard...about Harkins wanting to use his transport to the MDC to escape..." Sam explained.
"What I don't get Tiny is that you're a smart man...you've been in and out of the joint, you know the score...you can't tell me you don't know Harkins reputation...and yet you snitched," Deeks asked, "...and you're still alive; and I have to wonder why...?"
Tiny was looking decidedly nervous, "Is he...Harkins...is he..."
"Dead...not yet...don't worry Tiny, even Harkins can't get you where you're going..." Deeks said, "you see Harkins changed his game plan...he didn't kill me. Instead he kidnapped a federal agent...if it's not a sure bet that you get the chair for conspiracy to kill a cop...It's a damn sure thing if it's a federal agent..."
"Okay...okay...look, information, it's a valuable commodity...thought I'd do Harkins a solid and get some time off my sentence at the same time...win/win right..." Tiny said.
"You thought giving Harkins up was a win...?" Deeks asked incredulous.
"Harkins is the one who told me to tell them...the Feds. Harkins, he wanted them to know..." Tiny said.
"Damn it..." Deeks said.
...ncis la...
"Tiny was just following orders and you just ate it up...I can't believe you didn't suspect Tiny's story...didn't it strike you as odd that Tiny would know any of that...that Harkins would leave any loose ends..." Deeks said in disgust.
"Listen, this guy is one sick, slippery bastard...changes his game plan in mid-play; we were barely keeping up with him...and with that brain cancer, it was getting even harder to follow him...he'd been getting consistently more erratic in his thinking and follow through..." Craig defended.
"So you barely have a handle on your suspect and you thought that warranted putting Detective Deeks ..." Hetty asked.
"We had a handle on it..." Craig defended.
"Had a handle on it...how in hell can you say that...on our best days we were always three steps behind the bastard; and you said yourself, with the cancer he was growing more erratic..." Deeks railed, "...how the hell is that having a handle on anything...? You play him, he plays you...who did you really think was going to win that game...?"
The tirade left Deeks breathless and he staggered to lean against a wall: Sam reached out to steady him, "come on...back to the couch."
"So, Mr. Craig, do explain how you and your team had a 'handle' on this operation...?" Hetty asked.
Craig made a sweeping gesture with his hand as he looked towards the detective, "Look, you spent enough time with the man...he doesn't trust anyone or anything...double and triple checks everything...works through as many contingencies as is humanly possible..." Craig turned to the other agents as he continued to explain, "...with or without Tiny's piece of Intel, we knew as well as Harkins himself that this was his only shot...at freedom...at beating the cancer..."
"So already you're working at a disadvantage...Harkins already had you figured out..." Sam interjected.
"Listen it boiled down to one big...we know, you know, we know; he was playing us-we were playing him and both sides knew it...but with the cancer, it was getting harder for Harkins to piece together and hold onto a plan—his twists and turns were becoming so erratic he was losing touch with reality..." Craig explained.
"And you think it's a good idea to play tit for tat with an erratic, uncontrollable brilliant psychopath...and you thought that was helpful how...when you couldn't tell his lucid moments from his brain eating crazy ones...?" Deeks asked sarcastically.
"We played to the lucid ones and just let the 'crazy' burn itself out..." Craig replied.
The team just stared at the Marshall with varying degrees of incredulousness, Deeks interjecting with continued sarcasm, "bang up way to run a case..."
"How was all this helpful, Mr. Craig...?" Hetty asked.
Craig explained, "we knew if we buried financials for him to find to try to bribe or buy off an agent he would see through it in a heartbeat...so we arranged to approach him directly with a deal...even if he didn't buy it he would find some way to use it to his advantage..."
"So you offered yourself up as an agent that could be bought..." Sam intoned, "...but how'd you sell it...if you knew he wouldn't buy it...?"
Craig's eyes rested on Deeks, who met his gaze, and answered tightly, "You willingly sold me out..."
"It's easy enough for an undercover to get things for a mark...feed them Intel...all easy enough to manipulate..." Craig said, "...but we all know that what he wanted the most..."
Craig trailed off, and Deeks intoned flatly, "...me...he wanted me..."
"So you convinced Harkins that you would not only help him escape and recover his assets...but you would give up Mr. Deeks to him..." Hetty reiterated.
"Money, Intel, assets...like I said, easy to manipulate, all things Harkins would expect...but being willing to deliver the cop that brought him down...that got his attention..." Craig said.
"But even that can be controlled...and in Harkins lucid moments he would have to know that..." Sam countered, "and why didn't you just come to us...let us in on the plan?"
"Maybe, but we couldn't take that chance...Harkins is a master at reading people, and he spent enough time with the detective to spot all his tells..." Craig answered, adding, "If Harkins had one blind spot...it was getting his pound of flesh from detective Deeks...I don't think it mattered to him anymore...as long as he could take you out detective..."
"If he was that hell bent on revenge he wouldn't tolerate it being pulled out from under him at the last minute...you had to have something to offer that he'd believe..." Deeks countered, "...especially since you suspected he knew you were playing him...what could you have offered him that he would trust you...?"
Craig shrugged, and offered lamely, "the cancer...it was eating away at more of his lucid though processes..."
The three agents exchanged looks and Hetty nodded towards Kensi, who moved up a tossed two files on the table in front of Craig, "No, don't think he was as far gone as you claim he was..."
"Why would you say that...?" Craig asked, eying the file, "what are these...?"
"The top one is Harkins medical files...the cancer was indeed eating away at his brain, but the treatments were slowing it down...the symptoms you describe would indeed eventually manifest...just not at this stage of his disease..." Hetty explained, "...so Harkins has full use of his faculties..."
Craig just eyed the agents guardedly, "no one can know that for sure..."
Hetty nodded her head in agreement, "but there are some things we do know..."
She nodded towards the other file on the table, stating simply, "those are the financials...that's quite a substantial amount of money..."
"Yeah, well, Harkins pays well..." Craig replied.
"Oh, those aren't from the case, Mr. Craig, those are your own personal accounts..." Hetty said, giving a small wave to the file on the table.
Craig snatched the file from the table and began skimming the contents, "how did you get these..."
"But wait there's more..."Hetty deapanned, as she directed his attention to the screen, "Mr. Beale, if you please..."
The screen jumped to life, and the thermal images of the ambush flared across the screen...
"Now see this..." Sam said, as he pointed to the screen, "these small flare ups...that's the merc's Harkins hired, neutralizing all potential threats...that one there, where they took out your driver...but here—this guy moves up to your position them backs off a few seconds later...why is that?"
Craig shrugged, "thought I was already dead I guess..."
Sam looked at the man pointedly, "no, these men are professionals...their livelihood and freedom depend on the success of the mission—witnesses aren't left behind—unless they are meant to be..."
"So what's the going rate for betraying your team...?" Deeks ground out, levering himself off the couch to come toe to toe with the Marshall, "You didn't need to follow a signal...you already knew where Harkins was going to be..."
Looking around the boathouse and realizing the damning nature of the evidence, Craig looked towards Hetty and said evenly, "I want a deal..."
...NCIS LA...
a/n: please tell me that wasn't one big convoluted mess...I tried to tie everything together but kept getting the chapter so bogged down in details...I hope there was enough there that the rest was easy to piece together...