The Bad Guys Never Forgive & Never Forget
Chapter 13
a/n: yah, the rescue at last...last chapter then the epilogue...I'm sorry to say it probably does not contain the level of "Callen torture" some of you requested...but, after the struggles I had with the last chapter...I just want the pain (mine) to be over...
...NCIS LA...
"Because a quick death is to clean...too good for that Judas," Harkins ground out angrily, slamming his fist into the metal tray, "...because as satisfying as tearing into his flesh—the tearing out his heart...laying bare his fears, seeing his soul consumed in guilt...that's what destroys a man like our detective...and you, agent Callen, will be the instrument in that destruction..."
"I will not help you destroy a good man..." Callen spat out angrily.
Turning back toward the bound agent, a sadistic smile crossing his features, Harkins replied conversationally, as he reached down and picked up a coiled whip from the cart, "What makes you think you have a choice..."
...ncis la...
Time had lost all meaning to Callen as he needed all his energy to concentrate on merely pulling air into his lungs...the fire burning across his back from the repeated lashes of the whip all consuming.
He had suffered his fair share of beatings, broken bones...hell, he had taken five bullets to the chest...but nothing quite prepared him for the feel of a whip bitingand tearing across his bare flesh.
"Just remember who brought you to this, agent Callen..." Harkins said casually.
"I know...exactly...who to blame...Harkins..." Callen ground out around the pain.
"Do you now..." Harkins intoned conversationally as he turned and laid the whip on the cart, much to Callen's relief.
Callen watched as Harkins frowned as he pick and a put down many of the implements on the metal cart.
"Hey, if they're that disappointing we can always postpone our little play date..." Callen said, if he could get the man monologueing again, he hoped it would distract him from his "toys" on the cart. Harkins had actually gone on for nearly twenty minutes extolling the virtues of the whip as a form of punishment and torture, before deciding to demonstrate on the agent's backside.
Harkins turned and smiled at the agent, "...play date...cute; but save that bravado for when Marty arrives...you're gonna need it..."
"It's been hours, your man forget how to get here..." Callen pressed, hoping to get more information on Harkins inside man.
Harkins shook his head, "he's merely finding the best way to manipulate your team into finding this place...or trying to cut a deal," Harkins stopped and cocked his head to one side as though in thought, before continuing conversationally, "men's baser natures are sometimes hard to predict when cornered-but either way he plays it, I will have what I want..."
"You're really going to risk going back to prison to get revenge...is killing me, seeing Deeks guilt...is it really more important than a chance at freedom..."Callen asked, "you could have been half way around the world by now."
"Even a caged bird sings, agent Callen and we must take our victories where we can get them..." Harkins replied. "Besides, who is to say I can't have both?"
"When your guy gets here, he's gonna be backed up by a whole team of agents..." Callen eyed Harkins suspicioulsy, "how are you planning on getting away from that...?"
"I do have a US Marshalll in my employee..." Harkins replied.
"And if your man is cutting a deal right now, he won't be able to help you," Callen commented.
"There's always a plan B and C if your really creative..." Harkins said, holding up a syringe case and a remote device, adding smugly, "and I am nothing, if not creative."
...ncis la...
The teams were assembled on the service road, six miles from the compound when they pulled off.
Sam went to the back door and opened it, pulling Craig out bodily and slamming him against the car, "He expects you to call him when the assault team was ready to pull out, right..."
Craig nodded, "I was suppose to call him...give him about a two hour lead time..."
"Well, he's getting about twenty minutes...call him..." Sam demanded, tossing the phone towards the agent.
Nodding towards Kensi, he said, "Watch him, I'm going to go over the plans with the other teams...check the maps one more time...we only get one shot at this...if Harkins gets away from us..."
Kensi nodded, and turned back to the car, her eyes momentarily resting on her partner in the front seat before cold eyes turned on Craig, "one misplaced word...I suspect you of trying to give Harkins a code word...I swear to god I'll shoot you myself...right here...right now..."
Craig just nodded and dialed the number, "hey, Harkins, went off without a hitch...teams are being pulled together as we speak...yeah, two hours at least...ookaayyy..." the man intoned slowly, ending the call and turning towards Kensi, "He's still there...and..." Craig hesitated, "and he's waiting..."
"Waiting...thought you said you were supposed to find the place after he was gone...?" Kensi questioned suspiciously, "you were supposed to get credit for finding the compound and recovering assests...so you could supply him with Intell..."
"That was the original plan..." Craig said.
"And finding Deeks...getting him back alive..." Kensi asked pointedly, "was that also part of the plan..."
When the man looked away, it gave Kensi all the answer she needed and it took every bit of her self control not to kill the man where he stood.
...ncis la...
"Hhmmm...they're early...cut a deal then..." Harkins said as he looked over at the computer that was beeping, explaining casually, "perimeter monitor...your friends are here Agent Callen...guess we better not tarry...can't leave my coup-de-gre incomplete...Marty would be so disappointed..."
Attempting to put as much distance between himself and Harkins, Callen thrashed against his bindings, his breath coming in short, pained gasps around the gag that had been put in his mouth when Harkins began his latest round of torture.
"Really agent Callen, you're going to cause my gift to be unreadable and crooked if you don't stop squirming..." the madman chided as he raised the straight edged razor to Callen's bare and bloody chest.
Despite his best efforts, Callen flinched, his grunts of pain muffled around the gag as Harkins carefully cut into the agents chest...though the cuts were deep, they were in and of themselves non life threatening..."there now, almost done..."
Harkins stopped to look into the agents pained filled face and asked, "...and I have to wonder...who will you really be seeing when you look in the mirror.." he waved a hand over Callens chest, "who will you really be blaming...?"
Callen again yelled behind the gag as Harkins went back to his cutting, his chest was on fire to match his back and his breath was coming in such short gasps he felt light headed and nauseous.
"There...all done..." Harkins said, giving Callen a quick pat on the shoulder, "now we just wait for the man of the hour..."
Despite the agonizig pain, Callen couldn't help an incredulous look towards the other man, as Harkins casually walked back over to the cart and laid down the bloody razor, picking up a small towel and wiping this hands as he eyes followed the action going on outside the garage on the the split screen monitor.
"Soon, agent Callen...soon we'll find out how good of a friend Marty Deeks really is..." Harkins said, looking at the dangling agent, "...lets see if he so readily betrays someone else that trusts him...?"
...ncis la...
"Deeks, where too...where would he be keeping Callen..." Sam pressed as they teams entered the compound.
"Outbuilding or garage...he wouldn't mess up his house..." Deeks replied grimly as he surveyed the area: house, small garden shed, helicopter pad, garage, "there...that one...send the others to secure the house...we're going in there..."
They breached the garage hard and fast, their search quick and wary as they checked for resistance and traps...
Coming into the main part of the cavernous garage, Deeks threw pretense and caution to the wind, yelling angrily, "Harkins...I'm here damn it...so come out...where is agent Callen...?"
The dimly lit building suddenly erupted with the bright light of several flood lamps and the agents had to squint against the sudden glare, "It's over Harkins...you got no place to go..." Deeks yelled.
The deep chuckling drew their attention to the far east wall of the garage and they saw Harkins standing unperturbed next to their missing friend.
"Callen," Kensi gasped at seeing her friend haning limp and unresponsive from a chain attached to the overhead rafters.
"If he's dead...so help me god, " Deeks bit out, sickened by all the blood covering Callen's body.
"Now what kind of gift would it be if it didn't work..." Harkins said in a hurt tone, adding, "...now, how long he keeps working...that's up to you..."
Though only having the use of one arm, Deeks gun was none the less aimed steady at Harkins chest, Deeks wanted nothing more than to empty his clip into the smug psychopath, but he knew the man well enough to know that the game wasn't over...that Harkins always had a plan B; and that Harkins was still playing for a way out...
"What did you do to him...," Deeks demanded.
"Nothing that can't be repaired..." the man replied.
"You're a dead man, Harkins...it ends...it all ends, now...just step away from him-NOW..." Deeks growled out.
Harkins nodded his head and took a few steps away from the unconscious agent, holding his hands up in mock surrender, "wouldn't be to sure of that..." he said as he shook a small remote device in his hand.
"Go ahead...what's your fucking game," Deeks demanded.
Harkins smiled, "ah...Sully...you know me too well..."
"What do you want," Deeks all but screamed at the man.
Kensi shot a concerned look towards her partner, Deeks was tettering on the edge right along with Harkins and if they weren't careful he would plunge right over the edge along with the unstable man standing in front of them.
Hand to his chin as though in thought, Harkins said, "escaping federal custody...close; retrieving my assets...close; beating this damn cancer...working on it; seeing you suffer...check..."
"It's over...you got no place to go...the other agents are rounding up your men as we speak...you're not going anywhere but back to prison..." Deeks said, his tone low and dangerous.
"You so sure of that...?" Harkins asked with a smug smile as he again waved the small remote in his hand, "no, Detective Deeks, I think you're going to let me walk right out that door and get in my helicopter and fly out of here..."
Eyes swiftly going back and forth between her partner and the madman, Kensi asked, "Deeks...?"
Splaying his fingers to indicate he was no threat, then nodding towards the tray, he slowly reached down to pick up an empty syringe, "...slow acting poison..."
"You son of a bitch..." Deeks ground out, taking a few steps towards Harkins, "I should just put a bullet in you now..."
"Ah, ah...ah...now when have I ever played a no win scenerio..."Harkins chided the detective, "here catch..."
Kensi made no attempt to catch the syringe, letting it drop at her feet, looking back at Harkins, who added, "oh, it would be easy to formulate the antidote...but alas, your friend here really doesn't have that much time..."
"Where is it...?" Deeks demanded.
Harkins nodded toward the tray, before picking up a small, seamless looking black box, "no hinges, no seams...and most importantly, no keyhole...it's opened by this remote...you let me walk out of here, when I'm safely in the air I pop the box and your friend is spared..."
"Like we believe that...how do we know there is an antidote and that you'd actually give it to us...?" Kensi spat out.
"You know I always give choices, detective...and this is about you and me...your friend here is just a means to get my point across...after all, killing either of you would be to easy...living with all of this..." Harkins prodded.
Deeks eyed the man a moment longer, before he suddenly lowered his gun, "all right..."
"Deeks..." Kensi gasped in surprise.
"Do it Kens...let him leave..." Deeks said tiredly.
"Deeks..." Kensi questioned more forcefully.
"Kens..." Deeks replied in warning," tell the teams to let him go...tell Sam to be ready...and get those paramedics in here...Callen needs help, now..."
"Glad to see you don't betray everyone who puts their trust in you..." Harkins said smugly as he skirted the edge of the wall and was soon out the door.
As soon as Harkins was out the door, Kensi was saying into her earbud, "Sam, he's heading your way," while Deeks rushed to their unconscious friend.
He stood for a minute in shock, afraid to touch his friend and cause him more pain; it was Kensi coming up to him moments later that jolted him from his shock, "we need to get him down...come on Deeks, stay with me...we need to get Callen down..."
Deeks carefully supported and lowered the senior field agent to the ground as Kensi found the mechanism to lower the chain from the rafters. Pulling back from the injured man, Deeks shirt was now covered in Callen's blood.
"So much blood, god Kensi...there's so much blood...we need to find out the sourse...try to staunch it..." Deeks babbled.
Kensi found a bloody towel on the cart and handed it to the dective to press against the wounds...after a moment he lifted the towel in an attempt to find the source of the bleeding...what they saw left them staring at each other-horrified and speechless.
Across Callens chest were dozens of small but deep cuts...cuts that were not random but had a distinct pattern...
...for carved out across Callen's chest was the ultimate torture...one that would stay with and torture both men for some time to come...
...across Callen's chest were the words..."Marty Deeks"...
Neither of them noticed the subtle click as the locking mechanism on the box was activated...when a lone shot rang out from the direction of the helicopter pad...when Sam finally made it into the garage...
...NCIS LA...