A/N: Well here is the moment you've all been waiting for. The big break down! One more chapter to go after this one! Hope you've enjoyed this story as much as I have writing it!
Thank you again to everyone who commented and favourite-ed this story. You guys have been wonderful all the way through. Here I give you one more angst filled chapter and then back to the comedy for the finale.
Thank you all so much!
Chapter 22: All In A Days Work
Steve and Danny waited half a second as Kensi and Chin moved into the back yard first. Kensi gave the signal that the back yard was all clear, and Steve and Danny moved in – Steve leading with Danny behind him. Chin and Kensi stopped behind the van as their counter parts caught up and then they moved on to the back door.
The van was still rocking as Steve and Danny reached it - it also emitted a low rumble that was clearly mechanical and not human.
"Thank God." Danny stated under his breath.
"Get your head out of the gutter," Steve hissed as he pressed his ear against the door of the van.
"You wouldn't want to burst in on a pair of people going at it - would you?" Danny countered.
"Of course not!"
"Well!" Danny stated argumentatively. "You were thinking it too. I'm just saying. Don't blame it all on me."
"Are you two finished?" Kensi asked over her should from the door.
Steve and Danny nodded and fell silent.
"Are they always like that?" Kensi asked Chin before they moved on.
"Yes, most of the time it's worse," Chin answered honestly.
"Traitor!" Both Steve and Danny accused.
"How long have you two been married?" Kensi asked jokingly.
"Could we get back to work now?" Danny asked with annoyance on his tone.
"Go!" Kensi ordered.
At the same moment Steve grabbed the handle of the back door of the van and pulled it open, Chin kicked in the back door and Kensi followed him into the house.
5-0-NCIS:LA-TBBT
Back at HQ, Nell and Eric watched the wall monitor as the four scientists stood by in shock and awe. Nell and Eric has ear buds as well, to hear everything that was being said between the two teams of agents, but one general feed – from Callen – could be heard loud and clear in the Ops Centre.
Sheldon and his band of misfits had been privy to information, and they had even known about all the risks and seen bits and pieces of the operations on their last case in Hawaii, but it was nothing like what they were watching or hearing now. Satellite images, surveillance cameras and cameras mounted on the agents, shows every different point of view of the take down that was about to take place. They remained silent as Nell and Eric gave information and answered the questions that Callen asked. There was nothing left for the scientist to do but hope and pray – and though Sheldon pretended and boasted about his atheism, his mother would have been proud to hear him pay, under his breath, that everyone would get out of this ordeal alive. The other three scientists joined his sentiment.
Hetty arrived, silently followed by Deanna O'Neil, to break the stares of the scientist.
"There is a flaw in the technology!" Hetty stated to the room. "It is unstable, and very susceptible to cleaners. It wasn't the salt water that destroyed the devices in the uniforms found on Frank Delano and the intelligence officer, but the cleaners used to wash their uniforms. It was to throw us off that trail. As long as everything is cleaned well with a detergent, the technology will not function. The design flaw has yet to be remedied and Holick was eradicating every member of his team that knew about the flaw." Hetty explained.
All eyes in the room fell on Hetty now.
"Copy that." Callen stated – he'd heard everything over the live link up.
"We didn't know that Holick was trying to sell the technology, but it would make sense that he was trying to keep his dealings on track without uncovering that the technology could be neutralized by house hold cleaners – it doesn't stand a change in hell against industrial cleaners." Deanna explained as all eyes turned to the stranger now.
"Contact all the power-plants in the area and get all their maintenance crews to clean and sterilize everything they can find – even if it looks suspicious!" Hetty stated.
"On it!" Nell said and rushed for her computer.
5-0-NCIS:LA-TBBT
Almost at the same moment, as Chin and Kensi, Callen and Sam burst through the front door. There was a screaming then a shattering of glass and then the sound of gun shots as everyone in the house hit the deck - or took cover.
There were more people in the house than initially anticipated and in the confusion - though Callen had laid eyes on him - Holick disappeared into another room followed by the smashing of glass and another crash that sounded like tumbling trash cans.
Callen ran toward the sound as Kono and Deeks rushed in through the front door to cover Sam, as Kensi and Chin made their way in through the back - corralling all of the unidentified people into the living room of the house.
Moving slowly Callen neared the broken window and cautiously looked out. There on the ground was Holick in a pile of dented and smashed aluminum trash cans – and countless bottles of every cleaner that could be purchased at any of millions of grocery stores world wide. He laid face down with his hands on his head and Danny holding him at gunpoint. Danny had a full bottle of Windex in his hand.
"Didn't I say you were on the van?" Callen asked as the commotion in the house quieted.
"About that...Steve is concerned and I was on my way to call it in to Hetty when this guy fell into my lap." Danny explained.
"Concerned, why?" Callen asked as Danny cuffed Holick and hoisted him up again – he'd hooked the bottle of Windex on his belt.
"You might want to take a look for yourself." Danny answered and once more moved toward the back of the house as Callen disappeared inside.
5-0-NCIS:LA-TBBT
With the hostiles in the house subdued and the injuries and casualties being dealt with by the EMS and NCIS back up that had arrived on the scene, Callen, Sam and the rest of the crew gathered around the van behind the house.
"You're too late!" Holick laughed at Danny's side.
"What the hell is that?" Callen asked as he looked into the back of the cramped and completely jam packed van.
Holick fell silent but smirked.
"Good question - but my guess is that it is a mobile command centre. This is the remote detonator for the bombs and all the technology from project Chameleon." Steve said and was pleased to see the look on Holick's face change. "We found the micro processor that activates the technology and...well...I might have broken it." Steve stated and held out his hand with the pill bottle sized microprocessor - like the ones that were found in the uniforms on the waterlogged bodies of Delano and McGuire.
To be safe, Danny took the bottle of Windex from his hand and spritzed Steve's outstretched hand.
"What have you done?" Holick gasped.
"Which reminds me," Steve stated as he grabbed Holick by the left leg and pulled a knife out of his cargo pant pocket.
"What are you doing?" He yelled. "This is police brutality! Unhand me! I'm Naval Intelligence!"
"So am I," Steve growled, "and a Navy SEAL and you tried to kill my friend!" he added and sliced off three quarters of Holick's pant leg. "Found it." he stated and freed the smaller microprocessor from the fabric. Danny spritzed that as well. "This is why there are so many people in that house that we didn't see on our imagery. And these needs to be returned to the people you stole it from!"
"Do you have anything to say for yourself?" Called asked as he turned on Holick.
"It doesn't matter," Holick laughed, "because as we speak my plan is being activated. My buyers are on their way and my demonstration will make me a hero."
"Except we took down your crew here, then van yard is under out control and all of the power-plants have been chemically decontaminated by the CDC and their general maintenance." Callen stated and watched Holick's face drop. "We have both of your cousins in custody, Moira will not be getting a job with the DOD any time soon, and we found your lab in the basement of this house. Naval Intelligence and the DOD are on their way to salvage their equipment, and we are watching for your potential buyers because we have that kind of technology and personnel. For your information, anyone who would be buying or dealing in weapons are monitored by another top secret project so we know where they are. Oh and we found Deanna O'Neil and she told us all about the flaws in your technology." Callen explained as Deeks and Kensi walked up to the van with a pair of uniformed naval officers.
"It's all yours." Callen said and motioned to the van and the two officers climbed in and began dismantling everything.
"How did you figure it out?" Maksim asked in shock.
"We have a lot of help!" Callen answered and nodded at Danny who still held onto the handcuffs that bound Holick and the bottle of Windex.
"To be safe, why don't you douse him with a little Windex, D." Sam said with a twisted grin.
"Can I really?" Danny asked with a chuckle.
"This is where I would say book 'em, Danno." Steve stated with a twisted and mocking smile. "But instead, you just put a little Windex on him!"
Danny laughed and began spritzing the squirming and protesting fugitive.
"Book 'em, Danno. I liked that." Callen said with a nod, "but lucky for you he's going to have to deal with Hetty first. So you're off the hook. You can hand him over to Kensi and Deeks and we'll all meet back at HQ."
"Sounds like a plan." Danny stated as he twirled the bottle of Windex and hung it from his belt like an old western gun slinger.
"Where did you get that?" Steve asked with a laugh.
"Holick fell into the trash, trash that was full of perfectly good – almost full – bottles of cleaner. I just grabbed this one for curiosity sake. Now, I may not leave home without it!" Danny explained.
Steve shook his head while the rest of the team laughed and they split up again to their respective vehicles.