All characters and all rights at 'NCIS: Los Angeles' belong to CBS and Shane Brennan Productions. The following story does not serve any commercial purposes, but was written only for the pleasure of fans. An injury of Copyright is not intended. All further persons belong to the authoress.
English is my second language, if you find any mistakes in my story please send them back to me for correction.
I also would be very glad to get your reviews.
Chapter 4 - First Actions
Joann sat on her surfboard, watching the sunrise over the city. Actually, she had not wanted to surf as long as Deeks was not back. He was a good teacher, but she had not had enough time to learn to surf properly. However, Sam had given Joann food for thought. She had to agree with him: Deeks would not understand that she had not been on the surfboard anymore. Joann did not dare to surf the big waves on her own, but today they had the right size for a beginner. Finally, she began to paddle.
…
Sam ran. Once again. While his body was doing automatically what it should do, Sam's mind was working overtime. Again he went through everything, digesting all the information they had gathered so far. No matter how many times he went through everything, something was missing. But he was not on it.
…
Kensi was at loggerheads with the sandbag. Repeatedly she punched and kicked it. Nevertheless, her frustration did not become less. If Deeks had accepted the offer of Hetty, he now would be an agent with the NCIS and would not work in a extremely dangerous case with no protection and backing. Damned idiot! Furiously her fists were pounding on the sandbag.
…
Renko trained in the weight room. Actually, he was only as a temporary support in the team, but he was no less concerned about Callen and Deeks as his colleagues. Each time he came into this team, he was not an outsider or an occasional guest, but a full-fledged member. That was not taken for granted. He was also sure that everyone from that team would go to his rescue, if it would be necessary. They were a pretty crazy bunch, but also extremely loyal. That could be both good and bad. Renko frowned slightly.
…
Brooding, Nate sat at his desk. Hetty had sent for him not only to support the team personnel. The whole situation burdened each agent also emotionally. But so far only Kensi and Joann had come to him for talking. As long as he has been an active member of this unit, they had trusted him. Possibly, that was not true anymore. That bothered Nate.
…
Again Eric abused the expensive technical equipment of the OSP, as he ran his computer game on the big screens of the ops. He was supposed to continue to search for the person who had caused the commands to Callen and Ray. But he needed a distraction to clear his head. Somehow he had become obsessed by his investigation and could get no further. Eric sighed slightly and dedicated himself to his next opponent.
…
Nell startled. She sat in the technician area and had apparently fallen asleep on her laptop. Nell had begun to search in really sensitive files. She had been so intensely busy that she had forgotten the time. Eventually, Nell was overwhelmed by fatigue. She brought back her laptop from sleep mode and stared with wide eyes on the on-screen-display.
…
Thoughtfully, Hetty poured herself a cup of tea. Nothing was going how it should be. It was seldom that she completely lost control over a situation. Only the effort of her people had prevented that it had came to the worst. Well, at least so far. Hetty sighed deeply and took a sip of tea. But it had not the usual calming effect on her. Hetty sighed again.
…
Joann was on her way to headquarters, when her cell phone rang.
"MacKenzie."
"Gibbs. Do you have something to write, Agent MacKenzie?"
With squealing tires Joann stopped at the curb and grabbed in the glove box for a pad and a pen.
"Go ahead, Agent Gibbs."
He rattled down a few data, which Joann wrote down quickly. She recognized immediately that these were coordinates.
"Thank you, Agent Gibbs."
"I haven't done that for you, Agent MacKenzie. Tell Callen, he shall call me when he is back."
"I will."
Joann was not sure if Gibbs had still heard her. She shook her head. The man was really strange. He had a very good reputation as an NCIS investigator. But she could not understand the way he treated her just because she and G offended against one of his strange rules. Finally, the fact was that her team was extremely successful. So far they had not let themselves be deterred to do good work by their personal relationships. The opposite was true.
After she finally had a trace to Callen, Joann had to control herself in order not to drive too fast. When she arrived at the headquarters, she went straight to Eric.
"Show me where that is."
Joann slammed the pad on the desk of a stunned Eric.
"What, Joann, no 'Good morning, Eric.' or ' How are you, Eric?' or maybe just a 'please'?"
Eric made no attempt to enter the data into his computer. Relentlessly Joann pushed him, still sitting in his chair, aside and entered the data herself. A few moments later a map appeared on the big screen.
"There is G."
Eric did not take Joann's point, and looked at her confused.
"Where did you get these coordinates?"
Sam walked over to Joann. She had not even noticed that the team had followed her.
"Gibbs has called and passed them to me."
"That's a pretty rough neighborhood." Sam frowned. "Did Gibbs tell you if G is in trouble?"
"No, Sam, he just gave me the coordinates and then hang up." Joann also frowned. Unlike Sam, she did not immediately know at the sight of coordinates or a map section where the place was.
Sam looked over to Joann, who still stood at Eric's place. "You don't know where that is, right?" Joann shook her head. "This is the border area between Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran."
"Bloody hell!"
Sam grinned weakly. "I couldn't have said it any better, Jo."
"And what next?"
Sam shrugged. "Despite the information from Gibbs that is still a large area. Moreover a rather unclearly one. We could search there months without finding G. In addition, we don't know whether he is really in trouble. For this he would have to get in touch with us."
"And if he can't do that?"
The two looked at each other silently. A slight cough made the two to break the eye contact and turning around. Hetty had entered the ops.
"Agent Gibbs has answered." Hetty did not ask.
Joann nodded. "Yeah. But what next?"
Hetty stepped closer to the map and looked at it intensely. "I care about that." With resolute steps, Hetty left the ops.
…
The rest of the day they applied themselves to their normal work. The crimes did not stop just because three of them were not there. Joann pulled herself together. G would be rightly cross with her when she would not do her job properly because of her concerns about him. Today, door-to-door was indicated, a necessary but tedious task.
"I have a feeling that there are only three kinds of witnesses: deaf-mute, loquacious and blind. Don't the people pay attention, what is happening around them?" Annoyed Joann shook her head.
Mike laughed. "You ought to know that by now. Everyone out there is running around with blinders on. Like the three monkeys: see nothing, hear nothing, say nothing."
"Yeah, of course, I know. Dunno, today it just bugs me more than usual." Joann flopped herself into her chair, closed her eyes and muttered a few unintelligible words to herself.
"What?" Mike looked questioningly at Joann.
"Hm?" Joann opened her eyes and answered Mike's questioning look.
"I wanted to know what you've said because I didn't understand you."
"Oh, I see. I just was wishing for a massage. Someone who cares about my tense shoulder and my headaches." Embarrassed Joann shrugged her shoulders.
Mike smiled understandingly. "You miss Callen, alright."
"Hey, Mike, don't get me wrong, yes? I enjoy working with you."
This time the agent laughed. "But I'm not your first choice for a massage." Renko winked at her. "I just can live with that."
Joann laughed and then started, sighing slightly, with her paperwork. To be a federal agent was not really a glamorous profession, even though she once in a while was allowed to wear designer outfits.
…
While Joann packed up her stuff, her family cell phone rang. Scott sent her a message that she was reading with a frown.
"All right, Jo?" Curiously, Kensi looked over to her friend.
"Pops is at Jason's and wants me to go there." Groaning, Joann put her phone into her bag. "Really, I love the twins, but today I'm not able to do this."
"And what are you going to do?"
"Go there, of course, Kensi. What am I supposed to do otherwise?"
With a chuckle Kensi looked after her friend, who annoyed left headquarters.
"It seems that today it's not her day, what, Kens?" Sam had joined in.
"No, not really." Thoughtfully, Kensi looked at her current partner, but asked no questions. "She'll get it right."
"Yeah, I know. We all will do."
…
The twins welcomed her aunt stormily and outdid each other in telling Joann their news. At the same time they reported about the school and their athletic successes. Joann had difficulties to do justice to both of them. Eventually, her father saved her by shooing the children back to their homework. He thrusted a cup of tea into Joann's hand.
"Little One, you really look bushed."
"Thanks, Pops. It was a tough day." Joann hesitated, looked over her father's shoulder. But the children were gone obediently into their rooms. "We know where G is." Briefly Joann told him about the new information.
"Hetty will find out, what you have to know. Then you can get G out there."
"What if I'm wrong, Pops, if G isn't in trouble?"
Scott paused for a moment before he replied to his daughter. "If I have learned something in the years as a soldier, then to trust my instincts. I'm sure you've learned that in your job as well. So build on it. If you think that G is in trouble, then this is so."
"And what if I'm just worried because I love him?"
"Of course you're even worried for that reason. But our instinct for people who are important to us, is much more reliable. That's also why we doubt about it. Don't do it, Little One." Scott looked thoughtfully at his daughter. "What about Deeks? The two of you are very close friends."
Joann nodded. "I'm sure that one wants to get rid of him. Whoever 'one' is. But I think that he currently isn't in acute danger. Not like G. However, I also feel that it's only a matter of time before this situation changes. I just don't know what I should do about it. In both cases."
"Like I said, Little One, trust Hetty. She may have been in the wars recently, but she is not devastated. Moreover, you haven't to find a solution on your own. Finally, you're a team."
Joann's smile was just a pale imitation of her usual beaming one, but Scott was calmed down.
"Thanks, Pops. But now tell me, why are we here and not at yours and where are Jason and Carol?"
Scott sighed. "This morning Jason was flown on a ship because of a case. It will probably take a few days. And then this afternoon I received a call from Carol. Her law firm sends her to Miami. One of their clients got into legal trouble there and she's the only one in her law firm who is approved in Florida. So I stepped in and will take care of the twins until they are back. You can also stay here. Carol says the twins can share a room for a short time. She suggests that you sleep in Chloe's room while I take the guest room." Joann's pretty horrified gaze interrupted Scott. "What's up, Little One? Is this a problem?"
"Pops, I love Chloe and Jesse, but that doesn't work. Not now. I can't be the attentive aunt, with the concerns and problems that I have now. Sorry, Pops, but I'd rather be alone at G's house." Joann sighed at the sight of the facial expression of her father. "Pops, it's better that way. You took care for me very well. Without you I wouldn't have got through the past weeks. But the kids and me, that doesn't work at the moment, not really."
Scott looked attentively at his daughter, then nodded slowly. "I don't like to say that, but you're probably right. The twins aren't stupid. They would soon realize that something is wrong with you. And we couldn't tell them what's going on." He sighed. "All right, Jo" With a mischievous grin, he then added: "And who cares for your healthy diet now?"
Laughing, Joann clasped his father in her arms. "I'll take care of myself, I promise."
…
The house was as unnaturally empty as before. But for the first time since G was away, Joann felt no longer grown stiff inside. The clues were small, but finally Joann had hope that G would come back. Alive. And Deeks also.
…
Callen crept cautiously through the canyon. Again and again his pursuers found him. No method he tried was successful. Callen did not understand the world anymore. He had got rid of his complete clothes and 'got' himself local wardrobe. Therefore he could not carry a transmitter, which betrayed his position. He had not sent off a radio message, no distress signal and, apart from the thieved clothes, also had no contact with locals. He subsisted on what he could find in nature. He knew how to avoid or hide tracks. Nevertheless, they found him again and again. Slow but steady Callen became clear that he would not come out here alone. He had to get help, whether he liked it or not.
Spontaneously, he changed his direction. By giving a wide berth, he approached one of the camps of his pursuers. It was a cloudless night. The quarter-full moon gave only little light. As Callen had to give up his full equipment, he also had no more binoculars to observe the camp. According to this, he approached cautiously. However, his opponents were careless and had only a few guards on watch. A single man posed no threat to them. Callen managed to sneak into the camp unseen and unheard. At one of the tents were large radio antennas. That was his goal. Again, there were no guards. After a careful look into the tent, Callen went in. It was empty. Quickly, he got an overview. To send a distress signal was a big risk, because Callen did not know who would get it. Finally he decided on a frequency and got going. He repeated the message a few times before he changed the frequency and started again from scratch. Eventually he was done, left the tent and disappeared, still unnoticed, in the dark.
…
After everyone had left, Sam sat in front of his laptop and activated the coordinates that Gibbs had passed through. For a moment he looked thoughtfully at the map before he activated more information. For a while, Sam worked intensively and took notes on a pad. Finally, he went through everything again. The result was not really satisfactory, but Sam did not see any other way. Wearily, he saved everything. Actually, Sam wanted to show Hetty his data and talk to her about it, but his boss was not in place. He decided that the conversation had time until the next day and went home.
…
Relieved, Hetty put the phone down. Not all of her informants pretended not to know her any more. And some of her contacts still were willing to help her. These were good signs.
…
It was strange to be alone for breakfast again. But as Joann had promised her father to take care of herself properly, she made time for it. Actually, Joann wanted to read at breakfast, but could not concentrate on her book. She could not get the worry about G out of her head. And then was there still this indefinite feeling, which concerned Marty. They desperately needed more information. A call from Deeks would even be better. Sighing, Joann shook her head, swallowed the last bite and went on her way to headquarters.
…
Renko looked pretty critical at Kensi. She had clearly not slept much. Probably Kensi was too much worried about Deeks. For a moment, Renko was tempted to pull his colleague's chain with a pointed remark. After another look, he refrained from this idea. That was not the right time.
Sam went straight to Hetty's office. He wanted to talk to her about his plan. But as the night before, it was empty. Shaking his head, he went to his desk.
Directly behind Sam, Joann hastened round the corner to her seat, cursing and swearing violently over the motorists in Los Angeles.
Sam laughed. "You're long enough here to have gotten used to it. However, you scold every time you get into a jam."
"Because I'll never get used to this idiotic Sunday drivers! Most of them don't even deserve their driver's license! They should have to walk! They don't drive a car, but park their vehicles on the highway!"
Kensi and Renko joined in Sam's laughter. There was nothing Joann could get so exited over than drivers. Her rants always made everyone laugh. The fun was interrupted by Eric's whistle. He did not say a word, but just waved them all up.
The Ops looked downright deserted, because except Nell, Eric and Hetty no one was there. Astonished, the four agents looked at each other.
"Ladies and gentlemen, last night a message from Mr. Callen was received. His cover is blown and he is on the run. For some inexplicable reason, Mr. Callen cannot shake off his pursuers and urgently has to be brought out of there." Hetty saw a mixture of relief and apprehension in the faces of her agents. "That was the good news." Joann became as white as a sheet, as Hetty did not go on immediately. "The bad news is that he won't get help by officials. Mr. Callen has been 'lent' from the NCIS to the CIA. Because he was uncovered, he is on his own now."
"G would never again work for the CIA. Why is he underway on behalf of them?" Joann was not pale anymore.
"Unfortunately I don't have enough information to answer your question, Miss MacKenzie. But I assume, they have presented Mr. Callen with a fait accompli on site."
"I fly over and get G out of there, Hetty. Last night I worked out an appropriate plan, so I'm prepared for the worst-case scenario." Sam pushed a USB stick to Hetty. "I'm ready to fly in half an hour."
But Hetty shook her head. "I won't let you go there on your own, Mr. Hanna. We don't know why Mr. Callen is found again and again. The two of you have no greater chance than Mr. Callen on his own."
"Sam is not on his own, I'll go with him." The resolute facial expression of Joann spoke volumes.
Kensi and Renko nodded, not less resolute. "So do we."
Before Hetty was able to comment on that, Sam shook his head. "Jo, that's a military operation. You are an excellent agent, but you never have been a soldier. You lack the necessary training for this type of operation. Think of your 'excursion' in the Mexican desert." Sam then turned to Kensi and Renko. "This is true for you, too, at least in parts. You are also not trained accordingly."
"But I am."
Puzzled, everyone turned around to the door. No one dared to enter the ops when Hetty had declared it as 'restricted zone'. Nevertheless, now someone was standing in the doorway and looked at everyone.
"Ray!"
Before he even had a chance to escape, he was embraced strongly by Joann. Ray could just take a deep breath, as Kensi clasped him in her arms not less firmly. Fortunately for Ray, Sam and Renko were content with a powerful handshake.
Curiously, Joann looked at her partner. "You ought to be at Quantico. What are you doing here?"
Ray just shrugged his shoulders. "I thought that I have been spied on and monitored long enough. The idiots should look for another goal." He looked his partner straight in the eye. "I won't let them use me to get you. So I packed my stuff, gave them a bit of my mind and I took the last flight to L.A.." Now Ray addressed himself to Sam. "Just in time, I think. When do we fly, Sam? You can inform me underway."
Hetty chuckled about the young man. He clearly could not deny who had trained him. Eventually she became serious again.
"I have to agree Mr. Hanna's estimation. The three of you are not trained for this type of use. Seals, however, are." Hetty looked at Sam. "I have called in a few favors, after I got the news about Mr. Callen. A Seal team will support you. Miss Jones will send you all relevant information to your phone. Your flight leaves in an hour, the necessary equipment is available locally, Mr. Hanna. Oh, and take Mr. Wingate along." A faint smile flashed over Hetty's face. "Navy Seals never work alone, Mr. Hanna."
Sam and Ray nodded briefly and then were gone.
…
Callen hoped that he had found a safe hiding place for the day. In the night he had gone away from the camp so far as possible. No one should realize that he had sent a message. But there was still the problem, why his opponents could locate him so quickly. Meanwhile, Callen had determined that they needed more time when he was in low-lying areas. This pointed to a transmitter, even if Callen had no idea how that was possible. Exhausted, he eventually fell asleep.
…
Tired Deeks slammed the door behind him. He would not have much time, perhaps only a few hours, but probably less. His suspicion had been confirmed. The bosses of the slave trafficking ring knew that he was a cop. However, Deeks had no explanation for him being still alive. It was as if the bosses were waiting for permission to kill the undercover police officer. Today, the tide had turned. By chance, Deeks had overheard a conversation that was not meant for his ears. His death has been prepared. When the confirmation came, they would take him on a ship and deep-six him off the coast. His body would never be found. It was time to ask for help.
Deeks knew his fake flat had been searched several times, but no one had found the emergency hiding place. Now he took out the hidden things: his weapon with ammunition, a cell phone and a small box. This he opened first. Inside were an earwig and a button camera. He put in the earwig and carefully sewed on the button camera. Then he activated the "agent needs assistance" signal on the cell phone. Inwardly Deeks thanked Eric for these electronic toys. Only a few hours after he had left the headquarters, a 'gift package' arrived at his place. Deeks had managed to smuggle these goods in this mission, past his superiors. Now he hoped that they would receive the distress signal in the headquarters of the OSP.
…
Silently, Ray and Sam sat in the plane that would bring them to Afghanistan.
Sam had informed Ray on the way to the airport. Now there was not much to discuss. Actually, Ray should sleep, it would be a strenuous operation. But instead he was worried about whether he could keep up with the Seals. He was a Marine, well trained and physically in top shape. The time at Quantico has indeed annoyed him, but the training had been excellent. Nevertheless, he was not a Seal. Thoughtfully, Ray looked over to Sam.
"You'll cope with it, Ray, otherwise I wouldn't have taken you along." Sam knew exactly what thoughts crossed the mind of his colleague. Seriously he looked at the young man. "G needs all the help he can get, otherwise he would have sent no distress call. We both know him well enough to find him, even if he isn't able to contact us any more." Suddenly Sam grinned. "And if you again have second thoughts about being my backing, think of Joann. If we don't find G, we no longer need to return to Los Angeles."
Ray returned the grin. "I don't think there is any place in this world where we can hide from Jo, if we don't find G."
Sam chuckled. "Yeah, sometimes she really can be very frightening." Then he became serious again. "Try to sleep, Ray. As soon as we are landed, we don't get much sleep anymore."
…
Nell ran down the stairs so fast that she could barely slow down. Slithering she stopped at the bullpen. Surprised, Kensi and Joann looked at the small analyst.
"He has sent the distress signal!"
Confused, the two women looked at each other.
"Who has sent which distress signal, Nell?"
"Deeks, of course! The 'agent needs assistance' signal! We know where he is, Kensi!" Then Nell turned around and rushed back up the stairs.
Irritated, the women looked at their cells and exchanged a quick glance. Afterwards they followed Nell in the ops.
"Nell, where are Nate and Mike? And why didn't we get the signal on our phones?"
"Don't know where the men are." Nell let appear a map on the big screen. "Eric has prepared Deeks' phone so that his distress signal is directly led into the ops. Just to make sure it will be noticed without fail."
Joann nodded and then stepped back out onto the balustrade. First, she let out a shrill whistle. When no one appeared, Joann took a deep breath and yelled across trough headquarters.
"Nate! Mike! We have a trace of Deeks!"
A lot of employees turned to her, very amazed, but Nate and Renko did not show up. Shaking her head Joann disappeared in the ops. There, Kensi had tackled the problem a little quieter and sent a message on the mobile phones of the two men.
"We are not waiting for the them, Nell. Get started." Joann was quite resolute. At the moment she could do nothing for G, but maybe she could help Marty.
"A couple of minutes ago, we received the signal. I could locate it quite quickly. Meanwhile, it moves."
"You mean, Deeks moves." Kensi glanced over to Nell.
"Yes, and pretty quickly." Eric joined them. "Probably he is sitting in a car. Also, his earwig is turned on, but I hear only noise. He has a button camera, too, but it just sends black." Eric was pretty irritated. "I'm trying to find the error."
Kensi stared at the map. "Where is he going? And why has he sent the signal and doesn't contact us directly?"
"I want to hear this 'noise' and show me the error pattern of the camera, Eric."
Lost in thought Joann looked at the transmission of Deeks' button camera. Eric was right, it was black, but not only.
"I've seen anything like that...but when and where...what makes such a picture..." Joann frowned. "Eric, what does the earwig transmit?"
The computer technician activated the soundtrack of the signal. Joann closed her eyes and listened to the sound.
"What have you there? Sounds as if the mic would be under a pillow." Renko entered the ops.
"But of course! I know what's going on!" Joann sounded a little triumphantly. "Someone has taken a sack or something like that over Marty's head. That dampens the sounds. It also chafes against the ear and hair. The result is this noise. The sack also blankets the button camera. The picture is not constantly 'black'. Sometimes a flash of light appears. As soon as the sack is removed, we can see and hear." Then Joann turned to Kensi and Nell. "Do you have any idea where Marty will be brought?"
Nell shook her head. "Based on the information from Detective Peterson I've found out a lot about the slave trafficking ring. It surrounds itself with a lot of bogus companies. I've started to create a list of real estate for all the companies because I thought that might lead us to Deeks. But in the direction there is no corresponding property. Or at least I still haven't found one." Nell let appear Deeks' signal on the map with the properties.
Renko glanced at Joann before he pointed to an area of the map. "I don't like to say this, but might they go to the sea? There are a number of small piers. Because there are no longer enough fishermen, the owners also rent their moorings to private boats. The ring surely has several boats of different sizes. By sea, you can easily smuggle in illegals."
"Miss Jones, Mr. Beal, find out which boats are registered there. And hurry up." Accompanied by Nate, Hetty had entered the ops. "The three of you immediately hit the road. We will keep you informed. And take Mr. Getz along."
Promptly the agents rushed towards the exit.
"Miss MacKenzie, one moment please."
Amazed, Joann slowed down and turned to her boss. "Yes?"
"If you are looking for someone the next time, please do so a little more quiet. You don't have to scare everyone who works here."
Joann could not prevent from turning beet-red. "Of course, Hetty, copy that." She quickly left the ops and ran behind her colleagues.
