Shadow Beach, Los Angeles- 11pm
NCIS Special Agent Hayden Kristopher jogged over the cool, wet sand on the shore of the popular beach. The sky was clear as could be with stars sparking down over the Pacific Ocean. The agent was jogging over to his car to head home for the night after an hour of late night surfing. He was tired and a little frustrated about how poor his surfing had gone. In his mind, it was due to the high stress that Assistant Director Owen Granger was putting on all the agents to find all of Hetty Lange's team.
"Damn it," Hayden cursed when he dropped his keys onto the ground after fumbling for them in his sports bag. He bent down and grabbed them, not noticing a shadow that had suddenly appeared behind him. When Hayden stood back up, the agent didn't have a second to even blink before he was pushed against the door of his car with his arm bent against his back.
"Don't move," Hayden heard. The voice didn't spark any fear; not because he was trained to deal with situations like this, but because he recognized to voice to be none other than Agent G Callen. Hayden smiled and grunted, "You guys are in LA? I knew it."
Callen didn't respond. Hayden shifted his head so that his face was away from the car door. "You don't have to be rough! I'm not going to call the police or NCIS- I swear."
Silence.
"You think if I wanted to, I'd let you take me like that?"
Finally, Callen spoke. "Please. You didn't even know that I was standing behind you," he said. Hayden rolled his eyes and grunted, "Let go of me."
"Fine." Callen released Hayden's arm and stepped away. Hayden could see that Callen was wearing a dark blue hoodie and looked completely different than he had ever looked before. Hayden was an old friend of Callen and worked out with him on regular basis.
"What the hell, man? You look…wow," Hayden gasped. Callen pocketed his hands and stared hard at Hayden.
"There's something I need you to help me with," Callen said slowly.
Hayden leaned back against the car after dropping his sports bag onto the floor. "Name it- I still owe you for Brasilia."
Callen smirked before his serious expression returned. "I need access to NCIS database- everything that's accumulated from the day that we went off to the military base at China Lake. We're back in the States to end all of this."
"All of us? Does that include the surfer and the brunette?" Hayden asked.
"Yes, they're safe. Look Hayden, we really need this information. You're our best bet, man. Can you do it?"
Hayden nodded smugly. "I'm good at what I do, Callen. Of course I can get you everything. In fact-"Hayden opened his backseat door and pulled out a small black HP laptop. Hayden placed the laptop in Callen's hands and added, "This has full access to our database and is untraceable even for NCIS. I had a feeling after hearing about Sam on the news that you three wouldn't be far behind."
"Thank you, Hayden. Why are you doing this- the repercussions are immense."
"Because Granger is a pain in the ass," Hayden stated proudly, "And although no one says it aloud, a lot of people, like me, are rooting for you to take that bastard down. I'm damn proud, Callen."
"Thanks," Callen took a step away from Hayden with the laptop under an arm, "By the way, it's not me you should be proud of; it's Special Agent Marty Deeks."
"If we see this guy again, thank him with Laker tickets."
Callen ignored the comment from Deeks as he opened the laptop that he received from Hayden. The meeting had taken place an hour ago and now Callen was sitting on a bed in the hotel room that the three agents had rented after arriving to Los Angeles. The drive from Goldfield was just as easy as the first parts of their long trip from Tonga.
As Callen opened up the NCIS database, Kensi, who was sitting with Deeks behind Callen, groaned, "Why is it that every time someone does something for you, your first idea of a thank you is always Laker tickets?"
"Cause-"
"Guys, let's focus," Callen said. On the database, he found multiple file folders that contained information about present cases, personal files, and NCIS procedures. At the very bottom of the screen, the agents spotted a file titled OPS team- treason.
"Sounds like us," Kensi commented as Callen opened the file. Oddly, only ten photos and one document opened onto the screen. "What does the document say?"
Callen quickly sped read over the main points of the document. "OK, it's the basic information about us- who we are, what we apparently did, and where we've been seen including Algeria and….huh, they thought we were in Europe at one point."
"That sounds like Eric's doing. I'll be sure to thank him with Lakers tickets as well," Deeks said, grinning at the eye roll coming from his partner.
Callen sighed in annoyance before exiting onto the main screen. "There's nothing really about us- we're the only thing Granger is focusing on! Why would there be so little information on the database?"
"Probably wanted to make sure nothing looked odd," Deeks suggested.
"Actually…." Kensi leaned over Callen's shoulder and peered at the screen. Mixed in the multiple files was a small notepad file titled Docx1. "That looks odd," Kensi stated.
"You're right," Callen replied before clicking on Docx1. The file opened up a white screen with what the three agents recognized to be flight information.
-A.P
2012.11.22
United Airlines- Flight 4726
Ben Gurion International Airport (Jerusalem, Israel) to Los Angeles International Airport (Los Angeles, California, United States)
G. Lyons
2012. 11.24
American Airlines- Flight 234
Nadi International Airport to Los Angeles International Airport (Nadi, Fiji) to Los Angeles International Airport (Los Angeles, California, United States)
"AP? If it's listed with Lyons, then it has to be our infiltrator, Alan Pendle," Deeks said, "Why are they here?"
"They both probably heard about Sam's arrest and think that it's safe to come back to LA," Callen replied, "This might be our chance, guys. If we can take at least one of them, it'll be our smoking gun to taking down Granger."
Deeks stood up and walked over to the wall. "But if we take down one, the other will either get every law enforcement agency within a five state radius on us. And on top of that, what if grab the wrong guy- I mean what if Pendle has some way out of this set up like a suicide pill from the James Bond movies-"
"Deeks!" Kensi and Callen exclaimed.
The probationary agent inhaled and exhaled deeply. "What I'm saying guys is this- taking down Lyons can help us prove that Granger is corrupt, but it won't help us prove too much more than that. If we go after Pendle, we have our infiltrator, but we don't have enough evidence to clearly link things back to Granger. So who do we go after?"