Damn, I should have seen that coming, Hetty thinks, sighing at the news she's just received from a Marine lieutenant about her detective.
In a mobile command center on the outskirts of Abu Dhabi, a rather nasty young lieutenant and Hetty watch a satellite screen displaying the three teams currently assaulting Nahili's camp- Callen's and Kensi's team assaulting two of the camp's borders and a third team that will arrive at the camp within ten minutes as a backup. According to the wall length digital screen in front of them, everything should be going to plan.
Unfortunately , the operations manager has just learned that her detective who was supposed to be in the building and staying as far away as possible from the raid, is missing.
And to make matters worse;
"Please explain to me, Lieutenant, how my detective, who was specifically banned from joining this assault, made it onto that third team's truck?" Hetty growls.
"Don't come at me, ma 'am. Why weren't you keeping an eye on your own man?" the lieutenant argues back. Hetty darkens her glare and as if it were one of her sharp Japanese knives, her glare quickly cuts at the man's ego and confidence, leaving him feeling uneasy and slightly fearful at what the small woman in front of him might do next.
"Ms. Lange, I understand your concern, but there's nothing I can do at this point. And in my opinion, if he can shoot, he should be fine."
Hetty's glare darkens further. "Like I had said before, Detective Deeks is currently being wanted by our suspect and needed to stay under protection. Your men knew that rule but Mr. Deeks managed to make it on the truck and undeteced until ten minutes of arrival at the camp! "
"Well then, you should have put him on a goddamn leash. My men are not babysitters for your cop, especially with the responsibility of preparing for this assault. You're going to just have to hope he doesn't get himself killed."
Hetty can feel herself getting closer and closer to shooting this man. "His skills aren't my concern. Mr. Deeks may be a police officer, but he is also a skilled agent of mine," she states strongly, " Nahili is an egotistical bastard who won't disappear without killing both Mr. Hanna and Mr. Deeks. We had an advantage by having him here and now we just lost it."
Ail Ain
In one of the smallest rooms in the camp, Sam leans against the doorframe that surrounds the heavy, black door that separates them from the hallway and their possible escape. It's also the one thing that separates them from the chaos that's just erupted outside. He's counted two explosions from different sides of the camp and multiple sets of gunfire- either Nahili's putting on a show, Sam had thought, or the team's here.
"Sounds like someone is getting close," Michelle calls out in a whisper from her position in the middle of the room. She's ready to either play the part of captive as a distraction or to ram the next person to walk through the door. Sam nods in agreement at the sound of arguing voices approaching the doorway. He shifts his weight onto his back foot and gets ready to slam his muscular arm at the throat of whoever was about to enter the room; it's a tactic that turns out to be completely useless. The door soon slowly swings outward and reveals Nahili holding an object that completely destroys all feelings of hope in both Hannas.
A dead man's switch.
Nahili steps into the doorway, his hand shaking as he holds his thumb tightly on the small explosive trigger. Sam can see blood streaming down the side of Nahili's face from a rather severe looking head wound above his right ear, a gunshot graze in his jacket sleeve and a crazed look in his eye. Whatever the hell that was going on outside was enough to push the normally smug man over the edge.
"Your friends are outside," Nahili states in an eerily gentle voice, " I'm not surprised they came after all the mistakes I've made regarding you and that Yankee cop."
Sam moves from the door to the middle of the room to give him a better view of the switch. He's close enough to Nahili to get a clear view but not close enough to risk a tackle. "It's been a real honor. Rarely do I ever get a terrorist to become so obsessed about me," Sam replies, his tone unintentionally filled with sarcasm.
"I should have killed you the moment I saw you and contracted out getting rid of the cop," Nahili's eyes trail up to the ceiling, " but I had my eye on the prize and then after that I couldn't let you and him go. I don't like loose ends, if you haven't noticed."
"That's a nasty head wound," Michelle states, attempting to change topics. "You aren't thinking straight-"
Nahili looks back down to Michelle and smiles. "You're wrong- I'm thinking so clearly now. Your people are killing off my people so quickly that it's left me with no choice. Thanks to you, Agent Hanna, I've decided to end this- my nuclear weapons are safely hidden away and I'd rather die a martyr with my weapons still in play than to be remembered as a man arrested or killed by stupid mistakes."
A martyr? How would he even- Sam thinks. He flinches as Nahili's smile grows. "How exactly do you plan to do that?" the agent asks.
"Easy. You, Agent Hanna, are going to walk out of this room, find the leader of the assault outside and get them to cease their attack. Then, you will find your cop friend, because I know he has to be out there, and walk back in here together. I will then let your wife walk, your team leave and then put a bullet in both you and the cop's head. And if you don't," he uses his free hand to pull back his jacket and reveal an alarming number of wired C-4 attached to a vest, "I will level this entire camp, killing everyone here and leaving their deaths to be all on you."