I had finished this chapter a long while back but never uploaded it.

Here it is.

Enjoy.

Chapter 17

August 30, 2013

Nell was relieved that she was now back in the Marathon's system, Eric had been cooperating and with the information he provided, all those who had their information deleted from the Marathon's website had been restored and she was now officially set to run it in November. It took a little more work to get the hotel reservations sorted out but that had been taken care of as well. She was at her desk working on some intel and blocking everything out around her. The reason, Callen was being arraigned today and she was doing everything to avoid thinking about it. He'd refused to cooperate and apparently the US Attorney's Office was ready to work out a plea deal with Eric in order for him to testify against Callen. The team had all agreed to go out for lunch in an hour just to get out of the building. Hetty was out at the Federal Building for the hearing and Granger was in his office in San Diego. The day was shaping up to be a nice one and so a lot of people were planning to eat lunch at some of the nearby outdoor eateries.

45 minutes later, Cara, an agent from another team came over to let Nell know that everyone was gathering in the main area to leave for lunch. She quickly finished what she was doing, gathered her purse and joined the team along with a couple of other teams as they all left for lunch

They had all headed to one of their favorite cafés along the beach the girls taking one table and the guys taking another. Nobody wanted to think about what was going on at the federal courthouse so they just talked about everything else that was going on.

"So, think the Lakers might have another good season this year," Deeks was asking as the topic among the guys was sports.

"It looks that way," replied Sam. Who kept a close eye on the other table. He noted the girls were doing a great job at distracting Nell with some serious girl talk. He could tell, considering when you had a wife and one of your kids was a girl, girl talk ruled the Hanna household when Michelle and Cameronn were talking or doing girly things in the house.

NCISLA

Federal Courthouse

Downtown Los Angeles

Hetty had arrived early so that she could get a seat in the courtroom for the hearing that was to begin at 1 o'clock. She had lunch at a restaurant within walking distance of the courthouse so as to be there early. When she stepped off the elevator onto the correct floor, she spotted the US Attorney in the hall.

"Ah, Ms. Lange, nice to see you again."

"Ah, Mr Anderson, I see I'm not the only one here early."

"No, I was hoping to catch you before we went in. I've got some news. New York is asking that G. Callen be extradited to New York."

"That's the first I've heard about this."

"I got the request this morning. Seems they want to try him there. Which I'm very inclined to do."

"I understand why, since the target of the hacks were in New York City. It seems to reason that New York wants first crack at him."

"True, you don't have any objections to this do you."

"No, it would be wise that it take place there as well. Let New York take the credit for this mess."

"I agree. Now have you seen his lawyer, we need to inform him."

"No but I suspect he'll be here shortly. Were you able to reach him earlier?"

"No when I called his office I was told he was out. I was hoping to catch him before this hearing to inform him before I have to tell the judge."

"If I see him, I'll let him know."

"Thank you."

They went their separate ways as Hetty found a place to wait until it was time to enter the courtroom.

NCISLA

The guard was walking down the hall to the holding cells where they kept the prisoners waiting for arraignment. There was only one prisoner there. Normally there would be more but the guy they were holding was a fed and that meant one thing, keep him away from the rest of the prisoners. Regular prisoners hated cops and feds alike. As he approached the last cell the hairs on the back of his neck stood up when he realized something was wrong. The door to the cell was open. He approached with caution, pulling out his radio to call for backup. When he was close enough to see inside, he saw no one was there. He did a quick cursory glance and stepped back calling for backup and fast. The fed they were holding was gone.

NCISLA

Hetty was about to step into the courtroom when without warning a flurry of activity among courthouse security and law enforcement alike caught her attention. Then the US attorney came up to her. "He's gone."

"What do you mean gone?" Hetty asked realizing what had happened.

"Callen, the guard went to check on him and get him ready to move into the courtroom when he noticed his cell door open and he wasn't inside."

"Bugger, has the building been locked down?"

"Yes, as we speak. Do you know where Agent Jones is, she might be a target?"

"In fact I do, I'll make the call in the meantime, the FBI might want to have a look at the security cameras."

"We're already on it. I've already made the call." He walked away and pulled out his phone to make a call.

Hetty did the same, dialing Sam's number. She knew all the agents in the OSP were going out to lunch at a nearby outdoor café along the beach and would give him and everyone else a heads up.

NCISLA

They were all finishing up their lunch when Sam's phone rang. Looking at the caller ID he noticed it was Hetty. "Hold on a sec, it's Hetty." Answering he spoke, "Hetty, we're almost done with lunch, everything okay?"

"No, Mr. Hanna everything is not okay as you say. Mr. Callen is gone."

"What! What do you mean gone?"

Sam's outburst had caught everyone's attention from the multiple tables they were occupying. Food forgotten, everyone from the other tables got up to surround Sam's table and Kensi and a few others had formed a protective ring around Nell.

"A guard discovered his cell door open and he wasn't in there." Sam glanced up and spotted Nell next to Kensi.

Everyone all at once wanted to know what was going on. Deeks could see something had happened at the courthouse by the look on Sam's face and his outburst. "How the hell did that happen Hetty?" Sam asked, knowing that the gathered group was wanting to know what was going on.

"That's the question everyone is trying to answer at the moment. I suggest you all finish up your lunch and head back to the mission. I'll stay here and work with our counterparts to figure it out. I'll call if I need you all."

"Okay, Hetty, I'll let everyone know what's going on and we'll head back as soon as we can."

"Thank you Mr. Hanna. I'll be in touch."

Then he spoke to the gathered group before him. "Callen is gone. A guard discovered the door to his holding cell at the courthouse open and he wasn't inside."

"How did that happen?" Deeks asked knowing like everyone else he wanted to know that answer too. He was joined by a chorus of others who were voicing the same thing.

"They're looking into it now, Hetty wants us to finish up here and head back to the office."

"I'll let the waiter know we want our checks." Spoke up an agent and went to track down their server while everyone else went back to their tables and left tips and were ready when the waiter came by so they could pay him. Then they all headed back to the Mission, unnerved.