Disclaimer: Anything Buffy the Vampire Slater related belongs to Joss Whedon and anything NCIS LA related belongs to Shane Brennan. The story idea comes from my own fevered imagination.
I know this is all NCIS LA, don't worry Buffy coming up soon.
Chapter One
Callen, Sam, Kensi and Deeks were sorting out their paperwork in the bullpen when they heard a whistle. Looking up they were surprised to see not Eric but Hetty standing at the top of the stairs indicating towards Ops. On entering Ops, the four were again surprised to see their operations manager standing in front of the big screen with a tablet in her hands while tech operator Eric Beale was sitting at a computer at the far side of the room with his head in his hands.
"There's no easy way to put this." Hetty looked at the four agents. "Last night or the early hours of this morning Miss Jones was the victim of a serious attack. She is currently in a stable condition in hospital but she is in a coma." Hetty held up her hand to forestall questions. "The attack was serious and Miss Jones received several injuries which are life threatening but the doctors seem to have got to her in time and stabilised her condition. They are very hopeful with their prognosis but as we know from experience until she comes out of her coma, we won't know the full extent of her injuries."
Kensi was the first to voice the question the team was thinking. "What happened?"
"We don't know for sure." Hetty responded. "Miss Jones was found in an alley at about five thirty this morning by an unknown person who reported to the police. The police arrived shortly afterwards to find her unconscious, badly beaten and stabbed. They called an ambulance and when searching her found her NCIS creds and contacted me. Since then, I've been in touch with the hospital and found out her condition. She has been badly beaten as reported. Miss Jones has a skull fracture, several broken ribs, some very bad damage to her right hand as though she had punched a brick wall, two breaks to her left leg and a large puncture wound through her left abdomen as though she had been impaled by something. The doctors have repaired most of the damage although more operations will be required and she is in a stable though critical condition and as I said she is in a coma."
Once again Kensi was first in with the question. "Can we see her?"
"I think that would be a waste of our time at the moment Miss Blye." Hetty responded. "I think we would be better employed finding out what happened. As you know, Miss Namazi is at a seminar this week, I've recalled her and she should be here this afternoon, to help out in Ops. Mr Callen, I want your team working the case, let's find out what happened and nail the bugger who did this."
Callen looked at his team. "Kensi, Deeks check out Nell's apartment, Sam and I will check out the crime scene. Eric." When there was no response from the hunched figure at the other end of the room Callen turned to Hetty who indicated that she would take care of Eric. "We need to know if any cameras caught sight of what happened." Callen explained to Hetty. "And what was Nell doing there? Did she go of her own accord or was she abducted? Did she have her cell phone with her?"
"Leave all that to me Mr Callen. I'll contact the LAPD and the Hospital, see what personal effects Miss Jones had with her and I'll get Mr Beale on track. You and your team go and get on with your part." The team left Ops and Hetty walked quietly across to Eric and touched his shoulder. Eric looked up revealing red, puffy eyes and Hetty smiled gently at him.
"Come on Mr Beale, let's get to work, Miss Jones is relying on us to find out what happened." Eric stared at Hetty for a moment before he turned his attention to his computer screen and he began to tap the keys of the keyboard.
Kensi and Deeks arrived at Nell's apartment. "No sign of forced entry." Kensi stated, examining the door.
"Are you going to pick the lock or am I?" asked Deeks.
"No need." replied Kensi, holding up a key, "got it from Hetty before we left." Entering the apartment, the pair found no signs of a struggle so they began to search for any clue as to what had happened. Their search having proved fruitless the pair approached the Elephant in the room.
"Do we check her laptop?" asked Deeks.
"We really should." Replied Kensi.
"But what if it's got some super-secret protection on it and a chain saw flies out and hacks your head off?" Deeks asked. "Shouldn't we leave it for Eric?"
"What if there's something on there that Nell doesn't want Eric to see? I think we should at least try to see what's on it." Kensi replied.
"Okay partner, all yours." Deeks indicated the laptop. With a snort of scorn Kensi opened the laptop and switched it on.
"Small problem." Stated Kensi as the welcome screen appeared. "Do you have any idea of Nell's password?" Deeks shook his head. Kensi switched on her comms to contact Ops. "Hetty have you any idea of the password for Nell's laptop or can Eric get us in?" Back in Ops Hetty looked at Eric.
"I can't Hetty, there might be personal information on there. I'm sorry I can't." Eric responded to Hetty's questioning look. Hetty nodded and replied to Kensi's query.
"Bring the laptop back with you Miss Blye and we'll see if Miss Namazi can help out when she gets here."
Kensi closed and picked up the laptop, as she did so she noticed what looked like a passport beneath it. Handing the laptop to Deeks, Kensi picked up the object to examine it. It was a little smaller than a passport, made out of black leather. On the front, embossed in gold, were the letters "IWC" on either side of which was a figure dressed in Greek clothing. The figure on the right was female with an owl on her shoulder while the other figure was a male playing a lyre. After showing Deeks the cover, Kensi opened the wallet. Inside she found a passport style photo of Nell and her name and signature. There was also a pocket with several business cards all with Nell's name, the logo from the cover of the wallet and two phone numbers, one obviously a cell phone number. Just visible behind Nell's photo and name, almost like a watermark, were the letters IWC. Kensi took out her cell phone and dialled the landline number on the card.
"International Watchers Council how may I help you?" A man answered the phone.
"I found a wallet belonging to a Penelope Jones with this number and was hoping to return it to her." Kensi responded.
"If you drop it off at the nearest police station, they will ensure it gets back to us and thank you for your help." The man replied.
"My name is Kensi Blye, I'm a federal agent. Just what is the International Watchers Council?"
"Oh, I'm sorry agent Blye." The man responded. "The International Watchers Council is a charitable organisation which establishes education institutions world-wide."
"And this identification I've found?" Kensi asked.
"The young lady must be a former pupil. If you hand it in at the nearest police station or you could post it to," the young man read out a post box number, "we will see that the young lady gets it back."
"So, she doesn't work for the IWC then?" Kensi asked.
"No, it's purely a student ID." The man responded.
"Well, I'll return it to you." Kensi replied.
"Thank you very much for your time." The man replied and hung up.
"That's weird. Why would a student carry business cards like this around with her?" Deeks shook his head. "Come on let's get back to Ops, see if the others can make anything out of this.
Sam parked the Hellcat at the end of the alley and he and Callen approached the scene of Nell's attack which was still being examined by crime scene experts. Apart from a worrying large pool of drying blood there wasn't much to see. While Sam examined the site, Callen went to check on the growing pile of evidence bags. Nothing grabbed his attention until he saw Nell's cell phone. Picking up the phone, Callen tried to access it without taking it out of the bag but, although it turned on, the phone required a password to access the data. Turning on his comms Callen contacted Ops.
"Eric, I've got Nell's cell phone here can you access it remotely?" he asked.
"Just a minute." Eric responded, then, "the phone's been wiped clean. Looks as though someone has done a full reset of it."
"Can you get any information off it?" Callen asked.
"Not remotely." Eric replied. "You'll have to bring it to Ops and I might be able to do something."
Callen went over to the agent in charge of the crime scene and signed for the phone after ascertaining where it had been found, then after being told nothing else of real interest had been found he crossed over and joined his partner.
"Anything to indicate what happened?" Callen asked Sam.
"Not really." Sam replied. "There aren't many signs at all. If we didn't know something had happened, I would just suppose it was a scuffle. I can only see signs of two people but there are some curious scuff marks as though someone was trying to hide evidence of something."
"Let's get back to Ops and see if there's any news." Callen turned away and headed for their car. As they cleared the end of the alley Sam stopped.
"Isn't that Nell's car?" Sam asked indicating a red mini parked down the road. The partners approached the car which they found was locked. Peering through the windows everything looked normal.
"I wonder if the keys are with Nell's effects?" Callen asked Sam and while he contacted Ops Sam checked the outside of the car for boobytraps.
"The keys are in Nell's personal things." Callen reported back to Sam. "I suggest we get them to deliver the car to the boatshed and we'll get the keys and examine it there." Receiving agreement from his partner the pair went back to their car and returned to Ops.
It was late afternoon when Callen and Sam got back and walking into the OP centre, they saw Fatima, Kensi and Deeks presumably checking Nell's laptop while Eric was working at his computer station. Callen crossed over to Eric and handed him the cell phone.
"Here's Nell's cell, see what you can find." As Eric took the phone Callen turned away. "Where's Hetty?" he asked the room in general.
"She's gone to the hospital to check on Nell's condition." Deeks responded.
Just then the diminutive operations manager entered with a distraught look on her face.
"Miss Jones has disappeared from the hospital!" she announced.