"Thank you. I was actually feeling a little dehydrated."

Nate grinned at Callen who smirked back at him. "Very impressive, Callen. I'd like to play these games with you all day long, but unfortunately, we don't have time for that. So…" Nate walked over to the far corner of the room and picked up a black case off the floor, returning with it a few moments later. "Let's see if we can speed things along a bit, shall we?"

Callen watched warily as Nate opened the case. His eyes widened slightly as Nate pulled out a syringe, filled with an amber-colored liquid. He could feel his heartbeat begin to speed up and he tried, unsuccessfully, to slow it back down.

"I know you don't like needles, Callen," Nate said as he slowly approached. "And I'm sorry about that, but it's only going to hurt for an instant. Then we'll just wait for the fun to develop."

"What is that, Nate?" Callen asked, his voice cracking slightly as he was unable to hold back the question or the nervousness he was feeling. He unconsciously tried to move away, his body pushing against the back of the chair. He didn't like needles or drugs, especially unknown drugs. It reminded him of Spiral. That had been a very bad experience.

"Don't worry, Callen," Nate replied as he pulled up the sleeve of Callen's shirt. "It's not going to kill you or even make you sick. It's just something to heighten your fear and emotional responses. It's very beneficial to have friends working in drug research. Gives me access to all kinds of interesting little treats. I doubt you'll be feeling quite so smug after this." Callen tried to move his arm away but Nate was able to easily hold him in place and quickly injected the contents of the syringe. "There, that wasn't so bad, was it? Now we're going to leave you alone for a bit to wait for the drug to kick in and then we'll be back. I'm betting you won't be so high and mighty then."

Callen watched as Nate and his companions left the room and then set to work trying to loosen the tape binding him to the chair. It was much too tight though and he finally realized further struggles were useless. 'Damn it,' he thought to himself. Where the hell was Sam? He needed to get out of here. As he sat there, he wondered if Nate's claims about the drug were true or if he was just messing with his mind. He tried not to think about the drug, but he could feel his apprehension beginning to increase in spite of himself. A spider crawling along the floor caught his attention and he found himself staring at it, his rate of breathing rising as he watched. He needed to get himself together. He had never been afraid of bugs. He certainly wasn't afraid of this harmless spider. He was so focused on the spider that he never even heard Nate come back into the room and he flinched, startled when he heard his voice.

"You scared of me, Callen?" Nate asked, smiling maliciously. "Never thought I'd see the day when Hetty's prized asset, the unflappable G. Callen would be afraid of me. It's too bad this drug only lasts a couple of days. Imagine if it was permanent? I'd say your days as a secret agent man would be pretty much over. You'd have to pursue a career as a cat sitter or maybe a kindergarten teacher, but kids nowadays are pretty scary so that probably wouldn't be good either."

"Shut up, Nate," Callen retorted, but his voice lacked his usual bravado. It was very obvious that the drug was working.

"Or what?" Nate chuckled. He was finding Callen's predicament to be quite amusing. He turned his attention to the folder he was carrying and opened it up pulling out some papers. "Let's see what we have here." He scanned the papers and smiled widely. "Your file is fascinating, Callen. 37 foster families and not one of them ever wanted to make a more permanent arrangement. Were you really so unlovable as a child? It's easy to see why your father left you in the foster care system after your mother was murdered."

Callen tried to block out Nate's words, trying with all his inner strength to fight against the drug and its effects. "You're boring me."

Nate nodded, pretending to be sympathetic. "I guess I can understand that. A lot of those homes probably were pretty dull, but not all of them. Let's take the Carters, for example. Things weren't exactly boring there now were they?"

Callen looked at Nate sharply for an instant, but then focused his attention on his shoes instead. 'Block him out, block him out, block him out,' he told himself.

"Not exactly the all-American apple pie family…but you probably weren't exactly a halo-wearing angel either…"

"I was five years old," Callen snapped, glaring at Nate.

"Must have hurt pretty badly when Mr. Carter tossed you down the stairs," Nate commented. "Busted ribs and a busted leg, right?"

"I'm not talking about this," Callen said, growing increasingly tense. The Carters had been his first bad foster family experience. He'd mostly been ignored there, but that day, Mr. Carter had been drinking and Callen had been whining a little too loudly. He'd never stood a chance. One minute he had been sitting on the floor in his bedroom, the next minute he had been tossed down the stairs like a sack of potatoes, landing at the bottom with broken bones and any remnants of innocence lost. It had been the first time he'd been hurt at a foster home, but definitely not the last.

"That's fine, Callen. We don't need to talk about them." Nate smiled in satisfaction. He was playing with Callen's mind without physically hurting him at all. He wondered how far he would be able to push him. "How about Mrs. Easton?" Nate asked. He reached down and picked up a bottle from the floor. "How old were you, Callen, about six?" The tone of his voice was soothing as if he was talking to a small child. "You accidentally broke one of her china plates, didn't you?" He took the bottle and smashed it on the floor, pieces scattering everywhere.

Callen's body jerked, the fear apparent on his face as he reverted back to that frightened little boy. Mrs. Easton had been practically maniacal when he broke that plate.

"She wasn't very happy with you, was she?" Nate asked as he bent down and picked up a piece of broken glass. "She had no patience for clumsiness…you really should have been more careful."

The memory was all too real now. Callen could remember every detail of that day. He had been petrified, frozen as the woman approached him. She had been screaming and swearing as she came at him with a large shard of glass. She had sliced up his arm violently as he cried that he was sorry and begged her to stop. It had hurt so badly and there had been blood everywhere. Luckily, the cuts had been superficial and her husband had arrived home and taken Callen to the ER. He had never gone back to that home. Hopefully, that had been the end of the Eastons taking in foster children.

Nate traced the piece of glass lightly up and down over Callen's arm, laughing softly as the color drained out of his face. "You weren't a very good boy, Callen. It's no wonder nobody wanted you."

Callen closed his eyes as he tried to gain control of his feelings. He knew it was the drug and it was irrational to be reacting like this, but realizing it wasn't helping at all. He couldn't seem to control his fear or the emotions that Nate was expertly stirring up.

"Remember the Bensons?" Nate changed the subject abruptly as Callen opened his eyes and looked at the other man uneasily. He could feel his stomach beginning to churn.

Nate nodded. "I can see by your face that you do."

He hadn't thought about them in a very long time. It was something he had buried. He didn't want to think about it, but now the memories were intensifying in spite of how hard he was fighting against them.

"Pete… Pete was your foster brother's name, wasn't it?" Nate asked, his tone almost melodic as he spoke. He was obviously enjoying himself.

"Just stop, Nate…please." Callen could feel his stress level elevating and he began struggling futilely against his bindings once again.

"I'll stop, Callen. Just tell me about the JD-X."

Callen shook his head.

"Not very cooperative. Didn't your childhood teach you anything? You shouldn't have gone in that pool, Callen. That must have been very, very scary for you…" Nate picked up the water container once again and nodded at the other man who approached Callen with the cloth.

"Come on, Nate…what are you doing?" Callen looked at him pleadingly, but Nate remained resolute and Callen was filled with dread as the cloth was once again tightly wrapped around his face and the water torture began again.

This time it was much worse as the drug intensified Callen's feelings of panic. The water filled his nose and throat and he was brought back in time to his near drowning. He couldn't breathe and was just as terrified as he had been as a young boy. The cloth was lifted off his face and he was allowed to take four gasping breaths before it all began again. The sequence was repeated several more times before finally, mercifully, rescuers stormed the room.

xxxxx

Sam led the charge and immediately turned his gun towards Nate. "It's over."

Nate shook his head in disgust. He threw the water container down as his companions were quickly surrounded and cuffed.

Deeks rushed to Callen's side and removed the cloth from his face as Kensi cut the tape binding Callen's wrists to the chair. Callen began to choke as he expelled water from his nose and mouth. He took loud, gasping breaths as he fought the very strong urge to vomit. "How you doing, Callen?" Deeks asked. Callen didn't answer him, still focused on getting his breathing and emotions under control. Deeks and Kensi exchanged worried glances.

"Deeks?" Sam asked.

He seems kind of shocky, Sam," Deeks replied. One of the other agents handed him a blanket which he draped over Callen who was now shivering. "He definitely needs to be checked out."

Sam glanced at his partner, expecting him to protest, but Callen remained silent, looking totally unaware of his surroundings. "What the hell did you do to him, Nate?" Sam angrily grabbed the collar of Nate's shirt and pulled him threateningly.

"I didn't touch a hair on his head," Nate said with a chuckle, unperturbed by Sam's action. "I really don't know what you're so upset about."

"Really?" Sam asked, looking at Nate in disbelief. "You call this nothing?"

"Come on, Sam," Nate's voice was syrupy sweet as he spoke. "You, of all people, know what you have to do when you're deep undercover. Hell, how many times have you beat up Callen when you're on assignment? He's always been fine, no big deal. He should be used to it by now. I didn't hurt him, just drugged him up a little bit. He'll be okay in a couple days. Of course, it's all for nothing now. You guys screwed this whole operation up."

Sam shook his head incredulously. "You drugged him? This goes way beyond anything I've ever done to him. And you screwed this up yourself. You could have contacted us somehow. You could have figured out something other than drugging and waterboarding him. What the hell, Nate."

"You're being a hypocrite. You can't tell me there wasn't at least a little part of you that liked beating up on him, wiping that smirk off his face," Nate said, smiling slyly.

"I have never wanted to hurt him, Nate and if you got some kind of sick thrill out of this, then I feel really sorry for you."

"Don't waste your sympathy on me, Sam. I'm fine…I'm just fine. And he will be too. It was all just part of the assignment. Nothing personal." Nate smiled again as he was pulled aside by one of the agents. "I'm sure we'll all meet again," he called out over his shoulder as he was escorted from the room.

Angrily, Sam made a move to chase after Nate but was stopped by Granger who grabbed Sam's shoulder. "Agent Hanna, take care of your partner."

Sam hesitated momentarily. He desperately wanted to get a piece of Nate in retaliation for what he had done. Then his eyes went toward Callen who was still sitting slumped in the chair, looking dejected. Deeks was squatting beside him, speaking quietly as Kensi stood in the background, watching, but Callen didn't seem to be responding at all. Sam headed over to them as Deeks stood up and shook his head, indicating things weren't going well.

"Hey G," Sam lightly rested his hand on Callen's shoulder and squeezed it gently. "Why don't we get you out of here, okay?"

Callen raised his head slightly and looked up at Sam with dazed eyes, then nodded. His whole body felt weak and shaky and he allowed Sam to help him to his feet.

"It's gonna be okay," Sam said softly, gratified that he seemed to be getting through to his partner.

He put his arm around Callen to support him as they headed out of the room and Deeks and Kensi followed slowly behind.