AN: This is my attempt at answering some questions, closing some gaps, and just working it all out in my mind. Expect two chapters with the possibility of a third, depending on how I feel about Whiting and how busy I am with work this week. Chapter 2 (which will be all Densi) should be up mid-week.
Spoilers: Up to and including Payback (8x15).
Disclaimer: I put in a bid to buy NCIS: LA, but until I hear back, let's assume I don't own it and I'm not making any money from this.
Deeks carefully placed Kensi in the back seat of the SUV and gently closed the door before heading to the other side. As she buckled her seatbelt, Sam asked with obvious concern, "You sure you're okay Kensi? Want us to take you to the hospital, get looked at?"
"No Sam, really, I'm fine. Deeks is just being very overprotective." She heard the man in question open the back hatch of the vehicle and root around in one of the tac bags. Less than a minute later, he was sliding into the seat beside her, giving her a bottle of water and some gauze pads. "I said I needed a few seconds to get the feeling back in my feet and he decided I didn't need to walk at all. I'm good now." Especially since Deeks told her that Hetty and Granger were in fact, fine. After the distraction of their all-too-brief reunion, Kensi's grief came back full force until Deeks explained the reality: the team had sent those pictures so that Ferris would think his plans were progressing as expected. They didn't want him tipped off that anything was wrong for fear he would move Kensi again.
"Just practicing for the next time, when I really carry you over the threshold," Deeks said, unembarrassed, as he watched his partner drink deeply from the bottle and then wipe the dried blood from her lips and chin with the gauze. He pointed to his own face to help her get spot she missed. When she was finished, Deeks took Kensi's hand in his. He still needed the comfort of physical contact, and by the way she held on, knew Kensi did too.
Kensi had admitted, while they were still alone in the room where Ferris kept her, that she had been drugged two, maybe three times over the course of the day. He understood her reluctance to go to the hospital, and would respect her wishes for the time being. But he would be keeping a close eye on her until the morning.
As Sam pulled away from the curb, Kensi shook her head and said, "I can't believe I didn't see Sullivan, or whatever his name is – "
"Ferris," all three men supplied simultaneously.
"Okay, Ferris, for the psychopath that he was. I mean, I spent hours a day with this guy for several months, and I never suspected a thing."
Kensi noticed Deeks' and Sam's quick looks at Callen. She figured their team leader would be the one to comment on her poor judgement. Deciding it was better to rip that particular Band-Aid off now, she pushed on, "Go ahead Callen, let's get it over with."
"Ferris was smart, Kens. And psychopaths are very good at hiding their true selves. He approached you when you were physically and emotionally vulnerable, and the fact that he's an amputee made his presence in rehab completely unsuspicious. I'm sure looking back you'll see some hints you could have picked up on then. Be cognizant of those things and learn from them." Glancing at his partner, Callen continued, "I know I will."
Confused, Kensi asked, "What does that mean?"
No one spoke for a few seconds. Kensi looked to Deeks for some sort of clue as to what was going on. He started to mouth something to her when Callen finally spoke. "Joelle was a plant too."
Kensi gasped, "Joelle? Your Joelle?" When the senior agent only nodded, she said, "Oh my God, Callen, I'm so sorry. How did you find out?"
Sam explained, "We found her in the church we thought Ferris was holding you in. Bound to a chair with a hood over her head. Said she'd been abducted this morning. Not sure exactly how, but Hetty figured out she was CIA while we had her at the boatshed for her protection."
Kensi took a few seconds to absorb that information. "Sullivan…Ferris said this all stemmed from us getting involved in Afghanistan a few years ago. You met Joelle when I was there, didn't you, Callen?"
Yeah, because Michelle and I set them up, Sam thought bitterly. He was not looking forward to the conversation with his wife tonight. G was right, they'd all be scrutinizing their own actions and judgement for a long time to come.
"Yes," was all Callen said.
"What was her assignment?" Kensi wanted to know.
"According to Hetty, she was just supposed to gather intel," Deeks supplied. "Apparently she was already placed at Kamran's school so she could keep tabs on foreign dignitaries through their children. So it was just a hop, skip, and a blind date from there to Callen."
Kensi cringed internally. "Well, if it makes you feel any better, Callen, Sullivan was after me for revenge." Meeting Deeks' eyes, she said, "If he could have, he would have slept with me just to break us up, so it would hurt me even more when all this happened."
"That's the real reason he showed up at the house that day," Deeks realized, and felt his anger simmering again. His finger itched to put another couple of rounds through the CIA agent's head.
"He came to your house?" Callen was surprised to hear this.
"Yeah, with a six pack of beer, supposedly to thank me for my help in rehab and say goodbye before he re-joined his unit in the Middle East. When he came on to me, I was kind of surprised, because I hadn't ever gotten the sense that he was interested."
"And because he knew you have a fiancé," Deeks added, the agitation sounding in his voice. But when he thought about the timing, things clicked, "Guys, that happened the day we found Natalie Grant and identified Rae as the woman who tried to pick up Granger. I wonder if Sullivan wanted to be close to Kensi in case Natalie talked? You know, to be ready to act on his plans for revenge if it looked like things were beginning to fall apart." Considering this made Deeks sick to his stomach.
"How long was he there, Kensi?" Sam asked, thinking Deeks may very well be right.
Kensi replied, "A few hours. I cut him off after his third beer but I wasn't comfortable letting him drive, so we took another walk around the block, came back and watched some basketball and hockey." She paused for a moment. "Now that I think about it, he hit on me when I started hinting about having things to do."
"Hoping he could get you to let him stay a while longer," Deeks said sourly.
"And when I said no, he went to get another beer," Kensi remembered as she replayed the afternoon in her head, now through the filter of suspicion.
"Because he knew you wouldn't make him leave then," Callen said.
"Except that I'd dumped the last two already. Just in case."
"So you were mistrustful of him on some level," Sam encouraged.
"Not of being someone other than who he said he was, Sam, and definitely not of having any sort of hatred for me. When he started talking about how much he liked my smile and that I made him feel like losing his leg didn't matter, I just figured he'd had too much to drink and was hoping for a last roll in the hay with someone before he deployed again."
"And when Kensi mentioned it the next day, it bothered me because some snaggle-toothed jerk was hitting on my ladybird, but not because of what was going on with the mole. Damnit!"
"Kensi told you about this already?" Again, there was surprise in Callen's voice.
"Of course," Kensi said.
"Why wouldn't she?" asked Deeks at the same time.
Not about to let this devolve into a discussion about what couples do and don't tell one another, Sam brought them back to the matter at hand, "Like G said, we'll all start seeing where we could have made connections now that we're looking for them and have more information. Hindsight is twenty-twenty, Deeks, and none of us are going to let this happen again."
"Hetty mentioned that there was some kind of history between you and Ferris, Kensi. Was that it? His attempt to seduce you?" Callen didn't want to keep bringing this up with Kensi and Deeks, but they needed to know how all the pieces fit together. They had to be sure that Sherov, Ferris, Sabatino, Joelle, Brown, and the others they'd worked with along the way were the sum total of the group that was after them.
"I didn't know this until today, but apparently I'm responsible for the loss of his leg."
"What?! How the hell does he come to that conclusion when it was an IED?" Deeks fumed.
"That was a cover story. He was shot in the leg in Afghanistan, the day after Christmas 2013."
"Wait, so you really did shoot him?" Deeks asked hopefully.
"We were told the group he was with was Taliban. I didn't know he was an American, and I certainly didn't know he was CIA. My orders were to injure some of them, so I did."
"Pity you weren't told to kill them; we could have avoided today's excitement," Sam noted.
"And I wouldn't have had to spend the day with a lunatic threatening to cut off my leg."
"God, that's what his payback was going to be? Break us up and leave you an amputee just like him?" Deeks was back to feeling nauseated.
"Don't worry, I hurt him way more than he hurt me today. Not that you would notice now that he has two bullet holes in his head, but he had a nice wound to the stomach thanks to yours truly."
"How'd you manage that, Kensi?" Sam asked, impressed.
"After I woke up from the last time Sullivan drugged me I bit my tongue and pretend to choke. He didn't buy it at first, so he smacked me, but when I kept it up, he tipped the wheelchair over so I was on my back. When he cut off the wire ties from one ankle and wrist, I made my move."
"That's my girl," Deeks crowed with delight.
"What happened? Deeks was cutting you lose when we got there," Callen pointed out.
"I got myself completely free after a bit of scuffle with him. That room was full of weapons of opportunity, and I managed to slice him with a box cutter before the other two came in, fully armed. Otherwise Sullivan, shit, Ferris, would have been the one tied to a wheelchair when you showed up. Any idea who they were?"
"Not yet," Callen answered. "But probably CIA."
"Damned spooks," Deeks said under his breath.
Kensi squeezed the hand that had been holding hers since they got into the SUV, and Deeks flinched. It was then that she noticed the cuts and bruises. "What did you do to your hand, Deeks?"
"He tried to break Sabatino's face," Sam said again.
Kensi looked to Deeks for an explanation.
Deeks shrugged, "I needed to know where you were and he was our only chance of finding you."
Kensi gave him a smile of warmth and pride. She would have kissed him if Callen and Sam weren't there. Instead, she put her focus back on the recent events and all she had missed. "Okay, so Sullivan, sorry Ferris, was involved in this to get revenge against me. And, according to him, because we kept screwing things up in Afghanistan for the CIA. What was he talking about? And how was Sabatino involved?"
Callen filled in some of the blanks, "Sabatino said he was trying to infiltrate a group of corrupt CIA agents involved in illegal activities in Afghanistan. Your 'interference' there, and probably our subsequent arrival to rescue you and Jack cost them a lot of money. They got tired of it and decided to do something about it."
"But we don't believe him. Sabatino's as guilty as the rest of them." Deeks stated.
"I don't know about that, Deeks. He could be telling the truth," Sam said.
"I knew he was up to something when we were in Afghanistan, but at the time I thought he was really the White Ghost. Which he obviously wasn't since that was just an excuse to kill Jack. He could have been gathering intel about Ferris then, since we now know he was there too."
"Or he could have been working with him," Deeks pointed out. "And Sherov. He's the other member of this merry band we learned about," he added for Kensi's benefit.
"That's true too," Kensi acknowledged. "But who framed you guys and Granger? And why? Payback for Hetty sending me to mess with their plans in the Middle East?"
Again, silence filled the cab of the vehicle as the men delayed in saying the words. "Granger had to have been framed and nearly killed, twice, by this CIA group. He was in Afghanistan too, and giving the orders, so they likely blamed him as much as Hetty. Any previous attempts against us were probably them as well, either to destroy the OSP, get us out of the game, or to hurt Hetty and/or end her career. As for the three of us, Hetty set us up to keep us out of danger," Sam declared. And sounded like he truly believed it.
"Wait, what?" Kensi was stunned. She'd used the term "framed" to describe the actions against all four men even though she knew that wasn't technically true in Deeks' case, but Callen and Sam didn't know that. Kensi looked at Deeks and saw the betrayal reflected in his eyes. "I don't know about you two, but Deeks was in lock-up with a bunch of gang-bangers! How is that out of danger? Anything could have happened to you guys in there. Hell, Granger was stabbed while in LAPD custody."
"You know Hetty, she has her own way of doing things," Callen said.
"Yeah, but she could have told me afterward. So Nell and I didn't have to bother trying to get you out."
"Nell did say Hetty told you all to stay put in the mission," Sam reminded her.
She also left me in charge and you three were behind bars, potentially in danger, she thought but didn't say, because Deeks subtly shook his head, and Kensi understood he was asking her not to go down this particular path right now. And he was probably right. Kensi could sense she and Sam, and possibly Callen, would get into an argument about it if she didn't keep quiet. But they would definitely discuss it at home later.
Instead, Kensi changed the subject slightly, "So how did you get out? Did Hetty finally come clean? I know Nell was about to break Callen out when I ran into Sullivan. Ferris."
"Nell helped me out, Sam talked his way out, and Detective Whiting finally agreed to let Deeks out after she saw the video of your abduction, but only if she tagged along," Callen explained.
"Whiting was helping you search for me?" Seeing the expression on Deeks' face, Kensi knew there was more to that story. Another thing to talk about tonight, when it was just the two of them.
"Until she was shot by Carl Brown," Deeks said as he pulled out his phone to check for any messages about her status.
"Carl escaped custody this morning, how the hell did he come back into play?" This was beginning to make less and less sense to Kensi.
Callen took over. "He didn't actually escape. Hetty orchestrated that and used Carl as bait to bring the rogue CIA agents to her. Sabatino, Sherov, and a third man showed up. Hetty shot the unknown guy, Sherov died when she blew up the garage they were in, and we took down Brown when he shot Whiting."
"Any news on her, Deeks?" Sam wanted to know.
"Nothing so far." He sent a text to Lieutenant Bates requesting an update and letting him know they had recovered Kensi safe and sound.
"Wow. And I thought I had a bad day," Kensi muttered.
"Princess, they could update that children's book with you as the main character: Kensi Blye and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Year," Deeks whispered back.
Arriving at the mission, Kensi gave her partner a warning look. "I am walking in there on my own two feet, Deeks."
She did walk in, but Deeks was no more than a hair's breadth from her side. Eric and Nell were there to welcome the team home, and both had hugs for Kensi.
"Glad you're okay, lady," Nell said.
"So happy to see you up and about again," added Eric.
When Hetty approached the group, Deeks stiffened and walked away. He headed to his locker and removed some belongings. "Welcome back, Ms. Blye. You look none the worse for wear. Are you feeling well?"
"I'm fine," Kensi replied deliberately.
"We started our debrief on the way here, Hetty. I'm thinking the after-action reports can wait until tomorrow?" Callen suggested.
"A good idea, Mr. Callen. You all deserve to go home and relax tonight. It has been a long and eventful few days. I believe I will head to the hospital, and fill Owen in on the recent goings-on."
As Callen gathered his shoulder bag from his desk and headed for the hallway, he was heard to say, "Seeing all those power tools in that house inspired me. I think I'm going to work on a home improvement project tonight."
Deeks held out his hand to Kensi, "Ready?"
She grasped the proffered hand and also took hold of his arm with her other hand. "Let's go home, baby."
"I'm driving," he stated firmly, leaving no room for argument as they walked together toward the door.
AN2: I have to give props to Tess DiCorsi, whose article on wikiDeeks, Mole in the Hole! Looking Back & Looking Ahead helped me clarify some the elements of the team's discussion. Also, thanks to sassyzazzi and Max and Fern 4ever for the chats that inspired some issues addressed in this chapter and the next one. Also, I just read writeallnight's We're All Right before I did the final read-though of my story. I swear, any similarities (in this chapter or the next, which is already written) are purely coincidental!