"Callen, over here" Kensi called out from behind the yellow tape. As he walked over to the cordoned off area with Sam, Callen could see the whole area swarming with cops.
The son of a high ranking military analyst had been the target of an attempted kidnapping. Aaron Jenkins had been out with his friends, partying all night and on their way back, two vans had boxed in their car forcing them to stop. But the thugs had not counted on Aaron and his friends having guns with them and a firefight had broken out. One of the would-be kidnappers had died on the spot and three more had been badly injured before the criminals decided to cut their losses and run in their one intact van, leaving the other behind with two flats and barrage of bullet holes.
One of Aaron's friends was hit in the chest while Aaron himself was injured by windshield shards all down his left side.
When the dead thug was identified as a member of the Mexican drug cartel with connections to a middle eastern terrorist organization, and which was at the moment being infiltrated by an LAPD undercover cop, all hell had broken loose.
Kensi had received a call at 5am from Eric asking her to pick up Deeks and reach the scene of the shootout. They had reached in time to talk to Aaron before the paramedics took him to the hospital where his friend was already in surgery and in a critical state. Kensi and Deeks had just started checking out the van when Callen and Sam pulled over in the Challenger.
"That's a lot of firepower for a bunch of kids" Sam noted as he and Callen came up to the van.
"Yeah. From what Aaron told us, his dad has been paranoid about something like this for a while and he takes Aaron and his friends to the shooting range every week. They've been in training for the past couple of years." Kensi said as she inspected the damage.
"I can't imagine a father putting a high caliber weapon in his son's hand, let alone actually teaching him to shoot." Deeks added.
"Really Deeks?" Kensi turned and gave him an icy glare. "This from the guy who shot his own father?"
"What? Its not like I did it for fun! I was eleven, I didn't even understand the consequences fully. But to actually train your kid to do this..."
"My dad taught me how to shoot, are you saying that he shouldn't have? And what about Aaron? Isn't it better that they could actually defend themselves when this happened, rather than be kidnapped and god knows what else."
"Well at least his friend would not have been fighting for his life in the OR right now. They would all be alive and we would do our jobs and get them back safe and sound."
"Really? Would you be able to look his dad in the eye and guarantee..." Kensi's agitation was visible in her face now and Callen hastily interrupted trying to defuse the situation.
"All right, you two! We can't change what has happened, but we can make sure that we catch these guys. And although its not technically our job, we need to figure out if LAPD's undercover op has been compromised."
Kensi was still staring daggers at Deeks as he stared back. "All right," she said finally. "Callen, I think you and I should go talk to the officer in charge while Sam checks out the van with Deeks."
Callen raised his eyebrows and gave Sam a look before hurrying after Kensi who had already started walking away. Catching up, he gave a quick sideways glance, taking in her set jaw and narrow eyes. "You mind telling me what that was about?" he asked.
"Nothing at all." Kensi replied in an even tone.
"Come on Kens. I know you and Deeks have this whole playful banter thing going, but this was way beyond that."
"Well, who the hell does he think he is, talking about Aaron's dad like that? Just because his dad never cared..."
"Hey, that's a bit unfair." Callen was taken aback by the low blow, Kensi usually never spoke this way. "We can't begin to understand what their dynamics was like, you never even knew his dad."
"Yeah, and he never knew..." Kensi stopped abruptly and clenched her jaw.
"Is that what this is about?" Callen asked, his eyes searching Kensi's face."Kensi, you know that Deeks was not criticizing your dad back there, right?"
Kensi silently walked on to the cluster of squad cars and Callen gave a deep sigh as he followed her. Identifying a senior looking guy in a suit standing with a bunch of uniformed policemen, he pulled out his badge and said "Good morning detective, I'm agent Callen, this is Agent Blye from NCIS. We're here on Major Jenkins' request."
"Detective Henry." the guy in the suit shook Callen's hand. "You're welcome to this bloody mess if you ask me. The body has been sent to the coroner's, we should have the report by evening. I think your agents already talked to the Jenkins boy. Anything else you want a hand with, you can expect full co-operation from officers Davis and Jones here." He nodded towards two cops in uniform standing by.
"Any word from your undercover guy in the cartel?"
"We've lost touch with him since yesterday. We're fearing the worst. There's a high level meeting going on right now, we might get the go ahead to storm one of their known safe-houses. Now if you'll excuse me I have to get back to the precinct and brief my boss."
"Sure. Thanks detective. We would appreciate it if you could give us a call if there are any developments."
"Will do. But I recommend that you keep your scanner tuned to our frequency as well, best way to get the quickest updates is still the oldest."
"Appreciate it detective" Callen shook hands with Detective Henry and then turned to the two uniformed officers.
"We need you guys to question the residents of the buildings along this road. Ask them if they saw or heard anything."
"Yes sir, we can do that." Officer Davis nodded.
"And make sure you talk to the shop owners too." Kensi added. "Check if any of them have security cameras facing the street."
"Of course" Davis nodded again, and Kensi saw his eyes sweep over her body, resting momentarily at her chest before coming back up to meet her eyes. Noticing the leering glance, Kensi opened her mouth and took a half-step forward.
"All right, we'll be off then" Callen interjected quickly, having sensed that Kensi was about to blow her top. He gently took her arm and turned her away from the two officers. Kensi could almost feel two pairs of eyes focussing on her butt as she walked away quickly, taking deep breaths to calm herself down.
"Un-fucking-believable" Kensi hissed through gritted teeth.
"Forget it Kens, its not worth it."
"Really? Its bad enough that I get this from the lowlifes we go after, but cops? I hate being looked at like a piece of meat."
Callen could see that her bad mood was just getting worse and he wisely held his tongue, knowing that there was nothing he could say to make her feel better. He hoped that she had forgotten her little tiff with Deeks. He knew that the shaggy haired detective could always be trusted to get a smile back on her face.
Any hopes of the partners reconciling however, were dashed as soon as they reached back to the van. Kensi walked straight past Deeks without as much as a glance in his direction. Deeks looked at her with a raised eyebrow, but didn't say anything.
Callen and Sam exchanged glances again. This wasn't a good day for the team.
"So anything from the van?" Callen knew that getting back to work was the only way out of this.
"Nothing much, but it does have a navigation system. I'm trying to get Eric connected to see if he can figure out where it has been in the last few days." Sam replied. "There's also some residue in the back which looks like drugs, but it seems to have some fluid mixed up in it. Deeks thinks it might be blood."
"You think the cop had his cover blown and was stashed in the back here?" Callen looked at Deeks
"Maybe. Every undercover operative's worst nightmare." Deeks said quietly. "Luckily we might be able to find out quite soon. There's a special forensic team headed this way with a mobile unit that will tell us in minutes if there's a blood match."
"Sounds good. Why don't you guys wait here and see if there's anything else you can pick up, while Sam and I head over to the hospital. Major Jenkins will be there by now and we need to talk to him."
"I think I'd better go with you guys." Kensi said, looking pointedly at Callen. "I think our LAPD liaison can wait for the LAPD forensic team to arrive and do their job, right?"
Callen and Sam both looked at Deeks simultaneously and then at each other. With an inscrutable look on his face, Deeks replied after a moment of silence. "Sure, no problem. I don't have my car here though, you're my ride."
Kensi seemed to struggle with herself for a minute before reaching into her pocket. She tossed her keys towards Deeks, turned away and walked towards the Challenger.
"Wow. She's really pissed enough to give up her car rather than stay here with you?" Sam looked incredulous. "Good luck buddy." He patted Deeks on the shoulder and walked away as well.
"Call us when you're done here." Callen said. "I'm pretty sure we'll be done with the hospital by then, so we'll probably meet up at the boatshed."
"I'll do that." Deeks said as he glanced toward the Challenger. Kensi had already got into the back seat and the tinted windows obscured her completely. "And Callen... um... "
"Don't worry Deeks, she'll be fine. Just give her time."
"Its just that... its her dad's birth day today" Deeks continued. "I think she might be missing him. Take care of her, yeah?"
Seeing the concern in his eyes, Callen gave Deeks a reassuring nod and turned around. Kensi's bad mood and touchiness made a lot more sense now. He got into the passenger seat and closed the door. As Sam pulled away, he could see Deeks watching. He turned towards the back seat.
"Kensi, take your time, but I need to know that you'll be fine with Deeks. We can't have this if the team is to function properly. Will you try to get over this by the time we're done at the hospital?"
Kensi just nodded, staring out of the window.
"Look, I'm sorry. I know today must be especially hard for you" Callen's voice was much softer now
Kensi turned towards him with raised eyebrows "You knew what today is?" her voice sounded very surprised.
"Deeks did. He just told me." Seeing Sam's quizzical look, Callen silently mouthed "Dad's birthday".
Kensi was silent again, lost in thought. She had no idea how Deeks knew about her dad's birthday, but thinking about it, she wasn't all that surprised. Her partner knew so many tiny details of her life without her telling him. He knew how to put his detective skills to use when he wanted to. Her thoughts were interrupted by Sam's voice "You want to talk about it Kens? We're here for you."
"Its fine guys. This day is hard for me every year." She paused again and watched Callen fiddling with the knobs on the scanner, trying to tune to the police frequency. "My dad never made a big deal of birthdays but I always wanted to do something special for him. I once actually baked a cake for him. It was hard as a rock and tasted terrible, but he ate it all and told me that he loved it." Kensi smiled at the memory. A fresh burst of static blasted from the scanner and Callen hastily turned the knob.
"He always used to tell me that I was the best at everything" Kensi continued. "That I could do anything I wanted to. If I wanted to shoot a gun or ride a bike, I could do it better than anyone else. Better than all the boys who always thought of me as a little girl. It used to really make me mad when the boys wouldn't let me in their sports. Still does. I hate it when I have to put on a short dress and have everyone stare at me. I detest the fact that part of my job is to actually act like a weak girl to get criminals to let their guard down. Makes me feel like I'm not good enough to take them out without that."
"Come on Kensi, you know and we know that you could take out anyone you wanted even without all that." Sam spoke up as Callen tried another frequency on the scanner.
"Then why is it that I'm only allowed to take point when I dress like a slut? When its time to go in all guns blazing, you guys are the ones to do it. That's just the way it is and it makes me mad. The problem is part of the system. Even those two cops today were openly checking me out. Even though I fucking outrank them. I could almost hear them thinking their filthy thoughts..."
"... that ass on her?" the scanner piped up suddenly as Callen found the frequency. "I've half a mind to apply to NCIS just to see her working out in their gym."
There was a moment of shocked silence in the car as all three occupants stared at the scanner.
"Is that the frequency the cops at the crime scene are at?" Sam looked at Callen. Callen could see barely concealed rage in his eyes.
"That's officer Davis, who we had the pleasure of meeting back there. They must have accidentally left their transmitter on." Callen said as he reached towards the scanner to change the frequency, but before he could, Kensi grabbed his arm. "No Callen, I want to hear this. Just so that I know what everyone outside the team actually thinks of me."
"...really fine. And did you check out her rack? What I wouldn't give to put my face between..."
"Come on Kensi, forget those bastards." Callen tried to get Kensi to let go of his arm, but she gripped it even more tightly.
"Forget it? You see what I'm talking about? Its so fucking frustrating to deal with this. You guys never have to put up with this shit, do you? Next time I see those assholes, I've half a mind to grind their balls to dust."
"...wouldn't mind spreading her over the hood of the squad car and feeling her... owww!" there was an unmistakable sound of a head hitting metal followed by the crack of a chin pushed against glass.
"You feel that? Huh? Do you feel that, buddy?" came a familiar voice over the scanner.
"Is that Deeks?" Sam asked.
"What the hell man, let me go. You're breaking my arm."
From the sounds, Callen could clearly imagine officer Davis slammed up against the squad car, one arm twisted behind him and Deeks grabbing his hair to keep his face on the windshield. Standard operating procedure while subduing a suspect.
"Yeah, just be glad that you didn't say what you did where she could hear you, or a broken arm would be the least of your worries. She would have slit your jugular vein eleven different ways without you feeling a thing. And kicked your nuts out through your throat. Not necessarily in that order."
"I'm sorry man. Oww.. Please let me go.. it won't happen again."
"You're damn right it won't. Because every time you even think of disrespecting any woman again, you're going to think about this. Think about her. Agent Kensi Blye, NCIS. One of the best goddamn agents in all of law enforcement. She can put a bullet through your forehead from a hundred yards away. She can outrun you while wearing heels, and have you curled up on the ground screaming in agony if you try to take her on. Talk like that about her again and there's a good chance that you'll wake up with some of your vital organs missing."
There was another bump followed by an "Oww" and someone in the background asking "Hey, you ok Davis?".
Callen reached out and turned down the volume. He looked at Sam who had a smirk on his face and a look of pride and satisfaction in his eyes. Callen was sure that his face showed similar emotions as well and he couldn't help glancing back at Kensi. She was again staring out of the window, a hint of moisture in her eyes. Before Callen could say anything, she reached into her pocket, took out her phone and hit speed dial.
"Hey partner." Callen heard her say softly as he and Sam both kept their gazes focused on the road ahead. "Yeah, I'm fine. I'm good... Just called to make sure that you were picking me up at the hospital later. You know how cramped the back seat of the Challenger is... Yeah, of course I do... Right... And take care that you don't get a scratch on my car. Oh, and if I find my radio reprogrammed, you're gonna be in big trouble... All right. Later then."
Callen smiled to himself as he relaxed in his seat. He recognized that little exchange as an explicit apology and reconciliation in the bizzare Kensi-Deeks partnership world. He was relieved that that was one less thing for him to worry about. He could focus on the case now. His team was complete again.