Author's Note:

I hope everybody had a fabulous New Year! So, this story takes place after the 6x11 holiday episode, Humbug, and will go AU, apart from the rest of the season, from there. Hope you enjoy! My penname, NavyStrong42099 is dedicated to my brother.

-C

She had been here before.

In the middle of this alley in downtown Los Angeles. But the memory wasn't connecting. Something was blocking it- like a name of a person you knew but your lips wouldn't form the words...

Kensi reached out in front of her with slightly trembling hands, praying that they would stop for just a moment so she could pick the lock. After working it for several seconds longer than it usually would have taken, it sprang open with ease. She turned around to motion to her partner.

Nobody was there.

Her tongue darted out to wet her lips, her mouth drier than it ever had been from anxiety. The only awakening feeling was the cold grip of her gun.

She stepped silently into the darkness, not entirely sure where she was but somehow knew where to go. Kensi shuffled forward, listening for any sign that she was not the only living thing in the vicinity.

When she rounded a corner the whole place lit up suddenly. Very clearly, in the middle of the room with blood running from his mouth, was Deeks. Kensi ran to his side, tugging at the straps that held him to the chair. It was as useless as attacking steel with kids' safety scissors. Yet still she clawed until blood ran from her destroyed fingers.

A force was pulling her away from him.

"Deeks!" she cried out, struggling against the invisible, intangible foe. Kensi turned to face this newfound enemy, only to find the shadowy faces of some of their worst opponents lurking in the dark.

She turned back around. There was a gaping hole in the middle of his head.

"Deeks!" Kensi screamed as the darkness took her in…

….and spat her back out in a barely illuminated cave. She was in pain. Such a clawing, gripping pain in her heart, a pounding sensation in her head. Physical wounds burned all over, but nothing had ever sent her into a panic quicker than seeing Deeks dead.

Now the source of her oncoming panic was standing right in front of her. A cloaked figure holding a knife to her neck.

"He's not coming for you…he's not coming for you…he's not coming for you," he repeated over and over and over again.

Kensi felt the hot tears stinging as they scurried down her face. The ground shook beneath as she waited for the aggressor to make the blade meet her skin….

Everything vanished. The ground shook beneath her.

Kensi shot straight up, reaching for a gun that wasn't attached to her hip. She hit something next to her that grunted.

The shaking was gone, but the buzzing noise persisted. She glanced down to see her phone lighting up as somebody called her. Kensi reached for it just as it stopped ringing.

She took a deep breath, waiting for her heart rate to slow. It was nearly impossible while she was still reliving her nightmare.

For reassurance Kensi looked down to her right, where her blond haired, blue eyed partner and, more recently, boyfriend, had just turned over in his sleep. She lightly swept his bangs away from his face, the light of the television confirming that he was unscathed.

The brunette rubbed the grogginess out of her eyes to find that a small, singular tear had made its way from the dream world into reality. She quickly flicked the evidence of the nightmare away. It took a while, but her breathing finally slowed enough so she could hear Deeks's light snoring and the infomercial advertising a vacuum.

Kensi remembered somebody had been calling her, so she began searching the couch pillows for her phone. Her eyes had finally rid themselves of the fuzziness; her vision was clear enough to actually make out the words on the harshly lit screen.

"Granger?" she murmured, voice hoarse.

Kensi began dialing him back when a thought occurred to her. She checked Deeks's phone for any missed calls. Nope, none. As if sensing something was wrong, her partner turned over in his sleep.

Why would Granger only call me if it we had a case?

As if the forces of the universe had answered her question, her phone began buzzing again. Kensi rose unsteadily to her feet and stepped on their take out from the night before as she made her way from the living room to the back door. Monty got up to follow her, but she shooed him away. The chilly air quickly woke her up; she knew the conversation about to happen would do even a better job.

"Yeah?" she said, answer Granger's call.

"You know the convenience store on Chapman Road?"

"Sure, but why-"

"I'll see you in the parking lot there. Ten minutes. Come alone."

He hung up.

Kensi massaged her temples. What secret mission could Granger possibly want from her now?

It was four in the morning on a Saturday and her best friend was still naively asleep on her couch. Kensi could not have been in a worse mood when she set the SRX in park. She knew this place- it was only three blocks or so away from OSP and its being open 24/7 enticed agents to make a stop there when pulling all-nighters on a case. There have been too many to count for Kensi.

She took note of Granger's car at the side of the building, locked her own vehicle, and proceeded to approach it. Without knocking or any announcement of her arrival, Kensi threw open a passenger door in the back and slumped into the seat.

"Wanna tell me what's so important?" she grumbled.

"Good morning to you too," Granger returned sharply. He turned around to face the agent. "Did you see Jones?"

"You called Nell here too? What's going on?"

"I'm only running through this once, Blye. We'll wait for her."

It was another two minutes before the intelligence analyst showed up, also looking half dead. The usually-chipper woman looked ready to throttle Granger for the unexpected call.

"You two better wake up quickly because this is serious."

Nell and Kensi shot each other a look. Granger handed them each impossibly thick folders. 'Classified' must have been stamped across it at least half a dozen times.

Kensi felt her heart rise in her throat. Before she could stop herself, she found herself asking:

"Is this going to be like last time?"

Granger didn't answer. Rather, he just continued. "We, meaning SECNAV, the director, deputy director, and I, believe that there is an ongoing shift in our enemies. There is a substantial amount of evidence to make us believe that a new terrorist organization has infiltrated NCIS globally in an effort to strike against our military men and women."

Kensi grinded her teeth. If there was any way to go about doing that, NCIS would be a smart place to start in the eyes of the infiltrators. Less obvious, but still holds all the same information.

"Why are you telling us this? Why not Navy SEALs or Special Forces?" Nell inquired.

"We need this worked from the inside. That, and I trust you both."

Trust. The only thing that outranked experience in this line of work.

"So what's the situation here?" asked Kensi.

"Fleet Week 2013- as I'm sure you remember, there was an extremely serious bomb threat. It took days to secure all the ships docked in New York and get everything back in order. Missions were set back. Personnel interrogated- it was a huge mess. This is why Fleet Week no longer exists.

"In any case, nobody owned up to being responsible. Not our usual enemies anyway. Then came several attacks on U.S. Navy ships in the Indian Ocean. We thought they were Somali pirates, but these were far more serious. They demolished a destroyer and rendered others barely fixable.

"At this point a task force was established, consisting of military men and women and NCIS agents abroad. Their names and locations were leaked and within twenty-four hours all of them were dead. Another attack two weeks ago at our naval base in Singapore killed thirty five Navy and Marine officers. In its wake, a group finally claimed responsibility for it.

"They're called VOAM- short for 'Victims of the American Military'. As far as we can tell they have no distinct leader or any identifiable allegiance to a singular race or country. However, they did hint at another major, bigger attack to come.

"You are part of a task force, stretching across the globe, that only includes NCIS personnel whom Director Vance, Deputy Director Stone, and myself have hand chosen. Only SECNAV and those above know the identities of all the team members in order to reduce the chances of another leak. Find out what they're planning and apprehend it."

It was the most Kensi had ever heard Granger say at once, but none of it boded well.

"Where will we be for the duration of the mission?" Kensi asked, mind flashing back to Afghanistan. She couldn't go through something like that again.

"Here, in Los Angeles. You must go about your usual business. Nobody, I repeat nobody, is to be read in on this or have this discussed with other than the people in this car. Understand? Any disclosure will result in immediate disbandment of any NCIS duties- and possible charges in treason."

"Understood," Nell answered promptly.

Kensi only nodded, gripping the edges of the folder as if it were keeping her grounded to the car seat.

"In those folders is also information about the method of contacting other team members. You start tomorrow. Dismissed."

Kensi couldn't get out of the car fast enough. She held the folder against her chest, storming back to her car. It wasn't fair. How could she be dragged into another classified mission like this?

"Kens! Hold up!" Nell called from behind. Kensi forced herself to stop.

Her friend caught up to her as Granger's car disappeared from the lot- leaving the two women alone.

"It's not going to be like Afghanistan," she said quietly. "I have your back."

"A whole task force has already been slaughtered by VOAM. What makes this time any different?"

"Us. We're going to get them, Kens. We'll get through this together."

The corner of Kensi's lip curled into a smile at Nell's optimism. "I'll talk to you soon."

"Night Kens."

"Night Nell."

The first thing Kensi did was stuff the folder under the mattress in her bedroom. Cliché, yes, but Deeks knew all of her better hiding spots…

How the hell was she going to keep this from Deeks? Partners don't keep secrets…especially not them- not anymore. He would sense something was up almost immediately. She could play a part for a while. Go undercover. But not when that cover was hiding her from the one person who knew her the most.

More than that, she didn't want to keep this from him.

She was scared.

Even though there was no possible way sleep would come back to her, Kensi reclaimed her spot on the couch. In his slumber, Deeks' hand had reached forward as if he somehow sensed she wasn't there anymore. She gently lifted his arm, curled up, and moved her hand so it was embraced by his. Reassurance that he was still there.

Please let me know what you thought! In addition, note that some current events were altered to fit the actual story, and are not actually true.