notes: not for profit, not mine. Thanks PB! Kensi's baby daddy is clearly inspired by a character from another show. Chapter titles and title from Tanya Donnelly's Goat Girl.

xxx

In the nearly literally a year since Marty had been partnered with the lovely single mother Kensi Blye, he'd already followed her to Romania and Prague, taken a bullet for her, and had way too many inappropriate thoughts about her in the shower. Now he was watching Nell prepare to dissect her personal life. At the very least the personal life of her baby daddy who apparently Assistant Director Granger - much less pleasant than Lead Director in Charge Vance - thought was offing Marines.

Nell swiped at the screen. "Casey Michaels was born Charles Seth Kearing in 1980."

"That name's familiar," Marty said. "How do I know that?" He was also wondering why Kensi had never mentioned Casey had a fake last name. Also, Casey was an unusual nickname for Charles Seth.

"Casey Kearing's mother is the physicist Calla Kearing. She died in 1988 in a lab explosion that killed three other people and has been the subject of conspiracy theorists ever since. Some people think she was working on alien technology and knew too much," Nell said, skepticism in her voice. Marty had worked with his fair share of old cranky obsessed LAPD cops who believed every right wing conspiracy that came down the bend. Maybe that was where he'd heard it.

"Her son was left in the care of his father, Seth Kearing, who had a mental breakdown, left his son with his wife's lab assistant, the surviving one, and went into the woods and starved himself to death," Nell said.

"That is one shitty childhood," Marty said. And he was a minor expert on shitty childhoods. Maybe even a major expert, even with Nate in the room. Nate, who had just shown up in Granger's trail and also didn't seem to think much of their new Assistant Dictator.

Nell nodded. "Casey Kearing had money from Seth Kearing's poetry books and a lot more money from Calla Kearing's patents on weapons. Casey managed to stay with the lab assistant and not go into the foster system by virtue of the money and also because he's a genius. Seriously."

Eric said, "Is his IQ higher than yours?"

"Actually yes," Nell said. She sounded slightly put out to Marty. "He's like 2 points lower than Walter O'Brien. But I was never, I didn't use my powers for evil."

Eric said, "Technically unproven evil." Eric spun in his chair and threw up a ton of files on the screen. "From ages 13 to 23, Casey Kearing was a suspect in over 1 billion dollars of cyber theft. He was a hacker. But not the malicious kind or the show off kind. It was all just a tool for him."

"He's a sociopath," Granger said. Marty did not like that guy. It had been about two days of knowing the guy, but Marty was feeling very sure. He was willing to put money down Sam and Callen were on Marty's side in this issue.

"He is not a sociopath," Nate said sharply. The doc did not like Granger using that term, clearly. Somehow the righteous anger made Nate seem even taller, like his head was about to graze the ceiling. "Casey Michaels has empathy for others and cares deeply about more than just himself."

Granger huffed. "Fine, he's not a sociopath. He's a son of a bitch. I've been in a room with him, he didn't care if anyone in that room lived or died."

Eric interrupted. "He works for the DoD, now, you know. He turned himself in and confessed to nothing and nothing was ever proven. Now he does internet security and advises the DoD. He makes spy gear. We use some of it here."

"So he was super genius hacker thief and then he just stopped," Marty said. "Was that when he met Kensi?"

"The year before," Granger said, growling.

Marty said, "So why did he do it?"

"The better to con a even larger audience," Granger said. The man did not like Kensi's baby daddy. At all. Which made Marty think Granger had bad taste because Kensi liked and more importantly, trusted Casey and Winter seemed to think he was the bee's knees.

"He told Kensi he just grew up," Nate said.

Callen said, "I don't believe it."

"You don't think he went straight," Marty said.

"Oh, I believe that. But I haven't heard a single thing that makes me think Casey Michaels has been murdering members of Donald Blye's old sniper unit."

"So we're not accepting Granger's explanation that he's a bad bad man," Marty said. "I can see where it might be a hard case to prosecute."

"I have evidence, I have motive. I have a man on the run who seems to have been joined by one of your NCIS agents," Granger said.

Nate said, "And we are saying that is not enough for us to think Kensi would be helping this man."

Sam said, "In his whole alleged criminal past, did Casey ever personally harm someone?"

"Nope," Eric said.

"Are you a fan, Beale?" Granger snarled. He had a definite snarl.

"I admire his computer skills," Eric said.

"I'll bet," Granger said. The man was not endearing himself to anyone in the room.

Sam said, "Let's review this so called evidence."

Nell said, somehow radiating disapproval with the set of her cardigan clad shoulders, "The first member of Donald Blye's unit died in 2006, the year Kensi joined the NCIS, over the objections of some people."

"She means me," Granger said. "I've knew Donald Blye, he would never have wanted Kensi with that man. And outside of those personal concerns, Kensi Blye is linked for life to a man who can not be trusted."

"You met him at a DoD meeting, where he was working for the government. The one we all work for," Eric said, slowly.

"I think we've had enough of your teenage girl fan worship of him," Granger said. "Get back to the actual evidence, Jones."

Nell frowned more, like a tiny Anthropologie bundle of frowns and disapproval in tights and boots. "Then over the last 2 months, 4 more have been killed. There's surveillance footage which shows someone who could be Casey Michaels near the car accidents, in a location where a sniper shot would have been fired. Further forensics show each of these accidents were not accidents, but carefully placed sniper shots."

"If it's a sniper thing, why don't we think Kensi did it?" Marty stepped back at the hostility of everyone in the room besides Granger. "Sorry, but she's the sniper, you described Casey as some kind of hacker criminal type. Does he even shoot? Weren't all these guys in Hawaii? It's not suspicious if someone was in Hawaii. Why wouldn't you be in Hawaii if you could afford it?"

"We know where Blye was when the last four deaths happened," Granger said. "And as to your question, while there's no proof Michaels used a gun in the past, we know for a fact Kensi taught him how to use one."

"She's a good enough teacher to make him a master sniper?" Marty said, "I mean, she is not a great teacher. She tried to show me how to be a better shot and it did not work out." He'd certainly enjoyed her alterations to his shooting stance. He was probably being mean, just because she was impatient and smug with him didn't mean she couldn't teach Casey. But not to be a sniper.

"Maybe the guy with the genius IQ is a better learner than you," Granger said.

Sam said, "Deeks passed the California bar, he's no idiot."

"Thank you," Marty said, surprised.

"No one picks on you but us," Callen said softly, almost smirking.

"Look, we have the evidence," Granger said. "Hunter's signed off on this. Hetty Lange won't be interceding from her recovery bed. Your orders are to find Kearing and Blye before they kill anyone else."

Marty said, "Where's Winter?"

"With Kensi's mother," Nate said.

"So, Casey Michaels is a super duper cyber hacker of the order that Eric and Nell are in awe of him -"

"I am not," Nell said. "Eric is."

"Eric is in awe of, and Nell used to be in awe of Eric so by the transitive property," Marty said, waving his hand. "Why wouldn't he just disappear? Take his daughter, his baby mama, go to," Marty paused. Just in case he wasn't mentioning Hungary. "Go to Brazil or Norway and no one would ever find them. It's clear he can do that. But instead of doing that which we all agree he and Kensi are capable of, he leaves his daughter where everyone from the federal government can find her and just ambles away like, I dunno, he wants to prove his innocence."

"Exactly," Nate said.

Granger said, "You've got a great case for his defense attorney. Back with the public defender again, Detective Deeks?"

"I am very sure Casey Michaels could afford better than me," Marty said, smirking. "Though my rate doesn't reflect my skills. I'm still pretty fantastic in a court room."

Nate said, "No one in here but you, Assistant Director, believes Casey Michaels is guilty."

"And I'm Assistant Director, so my belief and evidence and motive, all that? Means I'm in charge." Granger pointed angrily at Callen like that's all it took. He said, "For you two here," he meant Nell and Eric. "They seized at two laptops at Casey Michaels's apartment, no one can figure out how they even turn on." He stormed out.

Eric's jaw literally dropped. "Casey Kearing's laptop. Oh my god."

Nell said, "Wow."

Sam said, "She is definitely not in awe of him, nope."

Nate laughed quietly.

"He makes them himself," Eric said, staring at the computers Granger had put on the table. "He's a mechanical engineering god. Kensi told me once he builds them himself and one time he gave her one and she couldn't make it work. And Kensi's not a total idiot. I was so envious."

"Eric really just loves his brain," Callen said. "Okay, Granger's marched off but he's still watching us. Sam and I are going to head to Kensi's, maybe we can find her first. Nate, stay here and be our eyes on Granger."

"He's probably monitoring all of our phones," Nate said. "Maybe I'm being paranoid."

"I'm going to see Winter," Marty said.

"She won't say anything," Sam said.

"I'm sure she didn't to the mean guys trying to get her parents and scare her Grandma but me and her have a bond. And I don't think her parents are guilty of anything," Marty said.

"Good point," Callen said. "Good luck."