A/N – I just want to preface this with the fact that I firmly believe this is not going to happen. That Kensi and the rest will stand behind him and believe in him. I am a HUGE Densi fan. However, the plot bunnies went wild while I was in Aruba on hiatus last week and I haven't been able to rein them in. Apparently they read the tweet ECO placed out there about Defectors being the beginning of the end for Deeks, #wehadagoodrun. Evil little buggers….
I own nothing but the DVDs, but Christmas is coming!
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He felt like his whole body was numb. He was actually kind of glad as he was not looking forward to the feeling of heartbreak he knew was in store for him. He saw her mouth moving, knew she was still talking but the only thing he could hear was the same question, over and over. "Tell me why you did it Deeks." She believed them. She believed that he'd cold bloodedly murdered his ex-partner and then lied about it for years. He'd thought she knew him better than that but, apparently, he was wrong. He flashed back to when Granger had accused her of murdering the members of her dad's old unit. How she had started to ask if he believed it and he hadn't even let her finish, assuring her that he didn't, not for a minute.
His hands fell off the bars that separated them. He'd been so relieved to see her, waiting to hear the words that she believed in him, that they were going to do everything they could to find the real killer and get him out of here. Instead, the first words that had been said had crushed him. He took a step back and interrupted her. "Wrong question Kensi." His voice emotionless and his face and eyes blank.
She stopped talking and looked at him in confusion. "What?"
"Wrong question." He repeated softly and turned away from her, trying to put as much distance between them as possible, ignoring her calling out his name. He reached the far end of the holding cell and put his back against the same wall as the bars. The only way she could see him would be to force her head through the bars and he knew even she couldn't execute that feat. He slid down until he was sitting on the floor, knees drawn up, hands hanging off them. He didn't want to think, didn't want to do anything but sink through the floor. He was more than slightly disappointed when it didn't happen.
Kensi gave up calling out his name. He had seemed fine one minute and then the next he had completely shut down. He'd walked away and hadn't responded to her, leaving her feeling foolish in front of the bars, all eyes on her. What the hell was going on in that shaggy head of his? They needed to talk about this. They needed to work out a defense strategy. Get him a lawyer. When she realized he wasn't going to return to her, she went back out to the waiting room. Maybe Sam or Callen would have better luck.
"How's he doing? How's he holding up?" Sam asked as soon as she appeared.
"Not good. He seemed fine at first but then he just shut down on me. Went blank and walked away. Wouldn't respond to me, wouldn't even look at me. I don't know what else to do!"
Callen sighed and stood up. "Let me go in and talk to him. Maybe he'll respond to someone he's not as…close to." The other two nodded and he walked up to the door, showing his badge to the officer guarding it. "I need to talk to Detective Deeks." The other man huffed out a laugh but let him through. Callen knew that others at LAPD didn't like Deeks and he worried that one of them would deliberately let it slip that he was a cop. A cop in with general population, even if just a holding cell, was a target. They needed to get him out of here as soon as possible or at least booked and bail set. Hetty and Granger had both indicated that NCIS would post it, no matter how much it was.
"Deeks!" he said as soon as he reached the bars. He couldn't see their Liaison Officer but knew he was in there somewhere. Deeks body automatically responded to his team leader's voice and he was on his feet and approaching the bars before he consciously thought about it. He stopped a few feet away and tilted his head at Callen, not saying anything, waiting to see what fresh pain would be heaped on him. He didn't have long to wait. "Kensi said you shut down on her. What's up with you? Are you worried what else they might have on you?"
The words reverberated inside his head. He was already numb so they didn't have as much as an effect as Kensi's had. "What else? What else? What else?" echoed in his mind. As with Kensi, he looked at Callen and said blankly "Wrong question Agent Callen." and then he walked back to his place along the wall, not caring that Callen was demanding he turn around and come back. He figured Sam would be next and was determined he would not respond if he was. He couldn't bear to hear what the ex-Navy Seal would have to say. They had come a long way in their relationship since the run in with Sidorov and his unique form of dentistry but Sam backslid sometimes and now he was sure this would be one of those times.
He was proven right when he heard Callen leave and then the door open again a few minutes later. He heard Sam's voice calling his name but he refused to respond, sitting doggedly on the floor staring into space. Others around him seem to find the situation amusing. It was at least entertaining in the boredom that was pervasive in this place where gang bangers, hookers, drunk drivers and murderers all rubbed shoulders. Eventually Sam gave up and left. Deeks sighed and closed his eyes in the quiet, listening to the odd conversations that popped up around him but not really taking anything in. The numbness was starting to wear off and he was fighting tears. This was not the place to break down. He almost had it conquered when another voice called his name. This one soft and pleading. He stood up quickly and almost ran to her. He placed a hand over the older one resting on the bars. "You shouldn't have come, mom. This isn't a place for you."
"How could I not come? My baby is behind bars for a murder he didn't commit and what, I'm supposed to stay at home and knit? Make a lasagna?" The last question got a small laugh from Deeks, he knew his mom knew how much he loved her lasagna and her words warmed her. She knew he was innocent, why couldn't the people he counted on most each day, people he had come to care about like family, the woman he loved who he had thought loved him in return, believe it? They talked for a few more minutes and then her visit time was up. She left, promising to find a lawyer, promising that, whatever it took; they would get him out of there. He watched her go and wondered, and go where? He went back to what he was coming to think of as his spot.
He'd thought that was the end of it, that there was no one else to see his humiliation when he heard her distinctive voice. "Mr. Deeks?" It was Hetty. He found himself curious to see how she perceived the situation. Would she believe him guilty as well? She had pursued him. She had persuaded him to become the Liaison Officer. She had offered him the paperwork that would have had him resign from the LAPD and join NCIS as a full-fledged agent. He hadn't asked for any of it. Would she be thinking she had made a mistake or would she stand behind her belief that he was a good man? He walked slowly up to the bars, searching her eyes. She reached out and took his hand, palming something into it. "How are you holding up dear?"
He took what she had placed in his hand and casually pulled away, putting his hands in his pockets. By feel he could tell the item she'd passed him was an earwig and something smaller. Button camera maybe? Why would she do that? "I'm doing as well as can be expected, I guess."
"I heard from the others that you were not being very cooperative Mr. Deeks. Why?"
Ignoring her question he asked one of his own. "Do you believe them Hetty? Do you believe that I murdered my old partner?"
She looked him right in the eyes and said "Of course not. Why would you even ask that? Did you do it?"
He laughed mirthlessly. "Finally, the right question. Apparently my team had no problem believing it at all." He watched her face carefully and realized he had managed to shock the normally all-knowing, all-seeing, all-powerful Henrietta Lange.
"Well, I guess I'll have to correct them as soon as I can, Mr. Deeks. I need you to know that NCIS is behind you, 100% percent. We'll be in touch." Her eyes focused on the pocket he had placed the earwig into. He nodded in understanding and watched her leave. He would give just about anything to be able to leave with her.
Moving back to his spot, he carefully took out the earwig and put it in, pretending to scratch at his ear to hide the movement. He turned it on and heard Eric's familiar voice in his ear. "Deeks? I know you can't talk but tap the earwig once for yes, twice for no. Can you hear me?" Deeks gently tapped it once. "Good! Okay, I'm sorry that we couldn't tell you this before, but Granger has had Nell and me looking into what IA was trying to get on you for months. He asked me not to say anything to you as he didn't want you to act differently and raise their suspicions that you somehow knew what was going on. Do you understand?" He tapped once more.
Another voice came softly over the comm. "Hey Shaggy! We miss you and we'll get you out of this, I promise!" The sound of his Velma's voice almost did him in. Then Eric was back.
"Okay. Now, here's what we've got. We know that you were questioned back when it happened but that you had an alibi in the form of the woman you were dating then. She corroborated your statement that you were with her all night. Right after the IA investigation started she recanted her statement. Changed it to you weren't with her and didn't show up until 3 AM. Coroner puts Boyle's death at sometime between midnight and 2 AM. That leaves you without an alibi. Do you know why she would do that?" Tap, tap, pause, tap, tap, pause, tap, tap.
"I'll take that as an emphatic no. Nell and I have done some digging and found a substantial deposit made to an account in her name around the same time. We've been able to trace it back through several shell corporations. You aren't going to believe who it belongs to! Clarence Fisk!" Tap, tap.
"I'm going to take that as a disbelieving whaattt?" Tap.
"We all know you aren't guilty buddy." Tap, tap.
"What do you mean no? You are guilty?" Tap, tap.
"I feel like I'm playing charades or something. Ok, you aren't guilty but you said no when I said we all knew you weren't guilty. Does that mean you think some of us DID think you were?" Tap.
"That doesn't seem possible! We all know you! You would never kill anyone unless your life or someone else's was in immediate danger. You know what? It doesn't matter right now. Right now we need to find out why IA had you in their sights to start with. The other item Hetty handed you was a button cam. Make sure you have it on you at all times." Tap. He pulled out the second item and gently attached it to the collar on his long sleeved t-shirt. He hoped it would pass inspection as just a decorative button or snap.
"Okay, I've got the feed coming through. Deeks, I really am sorry you're stuck in that place." Tap. Eric remembered the one time he'd been arrested when his gaming buddy Ira had been attacked. It was hard to forget it as the picture of him in his polar bear fleece pants, bearded guy sleeping on his shoulder, was still floating around ops and popped up every once in a while. He shuddered.
Eric started to say something more when another officer came up to the bars and called out his name. "Deeks?" He stood up and walked to the bars. The man undid the lock and opened the door. "Your lawyer's here."
"What lawyer?"
"Don't ask me, I just work here. She's waiting for you in interview room one. Put your hands behind your back." Deeks complied and felt the cuffs slapped on him again. He would never be able to cuff someone with the same nonchalance he once had. He wondered if his mom had managed to get a lawyer so quickly. The officer prodded him out of the holding area and through a door leading to interview rooms. He almost fell over when the woman looked up at him when they entered.
"Monica Lee?" he said for Eric's sake. She smiled at him, the smile not reaching her eyes. The officer bowed out of the room after uncuffing him.
"I've got her on camera Deeks, good job. FYI, we're recording all of this. See if you can get her to admit that Fisk is behind all this." Tap.
He sat in the chair facing her. "Why are you here as my lawyer? You aren't even one anymore, weren't you disbarred after we found out Quinn was the mole leaking information from LAPD to you? Information you then used to get Fisk acquitted time and again?"
All pretense of civility fled Monica's face. The man in front of her had ruined her life. "A small white lie Detective Deeks. You're right, thanks to you I'm no longer able to practice law in California, nor anywhere else for that matter. You took everything away from me."
Deeks sighed. "I didn't take anything away from you Ms. Lee. Everything you had was ill gotten and based on lies and deceit. Quinn was the one who gave you both up."
"He never would have, had you not talked him into it. He would have kept his mouth shut and I would have gotten him out of it. But no, you had to go all greater good on him and he flipped on us. I lost EVERYTHING!" She paused to calm herself and smiled at him again, this time like a cat with the canary firmly in her sights. "How does it feel Detective? Knowing that everything you care about is about to be ripped away from you?"
Deeks stared at her open mouthed, momentarily without a response. He blinked a couple times and said "You and Fisk are behind this? How did you get to Stephanie? How much did it take to get her to change her story?"
Monica looked back at him and said "I have no idea what you're talking about Detective. I simply heard you were arrested for murder and wanted to see the high and mighty Detective Deeks taken down a few notches. I wanted to see your face when I asked what it felt like. Thank you for a very rewarding response." She stood up. "I'll be going now. I wouldn't want to overstay my welcome." She knocked on the door and the officer came back to let her out.
Deeks stood up and put his hands behind his back without the officer asking. He was recuffed and taken back to holding. He didn't even bother asking if they could skip the cuffs even if he told the officer that he would cooperate, he already knew the answer. Once back in holding, he rubbed his wrists. Then Eric was back. The familiar sound of the techie's voice in his ear gave him strength.
"Okay, we didn't get anything we could use in court from that but it's fairly obvious they're involved in this somehow. How else would she have even known you were arrested or where you are? The story hasn't been released yet. Hmmm. With John Quinn behind bars, I wonder exactly how she did find out about this. Do you think Fisk could've had more than one cop on his payroll?" Deeks thought about it for a minute and then tapped his earwig once. Quinn would have given up another cop that was on Fisk's payroll but only if he had known about it. Could Fisk have had multiple cops on the take, none of them knowing about the others so that they couldn't rat each other out if they got caught?