The Bad Guys Never Forgive & Never Forget
Sequel to "A Blip on Hetty's Radar"
a/n: god, if the bad guys were really as vengeful as us fic writer's make them out to be cops/agents would never get any work done. So, anyway here's the sequel I promised. For this to work logically (well, as logically as any fic can) it has to take place after the first couple of cases Deeks worked with the team...I would think that the "deju-va" feeling Callen would get at seeing Deeks again in those two eps he was in in season one would have been pushed to the back of his mind with trying to rescue Dom and later his cover being blown at the end of season one...so I see this as maybe happening after epi 1 or 2 in season 2 when things settle down into a more normal routine and Deeks is around more often.
a/n: I'm hoping Callen's reactions/actions will not be seen as OOC...I'm just remembering how over protective and single minded he was about protecting/avenging Renko and Hunter's murders...so image how he would feel about forgetting someone who saved his life! And Sam would definitely have a new respect for Deeks—after the detective stepped in, despite how the team had thus far treated him, and saved their lives, on more than one occasion: and I strongly believe that Sam is a lot smarter and more sensitive and in-tune to his teammates than his "gruff" exterior suggests.
NCIS LA
"Really, more paper work...does this stuff wait 'til we leave and spawn overnight or something," the LAPD detective complained as he eyed his in box like it would strike out at him at any minute.
Callen just smirked as he looked over at the frowning detective, and again a brief flash of a half-there memory flitted through his mind, before melding together with the endless faces he had encountered over the many years as an agent. The detective had worked a few cases with the team over the last four months and was slowly becoming a regular fixture at the NCIS office and the elusive memory had been with Callen for almost that long—it was really starting to bother him.
Sam, too, had looked over at the petulant detective then to the teetering stack of files in the inbox and grumbled, "If you'd try doing it more than once a month you wouldn't have that problem, shaggy."
Apparently having a death wish, Deeks sent the bigger agent a scathing look as his eyes took in the pristine nature of the ex-SEALS desk...and inbox, "humph...we all didn't have laughter and fun surgically removed when we signed on the job...I have important things to do—like surfing..."
"Really, with the attitude...must be true all feds have their sense of humor surgically removed..."
And it suddenly hit him...why he got that niggling feeling that the detective was somehow familiar to him; and really how could he have forgotten...the man sitting across from him had literally saved his life.
"It was you," Callen exclaimed, jumping up from his seat and moving to stand in front of Deeks desk.
Startled, Deeks took several steps back, hands up defensively, "What...me, no...Whatever it was; it wasn't me! Wait, what did I do?"
Looking towards his partner, Callen said emphatically, willing Sam to remember to, "The arms case...it has to have been, what, close to two years ago...suspects name was..."
Eyes wide with sudden recognition, Deeks finished the sentence, "...Harkins, Douglas Harkins...that agent; that was you?"
The detective and the agent eyed each other critically for a moment: Callen took that time to note the differences between the detective as he stood before him now, compared to the undercover he had encountered that day. Deeks was certainly rougher looking back then; his hair had been darker and cut much shorter: and the hard edge of that man was diametrically opposite to the free spirited man he now knew.
Meanwhile, Deeks let out a low whistle, "How could I forget that...I mean, really, you haven't changed that much..."
Having watched the interplay between the two men with curiosity, Sam finally said, "Think about it...how many people do we encounter on a typical op...And you spent all of what—twenty minutes together almost two years ago..."
Sam looked back and forth between the men, while Deeks seemed fairly amused and pleasantly surprised by the whole deal; Sam could tell Callen was clearly troubled by the revelation.
Before Sam could call his partner out on his odd reaction all the men suddenly felt eyes on them and turned to see their operations manager eying them with her signature inscrutable look; though Callen could swear he saw the corner of her mouth twitch in a slight smile.
"You knew didn't you," Callen accused lightly.
"I may have taken the time to read over the case files the LAPD provided...after all our cases did overlap..." stopping a moment to pin both Callen and Deeks with a piercing look, she added, "dangerously so, I might add."
Deeks brows furrowed in thought as he returned Hetty's gaze, "so you already knew who I was...when I ran into Kensi and Callen on the Zuma case? Why didn't you say anything...coulda' saved Sam and I a few bruises..."
Chuckling, Sam interjected, "Could have saved you a few bruises you mean..."
"I have to admit to a bit of difficulty getting a hold of the case details in a timely fashion," Hetty admitted reluctantly, adding, "...and I wasn't going to jeopardize whatever undercover you had established."
Not quite convinced that the "great" Henrietta Lang would have trouble getting information from anybody, but deciding to let it drop for now, Callen instead gave voice to something else they were all thinking, "So you didn't suddenly decide during the Zuma case that we were in need of a liaison officer?"
Raising her eyebrows at the subtle accusation, Hetty said innocently, "Why, Mr. Callen, it is my job as operations manager to be appraised of anything that may impinge on an NCIS case..."
"Uh, huh..." Callen intoned, unconvinced.
"Now, as we are currently without any active cases...there should be no reason this paper work should not be completed and filed by the end of the day," Hetty said.
"End of the day...but Hetty, really...there's like a month's worth of action reports to do," Deeks exclaimed.
With a raised eyebrow and a stern tone belied by the slight grin crossing her features, the woman said, "then I suggest you get started, Mr. Deeks."
Sam just shook his head in exasperated amusement at the detectives grumbling, before shooting his partner a furtive look: noting that while Deeks, grumbling all the way, got right into his paperwork, Callen was slower to start and kept casting glances at the detective.
By lunchtime, Sam had had enough of his partners furtive, frown inducing glances at the busy detective...it almost seemed to Sam that his partner was angry at the detective, and he was determined to get to the bottom of it.
He himself (thanks to the Zuma case), Callen surely and Ops in general owed the detective a debt several times over...Deeks had, at not only great risk to his own life but to the success of several ops the detective had devoted months of his life too, saved his and Callen lives. And while the shaggy, annoying, and often over the top man was not exactly on Sam's top 10 List, the detective did deserve their (grudging) respect.
Leaning back in his seat, Sam stretched and commented, "Lunchtime..."
Callen looked up at his partner, then up at the clock, surprised that it was nearly twelve thirty. They both looked over at the detective who didn't acknowledge or look up from whatever he was working on.
"Hey, Deeks, lunchtime..." Sam called out, startling the detective.
"Huh...oh, uh, what..." Deeks stuttered, having been pulled from his 'paperwork' stupor, "...oh, lunchtime...yeah...no, I better get this stuff done; I've seen Hetty lurking with her letter opener..."
"Ya' gotta eat," Callen said, sharper than he intended.
Though surprised by Callen's sharp tone, Deeks brushed it off, raising his hands to indicate an imaginary scale, "...hhmmm...missing a meal—Hetty's letter opener..."
Sam just chuckled, shaking his head at the detective's antics while Callen's scowl deepened, cutting off further bickering, Sam said, "...we'll protect you. Look, we'll just grab you something while we're out..."
Surprised by the offer, Deeks replied, "Uh, yeah, sure...whatever's good...but I got some snacks in the bag..."
"Not a problem, man..." Sam said with a wave of his hand, clamping his other hand on his partner's shoulder, "come on G, let's get out of here for a while; let shaggy get back to work..."
Callen about to protest, but a pointed look from his partner stopped him and he grudgingly stood from his seat and followed Sam to the car.
They drove in silence for several minutes before Sam sighed loudly and glanced at his partner, "Okay, out with it G. What's buggin' you?"
Startled out of his thoughts, Callen shot his partner what he hoped was an innocent look, "What...nothing..."
"Yeah, try again G; this is me you're talking to," Sam reminded the reticent man, "You've been shootin' Deeks strange looks all morning."
Callen scowled, angry with himself for being caught, "I don't know man...it's just—how could I forget the case-how could I forget the cop that saved my life..."
"Cut yourself some slack G, it was two years ago," Sam replied, adding, "Deeks didn't remember either. Hell, I'm ashamed to admit it, but it didn't even ping on my radar."
"And that's just it...how could I forget a name like 'Deeks'—not exactly common," Callen continued, undaunted in his self-recriminations, "when we found out Sully was Deeks it should have hit me then..."
"You had time for introductions, you never told me that..." Sam questioned.
Smirking, Callen recounted his brief conversation with the detective during the Harkins case, "yeah, told me he wanted his back up returned and to drop it at LAPD care of Deeks..."
"It's still more than just that...not remembering," Sam cajoled, "Deeks seems fine with this; you act like you've forgotten the cure to cancer or something?"
"Hetty knew...all this time, she knew..." Callen finally said; his tone held a bitter yet questioning edge.
For his part, Sam knew how his partner felt...while there was certainly no love lost between federal agencies and local LEO's, Sam still would never consider jeopardizing any agencies case or put anyone in danger.
"Who can begin to fathom any of Hetty's decisions," Sam replied, trying to make light of the matter.
"We could have blown his cover...he could have been killed because Hetty didn't think we needed to know," Callen shot back angrily, facing his partner, "and if Deeks wasn't the dedicated cop he is...they had you on the ropes, my man...if Deeks would have decided not to take Eric's call..."
Sam tried to tamp down on those tight, suffocating feelings of being trapped that all undercover's dread...when they are faced full on with the knowledge that their cover has been blown.
"But he did take the call, and he saved my ass," Sam finally acknowledged, also realizing for the first time (now that he was really thinking about it) that Deeks never mentioned the near miss or his part in saving the agent and the op.
"And after all that, what we do for him," Callen said darkly, "we wouldn't have given the Lazik case a second thought...if Traynor wouldn't have contacted Hetty."
"Hey, we had his back on that one..." Sam defended lightly.
"Did we...only after Deeks practically begged Hetty to help him keep the case open," Callen challenged, continuing as he waved a hand back and forth between himself and his partner, "and it wasn't us he came to...we didn't even know of his meet with Lazik..."
'Because he didn't trust us enough to tell us..." went unsaid between the two men.
Silence again reigned, until Sam asked, "So, what do you want to do about it?"
Quirking a surprised look at his partner, Callen asked, "what do you mean...'what do I want to do about it'?"
"This is eatin' you up man...and those looks you're shootin' Deeks way; he's gonna wonder what's wrong with you..." Sam replied, "...you gotta get past this G..."
Sighing heavily, and running a hand down his face, Callen answered, "I don't know...talk to him I guess..."
A snort from the driver's seat got Callen's attention and he shot Sam a dirty look, "What was that for..."
"You...G Callen—a man who barely strings two sentences together on a good day-having a heart to heart with someone, especially Deeks," Sam snickered.
Scowling, Callen shot back, "Hey, I can...'talk'..."
"The boy is already unsteady...trying to get his bearings on this team; what do you think a G Callen heart to heart will do to him; I'm pretty sure he has you pegged as the less than chatty type..." Sam continued to snicker, though his tone was serious.
"So, what do you suggest then," Callen asked, curious despite himself.
"Nothing..." Sam shrugged.
"Nothing...good advice there partner..." Callen grumbled.
"Look G, this seems to be your hang up not his...if it seems otherwise then yeah—you two might need to talk, can't have this tension hanging over the team when we're in the middle of an op," Sam explained, "but for now what he needs is for us to treat him like normal..."
A snort issued from the passenger seat as Callen piped up, "...ah, you mean like we can barely tolerate him..."
Sam shrugged at the comment, a little uncomfortable with the truth of the observation and feeling a little ashamed for it.
"We start treating him different all of a sudden it's gonna throw him...make him more unsteady and uncomfortable," Sam finally said, "we need to show him he's part of this team...actions mean more than words for him and us..."
Considering his partners words, Callen finally shrugged and nodded his head in agreement.
As they pulled into their favorite sub shop, Callen turned towards Sam one last time, "there's more to it, you know...than just this sudden need for a liaison officer..."
Sam nodded in agreement, "Hetty's up to something...no doubt; and no doubt we'll find out when she's ready for us to find out..."
Callen nodded in agreement before climbing out of the car.
...NCIS LA...
Upon the agent's return to ops they were both amused and mildly chagrined at Deeks surprise that they remembered their promise to pick him up lunch.
"Uh, thanks guys," he said when he sat back and rubbed at his tired eyes.
"We got your back, can't let Hetty take you out now, we're just getting you broke in," Sam said with a chuckle as he sat down at his desk.
Deeks just shot the ex-SEAL a petulant look as he opened the sandwich.
Sam couldn't help but feel a little satisfaction that Deeks seemed to enjoy and appreciate the simple gesture of just bringing him lunch. As the detective tucked into his sub, Sam's eyes scanned the detectives nearly empty in box, "looks like Hetty will let you live."
Deeks just nodded, his eyes roaming the area outside the bullpen, "she's been lurking..."
Sam laughed at Deeks melodrama.
...NCIS LA...
Most of ops had cleared for the night, when Callen approached Hetty's desk.
"Something I can help you with Mr. Callen," Hetty asked.
Taking the seat opposite his boss, Callen fixed the diminutive woman with a pointed look, "you've known all this time...why didn't you say anything..."
"At the time Mr. Deeks crossed paths with the team for the second time we were a little occupied Mr. Callen; and I saw no real reason to bring it up if no one recalled a brief encounter from nearly two years prior-the what end and purpose would it have served," the woman asked.
"You're up to something," Callen accused lightly.
Raising her eyebrows in surprise, Hetty merely replied innocently, "Am I Mr. Callen?"
"Was it some sort of test," Callen countered.
"Test," Hetty questioned.
"You wanted to see if he could hack it, working a federal op—right," Callen postulated, continuing, "...you were testing the team, right; wanted to see if we would trust him...didn't want what he did two years ago to cloud our judgment..."
Hetty sat back in her chair and steepled her hands, "Interesting theory Mr. Callen..."
Sighing heavily, Callen slumped back in his seat, eying the older woman with a hint of petulance, "you're not going to tell me...are you?"
Hetty smiled and leaned forward, "Good night Mr. Callen."
After another beat, Callen rose from the chair, "...Goodnight Hetty."
Hetty sat contemplatively in her seat as her SFA gathered his belongings and left ops for the night; waiting several more moments after the door closed to make sure she was alone she opened a side drawer to her desk and pulled out a file.
Across the outside of the file in deep blue letters read—
-NCIS PERSONNEL FILE-CONFIDENTIAL-
Opening the file she, she picked up her pen and began filing out the forms...
Applicant's full name: Brandell, Martin Deeks
...NCIS LA...
a/n: yeah, not so much with the case story yet...more like a character study...and without even planning it that way I managed to end this one in a similar fashion to "Hetty's radar..."