Sam and Callen were in the gym working out, when Kensi and her partner Deeks walked in. Kensi want to the treadmill as she usually did, while Deeks went for a hard work out to the fighter bag that he used to hone his hand to hand skills. He was still trying to impress Sam who he felt hadn't really welcomed him into the team. Deeks felt that he was mocked at every turn by Sam and it didn't really help that his background was not military like Sam and Kensi or Intel like Callen. His background was a police officer… a highly decorative detective with LAPD. He felt he didn't meet Sam's standards even though he was an UC officer many years before becoming the NCIS liaison to LAPD.

Deeks, who was really sweating by now, mumbled to Callen, "Be right there" clearly out of breath. The Detective was now bending over with his hands on his knees breathing heavily.

Sam asked "You need some oxygen there, Deeks?"

Deeks stood up and then leaned on the wall and said "I am fine, really" out of breath he added "I'm good." He smiled at Sam who was now toweling down.

G looks at him, smiles, shakes his head and Sam and G walk out and Kensi watches as Deeks falls in a heap on the floor.

Nell tells him "don't keep Hetty waiting" with that she turns around join the other in Op.

Kensi walked over to him help him up and took a look at the screen seen level one competed she adds "nice way to impress partner" and with that they left the gym heading to Op.

Hetty said "nice of you to join us Mr. Deeks"

Nell said "an unidentified body was found five miles from Camp Pendleton an hour ago. He was hanging of tree branch wearing Navy cameo and no dog tags. I am running facial recognition now"

Sam who seen the victim photo on screen said "no need, that PO Nil Davidson. He a navy SEAL"

Hetty asked "you know the victim Sam?"

Sam said "we were in BUD/s together and did seven missions together also we serviced under McGarrett for two and half year together"

G tells him that he sorry for Sam's lost and asked "you ok to work this case"

Sam glad at him for that question meanwhile Kensi place her hand on Sam's arm comfort.

Eric said "his body was found by passing tourist. His hands where taped behind his back and tope was tied up in a perfect sailor knot"

Sam said "Nil lost his bother little over six years ago. McGarrett became his next of kin"

Hetty mumbled "Ho Bugger"

Kensi said "the commander will want answers?"

Deeks said "when did you have time to meet him?" he sound like jealousy little boy.

Kensi said "I was intruded to him by an old family friend when I want to help out said friend in Hawaii. He just seem like the overly protective type"

Hetty said "that instatement of the year" she laughed and turn to Callen adds "I seem to remember what he threatened to do to you Mr. Callen if anything happen to Sam or Rollins during that solo investigation in to the intelligent department to find the mole six year ago"

Callen smiled at memory of course at the time he did not think light upon it and now he could smiled about but that time he really did think McGarrett would follow through with threat. He tells them "he threatened to cut off by manly bit and sue them for bit next time he want fishing" even now he didn't doubt McGarrett would had gone through with the threat.

Sam smiled "that sound just like him" shake his head and adds "To Steve his team is his family anyone that threatened his family well you better watch he can get violent towards them"

Hetty said "Mr. Hanna, Mr. Callen Rose will have autopsy report when you get there. You can call the commander afterwards"

Sam nodded and then adds "Nil has a house upper west five Chile Street"

Hetty said "Mr. Deeks, Miss Blye check out the house. Mr. Hanna, Mr. Callen will join you after they get autopsy report"

Sam said "you may want to call Animal control first. Davidson has two dogs and one is a killer"

Deeks said "no need for animal control the animal doctor is in the house and dogs are my specialty."
Sam tries to warn Deeks but he would not listen. After second time he tried to warn Deeks, Sam shake his head and he left to meet up with G at the parking lot of HQ.

G said "he wouldn't listen would he?"

Sam said "it not funny G, Rex has titanium teeth that capable braking man bones"

Sam shakes his head and sends Kensi a text message warning her about Rex a German-Sheppard that will NEEDS to be sedated before entering Nil's home.

Nell worked Intel for them ever since she met Hetty back in Ops. She didn't really want to disclose the victim's occupation. Knowing only the victim was Sailor and without an ID there was little to go on until they put his fingerprints through the AFIS.

G said "Stubborn blondie, he wouldn't listen, would he?"

Sam said "It's not funny G, Rex has real titanium teeth that are capable breaking a man bones."

Sam shakes his head and sends Kensi a text message warning her about Rex a German-Sheppard that will NEED to be sedated before entering Neil's home. He can be a super great dog to those who know him and have been trained to know which commands to use, but if you don't know them, you're in trouble, real painful, trouble.

When Sam and G arrived at ME office, they both saw the look on Rose face white which worried Sam and G. They both knew that Rose had seen body in all kind stagers of decomposition. Rose meet then outside autopsy room she tells them "before we going in there I have tell you that the victim…" she looked at Sam and G then said "I did my best to clean him up but he was real mess… and I seen my share of bloody murder but this…" she take a deep breath then adds "I never see anything like it before"

They walked in to the clod room and Rose tells them "So I.." Rose try again by say "So umm… PO Davidson was stabbed 74 time with per heated knife" there were standing by the body and Rose pulled the cover down exposing the upper body of the victim.

She pointed to the wound on the chest and said "See this small blisters around the wound… it would have melted much like butter when you to take hot knife to cold block of butter"

"Anyway, I can tell the order of each of the stab wounds due to the color of the blisters. This big stab wound to the heart was the last one. The Killer thrust the knife all the way in, however the PO was already deceased at the time" Rose told them with her hands acting out the scene.

G asked "How can someone overpower highly trained Navy SEAL?"

Rose said "He was drugged; the lab found Doctor Death in his system. The killer changed the chemical compound to slow down the reaction of the drug. The lab is still running some tests on the compound to find what the makeup was that allowed the killer to take his time with the victim."

As Sam looked at the battered body of his friend, he was very reserved and did not say anything. He carefully listened to what Rose had to say; but the more he learned, the more he wanted to hit something….or someone. He looked at his friend and took in the torture that Neil sustained, and that didn't really sit well with Sam.

G asked "Of the Stabbing, if it didn't kill PO Davidson, what was the COD Rose?"

Rose said "He most likely drowned in his own blood… he was bleeding internally with his lungs filled up in his own blood, and he was dead when he was hanged."

G and Sam have both seen their fair share of tortured bodies, but this was a new level of torture. This killer or killers had to be ice cold with no emotion, no conscience and no concern for any human life.

It was then Sam saw the evidence bag with Neil's belongings coved in blood and for the first time Sam asked a question "They used his own knife?"

Rose said "Yes the knife was registered to the victim."

G asked "Anything else Rose?"

Rose said "Yes, I found DNA under the victim's fingers there were lipocalin, lactoferrin, lysozyme[1] and lacritin. These are all base compounds found in a human tear. It came back as male….but I found no match on the database. But I may have good news. There was blood, lots of blood; I think the victim may have damaged his attacker's eye."

Sam muttered "That's my boy, good for you Neil," under his breath, but it was not missed by G.

Rose said "That is all I have, but I will call if I find anything else, I promise."

Sam said "Thanks Rose, oh, and thanks for giving my friend some dignity during the autopsy."

Sam received a text from Kensi saying they are waiting for animal control and that Deeks lost a shoe. She also sent him a picture of the mess of black leather in the drive way with tag saying "Deeks left shoe or what left of it. Deeks is fine, no blood spilled."

On the way to Neil's house, Sam makes the call that he was dreading. The one he knew had to be made, even though he didn't want to give the Commander anymore bad news. He hated being the one to make Steve's plate even more of burden for his friend.

G asked "Do you want me to make the call?"

Sam said "No I have to do this, G; it's just that I don't want to put anymore crap on his plate. First his mother was killed in car accident when he was just 15. Then his father made the decision to keep him and his sister safe and sent them away to two different locations on the mainland. He was the youngest cadet accepted to the Navy Academy and he lost all contact with his family. Then he lost his best friend during his last mission and while on the phone with his dad, John was shot in the head and he heard his last breath. He survived all that with the help of his soul mate, Lt Catherine Rollins, who he still can't admit that she is his girlfriend. I think that it's because if any one of his enemies find out how much he loves her, then she will be a target like what's left of his family. Then last year he found that his mother DIDN'T die in the car accident but that she faked her death to keep the family safe because she was a CIA operative. Soon after that, one of her target's sons found out her identity and tried to kill her." Sam takes a deep breath and remembers all those events in Steve's life and feels the pain he knows Steve felt, and still feels today.

G said "I've met the commander and I know that is a lot for some people to take, and most people wouldn't be able to handle it. I know that Steve is a tough a**, hard to a core SEAL and I know that he is a lot stronger that anyone believes. He gets angry, he blows something up, or he would hit someone, but at the end of the day he would want that son of b***."

Sam made the call putting it on speakerphone as they waited for McGarrett to answer the call.

Steve answered "McGarrett" and Sam heard his former Commander's voice and immediately Sam was put on guard. He identified himself by name without rank. Steve voice was low and full of anger and hurt mixed together and Sam picked up on it and when he asked what was wrong.

Steve said "A's body was found in the jungle and Wade just called. I am on my way to ME office now to see what they've found so far."

As Sam pulled up outside 5 Chile Street, his tires shriek followed is two doors opening and closing. Sam takes a big breath before he start to talk. His voice is low and broken as he tells his friend "Steve, I am sorry man but PO Neil Davidson's body was found three hours ago, five miles from Camp Pendleton. He was stabbed, poisoned and hanged using a sailor's knot. TOD is 6pm last night and from what you just said someone could be targeting our old SEAL team. What do you think?"

Steve said "Maybe Sam, I'm going to call you back once we have arrived at the ME's report. Have your ME email her report ASAP and I'll do the same."

Sam said "Yeah ok, watch you're six Commanders. I'll send our report to your cloud drive. Is Lt. Hot pants with you?"

Steve said "Yes, why do you ask?

"Just wanted our gals' safe, that's all. Talk to you soon." Sam tells him

"Ok, thanks Sam, be careful." Steve replies.

After the call end G asked "Lt Hot Pants?"

Sam tells him "Rollins." G nodded his head as they approached Kensi's car.

Sam asked them if there were ok and Kensi says "Dog specialist here turned out to be a phony" tapping Deeks on the shoulder.

Deeks said "How was I to know that thing wasn't a dog but some kind of Hell Hound? The damn thing ate my shoe,…. expensive leather loafers; what kind of Dog can bite through leather?"

G said "Maybe you should listen to Sam more often, you may live longer."

Deeks said "Give me some warning would you?"

G said "Sam did tell you that one of the dogs is a killer but you wouldn't listen."

Deeks said "I thought you were just messing with me, as usual."

Sam said "Rex is not your average dog Deeks, I'll tell you why. He was found curled up with what was left of his Family in a bomb shelter by McGarrett. Rex didn't have any teeth when we found him and a vet gave him titanium teeth once he was year old. He was only two to three weeks old at time and McGarrett insured it so that Rex got used to our whole team. That made things really difficult for the chain of commander to re-sign Rex to any other SEAL team that wanted to make Rex's part of the team. When Rex's was four weeks old, Steve sent him to training, and a year later he was signed to our unit. Rex as been passed around the different officers within our team"

G asked "Any plans?"

Deeks said "We could shoot the Hell Hound"

Kensi said "You shoot Rex and McGarrett will end you Deeks that is if I don't" She smiled at Deeks.

Sam said "That dog as more medals than you Deeks; he's a real hero. Ok team, I am going in, Once I am in, I'll chain him up and open the gate. Just watch him as I give him the commands he knows and changes from a killer dog, to a playful pup." Sam stood in front of the closed gate and the dogs started to bark like crazy.

Deeks said "The man has a death wish!"

Sam stood up tall and in an authoritative deep voice he gave the command for the dog to be quiet and to sit. "Rex, Stop, Sit Down." Immediately Rex and the other dog Nan stopped barking, sat down where they were, and then layed down and started wagging their tales."You see, well trained and behaved dogs want to please their master or masters. And as long as you give the proper commands, and in a firm voice, (not screaming like a girl, Deeks,) they will do as told and wag their tales to tell you that they are done and ready for you."
It was voice that G had not heard Sam use since he had left the SEALs. Sam opened the gate and stepped into the drive way of the Davidson house. Not turning his back to the dogs, he closed the gate behind him. He got down to their level and Sam noticed there was blood around Rex's mouth.

Sam said "G we got blood around Rex's mouth, looks like he took a nice chunk out of Davidson's attacker"

Sam chains the dogs up and he notices that both dogs were drugged. He takes the two darts as evidence.
Sam asked "G see if there are any marks along the wall from the dart gun. I got two darts here" he says while opening the gate for his team.

G took photos with his smart phone and sends them to Nell at Op. The team moves into the house. Kensi opened the garage and found that the family car was gone. Kensi said "I got blood and from the drag marks it leads from the house to here. I am guessing that they took the victim car. Or one guy thought the other one was dead and left him here. When he woke up, he didn't have any vehicle and did what he could."

Sam said "Deeks have Nell put out a BOLO for a navy blue new Toyota Pathfinder. She can get the plates off the DMV registration."

Deeks said "Sure is a big house in nice area too."

Sam said "Davidson comes from old money this house has been in his family for 250 years. His great, great, great grandfather was brother to queen Victoria."

They pulled out the guns and work on clearing the house one room at time. When the house was cleared Kensi moved to the window asked "What will happen to Rex now?"

Sam said "He'll be reassigned a new handler within the team. Rex is imperative to our safety and our team."

G said "Meaning no one else can handle him unless they want to have a body full of titanium teeth marks."

Deeks said "I sensing a story here?"

Sam tell them how Rex had been sign to other team and every morning for week he would mess up cabin before inspection after that our team leaders had him resigned to us.

Kensi moves in to the Davidson study, there are one old 1960 desk and right in the middle of it was was Davidson laptop. Deeks moved over to the kitchen there was blood buy the doorway.

"I think I found where hell hound attacked one of the bad guys. I got arterial spray on the wall and Kitchen Island" Deeks said then he notices the bloody finger print and snapped a photo of it.

Kensi said "Davidson has invitation to the christening of Prince William and Harry"

G said "the gate was close but the front door was open"

Sam moved in the study see photo unit he picked it up. It was taken by Joe just after Rex was sign to their unit. He remember how Rex had bark only one time before he sat down next to Steve and Davidson who were squirting in the photo. When they leave Sam take the photo and the two dogs with him.

Sam phone beeps let him know that he has a message. It was Steve telling him that he was right that someone is after our old team now three down Shane Wild was found in DC. Time for a video conference in about ten minutes I am on my way to HQ.