I was barely keeping my eyes open. The pain was killing me. I was lying on a stretcher and some nurses were hauling it. I remember Kensi holding my hand in the ambulance, crying. And now I could hear her. She was close to me. I stretched my hand searching for hers. She touched it and touched hers but then I was taken to the surgery. The doors closed behind me and she stayed back. I was feeling the blood coming down my back. I couldn't stand the pain anymore. I blacked out.

When I opened my eyes again, I wasn't at the hospital but at the Mission. No one was there. The lights were off. I went down to the bullpen. My mom was standing there as if she was expecting me to come. But I don't understand. She died fifteen years ago. I approached her, still surprised. "Mom? What are you doing here?"

"The question is what you are doing here, Marty. I'm dead, remember? If you are seeing me, that's not good, sweetheart."

"Um, I was shot."

"I know, honey. But you are strong. And there is someone out there who worries about you, who cares about you. And you need to fight for her. Don't give up. You are young. You can't die now. Okay?"

Her hands and shirt were covered with blood. With his blood. She was sitting on a chair almost shivering. Callen and Sam were trying to calm her down, but that was just impossible. She saw her partner on the pharmacy's floor bleeding. She freaked out and she panicked and she didn't know what to do. After Sam put pressure in his wood and told her to help him, she realized she had to do something. He was shot before but she had never seen him bleeding.

The doctors had taken him in the surgery an hour before. No one had come out to tell them something. She was feeling better. Her partner needed her strong. She had to be strong for him. A nurse had given her some papers she had to complete; name, address, telephone number, ect. Callen and Sam had just left. They needed to find out who was responsible for that. She was standing in front of the receptionist desk filling in the papers when she heard a familiar voice calling her. "Kensi?"

She turned around only to see it was Nate. "Nate? What are you doing here?"

"I was going to ask you the same thing. Who's this blood?" he couldn't have missed it. Her shirt, from white, had turned to red.

"Um, Deeks was shot. He is in surgery." And with that her voice broke and she burst into tears. Nate took her by the hand and sat down.

"What happened?" he asked.

"We had a suspect into custody. He wasn't feeling well so Deeks went to the pharmacy to bring him his medication and he was shot. We, I, don't know what exactly happened. I'm sure the others already know." She looked at him for a moment and asked. "What are you doing here?" she tried to change the subject.

"I decide to take some time off and I work here as a psychologist."

"Can you just go and find someone who knows something about his condition, please." She was begging him.

"I think I can scrub in." She nodded her head and seemed relieved. Nate scrubbed in and stayed in the OR. The bullet had entered from Deeks' back and had stuck next to his heart. The doctors were fighting against the time to remove it but it was way too difficult. They weren't sure if he would make it through the surgery.

I closed my eyes for a moment and when I opened them I was in an OR. I was standing next to Nate. He seemed to be scared. He was looking at me. And I was lying on a table opened with a bunch of doctors, interns and nurses doing their best to save my ass. I looked at Nate and asked confused. "What's going on?"

"You are very critical. They are not sure if you'll make it."

"And, and Kensi?"

"She is outside and she's waiting for news. I'm sending a nurse every few minutes to brief her." He turned and looked at me "Please don't make me tell her the worst news of her life. And you know what I mean."

So, he believes that too. That I won't make it. That's why I have to fight. I'll fight for her, for my Kensi.

Back in Ops, the wonder twins were briefing Callen and Sam. The pharmacy had a security camera which had recorded everything, the bawling, the fight, the gunshots, the girl shooting Deeks. Eric and Nell were doing their best to identify that woman but it was impossible because of the angle. Now, they had to think of something else. The man that Deeks shot had previously been arrested for drug dealing.

Hetty was sitting in her office drinking her tea. Because of her age, it was the only thing which was making her calm down. She had been through a lot in her life. She had lost four agents, two of which were taken out of the orphanage by her. She brought Deeks to the NCIS and that was the third time he was in danger. He really was her favorite; after Callen. She was looking at the frozen picture from the pharmacy's security camera on her screen. The image was blurry but she kept looking at it.

Callen walked in her office and asked her. "Are you okay, Hetty?"

"How can I be Mr. Callen? Do we know anything?"

"I just talked with Kensi. He's still in the surgery. And Nate is at the hospital. He said he took some time off and he works as a psychologist there. He has scrubbed in and he's keeping Kensi posted."

"Do we have an ID on the woman who shot him?" she asked pointing at the screen.

"Guys, we found her!" It was Nell who was yelling from the stairs. She and Eric were able to ID her from a traffic camera outside the pharmacy. They all went up and kept their eyes on the big screen. "Her name is Natalie Thomas. She did time with the guy Deeks shot. And we have a location. Address is on your phones." And with that the two agents left the room. They were determined to find her.

In case somebody is wondering about the three times Deeks' life was in danger, here they are: 1) the first time he was shot, 2) when he was kidnapped from Sidorov and 3) now.