Chapter Three
….
When they finally pinpoint where they suspect Deeks may have been taken it had already been far, far too long. Two weeks too long. They also may have had nowhere near enough evidence (instincts and random happenstance apparently didn't cut it) to ask for a warrant.
Hetty ordered Eric and Callen to infiltrate Masters mansion as 'cable repairmen' anyway. Off the books. They showed up at zero-eight-hundred sharp and never met Masters in person, only his security guard who showed them where all the systems were kept and stood aside, completely uninterested, while they 'fixed' it. Apparently Masters wasn't impressed when he couldn't watch the six-a.m. news or check his blog.
There was absolutely no indication that Marty had ever set foot in the house, or what Masters would want him for, but it was the only lead they could find.
When they got back to the office two hours later Eric disappeared immediately to his domain. He had work to do, the rest of them would have to wait.
….
His estimation of how long it would take to break the wireless encryption to gain access to Masters internal camera feed took less time that he'd anticipated. So much less time that Hetty, Nell and the rest of the team were still down below debriefing before heading up to (no doubt impatiently) demand that he have the information he wanted. So when he gained access to the security footage he didn't waste time letting them know he was done, he just started flipping through the feeds to find (please, please find) Marty.
He found him.
It took him a very (horrifying) long moment to realize it though.
Oh.
Maybe he should have been trying to get more sleep these last few weeks, in a real bed and not the cot he had hidden in the closet down the hall (Callen always had dibs on the couch downstairs). He could forgive himself for his ten seconds of blatant staring at the image on his monitor. He understood what he was seeing instantly (genius, even if he wasn't at quite the level Nell was) but some things…some things needed time to be absorbed. This needed more than the ten seconds he took, but he knew he would get that time later.
After the long seconds of staring passed his higher brain functions clicked in and he literally lunged into action, slamming instructions into his computer to remove the images from the screen (thank god he hadn't had it on the wall monitors). He linked the system he was using to his laptop, transferred the direct connection from Masters security feed to his personal laptop, disconnected said feed from NCIS's system, obliterated every smidgeon of information from the mainframe that could possibly connect to Masters, and, in a nutshell, made it disappear. The connection had never existed. He would ask Nell to search for it later, because if he missed something she would find it and they could eradicate any leftover evidence together.
He gathered his laptop protectively against his chest (he would guard it like a national treasure) and sped out of the room, ignoring the odd looks from the two techs that had been working a few tables down. He didn't run down the stairs, but with his adrenalin so high it was a near thing, and nearly fell over from stopping so abruptly when he reached the team sequestered in their little desk area. He didn't need to whistle for their attention as their conversation stopped the moment he'd started thundering down the stairs. Hetty and Nell were still with them. Good.
"What'd you find Eric?" Callen asked after a tense moment of silence and Eric realized that, despite all the thoughts running rampant through his head he hadn't actually said anything to them yet. He blinked at Callen, panicked a bit, and then really, really hoped he'd read all the people in this little group correctly all these years, otherwise he was going to owe Marty the worlds largest apology in existence and, most likely, one of the craziest prison breaks ever attempted. Or governmental lab breaks, or whatever.
"Are you hungry? I'm starving!" he exclaimed, well aware that he sounded a little too enthusiastic. He tried to tone it down and shifted uneasily on his feet. "What do you say about going out to grab a bite? I think we should all go out, get some food, be together for a bit. Bonding in this time of crises-"
"I think that is an excellent idea Mr. Beal. Perhaps a late lunch will help clear our heads and we can resume our search with fresh eyes," Hetty thankfully stepped in, moving beside him and laying a gentle hand on his elbow. He nearly jerked away, the irrational fear that she'd snatch his computer from him jolting through him. Fortunately he had more control than that. If she'd noticed his muscles tense beneath her hand she didn't comment. "I believe I know just the place."
When he'd joined Callen and his team on a drive to Masters estate only seven hours before Eric never thought his day would turn into possibly the most insane discovery of his lifetime or an impromptu team gathering at Hetty's house.
He was tense and silent in the back seat of Callen's car. Sam, sitting upfront, was trying to appear all relaxed and calm but his massive shoulders looked ready to burst from his shirt they were so clenched. Seriously, anyone who ever thought that Sam didn't like Deeks…well they probably just had less contact with this team than Eric did. Because it was practically impossible for Eric not to see it. Sure at first Sam hadn't been sure whether he wanted to wring Deeks's neck or respect him for being such a challenge, both in the fighting ring and in everyday life. The respect won, and when Deeks got shot the passive aggressive mothering/overprotectiveness joined the respect and just like that Deeks was on Sam's short list of people who could be family. It didn't mean Deeks didn't annoy the crap out of him on a regular basis, but Eric just figured they had a 'special bond.'
Callen was harder to read, always would be, but Eric was ninety-nine percent certain that he'd taken to Deeks almost from the beginning. Hell, Callen had probably started liking the guy just because he gave Sam such a hard time. It may have also helped that that Hetty let it slip that she'd been headhunting him for a while at that point.
Kensi, Eric cut a look to where she was sitting beside him and she pretended that she hadn't just been staring at him, trying to read his mind: too impatient to wait for the safety of Hetty's home but too professional to start demanding an explanation. Kensi had not liked Deeks in the beginning. Like at all. She was generally difficult to get on the good side of, had walls as thick as the great one in China. It took her a lot longer than Sam or Callen to accept Deeks (despite the fact that most people still think Sam hates the guy), especially as her partner (or maybe because of). These past few weeks she had been silently freaking out to the point that Eric was pretty sure he developed a spontaneous ulcer whenever she walked into his space by proxy.
Knowing all this (because he saw more from his perch on high than they realized) he still had no idea how they were going to react to his discovery about Deeks. Eric himself was fast shifting from disbelief to incredulousness to freaking awesome! Of course he wouldn't let that last opinion slip until he'd gaged everyone else's reactions. Also, not cool to geek out over a friend currently being tortured, and that knowledge was also painfully rattling around inside him and making him feel, frankly, sick.
When they were all shuffled into Hetty's kitchen, Eric on one side of her shorter than average but still large kitchen island and everyone else staring at him expectantly from the other side, he had another attack of anxiety.
"What did you find Mr. Beal?" Hetty asked softly, eying the laptop he still clutched to his chest. He could still leave, still pretend he didn't find anything, take a huge social hit and backlash from this group of colleagues (friends) and keep all knowledge to himself.
"Eric?" Sam had the most comforting voice in the world when he wanted to, pitched all low and soothing like that it was no wonder women fell all over him even when he wasn't trying for their attention. Eric could still run with his information, keep it to himself and orchestrate his own plan to rescue Deeks. Preserve his secret, which Eric knew instinctively (and obviously) the guy wanted kept.
"Eric." Sam's voice was still soft, Eric would have thought he'd be impatient by now, maybe angry. Eric was awesome, no doubt about it, but breaking Deeks out of that place by himself? He didn't have field training beyond the basics. There's no way he could pull off Marty's rescue alone. He swallowed thickly.
"Okay, okay, I found him and he's in Masters mansion like we thought," he hesitated again, which wasn't like him and the rest of the group seemed to understand that, but Kensi was shifting in agitation now, and Sam and Callen were just staring at him with that calmness that was scary intense. "Okay," he repeated, trying to organize his thoughts. "If I show you this," he jiggled his computer slightly, "I need you to promise that it won't go beyond this room."
"Mr. Beal-"
"I'm serious Hetty," he cut her off, drawing startled looks from everyone and a darkly assessing one from the woman herself. Nell looked back and forth between them with surprised eyes. "It stays between us, only us, not a single other person ever, no matter what. I need your word." He swallowed thickly. "Marty needs your word, okay?"
"You both have my solemn vow," she nodded regally and Eric felt something inside him unclench, just a little. Hetty's word was gospel. He looked around and everyone, though confused and clearly agitated, was nodding as well.
"Show us what you found Eric," Callen ordered and Eric flipped the computer open, calling up the program with the direct feed into Masters security footage. Deeks was still there, still not human, but at least he wasn't being groped by Masters on a table anymore. Instead he pressed up against the wall of a massive tank, banging his fists on the glass and clearly mouthing off despite being surrounded by water. His normally shaggy hair swirled about his head, his massive fishtail (holy shit he still had a fishtail!) swished about where his legs should be, elegantly propelling him back and forth along the glass front as he expressed his agitation. He moved too fluidly to ever be mistaken for simply wearing a fake fin, Eric had seen that easily when he'd had the glimpse of Marty squirming on the examination table, his lower body twisting with more flexibility than knee joints and strait bone allowed for.
Apparently in this room the cameras were set to keep a very close eye on Marty. Eric wondered off hand how many times he'd nearly managed to break out on his own. With pressed lips Eric turned the monitor around so the rest of the team could see. There was a moment of complete silence.
"What is this? Some kind of joke?" Kensi sounded down right dangerous and Eric took an unconscious step back.
"No joke," he confirmed, watching them all carefully. Nell looked startled and he focused on her (he loved watching her), seeing the moment realization sunk in, seeing the acceptance (he knew how to read his girl), understanding why Eric had reacted the way he had, frowning as she contemplated all the things he had (and probably things he hadn't) that could ruin Marty's life if his nature was exposed to the Navy.
"I just want to clarify that we're all seeing the same thing here," Sam couldn't seem to take his eyes off the screen, his brow furrowing and he swallowed thickly. "That's Marty, underwater, with a fishtail."
"That's what we're all seeing," Nell answered after a moment when it became clear everyone else was too absorbed in the security footage on the screen. After a long pause Eric couldn't take the strained silence and moved around to where he could see the screen and everyone in the room.
"So you get why I couldn't just show you this right? You understand why you can't tell anyone?" he waited a beat and no one answered. "Right?" He snapped and startled when a gentle hand rested on his elbow. He looked down at Hetty who was watching him warmly.
"Nobody will be turning Mr. Deeks over to any authority or science." She smiled, maybe a bit grimly, but reassuring all the same and Eric relaxed a little more when Nell moved to stand on his other side, her shoulder brushing his.
"You don't seem too surprised by this," Callen dragged his gaze from the screen to look at Hetty, his blue eyes sharp and clear.
"I have been around for a long time," she said softly and moved closer to the screen, her displeasure easy to see, "and I've heard many things throughout the years; many strange things that seemed too far fetched to ever be real, but sometimes the people telling the stories believed it so deeply it was difficult not to get swept away in the magic. I've never experienced anything like this myself, but I try to keep an open mind, even when it comes to the unbelievable, Mr. Callen."
"I heard stories too," Sam shook his head, still staring intently at the screen. Eric wasn't sure if he was still watching Deeks swim angrily back and forth, or if he was checking out the room in their line of sight. Making his own assessments. Eric wondered if he'd figured out what the metal table off to the side was for yet. "A few SEALs got lost at sea about eight years ago when their chopper went down in a storm. Nobody could find them, they were presumed dead, and then six days after they'd disappeared their life raft was almost literally run over by the ship they'd deployed from, thirty-eight miles away from where they'd crashed and up current. They were nearly dead from dehydration, there were no paddles in the raft, no way they could have swam the raft against the current to the ship or even know where the ship was, but they still got there, somehow." He shook his head and leaned closer to the computer. "Two of the guys swore on their lives that a mermaid showed up that morning and hauled their sorry assess to safety. They were the only two still conscious and it was logged as hallucinations but, even after they recovered, they kept insisting. I never really believed it, but never really doubted it either." The 'never saw this coming' didn't need to be said but he was accepting this so calmly Eric stopped worrying about his reaction. Sam was solid.
"It is often believed that myths originate from truth," Hetty looked pinched around her eyes as she watched the screen. "I can understand why beings like Marty choose for their nature to be shrouded in secrecy, to hide even from those they are closest too, but that is a discussion for another time. Right now we need to decide what our next course of action will be."
"Something's happening," Sam announced and everyone snapped their heads around to the screen, unease souring up Eric's spine as a man in a suit walked onto the screen, stopped, and shook his head at Marty. Marty gave him the finger before going back to pounding on the glass, the copper and gold in his tail shimmering as the tanks built in light followed him. The man in the suit shook his head and a moment later the security guard that had let Eric and Callen into the house for the cable repair walked towards the tank, up a set of stairs on it's side and around to its back. There must have been a platform they couldn't see from this angle as he appeared waist level with the top of the tank and was lifting some kind of hatch out of the way. That was when they saw the stick in his hand.
Marty apparently knew what was coming the moment the guy approached his cage as he swam down to the bottom of the tank, his fins splayed out wide and hands clenched tightly as he glared up to the surface.
"Oh my god," Kensi said quietly and for a moment Eric was confused as to why, when the guard above the tank lowered the stick into the water. It was a shock baton.
The reaction was instantaneous: Marty's body seized in spasm, his arms pulling in tight to his sides, his hands claw shaped, his back arching, and then it stopped almost as soon as it started. Marty was left floating belly up in suspension in the middle of the tank, his arms and neck limp, his long tail drooping down and unnaturally still. He began sinking through the water. Someone in the room sucked in a sharp breath as Eric stared frozenly at the screen, waiting. It must have only been five seconds but it felt like an eternity before Marty's entire body jerked sharply and he came back to himself with frantic speed. He wasted no time twisting and with a flick of his powerful looking tail he was pressing into the very bottom of the tank, right into the corner. At this angle it was a bit more difficult to make him out, but he clearly pulled his fin to his chest in the classic fetal position, wrapped his arms around the glimmering scales, and tucked his head away from the man still standing in the room watching him. The shock had been warning enough, and Marty was apparently done fighting for the moment. Eric swallowed, wondering if he should mention the table incident he'd witnessed when Callen turned dark, furiously blue eyes on Hetty.
"We're going in tonight," he announced, his voice thick with rage that he wasn't making any attempt to mask. Beside him Sam looked just as scary in his utter stillness as he continued to watch Marty on the screen.
"Of course Mr. Callen," Hetty didn't look remotely upset by this idea, her game face on and set like stone. "I'd expect nothing less. Let's get planning."
….