A/N: I'm so sorry that it has been a while since my last update ... writer's block is the only answer I have for you. With work, family, friends, all the 'stuff' of life, sometimes it takes some time for my brain to focus enough to actually get back into the story and the characters. Please forgive me.
Thank you so much for the follows, favorites, and reviews. I just hope there are still some of you out there that want to read this mess.
Side note: How about that season finale? Holy Bat Crap! The bombs, the betrayal, the torture ... and THE KISS! Finally! I just hope it doesn't all get messed up next season. Ugh ... September is too far away.
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And now, the next chapter ...
Questions
"So what have we got on the gang members?" Callen was now standing directly behind Nell and Eric, his thumbs hooked into the pockets of his pants. The rest of the team had closed ranks behind him, essentially forming an invisible wall between themselves and Granger, who stood silently in the middle of the floor. It wasn't a conscious decision to block him out, he just wasn't part of their little family. Hetty and he had a past together, but he never was able to really fit in with the rest of the group.
Granger watched as some of the best NCIS had to offer, and one very good LAPD detective, began to confer about the various bits of information that the two techs continued to pull up on the screen. Seeing them in action always made him proud that he had such a strong team at his disposal. He would never admit it out loud, but Owen Granger thought that there wasn't anything that Callen and his team couldn't handle. With this new dangerous threat to Hetty, he hoped he was still right.
Granger softly cleared his throat. "Agent Callen."
Four heads turned as one and four sets of eyes locked on the older man. Their expressions seemed to relay that they were growing annoyed that he was still there and again interrupting the flow of the team. Granger swallowed quickly and then he continued. "I'll be heading up to Camp Pendleton with a couple of agents. We'll escort Hetty back and hope that by then, you'll have a game plan." Callen's response was a slight nod of his head, concern clearly etched in his steel-blue eyes.
Granger turned to leave, but before he reached the doors, he stopped and turned. "Do whatever you have to do. I don't know how serious this threat is at this point, but I have always been accused by some of being overly cautious. I don't want to take any chances with this. None."
The seriousness of his tone, the set of his jaw, caused everyone to give him their full attention. "I have the up most confidence in you and this team and I know that you will do everything to solve this mess. Whatever I can do, whatever you need ... you just let me know." Then he turned and disappeared through the double doors.
The stunned silence that followed, was more than Deeks could stand. "So, does anyone besides me wonder who in the world that was?"
That earned him a glare from both Sam and Callen as they turned back to the plasma screen. Kensi seemed to share in her partner's confusion. "I've never seen him like that. He sounded almost ..."
"Concerned." Her blonde haired partner finished for her.
The same thought had entered Callen's mind too. He would be the first one to admit that he and Granger had never seen eye to eye. In fact, some agents had made bets as to who would shoot who first. But now, with this unknown threat to Hetty, even enemies could find common ground. Now they had to find out as much as they could before Hetty arrived back at the mission, hopefully safely.
"Pull up the photos of the gang members again."
Eric tapped his keyboard and six pictures appeared side by side across the screen. "Here they are: Manuel Rivera, the owner of the SUV, Guiermo Sanchez, Carlos Zartan, Romero Guitierez, David Vellegas, and Raphael Diaz. All have confirmed connections with the LAtin Kings. All are about to be released from the hospital into LAPD custody."
"Deeks?"
The detective looked up at the team leader, his eyebrows raised. "What do you need Callen?"
"I want us to have a crack at them before LAPD. Do you think you could arrange that?"
Deeks was already pulling his phone out. "On it." He dialed the number for Lt. Bates at LAPD and stepped away so he could talk without disturbing the rest of the team.
As the tall detective slipped off to the side of the room, Callen turned back to Nell and Eric. "Pull up the mystery man again, let's see if there's anything we missed the first time." Kensi and Sam stepped up closer as the video from the street camera began to play again, each one focusing their highly trained skills on the screen, looking for any possible clues that were not obvious during the previous viewing. The 'ninja' again revealed nothing, his head and hair covered by the dark hoodie he was wearing. He had on black driver's gloves but everything about his attire seemed plain, nothing stood out.
Sam started describing what he saw. "He's about six feet, two or three inches tall. He's built, probably weighs around two hundred twenty, maybe two hundred thirty pounds. Caucasian. He doesn't seem to favor either side so I can't tell it he's right or left-handed."
"Slow it down a little Eric." Something had caught Kensi's eye.
Sam crossed his arms over his wide chest. "What did you see Kensi?"
"Not sure. Just looking at his fighting style; maybe that'll tell us more about him."
As the video played out at a slower pace, the quick strikes that were at first blurs, became clearer and more defined. Kensi folded her arms as well, mimicking Sam as her eyes locked on the mystery man's hands, knees, elbows, and feet. Along with Sam, she used her years of hand-to-hand combat training to try and find what type or style of fighting the stranger had used. "Well ... crap."
Callen looked over at the both of them, his face curled in confusion as well. "What is it guys?"
"I've never seen anything like this." Sam seemed to have the same puzzled look on his face that the brunette did.
Callen didn't say anything, he just waited for one of them to speak. Sam and Kensi exchanged a slight shrug and the older man pointed up at the screen. "From my count, he used at least four different martial arts when he took out the gang."
"I counted five but I've never seen them used together so seamlessly ... it was ... well, beautiful." Kensi couldn't hide the admiration in her voice. "Aikido, Ju-jitsu, Shinto Ryu, Shotokan, Kung Fu, and I think there was some Israeli Krav Maga in there as well."
Callen and Sam shared a knowing look.
"Struck."
"Smitten."
"Shut the hell up you two." Kensi said through clenched teeth as she stole a look over at her shaggy partner who was, thankfully, still on the phone with LAPD. She didn't need him getting curious about what they were talking about. Those words had been thrown at her by Sam and Callen back when she had first met Deeks in that sweaty MMA gym when he was posing as Jason Wyler. "I'm just commenting on his fighting style ... nothing else."
"Sure Kensi, you're not at all interested in the tall, dark stranger who fights better than you do?"
The intensity of the glare Kesni focused on Callen caused him to wonder if he was far enough away to make a run for it. When her stare didn't waver, Callen threw his hands up in mock surrender. "It's okay Kensi ... we won't tell Deeks about your new boyfriend." When she took a quick step toward him, he actually flinched. The evil smile that curled at the corner of her lips, reminded Callen of why her nick name was Kick Ass Blye and he was glad Sam was close enough to help if she actually did decide to kick his ass.
Before their conversation could continue, Deeks flipped his phone off and just stood there, staring at his phone. "Huh, that's just weird."
Kensi turned away from a frightened Callen and addressed the scruffy detective. "Whatchya got Deeks?"
When he looked over at her, she was once again struck the deep pacific blue of his eyes. Deeks gave a simple shrug of his shoulders. "Bates said that the Apple Dumpling Gang will be transported to the boat shed as soon as the transfer order clears."
"Wow Deeks, I'm impressed." Sam couldn't contain the big grin that covered his face. "As much as I hate to admit it, you're actually getting good at that liason thing."
"As much as I would love to claim credit for the trans-department-juridictional-prisoner-transfer between two law enforcement agencies that rarely see eye-to-eye, and the fact that they aren't ..."
"Deeks?" Kensi was rubbing her temple now. "Please?"
The smile that formed on the detective's face was priceless. "Sorry sugarbear."
Kensi's eyes narrowed into thin slits. "What did I say about calling me 'sugarbear'?"
"I thought you liked 'sugarbear'. It was 'Kiki' that you hated, but I don't see why, it's a very cute nickname and there are ..."
Kensi took a quick step over and slugged her partner in the shoulder. Hard.
"Hey ... ow!" Deeks reached up and rubbed where his arm was suddenly throbbing. "Come on Fern, at least Sam pulls his punches!"
The big SEAL was not amused. "What did you say shaggy?"
Before the floor of the operations center could be covered with the blood of a certain LAPD detective, Callen stepped in. "Come on guys, not now."
"Sorry ... what I was saying before I was both verbally and physically abused, is that I didn't do anything, the transfer had already been arranged." Deeks stepped beside his partner, the verbal and physical altercation quickly forgotten, filed away into the crazy world that was the usual for a certain blonde detective and his dark-haired partner.
Callen jammed his hands into the front pockets of his jeans and asked, "So who cleared it?"
Deeks nodded toward the double doors at the back of the room. "None other than NCIS Assistant Director Owen Granger."
The other agents in the room suddenly realized how concerned the Assistant Director really was. Callen glanced down at the floor. "Wow, he's actually helping instead of getting in the way."
"They've got a Department of Corrections van waiting at the hospital to pick them up as soon as the doctors give the okay." Deeks gestured toward the screen where the gang's pictures were still displayed.
"Okay, Kensi and Deeks, you guys get over to LA Medical and escort the dumpling gang to the boat shed. Sam and I will see what we can find anything on our mystery man." Callen nodded at the two analysts that were patiently waiting on their marching orders. "Eric, Nell ... keep digging. See if any more street cams picked up our mystery guest; and check the phone records of the gang, see who they've been in contact with."
As they team broke apart toward their assigned tasks, Callen turned back to the techs. "Eric, our 'ninja' called LAPD to report the wreck and the fight, see if you can pull his voice from the 9-1-1 call and run it through voice recognition. He may have popped up on the radar somewhere else."
"Sure thing." Eric turned in his chair and Nell busied herself typing away at her keyboard. When the agents and detective had all cleared the room, he leaned over and bumped her with his elbow. When she looked over at him, he cocked his head to one side and asked, "Do you think Hetty's in any real danger?"
Nell tried to keep the worry from seeping into her response. She failed. "This time I think she may be Eric ... she may be."
Kensi and Deeks grabbed their bags and headed out of the mission to her silver SRX parked in the mission's side lot. They hadn't spoken since they were up in ops and the silence is becoming more than Deeks can stand. As soon as they are in their usual places inside her vehicle, with Kensi driving and Deeks fiddling with the radio station, he can't hold back any more.
"Kensi?"
When she didn't respond, he decided to try his favorite nickname for her.
"Fern?"
Without taking her eyes off the road, Kensi's response comes out a little sharper than she intended. "What!?"
Deeks knows immediately that she is off, he only hopes it's not because of him. "Hey, you okay?"
In an instant, she comes back with her trade-marked Kensi reply. "I'm fine." She knows it sounds too harsh the moment the word 'fine' leaves her lips, but her mind is racing at light-speed and, of course, her partner doesn't seem to share her concern. Sometimes she feels like he' s the best partner she's ever had, and other times she thinks he's permantly stuck at age fourteen. No other man on the planet as ever aggravated her to the point where she actually saw red, and there was no other man on the planet she trusted as much as she did him. She was just frustrated that their morning had started out great and now they were in a race to track down a threat to their boss. Why couldn't there ever be just an easy day? She thought as they raced toward the hospital.
Deeks thinks about pushing her for a more conversational response, but, for some reason, decides not too. The morning had started off great with their usual banter and sarcastic remarks. He had even gotten one of her sweet smiles when he had returned from the coffee shop with her favorite doughnuts, but now he felt that maybe he needed to work on keeping his mouth shut more often. So, instead of letting out one of his best lines about she is obviously not fine, he bites his tongue and just stares out the window, watching as the streets of LA zip by.
Kensi notices that her partner isn't pressing the issue of her typical 'I'm fine' remark and wonders why he isn't pestering her as he normally would. She steals a glance over at him and sees that he is looking out the window, his fingers drumming lightly on the door panel in time with the techno music thumping through the speakers. That's when she realizes what was playing on the radio, She hadn't even noticed that he had tuned in her favorite station when they got in the car when he could have made the argument that it was still morning and he 'technically' was still in charge of picking the station. She instantly regretted coming off short with him, he hadn't done anything to deserve that. Calling her not one, but two, of his silly nicknames up in ops wasn't a reason to be snippy with him, but she had, and he was still thinking of ways to be sweet to her. A smile found its way to her lips and she had to look away just in case he saw her.
"Sorry Deeks, didn't mean it to come out that way."
Deeks turned to her and when she looked back at him, he was sporting one of the sweetest grins she had ever seen on him. "No problem Kens, it's cool." She noted the tender way he said the short version of her name that he only used when he was being serious with her. "I'm worried about Hetty too."
Kensi felt a shock run through her body; he had just reveled exactly what she was on her mind. She was again amazed at how well he knew her and could read her thoughts no matter how hard she tried to hide them from him. She quickly turned her attention back to the road, mainly because she didn't want to wreck her car, but also because she was afraid of what Deeks might see in her eyes if he looked too deep.
"I was afraid you were still mad about the 'sugarbear' slip-up in ops."
"Your stupid nicknames don't bother me like they used too. I'm getting to where I can ignore them when I want too ... kinda like I do you." She laughed at her own joke, she even snorted a little.
"Really Kiki?" Deeks' grin grew to the point where it looked as if his face might crack. "I quess I'll have to come up with some new ones, like ..."
"Deeks ... don't."
"Bambi?"
"Deeks, I swear to God ... "
"Dumpling?"
"Would you just stop!" She tried to sound angry but she couldn't stifle her laughter for much longer. Dumpling ... really?
"Sweetums ... pookie ... sugarplum ... honeybun ... "
Kensi was laughing now, loud and hard, the tension from what was happening in regards to Hetty floating away with every stupid little name that came from her partner's cute mouth. She had to reach up and wipe away the tears that were clouding her eyes and the seat belt was suddenly too tight on her aching ribs. She was loosing control ... fast.
"Deeks, ... pl ... please ... stop ... "
"Moonbeam ... starshine ... sparkplug ... sparkles ... " The rest were drowned out by the laughter that rocked the inside of the vehicle, Kensi barely able to see the road for the tears in her eyes. Catching her breath, she looked over at the lanky surfer.
"Sparkplug ... really?"
Deeks' mouth curled up at the corners into a devilish grin and turned his blue eyes to her mismatched ones. "Yeah, you keep me running."
And she lost it again, pressing herself back into her seat, Kensi's hands gripped the steering wheel with all her strength. Now her ribs really did hurt. Looking out the window, she saw that the minvan beside them was full of tiny soccer players and they were all looking at them, pointing, and laughing. The old Kensi would have been embarrassed by her actions, but once again, she took note of how much she had changed, all because of her crazy partner.
When they pulled up to a stoplight, the loud laughter had died out but was still some soft snickering, she smiled over at him. He was looking back out the window so she tapped him lightly on his knee. "Hey."
"Yeah?"
"Thanks Deeks, I needed that."
Deeks noted the softness in her voice and was glad that he had lightened her mood. If the only thing he accomplished during the day was to get his beautiful partner to smile or laugh, he always considered it a good day. Turning to look into her soft eyes, he again conveyed an unspoken promise to always be there for her.
"Any time Kens, any time."
There was that name again. She couldn't deny the way her stomach did flip-flops when he said it that way. The tension when they had left the mission had been a little overwhelming. She couldn't believe that Hetty was in any real danger, but the gang they were going to interview, Granger's appearance, and then there was the mysterious 'ninja'; this was going to be one of those cases, one too close to home.
"There they are, drop me here and I'll go check on the transfer." As soon as Kensi stopped at the curb, Deeks hustled out of the vehicle and walked casually over to a large white van that had the words "California Department of Corrections" stenciled on the side. Two very large uniformed corrections officers stepped up and Deeks displayed his badge to them. They huddled close together and Kensi had a hard time reading their lips when they spoke. It was all just procedural conversation and then Deeks started telling them one of his stupid jokes and Kensi stopped reading his lips, but she didn't stop watching him. It was part of being his partner and always watching his back, and it was part because she was finding that she enjoyed watching him when he interacted with others. Deeks had a gift for getting people, even strangers, to trust him, and he always used to his advantage, whether he was working a case or just standing on a sidewalk, passing the time.
Kensi pulled around and parked behind the corrections van, and Deeks walked over and leaned against her door. When the wind blew in through the open window, her nostrils were filled with the light scent of the ocean and something else, something decidedly Deeks. She felt a familiar twinge start low in her chest and rise quickly until she was sure that her face was flushed, but Deeks didn't notice, he was busy watching traffic as it flowed by on the nearby street. She just hoped it was gone before he turned around and looked at her.
They stayed like that for a few moments until the side doors of the hospital opened and six men dressed in orange prison jump suits slowly trudged down the concrete ramp, escorted by four sheriff's deputies. They were battered and bruised, some had their arms in slings, others limped, and one had his right arm encased in a plaster cast. They moved slowly in a short line, their ankles shackled together and both Kensi and Deeks shared a short laugh about the irony of the entire situation. The six men could barely walk, much less run.
Deeks let out a short chuckle. "What? Do they think they're going to run away? They're barely mobile!"
Kensi started laughing along with him and then she said, "Maybe we should put our ninja on the payroll."
Deeks turned and looked right at his partner. "Our ninja? Well, Miss Blye, if I didn't know any better, I'd say you are a little taken with him."
"No that's not it at all ... I just meant that he got six gang-bangers off the street. Did LAPD's job for them." When the words left her mouth, she realized what she had said. "Deeks, I didn't mean ..."
"I know Fern and I happen to agree with you, I just hope that we can get something from them to help protect Hetty."
Kensi tapped him on his forearm. "Hop in, they're almost done loading them into the van." Deeks slipped around the front of the vehicle and climbed in beside her as she started the engine.
A few moments later, the deputies pulled out first and then the van pulled out into traffic, Kensi and Deeks right behind them. Deeks leaned over and turned the radio down enough that he wouldn't have to raise his voice in order to talk to his partner. "The corrections officers will deliver the Apple Dumpling Gang to the boatshed and the deputies will provide the extra security while we talk to them."
Kensi had heard the reference too many times and she had no idea what he was talking about. "Okay, please explain the 'Apple Dumpling Gang' phrase you keep using." She applied pressure with her right foot and the SRX's engine purred a little louder as it kept up with the vehicles in front of them as they merged onto the four lane that would take them to the warehouses on the waterfront.
Deeks looked over at her, a puzzled look on his face. "You're kidding, right?" The look on her face told him she was not. "You've never seen "The Apple Dumpling Gang"?... Tim Conway? ... Don Knots? ... 1975 Disney movie? Really?" The shrug of her shoulders relayed her ignorance of the matter. Deeks slowly shook his head as he softly chided her. "Fern, Fern, Fern, we need to have another movie night ... soon."
Kensi smiled to herself, it had been far too long since their last movie night and she was suddenly excited about the opportunity to spend some time with her shaggy partner away from work, guns, and bad guys. The three vehicles moved quickly down the highway, keeping to the right, letting other faster traffic pass them by on their left.
"Is it funny or serious?"
Deeks turned toward her a little in his seat before he replied. "It's kinda cheesy but some parts are hilarious; Don Knots and Tim Conway were comedic geniuses. I think even you can grasp their type of humor."
"If their's is anything like yours, I'll be asleep in the first fifteen minutes." She laughed at her comment; that was two already today.
"I can't help that you have no sense of humor Fern, but even you'll like it."
Kensi didn't want to admit that she would probably care less about what happened in the movie, she would be having too much fun just being with her partner, her best friend. She glanced up at the van in front of them and saw that traffic was slowing. "Looks like we got caught in the tail end of morning rush-hour, crap."
"What's wrong Fern? In a hurry to spend some quality time with the boys in their orange jump suits?"
"Deeks, would you just shut ... "
The corrections van directly in front of them exploded in a ball of white-hot fire, the force of the blast flinging pieces of metal and glass high into the air. The burning van coasted to the right and slammed into the metal railing that paralleled the highway. Kensi slammed on the brakes and whipped the steering wheel hard to the left in an instinctive move that probably saved them from crashing into the burning wreckage.
"Holy shit!" Deeks was screaming in the passenger seat, his right hand flying to the grab handle above the car door, his other hand flying to Kensi's chest, bracing her against the violent movements of the car. Normally she would have clobbered him for such a move, but the sudden explosion right in front of them had her a little pre-occupied. She could her other cars slamming on their brakes, horns were honking and she could hear people screaming. Before her car had even come to a complete stop, Deeks had unfastened his seatbelt and was out the door. He ran over to the burning wreckage, desperately looking for survivors. There were none.
The Sheriff's Department car had stopped just up the highway and the deputies came running back to help their comrades and the prisoners they were guarding. Deeks turned away from the conflagration and sadly waved for them to stop. There was no need, they were all gone.
Kensi ran around to where Deeks was standing, the deputies moved out to secure the scene and direct traffic around the still burning vehicle. Her concern for her partner clear on her face. "Are you okay?"
Deeks looked her up and down, checking for any obvious injuries. "I'm good, how about you?"
Kensi was still a little numb from what had just happened but she took the time to be thankful that they were both in one piece. "I'm good, but I think I may have wet my pants a little."
Deeks just smirked at her. "Yeah, join the club."
They moved closer together, taking comfort from the other's presence, they gently brushed arms as they turned to the burning vehicle. Deeks pulled out his phone and quickly called Ops.
Eric answered after just one ring. "Deeks, you guys okay? We were watching you guys on the traffic cams when the van exploded."
"We're fine Eric, but we lost the prisoners and the corrections officers. Send fire and EMS to our location."
"They're already on their way."
Deeks surveyed the chaos that was the scene of the explosion. "Thanks Eric, we'll stay on scene and wait for the forensics team. See you in a bit." He hung up his phone and turned back to his partner. They shared a momentary look as their adrenaline high began to fade, thankful that the other was unharmed.
They both turned their heads and looked at the remains of the van that continued to snap and pop. Deeks bumped his partner with his elbow. "Well, so much for The Apple Dumpling Gang."
Kensi nodded in agreement but she couldn't help the foreboding chill that ran up her spine. "Yeah, but now we have nothing to show for all this. We just lost our best shot at finding out who hired these guys to tail Hetty ... and why."
Deeks moved a little closer to her, the look on his face conveying his frustration as well. They stood that way until they heard the familiar sounds of the sirens coming closer and closer. This case had become serious in a heartbeat and apparently, these people were playing for keeps.
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So, should I keep going with this? You guys let me know.
And please, if you have suggestions or corrections, just PM me and let me know what I 'm doing wrong ... or right ... or whatever.
Semper Fi
JS
