Chapter 4

(Back in the warehouse)

Deeks was once again seated to Volkov's right at the end of the long meeting table. Callen was on his way in to meet with Volkov and discuss the terms of the drug deal Deeks had facilitated. A few other business associates of Volkov were present as well to oversee the deal.

Callen was lead into the room by the dark haired Russian that manned the door to the warehouse. Deeks hoped neither Volkov nor Callen noticed the lust-filled look the doorman sent in his direction. They didn't seem to.

Callen remained standing, holding the briefcase he came in with at his side. Volkov gave him a once over before speaking. "You are Mr. Alkaev?" Callen nodded. "Martin has spoken highly of you." Volkov smiled at Callen now.

Callen directed a nod at Deeks in response. Volkov casually laid a hand on Deeks's knee, noticing Callen's gaze shift. "So." Volkov spoke up and Callen's eyes flashed back up to his. "I was told you would be able secure and deliver 25 kilos by tomorrow afternoon."

Callen kept his face smooth, hiding his surprise at Volkov's movement. "Yes sir. That won't be a problem."

"My clientele have quite refined tastes. I require some proof that your product is high quality…" Volkov tilted his head, inviting Callen to speak.

Callen stepped forward and placed the briefcase on the table. "I would expect nothing less from a man of your distinguished reputation, Mr. Volkov. I brought half a kilo with me. Please accept it as a show of good faith and have it tested at your leisure." He stepped back from the table, gesturing that the briefcase and its contents were an offering to everyone seated around the table.

Volkov nodded at Callen and then leaned to his right, stopping with his lips centimeters from Deeks's ear. "I like him. He speaks Russian well." Deeks nodded, keeping his eyes trained downward. Volkov looked at Deeks just a little too long before turning back to Callen, who kept his face blank as he watched the exchange. "I will have Martin get in touch shortly if the product is up to our standards. Thank you for the gift; it is quite generous." Volkov gestured for the doorman to escort Callen out. Callen bowed slightly before leaving the room.

"Test it." Volkov ordered. The man closest to the briefcase slid it towards himself and clicked it open.

(Outside the warehouse)

Callen walked to his car, parked up the street a ways from the warehouse. What the fuck was that? His mind was in chaos. He had quite a few questions for Hetty, but they would have to wait until he could speak to her face to face, without the rest of the team around.

Just fifteen minutes later, Callen stormed into NCIS, walking very quickly past the bullpen without even glancing in Kensi and Sam's direction. They stopped talking abruptly as he walked by with a furious expression on his face. "Callen?" Kensi asked nervously. He kept walking, not wanting to have to even try explaining what he had just seen. He was up the stairs within moments and closing the door behind him as he entered Ops. Hetty, Nell, and Eric turned to look at him, surprised by his abrupt appearance. He kept his eyes aimed at Hetty, his eyes black with anger.

One glance at Callen's expression informed Hetty of the gist of what he might have seen in the warehouse. "Eric, Nell, give Mr. Callen and I the room please." Eric and Nell exchanged a confused look before exiting Ops.

Callen was across the room and towering over Hetty as soon as they had left. "What the hell do you have Deeks in there doing, Hetty?" The venom in his voice was tangible.

Hetty sighed. Callen watched as a weariness crept over her features that he had never seen before. "What exactly did you see, Mr. Callen?" She asked tiredly.

Callen looked at her incredulously. "What did I see?" He was seething with anger again. "I saw a member of my team getting treated like a…" Callen stopped short. His voice was quiet and pleading now. "Tell me it's not what I think, Hetty. Tell me I misunderstood."

Hetty shook her head sadly. "I can't do that, Mr. Callen."

Callen's eyes widened as Hetty confirmed what he had feared. "Why would Deeks agree to do something like that?" He asked, sickened at the thought.

Hetty's phone buzzed and she looked down distractedly at the screen. She looked back up at Callen. "Mr. Deeks is on his way in. He'd like to explain in person."

Callen nodded. "I'll wait in here for him." He didn't want to have to look Kensi or Sam in the eyes right now.

(In the bullpen)

Kensi and Sam exchanged worried looks as Callen stormed past them and slammed the door to Ops. They watched Nell and Eric exit a moment later looking concerned.

"What do you think that's about?" Kensi asked, uneasily.

"Maybe the deal didn't work out? Volkov might have decided not to buy from him…" Sam trailed off, unsure.

They watched the door to Ops without speaking for a while. "You don't think something happened to Deeks, right?" Kensi blurted out.

"He would have said something if it were about Deeks." Sam assured her.

"Yeah, you're right." She said, believing that there were no circumstances under which Callen would refrain from telling her something she needed to know about her partner.

A few minutes later, the swoosh of the NCIS headquarters' door opening had Kensi and Sam looking up to see a very serious Deeks striding into the building. His eyes were focused on the second floor landing, where he knew Callen was waiting for answers. He didn't even register Kensi's surprised exclamation of "Deeks!" as he strode past the bullpen and made his way up the stairs.

"Deeks…?" Kensi's brow furrowed as Deeks blew past her. Something wasn't right. Something definitely wasn't right.

(In Ops)

Deeks's face was cold and emotionless as he opened the door to Ops and walked in. Callen was leaning against the wall on the far side of the room and Hetty was standing next to him. They both looked up at him as he walked in. Callen's expression was one of appalled unhappiness. Hetty appeared regretful, a look of apology on her face as she made eye contact with Deeks.

Deeks sighed. "Callen, you must have questions…" He walked over to the table at the center of Ops. "Has Hetty filled you in about my past?" He looked at Hetty who was shaking her head to indicate she had not. "Right…" Deeks looked down at his hands, splayed out on the table. "So… what I already said about working with the LAPD to bring down Volkov the last time, that wasn't a lie. I just… intentionally left out some details." Deeks paused before continuing. Callen remained quiet, waiting. "For instance, I wasn't working with the LAPD as an officer, I was working as an informant."

Callen's eyes shot up to meet Deeks's now. "You… you're saying you were working for Volkov, for the ring, as a criminal?" Callen's voice betrayed his disgust.

"No…" Deeks's eyes flickered to Hetty for a moment and then back to Callen. "I was… umm…" Deeks's gaze returned to Hetty once more before dropping to the floor at his feet. "I, well, I was one of the kids being trafficked."

Callen's mouth popped open in shock. He looked in horror at Deeks, who raised his gaze to meet Callen's. "You…" Callen's eyes unfocused as he tried to process this new shocking revelation. "That's not… but…" Callen struggled to string his words together to ask his next question. He looked at Hetty, who was frowning sadly, then back to Deeks. "How did you… But you had parents…" He trailed off, remembering what he had recently learned about Deeks having an abusive father.

"I ran away from home." Deeks perceived Callen's lack of surprise at this, but ignored it and continued. "One of Volkov's guys noticed me on the streets, told me he'd pay me if I did a job for him." Deeks's eyes unfocused as he recalled the memory. "I was stupid enough to get in his car…" He trailed off, letting Callen and Hetty imagine for themselves what happened after that.

"How old were you?" Callen's voice was brittle with revulsion.

Deeks's eyes flashed into his. "Thirteen."

Callen closed his eyes unhappily and then opened them in confusion as he recalled what he had seen at the warehouse. "If you were one of the kids… why is Volkov…?" Callen trailed off, not knowing how to ask his question tactfully.

Deeks sighed, understanding. "By the time I turned fourteen, I had gotten to understand how the ring worked to a certain degree. Once kids got too old, they disappeared. Once kids stopped getting bid on at auction and bringing in new clients off the streets, they disappeared." Deeks spoke in a detached voice, as Callen and Hetty listened in horror. "I was getting too old for the normal clientele and I knew I wouldn't last another year if I didn't do something to protect myself." Deeks swallowed. "So I started working Volkov."

Callen started pacing in response to this last statement. Deeks continued, following Callen back and forth across the room with his eyes. "Volkov took a… special interest in me. He's gay, but not specifically into kids, so my getting older wasn't a problem for him. I taught myself Russian; he liked that…" Deeks trailed off again.

Callen nearly gagged. Deeks continued. "Over the next couple years, Volkov got more and more attached to me. He ordered me to stop seeing clients; later, I found out he tracked down and killed a lot of my regulars."

Callen's eyebrows shot up towards his hairline. "He killed them?"

"You saw how he acted at the warehouse, just because you looked at me." Deeks responded, an almost monotone quality entering his voice and expression.

Callen tilted his head, his brow furrowing as his memories of the events at the warehouse were colored with this new perspective. "You don't think he's gonna come after me because I looked at you, right?" He watched the detective shake his head with relief.

"No, he would have killed you outside the warehouse if he perceived you as a threat. He was just…" Deeks's eyes went dull. "He was just marking his territory." Callen blanched. Deeks continued, his eyes looking undirected. "He liked you, said you spoke Russian well. Plus the guys at the table had great things to say about your 'product'." Deeks smirked, raising his eyes to meet the sickened expressions on Hetty and Callen's faces. "Anyhow, he hasn't changed, after all these years I can still play him like a piano." Deeks smiled at this, his eyes vacant.