Going Dark: Chapter 7

...

The second time Bowers stepped in to check on Deeks he saw he was finally starting to wake up. The doctor had already made his rounds and the other two agents had looked in on him earlier, but Deeks had continued snoring so everyone let him be. Bowers couldn't help but notice that Sam Hanna, the agent who scared the shit out of him, lingered next to his bed until the agent who seemed to be the leader, pulled him out of the room. For an intimidating guy, Agent Hanna seemed quite caring when it came to the injured man and that had surprised Bowers. Having someone that strong and that tough looking out for you made Bowers rather jealous.

"Hey, Bowers," Deeks said as he stretched tentatively, grunting as his broken ribs protested.

"How are you feeling, sir?" Bowers asked.

"Call me Deeks or Marty," he told the corpsman. "Have you seen my partners this morning?"

"They looked in on you about an hour ago," he said. "Do you want me to get them, sir?"

"I'm not a sir, Bowers, I'm a surfer. Nobody ever calls me sir." Deeks smiled. He realized he was feeling better and that the tension that had gripped him for the last few days was finally gone.

"You surf, Bowers?" Deeks said as he eased himself into a sitting position without too much pain.

"I'm from Kansas, sir...I mean Deeks." Bowers face finally broke into a smile. "Surfing sounds like some sort of dream. Do you get to do it very often?"

"Everyday, Bowers. It's what keeps me sane," Deeks said with a sigh. "I miss it."

"After I take your vitals, I'll bring you a light breakfast. Your IV comes out this morning and the doc said you could go on solid food." Bowers checked him over and removed the drip line and headed out to find his breakfast, passing Callen in the passageway.

"You up for a visit?" Callen asked as he stepped into the room.

"Yeah," Deeks said with a crooked smile. "What did Fox say? How did he track us?"

"He didn't," Callen said. "It was Ron Bennett, our CIA contact. He put a tracking bug on one of my shoes."

"Why would he do that?" Deeks was stunned. "This op just gets crappier and crappier."

"I'm going to set up a meet with him and see if I can get a read on him," Callen said. "Sam will tail him after I leave. I think he might already have Sikes or knows where he is and used Kocak to keep us out of his hair while he tried to recover the intel to sell. To who, we don't know yet."

"You think he's dirty?" Deeks asked.

"I think he's a traitor," Callen said.

"What can I do, Callen?" Deeks asked.

"We need to know more about the type of intel Sikes stole," Callen said. "It has to be more valuable than what they initially said it was for Bennett to be this interested. Or he stole more than they know. Do you think you can do that?"

"I'll re-interview the XO. He owes me." Deeks said, his voice quiet and slightly angry.

"You snore like a freight train, Deeks," Sam said with a wide smile as he came in.

"Is that coffee, Sam?" Deeks asked, ignoring his comment as he inhaled the heady aroma.

"It's my coffee, Deeks, and you're not supposed to have any." Sam admonished him and then took a long drink, making yummy sounds as he did.

"That's just mean," Deeks said grumpily, his face changing into a full pout.

Bowers came in with his breakfast and when he saw it he became even grumpier. As he began to eat, Sam turned to Bowers and looked him up and down.

"You've been assigned to us for the day, Bowers," Sam said lightly and smiled at the look that suddenly appeared on the petty officer's face.

"Sir?" Bowers looked surprised and instantly nervous.

"You'll be our driver today," Callen said. "We need you to drive us into the city this morning and be at our service for the rest of the day. You'll be helping on an undercover op so you can't tell anyone. Understood?"

"Yes sir," Bowers answered as he straightened into attention.

"Put on your dress blues, sailor. We leave in a hour," Sam said and Bowers turned sharply and was gone.

"I think you enjoy intimidating that kid, Sam," Callen said, shaking his head.

"What do you mean? I'm a sweetheart." Sam laughed.

"Yeah, you're a real teddy bear, Sam," Deeks said.

"The XO gave me an encrypted cell phone so you can call Kensi," Callen said as he handed it to Deeks. "I talked to Hetty this morning and she says Kensi is practically climbing the walls, so you better call her before she jumps on a plane and tracks you down."

Deeks took the phone and looked at Callen and Sam with a shy grin and they smiled and left the room. Deeks finished his meager breakfast as he wondered what he should say to Kensi; surprised he was suddenly at a loss for words. He didn't want her to worry, but he didn't want her coming over here either. The situation was volatile and he didn't want her anywhere near Kocak. He felt a chill just thinking about the man as he dialed Kensi's cell.

"Hey Kens," He said softly as he heard her voice for the first time in a couple of weeks. He broke into a smile as he heard her first question and a warmth he had been missing flooded through him.

"Marty Deeks, why's it taken you so long to call me?" She scolded. "I've been going insane."

"I'm fine, Kens," He said softly, picturing the irritated look on her face he remembered well.

"You're crazy if you think I'm going to let you off with 'I'm fine'," she said.

"Okay, grumpy face. I'm good," He said, smiling at their familiar refrain.

"I have a right to be grumpy," she said with a softer tone. "I'm worried about you."

"I know," he said. "I miss you too."

"Tell me how you're feeling," Kensi said.

"Better. Still in some pain, but they have good meds and this morning I actually got to eat real food. Okay, 'real' may be an exaggeration," Deeks told her. "I ate what the Navy doctor calls food. At least it didn't come out of an IV. They won't even let me have coffee."

"Poor baby," Kensi said and he could almost see her smiling. "Now, tell me how badly you're hurt."

"Kens, you don't need to worry about me, really." He could sense her digging in until she got a detailed description, which he wasn't about to give her. He knew her, and he wouldn't put it past her to get the details and then try to pressure Hetty into letting her come over and join the team because he was incapacitated.

"Don't tell me not to worry," She said, her voice taking on that stubborn tone that was just shy of anger.

"Kens, I'm not giving you the details, so don't ask me." He hadn't meant for the words to come out sounding that pissed off, but he was getting tired of being pushed around by everyone and he wasn't going to take it anymore, even from Kensi.

"Don't you yell at me," she said and he could hear the anger explode full-blown in her voice. "I've been sitting here for three days and nights worried sick about you, knowing some maniac had beaten you half to death and thinking the worst and you finally call and tell me not to worry? Well, too late, partner."

"Did you even take a breath during that little tantrum, Kens?" He said. He could feel his own anger heating up and tried to calm himself down, but he could feel his self-control slipping and was afraid of what would come out of his mouth if the conversation continued.

"Tantrum?" She shouted into the phone.

He cut her off before she could say another word.

"Gotta go, Kens, bye," he said quickly and ended the call.

He hated himself immediately for cutting her off and for the way he had discounted her fear. He knew how much she loved him and that she was worried about him, but right now he didn't want to hear it. He couldn't afford to have her fear infect his mind. He had been fighting his own fear since Kocak had beaten him the first time and it had only grown since then, and he hated it.

He shivered as he recalled the dark and vivid memories of lying in the chilling, relentless rain. He had been afraid then; afraid he would never hold Kensi's warm body close again; afraid he wouldn't survive; afraid of dying alone. He had been alone since he was a teenager and he was used to that kind of loneliness, but the loneliness and fear he felt that day, lying abandoned in the cold rain and in such mind numbing pain, had shaken him to the core. He had wanted to tell her that, but he couldn't reveal that kind of abject fear even to her, so he kept it close, hidden from the only family he'd known for a long, long time and from the one person he hoped wouldn't fault him for it, but still afraid that she would think less of him because of the weakness he harbored.

He jumped as the phone lying forgotten in his hand, signaled an incoming call. He recognized the number and took a deep breath, knowing he had to answer even though he had lost the desire to talk to anyone.

"Hello, Hetty," he said.

"Mr. Deeks," Hetty said.

"Is she swearing like a Marine?" he asked with a small smile.

"And loudly, Mr. Deeks," Hetty replied.

"I don't want her to know how bad it was, Hetty," he said with a sigh.

"I understand," she said. "But, she's already thought of the worst case scenario, and that's why she's so afraid for you. Not knowing is harder to deal with, Mr. Deeks."

"I know, but speaking about it makes me relive it, Hetty, and I can't do that right now," he said. "I have to put it all in the back of my mind. I have to get past it in order to function or I'm not going to be of any use to the team."

"Okay, Mr. Deeks," Hetty said. "I'll calm her down and let her know what I can, but don't expect her to stop worrying, because none of us can do that. We care what happens to you and when you're ready to talk about what happened to you, we'll be ready to listen, especially Kensi. She's your partner, Mr. Deeks. She won't judge you and neither will the rest of us, because we've all been there. Take care of yourself, Mr. Deeks."

"Goodbye, Hetty," he said.

The two phone calls had exhausted him and he turned toward the wall and pulled the blanket over his head. He had so looked forward to hearing Kensi's voice and now he had blown it by making her angry with him. He stared blankly at the dull color on the bulkhead wall until his eyelids grew heavy and sleep finally took him.

...

Petty Officer Bowers drove the car up to the gangway just as the two agents started to come down. He was surprised to see Agent Hanna in the dress blues of a Chief Petty Officer and Agent Callen in a dark suit and tie. He wasn't quite sure what they were up to, but this assignment was the most exciting thing to happen to him in a while, although he had enjoyed watching Fox taken down. He got out of the car and gave Sam a proper salute and opened the doors for them. He wasn't exactly sure how he was suppose to act on an undercover assignment, but he was pretty confident Agent Hanna would let him know.

"Take us to the Grand Bazaar, Bowers. Sam needs to do a little shopping." Callen said, smiling at Sam.

The request surprised Bowers, but he did not question the order. He was glad the car had GPS, or he would have been instantly lost in the maze of tiny streets. When they finally arrived, he and Callen waited as Sam disappeared into the labyrinth of shops, returning within half an hour with two wrapped packages.

"Find us a deserted back street, Bowers," Sam ordered as he began to unwrap everything.

"That's definitely your color, Sam," Callen commented with a smile.

"I bet you're glad Hetty insisted on me coming along as backup," Sam said as he discarded his hat and tried on the brown scull cap he had bought. "Deeks wouldn't have been able to pull off this outfit, and he definitely wouldn't have been able to get this taqiyah on over that head of hair."

"Are there any blond Muslims, Sam?" Callen asked.

"None that look like Deeks," Sam said as Bowers pulled into a deserted alley behind the Bazaar.

Sam quickly discarded his uniform and changed into the traditional Muslim clothing he had purchased. All the colors were muted so he wouldn't stand out when he tailed Bennett. The transformation was striking and Bowers was impressed at how quickly Agent Hannah made himself look like one of the locals.

"Can I ask a question sir?" Bowers ventured to ask.

"What's on your mind, sailor?" Sam asked.

"Why did you wear your dress uniform if you were just gonna change into local dress a half hour later?" the young petty officer asked.

"In case the gate to the docks was being watched," Sam said.

"We're undercover, Bowers," Callen said with a smirk.

"Yes sir. Understood sir." Bowers couldn't help the blush of embarrassment for asking such a stupid question and he slumped dejectedly in his seat.

"It's okay Bowers. Now take us to the American Embassy, but drop Sam off a few streets before we get there," Callen said.

"The ambassador is not going to be happy when we expose a traitor working right under his nose," Sam said.

"We've got to prove it first," Callen said as his cell phone buzzed.

"Callen, it's Deeks. We found out what else Sikes stole."

"What?"

"He has the launch codes for the missiles on board this ship," Deeks replied.

"Shit!" Callen looked stricken and Sam immediately read the stress in his eyes and his suddenly tense body language and ordered Bowers to pull over.

"Bowers, take a walk," Sam ordered. Once he was out of the car, Callen put the phone on speaker.

"The tech on board said that with those codes, whoever has them can remote launch the missiles and direct them to whatever target they choose." Deeks said.

"There are a lot of groups in the Middle East who would pay a lot of money for those codes," Callen said. "Deeks, call Hetty and let her know. She might want to alert Israel to a possible threat. We're going to follow Bennett and see if he leads us to Sikes."

"We have to get those codes back, G." Sam said.

"I just hope Sikes hasn't sold them already," Callen said.

...

Thanks for following Deeks latest journey. I will not be posting any new chapters until the end of next week. I am happily going on a short vacation, but I will be writing while away, so hang in there with me.