Sorry for the wait but you know school (blugh)

Disclaimer: none, I own nothing.

This is un-beta'd so any mistakes are my own.

ENJOY

Chapter 7

Paterson swore softly when he saw the SWAT teams moving in. This was not part of the plan, someone must have squealed and when he found out who they were they would pay. Knowing that he would have to wait in order to find where that imposter Deeks was going, he settled back to wait for the nearing ambulance to arrive and then obviously take Deeks away. Paterson would not allow Deeks to walk away from this. He would not allow Deeks to take his rightful place as Kensi's partner and there was no way that he would allow himself to be caught and sent away.

Yes, he would bide his time and when the time was right he would kill Deeks. He would wait until they thought he had given up. Lull them into a false sense of security and then kill him. He walked away from the farm house and back towards where he had hidden his car. Quickly driving to the end of the concealed driveway, he waited for the ambulance to leave.

…xoxoxoxxoxoxoxoxoxoxox…

Four days after Deeks had been found he still had shown no sign of waking up. The swelling had not reduced very much but his other wounds had started to heal up. The ventilator had been removed a few days ago because the doctor thought that Deeks was breathing well enough without it and the punctured lung was mending nicely and it should be no problem. Doctor Williams was not worried about Deeks not waking up, saying it was normal when the brain had suffered a trauma like this. They just have to give him time to heal on his own Kensi had not left since Deeks had been admitted to the hospital. Also to Callen's despair there had been no sign of Paterson. Despite Eric and Nell constantly searching for him they had come up blank at everything they tried. As Callen walked towards Deeks room with Sam by his side, he started to wonder just how far Paterson would go in order to kill Deeks. Once they reach Deeks' room the first thing they see is that Hetty is sat in the chair next to Deeks' bed instead of Kensi.

"Morning Hetty, I see you finally got Kensi to go home then?"

"Good morning to you to Mr Hanna, Mr Callen and yes I sent Ms Blye home to get some much needed rest"

Sam looked at Deeks. He was still unmoving and he had a bit more colour than yesterday. His bread had been shaved off making him look like a little boy but what ruined the image were the bandages around his head and chest and also the bruises standing out in stark contrast to the pale white bandages and pale skin.

"Has there been any change with his condition?"

Hetty let out one of her smiles that you were never quite sure if they meant good news or bad news. Bracing themselves for more bad news on the detective's conditions, Sam and Callen waited for the answer with bated breath.

"The doctor came by earlier to take Mr Deeks for another CT scan to check on the swelling but he has not returned with the results yet. As ever we must wait and see what the future brings us but remember Mr Deeks is stronger than you give him credit for" Hetty finished by looking pointedly at Sam on her last point.

"What you mean is that Deeks is strong in his own way then, because I'm not seeing a lot of muscle on him Hetty" Sam replied jokingly.

Callen joined in "Well he has to be strong Sam otherwise how would he put up with Kensi all day every day especially on the days that there are no Twinkies in her secret stash because she has eaten them all. I think she's getting close to where Eric and Nell hide their Oreos though. Could you imagine what would happen if she ate those"

"I don't want to think about what they could do. Eric would erase any knowledge that you were every alive and Nell is like a mini you, Hetty."

"Ms Jones is a remarkable young woman. She and Mr Beale make a brilliant team but they do have the bad habit of eating those Oreos when they think that I don't know. They should know by now that I always have my methods."

"I wonder if you looked at the finances for the whole team, who would spend the most on chocolate and sweets" Sam actually looked like he was considering doing this when Callen mentioned it.

"You know" Hetty chuckled "I remember when I was talking to a Dr Grissom one time; he mentioned that during his time as a CSI he had a case where a man literally died from chocolate. Apparently this man ate chocolate everyday for many years and because of the lead petrol used in areas where the coco bean is grown, the lead got onto the beans and when made into chocolate still contained lead. So the actual cause of death was lead poisoning but it still counts as death by chocolate."

"Maybe someone should tell kensi that before that happens to her" a voice croaked out from the bed. The room's occupants turned their attention to the bed. Deeks still had his eyes closed but a smile on his face.

"Mr Callen would you be so kind to go and fetch a doctor" Callen disappeared from the room to do just that, but with an added bounce to his step. Since Deeks was awake that meant his chances of survival and regaining his sight would be much higher.

Sam moved over to the bed and picked up the cup of ice chips that the nurses had left there. "Hey Deeks, how are you feeling?"

Deeks shifted, trying to sit up in the bed. Sam stopped him and pushed him back down again with one hand. "You should stay down, it's better for your body. Plus it would be good if you could open our eyes so we can see those baby blues of yours. If you do then you can get some ice ships"

Deeks smile widened "Can't I just get the ice chips and skip opening my eyes" he left his mouth slightly open ready for the ice chips. Sam relented and scoped a few into Deeks' mouth.

"Now that you have your ice chips Mr Deeks, you should open your eyes." When he did not comply and the smile slipped from his face, Hetty tried again "Mr Deeks I know you are worried but for you to regain your sight we need to know what has been damaged"

"Come on Deeks we know that you can do it" Sam added his encouragement.

"If I do will you let me sleep again?" The smile had returned and the detective yawned.

"Even if we say no you still will, won't you" Sam asked, smiling fully for the first time in weeks.

"Of course" With a sigh Sam could see that Deeks was starting to open his eyes. Once they were pushed open, they gazed blankly around not fixing on anything and then they moved to Sam.

"Hey big guy did ya miss me?"

"The opposite actually, it has been very quiet without you around. How much can you see Deeks, because I think the only reason that you are looking over here is because you can hear my voice."

"Well you caught me. I can't see much, just well nothing except black and greyish shapes"

Before anymore could be said the doctor came in the room followed by Callen, who was still smiling and his smile got bigger when he saw the smiles on Hetty's, Sam's and Deeks' faces. Sam was even laughing. "Well well well Mr Deeks, it's good to see you awake"

Callen noted the confusion on Deeks' face and made the introductions."Deeks this is Dr Williams, he's been in charge of looking after you and dealing with a sleep deprived Kensi"

"Which is something, that I do not wish to deal with ever again. My nurses had the idea of waking her up by waving a Twinkie In her face and then running."

"She was that bad huh?" It was hard for Callen to think that Deeks had been kidnapped. He was acting so normal and it was almost like he was never gone. Maybe that was his way of dealing with it and if so then they were going to need a very long talk about it being okay to share feelings after an event like being kidnapped by a lunatic.

"She almost took Nurse Amy's eye out" Sam and the doctor laughed as they were the ones present when that particular event happened. "Now Mr Deeks enough of the pleasantries, I'm afraid that we now have to do the examination. Do you want your team members to leave or stay?"

Deeks chewed on his lip. His eyes were closed again and he was weighing up his choices. Let them see what Paterson had done to him and let them offer support or do it alone. "I'd like Hetty to stay, no offence guys but…" he trailed off unable to get the words out to explain why he didn't want them there, but luckily he didn't have to try because they seemed to understand. At least he hoped they knew why.

"Mr Hanna, Mr Callen why don't you call Ms Blye and tell her that Mr Deeks is awake, and then go and see if Mr Beale or Ms Jones has found anything."

They nodded and were about to leave when Deeks spoke up again "Hey will you tell Nell that it wasn't Eric that raided their spare Oreo stash. It was me" Deeks had the guts to look sheepish even with his eyes shut. "I couldn't help it and I will replace them"

Callen laughed and shot Sam a look, seeming to say I told you so, before they both left.

"Now Mr Deeks, let me first start with your eyesight. A blow to your head has caused swelling in your brain and it has put pressure on your optical nerves, causing your blindness. When you first arrived you had surgery to relive that pressure. The swelling had decreased but not by much"

"Does that mean that I won't be able to see again, but what about my job, I kinda need my eyesight, Oh god" Deeks started panicking which caused the heart monitor to start bleeping letting the doctor know that he had to get Deeks to calm down. Before he could start to though, Hetty stepped in and took his hand in hers.

"Now you listen here Mr Deeks and listen well. Firstly you did not let Doctor Williams finish, he was just about to say that the swelling will go down because your chances are better know that you are awake. Secondly even if you did lose your eyesight, do you think that we would just cast you out?"

Deeks' heart rate came back down at hearing that and turned his head towards Hetty and grinned. "Of course not, you'd miss me too much"

Hetty shook her head at the detective and his antics.

Doctor Williams cleared his throat and directed the attention in the room back to himself. "Now if I could continue, Mr Deeks I am hopeful that your sight will return but to see how far away that could be I need to test your eyesight." Doctor Williams shone a light in Deeks' eyes and tested reactions and if and or what colours he could see.

"Well your pupils are reacting to the light which makes me think that you can see something. What exactly can you see?"

"It's mainly dark but with patches of lighter grey which I'm guessing was your light and darker shapes which I think are you and Hetty but apart from that there is nothing"

Despite learning this Doctors Williams did not look worried. "That is very good news Mr Deeks."

The rest of the examination went by without any problems. The stab wounds were healing well, the broken ribs are doing well and the punctured lung was not a problem. All was well Hetty thought.

"You should rest now Mr Deeks. Get your strength back for when your partner arrives." With a smile the doctor left the room after telling them to call for anything.

"Sleep now Mr Deeks, Ms Blye will be here when you wake"

Almost ashamed, Deeks turned to Hetty "I don't think I can sleep."

"You are worried about reliving the last few weeks. I do not blame you. Even I admittedly still find what we do each day hard. I am haunted by some of the choices I have made in the past and when sleeping these fears come alive and haunt you. You need to be willing to talk about what has happened. But for now you are safe and if Paterson dares to show his face here when I am around, I will personally see to him. I will also arrange for someone to bring you a gun"

"Thank you Hetty. That means a lot." Deeks snuggled back in the bed and fell asleep quickly.

Hetty smiled at the sleeping face of the Detective. He looked so much younger than he did when awake and that caused something to stir within her heart. A warm, calming sensation settled over her from just watching someone sleep. It was welcome to her.

...…xoxoxoxxoxoxoxoxoxoxox…..

With Eric and Nell back in ops

"Sam and Callen are on their way back" Eric told Nell as he walked back in to the control room. He frowned slightly at Nell still furiously typing at her computer. "You should take a break Nell or you will over work your brain."

Nell sighed but took his advice and twirled her chair around so she could face Eric. "How can he hide himself so well? Do you think that he'll try to kill Deeks again?"

Eric flopped down in his chair and turned to face Nell "He's a master criminal, he's had plenty of time to perfect his methods of hiding. As for your second question I don't know. When he was on the team he had a very quick temper. Sam and Callen used to joke that they could always count on him to intimidate people into confessing. He was a good agent though, despite his flaws and he and Kensi worked well together"

Nell shook her head "I don't understand how people can do that. Betray the people that they trust the very most."

"Well let's hope that you never do, no one would ever be able to find you." Catching the look on Nell's face he tried to backtrack and save the situation "I didn't mean that you would ever… I meant that... well erm your training would make you harder to find" luckily one of the monitors went off, saving Eric from more humiliation in front of his partner.

"We've got a hit on one of the finger prints found in the barn. They belong to Santiago luzimon" Nell pulled his details up on the screen. A photo of a 30 year old man, with a scruffy beard and cold blue eyes appeared on the screen. "He's done time for aggravated assault and theft. Also he was never convicted but DC police believe that he was involved with a bank robbery that Paterson and his cousin carried out."

"Well the two of them knew each other then. I'm going to start a kaleidoscope search for him." Eric turned back to his computer while Nell called Callen and Sam to let them know that they had a lead.

…..xoxoxoxxoxoxoxoxoxoxox…

Sam and Callen- driving back to ops.

They were both quiet in the car as they headed back to see if Eric or Nell had been able to find anything on Paterson or the people he was working with. Both of them were thinking about Deeks not wanting them to stay at the hospital and the way he was acting normal

"You know, was it just me or was Deeks acting a bit to normal" Callen spoke up on the thing that he had been wondering about the most "He was acting like nothing had happened, like he was just in for a minor concussion, not treatment for wounds caused by being kidnapped for one month by a sociopath."

Sam considered this "Maybe that's his way of dealing with things. I mean the rest of us can take our anger out in the gym but Deeks is stuck in hospital. It will be ages until he can come back to work or go surfing. Maybe by acting like it never happened, it makes it easier"

"You have been spending too much time listening to Nate." But it made sense to Callen. He was just worried about what would happen to Deeks if he could not keep up the pretence anymore.

"Maybe I have, but maybe that's a good thing"

Before Callen could replay his phone rang. He flipped it open and put it on speaker.

"Yeah Nell"

"We've got a hit on one of the finger prints from the barn where Deeks was found. His name is Santiago luzimon. He was involved in a bank robbery with Paterson and his cousin. We also got a hit on kaleidoscope and he is currently at seaman's café in Venice."

"Okay thanks Nell, good work. Oh and any sign of Paterson?"

"Nope not yet but we'll keep looking" With that Callen cancelled the call and grabbed hold of the door handle when Sam made a U turn. After making sure that they would not crash, he pulled his gun out and inserted a new magazine.

"What do you bet that Luzimon will try to run?" Sam queried

"That's not fair because they always run but loser gets lunch for the team for a week" Callen knew that he would be the one to get the food for him and Sam but he made sure that he worded what he said carefully so that he could trick Sam. It would only be him and Sam anyway because Kensi would stay with Deeks meaning that she would eat hospital food. Callen let out a shudder at the thought of it. The only good part is the jell-o that they always seem to have.

"I wonder why that is" he wondered out loud.

Sam glanced over, causing Callen to grip the door handle as the car swerved. Sam let out a chuckle and turned his attention back to the road. "Why what is G?"

"Why hospitals have so much Jell-o. I saw inside their kitchen store room once and it was filled with Jell-o."

Callen actually seemed puzzled by this making Sam laugh more "It's because G, after some surgery the doc's don't want you eating hard food or the patient cannot eat hard foods so they give them Jell-o which is nice and soft"

"But there must be other soft food that they could have?" Callen persisted

"Take it up with doctor Williams when we next see him. We're here G" That put an end to the banter as both men grabbed their guns and got out of the car.

The take down, as they go, was easy and over quickly. As Sam predicted Luzimon ran, right into Callen where he was waiting down the street. Walking back to a smug looking Sam, Callen sighed and stuffed Luzimon into the back of the car.

"Okay you win. I knew you would, which is why you are getting food from the OSP kitchen." Callen gave Sam a big grin, savoring the look of displeasure, before getting in the car. "What I never said buy the food. I said loser would get the food"

….xoxoxoxoxoxoxo…..

Hospital- Deeks and Kensi

When Kensi arrived back at the hospital after being forced home to get sleep and rest by Hetty, she immediately noticed a difference. She walked quicker eager to get to Deeks now. When she got there she saw that he was still unconscious and Hetty was still sitting with him.

"Good morning Hetty. Has there been any change?" she said as she walked round to the over chair in Deeks' room and sat down.

Hetty gave her a smile "Quite a big one I would say Ms Blye. Mr Deeks woke up a few hours ago"

Kensi smiled her first real smile for weeks. "That's great. What did the doctor say?"

"Doctor Williams feels confident that he will make a good recovery. The only concern is his eyesight. The pressure has only decreased a little bit and the doctor is worried that if it does not decrease soon the damage to his optical nerves could be permanent" Hetty paused "Mr Deeks does not know this yet. I thought it would be better for you to break the news to him."

"Deeks could be blind?" Kensi felt her new felt happiness fade away. She turned her gaze to Hetty who seemed to be thinking. "Hetty is there more?"

"The swelling could still go down but more surgery could be likely we just have to wait. Now if you will excuse me I have a meeting to attend to."

Kensi nodded goodbye and took Deeks' hand in hers. "Alright Deeks, you will be fine or you will have me to answer to"

"If that's so then I might as well go back to sleep" Deeks mumbled sleepily.

"Deeks you're awake"

"Nope I'm sleep talking I tend to do that" he replied a smile forming on his face. "Help he sit up will you?"

Kensi leaned forward and helped get Deeks settled. "How are you Deeks, do you want me to get a nurse?" She turned to do so but Deeks waved a hand vaguely near her so she stopped. "Well how are you?"

"I feel like one big bruise, I can't see and when I fall asleep people discuss my condition like I cannot hear them"

"So you heard about your eyesight"

"Yeah, I'm a light sleeper but I will get it back. I need it back"

"You will" kensi began but she was cut off by Deeks "you don't understand the light can always offer support and can help with the memories but in darkness all I can see is his face Kensi and I can't…" He trailed off and kensi could feel him trembling.

"Hey I'm here and I'm not leaving. He cannot get you because I will personally kick his arse"

That brought a smile to his face again "Hetty said something very similar to that." Deeks opened his eyes and let out a gasp.

"What is it Deeks? Are you okay?"

"No well yes. I can see you. It's like a faint outline but better than earlier when Sam and Callen were here"

"That's brilliant what did I tell you. Now I need sugar, do you want some jell-o?"

"Sure as long as you don't eat it"

Kensi chuckled and went to stand up when she changed her mind "Why don't I get a nurse to grab some and I can stay here"

"I'd like that thank you Kensi" he leaned over and pushed the call button. When the nurse came Kensi placed their order. She turned back to Deeks freshly happy. Now they just had to find Paterson and deal with him. During that Kensi would make sure that Deeks knew that she was there at all times so that he knew that he was not alone until his sight came back. Once Paterson was dead or behind bars, although Kensi preferred the former to the latter, they could put this behind them and carry on as normal. Well as normal as they can get in their line of work.

…..….….xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo…

Boatshed

Sam watched Callen interrogate Luzimon through the monitor. They were getting nowhere. All they had managed to learn was that Luzimon wanted a lawyer, which was something that they all said and that Luzimon had not touched Deeks. Or so he said and Callen never did trust people easily.

"For the last time where is Paterson, before I have to get my partner in here" Sam stood up ready to go and help if Callen gave him the signal.

"And for the last time I don't know where he is" Luzimon replied looking thoroughly bored with what was going on.

"Look we can do this easy or hard. We now that you were waiting for Paterson so where is he." This caused Luzimon to shift slightly and Callen knew that he was on to something. "Are you going to tell me?"

Luzimon shifted again. "What do I get if I tell you?" Callen raised an eyebrow "you can have protection from a team member who would very much want to come in here and knock the answer out of you." That was Sam's sign to come in. He moved over to the door and slammed it open with all his strength.

The door, having been opened with such force, rebounded and nearly hit Sam in the face. He avoided the door by stepping back out of the room and having to open it again. But this time he was gentler, this caused Callen to smirk and snigger slightly. Sam glared at him and then turned to Luzimon who looked more amused than scared due to the door incident. He looked more scared however when Sam pulled him from his seat and slammed him against the wall.

"Hey hey you can't do this" Luzimon cried out

"I can and I will. Now tell me where Paterson is" Sam growled trying to make himself sound as threatening as possible but from the slight snicker coming from Callen, he doubted it was working very well and changed back to his normal voice.

"Tell me now" he tried again and released his grip on Luzimon and moved back to stand next to Callen.

"Okay okay, just keep him away from me" Luzimon told Callen.

"We could have done this the easy way but sure" Callen nodded to Sam, who turned and left the room.

"I was meeting Paterson to give him a car. He thought the one he had was too noticeable so we traded. Not that I minded, the car he had was brilliant. An old hot rod but perfect condition… anyway I'd already given him the car when you turned up."

"What's on the number plate?"

With that new information Callen left the room to call Eric and Nell so they could start the search. Sam had already got Eric up on the monitor when Callen got there. Before he started talking to Eric Callen felt that he just had to make a comment. "Great entrance there Sam and I love the grizzly bear voice, you should use it more often." Eric chuckled on screen and Sam gave Callen a look that said you should watch you're back G.

"Eric can you put a search out for this car." Callen turned serious again and rattled off the number and Eric started searching.

"Call us when you've got something. Come on G we need to get to the hospital." Sam said heading towards the door "Eric keep an eye on Luzimon" Eric nodded and the screen went blank.

"There's no point calling Kensi, the hospital has really bad reception." Callen pointed out as he held on for dear life as Sam weaved through the late afternoon traffic.

The phone rang and callen quickly put it on speaker. "Eric what do you have."

"Paterson's car has just turned into the hospital car park."

"Call the hospital, let Kensi know and some traffic assistance would be appreciated as well Eric"

It was Nell that answered this time. "Done, you're going to get all green lights"

"Thanks Nell" Callen cancelled the call and prayed that Eric would get through to Kensi and that her and Deeks would get through this unscathed. The car hurtled down the streets hitting green light after green light, heading to their two team members sides.

Well that was long. I hope it made up for the long time since the last update.

I added a cameo of another show in there when Hetty talked about Grissom. I was watching that episode while writing this and it just seemed fitting. Hopefully I can update soon.

Reviews are very much welcome.