I want to thank everyone who is taking time out of their busy schedule to read this. I appreciate it more than you know. I hope you enjoy this chapter...don't hesitate to let me know what you think :). Thanks, Kenzie. P.S. I hope everyone has had a great day!

Deeks stood nearby as the paramedics lowered her onto the backboard and put a neck brace on her, "She's gonna be okay." He mumbled

Callen knew Deeks only made the comment to reassure himself that she was going to be okay. He went to open his mouth to agree but no words came out and he stopped. He could not bring himself to say something that he was not sure was even true. The truth was she had lost a lot of blood and he was pretty sure the bullet had caused internal bleeding that would require surgery. And she had clearly received a blow to the head. But all of this did not concern him as much as what he had seen in her eyes. What her eyes had comunicated made him more scared than anything else. Besides the obvious fear and pain Callen could have sworn he had seen a flicker of defeat. Callen knew firsthand how tough the road was to recovery after being shot and he knew how determined he had been to survive and get his body back to where it had been. If he had seen defeat in her eyes it was likely she had lost her will to live and would not have the inner strength to make her body fight in the battle to live. He knew if he had seen it, Deeks had seen it too. He reached over and patted Deeks' on the back and walked away.

Sam stood outside on the phone catching Hetty up on what all had transpired. He was giving Deeks space; he did not need Sam asking if he was okay or anything. Sam had been through a similar experience with Callen being shot and watching his partner bleed on the ground until help arrived. He knew Deeks was not okay, he didn't need to ask. He heard a lot of urgent voices and he turned. The paramedics were wheeling the gurney out and Deeks and Callen followed closely behind. He walked to the ambulance and watched them load her up. They watched as one paramedic closed the doors and went to the driver side. The lights and sirens came on simultaneously and the three friends stood watching it drive away until the ambulance disappeared.

After what felt like had been forever they had given their statements and had driven to the hospital, they now sat waiting in the waiting room for an update on Kensi's condition. They had been joined by Nell, Eric, and Hetty. They had sat in silence for so long that when Hetty spoke it startled them, "I think I am going to let another agency take the case. Several have called and offered their assistance and I am going to take them up on it. It will allow us to focus our attention on Kensi and other things."

Callen normally would have argued but he sat in silence. Deeks was the one who spoke, "I want to keep working the case. Ricky was not one of the guys that we got and as long as he is out there, she is in danger…I want him Hetty."

"Ricky seems to know Kensi's weaknesses and he plays them to his advantage. He knows we all are the people that matter the most to her and because of that it puts us all in danger. It is best that we stick together and let another agency take over. Ricky will do whatever he can to get Kensi to go to him again. He already pretended to kidnap Nell, and this time he may really kidnap one of us. Not to mention not only will Ricky want to kill her because of her brother but he lost a lot of his top men tonight, and we all played a role in that." Hetty hoped this reasoning would sit well with the team. She didn't want to explain the real reason she no longer wanted them on the case was because she was nervous that if they did find him they would be more worried about revenge than justice. Her mind went to when Deeks had been kidnapped and then beat the guy…Callen, Sam, and Kensi had pretended like they had not seen it. She did not want to take the risk of destroying her team because of one slip of the trigger. The team was too valuable to end like that. It was one thing when someone on the team had been kidnapped, she wouldn't trust anyone but her team to do the search and rescue. But everyone was there at the hospital and at that point in time Hetty preferred her team to protect one another and leave Ricky to someone else.

Callen's heart hammered, Hetty was right to a certain extent. Ricky would kidnap one of them to get to Kensi. The team needed to refocus their attention to keeping one another safe, and they needed to make sure they were supporting Kensi too. But that could only happen if Kensi ended up being okay and started recovering. Her eyes filled his mind again and it made his stomach hurt. She had been done. Asking for a minute before they rolled her over, begging to not be taken to the hospital, and the look in her eyes…she had wanted to die and had said so without actually saying so.

Deeks had accepted Hetty's answer without arguing. He would do anything that needed to be done to keep the people he cared about safe.

A doctor came into the room, "Kensi Blye?"

"That is us," Hetty replied.

"Family?" He asked walking over.

"Co-workers," Sam responded.

"I'm sorry. I will have to talk to family…confidentiality. Can you get a hold of someone in her family?" the doctor asked and he did sound sincerely apologetic.

Deeks stepped forward, "Hi, I'm detective Marty Deeks and LAPD is investigating an attempted murder. Any information you can give us on the victim will aide in our investigation."

The doctor nodded after looking at the badge Deeks had handed him, "Wanna follow me?" he asked after some apprehension.

Deeks nodded to the team signaling he would fill them in as soon as he had all the information and followed the doctor into the hallway. Deeks hands had grown sweaty and his heart was pounding.

"Kensi has a concussion, three broken ribs, she had substantial bruising all over her body, she needed stitches. The bullet caused some internal bleeding but we have corrected that and she is being closed up as we speak. As far as I know they have done a rape kit, I will make sure to get the results to you."

Deeks grew pale and he swayed slightly, "Was she…ummm…was she raped?"

"Well, there was some bruising and some tearing, so I would say so..." the doctor looked questioningly at the detective.

"And when will I be able to question her?" Deeks asked trying his best to hold it together.

"When she wakes up." The doctor answered before walking away.

Deeks turned and went back to his team, he couldn't breathe, he needed air, and he needed to get outside. He hurried through the waiting room, "How is she?" Callen asked immediately noting Deeks' facial expression.

Deeks stopped trying to recall what the doctor had said moments ago….but all that was on his mind was the rape, "Ummmm…ummm…broken ribs, concussion, coming out of surgery now…Excuse me I'll be back." He ran to the elevator oblivious to the stares he was attracting as he went, he hit the down button more times than necessary. He wondered if he should have told them. After several seconds second guessing himself he knew he wouldn't tell them and that he had made the right decision. It was her story to tell when she was ready. As he reached outside he leaned against the wall and slid down to the ground, knowing it was only a matter of time before Hetty and the others read the police report and found out the truth…In a matter of time it wouldn't be an option of allowing Kensi to talk when she was ready, it would be telling her that they all knew. Feeling himself become nauseated he put his head between his knees.