A/N – Remember that google will only go so far in explaining to me exactly what training NCIS agents go through and that I've never even held a gun in my life. Any mistakes you can chalk up to creative license.

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Chapter 8

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Deeks drove home, one eye on the road, the other on his rear and side view mirrors. The sight of Roberts watching him drive away had awakened a paranoia in him. Sam and Callen's words about tradecraft tumbled through his head. He wasn't sure if he was imaging things or not, but there was no way he was going to take a chance on leading anyone to Kensi. He'd scoped out other ways to get to his small apartment shortly after he'd moved in. More with thoughts of finding surface roads to get home if the highway was backed up than thinking someone might be tailing him, but now he was glad he had. He slowed down and changed lanes. He sped up and changed lanes again, watching for anyone who followed. No one did. Still, he moved into the right lane at the last minute and took an exit two before he normally did, watching for anyone who followed. When he was the only one who exited, he relaxed. A little. Still keeping an eye on his mirrors, he took a roundabout way to his place, not letting his guard down for a minute.

When he took the right onto his street, he decided to go around the block once. When no cars appeared behind him, he pulled over three buildings up from his. Getting out, he looked around and didn't see a soul. He walked past his building to the one next door and then entered the alley on the side furthest from his. He hadn't even realized he'd mapped out a back way into the building and wondered if Sam and Callen would be proud of him. Walking through the connected parking lots, he finally reached the back entry to his building and let himself in. He turned and looked around one more time, seeing no one. Shaking himself a little, he sighed and made his way to the apartment where Monty eagerly awaited him. He gave the old dog a good rub and went into the kitchen. The sitter had left a note saying Monty had been walked just over an hour earlier.

"Sorry boy, no walk tonight. I'll make it up to you, promise." The dog seemed to understand, wagged his tail a couple times and went to his bed. Turning around three times, he finally settled and was asleep in no time. Deeks smiled but it was gone quickly. He felt a deep seated need to see Kensi. Maybe to get her input on this, maybe to tell him he was reading more into it than was really there. All he knew was that he had to bring her up to date on what was going on. After taking a quick shower, he headed out, exiting through the back entrance again. He went up the same alley and walked to his car, nonchalantly checking out the area. The only ones in sight were a young couple with a baby stroller and a dog on a leash. He got into the car and pulled away, watching behind him. When he reached the hospital without catching anyone tailing him, he started to feel a little silly. Still, it had bothered him enough that he would follow through and get Kensi's opinion.

He entered the hospital and bypassed the registration desk, the man behind it being somewhat surly and uncommunicative. He reached her room without running into anyone, although he did wave at one of the nurses seated at the nurse's station. She waved back but made no effort to get up to talk to him. Grateful, he knocked quietly on the door and opened it when Kensi called out. She'd told him he didn't need to knock, but he always wanted to give her the chance to tell him to stay out if one of the nurses was in helping her with something…personal.

Entering her room, he was happy to see her looking so pleased. "What's up Kensalina? You're looking like the cat that ate the canary." He walked to the bed and kissed her. When he went to pull away, she put her hands behind his neck and pulled him back, deepening the kiss. When they both came up for air, he huffed out a laugh. "Miss me?" He asked and instantly knew it was the wrong thing to say when the smile left her face. Damn it, this thing was still raw between them, even though several months had now passed. He reached up and touched the side of her face. "Kens, don't."

"How can I not?" She asked, not pretending to misunderstand. "I drove you away and then missed you so much when you were gone. And then there was the fact that we almost lost you forever out in that storm! I could have spent the rest of my life missing you, knowing you'd died thinking I hated you!"

He stiffened. He'd never told her about the boat trip and what had happened out there. He figured they had enough to get past without bringing that in. "Who…"

"Sam and Callen."

"They had no right!" He said angrily, although he wasn't really sure what he was angry about.

She put her hand over his. "Deeks, yes they did. They're our friends and they were so angry with me for what I did. They thought I needed to know what price my words almost made you pay!"

He sighed, deflating a little. "I didn't want you to know how stupid we were. Reuben and I both know better than to get passed out drunk on the open seas. It was foolish and almost cost us both our lives."

"It was foolish but you didn't die and you're here. That's something I will be grateful for to the end of my days. We have a second chance and I mean to make the most of it." She brightened. "And speaking of making the most of things, I walked almost half length of the therapy room with the walker today! By myself!" She looked so proud of herself, his heart swelled in his chest and he almost decided not to bring up Roberts, but then he reminded himself, no more lies, even by omission.

"Baby, that's great! This new doctor is really making a difference."

"She really is, I feel so comfortable with her. I really trust her. I'm so glad we came here Deeks, not just for the therapy but because you're going to be an agent when this is all said and done." She caught the fleeting expression that passed over his face. "Deeks, what's wrong? Is Carrington still causing you issues? I can track him down you know, I don't need my legs to use a sniper rifle." She joked. He just raised an eyebrow at her. "Okay, so that's not an option. Talk to me! Tell me what's wrong."

He pulled a chair up beside her bed and took her hand in his. "It's probably nothing, but I think Carrington sicced someone on me that isn't…quite…right."

"Everyone goes through a psych eval before being admitted to the program. What do you mean by not quite right?"

He proceeded to tell her about what happened that day and what Charlie had said, how Phil was worried. He added that they'd increased their group by two, telling her about Amanda and John and what John had overheard. He made her laugh a little when he went all gooey eyed describing the way Amanda looked at Charlie. When he mentioned Agent Sheppard and his opinion of the man, some of her tension drained away.

"He sounds like a good guy to have on your side. Seems like your fan club is growing every day!" She smirked at him and then felt her heart swell as she watched the blush creep up his cheeks. This man, for all his cockiness, always seemed surprised when he gathered people into his orbit. Something that made her love him all the more.

He cleared his throat and said. "Yeah, I really like him and I think he's sharp, plus, he doesn't seem to have much use for Carrington."

She snorted. She'd never met the man but despised him already. "Look, Deeks I know you don't want to but…"

He lifted a hand to stop her. "I know and I hate to admit it, but I'm worried enough to think that maybe we could use some help. We're not supposed to face time with the wonder twins until the day after tomorrow, but I'm thinking maybe tonight? We can ask them to keep it on the down low."

Kensi was already reaching for her phone. She sent a text to Nell asking if they could move up their scheduled check in. She wasn't surprised when her friend texted back in the affirmative almost immediately. Deeks maneuvered his chair so that he was facing the same direction as Kensi while she opened the app on her tablet and sent a request to Nell. She responded right away and her pixie face filled the screen. "Hey Kensi! Hey Shaggy! It's so good to see you guys. What's up that you wanted to talk earlier than we'd agreed?" Deeks had to smile, he should have known that she'd figure out that something was up. He also wasn't surprised to see Eric's face join hers in the small screen. The two were rarely apart.

He was the one who answered. "Good to see you too Velma, Eric. What's up? How are things in sunny L.A.?" He didn't want to get into the fact that he was in trouble once again, at least not right away.

Eric grinned at him. "Surf's going off! You're missing out on some of the best waves I've seen in a long time. The guys have been asking about you."

"Tell everyone I said hi. We'll be back soon enough."

"Good, we miss you guys."

"We miss you too."

Kensi asked. "How are Sam and Callen doing? Keeping out of trouble?" She'd figured out Deeks didn't want to get right into his problem when he'd started asking about things in L.A.

Nell laughed. "I don't know if you can call it that. Granger has tried pairing them both with other teams but they don't seem to want to play nice, especially if Callen's not lead agent like he is on your team. Granger and Hetty seem to be having more spats, kinda like when he first started here." Her face sobered. "It's just not the same without the two of you here. Everything is more…tense."

Kensi responded. "I'm sorry but it's been good for me to be here. I'm getting better every day! I've graduated to using a walker now and almost made it across the room all by myself today." Her words brought Deeks back to that moment in the therapy room in California almost two months ago. The frustration and despair on her face as she dragged herself through the parallel bars, her legs not obeying her commands. No matter what happened, coming here was the best thing they could've done. He tuned back into the conversation.

Nell grinned at her. "Kens, that's awesome news! You'll be up and walking on your own before you know it!"

"I'm starting to let myself hope for that as well. Dr. Flanders is cautiously optimistic that I'll regain full use of both my legs!" She sobered. "But she's also very upfront that this isn't going to happen overnight. I still have a lot of work ahead of me, but at least now I'm seeing some progress."

They continued to chat, Nell watching both their faces as carefully as she could, given the small screen. She just knew something was up. Kensi had been the one to insist that they stick to a schedule for when they talked, so if she wanted to talk early, something was going on and it wasn't good or she would have told them the reason right away. Finally, she couldn't stand it anymore and when there was a lull in the conversation, she asked. "Okay, you still haven't told us why you moved up our call. What's wrong?"

Kensi and Deeks looked at each other and Deeks nodded, then cleared his throat. "Um, Kensi's rehabilitation isn't the only reason we're in Georgia. I'm in week two of the NCIS agent training program."

He was pretty sure that the squeals coming through the speaker on Kensi's phone broke the sound barrier. Finally, Nell was coherent enough to say. "I knew it! I knew something else was up when you moved across the country!"

He put his hand to his ear and then held up his hand in front of his eyes, turning it left and right, inspecting it carefully. "What are you doing Shaggy?" Nell sounded aggravated.

"Just checking to see if my ears are bleeding. I've heard that happens when your eardrums rupture."

"Very funny!" Nell grinned at him, her excitement about the fact that he was in agent training, all over her face. "How's it going?" At the look on his face, her excitement waned. "What's wrong Marty?"

He sighed. When she called him by his first name, he knew she'd figured out whatever was going on was bothering him. "I seem to have caught the eye of one of the agents here, and not in a good way. He's made the decision that I'm not respectable enough to become an agent and I know he's involved at least one of my other instructors and we think one of the other trainees. It's the trainee I'm most worried about. He's aggressive and some of my fellow students are concerned about his stability."

"You want us to look into both of them, right?" Eric asked.

"Would you mind? And please? Don't tell anyone else about why I'm here or what's going on. The last thing I need is for the team of Sam and Callen to descend on Glynco, especially if the posse of Hetty and Granger are right on their heels."

Eric frowned. "Why did you keep what you're doing a secret? You know we would help you in any way we could."

Nell saw the stubborn look on Deeks's face and had to smile. "Eric, I think that's exactly why he didn't tell us. You want to do this on your own, don't you Shaggy?"

"You always were the smart one Velma. Yeah, I just felt like I needed to do this on my own merits, not because of who I know or how hard Sam and Callen dragged me through classes. When we come back home, I'll either be an agent or not, all on my own."

Nell looked hard at him. "I can understand that, but can't you understand that everyone needs a little help now and again?"

"Yes, and that's exactly why we called you." He launched into the things that had happened between the two classes, Cora Temple's warning and the feelings of his fellow trainees who were rapidly becoming good friends. When he was done, he looked at the two faces staring solemnly back at him from the small screen. "So, what do you guys think? Am I overreacting?"

Both shook their heads at the same time. "No and even if you are, what does it hurt to look into them?" Eric asked. "Give me their names."

"Mark Roberts is the trainee. Don't know much about him but he should be in the NCIS database with the rest of the trainees, right?"

"He should be." Eric confirmed. "I don't exactly have direct access to those files, but I'm sure I can finesse something."

"Hey, whatever you do, you do not get into trouble over this." When he got no response back, Deeks said asked. "Do you hear me? Both of you!"

Eric looked affronted. "When have I ever been caught?"

"I have two words for you. Las Vegas."

"I should never have told any of you that I was banned there."

"Nope, and we'll hold that over you for the rest of your life." Kensi added her two cents. There was a moment of silence and then they all started to laugh.

When the laughter died down, Nell asked. "What's the name of the agent?"

"Agent Neal Carrington." He saw the look that passed over her face and frowned. "Nell, you know this guy, don't you?"

"Not well and I hope to keep it that way. When I was there for field agent training, he was also there. He didn't hold back his opinion that I wasn't cut out to be an agent. First because I'm a woman, second because I'm…vertically challenged and third because I was coming from operations. Basically told me I should be a good little girl and stick to what I knew. What I knew was that I wanted to apply my weapons training to him right there and then. Still, he never took it any further than that and I have to say, it wasn't the last time I got that kind of sentiment there, at least from some of the older male agents."

Deeks was pissed. "Who else?" His voice was low and angry.

Nell grinned at him. "Thanks Shaggy, but I can fight my own fights. I showed them all by acing all my classes. I think you need to do the same with Carrington. You know what they say, success is the best revenge."

"I'll keep that in mind. So far, so good. Got high marks in my testimony class and tied for first place in our first round of weapons training."

"That's great Deeks!" Eric said. "You know, this could be fun!"

"What?"

"Knowing that you're in agent training and knowing no one else knows. Very cloak and dagger."

"Well, Hetty and Granger know. They got me to sign the paperwork. Vance, of course. He had to waive the age maximum for me. Other than that, yeah, only you two know."

Eric rubbed his hands together. Deeks could already see the wheels turning in his head and sighed. His friend was loyal to a fault, smart as all get out, but not very good at keeping secrets. "Eric, please. Don't do anything that will let the cat out of the bag."

"Who, me?"

"Yes, you." Despite the tenor of the conversation, both men smiled at each other. They continued to talk about other things, circling back around to Kensi's progress and the wonder twins regaling them with tales of the trouble the rest of their team was getting into without them there. When it finally came time to disconnect, they promised to dig into both men and let them know as soon as they found anything.

When the tablet went dark, it seemed a little quiet in the small room. Deeks took it from her hand and put it on the table. He leaned over and put his forehead against hers. "This is all going to work out. I know it is. You're going to walk again, I'm going to get my badge and we'll both be back on the team in OSP before you know it." He whispered.

She lifted a hand to his chin and raised his head. Looking into his eyes, she said. "I hope so, but know this. No matter what happens. If I don't get to walk again, if you don't make agent. No matter what, I'll never leave your side again." She touched her lips to his to seal the promise.

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Deeks walked into the Starbucks, his eyes immediately going to 'their' table and saw that Phil and John were there but that he'd beaten Amanda and Charlie. He had to smile, wondering if the two would walk in together. He turned to place his order only to have it handed to him by the barista. "Thanks Claire." He took it and swigged his first sip, closing his eyes with pleasure. He opened them to find her smirking at him. "Nothing like that first sip of the day."

"I wouldn't know. I hate coffee."

His jaw dropped open and he just stared at her until she started to laugh. Snapping his mouth shut, he grinned at her. "Isn't that grounds for termination?"

"I didn't say I hated everything we sell. Now, give me a hot chocolate and I'll follow you anywhere."

"Well, that's, um, interesting."

"Don't worry Marty." She leaned over the counter a little and he leaned forward. "You aren't my type. Besides, I'm already taken."

He looked at her and blushed, hating that she'd seen through him so easily. "Good to know. So, how long have the two of you been together?"

"Three years. I met her right here at this store. We're talking about getting married in the next couple of years."

"That's great! I wish you both the best of luck."

"Thanks." She smiled at the sincerity in his voice. He handed over his money, left a good tip and wandered over to the table. Both men looked up and grinned at him as he sat down, his back to the wall, facing the door. Something else he just realized he'd been trained to do without thinking about it.

"What?" He asked.

"Were you just flirting with the barista? Do I have to use my newly honed secret agent skills to find Kensi and fill her in?" Phil joked.

"No, you don't. It so happens that I was under the mistaken impression she was flirting with me. She disabused me of that right away." Deeks took another swig of coffee and sighed. If it weren't for Carrington and Roberts, he would be very content right now. "So, what are you guys up to?"

"We've been discussing some ideas on how Sheppard is going to throw wind and rain at us at the firing range and what kind of other weapons we're going to get to use."

Kensi had filled him in a little on what to expect from her own training days and Deeks grinned, deciding to keep it to himself and let his friends enjoy finding out on their own. The door to the shop opened before he could say anything and their missing two trainees came through together. Deeks snorted a bit and nodded his head over at them. Phil and John turned to watch them as they made their way to the counter, put in their orders and paid. Neither one had even looked their way, only having eyes for each other. When they finally turned towards the table and found three sets of eyes on them, both went a bright shade of red and moved away from each other. When they reached the table, Deeks moved over one to leave two chairs together. The couple sat in them without anyone saying a word although Amanda smiled her thanks at him.

"So, we were just talking about what to expect in today's class. You guys have any ideas?" Phil asked. The group started coming up with suggestions, each one trying to top the last one with its outrageousness until the group was gasping with laughter.

John looked at each of them as they laughed and talked. Every one of them was different, had their own strengths and weaknesses and he actually felt like he fit in. Something he didn't feel very often. These people were becoming his friends and he had a feeling that would last the rest of his career, if not his life. He looked at his watch and was startled at the time. "Uh, guys, we need to get a move on or we're gonna be late." They all looked at their watches and eyes widened around the table. As one they all pushed back, grabbed their trash and hurried out the door. Without speaking, they went their separate ways to their own cars, Deeks watching out of the corner of his eye to see if Amanda and Charlie got into one or two. He quirked an eyebrow when they got into their own cars although they were parked side by side.

They all arrived at the center at the same time, tumbling out of their cars and moving in a pack towards the firing range where Sheppard had told them to meet that morning. They got there with two minutes to spare, high fives all around. Talking and laughing, they split up to go to their assigned lockers to get the weapons that were theirs for the class, everyone else already out on the firing range. Deeks stopped at his and reached out to enter the combination when something made him stop. Frowning, he leaned in to get a closer look and almost jumped out of his skin when someone spoke next to his ear.

"Something interesting about that lock, Deeks?" He turned to find Lucas Sheppard smiling at him inquisitively.

"I'm not sure. It's just…something seems off." He turned and peered a little closer, finding fine markings on the mechanism that looked like someone had tried to pick the lock. He wondered if they'd succeeded or if he was just imagining things. He stepped back a little and turned to the instructor. "Take a look, what do you see around the lock?"

Sheppard frowned and leaned over, looking carefully. What he found, concerned him. Looking back at Deeks, he said. "It looks like someone either tried to pick or jimmy the lock."

"I don't think this was like that when I was assigned that locker."

"I know it wasn't! I run a tight ship around here and I know those were not there yesterday."

Deeks shivered, wondering what the hell this meant. He looked at Sheppard, who looked back, then both men looked at the locker. "You think its booby trapped?" Deeks asked quietly. He looked around to see if any of his friends were paying attention to them, finding they were and that all eyes were on him and Sheppard. He smiled and mouthed 'I'll meet you out there' and they reluctantly left, Phil looking back over his shoulder.

Once they were alone, Sheppard responded just as quietly. "I have no idea. Look, I'll have someone check into it while we're out on the firing range. I don't want to take any chances so I'll get you a new weapon until we figure this out." He paused. "Deeks, I'd prefer that you not mention this to anyone until we can figure out if it's a problem or not."

"Absolutely." The last thing he wanted was to have everyone looking at him weirdly.

"If someone did come in and attempt to get into your locker, I doubt they know we have this room monitored 24/7. A few years ago, we had some issues with trainees coming back after hours to play with their guns. When a gun went missing and everyone claimed they had no idea what happened, we installed cameras to keep an eye on things. I'll have someone pull the footage from last night to see if anything shows up. If it does, we should be able to figure out if it's safe to open it or not. I'd rather not call in anyone until we know we need them."

"Thanks." Deeks wasn't sure how to proceed. "Look, Sheppard, I'm sorry about all this. This is not the way I wanted my training to go. I just wanted to come here, keep my head down and pass my classes. Somehow, these things always seem to happen to me."

"It's not your fault. From everything you've told me, you never went out of your way to instigate any of this. I talked with Cora last night and she had nothing but good things to say about you."

"You talked with Cora about me?"

"Yes, is that an issue?"

"No! No, not at all. Just kind of think it's funny that I talked about you with someone last night as well."

"Would that someone be Kensi?" Sheppard asked.

Deeks laughed. "You have a good memory. Yeah, I told her what was going on here and about you and Cora. She was relieved to find out I had someone to watch my six while she's laid up."

Sheppard narrowed his eyes at the 'trainee' in front of him. The way he spoke of the other NCIS agent, even if she was his girlfriend, smacked of more than just a personal relationship. Not one to keep things to himself, he said. "That sounds like the kind of words you'd use for a partner and I don't mean life partner."

Realizing he'd made a mistake and not wanting to alienate the man he had already come to like and respect, Deeks nodded. "Yeah, she's my work partner as well. I work…worked…as the liaison between LAPD and NCIS for years. Look, can you keep that quiet? I'm not looking for any special treatment. I'm just here to take my classes and work hard to get my badge."

Sheppard nodded, pleased with what he'd heard. He'd had plenty of other students come through who had someone already at NCIS. A brother, father, sister, whatever, and most of them expected to sail through all their classes with little to no effort on their part, secure in their expectation of legacy treatment. They always left his course sorrier and wiser.

"So, how did an LA cop and an NCIS agent become partners and more?"

Deeks had his mouth open to tell Sheppard all about his Kensi, when the door opened and Henderson stuck his head in. Sheppard nodded and turned back to Deeks. "We need to go. Let's talk after class, I'd like to hear more about your Kensi."

Deeks grinned and nodded. "Does he ever speak?"

"What? Who?" Sheppard was confused by the change in direction the conversation had just taken.

"Henderson."

"Oh!" He laughed. "Only when he has something to say. Then, you can't shut him up." Deeks looked at him in disbelief and he laughed harder. "Yeah, okay, so he's a quiet one. But trust me, he's someone you'd want on your side. Come on, I'll sign you out a new gun." They left together and Sheppard filled out the paperwork on the new gun, handing it to Deeks who automatically opened it and went through his regular routine, much to the delight of the man watching him.

On the way out, Sheppard stopped at the office and stuck his head in while Deeks waited a discreet distance away. "Chris?"

The man sitting at the desk looked up and smiled. "What's up Gunny?"

"We might have a problem. Can you pull the footage of the gun locker room from last night and review it? We're looking for anyone who might have entered after hours and tampered with locker 47."

Chris frowned. "What do you suspect?"

"Not sure, could be nothing. The trainee assigned to the locker found scratch marks on the lock and showed them to me. I know they weren't there last night. I want you to see if you can find out who and what they might have done. If you can't find anything, can you use the skeleton key to open it and inspect the weapon inside? We left the locker untouched."

"Um, sure." He looked anything but.

"Thanks." Sheppard turned away and then back. "Look, Chris, if you open the locker, be careful, okay? There's always the possibility it could be booby trapped."

"What?"

"You heard me." Sheppard thought for a moment, changing his mind about not calling in anyone. "You know what? Just to be safe, put a call into Bruno."

"You want me to call in a bomb expert? What the hell is going on?"

"Just humor an old man, will you?"

Chris snorted. "Old man, right! You can still wipe the floor with most of us here."

"Most?" Sheppard asked in response and then waved a goodbye as he said on his way out the door. "Just…watch yourself, okay?"

He heard Chris respond with a "Sure thing gunny." as he walked away to join Deeks.

When they exited to the firing range, they found all eyes on them. Deeks's friends looked worried, most of the others were just curious at the delay. Roberts, however, was watching him through narrowed eyes. Their eyes met and the eyes narrowed more. Deeks was starting to think the man was nothing but a cliché and wondered if he practiced various looks in the mirror. The image of the man making threatening faces in the mirror, made him chuckle and Roberts took a step towards him. Phil had been watching and stepped into his path.

"Got a problem?" He asked.

Roberts stepped back and replied. "No and I'm not sure why you found it necessary to get in my way! I just wanted to ask Agent Sheppard about the weapons we'll be training on today."

"I'm sure he'll be telling all of us about them." Phil responded and stayed where he was.

Roberts exaggeratedly shrugged his shoulders and stepped back. Phil noticed that there seemed to be a space around the man that no one intruded on. He looked back at Deeks, to find him now in the center of a group of people, his friends closest to him, protectively, and he went to join them. "What's up Marty?" He asked quietly. The rest waited to hear the answer, worried.

"I'll tell you guys later, hopefully it's nothing."

Phil snorted and Deeks tried to give him a 'Hey, it really is nothing' smile and failed miserably. "Have it your way. For now." He put a hand on Deeks's shoulder and squeezed. The responding smile was more natural and eased some of the tension within the group. They turned to pay attention to Sheppard who was beginning the class.

"Today, you're going to start training on how to shoot your weapon accurately in less than ideal conditions. Shooting at a stationary target in nice calm weather is all well and good, but shooting at a moving target in rain, wind or snow, is entirely different. You need to account for wind speed and direction, even barometric pressure. You won't need to do complicated math unless you plan on becoming a long range sniper, which is another class all together. For this class, we will be teaching you to be aware of your surroundings and the weather around you. How to read the signs and make appropriate adjustments. I know several of you have training, but I ask that you pay attention anyway." He looked at Phil and Deeks who both nodded solemnly.

Sheppard began the training on how to read the wind flag currently barely fluttering in the light breeze. He wasn't surprised at the look of confusion on some of the faces as he began to explain the math behind making adjustments to bullet trajectory to account for whatever weather they were experiencing. When he thought everyone finally had it, he selected five people to go first and, as they took their positions at the firing points, a chill wind picked up, even though the day appeared bright and sunny. He didn't answer the silent questions thrown his way, instead raised his hand and lowered it, giving the command to start shooting. What they didn't know was that it was also the command to those manning the wind machines to start varying the wind direction and speed, adding in sporadic rain.

This first group consisted of those who had been in the middle of the pack on the baseline shots from the day before. Most failed to even hit the target on their first shots, but began to steadily improve. When they'd gone through their allotted time, he had the next group take their place as Henderson and a helper once again cleared the backstops of their paper figures. This time he selected some of the better shooters. Charlie and Amanda were among this group and both had listened carefully to the instructions and had watched the first group, hoping to learn from their mistakes. They, along with the rest of the group, had about the same luck as the first, their performance also improving as they got used to the conditions.

The next group was a calculated risk on Sheppard's part as it consisted of Deeks, Johnstone, Lefebvre, a quiet trainee by the name of Sofia Jimenez and Mark Roberts. He wanted to see how Roberts behaved when having to go up against a man he obviously felt enmity for. The ability to work with others towards a common goal, putting aside personal feelings, was a must. If Roberts executed as badly as he had the day before and initiated any kind of confrontation with Deeks, he would use that to boot the man out of the program so fast he wouldn't know what hit him. He found himself actually hoping to get the opportunity. Something about the man grated on him.

The five took their places and Sheppard smiled to see Johnstone crowd out Roberts for one of the spots next to Deeks. When the man turned to the other side, it was to find Lefebvre already firmly ensconced there. The angry look on his face made Sheppard wonder if he'd just made a mistake, but it was too late now. He gave the command to fire and wasn't surprised to watch Deeks and Johnstone firing carefully and methodically, constantly monitoring the wind flag and making adjustments. For his part, Deeks was again reminded of Prague and the seemingly constant and never ending downpour of rain. He found himself wondering how a kid from Reseda California, had ended up in a foreign land, on an unsanctioned rescue mission of a tiny woman who had gone there to end a blood feud. He smiled a little until the memory of breaking into that house, and the resulting gunfight, intruded. He shook it off and turned his full attention back to his targets. Next to him, John was a little off but doing well, as was Jimenez. At the far end, however, Roberts was all over the place, shooting at the targets, paying more attention to Deeks, than to the wind and rain, barely looking over at the flag. Sheppard shook his head and kept his tongue. He'd given his instructions and now it was up to the trainees.

When they were done, all lowered their weapons and stepped back from their positions, allowing the next to last group to take their place. While this group was going through their exercise, Chris walked out of the building, a frown on his face. When he got to Sheppard, he leaned forward and spoke quietly in his ear. A frown appeared on his face too and both men turned to look at Deeks, who'd been watching apprehensively, his friends picking up on it. The group watched the instructor head their way.

"Deeks, when we break for lunch, can you please report to the office?"

"Uh, sure Agent Sheppard."

Deeks turned to find Roberts watching him with a frown on his face and he shivered. When the last group finished, they all trooped back into the cleaning room and began the ritual of cleaning their guns. While they were working, Henderson came in like he had yesterday and handed Sheppard a list which he reviewed and then stuck on the board, next to the prior day's results. Deeks had to smile as he watched the other trainees spend more time looking at the list with apprehension, than they did with the task in front of them. He worked quietly, humming under his breath until Phil hit him and mouthed 'shut up' at him. Unlike the day before, fully half the class was not required to start again. Roberts had apparently hadn't gotten the message as he didn't pass the first inspection. If looks could kill, Sheppard would be lying on the floor.

When everyone at his table passed inspection on the first try, they all got up and raced to the results.

"Ha! I just took over first place!" Phil crowed, puffing up his chest. He'd beat the rest of his friends to their objective.

"By a small margin and it's not over yet my friend." Deeks replied as he too found his name on the list. He turned to the others as they found their own names. "Well?"

Charlie smiled. "I moved up one to fifth."

Amanda frowned. "I dropped to eleventh."

Charlie reached out and patted her shoulder. "That's not all that bad."

"I suppose, but it's not the direction I wanted to go."

"You'll have more chances to improve." Amanda smiled at the words of encouragement and the others felt like the two were no longer aware of their presence. It was a feeling Deeks knew well and he smiled at the two with fondness.

"John?" Phil asked.

"Status quo. Stayed in third."

"Way to go my man!" Phil high fived him and John blushed.

Deeks turned back to the list and ran his finger down the names, finding Roberts in dead last and sighed. The others looked over his shoulder to see what he was looking at and echoed his sigh. Roberts hadn't seen his spot on the list yet and the group made sure to move as far away as possible. They all kept an eye on him when he finally had his gun cleaned to Sheppard's satisfaction and approached the list on the wall. He appeared stunned and Deeks wondered if it was because his score hadn't taken an expected downturn. Once again, hands curled into fists and then he reached out and ripped the paper off the wall, tearing it into shreds.

"Not sure what good he thinks that will do, it's not like our marks aren't already recorded somewhere." Amanda said quietly. When Roberts turned and caught their eyes on him, his lip curled and she took a step back into Charlie. "Jeez."

"Let's go grab some lunch." Charlie said, tugging her away.

"You guys go and I'll catch up. I need to stop in the office." Deeks said.

"Oh yeah, almost forgot about that. I'll wait for you." Phil said.

"There's no need…." Deeks started, only to be interrupted.

"Listen, we're not letting you go anywhere alone. I don't trust that guy." Phil said and the others nodded.

Knowing he should insist but feeling pleased that his friends wanted to protect him, he merely nodded and started to make his way to the office where Sheppard would be waiting for him, the others trailing behind him. When he got to the door, he knocked once and was immediately bade to enter. Opening it, he found Sheppard, Henderson and another man waiting for him. He turned to find the others right on his heels. "I think I'll be okay in there with them, hmmm?"

Phil looked through the doorway, noting Sheppard's presence and relaxed. "Fine. We'll be waiting out here. Don't be too long, I'm starving."

"You could always go get something to eat now." The look the rest of them sent his way made his lips quirk up. "Fine." He echoed Phil. "Hopefully, this won't take very long."

Phil just crossed his arms over his chest and Charlie followed suit, reminding Deeks of the first day they'd met him. When Amanda and John did so as well, he had a hard time not laughing at them. He knew this had the potential to not be funny, but still. He turned and went through the door, closing it quietly behind him.

"I'm here as you asked, Agent Sheppard."

Sheppard sighed. This was not supposed to happen. This was a training facility and there weren't enemy combatants on the grounds. Until now. "Deeks, I had Chris pull the security footage from last night." He stopped.

"And."

"And, there's a ten minute gap from 12:54 to 1:04 this morning. Other than that, there's no footage of anyone entering the gun locker room."

"So, now we know what time our perp tried to get into my locker." Deeks replied, falling back on cop talk.

"Not tried." Chris responded. He stood up and held out his hand to Deeks. "Chris Myer, Mr. Deeks, the firing range manager."

"Deeks or Marty." He responded automatically as he took the man's hand and shook it. "What do you mean, not tried."

"Your locker was broken into during that gap in the footage."

"And? Tell me it wasn't booby trapped? You guys didn't take any chances, right?"

Chris smiled, appreciative of the fact that Deeks's was more worried that someone might have gotten hurt, rather than what the 'perp' had done. "No, no booby trap and no, we didn't take any chances. We had an expert check it out first before we opened it." He hated the fact that they had even had to worry about something like that and was relieved it had been for nothing.

"Good, that's good. So, how do you know that someone did get into my locker?"

Sheppard took up the narrative. "We checked out your original weapon and it was tampered with."

"Tampered with? How?" Wondering if he'd been in danger of losing some fingers, or worse.

Seeing the expression on Deeks's face, Sheppard was quick to reassure him. "Nothing major, just that the barrel was filed down enough that your aim would be off and you probably wouldn't have known why."

"So, this was just someone trying to bring my score down?"

"Your score would have tanked." Henderson said quietly.

Deeks was surprised at the sound of the man's voice, low and melodious. He blinked and then asked. "Yeah, but knowing what it was yesterday, wouldn't this person know that we'd check for defects?"

Sheppard nodded. "I'm not sure whoever did this, is really thinking things through."

"Roberts?"

"We can't prove it. All we can do is keep an eye on him."

Chris added. "We're also going to see if we can find out how and who managed to turn off our surveillance system. That's a defect we're going to have to deal with regardless. It's also concerning that whoever it was, even knew it was in place. It's a pretty carefully guarded secret from the trainees."

"How about the rest of the instructors?" He had to ask.

Chris shrugged, not offended as he'd been filled in on the whole situation. "Some of them do, some don't. The ones that do, know not to tell the trainees."

Sheppard and Deeks exchanged a look, both knowing the other was wondering if Carrington could have passed that little tidbit of information on to Roberts. Deeks bit his lip and wondered if he should offer the wonder twins help, then decided it wasn't worth the explanations. "So, we just wait and see if anything else happens?"

"That's about all we can do without proof. We also don't want it to get out about the cameras. Whoever it is, isn't going to go around bragging and the less people who find out about it, the better." Chris replied.

"What do I tell my friends? They're going to ask why I was called in here."

"Just that someone tried to break into your locker and wasn't successful. Let them know we're concerned and watching your back, same as them." Sheppard replied.

Deeks frowned. He knew they wouldn't let it go and he didn't like lying to them. He'd had enough of that.

"Look, Deeks, I know you don't want to lie to your friends, but this is important."

"I get it, I do, but I think they at least deserve to know that my gun was tampered with. If I tell them we don't know who did it, they won't think to ask if there are cameras in the gun locker room." Omissions his brain screamed at him. Sheppard looked at Myer and nodded.

"We can live with that. Thank you." Chris held out his hand and Deeks shook it again. "We'll let you know if we find out anything else."

"I appreciate that. I'm sorry this is happening."

"So are we. We've had rivalries crop up between trainees before, but never to the extent of actually sabotaging another's weapon. That's dangerous and not the behavior of someone we want to join this agency."

Sheppard said. "That's about all we have Deeks, if you'd like to join your friends for lunch? Come back rested, this afternoon we're using semi-automatic rifles and you'll need to be on your toes."

"HK416's? AK-47's?" Deeks asked with enthusiasm, his attention turning to something he could handle.

"Well, yeah, both." Sheppard smiled.

"Well, alright. I'll see you after lunch." With a wave, he opened the door and walked right into Phil, who was standing closer than he really needed to. "Phil? Really?"

"Just watching your six Deeks."

He had to laugh. "Thanks! Come on, let's go get lunch." While they walked to the commissary, the whole group bombarded them with questions and he answered truthfully without mentioning the cameras and no one asked. He knew he could trust them, but if anything else happened, then there would be no way anyone could point fingers at others who knew about them.

~,~,~,~