A/N: Finally the next installment of SOG is out. A combination of school and a mild writer's block delaying the update. I hope you'll enjoy the chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it.
All the best, Cape!
Across the city, Callen and Sam were gearing up alongside the FBI tactical team to raid an address, which hopefully housed the remaining two members of the terrorist cell.
The ex-Navy SEAL and former CIA agent had been able to bait Abdul-Shahid Tahan in the interrogation room, aggravating him into not thinking clearly, his hatred for everything American clouded his mind, and as such, they were able to get the man to reveal an address, where he had sought shelter previously alongside the other two terrorists currently unaccounted for.
That address was just around the corner, from where the agents were. The men had donned their tactical gear, checked their weapons, and started moving into position. They were stacked on the door, Sam, being trained in explosives, was at the front making sure the door was not rigged.
He looked back over his shoulder to the men in full tactical gear and nodded once, signaling to them that the door was clear. He moved to the opposite side of the entrance than where the other agents had stacked up in order to grant them a cleaner breach.
He silently counted down using his fingers, starting at five and slowly lowering one at a time. As he lowered the last one, he pulled open the door, allowing the tactical team to rush in, the two NCIS agents close behind as they rushed the building. Sounds of suppressed gunfire and yelling sounded throughout the estate as the group went room to room clearing it.
The whole thing was over quite quickly, without Sam or Callen even seeing any of the culprits. Luckily, there were no casualties nor injuries for the agents, but unfortunately, the FBI tactical squad had been forced to neutralize the two enemy combatants in the house, allowing no one left for the agents to interrogate.
As the 'all clear' sounded, the two NCIS special agents secured their rifles and flung over their shoulders, the weight of the guns carried by the weapon-sling that held the weapon firmly to their backs and out of their way.
They made their way into the room, which had the two downed culprits. The carpet floor slowly soaking with the dark crimson red color from the opponents. Callen grabbed his phone quickly snatching a picture of each of the two men, telling Eric, whom they were still connected to through their earwigs, to attempt to identify the two.
"You guys need to check this out," a voice sounded through the house, just as the lead agent had finished giving the orders to the technical operator.
The partners swiftly made their way to the room, where one of the members of the FBI's tactical team stood. Their eyes drifted towards the contents of what was on the large metal table in the room, the two agents immediately recognized the devices as a considerably large explosive ordnance.
Taking no chances since the incident with the former Master Sergeant turned NCIS agent, the building was quickly cleared of agents, both NCIS and FBI, as they were forced to wait impatiently for the bomb squad to arrive in order to fully secure the premises.
He felt her press a tender kiss to his lips, the softness of her touch bringing him some comfort. His still clouded vision had settled on the beautiful form hovering above him, but as his mind started returning from the haze the sedative anesthetics caused, so did the pain
"Good morning, handsome," he heard her soft voice greet him.
He wanted to answer her greeting, but his mouth was completely dry and he found himself unable to form any words. The pain was starting to overtake his senses and his expression of loving recognition turned into one of strained anguish. He focused on the gentle caress of his cheek and the pained expression in the mismatched eyes of the woman he adored.
Kensi was tenderly running her thumb back and forth in a comforting manner, and although she knew that he would be okay, she was still shaken from the horrible event at the house. Pictures of the collapsing building was still at the forefront of her mind and the emotional terror she felt was still fresh and raw.
He moved his uninjured hand to his cheek, coving her hand with his as he squeezed weakly. He could clearly see her battling her emotions, and he knew that she wanted to appear strong for him, giving him something to tether to, but the thin layer of unshed tears were showing her current lack of control over her emotions, and as such, he wanted to comfort her as well.
"I'm still here, Kens." He whispered once he regained some of his voice. He knew that he could not tell her that he was 'okay,' since that would have been a lie, but he wanted to assure her as much as he could.
She gave him a weak smile at his attempt to comfort her, but it fell flat. She was just about to say something when the door opened, and an older man walked in. Nurse Heather followed the doctor closely, and the familiar face helped calm the female agent. She let her hand drift to his side, as she, for some reason, felt that the intimate place she held it before was inappropriate.
"Hello Mr. Deeks," the elder man greeted warmly, his voice deep and relaxing. "I'm Dr. Gerard Bernier, I'm the chief surgeon here, and I was the one performing your surgery. I'm not sure how much Ms." He gestured towards Kensi apologetically, silently asking her name since he accidentally skipped the introductions.
"Blye, Kensi Blye," She smiled at the man.
"How much Ms. Blye has told you so far," he finished his sentence.
"She didn't get the chance yet," his hoarse voice sounded, slightly slurred as he was still weaning off the sedative.
"Alright, but before I start explaining everything, how are you feeling, Mr. Deeks?" The grey-haired man asked kindly, as he, too, had noticed the creases forming on the blond man's forehead.
"Like a building collapsed on me."
He heard Kensi's audibly gasp and immediately regretted his attempt at gallows humor. He looked at her apologetically and grabbed her hand, which was at his side, squeezing it tightly to let her know he was sorry.
She smiled sadly at him, and nodded once to let him know he was okay.
"I will give you some pain relief intravenously, alright?"
Deeks nodded, welcoming the thought of lessening the pain he currently felt.
Dr. Bernier added some pain medication to the IV, currently hooked up to Deeks' left hand, which would help numb some of the pain the bruised man felt. Once he was happy that it would have the wanted effect, the doctor started explaining the injuries that the former SOG agent had sustained.
Kensi watched the injured man closely as the doctor explained the injuries. His lips were in a tight line, when he was told about the internal bleeding, she squeezed his hand, silently offering comfort without interrupting the kind doctor.
"I know that's a lot to digest," the doctor started as he finished the rundown of all the injuries. "But do you have any questions as of right now?"
"When will the doctor arrive to talk about the correctional surgery?" Although he understood the reason behind it, he hated the thought of having to undergo further surgeries, hated the feeling of lack of control over his body the anesthetics brought. He had been told he, without a doubt, had to undergo surgery for his elbow, but what he truly dreaded was his shoulder injury. He knew that the longevity of any physical therapy for a damaged shoulder could stretch years, if truly unlucky.
"He will be around later today," the doctor padded his uninjured leg. "For now you should get some rest, your body needs it and the medication will make you sleepy." The old, gray-haired doctor smiled warmly.
Dr. Bernier left the room after nodding farewell, leaving Kensi, Deeks, and Nurse Heather, whom, until now, had been busy writing down his vitals. She put away her notes and looked at the two agents, "If you need anything, I'll be here until midnight," she kindly informed the two. "I'll make sure to check in on you a bit later, you try to get some rest now."
They thanked the young, blonde nurse and they were once again alone in the room.
"How are you doing?"
"Shouldn't I be asking you about that?" She asked incredulously.
"Get on with it then," he said playfully ostentatious. A familiar glint of mischief in his eyes that she had missed.
She shook her head at his cheeky antics, but she had a smile on her face as she did, which she knew had been his goal. She looked down at him and saw him cocking his brow, obviously still waiting for her to get on with it. She shook her head as she squeezed once, her hand still firmly in his, before asking more seriously, "How are you doing?"
"I'm doing alright, a bit of pain but the meds should start working soon," he assured her, intertwining their fingers and squeezed her hand. "How are Sam and Callen?"
She should not have been surprised at his question, he was fiercely protective of his team. He had managed to do, what many before him could not, fit in with the elite team that was NCIS' Office of Special Projects and in record time.
She figured it was because he was a normally easygoing man, whom had something in common with everyone on the team. His background with the CIA had bonded him and Callen, whereas the time served in the military, albeit a different military branch, had served well in getting on Sam's good side, leaving herself, whom he was in a relationship with, although only platonically so far, it was clear to most everyone that the two of them had a special connection.
"They tricked one of the members of the group to give them an address, they're there with the FBI tact squad right now." She explained calmly.
"Shouldn't you be with them?" He questioned.
"I'm right where I need to be," she lovingly assured him, before she tenderly brushed his blond tendrils from his damp forehead, bending down to press a light kiss to his temple, making sure to avoid the cuts and bruises on his face. "You should get some rest, Marty."
He could see the vulnerability that she so desperately tried to hide from everyone starting to form, she was blinking more frequent than usually, probably to keep the tears at bay he thought. He was certain, that she did not want to concern him with her emotional pain right now, but that was not her decision to make.
She should have known him better than to hide her feelings, he brought their intertwined hands to his face and tenderly pressed, what he hoped to be, a comforting kiss to the back of her palm. "I'm still here, Kens," he told her just above a whisper.
She closed her eyes tight, chastising herself for not hiding her feelings better right now. Although she knew, that he should not have to carry the weight of her worry in his weakened state, she also did know him better than that. As such, the feeling to go against her own rule of thumb and start telling him about what she had felt started taking root.
"What's going on in that pretty little head of yours?" He said the teasing sentence in a serious voice.
That was the last push for her to open up.
"I was absolutely terrified, when I heard the explosion." She started her confession, her voice already wavering. "When I made it back to my feet and couldn't find you, I was so scared that I had lost you. I don't know what I'd ever do without you." She had lost the fight against her grief, and the salty tears were silently dribbling down her soft cheeks.
"I don't know what I'd do without you either," he told her as he let go of her hand, reaching for her cheek, tenderly wiping the tears rolling down.
She nodded solemnly at him, placing her hand on top of his. "Get some sleep, okay? I'll call Hetty, see if I can get an update on how Sam and Callen's raid went, if they're done with it." She was done with the weakness for now, she needed to be strong, not just for herself, but also for the man currently laying in the hospital bed.
He knew that she was right, he could not do anything from a hospital bed anyways, and if was being honest with himself, he was starting to feel quite drowsy as well. He nodded at her, and pulled her head down to his, pressing tenderly against her lips. "Go get that update, I'll be waiting right here," he told her cheekily, sleepiness deepening his voice.
She pecked his lips once more before standing straight. "Goodnight, Marty," she called over her shoulder, as she made her way out of the hospital room to get an update on the status of the case.
"All clear!" The welcoming voice sounded, as the leader from the bomb squad exited the building, finally allowing the agents access to search the house.
The crime scene technicians, whom had arrived, whilst everyone was waiting for bomb squad to clear the explosive ordnance from the premises, were the first to walk back into the house, closely followed Sam and Callen, who had quickly stopped to shake hands with the bomb squad leader before they headed off.
The two seasoned agents went to the room, where the explosives had first been discovered. There were loads of papers scattered around the room and, seeing as time might still have been of the essence, they immediately started going through it.
They found the plans for rigging the previous address they had raided, which had caused the temporary decommission of one of their agents, confirming what they already knew. Sam also managed to find a list of names, he recognized a few of the listed names, one of them being Abdul-Shahid Tahan. He took a photo using his cellphone and sent it to OPS, wanting to check that all the names on the list were either taken in custody or taken down.
"Take a look at this, Sam." The team lead called out, a few minutes after Sam had found the other list. "It's a map of all the recruitment centers in Los Angeles."
"And they've circled one," the ex-Navy SEAL commented.
"I'll call Eric, in case they have more bombs than the one we found here." Callen told his partner, dreading that they were already too late to prevent the threat of the promised attack.
"Hey Callen, what's up?" The technical operator answered immediately in his always cheery voice.
"Eric we've found a map with the US Army Recruitment Center in Koreatown circled. We need bomb squad on scene and a discreet evacuation in case someone is watching it."
"I'll get right on that," he assured, his voice turning serious, and Callen knew the blond tech-operator had his game face on.
"Alright, so I walked through all the names on the list," Nell started after stealing Eric's cell. "We've just gotten hits on the facial rec from the two guys in the house you're in and it's the two remaining names on the list, so it seems that all the names are accounted for."
"Alright, tell Hetty. Sam and I will head to the recruitment center." He finished the call.
Offensive driving would be putting it mildly. Sam managed to push the Challenger through the busy afternoon traffic at a rate, which would seem impossible to anyone, who had not actually witnessed the feat.
When they arrived at the recruitment center, it was almost a quarter to three, which meant, they had roughly fifteen minutes until the threat told them the explosion would occur. They quickly exited the black vehicle and moved towards the building.
The bomb squad, who had their station quite close to the area, was already on scene and busy with clearing the otherwise bland building. Since the military building was not yet deemed clear for entrance, the two senior agents went to an older, uniformed man, whom they assumed to be running the recruitment center.
The lieutenant had not seen anything out of the ordinary for the past week and seemed a bit shaken by the fact that his workplace had been targeted. He had heard about the attack on the naval recruitment center, which had happened during the night and was quick to put two-and-two together, but the seasoned military man assured the agents that his lips was sealed in regards to a terrorism act on home soil.
While they were waiting for the area to be secured, Sam and the older lieutenant spoke casually for a while, whilst Callen checked in with OPS in case there were any new information that had come up before speaking to the FBI representative who was also on site.
Unfortunately, nothing new had been discovered in regards to any of the men from the list, but since they were all in custody or no longer breathing, it would only serve to identify further potential, but not imminent, threats.
They had somehow managed to keep the media out of the picture at the location through combined efforts of NCIS, FBI, and LAPD, but they knew it would only be a matter of time before journalists would get word that there was something happening at yet another recruitment center.
Luckily, the bomb squad was working like a well-oiled machine and they managed to clear the building as well as the surrounding ones in record time. The leader of the specialized unit went to greet Callen and Sam. He informed the agents that everything was cleared and no explosive ordnances was found on the premises.
The two senior agents took a breath of relief as that meant that the already disarmed explosive ordnance at the previous address was meant for this recruitment center, which meant that the terrorist threat had been neutralized.
Happy that the threat was no longer existent before the media started figuring out that there were terrorist attacks on US soil, the lead agent called to inform their operations manager of the positive news.
"Excellent work, Mr. Callen," she told him. "Now, I do believe you have some business to attend to."
"Uhm, Hetty?" He questioned, knowing it was often better to just admit you were at a loss rather than try to figure out her mysterious sayings.
"I think Ms. Blye and Mr. Deeks would appreciate some friendly faces, wouldn't you agree?" She asked the senior agent as if the answer was obvious.
She had woken him up, when an orthopedic doctor came, whom was quite a bit younger than Dr. Bernier. He introduced himself as Dr. Emil Blanchard before he explained how Deeks would have to undergo corrective surgery, which would be an internal fixation in his elbow in order to ensure that the break healed correctly. He was also told that he would need a CT-scan in order to assess whether or not he would need surgery for his shoulder as well. That would be done during the evening since there was available time and it was not an emergency and the corrective surgery would be even later during the night.
He was happy that Kensi had been there throughout the doctor's visit, since he had still been under the influence of the pain relief and combining that with just waking up would have made for a very one-sided conversation, if Kensi had not asked some clarifying questions.
Shortly after the kind doctor had left, the former Master Sergeant had once again succumbed to sleep, which was the exact state he was still in, when the two senior agents entered the private hospital room.
Kensi immediately let go of his hand, and motioned for them to be quiet by placing her finger in front of her lips.
"How's he doing, Kens?" The team lead asked concernedly. The two agents had discussed which kind of partnership their female agent had with the former SOG operator on the way over to the hospital. They had seen her emotional reaction, when the building collapsed, and knew that her feelings for the man went above that of a regular partnership.
She swallowed deeply before replying, further confirming their theory. "He's pretty banged up, but he'll live," she stated, only allowing her expression to show slight concern.
He started awakening from his slumber, obviously reacting to her voice.
"Hey guys," he greeted them, his voice still thick with sleep.
"Hey Sleeping Beauty," the ex-Navy SEAL jokingly greeted him.
He chuckled at the humorous jab, but quickly stopped as his ribs protested loudly. "How'd the raid go?" He asked wearily after catching his breath.
"We got them, Deeks," the team lead fiercely proclaimed. "We got the bastards who put you here."
