Deeks tried to get up but his limbs let him down. "I swear Jerry if you hurt her..." Deeks said in a weak voice before he collapsed again. A smile appeared on Jerry's face, "Georgie-boy, finally standing up for your woman? Actually I'm more interested in you. You see, I respect military personal, it's their lying, cheating better halves or in most cases worse halves I don't respect." With every word he became tenser until he gritted his teeth and spat out the words "GET UP"

This time Deeks gathered enough strength to stand on his feet. The room around him was still hazy and he had a hard time staying up. "So let me tell how this is going to go down… you are going to fight me. If you win I will let you go, but if I win… well you'll see." Before Deeks could react Jerry punched him in the gut and he fell to the ground. Kensi was yelling at Jerry to stop as he was kicking Deeks repeatedly. After a while it was as if he lost interest and waited for Deeks to move. "Come on George, you want your lady to see you as a weakling? Get up man… you are pathetic!" Deeks was coughing out blood but he still managed to get back on his feet. While Deeks was struggling to get up Jerry got a Taser from what Kensi guessed was his torture-toolbox. He was walking up to Deeks when Kensi's words stopped him,

"No, you are pathetic. You are the one who has us locked up in this basement, and you are the weakling. You fight my husband when I am the trained marine. You are so pathetic that you can't even fight your equal. Clearly he is not in a healthy state from whatever bloody drugs you pumped into our systems and he has lost so much blood from his head injury. So you are the pathetic one Jerry, choosing the clearly weaker one of us."

Kensi knew her words would agitate him. Tears were streaming from her dirt-stained face. They were sad tears but more than anything they were tears of determination. Against her better judgment she drew his attention to her. NCIS- training taught them than in a situation like this you should try and keep yourself safe in order to try and save your partner later if possible. She broke protocol because she would rather die than live even one day without Deeks. She knew that now. Seeing him on the floor did something to her and she would do anything to keep him out of harm's way.

Jerry turned around slowly. Throwing the Taser to the side and reaching for something in the toolbox, slowly pulling out a hunter's knife. He tardily walked up to Kensi and traced it along her jaw. "Quinnie… Quinnie… Quinnie… you should learn to shut-up, because I had a plan. You were going to go in a much quicker way, but now you are forcing my hand. His eyes turned cold and distant. She shut her eyes waiting for the pain… waiting for death. It never came; Deeks shouted something before it could.

"No, don't you dare… don't you dare beg for death to try and save my life, because the truth is my life means nothing without you, so Jerry you can kill me in the most horrific way possible. Just… just don't hurt her."

Tears were now freely streaming down Kensi's face. They were partners all these years, if she'd just listen to heart sooner then they could've had some time together, but she was stubborn. Now this was going to be over before it even started.

"No, because you promised, you promised that you won't get yourself killed all those months ago in the boatshed remember… Deeks you've never broken a promise to me before. Don't start now"

"Well that's not going to be a problem, princess," Jerry chimed in, "you are a marine so I think you are pretty familiar with the term 'never leave a man behind'… don't worry whoever I decide to kill first the other will soon follow." He looked pretty pleased with his choice of words but his smile soon faded, "why'd you call him Deeks?"

Deeks sat up with a diabolical laugh from his chest, "because you moron, we are not who you think we are. You are about to murder two federal agents."

Kensi needed to use Deeks' real name so he would know that what she said was real. What she felt for him was real. She did it for herself too; she needed his name to pass her lips one last time.

Then something surprising happened. He retreated from them. His facial expression turned blank; there was no telling what he was up to. He slowly climbed the stairs, toolbox in hand, fully aware of their surprised gaze on him. He heard the man yell after him that this should be expected from a man named Jerry.

The moment they heard the door get locked behind him he crawled to her. He was feeling stronger now, he was sweating all the drugs out of his system. "Did you really mean it, Kens?" She bit her lower lip and before she could answer he cupped her face and pressed his lips against hers. When their lips met it was as if the earth stopped turning, a spark ignited. Her hands instinctively reached for the back of his neck but the chains stopped them so she rested it on his shoulders. At first their kiss was intense and hungry but it soon turned passionate and before she knew it she wasn't in a damp basement anymore, they were somewhere magical. The lamps that barely lit the basement were candle-light and the dripping sound was someone rhythmically beating on a drum. She forced herself to focus and slowly pulled away from him, "Deeks we…" before she could finish her sentence he slowly pulled her closer to him again and put his lips on hers. She was about to slip in her dream world again when she abruptly pushed him away. "Deeks we need a plan, focus!" They looked around the room. It was bare. The only thing in the room was the two lamps and the mattress. "Let me see if you still have bobby-pins in your hair so I can pick the lock. While he was fumbling with her hair she took a closer look at his head. It seemed like he lost a lot of blood but from up close she could see it wasn't as bad as she originally thought. It was a pretty hard blow to the head and no doubt it hurt like hell but he seemed to be functioning okay. He found two bobby-pins in her hair and started picking at the lock but she stopped him. "Deeks, how many fingers am I holding up?" she said with three fingers in the air. "Dammit Kens we don't have time we have to get you out of here." She stopped his hands. "How many?" He looked up in her eyes and he could tell she won't let it go. "Fine Fern you win, three!" Kensi gave him a satisfied smile.

It took him a while but he finally picked the lock on her right hand. He was just getting started on the other hand when they heard the lock turn upstairs. "Just pretend you are still out of it, and when you see a gap hit him as hard as you can." She whispered to him. He gave her a quick kiss on the lips before he crawled away.

From Jerry's POV

He locked the door behind him and moved the bookshelf in front of the door. He was baffled. He's been so careful. There was no way anyone could trace things back to him. How did two federal agents end up in his basement? He checked out every single part of their lives before he decided on them. Dammit Jerry how could you miss this? One part of his brain argued. They are federal agents, they have people for this kind of things the other part justified. What am I going to do… skip the country? I can't kill two federal agents. Dammit I'm going to jail. Two of their own is in here. They are as tight-knit as a military unit. They are going to come down on me like… damn… I can't even describe it. He was pacing in his living room now. He is trying to figure out what to do next. He looked at his 'kit' as he calls his toolbox. His mind came into focus. There's no time to run now, I am definitely going to jail for life. They've seen my face. They know who I am. I might as well go all out with this one. Something to remember when I'm locked up in there, plus it will probably give me some credit in jail.

He walked to his car and took out the battery along with some jumper cables. When he entered the living room again he grabbed his kit and went downstairs. The man she called Deeks was still lying on the floor crippled by the pain. "You are one to talk with a name like Deeks. Jerry is short for Gerard." He walked purposefully to Kensi and pierced her leg with the knife. I could hear how the knife was tearing at her muscles as I was twisting and turning the knife in her leg. The last thing I remember is her screaming in agony when I felt a blow to my head. Everything went black after that.

"Kensi!" Deeks ran over to her supporting her neck with his hand. "Kens, are you okay… talk to me." One of Deeks' tears fell on Kensi's cheek and her eyes fluttered open. The pain was so excruciating that she passed out. Deeks tried to lift her but failed, he was still too weak from the drugs and the beating he took. "Can you stand? I can't carry you and we need to get out of here before he wakes up." She nodded. Kensi Marie Blye was stubborn and she can persevere. Of course Deeks knew that before but he has new respect for her now. He can see the pain all over her face. She was as pale as a sheet and dark circles formed under her eyes. Yet she did not complain about the pain that she was clearly in. Before he helped her up the stairs he grabbed the knife from Jerry's hands. They locked the door behind them and Deeks pushed the bookshelf back in front of the door. He told her to sit as he looked out the window. "There's a truck outside… I'm going to check it out. Keep this knife with you." He disappeared through the door. While he was gone Kensi took a look around. She had to keep her mind occupied so she won't pass out from the pain again. Deeks came back into the room. "Bad news we seem to be surrounded by miles and miles of woods. The car has no battery and the sun is about to set." Kensi nodded "We should grab what we can and move. He already woke up. I can hear him moving around down there." Deeks went through the fridge gathering bottles of water and protein bars. He also went through all the closets and found a gun with 12 bullets and a first aid kit. He walked over to Kensi and cared for her leg. "I don't suppose this killing lair has a phone"

"Of course not… It is just that… a killing lair." They turned around only to look at Jerry. "Run Kens!" As Kensi was limping out the door bullets were flying between the two men. Kensi ran as fast as her leg will carry her into the trees. She relaxed when she heard Deeks' heavy breathing next to her. Together, they disappeared into the night...