CHAPTER 8 - Continuing the Search

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Thanks to everyone who has reviewed. You've made my week! To my Spanish reader: Muchas gracias por sus amables palabras. Realmente lo apreciamos. Me alegro de que usted está disfrutando de la historia. To my French reader: Je ne suis pas surpris que vous aviez mal à traduire l'expression « tirer dans la boîte à lunch ». « Boîte à lunch », "junk" « nom de plumes » et « package » sont tous les termes d'argot pour testicules et/ou le pénis de l'homme. Je suis heureux que vous vous plaisez dans l'histoire. N'hésitez pas à poser des questions sur les conditions, de que vous n'êtes pas sûr.

I don't own NCIS Los Angeles or any of the characters on the show. I only own my original characters which in this story include Mike Donaldson, Leanne Sykes, Harry Denton and Samuel Deeks.

Nherbie is still reviewing my story for me and has given me much encouragement and advise to make this story better than ever. Any mistakes are mine alone. My minion Romeo poked his head out of the closet for a few paragraphs in this chapter. You'll hear from him again.

Please press that little button and leave a review on your way out to let me know what you think.

Enjoy.

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Hetty continued to sit at her desk sipping her Makaibari Estate Silver Tips White tea as she went over everything they'd seen on the video and what they knew so far about Marty's abduction. They had few clues and though Nell and Eric were combing through the images they had been subjected to, they had yet to find anything useful. And all the while they were trying to find clues, the team knew he was being tortured. She was the only person in OSP who knew about the previous times he had been tortured or badly injured while undercover for the LAPD; which only served to increase her worry that this time might be the time that finally broke the young man she had promised to protect.

Hetty was getting more frustrated the longer she thought about what he was going through. Anyone looking at her wouldn't be able to tell how frustrated she was; her face was its usual blank mask. But her mask was only hiding her rage that someone was torturing him again; and on her watch. When they found the man, and she vowed they would find him, she was going to make sure he suffered mightily for the remainder of his life.

The team spent the afternoon continuing to go over Deeks' old cases, adding to the list of possible suspects. When Hetty finally appeared in the bullpen to send them home for the evening, all three of them were surprised at how late it was. Usually paperwork like they were doing made for very long days, but they were so invested in finding Deeks as soon as possible, none of them had noticed the passing hours.

"I've already sent Miss Jones and Mr. Beale home. It's late and I need all of you at your best. Be here bright and early tomorrow morning."

One look at Hetty's face convinced all three remaining members of her elite team to do what she said without protest. Kensi made a beeline for the vet's office to pick up Monty. She'd called them that morning to tell them she'd be late and to apologize. They'd made arrangements for her to knock on the employee entrance when she arrived. The night assistant would have Monty ready to go home. All she had to do was call before she left work.

She had told the receptionist. "I can do that. Who's the assistant I'll be meeting?"

"Mitch is working tonight. He and Monty get along well and he volunteered to spend the extra time with him until you arrive." the vet's receptionist replied.

"Tell him I said thanks. You've all been absolutely wonderful. Please thank Dr. Govers and everyone who's been taking care of Monty for me."

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Kensi stopped off at Hetty's office before leaving for the evening. "Hetty, I'm picking Monty up from the vet's tonight. Is it okay to take him to Deeks' apartment? I think he'll be more comfortable there than at my place. He's used to being home alone there while Deeks works." Since his apartment was considered a crime scene, she knew she wouldn't be able to stay there until the techs had finished getting everything they could from. She didn't want to inadvertently compromise any possible evidence waiting to be found when she took Monty back there.

"Mr. Deeks' apartment has already been released as a crime scene. You can take him there and have someone clean up the place if you want to, Miss Blye." Hetty looked closely at her youngest agent. Kensi was putting on a good show, but she could tell Deeks' abduction was weighing heavily on her. "We'll find him Miss Blye. I promise you that."

"I know, and thanks for saying it. I know we're all working hard to get him back. I…I just worry about him, you know? He's already been through so much the last year or so. I can't help but think this may be worse than when he was taken by Sidorov. I keep…" she had to stop there to keep the tears pooling in her eyes from dripping down her face before continuing "I worry that this time may be the final straw…it may be too much. That this will break him for good."

"As do I, my dear, as do I." Go home and get some rest. We have a busy day tomorrow and I need you at your sharpest."

"Yes, Hetty." Kensi turned to leave but when she was about 10 feet away from Hetty's desk, Hetty called out "And eat something Miss Blye. You need to keep your strength up for when we get him back. He's going to need you then."

She turned her head giving her a tremulous smile. "I will, I promise."

"Good, now scat!" Hetty shooed her away with her hands before going back to what she'd been doing.

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Kensi arrived at the vet's office looking forward to taking Deeks' dog home with her. She went around to the door she'd been told about and knocked. A veritable giant of a man opened the door. Kensi thought he must be at least 6 foot, 5 inches tall with shoulders that looked like they wouldn't fit through a normal door. He had longish blonde hair that looked very similar to Deeks' along with a short neatly tended beard and massive hands. If she'd met him in a dark alley, she would have been a little leery of him. He took one look at her, took her hand gently in one of his and said in a very gentle, charming southern accent. "Come in. I'm Mitch and you must be Monty's mom. He's waiting for you. He's a great dog and I've enjoyed taking care of him."

He led her into the dog room where she saw Monty standing at the door of his kennel looking toward the entrance. When he saw Mitch and Kensi, he gave a happy little bark and started wagging his tail.

"Oh look at him, he's really okay. I was so worried. I'm going to take such good care of him until we find Deeks and we will find him. It will be good for me. The doctor was right; it will help me cope with his absence." Kensi smiled at Mitch who was already getting Monty out of the kennel and putting his leash on him. He then pulled out the meds Dr. Govers had ordered for him and went over the treatment plans the vet had also provided. Kensi listened very carefully to everything she was told. She wanted to make sure she did everything right.

"Thanks for having him ready. Tell the doctor and everyone involved in his care that I can tell you all took very good care of him. It was nice to meet you Mitch." Kensi started petting Monty "Do you want to come home with me, boy?" He looked at her and began wagging his tail again and started for the door. "Yes I guess you do. Come on then, let's go home. You're going to be staying with me for the next few days until your 'daddy' comes home."

She turned to Mitch again and said goodbye; then she and Monty headed for her car while she kept thinking "And he will come home. He will! We'll all be there helping him get better and come to terms with whatever is happening to him right now. I'm not going to let this break him, I'm not. He's my partner and I know how strong he is. Besides, he promised me; he'll keep it too."

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She grabbed something to eat for both her and Monty then proceeded to her apartment. She walked in with the dog on his leash and immediately knew that she wouldn't be coming back here after she took him to Deeks' place. It didn't feel like leaving Monty alone was the right thing to do. He'd be much happier in his own home. Besides, she missed Deeks so much; she wanted to be surrounded by his things and his smell. She grabbed some clothes and other items she might need and headed back out to her car with his dog right by her side the whole way.

Monty seemed to know they were going to his 'home' because he was sitting in the backseat of her car staring intently out the window. As soon as the parking lot of Deeks' apartment came into view, Monty let out a sharp bark and looked at Kensi as if to say "Come on, let's get inside."

"You're ready to be home, aren't you boy. You miss your 'daddy', don't you?" She gave his ears some good scratches then put his leash back on him to go up to Deeks' apartment. "I miss him too…so much. Please Marty, please be okay; you have to be okay. We're coming for you, I promise. We…I won't stop until I find you and bring you home. We all feel the same way. You do what you have to do to come back to me, to all of us. The team needs you and I…I can't lose you, I just can't. I don't know what I'll do if I lose you. I love you."

She gave Monty his dinner and some fresh water before going back down to her car to grab the things she'd brought with her. It took her two trips to get everything from the car she thought she would need. She then sprawled out on the couch and attempted to eat her dinner. The food in front of her didn't appeal to her. She didn't know if she could eat anything and keep it down. Her stomach was in knots worrying about Deeks, but she could hear his voice in her head "Come on Sunshine, you know you have to eat to stay strong for me. I'm going to need that strength when you find me. And I'm counting on you to find me. I'm fighting with everything I have in me to come back to you. I love you too sugarbear; I love you so much."

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Monty stayed right by Kensi's side as she moved around the apartment. Since the forensics team Lt. Bates had assigned to the case had already been through the apartment with a fine-tooth comb, Hetty had given her permission to not only leave Monty there but to have someone clean the place. It didn't feel right to have someone else in his apartment, so she began cleaning it herself, starting with the kitchen. She washed all the dishes, and cleaned out the cupboards and arranged them back in the order Deeks kept them in. She cleaned out the refrigerator and mopped the floor. Once the kitchen was sparkling, she smiled to herself. "If Marty could see me now and see how his kitchen looks, he'd be amazed. He doesn't know I can clean with the best of them. My dad insisted on me learning and he believed in checking the results with white gloves. He'd tell me that if something is worth doing, it's worth doing right. Cleaning helps me take my mind off my troubles when I'm sad or wrestling with a problem. Right now, saving Deeks is my problem, but I can't do anything about it at this minute. I can clean though." She stood there for several minutes admiring the job she'd done before heading into the living room to clean it too.

She didn't feel it was necessary to let Hetty know she was staying there. She probably already knew anyway; that's just the way Hetty was. Not much got past her.

She spent an hour cleaning up the living room, throwing away what couldn't be salvaged and putting everything else back where it belonged. She cleaned up the glass from the picture frames that had shattered during the fight, making herself a note to get the glass replaced. When she found his cat pillow in the corner, she was surprised to find herself sobbing as she put it back on his couch. "The first time I saw this pillow was after he was tortured by Sidorov. After pulling away from all of us for so long, he finally answered his door and let me in. I stayed with him and he was finally able to sleep." As soon as she got herself back in control, she vacuumed the floor and polished the furniture.

Once the living room was spotless, she took a shower, found an old t-shirt of Marty's she loved and a pair of his boxers to use as sleepwear. She started to pull the shirt over her head but stopped when she smelled his distinctive odor; salt, sea water and the deodorant he used. She spent a few minutes with her nose buried in the shirt breathing in the smell of him before she put it on. Then, she called to Monty and they spent the evening sitting on the couch with Kensi giving him a lot of love and attention while watching Titanic.

Half-way through the movie, she was asleep on the couch as the day's events caught up to her. She'd been sleeping for about an hour when she found herself in the throes of a full-blown nightmare. She was clearing one side of a building while Callen and Sam were clearing the other side when she found Deeks' limp body. She ran into the room shouting "No! Nooo! Marty, what did he do to you? Come on, look at me Marty, please." In her nightmare, he was lying in the corner of the filthy room he'd been video-taped in. He was emaciated and filthy. He'd been beaten to within an inch of his life. He was covered in blood and cold to the touch, so cold. Her heart was in her throat as she gathered him into her arms, searching for a pulse. She let her breath out when she finally found a weak one that was much too slow for her liking. She screamed for Callen and Sam to come and help her, but it wasn't the two of them who showed up in the room, it was the person who'd taken Deeks. She couldn't see his face because it was a blank, but she knew it was him. She screamed at him. "What have you done to him you sick bastard?"

"I did to him the same thing I'm going to do to you my dear. We're going to have some fun together. Marty's been partying hard with some drugs I gave him. It's your turn now." Kensi tried to fight him, but she couldn't seem to connect with any of her blows or kicks. It felt like he was nothing but smoke as she threw punch after punch and missed every single time. Soon she was winded; bent over with her hands on her knees trying to catch her breath but he was still standing there smiling at her. When he began to advance on her, she knew she was going to die.

Right before the man reached her, Marty exploded from the corner to grab him from behind. They both fell to the floor and began punching each other while Marty screamed at her "Run Kens. Don't let him get you. I don't want you to suffer what I have. This is hell and he's the devil. Please run. RUN! Kensi RUN!"

Kensi was on the couch twitching while clenching and unclenching her fists as she moaned under her breath when Monty woke up and crawled into her lap to begin bathing her face with his tongue. The feel of his wet tongue woke her up with a start. Her heart was pounding, she was shaking in fear and she was covered in cold sweat. Once Monty saw she was awake, he whimpered at her while continuing to lick every inch of exposed skin he could find. "It's okay boy, I'm okay. It was a nightmare…it seemed so real, but it was only a nightmare." Kensi worked to slow down her breathing and her heartbeat as she began petting Monty. "Thanks for waking me up, boy. You're a good dog." She gave herself a little shake, then tucked the dog next to her side. "Thank God it was only a nightmare."

She looked at the clock on the fireplace realizing she'd only been asleep for a couple of hours. The nightmare had really shaken her up and she knew she would have trouble getting back to sleep. To take her mind off of it, she thought about the last time she and Marty had been at the beach together. She never got tired of watching him surf because he was in his element there. He moved with the waves like he was linked telepathically with them, moving through them gracefully and working them to get every last little bit of energy out of them to lengthen his ride. He was an amazing surfer, even if she usually made fun of him. It was just their banter. He knew he was good so he would tease her right back. His entire body relaxed when he was at the beach. He was more at peace with himself there. His eyes would sparkle and crinkles would appear at the edges whenever he smiled.

The last time they'd been there together she had worn a new red one-piece suit with cut-outs in strategic places on it. When Marty saw her in it for the first time, he was speechless for the longest time as his eyes widened with their color changing from the ocean blue they usually were to a deep cobalt blue. He began stammering "Kens…you're a vision in that suit. I…I mean you're…God you're absolutely breathtaking." he finally managed to choke out; not taking his eyes off of the woman standing in front of him. "I m…mean…you're always be…beau…beautiful, but today…seriously…today, you take my breath away. I must have done something right in a previous incarnation because I'm truly blessed to have you here with me, right now." He leaned forward and placed a kiss on her lips before leaning back and continuing to drink her in with his eyes.

She remembered she'd blushed deeply, the heat rising into her face from her neck as he continued to stare at her. The cobalt blue of his eyes was intense and his blown pupils showed her how affected he was by the way she looked. As she looked into his eyes, they became turbulent and she didn't have to look down to know he was hard with desire. "I've never felt more like a beautiful woman than that exact moment. He does it to me every time. How does he do it is what I want to know. All he has to do is look at me and chills run though my body."

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Deeks slowly regained consciousness, trying to figure out why his wrists and ankles were so sore. His head was throbbing and he hurt everywhere. He hoped he was alone but even if he was, he knew he wouldn't be for long. His thirst was raging and he was weak from hunger. He couldn't remember the last time he'd eaten or had anything to drink. When he heard the door open behind him, he braced himself for what he knew was coming next.

Leon entered the room carrying a plate and a glass of what looked like water. Marty had never been so glad to see a simple glass of water in his life. Without saying a word, Leon untied one hand and handed him the glass. Marty looked at him then slowly sipped the water. He didn't want him to realize how desperate his thirst was. When he finished the water, Leon gave him the sandwich that was on the plate. Marty took bites of the sandwich without saying a word. It was only a half of a cheese sandwich but he was thankful for that much to eat. He couldn't figure out why he was being fed and what his captor was up to. Once the sandwich was gone, Leon tied his hand back to the chair and left the room. He'd never said a word which Deeks found disquieting to say the least. He couldn't figure out what his game was no matter how hard he tried.

Deeks was grateful for the food and water until the pain came. His muscles and stomach started painfully cramping, but he couldn't vomit or relieve the pain by moving his muscles no matter how hard he tried. Marty realized Leon had drugged him with the food or water and felt like a fool to have been unaware of what he was capable of. He finally figured out it was all part of the man's plan to break him and he swore to himself he wouldn't give the prick the satisfaction. He would never remember how long he sat there in agony from the pain because after the pain came the hallucinations. He saw his father taunting him and beating both him and his mother. He relived many of the beatings he had survived in his childhood as well as the night he finally took a stand and shot him. He saw visions of Leon torturing Callen, Sam and Kensi. When visions of his previous life weren't tormenting him, he would see monsters coming for him or one of his team. He couldn't help a few groans from getting past his lips but at least he was able to keep from screaming. After what felt like an eternity, he finally lost consciousness again slumping forward in the chair against his restraints.

When Leon had left the room, he proceeded into his equipment room and watched Deeks through the camera trained on him, hoping to see him screaming in fear. When that didn't happen, he was not only disappointed, but angry all over again. "What is it going to take to break this bastard? I was sure he'd be screaming by now but the only sounds he's made are a few groans. What the hell am I doing wrong? I'll use the cane again but with a twist. Maybe this time will do the trick." He was looking forward to his next session with Deeks, but he'd have to wait until he was conscious once again.

He called Harry's number and waited patiently for him to answer. When he did, Leon began issuing orders. "I need you and Jimmy back here to help me with Deeks. How soon can you get here?"

"I just have to get Jimmy boss. We should be able to be there in an hour or so. Do you want us to bring anything with us?"

"No, just get Jimmy and get your asses here as soon as possible." Leon hung up the phone contemplating what the next morning would bring. He was confident that Deeks wouldn't be able to continue resisting him once he began the next part of his plan.

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Harry and Jimmy arrived at the building Deeks was being kept in two hours after being called by Leon. Before Leon could say anything, Harry apologized "We would have been here sooner boss, but there was a big accident on the 101 with all lanes blocked."

"Fine" Leon muttered. "Help me get Deeks tied to the wall. I have plans for him in the morning and I don't want him fighting us when we move him. Right now he's unconscious so it will be easy to get him on his knees and chained up."

The three men removed Deeks from the chair and dragged him over to the wall. Harry got him up on his knees facing it while Jimmy stretched his arms out and chained them to the rings. Leon then placed a board between his legs and tied his feet to it, one foot on each end of the board. The men then left the room with Deeks still unconscious.

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Kensi searched the TV channels for something to watch and finally found an old romantic comedy on a cable station. She didn't think she would be sleeping any more so grabbed a blanket to snuggle into and patted the seat beside her to get Monty to join her. She leaned back against Deeks' cat pillow running her fingers through the dog's fur and tried to concentrate on the movie. Before too long, the muted sound of the movie and his breathing relaxed her enough that she nodded off once again. However, this time she didn't have another nightmare. When she woke in the morning, she was pleasantly surprised at how rested she felt. Monty was still lying by her side as close as he could get to her with his head in her lap. "Did you watch over me in my sleep boy?"

He looked up at her, licked her hand, then jumped down from the couch and went to sit by the front door. Kensi looked at her watch surprised that it was already 7 am. If she hurried, she could get dressed and take him for a walk before she reported to OSP. She called out "I'll take you for a walk as soon as I get dressed Monty" then slipped into the bedroom to take a quick shower and dress. She was back out in the living room attaching Monty's leash to his collar in 15 minutes. She grabbed some poop bags and took him for a nice long walk to the beach and back. She then put out fresh food and water for him and left to get to work.

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