10. "Always be on the lookout for the presence of wonder." – E.B White

Taking a deep breath, Nell said "Gabriel sent me. I have information about the Witchblade and the Consort."

Kensi just stared at Nell.

"I'm sorry, who?" Deeks was able to say.

"Mr. Nottingham contacted Gabriel, someone I knew a long time ago. He wanted me to talk to a couple in Los Angeles who had the Witchblade. I'm as blown away by all this as you are." Nell smiled. "Well, maybe not as you are. You're wielding the Witchblade."

"What do you know about this?" Kensi asked, lifting her wrist.

Nell smiled at her friend. "That you're even more of a superhero or super-heroine than I thought."

Deeks smiled. Kensi shook her head in amazement. "What exactly do you know and how are you involved in all this."

Leaning back in her desk chair, Nell asked "How old were you when you were a senior in high school?"

"I turned eighteen January of senior year," Deeks replied.

"Seventeen," Kensi answered. "Summer birthday."

Nell shrugged. "I was fifteen. The other kids were nice to me. I wasn't bullied. Everybody was really great - I'm not complaining but when everyone in my class was driving or going to parties or just hanging out, I was doing homework, being a math tutor and having my Mom drive me everywhere. The kids my age just got into my high school when I was getting ready to leave. They were nice too. Everyone was nice but there was nobody to really hang around with so I spent a lot of time online."

"Is that where you met Gabriel?" Deeks asked. "Someone told us that Gabriel was Google before there was a Google."

"I'm assuming that's Mr. Nottingham. Gabriel was less Google and more eBay. He made a good living buying and selling things - the weirder the better. We became fast online friends because I could talk geek to him and he talked back. He was really cool. During spring recess, my folks took me to New York because I was accepted to Columbia and I wanted to see the place. I always knew I was going to Columbia but I saw the place when my brother was there. I really went to New York to meet Gabriel. Oh, and to see some plays too. "Rent' and "Lion King" were amazing. My parents went alone to see "Cabaret" before it closed. I arranged to meet Gabriel in the hotel bar. I got all dressed up and he walked in and knew right away I was a kid."

"Sorry, Nell," Kensi said.

"He told me to change and look normal. When I did, he took me for a hamburger at P.J. Clarkes. I was back in the room half-an-hour before my parents got back. After that, we worked together on projects. He needed security code upgrades for his websites after 9/11 to keep the government away. I needed help writing some code at Columbia so I could run a small social network before social networks were cool. Some of the code I wrote with some Gabriel wrote got the government's attention. Gabriel is a government asset now and a consultant with Homeland. Once he was all official, Gabriel brought a number of us to the attention of different federal agencies when we were finishing school."

"And he knows about the Witchblade," Kensi was amazed.

"Not long after I met him online, he had this crazy crush on a police officer. She was 'something special' - his words. Then weird things started to happen. Besides the computer stuff, Gabriel got people things. Not illegal items like Chauvenet but more rare or obscure. If you wanted a guitar Jerry Garcia played on stage in 1977, Gabriel could find it, negotiate a price and take a little off the top for himself for making the deal happen."

"Good businessman," Deeks noted.

"He was. Still is, actually. He started getting interested in objects that were strange - amulets and talismans - and supposedly magic. I thought all this stuff was fake but Gabriel believed. We stayed in touch over the years. Around Christmas in 2009, I was in New York as part of a task force working with the U.N. Sara, Gabriel's police crush, was killed in an explosion. We went out of a drink and he got very drunk and started talking about the Witchblade and Kenneth Irons. The next day he showed up at my place in Park Slope - I never told him were I was living - and he wanted to know what I said. He told me to forget everything he told me but he knew that wasn't going to happen. He picked me up after work a couple of days later, took me to his place downtown and told me everything he knew about the Witchblade."

"Did you believe him?"

"At first I thought he was nuts but he pulls out a laptop and attaches it to a server with nearly two terabytes of data. People, places, events going back to an Egyptian princess in 1000 B.C. Then I read some of Sara Pezzini's arrests and maybe he was on to something. Gabriel had photos of art from different periods in different parts of the world that all featured a woman with sword as part of her arm fighting as part of the military in a time when women didn't fight."

"Women always fought, Nell, you know that," Kensi chided.

"They did but these women led armies, fought invading hordes, evil kings. I don't know if I completely believed Gabriel but I didn't think he was drunk and babbling anymore."

"What did he tell you about Irons?" Deeks inquired.

"Creepy rich guy. Said Irons found the fountain of youth."

"Oh yeah." Nine centuries worth of youth, Deeks thought.

"Did you meet him?" Nell asked.

"We may have had dinner Friday at his place," Kensi told her.

"Oh my God," Nell shook his hand. "What was it like?"

"Fancy digs, good food. Just so you know, they dress for dinner at Casa de Irons," Deeks joked.

"What did he say about the Witchblade?"

Kensi sighed. "A lot of song and dance about the Witchblade. A mention of Deeks being the Consort but no real information about what that is,"

"From what I've read about it, It is you, Deeks. Perfectly you."

"This is going to be a problem, isn't it?" Deeks asked.

"Yeah, probably. Gabriel said Irons was obsessed with Sara Pezzini and with the Witchblade."

"Irons told us a little about her," Kensi said, keeping Sara's secret. "Spoke glowingly of her."

"According to Gabriel, she was a good cop. Some problems with Internal Affairs but that seems to be par for the course with cops who get things done," Nell smiled at Deeks.

"No Consort for her?" Deeks asked.

"No. She had boyfriends but Gabriel said she didn't have someone like you."

"What do you mean like Deeks?" Kensi wondered. Nottingham seemed quite devoted to Sara and their child.

"I realize I met you two after you were partners for a few months but while I think you're both amazing agents..."

"Cop," Deeks said, raising his hand.

"Cop too. You're both great at what you do but you're extraordinary together. I saw the difference when you Deeks were recovering from being tortured and I was around Kensi a lot," Nell said pointing to Deeks, "and Kensi, I saw it when Deeks and I were in the field while you were out of the country. He's a great partner and someone I learned a lot from. You and I Kensi got things done when Deeks and Sam were recovering but the two of you are a perfect match."

Kensi knew all this to be true. "So because we're great with each other, Irons won't like the Consort?"

"Gabriel thinks Irons has tried to be the Consort over the years. If he wasn't such a control freak he could pass as basic good boyfriend material - rich, nice stuff, never in trouble in the papers. Someone you could take home to Mom."

"Why didn't Irons just do that with..." Deeks stopped himself since he wasn't quite sure about Nell's 'fountain of youth' line. "Or men like him just do that with the previous women who wore the Witchblade. Irons makes it sound like some of these women could really use a friend."

"They could. Some of them were in terrible situations but just because you're the boyfriend of the Witchblade wielder doesn't mean you're the Consort."

"So if Sara Pezzini had a boyfriend..."

"Gabriel said she had a number of guys she dated but none of them were the Consort."

"What exactly is the Consort?" Kensi asked.

"It's your life partner but it's more than that."

"Soul mate?" Kensi asked.

"Ying to my yang?" Deeks added.

"No. Yes. Sort of. The Witchblade is male so it prefers a female host. But it is alive, it's sentient. It knows you Kensi and from you it knows Deeks. It was never going to make Irons the Consort just as it never made the boyfriends of Sara Pezzini or the women who wore it before her the Consort either. The way the Witchblade chose Kensi it also chose you Deeks. It knows who you are and what you're capable of."

"And what does it want me to do?" None of this made sense to Deeks.

"What you do is up to Kensi. You won't have the sword or the armor that comes with the Witchblade while Kensi wears it but if she wants to share, you could have her skills. You can, at least temporarily, share with Deeks what the Witchblade has given you."

"Irons didn't give us a great feel for what the Witchblade has given me, outside of it turning into a gauntlet or a sword."

"But he did mention that if I wore the pretty, magic bracelet I'll lose my hand."

"You could, if you took it from Kensi by force."

"Yeah, like that would happen," Kensi joked.

"Power has always been the problem with the Witchblade. It has led some women to dangerous choices. Madness driven by power or revenge can cause the Witchblade to fail the woman who wears it."

"Irons kept mentioning about the Witchblade failing the wielder because it found them wanting," Kensi said.

"It wants to do good. Protect the wielder as the wielder protects those around her."

"It is you Kens," Deeks noted.

"And you're the perfect Consort. The Consort is someone who wants to do good, just like the wielder. Someone strong and brave but their strength and bravery allows the wielder to thrive. Irons, the men who came before him, they all wanted the power of the Witchblade without the woman chosen to wield it. They also wanted it to fortify their wealth and power - something the Witchblade can't abide. You're the Consort because you're strong enough to be fine with Kensi's strength."

"Nothing better than a strong, smart woman," Deeks put his hand in Kensi's. "Nothing."

"And the Witchblade knows you believe that."

Deeks looked down at Kensi's hand. "So Kensi could toss me the bracelet and..."

"In theory, you could wield it, especially if you are protecting Kensi. But this is all legend. Gabriel kept a record of what Sara could do. Nobody's done that before. Based on his research - and he's been working on this since the fall of 2000, the last woman to wield the Witchblade who had a Consort was Cathain, the Queen of Ireland. Her husband was King Conchobar in the 5th Century. It shouldn't be a surprise that the records aren't all that good from Cathain's time with the Witchblade."

"I'll be skipping the sharing of the bracelet," Deeks decided. "I like my hand. But I like the idea of sharing. Especially the flying gift."

"He seems to be stuck on that," Kensi said with a sigh.

"Flying, telekinesis, some of the past wielders could blast energy from their power hand. I'd mention things like marksmanship, agility or fighting abilities but you're well ahead of the game on that before the Witchblade." Nell smiled. "If this thing is real, and looking at you I think it probably is, I can't imagine a better person for it or with it. Or a better person to have on your side." Nell handed Kensi a thumb drive with all Gabriel's research. "This is all he has on the Consort. He said you need to figure out the Witchblade."

"Nell, you know you can't tell," Deeks started.

Nell put her hand up, stopping him. "Your secret is safe with me and if anything shows up at work I can probably help make sure nothing is ever seen officially but NCIS or LAPD."

"Nell," Deeks continued his original thought. "No Hetty on this. I know she trusts you and you trust her but the last time Kensi and I had a secret from Hetty, Kensi wound up seven thousand miles away and I nearly quit the liaison position."

"There was more to that," Nell disagreed.

"No one in power ever told to me," Deeks said curtly. "Still waiting to hear that Kensi being sent to a place where she nearly died wasn't my fault."

"Deeks, it was never your fault," Kensi assured him. This wasn't the first time they discussed this.

"It would have been nice if Hetty mentioned that at the time or any time since."

"Deeks, Kensi's secret is safe with me. She's my friend. But a favor?" Nell asked.

"Sure," Kensi said.

"Can I see it?" Nell's eyes lit up. "Up close?"

Kensi stood and pulled the sleeve of her workout jacket up. "I really don't take it off," Kensi explained as Nell walked over to look at her bracelet. "I'm afraid I'd lose it."

"It's bonded with you, Kensi. I know you lady - it is exactly where it's supposed to be.

x-x-x

After a weekend of fancy dinners and covert trips to Catalina, Kensi and Deeks were happy to be at his place with Monty and take out from Johnny's with a 'y' and not with an 'ie.' Kensi found Deeks's law school Sony VAIO to read Nell's thumb drive. The laptop didn't have wifi - "I was a poor law school student, I was excited to have a laptop with a color screen" - but that worked for Kensi. No way for anyone to know she was doing research.

Not doing research, Deeks. "The last guy who had this gig lived like a millennium and a half ago and was a king. I don't think we have all that much in common. I still think we take our roles in all this and make them ours." He watched "The Walking Dead", wondering if maybe zombies were real since it seemed like almost everything else was.

Kensi and Deeks arrived at the office just after 7:30AM. Kensi wanted some quality time on the boxing simulator while Deeks worked the speed bag before working the exercise bike. As they were walking to the showers, Granger entered the gym.

"I have a quick errand for you two," Granger said, pushing his hands in his pockets.

"You know, the coffee in the pantry is actually pretty decent. If you really don't like it, I'm sure Eric is up for a Starbucks run as long as you let him drink it in Ops," Deeks replied with a smile.

"I've found reasonable coffee on six continents without your help Detective. The Venice safe house is off line. No cameras, no audio inside. The cameras outside show the door is slightly ajar."

"There have been some robberies in the area," Deeks remembered Friday's LAPD rundown from Bates's office.

"Which is why I want the two of you to check it out," Granger said.

"Do we call LAPD if there has been a break-in?" Kensi asked

Granger pointed to Deeks, "You're LAPD. Come back to the office and write it up - send it to your boss and nobody else, got that?"

"Yes sir," both Kensi and Deeks replied, moving to the showers.

"Oh and Deeks," Granger said with a smile. Pulling a ten dollar bill from his wallet he said "Pumpkin spice latte. I expect some change."

Deeks rolled his eyes and hit the men's locker room.

At the beach front safe house, Kensi and Deeks found the door ajar as Granger told them. Guns drawn, they both entered the home. Deeks took the right side of the home - where the living room and dining area were while Kensi checked the left side of the bungalow where there were two bedrooms and a bathroom. The two met in the kitchen where the saw Hetty Lange sitting at the ancient kitchen table sipping a cup of tea.

"Well done Mr. Deeks, Miss Blye. I did not hear you enter the home. I did not hear either of you until Mr. Deeks entered the dining room and Miss Blye opened the bathroom door. Well done indeed."

"Hetty?" Kensi asked.

"If anyone asks, my plane landed late last night and I'm not expected in the office until 11AM. By the way, the SecNav wants to see the both of you in Ops at noon our time. She'd like to officially thank you two for keeping her safe during the museum attack."

"We couldn't have this conversation at the office?" Deeks asked. He also noticed that there were three fuses and a file folder sitting on the table next to Hetty's tea set.

"No. Tell me, what have you found out about the attack?"

Deeks looked at Kensi, letting her take the lead. "We can't prove it but we believe the owner of the armor collection orchestrated the attack. He was interested in buying the security company the dead attackers worked for. Well, one worked for, one owned. Less than 48-hours after the attack, Kenneth Irons acquired Heimdallr."

Hetty nodded her head. "Of course this can't be proved because the man who hired the attackers now owns the company."

"Yep," Deeks answered.

"Anything else I should know?" Hetty answered.

"Irons's office has a nice view," was Deeks's reply.

"Did Kenneth Irons have anything else to say?"

"It's in our reports," Kensi answered. "He was evasive but nothing that would allow us to bring him in for questioning."

"What did you think of Kenneth Irons?"

"Rich guy," Deeks said.

"Use to being in charge," Kensi added. "He was grateful his collection was not destroyed."

Hetty nodded. Handing Kensi the file folder, Hetty asked, "I assume you were going to mention your dinner with Kenneth Irons?"

Kensi opened the file folder and saw security video screen cap of Deeks giving the car keys to not-valet David Baker and a second screen cap of the two of them walking up to the Irons's mansion door.

"We clean up pretty good," Deeks said.

"You do. Thank you for not using any of the outfits from wardrobe."

"I do have my own suits," Deeks mumbled.

"Yes, Mr. Deeks, you do. You two also seem to have your own secrets."

Deeks rolled his eyes.

"Mr. Deeks?"

"Nothing," he replied.

"What do you want from us, Hetty?" Kensi asked.

"Why were you at Irons's house Friday night?"

"A thank you dinner. Irons was grateful his armor wasn't damaged and thought we had something to do with it," Kensi said.

"And we were hoping that with a little wine and feeling comfortable in his own home, he'd maybe slip and give us an opening to why he attacked the museum," Deeks added.

"That's it?" Hetty asked.

Remembering a conversation from almost two years ago, Deeks told Hetty, "I think you have everything you need."

Hetty nodded her head slowly. "Miss Blye, I know there is a watch on your left wrist, is there anything on your right?"

Kensi took a deep breath and showed Hetty her wrist.

"Miss Blye?"

Pulling out his wallet, Deeks took out the printout Bates gave him of Hetty sitting at the Academy Awards with Hetty. "You've seen the bracelet before, Hetty. Even saw it with Kenneth Irons," he said, slamming the paper down on the kitchen table.

Hetty picked up the printout and looked at Deeks, then Kensi.

"After the attack on the museum, I wound up with the Witchblade," Kensi confessed.

"I should have been the first person you spoke to about this," Hetty chided.

"About the bracelet or your history with Irons?" Deeks asked. "Or both?"

"We were trying to figure things out," Kensi said, looking at Deeks and hoping he'd be quiet.

"I could have provided guidance," Hetty scolded. "Instead you trusted..." Deeks openly laughed at the word "trusted," earning a stern look from Hetty. "Mr. Deeks?"

"Doesn't feel very good, does it?"

"Excuse me?"

"Being left out of the loop when it comes to personal agendas and professional responsibilities."

"Deeks, this isn't helping."

"Oh no, Miss Blye, this is very informative. Please, Detective, continue."

"No need to. Everyone in the room now knows what's going on and nobody is being beaten and tortured by the Taliban. Much bigger win than the whole White Ghost assignment, don't you think?"

Kensi gasped. Hetty was stunned. "Mr. Deeks, everyone involved in that misadventure paid a price."

"Misadventure," Deeks sighed. "What exactly was your price Hetty, a six week stay in a luxury hotel in D.C? A couple of congressional staffers asking uncomfortable questions?"

"It is becoming clear the price was your faith in me."

"Somehow, I'm sure you'll struggle through," Deeks told her. Taking a deep breath, Deeks started walking to the door. "I need some fresh air. Kensi, whatever you decide, you know I'm on your side." He looked at Hetty before he left. "For the record, I would have kept quiet about the bracelet until the end."

Kensi walked to the window and watched Deeks walk down the beach.

"How long has Mr. Deeks been that angry?"

"November 2013."

Hetty nodded. "He masked it well."

"Isn't that why you brought him on the team? He's very good at pretending to be something he's not."

"True," Hetty seemed defeated to Kensi. "And what about you Miss Blye."

Kensi started walking from the window. "What do you want to hear Hetty? That I'm fine with being lied to for months, for being used. Deeks calls it your personal try for your own human psychological experiment."

"I don't understand."

"Let's take the military brat, only child who finally found friends and family after years of being on her own. Then take that all away. Suddenly. Put her thousands of miles away in closed quarters where everyone is suspicious of her. Leave her there with no real assignment, just stares from co-workers wondering if she's the next person to be beheaded or some stone cold assassin ready to kill at a drop of a hat. Then ship almost every single person away for Christmas except a superior who has used her in the past and a CIA agent who was in charge of a case where her partner and best friend was tortured and brutalized."

"Miss Blye," Hetty tried to interrupt.

"Half of the strangers she was stationed with don't return from Christmas break but the ones that do return are the most dislikeable people in the truck. Oh and let's get the CIA agent who was running the investigation that got Deeks and Sam tortured and put him in charge of the place. She won't have any issues with that now will she?" Kensi stopped and stood in front of Hetty. "And when she's so alone, so focused on getting her assignment done and returning to what mattered to her most, she finally gets a chance to finish her assignment, she runs off..."

"Kensi, I..."

"What Hetty? When I went out to take out the White Ghost, I was ready to fire. Tell me, if Jack's shemagh didn't slip and I shot him, would you have told me I shot and killed not only an innocent man but a man I thought I'd marry someday?"

"It's more ..."

"It is a simple question, Hetty. If I killed Jack, would you have told me about your involvement in all this?"

"I expected you to see that it was Jack Simon and that you'd contact me immediately."

"You sent me there to kill him. I was seconds away from doing just that."

"But you didn't."

"No. I did what you expected me to do."

"I expected you to call."

"No, you expected me to find him. To help him. And I did. Just as you expected. And so ends your personal Kensi Blye experiment. Hard to hear I'm sure but I promise you, it was a lot harder to survive."

"Helping Jack would have been the plan if you contacted me. I knew people in and around the base who could have..."

"So what happened is my fault," Kensi interrupted.

"Of course not, Miss Blye. It is my fault. I expected you to react in a different way. I was mistaken."

"Maybe one day you'll be sorry." Kensi was beginning to think Deeks was right about freezing out Hetty for all the wrong reasons. These were conversations she never wanted to have.

Hetty sat in her chair with her hands folded. "I believe if it was up to Mr. Deeks, you would have never told me about the Witchblade and Kenneth Irons. Why did you tell me?

"This," she handed Hetty the photo of Irons and Hetty at the 47th Annual Academy Awards. "You know Irons."

"I do."

"You could be a resource. I don't trust Irons."

"Kenneth Irons is not a man to be trusted," Hetty looked at the photo. "But then, I doubt Mr. Deeks thinks I'm a woman to be believed either."

"He may be wrong. What do you know about this?" Kensi held up her wrist.

"I wore it once but it had no reaction to me. Good or bad. Kenneth Irons spent decades trying to find a woman who wields it for him. He thought perhaps a woman of my skills with weapons and background in the intelligence…"

"And your intelligence overall," Kensi added.

"Yes, but the Witchblade wants the whole package and that package usually includes a tall, beautiful woman like you. For years Irons's father dated a model named Dominique Boucher. She was stunning and she wore the Witchblade for nearly a decade. Kenneth Irons the son told me that the Witchblade kept her young well past her modeling days. She ran a modeling agency and never looked a day over 30. It is one of the Witchblade's skills – it keeps the wielder young and healthy."

"What happened to Dominique Boucher?" Kensi asked.

"She lost her mind in about fifteen years ago. One of her models was found in a bathtub filled with snakes. Supposedly Boucher had some concoction that would keep her even younger looking than the Witchblade ever did by mixing venom from snakes that attacked young, beautiful women. She was quite mad."

"Did the Witchblade make her crazy?" Kensi asked, worried.

"No, losing it did. Kensi, you have been given a great responsibility. If it has bonded with you, and I can't imagine a better host for it, much will be expected of you. However, you will not just be engaged in your typical duties – good and evil forever battle over souls like yours. You can't lose yourself in that fight."

"I assume this won't go in my work record."

"No. This will be our secret. And Detective Deeks's too. I think you probably need to tell him you think of me as a resource and hopefully down the road I can become someone you trust again," Hetty stood and started to the door off the kitchen. "You'll find a box of new fuses in the recycling bin near the beach. You and Mr. Deeks can replace them and the safe house will go back online. The security camera saw him leave a few minutes ago, perhaps you should join him."

"Okay," Kensi nodded.

"And Miss Blye, I am sorry for everything that happened to you in Afghanistan. I am sorry you were hurt. I am sorry you felt isolated and alone when you were in the field. I believed then and I believe now you are one of the finest agents I have ever trained. You survived, dear, you have thrived since your return. The Witchblade recognizes that in you as I always have," Hetty said before leaving.

Kensi walked a block from the safe house to the beach. She saw the recycling bin and pulled out the box of electrical fuses. She found Deeks on the beach with his shoes off, dipping his toes in the ocean.

"Is she sending you to Djibouti? Maybe open NCIS's first field office in Antarctica?"

"No. Staying here," Kensi took Deeks's hand and pulled him back away from the ocean. They sat next to the lifeguard stand as Deeks put on his shoes. "If it means anything, I do think she's sorry about what happened last year."

"Makes it all better," Deeks replied sarcastically. Taking a deep breath, he added "I am sorry I didn't handle that better."

"You've been handling it for close to two years, you're good."

"I am," Deeks said with a smile. "And so are you."

"I have a little trick to show you. I think," Kensi said, opening the box of fuses. "Put out your hand," Kensi told Deeks. When he complied, she put one of the fuses in his palm. "Here goes nothing," she told him. The fuse started to float about an inch over Deeks's hand.

"What the?" Deeks was stunned.

"In the shower this morning, I dropped my shampoo bottle. As I started to lean over to pick it up, I put out my hand and it came to me."

"Wow."

Kensi eased the fuse back into Deeks's hand. "I want to try something."

"If you're going to lift me up, at least do it over the water. Sand is better than cement but it still isn't the best landing spot."

"No, but we can do that soon," Kensi said with a smile. She thought of him, how she loved him and how he loved her, and smiled. "Think about lifting the fuse, Deeks."

"What?"

"Please."

Deeks looked at Kensi and then the fuse. Thinking it would be great if he could make things fly for Kensi, the fuse hovered over his palm. "Oh, God, Kens."

"Maybe you should read Nell's research. If I'm sharing the power with the Consort, I'd like you to know what you can do," Kensi said, kissing him on the cheek.

"When you learn how to fly, we are going to have so much fun," Deeks said with a smile.

"Come on, we have to replace the fuses in the safe house and get back to the office," Kensi stood and Deeks followed.

"Hetty?"

"On our side."

"For now."

"Deeks," Kensi said.

"She's a Cold War warrior, sorry, warrioress – trust but verify right now."

"Hetty doesn't think we should trust Irons but doesn't seem to know that the Kenneth Irons from the 1950's is the same guy we're dealing with now."

"At last, something Hetty doesn't know."

x-x-x

Fuses replaced, Kensi and Deeks made their way back to the office. The two decided to write up their dinner with Kenneth Irons as a part of the museum investigation. The call from the SecNav went well – Deeks was even getting a letter for his LAPD personnel jacket. Nell and Eric were visiting Callen that night so Kensi and Deeks planned a Wednesday visit. With no real plans for the night, Kensi wanted to sleep in her own bed and Deeks was happy to join her. He ran home to give Monty a walk and some dinner.

Walking into his apartment, Deeks turned the lights on. A stun gun to his neck turned Deeks's lights off.

Kensi's phone ran an hour after Deeks was due. "Where the hell are you?" she asked when she saw Deeks's number. "If you don't want to watch 'The Voice'…"

"Martin is currently tied to a chair in my living room, Kensi. I think it's time we have a talk," Kenneth Irons said. "I wasn't happy with the way our last conversation ended and I think you needed a stark reminder of just how weak your negotiation position is. Check your e-mail."

Kensi checked her e-mail and saw a video of Deeks slumped in a rather ornate chair near the fire place in Kenneth Irons's living room. David Harris, Irons's security man, lifted Deeks's head by his hair. There were bruises all over his face. The e-mail said "I'll be waiting for you, Kensi. – Kenneth."

-30-