Without a Trace
Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS: LA, NCIS or any of the characters.
Chapter 11
The last week had been hard on the LA team. They all missed Deeks, none more so than Kensi. Callen, although he would never admit it, did miss the jovial detective but felt more guilt than anything. It was implied by Granger and even Hetty that he was the biggest offender in the underestimation of Deeks. He didn't think that was completely true, but he understood that as team leader it fell on his shoulders to keep the team morale up and he had failed. As the week wore on, he distanced himself from Sam and Kensi a little more each day. They didn't have many cases come up and he was glad for it. He could not stop thinking about Deeks being in DC basically running an op by the seat of his pants. It didn't matter to him that Deeks actually excelled at working like that. To Callen that was just wrong. He was disappointed that Eric and Nell hadn't come up with much, only making him worry that much more for the safety of the detective. He knew deep down that Jethro would have his back, but he didn't like his cavalier attitude about letting Deeks run the op as he saw fit.
Eric and Nell had not been able to pull much from old LAPD files. They only had what little info had been passed back to them from Gibbs. Eric had found a few cameras in the vicinity of the marina, but the only activity they caught was what appeared to be a boat rental business being run out of the marina. Niko Pellicci, his wife, Max, Gordon and a few others were seen coming and going on several days, but nothing visibly suspicious. Abby had filled Gibbs in on the evidence they had found on the phones they had taken from Niko's men. Fortunately, every single one of them confessed to and were arrested on various charges and still in custody of the local PD. Enough was found on the phones to implicate several other suspects with numerous unsolved crimes in the area. As far as the LA team knew, at last report Deeks and Tony were still infiltrating whatever operation Niko had going. He had admitted to the death of the marine, but with the opportunity to catch him at something even bigger, it was decided since they had eyes and ears on the inside they would let the investigation continue to see where it led.
Callen made sure to be up early and at the mission long before Kensi and Sam would arrive. He walked to Hetty's desk and dropped an envelope on it. He stood there a moment and looked around the mission slowly. He sighed, and then stepped over to the bullpen. He pulled his chair out and sat down. He turned to Kensi's end of the desk and then looked across to where his partner, Sam, would sit. Finally he looked directly across from his desk to the empty spot Deeks had occupied up until the week before. He took a deep breath and then got up. With a final glance over his shoulder he walked down the tunnel and disappeared.
Kensi walked into the bullpen to find Sam already sitting at his desk. It was Monday morning, a week since her partner had gone to DC.
"Morning, Sam," Kensi greeted him with a grin.
Sam looked up from his laptop, returning her smile. "Good morning, Kensalino. You seem chipper for a Monday morning," he commented.
She gave him an even bigger smile and pulled her phone from her pocket. She swiped the screen and then walked over to Sam, holding her phone out to him. There was a text from Abby, but the message was clearly from a certain missing blond haired detective.
Tell Fern that Shaggy says "hey" and that he misses her smile. Hope to see her soon:)
He read the text and looked up at her. "Well look at that. Deeks, the romantic. Who knew?" He smirked.
Kensi pulled her phone back, her cheeks blushing slightly. She turned and went back to her chair. As she sat down Sam couldn't help but smile at her.
"Kensi Marie Blye blushing?" He made a show of searching his desk and picking up a pen before scribbling something.
Kensi watched him with curiosity. "What are you doing, Sam?"
He looked up at her. "I'm marking my calendar 'this is the day Kensi blushed'," he joked with her.
She grabbed a pencil and threw it at him before sticking her tongue out. Sam ducked the projectile and grinned at her. It was good to see her smiling. He knew she missed Deeks, but that small gesture was all she needed to brighten her day. Even from the other side of the country, Deeks was the only one who could make her smile like that.
They were still grinning at each other when Eric hollered for them to come up to Ops. They looked to Callen's empty chair before looking back at each other. Sam shook his head and rolled his eyes as he got up and followed Kensi up the stairs. He knew before they even made it two steps that Callen had gone lone wolf on them. He was actually surprised it took him this long.
Sam and Kensi walked in to Ops to find Hetty and Granger already there, along with Eric and Nell.
"Where is he?" Sam asked, irritated that his partner had taken off.
Hetty looked at Sam, her eyes wide, "Where is who, Mr. Hanna?"
"I know my partner, Hetty. G has not been acting himself since Deeks left. He has gone to DC to find him, hasn't he?"
Hetty sighed and nodded, "It would appear so. He left me a letter this morning. He said he was taking some personal time off."
Eric confirmed that Callen had indeed boarded a flight earlier that morning bound for Washington.
Sam shook his head, disappointed. "Have you warned Gibbs that he may have a visitor? It would be a good idea for them to get word to Deeks, as well."
"Already taken care of, Mr. Hanna." Hetty declared.
Granger looked at Kensi. "Agent Blye, I need you to assure me that you aren't going to pull the same stunt as Agent Callen."
She looked from Sam to Granger, a surprised expression on her face. "Wha…well, no!" She exclaimed. "Why would I do that?" She asked a little too defensively.
Granger smirked, "I think we all know the answer to that, Blye." For the second time this morning Kensi felt herself blush. "I'm sure you both still have plenty of paperwork to catch up on. You and Agent Hanna can keep tabs on everything going on with Deeks and Callen from here. Any new cases will be redirected to other offices until further notice. Until we have a complete team OSP is standing down, effective immediately."
"But-" Kensi started to argue.
"No buts, Agent Blye." Granger looked at her sternly, and then to Sam. "Understood?" He asked them.
They both nodded in agreement, neither happy to be grounded. If they weren't going to be given any new cases here, they both wanted to be involved in the case with Gibbs' team in DC - especially since it now seemed to involve both of their partners. They would have to make the most of it from here in LA.
It was well into their Monday afternoon. It had been a slow day so far. McGee glanced over at Tony's empty seat. He wondered how Tony and Detective Deeks were doing. They had been under for a week. They had sent Abby some good information early on. Now things were quiet as they waited to get more involved in the business dealings of Niko. He turned his attention back to his computer. He couldn't focus. He sighed heavily and pushed his chair away from his desk, standing up quickly. Bishop had been watching him and decided to say something.
"You're worried about them, aren't you?"
Her voice startled him. "Oh…uh, yes. Yes, I am. Aren't you?" He asked her in return.
She nodded. "I don't know how they do it," she admitted to him. "That has to be scary pretending to be somebody you're not for days on end."
"They're not pretending, Bishop," Gibbs stated frankly as he appeared out of nowhere. He took a seat at his desk and looked over at her.
"Hey, boss." McGee greeted Gibbs. Jethro nodded in McGee's direction.
Bishop stared at Gibbs, trying to understand what he meant. "So you're saying they are-"
"Not pretending." He said again.
"But that would mean they are…uh, they are doing…?" She couldn't finish her question before Gibbs cut her off.
"They are doing what they have to do to gain control of the situation," Gibbs explained.
She nodded her head slowly. "If that means doing something illegal...?"
Gibbs didn't say anything, just looked at her - raising his eyebrows and giving a slight nod of his head.
She looked at McGee, her eyes wide with surprise. "Wow," she whispered.
Director Vance came down the stairs. At the same time, the elevator door slid open and Gibbs' old FBI buddy Tobias Fornell stepped out, followed by Agent Borin from CGIS. Abby ran in from the other direction. Gibbs looked up at the commotion, surprised to see everyone converging at his desk.
"Gibbs, Abby has some new info Detective Deeks and Agent DiNozzo funneled back to her. Turns out Niko Pellicci is working on hooking up a supply line of drugs to the east coast through his little marina," Leon started explaining.
Gibbs turned to Abby.
She nodded in agreement to what the director had just said and added, "Yeah, Gibbs, it looks like the boat rental is just a cover. Well...not really a cover. It appears that unsuspecting boaters rent the boats, and are given directions on where to refuel. When they stop, not only are they loaded with fuel, drugs are either loaded or unloaded at the same time. The drugs are being moved right under everyone's noses, Gibbs!" Abby exclaimed.
Gibbs smirked, looking at Tobias and Agent Borin. "That explains why you both are here."
"We have another potential problem, Gibbs," Leon began. "Henrietta called and said Agent Callen has called in some time off. Seems he is bound for Washington on a flight due to land within the hour. Detective Deeks seems to have a traveling fan club. The DEA is aware of the situation, as well, and will intercept Callen when he lands. Apparently they have all worked together before and they want in on this case, too. The DEA will corral Callen and bring him in before he can cause any trouble for Deeks and DiNozzo."
Gibbs chuckled. "Sounds like a party."
Callen buckled his seat belt as his flight neared it's destination. As the plane started it's final approach Callen began going over what he knew about Deeks and Pellicci's prior dealings. It wasn't much, but he assumed it had to do with drugs more than anything - maybe weapons, too. Whatever this new business venture was Niko had started, Callen believed it had something to do with the marina. He would start there. He would watch for Deeks and try to make contact with him somehow.
The plane touched down and taxied up to the gate. Callen grabbed his bag from the overhead storage bin and waited patiently for the passengers in front of him to file out. As his turn came, he exited the plane with the rest of the passengers, making his way down the tunnel to the main terminal. He was just about to step out and grab a taxi when he felt someone tap him on the shoulder.
"Agent Callen, you're quite away from home, aren't you?" A familiar female voice said.
Callen spun around. "What the hell are you doing here?" He asked, surprise showing on his face.
"I could ask the same of you, but I think we both know why we're here, don't we?" She said, more a statement than a question.
He didn't reply, not sure what to say.
"You need to come with me, Agent Callen. I have specific orders to bring you to NCIS headquarters for a meeting. If we don't hurry we are going to be late."
Callen wanted to argue the point, but he knew Hetty must have called ahead to warn Director Vance. He sighed and nodded, "Okay, you win. Let's go."
DEA Agent Talia Del Campo smiled at him, "Don't worry, we won't let Deeks have all the fun."
Callen chuckled and followed her, wondering just what the hell Deeks had stumbled on to.
TBC