This chapter was not previously written, but when I started to edit it seemed so much better than what I had before! And I added a new plot point to the whole thing. Or at least closed one that I had opened up before. Got to love it!

Warnings: Honestly, I can't think of anything that needs to be warned. Wow

TUMBLR INFO: I've had to change my Tumblr account because I got muted. I'm not all that surprised to be fair. Anyway, the name is now SILVERMIDNIGHTWRITE.

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Sitting on the table Deeks watched as Callen and Sam attempted to get Graham to talk. He couldn't understand what any of them were saying, but he from what he could see it was not going well. Since they had been in interrogation for almost an hour he was pretty sure he was right.

Graham was leaning back in his chair an annoyed but sure smirk on his face looking completely relaxed. Not only was he used to the whole thing by now, but he also had the air of someone that had nothing to hide. He thought that they were all idiots and was simply indulging them until he could finally leave and get on with life.

Callen and Sam, on the other hand, simply looked annoyed. It hadn't been all that long for a normal interrogation, but it was unproductive and none of them had the time for that. They wanted it to be over just as much as Graham did.

The truth of the matter was that all of them were done with it all. The only thing that was keeping them going was the fact that Nell was missing. She was their only thought and the man was the only lead they had.

Under normal circumstances he would still be undercover and trying to get Graham to trust him. They didn't have the time for that. Nell had already been gone longer than anyone wanted. They couldn't really afford to keep waiting for the answers to fall out of the sky. They had to start pushing.

Something that wasn't turning out well for them. How could they convince someone to talk when the man already had seen all the cards that they had? It didn't help that he was clearly innocent of everything he had been accused of.

Someone had been playing the long game when it came to Graham and the investigation. They had organized the whole thing to get Graham alone and distrustful of the police. Something that had obviously succeeded, at least partially, if the interrogation was anything to go by.

At the same time though Deeks had seen him and talked to him. Yes, he didn't like cops, but he still trusted people. He wouldn't have talked to 'Liam' if he hadn't. Whatever had happened to him was a recent thing. Something that could still be undone. Hopefully.

From everything that he had seen so far there wasn't a doubt in his mind that it Grahams' 'best friend' was at the very least in on it. Comeau was an odd character from the beginning. The first time he had met the man it was clear to him that something was going on.

Comeau had the same feel a handful of criminals that he had met in the past. Ones that he always thought were more dangerous than the others. He was the kind that didn't think he was doing anything wrong.

It wasn't completely clear to any of them why the man would be doing what he was doing, but the main theory at the same was the fact that he and Graham were close. Whether they thought of each other as brothers or Comeau was secretly in love with the other didn't matter. They were close.

That closeness matched with the obvious intelligence that Comeau had was not a good thing. He was protective to a fault and thought of everyone else as a danger to his friend. If they were a danger than they needed to be stopped.

At least that was part of it. Yes, it was clear that the man was protective over Graham. No one could fight that, but if they were right than he had started to whole thing rolling. He had been the one to plant the idea that Graham was a criminal in the FBI's mind.

That was the part that Deeks couldn't really understand. Why would he want to do something like that? The world was leaving the two of them alone to run a diner that was doing pretty damn good if the paperwork Eric found was right. It made no sense.

He had come across more than a few cases of abuse where the abuser convinced that victim that police and any authority was something to be feared and avoided. Thinking back on their meeting he could see how that thought might be there, but it didn't seem right.

Their relationship didn't seem abusive; though he didn't know what went on behind closed doors. Maybe he was reading the situation wrong and Comeau was. If that was the case than he didn't know what to do.

Everything in him screamed to find a way to help Graham. No one deserved to be in an abusive situation. If they could get him out from under Comeaus' thumb than maybe they'd be able to not only save Nell, but him as well.

There were two things standing in their way though. The fact that Graham had complete faith in Comeau and the fact that they had zero evidence of anything. The man was damn good at whatever it was that he had done. Their only hope was Eric at that point.

Eric was working as hard as he could to figure it all out, but it wasn't an easy thing to do when one had no direction. They were all grasping at straws at that point. Something that was getting them nowhere quickly.

Shaking his head once more Deeks pulled out his phone and sent a text to Callen saying they needed to talk. At that point everything that he had thought of was just theory, but it was better than continuing the way they were.

"You got something?" Callen questioned hopefully walking up to him.

"Maybe," Deeks signed back swinging his legs slightly, "I was thinking about why this is happening the way it it. Graham and Comeau had nothing to fear from police. Nothing at all. No one was coming after them. No one even knew who they were. If we're right Comeau was the one pulling police attention to them."

"Okay, but that doesn't make any sense. Why would he want to make life a living hell for his best friend?"

"To keep him under his thumb."

Deeks watched as Callen's eyes unfocused for a moment as he got lost in thought. Waiting for the other man to think about what he had just said Deeks found himself feeling more than a little nervous.

It wasn't that he wanted to be right per say, but he kind of did. He used to be so proud of the way that his mind worked during a case. The fact that he could see things that the others couldn't was something that kept him going a lot of the time.

He was fully aware that when they were all working together that he had been on a lower end of the skill settings. It wasn't that he was bad, but the other simply knew more than he did in a lot of cases.

What he did have was a different way of thinking. He didn't know how to describe it other than that. He thought differently than they did and that put him in a situation of pointing out things that they hadn't seen.

One of the things that he always tried to do was put himself in the mindset of the victim as well as the suspect. If he could see the whole thing from both sides than he'd be able to solve the case all the faster while getting as many people safely out as he could.

All of that lead him to believe that he was right about Graham and Comeaus' relationship. It wasn't a healthy one by any means and they needed to do something about that if they wanted to get anywhere in the case.

"Okay," Callen finally offered nodding his head, "What are you thinking?"

"Talk to Graham about his relationship with Comeau," Deeks replied standing up.

"He's not going to listen to us."

"He might if…"

"No, Deeks, you should talk to him."

Deeks suddenly regretted standing up. The whole world felt as if it had shifted just from that sentence alone. The last thing he should be doing was talking to Graham. He couldn't even really talk at all!

"Callen," Deeks tried to start.

"I know, but you're are best hope. Listen to me, you already talked to him and you saw them together. You're the only one that he might actually listen to."

Nodding his head slightly Deeks followed Callen to the interrogation room door trying to ignore the fact that his heart felt as if it was trying to escape his chest. He truly did not want to do what he was about to do, but Callen was right. He had to try.

Opening the door he watched as Graham's eyes widened almost comically upon his entrance. Under any other circumstance he would have found it funny, but at the moment he felt like he was walking into his execution.

Behind him Callen and Sam walked out and closed the door leaving the two of them alone. Slowly he made his way to the table and sat down trying to gather his thoughts enough to get at least one sentence down.

That was when he realized that he didn't have a notebook or a tablet or anything like that. The only way that he was going to be able to talk with Graham was to actually speak. A part of him wanted to turn to the camera and ask for something like that, but taking a deep breath he forced himself to start.

"Hello," Deeks started hoping his voice didn't sound as weak as he thought it did.

"You lying son of..." Graham started his head turning at the last second.

"I can guess what the end of that sentence was, but I wasn't lying about being deaf. I need you to look at me."

For a moment Deeks was sure that the other man was going to ignore his request completely. Not that he wouldn't have deserved it. This had always been the thing he hated the most about going undercover. Lying to someone that shouldn't even be a part of the case in the first place.

"I did not think cops could be deaf," Graham finally said turning to him fully.

"They can't," Deeks nodded his head, "I'm not a cop anymore. I used to work here though."

"If you are not a cop why are you here talking to me? Why did you lie to me?"

"Because this was my team. Nell is my family and I'd do anything to get her back safely."

"I did nothing to this Nell. Why can't…"

"We know. Graham… Nikolai, we know you didn't do anything."

The other man stared at Deeks in shock when he said that. Something about the look was so innocent that he couldn't help but be reminded of his children. He was so lost and confused. Something that never ended well in situations like they were in.

"You do not think I did anything?" Nikolai questioned his head cocked to the side.

"No," Deeks repeated giving him a small smile, "But we do think you're in the middle."

"How? I would never do anything like I have been accused. Neither would anyone that I know! I would never associate with people like that!"

"Nikolai, we believe that all of this is someone trying to make you distrust law enforcement. They want you to not want to contact us."

"Who would want that? Why would someone want that?"

"Tell me about James Comeau."

Deeks watched as the other mans eyes started to close off. It wasn't as if that wasn't expected of him. They had jumped from basically making his life a living hell to accusing his best friend of being behind it all. Defensive was high on the list of things he was.

"You think-" he tried to start his hands resting flat on the table.

"Listen to me," Deeks cut off holding his own hands up, "Please. When we were at the diner and he came up you didn't look at him. You stared at your food while he glared at you. Why?"

"He would never-"

"Nikolai. Why wouldn't you look at him?"

His mouth was shut in a tight line, but Deeks could see his shoulders begin to shake as he took in a breath. Standing up slowly he moved around the table as tears filled Nikolai's eyes. As soon as he was around the table the other man buried his face into his stomach tears dampening his shirt.

"Shh," Deeks soothed rubbing at his back and neck, "It's okay now. You're safe now. We won't let him get to you."