AN: Alas, the cliff hanger will be resolved… sorta! I hope you all catch all the little hints. (I may have left a few bread crumbs for future chapters.) Keep your eyes pealed!

Wow. I can't believe it's been a year since I started working on this story. Thank you to everyone who has been following it. 14 chapters and over 60,000 words in 12 months? Not too shabby, huh? It has been so great writing this year, and I hope for another great year of writing :)

Thanks to Fern, CoastalReader, and OhBuddy66, who have all been extremely helpful (on my journey or just lately). You guys all rock!

All that said, enjoy this chapter guys! And if it's not too much to ask—and since it is the anniversary of the story—leave a review on the way out! I'd love to read what you think. Also, ideas for the future are welcomed, always!

Blessings,

bookdiva

Where we left off with Deeks...

"Well hey there, son," Gordon John Brandel said, his familiar, haunting grin causing Deeks to shudder internally. "Long time no see."

Deeks reacted before he could even think about what he was doing. He struck out his fist, hitting his father square across the jaw.

Gordon seemed prepared for this as—though he was knocked back slightly because of the raw power of Deeks's punch—he recovered quickly and was back up again.

"Don't need a gun anymore, huh?" Gordon taunted him. It was enough to snap Deeks out of his emotional outburst. He shifted back slightly and steadied himself.

Taking a small breath, he conjured up the hard, bitter smirk that he knew was expected of him.

"Let's see how well you take me now, old man," Deeks said, his voice devoid of all emotion. He shifted his weight backwards in a defensive stance. He knew his old man couldn't resist making a move

For a moment, Gordon's eyes widened comically. Deeks held back a laugh—a reaction he was going to blame on shock—and waited. It didn't take more than a few beats for Gordon's face to morph into the familiar, rage-reddened expression from Deeks's childhood nightmares.

Gordon swung at Deeks this time, the same way he'd done when he was a kid. The difference this time was that Deeks had faced down much scarier foes. He'd even trained with a Navy SEAL.

So Deeks detached from his immediate, emotional reaction and side-stepped Gordon's swing. He then reached out and, in a move that Sam the SEAL would've been proud of, twisted Gordon's arm behind his back.

Seconds later, he was standing over Gordon in triumph.

"It looks like you're the one who needs the gun now," Deeks said, feeling the roar of his heartbeat in his ears.

"Not quite the family reunion I was expecting, John," James said, effectively bringing Deeks fully back. "But entertaining as hell." He laughed and turned toward Deeks. "You alright, Marty?"

"—not kidding, Deeks! Answer me, dammit!" Kensi's voice came over his coms, and Deeks grasped reality.

"I'm fine, James," Deeks said, not to reassure the man but to answer his partner. "I just wasn't expecting to see him."

"Not such a happy childhood, huh Marty?" James taunted good-naturedly. "Still, shouldn't you be glad that your dad's not dead?"

He heard Kensi's gasp in his ear, but he tried to push that away.

"He's still dead to me," Deeks said firmly, his tone emotionless. With great effort, Deeks turned his back on Gordon and faced down Ortega. This was where the plan got tricky, and Deeks couldn't afford to be distracted. "When are his contacts arriving?"

Gordon laughed behind him, but Deeks held himself steady, forcing himself not to react.

"They're already here, boy," Gordon said, his tone condescending. "I'm in charge of the operations in LA. I don't usually come myself, but when James here mentioned my boy was here… well what can I say?" He turned and looked directly at Ortega. "I wanted to see what the worthless brat made of himself."

With a strength he hadn't even suspected he possessed, Deeks again held himself still and refrained from reacting.

"You got this, Deeks," Kensi's voice comforted him. She, too, sounded eerily calm. "Sam, Callen, and the SWAT team are right outside. Get clear and give the word."

He nodded slightly, clearing his throat so she'd know he heard her and had his head in the game. He wasn't sure if that was true or not, but at that moment, he knew he needed to reassure her. There was still slight chaos among Ortega's men at this startling revelation, and it was quickly getting on Deeks's nerves.

"Enough," Deeks said aloud, his voice loud and sharp. All eyes in the abandoned warehouse turned toward him. Deeks took a purposeful step forward and out of the line of direct fire from the three main doorways. "Let's get on with business." He turned toward Gordon. "If you are in charge, and you don't mind getting your hands dirty, then where do you want the shipment?"

"Don't be like that, son," Gordon said, stepping forward toward him. "That's no way to treat your father."

"You're not my father," Deeks spat at him, taking an involuntary step backwards.

Gordon just laughed and threw up his hands. "Well, then, we'll send them over to my… compound, of a sort…" He rattled off the address and Deeks bit back a triumphant grin.

"It's legit," Eric said when he'd checked it out.

Gotcha!

It was a short-lived victory.

"We'll send that delivery out, John," Deeks said the agreed upon signal phrase, spitting out Gordon's pseudonym. He heard the team move into position and initiate the countdown.

"Your mother will sure be glad to see you, boy," Gordon said. Immediately, ice flowed through Deeks's veins.

"What do you—"

The door was busted in with a bang.

"Police!" "NCIS!" "LAPD!" "Drop your weapons!" "On your knees!"

Suddenly, absolute chaos erupted all around him. Ortega's goons raised guns and fired, SWAT fired back, and Deeks—who was armed with only sidearm Ortega had given him weeks ago—leaped out of the way. He ducked behind a stack of crates and pulled his weapon out. Due to the hot nature of this exchange, he knew he needed to pretend to return fire on the authorities. If at all possible, the team needed him to make it out of this with his cover intact.

"James!" Deeks called out. "You good?"

"Good!" Ortega called back from behind another stack of crates not twenty feet from Deeks. Deeks nodded grimly and held back a smile. Ortega had just given his location, and Deeks could already see Sam moving away from the group and advancing on James. For just one moment, Deeks took his eyes off of James in order to search out his father.

He glanced around frantically, but he couldn't find Gordon anywhere. There was no way he was going to let that bastard get away—especially not when he was planning to start a family—so he ducked around the warehouse, avoiding bullets as he went. It wasn't easy, and if the feds had actually been aiming for him, he probably wouldn't have managed it.

Moments later, Deeks saw Gordon. He was slinking away behind a stack of crates near the back exit. A back exit that Deeks hadn't previously known existed—so it obviously wasn't on the blueprints. Which meant that the Eric—and therefore the team—didn't know about it, and it wouldn't be covered. And all of that equaled one thing.

Gordon would get away.

"Damn it," Deeks muttered under his breath. He jogged to the crates he'd seen Gordon slip behind, and as soon as Deeks rounded the corner, he saw Gordon headed for the hidden back door exit.

"Gordon!" Deeks called, pointing his gun directly at the back of his father's head. The older man immediately stopped. He shook his head, but he was smiling when he turned around.

"Now there's a name I haven't heard in quite a few years," he said as he cracked an easy smile. He pursed his lips in a mock frown when he saw the gun. "Really son?" he demanded. "We're back to this? I thought we'd gotten past this."

"Where are you, Deeks?" Sam's voice demanded in his ear.

"You really thought you could just slip out the back exit?" Deeks demanded in answer to Sam's question. "Without the rest of us?"

"Stall, Deeks," Sam said tersely in Deeks's ear. "I'm headed your way."

"What can I say?" Gordon asked sarcastically, shrugging with his hands still in the air. "I know when to cut my losses."

"Apparently," Deeks said bitterly. "But you see, it's not gonna work that way this time. Because if I go down, you're coming down with me."

"Or you could hit the road with me," Gordon said. Deeks paused, holding back his cold-hearted grin. There was no way in Heaven or Hell he would agree to it.

"I'm listening," Deeks said, holding the gun steady. "Talk."

"We go now," Gordon said. "I already sent a distress code to my compound—it's been compromised by the feds now. We'll lay low for a month or two, and then we'll surface at the rendezvous point."

"Rendezvous?" Deeks repeated, intentionally adding a taunting, laid-back lilt to his voice. "Big word for a man with an eighth grade education."

It all happened seemingly in slow motion, but in reality it was only seconds. Gordon turned suddenly at a motion behind Deeks and fired. Unfortunately for Deeks, Gordon's aim hadn't gotten any better over time.

He reacted a second too late, and he felt a burning sensation as he hit the concrete floor and grunted in pain. By the time he rolled over, jumped to his feet, and pulled his weapon, all firing had ceased, Gordon was down with a gunshot wound to the right shoulder, and James's remaining men were surrendering. Callen came up and hauled Gordon to his feet, ignoring his protests of police brutality and slapping cuffs roughly on his wrists.

Sam walked over toward Deeks—ready to do the same to him—but as Deeks looked up at his ally, his vision started to blur.

"Toss your weapon out now!" Sam demanded, leveling his gun at him. Deeks obeyed with only a slight grimace. "Hands above your head!" Sam barked at him.

Deeks started to raise his arms when the pain became too much. He stumbled and swayed, but his legs just wouldn't hold him. He tried to take a step forward, but he collapsed to the ground.

"Marty!" James's voice came from near the door and behind Sam as a SWAT officer was lugging him out the door. Deeks's vision cleared enough for him to see Sam's eyes widen in horror. James's voice had faded and everyone was out of the warehouse, so Sam rushed to Deeks's side.

"What's happening?" Kensi demanded in his ear. He tried to reassure her that he was fine, but the only sound he made was a pained groan. "Deeks? Deeks, answer me! Sam? Callen?"

"G, get a damn ambulance here," Sam called over his shoulder. "Hey, hey. Stay with me, Deeks," Sam's voice ordered him.

Deeks nodded, but the darkness was becoming harder and harder to resist.

"Fern?" he finally managed to force out, feeling beads of sweat pop up on his forehead and a chill run down his spine. Neither were good signs.

"I'm here Deeks," she said, her voice tainted with her tears. "You're gonna be okay, do you hear me?"

He couldn't force anymore words past his lips, so he just nodded his head slowly. He was vaguely aware of Sam informing Kensi of this, but Kensi was soon speaking again.

"Hang on Deeks," she said, her voice trembling and strong at the same time—a perfect contradiction that was perfectly Kensi. "We will meet you at the hospital. You're gonna be okay. You have to be, do you hear me? I love you, and—"

Her voice faded away as the darkness got stronger and stronger. He felt his vision give way to images of her beautiful face—her mismatched eyes and her real Kensi smile and the beautiful, mischievous, loving expressions that always seemed to be dancing around in them—and he smiled. Then he saw her holding a little boy with his mother's curls and his daddy's blue eyes, and Deeks felt a peace. He had to fight, because that was a sight he desperately wanted to live to see.

Despite his greatest effort, his eyes slid shut, and he finally let the darkness claim him.

All around him, the world was white. Not like bright-light, heavenly, he-should-be-worried-he's-dying white, but white like snow. And ice. And cold. And—he looked down at his feet—frozen lakes.

He tried to remember what had sent him here, but he couldn't pull it up in his mind. All he could remember was that he had a pressing reason to get back. What that reason was, however, he couldn't remember.

Frozen lakes… he thought to himself. Something about that was familiar. Something about that reminded him of…somewhere he was supposed to be. Something he was supposed to do. Someone he was supposed to know.

Suddenly he heard a shriek from behind him, and he whipped around. His sudden motion caused the ice to crack, and he immediately stilled and held in his breath.

"Again mommy!" a young boy cried. He had shaggy, sandy blonde hair that was curling out from under his winter hat.

"Okay Andy," a very familiar voice agreed with a laugh. The woman looked up at him, and Deeks felt the air leave his lungs. He knew those mismatched eyes. He'd know them anywhere. "We just have to wait for daddy."

The little boy turned, and Deeks was startled at the ocean blue eyes that met his own gaze.

"Daddy!" the little boy—Andy—called with a grin. "Daddy, hurry up!"

Deeks glanced around and behind himself, but he was the only one on the ice. Andy was talking to… him.

All at once, it started coming back to Deeks.

Kensi. Andy.

He remembered. There was nothing more than the names at first, and the memory was fuzzy, but it was there. Immediately, he ran forward, but the break in the ice became larger with a loud crack. Deeks skidded to a halt, still a ways away from reaching Kensi and Andy.

"Do not run. Walk slowly. Take your time and look around. She will wait for you."

The words washed over him from a long-ago, oft-thought-of memory. It triggered a tidal wave of memories.

Meeting a spunky girl named Tracey, learning that Tracey was really Special Agent Kensi Blye—badass extraordinaire—who annoyed the hell out of him. And then getting to know her… tolerate her…. Pulling her out of a room full of lasers and going undercover as Justin and Melissa and the banter and the flirting and the rare moments of vulnerability… they were all a part of the love story that was Kensi and Deeks. Deeks and Kensi.

I've got to get through, Deeks told himself. Okay. I can do this. Step by step. Slowly.

Looking up, the world around him was still just as white as it had been before, but he shut that all out. He focused solely on the splash of color that was waiting for him on the other side of the ice.

He took one step toward Kensi and Andy, avoiding the crack in the ice. The frozen lake groaned, but the crack didn't expand.

"Don't do anything stupid, Deeks," Kensi's voice said.

Deeks couldn't help but smirk at that.

Of course not, Princess, he thought with an internal smirk.

He took another step, smiling as he remembered her beautiful mismatched eyes flashing in challenge.

"I need you to come back to me in one piece."

Deeks's head snapped up. Those words were different. They sounded different. He couldn't piece it together in his mind, but he just knew they were real. How that could be, he didn't know, but he clung onto it—to her words—like the life line they were.

Getting across the ice was the key. He just knew it. So he took a step, and then he took another. And another. Each slow, small step brought him slightly closer to his goal, and with each step, a new memory came to the forefront of his mind.

With one step, he remembered random Saturdays on the beach, surfing and enjoying the sun. With another step, he remembered the first time he'd brought food to her door. Yet another step brought forth the time they'd come to a compromise: he would take things more seriously and she would lighten up.

"Do you even know how much you mean to me, Deeks?"

Deeks stopped his slow progress across the ice at her voice. It was the same way it had been earlier—it sounded real. He smiled and took another three steps on the ice, these ones a little more enthusiastic than the last few. Suddenly, the ice began to rock beneath him. He looked down at his feet, horrified to see water leaking onto his shoes.

"I love you, you idiot."

He smiled.

Love you, too, Princess, he thought to himself. Love you, too.

He looked back down at the ice, more determined than ever to get across it safely and reach his family. His family. He had a family.

I'm so close, he reminded himself. I have to make it. I have to.

He wasn't more than ten feet from Kensi and Any now—they were within his grasp—but the ice had broken apart. There were now large chunks of ice floating atop freezing cold water. One false move and he was gone.

Deeks took a deep breath and stepped forward, this time keeping his eyes trained on his goal. Kensi and Andy. It became an internal chant.

Kensi. Careful step. Andy. Another careful step. Kensi. And another. Andy. Yet another. Kensi. Step. Andy. Step. Kensi. Step. Andy. Step. Kens—

He made it! He'd actually made it!

"Deeks?" Kensi breathed.

"Daddy!" Andy shrieked.

Deeks smiled and made to pull them both into his arms, but suddenly, they were gone. He didn't have time to process it before he was gone too. Instead of white, everything was a dark orange color. A steady beeping sound replaced the sound of the wind.

Am I…?

Dammit, that hurts, was Deeks's first conscious thought. He held back a groan as he forced his eyes open. He blinked a few times and allowed his eyes to adjust to the light.

The first thing he saw was an ugly, popcorn plastered ceiling. It took some effort, but he turned his head to the side, and that's when he saw her. She was curled up in a chair—at least the boys or someone had had the brains to bring her a recliner—by the side of his bed. Her hand was loosely clasped around his, and she was fast asleep.

He smiled and stroked her hand gently. But she was a trained Federal Agent, and it was enough to wake her.

"Deeks!" she exclaimed. "You're—you're awake! Oh my god, I was so worried! The doctors… they said you'd be okay, but you weren't awake, and you were all still, and—"

"I love you, Fern," Deeks said, his voice gravely and quiet from his ordeal. It was enough to stop her rambling in its tracks and place a slight smile on her lips.

"I love you, too, Shaggy," she replied. Deeks couldn't help but smile at that. "I need to call a nurse," she said, reaching for the call button. Deeks shook his head, and touched her hand, stopping her. She looked over at him, a question clearly in her eyes.

"I love you, Fern," he said again, attempting to tell her everything he was trying to communicate with his eyes. They'd always talked better with their eyes. "And I want you to make good on your comments from earlier." She cocked her head to the side in confusion, and he smiled at how adorable it made her look.

"Deeks—"

"Will you marry me?"

Thanks for reading guys! And you know... it's been a full year! Crazy! Leave a review on your way out, huh?

Blessings,

bookdiva