I don't own NCIS Los Angeles! My native language is Dutch and I'm dyslectic so sorry for any mistakes.

Chapter 25

'How are we doing with locating him?' Deeks asked and he pointed at the picture of Mark that was laying on Callen's desk. 'Did we locate him already?' Callen shook his head disappointed.

'Still no sign of him on any cameras,' he told Deeks. 'But LAPD did found another body with again small wounds all over the body. It was dumped next to a road. The man has been dead for two days.'

'And we know for sure that the murderer is Mark, right?' Deeks asked. Callen nodded.

'This guy needs to be stopped,' Sam said who was listening to their conversation behind his desk. 'Kensi just got her life back. She is happy with Ian.' Deeks sighed. Kensi did look happy with Ian. She was happy with him. Deeks was happy for her but he couldn't be happy for himself. He could be close to happy but never be really happy. He never talked with the coffee girl again. If they went on a date it would be nice and maybe they could have another date. But he knew it wasn't going further than that. Then he would lie to himself and no one should do that.

'Deeks?' Callen asked and Deeks looked up slowly. 'What were you thinking about?'

'Something,' Deeks answered vaguely.

'You should stop thinking about that,' Callen told him. 'It makes you look jealous…and we know that you aren't jealous like you told us many times. So I just warn you.'

'You shouldn't be jealous,' Sam said. 'You see her every day at work.' Sam was right there. Deeks did see her every day and it made it only worse. Every day he looked at her and he wanted to be with her. Maybe that was the problem: seeing her every day. Maybe he should do something about that…Could he do that? Leave this place?

Callen and Sam quickly went back to work at their own desks when Kensi walked into the bullpen. She watched each of them carefully because they never were this concentrate on their work. And Deeks was never staring into space with a face this serious.

Deeks was looking at his badge in the gym. Fortunately no one was in the gym. He had wanted this badge for a long time. It wasn't because he wanted to help people or because women loved men in uniform – although that didn't hurt. No, it was the possibility to stop scumbags like his father.

At LAPD no one really liked him. There were cops that were friendly towards him but most of them ignored him. At NCIS he became part of the family. Maybe as some cousin of a second cousin but he became part of the family. Here he got friends and he found the joy of coming to work because of your colleagues.

Was he ready to give that all up just because he was jealous of his partner and in love with her? He knew that the jealousy would only become worse as time past. They would get married, get more children and he would witness it all because he was her friend.

'Making a hard decision, mister Deeks?' Hetty's voice rang through the room. Deeks looked up from his badge and he saw the small woman walking towards him. He put his badge beside him.

'You can say that,' he answered. Hetty nodded and she sat down beside him.

'Love asks for hard decisions,' she told him. 'We might not like them but we need to make them. But in your case, mister Deeks, it's a decision you shouldn't make. They may not show it, but you're a valued and loved member of the team. This team wouldn't be the same when you're gone. They need your humor to get through all the tough days.'

'You could find someone else who could do that,' Deeks replied.

'No I couldn't,' Hetty corrected firmly. 'There isn't another one like you. But I might need to find someone to fill your spot as you seem confident about the decision.'

'I haven't made a decision yet,' Deeks said. 'I don't know what to do. This job is the the best but I'm slowly going crazy. I have long conversations with my dog, a nice girl gave me her phone number and I'm doing nothing with it. Because I know it couldn't work. I don't want to fool her into believing that we could work.'

'Marty, it's your decision,' Hetty told him. 'No one but you can make that decision but you must know that you will be dearly missed when you leave.' With those words she left Deeks sitting.

'Where is Deeks?' Callen asked annoyed. Eric and Sam both shrugged. 'Then we will continue without him. What did we get from the last body?'

'This man had a wife and son, just like Wilson,' Eric told them. 'His name was Stanley Forman, forty-five years old. He worked in a computer shop. His wife reported him missing when he didn't come home after he called her telling her he was on his way home.'

'And he was killed before Wilson,' Sam asked. Eric nodded.

'One day before him,' he added. 'He didn't get our attention with that body so he decided to kill another one?'

'Looks like it,' Callen said. 'And this time he is sticking with men. Before he also killed women. Why only men this time? What is he saying?'

'Maybe he's angry at men,' Deeks suggested when he walked into the room.

'Care to explain?' Sam asked.

'He was killing people and no one knew he was the killer,' Deeks began.

'Except for you,' Sam interrupted. Deeks nodded.

'True, but he made sure I kept my mouth shut,' he said. 'Only when I told you that he was the killer, he wasn't anonymous any more. He had to take action and even that turned out to be a failure. We came after him when he kidnapped Kensi. We destroyed his plans and we're all men. He is angry at us and therefore at men.'

'You just figured that out right there?' Sam asked surprised.

'Hey, I'm not completely useless!' Deeks answered a bit irritated. 'I thought of it when I asked myself: why two men and no women? Then I realized it must be us.'

Deeks and Sam had left the bullpen and Callen was talking with Hetty in her office, so Kensi was alone. She was looking through some files when her eyes looked at Callen's desk. Maybe she could just take a look if there was laying anything on it indicating what they were doing. Kensi shook her head and she concentrated back on the files. She should leave them alone. They would tell her when they were ready. She sighed. That sounded so stupid. She looked again at Callen's desk and she saw a picture laying there. She picked it up and stared at it.

'Oh, hey Kensi,' Callen greeted when he had finished updating Hetty about the case. He noticed the picture of Mark in her hand. 'We were just looking into his case.'

'His case?' Kensi asked surprised. Before Callen could answer, Deeks and Sam walked into the bullpen. They were having a discussion about something useless until they noticed the picture in Kensi's hand.

'We got lunch?' Deeks announced unsure and he held up the bags.

'What case?' Kensi asked Callen.

'Kens, it's his case, like always,' Callen said. 'The murders of ten people by making small wounds in their bodies to bleed to death…'

'No,' Kensi said abruptly. 'That's the way Mark kills!' Callen looked at Deeks en Sam, who also didn't understand it. Kensi looked up from the picture. 'If it's Mark who is killing again, then why are you looking into Ian's case?

'Kensi, the man in the picture is Mark,' Deeks told her slowly. Kensi eyes widened and she looked back at the picture. That couldn't be possible. Mark disappeared. They had told her that. He couldn't be here in LA. Deeks carefully guided her to a chair.

'Kensi?' he asked cautiously, not wanting to shock her out of her trance.

'Why would he come back?' she mumbled and she looked around. 'What is here in LA that he wants?' Suddenly she got up and she ran out of the bullpen.

'Kensi!' Deeks yelled after her. 'Where are you going?'

'Go after her, gentlemen!' Hetty ordered from her office, having witnessed it all. She didn't need to tell them that twice and they quickly followed Kensi.

In the parking lot Kensi was trying to open the door of her car but the damn key wasn't working. She tried sticking it in the loch but the key didn't fit. That was when she noticed she was trying her house key. A hand covered hers and she looked up. Deeks was standing beside her. He took her keys from her and he opened the car door.

'Where are we going?' he asked when he sat down behind the wheel. He wouldn't let Kensi drive like that.

'Home,' she answered hurried. 'Ian is at home with Damian. Melissa didn't come today. She had an exam!'

'Callen, Sam!' Deeks shouted. 'Damian is at home with Mark!' He started to motor and drove like a madman towards Ian's apartment. In the rearview mirror he saw Callen and Sam following him. Kensi's phone started to ring and she almost dropped it on the ground when she grabbed it. With shaking hands she somehow managed to answer the phone.

'Kensi Blye?'

'Kensi, it's Maria, your neighbor. You need to come home. There is a fire in the building. The fire department already arrived but it isn't looking good.'

'Fire?' Kensi repeated with a shaking voice and Deeks accelerated. In seconds they arrived at the apartment. The fire department was trying to extinguish the fire. Deeks and Kensi got out of the car and the Charger pulled up next to them. Callen and Sam joined them.

'You can't go near there,' a fireman said as he stopped them from getting any closer. All four of them held up their badge, almost pushing them into the fireman's face.

'Stay out of our way,' Sam growled. 'We're looking for a fugitive who may have kidnapped a child.' Deeks held Kensi's hand when he saw her shake. The fireman stepped out of their way. Callen and Sam took their guns and moved into the crowd, looking for Mark and Damian.' Deeks and Kensi stayed behind. He held her hand tighter as they watched the fire. As the fire was spreading more and more, Kensi broke down and she hid her face in Deeks's chest. Deeks wrapped his arms around her and held her tight. How the hell did this happen?

'There was no one inside,' one of the firemen told Deeks and Kensi. Kensi took a relieved breath and pulled herself together. But the relief vanished very soon when Callen and Sam came back without Damian.

'We couldn't find them,' Callen said. Kensi gasped and Deeks rubbed her arm.

'Could they have been…inside?' Sam asked. Deeks shook his head.

'Nobody was inside,' he told them, like the fireman had done a few minutes ago. Callen grabbed his phone and he distanced himself from them. He was probably calling Eric.

'We did hear that the fire most likely started in your apartment,' Sam told Kensi. 'So Mark might have set the place on fire when he left with Damian.'

'Eric alerted all law enforcement to look out for Mark and Damian,' Callen reported to them when he got back to them. He placed his hand on Kensi's arm. 'We'll find them.'

'Like you did last time he disappeared,' Kensi snapped at him. Callen looked so damn calm at her that Kensi took a deep breath. She had no reason to snap at him like that. He was just trying to help her.

'I'm sorry, Callen,' she apologized.

'I know you didn't mean it like that,' Callen assured her. 'Maybe Deeks should take you to yo…his place.'

'I'm not going to sit around and do nothing!' Kensi protested.

'Neither am I!' Deeks joined Kensi's protests. 'We need all hands on deck to find this son of a bitch!'

'You'll go to Deeks' place and stay there at least for an hour,' Callen ordered. 'Sam, Eric, Hetty and I will look for Damian and Mark. Right now you two need to calm down. You're not thinking clearly. When you can think clearly again, you come to Ops. But not a second earlier. You will be just in our way!' Deeks led Kensi to the car. From angry she had gone to completely numb. Callen was right: she would only be in their way to find Damian.

'I should have listened to you,' Kensi mumbled while she was pacing through the living room. It had seemed a good idea to go to Deeks' apartment and calm down but being there now, Kensi couldn't calm down. She only got more stressed.

'To what?' Deeks asked. 'I was…'

'…right,' Kensi finished for him. 'Right about Ian…Mark. I couldn't trust him. I shouldn't have trust him. You didn't trust him…I should have let you meet him sooner…I should have…'

'…never wanted to date again,' Deeks said and he grabbed Kensi by her arms. 'Or you should never have wanted to leave the apartment again…Kensi, you can't think like that. There are so many things you could maybe have done to avoid this situation but we're in this situation right now. And the only thing you can do about it, is stop thinking about what you should have done and think about what you can do now instead.

'I should have protected him better,' Kensi sobbed. 'He is just a baby…' Deeks pulled her once again in his arms.

'You're a great mom,' Deeks told her. 'We should have shown you a picture of Mark but we were afraid it would trigger memories. We didn't want you to hurt any more. I should have insisted more on meeting Ian. I should have stopped you when you wanted to move in with Mark. I should have told you that I missed you and Damian…' Kensi looked at him and Deeks stopped rambling.

'I thought we couldn't think about what we should have done?' she told him and there appeared a smile on their face which soon disappeared.

'We could have done a lot of things,' Deeks said. 'But right now we need to find Damian. Are you ready to go to Ops?' Kensi took a shaky breath and she nodded. She was ready to find her little boy.

Two weeks later

His happy face was staring straight at her and Kensi felt like he was begging him to find him. But they had tried almost everything. Mark just disappeared like he had done last time and he had taken Damian with him. Kensi stroke the face in the picture. She put the picture back on the table next to the couch and she picked up the file that was laying in front of her, his file. Hetty had told her not to take the file but to return it. She must have known that Kensi would take it.

As she was looking through it she couldn't believe how stupid she had been. She never asked the others to show her a picture of Mark of let her read his file. She just accepted that she couldn't remember him and didn't want to see him. And look where it got her.

Also she felt stupid for not pushing Ian to meet the team. If she just had pushed him a little more, the team could have stopped him and she wouldn't have lost her son.

She was angry at herself for all that she had caused. At Deeks for having been not as stubborn as always and and for just accepting that Kensi was with Ian. If he had followed her to see who Ian was, he could have stopped her. She was angry at Callen and Sam for not having acted like the big brothers they normally act like. If they had been those big brothers, they wouldn't have accepted not meeting Ian. They would have demanded to see him. Or just show up at the apartment one night. And she was angry at Hetty. She normally knew everything and the one time she didn't know it all, it had cost Kensi her son.

Callen was looking at the big screen which was filled with information about Mark. They had collected it over the two weeks. Comments of his school teachers, letters from a young Mark to his grandparents and even a picture of his favorite stuffed animal. They had everything of Mark's life and still they couldn't find him. All this information and it was worthless. Nothing got them closer to him.

Talking with his sister hadn't given them anything. The sister kept telling them that Mark was a sweet man even after they showed her what he had done to his victims and to Kensi. It didn't do her anything. She was convinced she needed to protect her brother. They knew for sure that she would keep her mouth shut when Sam started to get angry at her. She flinched but still didn't say anything.

Sam felt guilty when he held his kids in his arms. But he needed to hold them. They were going nowhere with the case. Kensi must feel like dying. He would feel like dying if his kids were missing. But actually he couldn't imagine how Kensi must fell. His kids were safe at home, in his arms where they were safe.

Eric glared at his computer with hate. Normally it would give him everything he needed but right now it was giving him nothing. Nothing to find Damian. Eric could care less if they would find Mark but they must find Damian. Such a little boy shouldn't be in the hands of a serial killer, even when that serial killer is his father.

Hetty felt like murdering her contacts. She had kept in touch with them, made sure that they all owned her, just in case something like this would happen. But why couldn't they find anything. Her contacts were the best of the best and were all over the world. At least one of them must be able to find a man and a child.

Kensi heard a knock on the door and then she heard Deeks' voice but she didn't pay attention to what he was saying. She was too concentrated on Mark's file. He had killed four women and seven men. But before those people, nothing. Not even drawings of killings.

'Kens, you shouldn't look at his file,' Deeks said and he tried to take the file away from her but Kensi held it out of his reach.

'Maybe there's something in it that could lead us to where he's hiding,' she said. 'Did we talk to his sister…Sarah?' Deeks sighed and he sat down beside her.

'Don't do this to yourself, Kensi,' he said sadly. 'This isn't the way…'

'What am I supposed to do?' she yelled at him. 'My son is missing. I need to find him and his son of a bitch father.' She punched Deeks in his chest over and over again. Deeks grabbed her wrists firmly, stopping her. Kensi looked at him and she started to cry. Deeks took her in his arms. This was all a mess.

'Get angry, cry, hell even laugh, but stop keeping it all to yourself,' Deeks told her. 'And stop trying to do it on your own. We're trying to help you but you need to let us help you.'

'I'm not getting him back, am I?' Kensi sobbed. Deeks held her closer and his eyes wandered to a picture of Damian on his wall, before he answered.

'If anyone can find him, we are,' he told her. But she wasn't so sure about that. Kensi was right: they didn't catch him the last time. But maybe they could call themselves lucky because Mark had Damian with him. Being on the run with a baby isn't that easy.

Deeks stroked her hair and he let her cry. There was nothing more that he could do.

Nothing should be more preciousthan a child

Nothing should be morecontagious than a smileof a child

Nothing should bemore cared ofthan a child

Children's innocenceso often shattered

Children's loveso often flouted

Nothing should be moreof importance than a child

Nothing should be morepowerfully loved by usthan a child

Children's spontaneityso often trampled on

Children's forgivenessso often ignored

Nothing should be morecherished in this worldthan a child

Nothing should be morehugged with affectionthan a child

Tell me, stranger, what is more beautiful and precious than any dear child?

This is the end of the story. I want to thank everyone for reading this story and for their reviews, alerts and favorites! And a super big thanks to my sister for checking this story each and every time!
I really enjoyed writing this story. I never expected for it to go like this. I wasn't sure it was a good story and if anyone would like it. So I'm really happy with all the reviews, alerts and favorites. And I have never written a story this long before. On FanFiction it may not look like a long story but in Word it's 93 pages and over 55000 words!

Now I got a choice for you: do you want a sequel? I already got an idea for it. I'll wait for your respond. It's up to you, readers.

Next week I won't be on fanfiction because I'm going to Portugal with my mom =D. When I come back I either post the sequel or I don't.

For the last time for this story: please review and tell me what you want =D