A/N: Glad you all seemed to enjoy the last chapter, the complaints about a cliffhangers are always taken as a compliment! Hopefully you'll enjoy this one equally much.

All the best! - Cape

Chapter 26: Rescue and Revelation

She was frozen in place, unable to move another inch, as she stared at the man threatening her boyfriend at gunpoint, as her teammates and SWAT swarmed in around her. Every weapon in the room sans the one pistol was trained firmly at the black-haired criminal, who was currently clinging to both his weapon and the disheveled lawyer alike.

"Everybody one of you get out or I swear to God, I'll put a bullet in his head," he yelled panicky, pressing the barrel of the weapon painfully hard into the skull of Marty, who visible winced and shook from the action.

She deeply wanted to just put a bullet in the man's head and end the threat to her boyfriend's life right then and there. She had made that kind of shot before, and she was certain that she could do it again, but she managed to restrain herself, giving the man a possibility to walk out alive. The alternative would have been a sniper round, but as expected, the culprits had drawn the blinds to the room, not allowing anyone to look in or out, thus making any sharpshooter intervention an impossibility.

"That's not going to happen," Callen coolly told the man.

"I'm walking out with this beach bum here, and the beach bum and me, we're going to drive away." The man had lowered his voice in an attempt to show them he meant what he said.

"Forget it man, you're not going anywhere," the larger agent dismissed his demand.

Whilst her two teammates were trying to talk sense into the culprit, Kensi had locked eyes with the shaggy blonde's ocean blue eyes.

Even though he was not an irrational man, she somehow knew that he would sacrifice himself if he thought it meant that no one else got hurt. As such, she had to make sure that he did not put himself in further danger by attempting some maneuver. To guarantee that, she continued to look into the blue depth of his eyes, trying to silently tell him to stay put and that things would be all right. She saw the obvious panic in his eyes slowly dissipate into a look of trust and belief, she noticed how his breathing stopped being as erratic as he attempted a few deep, calming breaths, or as deep as the arm currently putting pressure on his throat would allow. He closed his eyes as he blew out another semi-deep breath with slightly puffed cheeks, a calming technique that she recognized from when the team had first come to his aid. As he opened his eyes again, he gave a small nod in thanks, partially for calming him and partially for being there to help.

Their silent communication was interrupted, when the man started violently shaking the hand currently around Marty's throat, causing the lawyer to cough and the agents and police officers to ready for whatever was coming next.

"Last chance. You've got ten seconds to move aside and let us out before I blow the bum's head right off." He screamed his threat.

It was clear to everyone that the man was getting increasingly nervous, which meant that he was also becoming incredibly jumpy, and jumpy was not something anyone looked for in a hostage taker, as it could easily result in one or more deaths.

The drops of sweat now easily visible on his forehead, the perspiration soaking the black tendrils of hair as he continuously glanced nervously around the room as he stopped shaking the lawyer and started counting down. "Ten."

"Nine," he continued counting as he glowered at everyone in the room.

When no one made any attempt to move out of his way, he continued counting. "Eight."

"Seven."

The other hostages, still sitting by the far wall next to the furniture, watched the scene play out, although there were now agents and officers at the scene, panic was at the forefront of their minds, as they feared the worst.

"Look, man." He surprised everyone as he spoke up. "No one is going anywhere, if you want to help yourself, put the weapon away. It'll go a long way with the judge if you start cooperating." The lawyer, currently being used as a human shield, tried to bring some sense into the man. He had seen the insides of a courtroom many times and knew what would, and what would not help with the judge and jury, and right now he was telling the truth.

The unwanted advice brought a new wave of annoyance over the miscreant. The newfound frustration in the eyes of the culprit was clear to the female agent, and as such, she needed to draw his attention towards herself instead of the man currently staring down the barrel of the criminal's loaded gun. "He's right, you know." She started, grabbing his attention. "You're not stupid. You know you're not getting out of here. Make the smart move, put your gun away and turn yourself over."

Sam looked to his female coworker as soon as she started speaking, whilst her words were clear and neutral, albeit with a bit of authority in it, the concern in her eyes was clear as day to him. He recognized the look from himself and Michelle from when they worked together in some of his dreaded anti-terror task force, back when he was still an active Navy SEAL.

While he acknowledged and, on a deeper level understood, why she had kept her relationship with the shaggy-haired lawyer a secret during the preparation and breach, he was also upset with his teammate withholding the truth from him and Callen. He would have to bring it up after they were out of the room, as he would definitely not bring it up now, seeing as a gun-wielding culprit was currently threatening the man in question. He also knew that if he was in that position, he would do anything to neutralize the threat, and given the fact, that she had yet to pull the trigger, ending the miscreant's life, was a testament to the professionalism she had, even though she obviously cared deeply for the innocent man.

"You're trying to trick me," the culprit exclaimed.

"Not trying to trick you," Kensi truthfully replied.

Sam decided to step in, and help his friend by trying to push the armed foe towards tossing his weapon. "You've got two options right now. Either you give yourself up or this is your last living day on Earth. It's your choice."

The black haired man seemed to digest what he had just been told, glancing between Kensi, Sam, and the door, obviously considering his options. The prior desperation and uncertainty painted on the culprit's face turned slowly towards something resembling contentedness. He almost seemed resigned with his situation.

Kensi saw the resignation he showed and for a short moment, she felt relief, but the relief was short lived, and quickly disappeared. She felt a chill run down her spine, when the culprit showed no signs of dropping his weapon or releasing Marty, meaning that he would definitely not let himself be taken alive.

Time seemed to slow to a halt when the culprit moved the barrel of his pistol away from the temple of Marty, stretching his arm to aim towards the agents in the room. The fear of the man she cared the most about in her life being hit in the crossfire was crippling, and she felt herself unable to immediately take aim and pull the trigger.

The hostage taker had almost flung the gun to his intended target, when she heard the roar of a gun going off and the man fell to the ground, pulling Marty with him, as he had still had his arm wrapped tightly around the lawyer's throat.

She looked to her left, and saw the last bit of smoke emanating from Callen's gun, confirming that he, too, had seen the same emotions play across the culprit's face as she had, and had neutralized the target before any harm could come to the team.

After confirming who had pulled the trigger, her full attention was now back to her boyfriend, who was currently lying on the floor in the increasing pool of blood of the hostage taker. She rushed to the shaggy man, only stopping to kick away the pistol from the downed foe. As she crouched next to him, the shock was clearly written on his face.

"You're okay, Marty. You're okay," she assuaged. The world around her shrunk to only encompass her and the man lying on the floor. The SWAT team moved past her to comfort the other hostages and lead them outside.

His wide eyes finally calmed and settled on her face, "I'm okay, it's just…" he tapered off in the end.

"Shock," she finished his sentence for him.

He nodded in agreement. "Yeah," he exhaled, having found his voice once more. "You good?" His protective nature outshining his sense of self-preservation, just as it had when he had taken a beating in his bedroom.

She chuckled at him, relief filling her that he really was okay, shaken, but okay. Her lies and deception to her teammates long forgotten, she leaned down to press her lips to his, the short kiss offering more comfort than they both could imagine. "I'm good if you're good," she assured him.

"Good," he smiled at her, the immediate trauma gone, but Kensi knew that it would return later, once the dust had settled and his adrenaline left his body. Kensi stood up and offered a helping hand to the man still supine on the floor. He happily accepted the help, and she pulled him back to his feet and into her embrace. He warmly accepted the tight hug, pulling her flush against his body, wanting her as close as possible at the moment.

Their tender moment was interrupted by the sound of the team lead clearing his throat.

As the female agent took a step back and out of the embrace of her boyfriend, she realized, that whilst he seemed to be all right at the moment, she still needed the physical comfort as a reminder that he actually was alright. As such, she grabbed his left hand with her right, interlacing their fingers before she turned around to face her two coworkers.

She looked unwavering at the two men standing in front of her, daring them to make any comment towards what they had just seen. She knew that they, too, would have withheld information in order not to get benched during a case, which they were too close to. In fact, they had withheld information before, and in her mind, that was exactly the same thing that she had just done. Right now, she was not in the mood for any hypocritical scolding and tried telling the two senior agents as much through a gorgon stare.

Callen, as always, had an unreadable expression on his face. She imagined, that he was processing how he had missed the signs, that Marty Deeks was her other half, especially after she almost lost her resolute in the hostage negotiation van, when she saw him on the video feed.

Sam's expression, at face value, was one of displeasurable annoyance, but looking past the immediate unhappiness the larger agent felt towards the situation, she saw a look of understanding. She realized that whilst Callen might have been surprisingly oblivious to her struggles during the case, Sam had probably honed in on her inner conflict and had even allowed her to continue working on the case.

Sam's gaze wandered from his female colleague to Marty, who was also staring at the two agents, but at least had the decency to look abashed at the scenario they had just witnessed. The ex-Navy SEAL decided to cut his friend a break for now. He would return to the subject regarding her withholding information from the team at a later time.

The team lead had reached the same conclusion as his partner, as he commented, "Only one date, huh?"

Kensi was thankful, when he humorously commented on the scenario. "Maybe a few more than one," she smiled at the older agent.

I know this did not explain anything in regards to why they were taken hostages, but rest assured that the explanation will be coming in the following chapter(s).