I don't own NCIS Los Angeles! My native language is Dutch and I'm dyslectic so sorry for any mistakes. Thank you for all the reviews, alerts and favorites!

This chapter is for Benjamiek, for being my friend. And all that because we both love NCIS:LA =D With out the show, Fanfiction and Twitter I wouldn't have known her...

Chapter 26

Sarah looked up from her hands when Kensi walked into the room, with a clearly visible pregnant belly on which her hand rested. Sarah couldn't believe how much her sister-in-law had changed. She looked sad. Sarah had thought that Kensi would be happy to hear that Mark was dead. Not that she would be affected by his death in a sad way.

'Hailey told me you were pregnant,' Sarah said. She surprised herself with how hateful that sounded. But this woman had made her brother run. She was the reason why her brother couldn't visit her anymore. Kensi sat down and agent Callen and Hanna stepped behind her, posting as her protection.

'You wanted to talk to me?' Kensi asked. 'You wanted to tell me where Mark was living…' Sarah straightened up and took a deep breath.

'Mark didn't mean to do this to you,' she said and she could hear agent Callen and Hanna sigh. But Sarah had to tell them this. She had promised that to her brother. 'But he needed to go, and he didn't want to live without Damian. He only took Damian with him because he loved him so much. Not to hurt you. He came to my house one day. Asking, begging me that he and Damian could stay with me for a while. Until he found a place where he could live. Of course he could stay. When you called me, he begged me to lie to you. When I got back, he had left with Damian.'

'Where did Mark go?' Kensi asked calmly.

'He didn't tell me,' Sarah answered and the disappointed was shown all over Kensi's face. 'But about sixteen months later, he contacted me again. I had moved with my husband and son. Mark wanted to stay with us again. Once again he was looking for a place to stay. He came with Damian, and that boy had grown so much. He's such a great boy.'

'What is the address of the place?' Callen pressed and Kensi pushed a note block towards Sarah. Sarah stared at the clean white paper and after few seconds, she wrote down the address.

'This is the place,' she told them and she pushed the note block back to Kensi. Agent Hanna grabbed the note block and he left the room with agent Callen.

'Thank you,' Kensi said gratefully. Sarah took another deep breath.

'I have a picture of him,' she told Kensi and Kensi's face lit up. 'It's in my bag. Can I get it?' Kensi nodded and Sarah reached in her bag for the picture. Sarah handed it to Kensi, and she looked at it like it was worth millions. It was clear that the picture was priceless to Kensi. That moment made Sarah realize that her brother was wrong. Kensi loved Damian.

Deeks was waiting for her outside of the interrogation room and as soon as Kensi stepped out, he walked over to her. He held her tight and Kensi couldn't hold back her tears any longer. He gently stroked her back.

'Look at him,' Kensi sobbed and she showed Deeks the picture. 'He looks happy, right?' Deeks smiled at the picture.

'He really looks happy,' he said. We should get you home.' Kensi simply nodded and Deeks walked her to the car.

'Are Callen and Sam on their way to the house?' Kensi asked anxiously and Deeks nodded.

'They will call when they know more,' he told her and he took her hand. 'It will be okay. We'll find Damian soon.' Kensi nodded and she let her head rest against the headrest. Deeks took a deep breath and he drove away. He really hoped that Callen and Sam hurried. He didn't know how much more disappointment Kensi could take.

'Hey,' Nina said at the front door. Deeks and Kensi had been back for half an hour and Kensi was currently sleeping. Deeks gestured for Nina to walk inside.

'Kensi is sleeping right now,' he told her, knowing that Sam had send his wife to check up on them. 'Do you want something to drink?'

'Some tea if you have that,' Nina answered with a smile. Deeks nodded and he walked into the kitchen.

'So what does Sam want to know?' he asked while he made the tea. 'How Kensi is holding up? Well, she is hardly holding up. If I'm watching her? Yes, I'm watching her.' Nina raised her eyebrows.

'I'm here all on my own,' she told him. 'I don't even know where Sam is. He left, only telling me that he'll be home late. I just wanted to know how you were doing. Have they found Mark's killer yet?'

'No, but they did realize it wasn't me,' Deeks answered, slightly irritated. Nina put her hand on his arm.

'That is good news,' she said calmly. 'Kensi will need you.' Deeks slowly nodded and he handed Nina her cup of tea.

Annoyed and frustrated Sam knocked again on the door. No one was answering the door but they could hear a child cry inside. A man walked out of the house next door, looking relieved.

'Finally someone came!' he said. 'It took you long enough. That boy had been crying like forever. His dad left and hasn't returned! I called two hours ago.' Callen and Sam showed the man their badges and he looked confused.

'Why is NCIS responding to this?' he asked surprised.

'We suspect that the child is the one we're looking for,' Callen explained. 'How old is the boy inside?'

'Umm, between four and six?' the man said doubtfully. 'At least young. I don't know much about kids. They're all the same to me.' Callen and Sam glanced at each other and they nodded. They walked back to the front door and on the count of three, Sam kicked in the door. The neighbor yelped in shock and Callen and Sam moved inside, gun drawn. Quickly they cleared downstairs and they headed to upstairs where they could hear the boy cry. When they moved into the first room on the left, they held their breath.

Callen and Sam lowered their guns and Sam lifted the boy out of the crib.

'Hey little boy,' he said soothing while he tried to stop the boy from crying. 'Everything is okay. We're going to take you downstairs.' He glanced at Callen and he could see the disappointment clearly on his face.

'What the hell?' they heard a man yell from downstairs. Callen drew his gun and carefully they moved downstairs. A man was standing in front of his kicked in door with two grocery bags in his hand, which he dropped very fast when he saw Callen's gun.

'Who the hell are you?' he asked. 'And what are you doing with my son?' Callen put his gun away and showed the man his badge. The man walked over to Sam and took his son over from him.

'That damn neighbor,' the man growled. 'My name is John Canavan and that is my son. I only left him for an hour or so. He can stay alone for that hour! He's five! That neighbor didn't need to call the cops!'

'We're not here because your neighbor called,' Callen told the man. 'We're here because of a missing child. A woman gave us this address as the current location of the man who took the child.'

'Well, Brooklyn really is my son,' John said. 'You can take DNA or something like that if you need to.'

'Not necessary,' Sam said. 'Do you know who lived here before you?'

'Yeah, some guy,' John said. 'He moved out of the house about two weeks ago. Umm, brown hair, green eyes, tall…is that guy a kidnapper? He seemed like a nice guy and no kid. Not that I would walk around with a kidnapped child…'

'Thanks for the information,' Sam said and he and Callen moved towards the door. 'Sorry about the door.' John shrugged.

'No problem, I can fix that easily,' he said. Sam nodded and he walked out. Callen was about to leave, when he turned around.

'Just so you know: it's not okay to leave your five-year-old son alone for an hour,' he told John frustrated. 'Next time call a babysitter. Or ask your neighbor. Just don't leave the boy alone.' John nodded while he stroked his son's head. Callen took a deep breath when he walked to the car where Sam was already waiting.

'I really thought we had him,' Sam sighed. 'This will be another disappointment for Kensi. I really wanted to give her good news this time. To give her her little boy back.'

'I know,' Callen said disappointed. 'Same for me. I'll call Kensi. No need to keep her wait any longer.

Deeks just put his bag down when a phone started to ring. He walked over to the phone and he saw that Callen was calling Kensi. Deeks glanced at the bedroom and he took a deep breath. He prayed that is was good news.

'Hey Callen, Kensi is still sleeping. Did you find him?'

'I'm sorry, Deeks. Mark moved out about two weeks ago. The new owner could describe him, though he hadn't seen Damian with Mark.' Deeks sighed.

'Really don't want to tell her that. Did you discover anything else?'

'We talked to the neighbor who told us that Mark kept to himself. He thinks that he saw a boy, Damian, with Mark but he wasn't sure. Normally he leaves his neighbors alone. So nothing from that man.'

'So we still don't know where Damian is? All we know is that Mark did live there two weeks ago, before he moved to LA.' Deeks heard some noise from the bedroom and he turned his head in the direction of it. 'I got to go. I'll tell Kensi when she wakes up.' Deeks hung up and he walked into the room. Kensi was tossing and he thought he saw tears rolling over her cheeks. He hurried towards her and he laid his hand on her cheek.

'Kensi, wake up,' he urged. 'It's just a bad dream. Come on, Kensi.' Kensi's eyes flew open and she looked frightened at him, breathing very fast. Deeks sat down on the side of the bed and he held her close.

'We left him alone,' Kensi sobbed. 'I tried to get back, but he wouldn't let me go. He dragged me away from my little boy.'

'Aren't you the cutest boy in the world,' Kensi babbled to Damian, who was laying on her lap. 'Yes you are. You are the cutest.' Damian put a big toothless smile on his face and she tickled him, just to keep that amazingly cute smile on his face. Mark came inside in a hurry, slamming the door. Immediately Damian's smile disappeared and he began to whimper. Kensi lifted him into her arms, rocking him to ease. Mark rested with his hands on the kitchen table. Kensi got up and she walked over to Mark.

'What's wrong, Mark?' she asked him carefully. Mark looked up with big, alarmed eyes and he switched his gaze from Kensi to Damian.

'It's time for Damian's nap,' Mark answered absently. Kensi stroked Damian's head to keep him from crying and she nodded slowly. She walked to their bedroom where Damian's traveling crib was standing.

'Don't worry about daddy,' she whispered to Damian. 'He's just a bit grumpy.' She put Damian on their bed to change him into his pajamas and sleeping bag. 'It's time for our big boy to sleep.' Damian rubbed in his eyes and Kensi smiled. She put him in the crib and gently stroked his tiny nose.

'I have got a thousand kisses in my head,' Kensi sang softly. 'And if you want them – come quickly. They are all for you – a promise is a promise. Because I love you so much. A kiss on your cheek, a kiss on your hair, kiss to say: we belong.' Slowly Damian's eyes started to close and his breaths evened. Kensi gave him one last kiss on his forehead and she walked back into the living room.

Suddenly an arm was wrapped around her neck, squeezing tightly and the tip of a knife was pressed again her neck.

'Sssh,' was whispered in her ear and Kensi felt her heart beat faster.

'Mark, let me go,' she told him.

'I'm sorry, but there is nothing else I can do,' he told her. 'You should know that I love you and Damian so much. I didn't want this but Deeks caused it…' He started to pull her towards the door.

'No!' Kensi shouted. 'We can't leave!' But Mark ignored her and that was when Kensi's instincts kicked in. She couldn't leave her son alone and she rammed her elbow into Mark's ribs. Mark instantly let go of the knife which fell on the ground. Mark was holding his ribs but rage was in his eyes when he moved his fist fast towards Kensi's head. Kensi could dodge it but kicked a chair over with a lot of noise. Cries from Damian started to come from the bedroom and it distracted Kensi for a moment. The moment Mark needed and Kensi's world turned black, with the last thing she heard where her son's desperate cries.

TBC.