The next day, we hit the ground running the moment we entered OPS.
I just placed my bag on my desk, when the four of us heard Eric's whistle. Seriously! Can I please get to my desk before the work day starts? I thought.
The four of entered Ops, and saw another live feed waiting for us. "What is waiting for us this time, Eric?" Sam asked.
"Remember the bodies of the man and woman that were by themselves?" Eric asked.
"You can't be serious?" Sam asked.
Eric played the vid, and we saw that, it was a different person now, removing organs and placing them in other the body. The bodies didn't suffer much external rearranging, but having you insides being used as a puzzle is still bad enough.
"Is Madison anywhere to be found in the feed?" I asked.
"Not that we have seen. Unless he is the one running the camera." Nell said.
"This case went from bad to worse in the span of twelve hours." Callen said.
"I highly doubt that." I said, wondering what the endgame is here.
"Kensi, Deeks. You check out the warehouse. Sam and I will check out the offices again." Callen said
"Got it." Kensi said, and the four of us left.
"What do we have?" Granger asked, entering Ops.
"We don't have the full picture. That's a question for Hetty. All we know is that there was a team that killed a few people, and decided to cut them up and make a modern day monster in the vein of Victor Frankenstein." Nell said.
"Do we have a lead on the person in charge?" Granger asked.
"This man: James Madison." Eric said, bring Madison's photo on screen.
Granger took everything her heard in stride, even the picture of Madison, and then exited Ops.
"Never a dull moment with the assistant director." Eric said.
"True story." Nell said, and then the pair sat down at their stations
N.C.I.S. L.A.
Madison's Warehouse-
Kensi and I went back to the warehouse from two nights ago, and head to the manager's office.
"What are we looking for?" Kensi asked.
"Shipping records." I said.
"That's a lot of help." she said.
"I know what we're looking for." I said.
"You got it." Kensi said.
It took us the better part of an hour find something.
N.C.I.S. L.A.
Port of Los Angeles-
Sam and Callen fared better this go round, sort of, compared to when they were here two nights ago. The company had already cleared out, but the partners seized a copy of all the records, a hard and digital copy, and then put them in the challenger. The partners took them back to OPS to see what could be gleaned from records. "Let's see what we can find." Callen said.
"Eric and Nell, might have better luck." Sam said.
"Maybe, but we need to keep our options open." Callen said.
"As is if we have a choice." Sam said.
"Just because we don't like the options we have been given, doesn't mean that we don't have a choice." Callen said.
"Shut up, G." Sam said.
N.C.I.S. L.A.
One hour later-
"Deeks, I think I found something." Kensi said.
I leave the I document that I was reading on the table, and make my way over to see what Kensi was talking about. The documents that Kensi showed me wasn't what I was particularly looking for, but they prove foul play in a different arena.
"This doesn't concern our current case, but it does raise a red flag somewhere else." I said
"Where?" she asked
"Let me rephrase that. It links foul play outside of the case, but the Frankenstein monster is a symptom of the bigger problem." I said.
"Oh, really." she said.
"Yeah. I know Madison is involved. I'm not sure the extent of his involvement." I said.
"What's not to be sure about? You saw him overseeing the butchering of those bodies last night on the video feed." she said.
"I'm not doubting that." I said.
"Then what are you doubting?" she asked.
"Not so much about doubt, as opposed to wondering what their endgame is." I said.
"Then what is the endgame?" Kensi asked.
"That's the six-four thousand dollar question." I said.
"Good evening, Clarice." a voice from behind us said.
Kensi and I turned to see James Madison standing in the office doorway.
N.C.I.S. L.A.
OPS-
Callen and Sam had been back at OPS for over an hour when they went out to check another lead. Eric walked out onto the balcony to whistle for Sam and Callen, but they weren't in the bull pen.
"Is there a problem, Mr. Beale?" Hetty said.
"You need to see this." Eric said, and then made his back into Ops.
Hetty entered Ops, to see me and Kensi on the big screen talking to James Madison. "Is this an old video?" Hetty asked.
Eric and Nell looked at each other, and then Nell said. "This is live, but it isn't being sent directly to Ops. Madison somehow found an email address of one of our agents and sent it to us.
"It's been awhile." I said.
"You have been a busy person, Major Deeks." Madison said.
"It's Agent Deeks." Kensi corrected.
"Agent. What?" Madison asked.
"I wasn't present when your family was sent back to Russia at the end of World War II." I said.
Kensi gave me a pointed look. "I'll explain later. I could say the same about you being a busy person. How does a Cossack like yourself, infiltrate the U.S. military and get funding to perform high level medical testing?" I asked.
"Very carefully." Madison said.
"What does that even mean?" Kensi asked.
"It was an inside job." I said.
Kensi nods her head, seeing my answer as the most plausible one. Hetty looked at Eric and Nell. "Looking into who had the ability to allow Madison to infiltrate our ranks." Nell said.
"On it." Eric said.
Hetty gave her undivided attention to the big screen while Eric and Nell ran down the lead.
"You want to shock us with the truth?" Kensi asked.
"Easy Kens," I cautioned.
"Shock you with the truth? The truth about how I have abnormal feeding habits." Madison said.
Nell looked over her shoulder to see Eric and Hetty share a look, while on the screen Kensi took a moment to register what she just heard. When Kensi looked at me again, she asked. "What does he mean by abnormal feeding habits?"
I didn't even beat around the bush. "Madison has developed an affinity for human flesh."
"I think I understand, but I don't think I want to understand." Kensi said.
"How about this: do you remember how many victims were by themselves?" Madison asked.
"Two: a male and a female." Kensi said.
"I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice chianti." Madison said. And just as his words started to sink in, Madison made the same sound effect that Dr. Lector did to Clarice Starling in Silence of the Lambs. To Madison delight, it had the same effect on Kensi as it did Jodie Foster's character, except that I could physically see the chill go down Kensi's spine.
At that moment Madison threw something at the two of us, and then ran away. I had no idea what it was, so I tackle Kensi to the floor. The next thing Hetty saw was a bright flash, and then the screen went blank with static.
"Status report." Hetty asked.
"Whatever happened, happened on their end. All signals are in the green on our end." Eric responded.
N.C.I.S. L.A.
Madison's warehouse: thirty seconds earlier-
It took me thirty seconds to register that Madison threw a flashbang. Which meant that he had already left. I opened my eyes to see that Kensi was unharmed, and when I looked over my shoulder all I saw was an empty doorway and smoke from where the flashbang went off.
"You good?" I asked, looking back at Kensi.
"Yeah. And you?" she asked.
"I'm good." I said.
For a time, Kensi and I just stared into each other's eyes. All the while, my body was still resting against Kensi's. Kensi was the first to speak.
"Deeks." she said.
"Yeah," I said.
"Could you… uh," she said, suggesting that get off of her.
"Yeah. Up you go." I said, offering Kensi my hand after I had gotten off of her. Nothing about the exchange seemed strained or tense, but I could feel the tension when I was staring into Kensi's eyes.
"How long have you know that Madison was a cannibal?" she asked.
"Nell and I found out last night when we were at the coroner's office that there was a cannibal involved. I had reservations that Madison was the cannibal." I said.
"Think we should inform Ops of what we found?" she asked.
My phone started ringing, and when I checked the Id, it was OPS. "Ah, well speak of the devil." I said, showing Kensi the Id. "What do you have, Eric?"
"We were calling to see if you were all right." Hetty answered.
"You saw the whole exchange with Madison?" I asked.
"Yeah. What happened because the camera feeds went out for about a good minute or so?" Hetty asked.
"Madison threw a flashbang to assist with his escape. We're fine." Kensi said.
"Return to OPS. We'll discuss our options then." Hetty said.
"On it." I said, and then hung up.
I noticed that Kensi was staring at me for a moment. "Earth to Kensi." I said.
"Huh, what?" she said.
"You good?" I asked.
"Yep, I'm good. Never better." Kensi said, and then walked out.
That's a load of garbage, but whatever. I thought, and followed my partner out.
N.C.I.S. L.A.
OPS-
When we entered the bull pen, we saw that everybody was already waiting for us.
"You two okay?" Callen asked.
"We're fine." Kensi said.
"We told Hetty that we were good when we got off the phone forty-five minutes ago." I said.
"Did you guys find anything?" Kensi asked.
"No." Callen said.
"The offices had been cleaned out by the time we got there. We found copies that had be left behind, but this case has gone cold again." Sam said.
"They left files behind?" Kensi asked.
"No one said these guys were smart." Callen said.
"Those files are probably a decoy. We may never find Madison until he makes his next move, or when something happens in Russia." I said.
"Let's hope it doesn't come to that." Callen said.
"It just might. Then again, Madison might tip his hand again when he gets hungry." I said.
"Shut up." both Nell and Kensi said at the same time.
"Did we miss something?" Callen asked.
"Do explain." Sam said.
"Madison is a cannibal." Eric said.
"What? Really?" Sam asked.
Eric nodded his head. "Well, he's gotta eat some time. Maybe it will be a high profile exec." Callen said.
Kensi and Nell rolled their eyes as Sam said. "Shut up, G."
N.C.I.S. L.A.
OPS: Three months later-
Kensi and I had been briefed on our current assignment: we are to go under cover, as a married couple, in a gated community to smoke out a Russian sleeper agent. We had gotten settled in, we were at the house for about a week, and were beginning to meet the locals when we got an emergency call. We were told to drop everything and return to OPS. It was a case that I never wanted to see. Some idiot was flying in from Hawaii, and somehow he had gotten a hold of a few vials of Smallpox. Two particular conversations, between Kensi and I, stood out from that case, of one of which didn't get resolved until after the case.
The first conversation happened when we got back from the airport. I was looking at a picture of a child who had come down with the disease, and there were logistics of the disease on the screen as well. Looking at the child, and I'm reminded of what I saw in Germany, during World War II at Auschwitz. And even though those events happened sixty-seven years ago, I can still feel the chill run down my spine. It was Kensi's voice that brought me back to the present.
"Eric and Nell are trying to track the cab." she said.
"Do you know that we live on the only planet in the known universe with life on it? A planet with a fragile ecosystem, small, breathable atmosphere, all of which could be wiped out in a second by a meteorite or mega-quake or—"
"This isn't b'ak'tun 12, end-of-the-world apocalypse theories again?" she asked, without looking at the plasma
I had bad habit of letting superstitions getting the better of me in past. Most of the time I did it for comic relief, but now… "No, I'm just saying, it's a shame, you know? We're alone on this rock and yet we're still finding ways to kill each other." I said.
"Oh, don't get philosophical on me. It creeps me out." she said, turning to look at the plasma.
"Yeah, what's the worst that can happen, right? Global pandemic wipes half the world's population." I said.
"Kind of puts things in perspective, doesn't it?" she asked.
"How's that?" I asked.
"Sometimes, you don't know how lucky you are to have something until you realize you might lose it." she said.
I let Kensi's words sink in, and the look that crossed my face couldn't be stopped. I remembered the horrors of the Holocaust. Which was not missed by Kensi. "You okay? You seem to be taking this really hard." she said.
"Ask me when we get back to the idyllic life of Justin and Melissa." I said.
And at that moment, Eric whistled for us.
The second conversation was when Kensi and I went to talk the sister of the deceased woman we found on the plane. It was a moment of vulnerability, and it was moment that is still greatly contested to this day. I'm still wondering why Hetty gave me a small poxes shot in the first place. Strange. I thought. And even better question: why did Hetty straight up stabbed like something out of a horror movie? When needle broke my skin, and I momentarily lost my balance and fell. Although I caught myself on my desk, I specifically remember Sam saying something along the lines of their being a man down.
Hetty wrapped my arm up as I was getting back to my feet. I slowly followed Kensi out to the SRX, and let her drive. I was in no condition to drive after that attack.
When we arrived at the place I was messing with my bandage. Kensi shut the engine off, and then pulled my hand away from said bandage. "Would you stop scratching it?" she said.
"It burns. Did you see her? She stabbed me like she was fending off a bear attack." I said.
Kensi let out a breath, and then asked. "How's your head doing?"
"It's fine." I said, looking at my beautiful partner. The smile she was beaming at me I haven't seen in a few millennia. "What?" I asked. Kensi nodded her head. "I didn't pass out, I tripped." I countered.
"You dropped like a rock." she countered.
"Like I tripped on a rock. And if I passed out; why do I specifically remember Sam saying man down?" I asked.
This caught Kensi of guard, which was only for a moment, and then she said. "Okay. Well, don't fall out there, Stumbles." And then Kensi got out of the vehicle.
I was getting out of the vehicle as well, as I started speaking. "You know what? I find it rather unbecoming that you laughed at me in front of the Five-oh boys."
We shut our doors as Kensi said. "It was funny."
"I'm glad you all bonded over the hilarity of my misfortune." I said, seeing the smile that Kensi wasn't even attempting to hide.
"Oh come on. Don't be such a drama queen." she quipped.
"What about you little performance back there?" I asked.
"What are you talking about?" she asked.
"What am I talking about? The over-the-top laughing, the hair flip, the pelvic tilt." I said, as I was making the motions to go with the check-list of items that I listed off. I took a quick breath before I said. "You were throwing out more flirtation signals than a divorcee on a singles' cruise."
Kensi didn't waste any time trying to deny it. "Oh, my God, you have a concussion." she said.
"No, what I have is a partner who freaks out and turns into a schoolgirl every time there's cute new boys around." I said.
This struck a nerve. Kensi grabbed my arm to stop me in my tracks, and me to turn to face her, while she was pointing a finger at me. "You are a liar. And by the way, I find it very interesting that you thought they were cute. Got a little island fever going on, huh?" she asked, trying to turn this around on me.
I got chuckle out of this turn of events. "You know what? Tell me. Tell me you didn't do this: Ha, ha Danno." I said, and that last part was in a higher octave than I usually speak in.
"Adjust my ponytail?" she asked.
I continued speaking in my normal voice. "Uh-huh. You adjusted your ponytail so you present your armpits." I said.
Kensi was staring at me like I was an alien from another planet. "What?" she asked.
"The armpit is the center of pheromone production." I said.
Kensi lost all pretense with her next accusation. "You are certifiably insane." she said.
"I'm not the one presenting my scent glands to everybody." I said, raising my hands back up to my head.
"I'm glad you didn't. The only thing you give off is repellent." she countered.
"You know what? You love my scent. In fact, you probably sleep with one of my shirts. I am missing one, and it's been missing since you stayed the night earlier in the year." I said.
"That's because it crawled out of you gym bag, and I shot it to put it out of its misery." she said. I could see the look on her face. Kensi was scrambling to come up with an excuse. This got a chuckle out of me.
Kensi stopped short, and played with her ponytail. Wait? What? I thought. "Oh, and, um, for the record… I don't sleep with anything on." There was a slight pause before Kensi said. "Unless it's a costume."
Kensi had the biggest grin on her face. One that Kenzie used whenever she had outsmarted me. It took me a moment to understand what I just heard, and the implications of it. Kensi just admitted to sleeping naked. Which means that she was sleeping naked in my bed earlier this year. I thought. I took a deep breath. I didn't smell the slightest increase in the air. No pheromones. I thought. "Well, that was uncalled for." I said, and then walked up to join Kensi at the door
N.C.I.S. L.A.
At our cover house-
It had been an interesting case. We were able to stop an outbreak, but it still struck a nerve. It hit to close to home. I tried to get some rest after we got back to our undercover house, but I was too wired to sleep.
I sat up, and swung my legs over the edge of the bed, and I just stared out the window. I must have been staring out the window for a while because the next thing I know I feel my partner wake up, and then Kensi asks. "Everything okay?"
"No." I said.
"Is this about the case we just finished?" she asked.
"It's actually about feelings that the case stirred up." I said.
"What happened?" she asked, as she gently pulled me back onto down on to the bed.
I felt Kensi rest her head on and left hand on my chest, and wrap both of her legs around my left leg, as I explained what was really bothering. "Is Smallpox bad? Yes, that goes without saying. The reason this case struck a nerve in me is because when I was in World War II, running with James's father and uncle, we were tasked with tackling Auschwitz. I was there for another reason, but that task was left unfinished." I said.
There was a moment of silence. I could feel Kensi gently rub her hand on my chest. An unnatural chill came over, and Kensi felt me when I shook it off. "You saw the horrors first hand?" she asked.
"Yeah. I remember a lot about those final days. The historians didn't lie about how many people the German's kill. In the week leading up to liberating the camp, the body count had to been well over a hundred thousand. I remember hear the ignition of the incinerators, and seeing the guards sweeping the compartments out. I remember hearing the screams, and hearing people choking to death in the gas chambers. The guards pulling the bodies out and dumping them in a ditch nearby. I remember hearing the screams as people watch the loved ones who behead at the guillotine, or hanged in the gallows. The people whose necks didn't snap had to suffocate, and that was a slow process."
I stopped because I felt something wet on my chest. I looked down to see that Kensi was crying. I kissed Kensi's forehead and held tightly until she finished crying. We fell asleep in that position. At six o'clock, Kensi roused from her sleep to see that what position she was in. Kensi was taken back at first: her head and hand on my chest, then she remembered that she was comforting me last night, but in the end I wound up comforting her. Kensi slowly extricated herself from my embrace, and got dressed to go for a run. Kensi was going to wake me to see if I want to come running with her, but thought against when she saw my face. My nose was twitching, so Kensi decided to let me sleep instead.
At eight thirty in the morning, the alarm goes off and I start to stir. I roll onto back, and reach for Kensi, but I don't feel her. As I sit up, I reach with my other arm to see if I imagined it. I open my eyes, and see that Kensi was actually gone. So I get out of bed and call out "Sugar bear?" as I make my way for the door.
The first stop is the kitchen and pour myself a cup of coffee. And then I make my way outside. I close the door, and head to the end of the walkway. As I finished taking a sip of my coffee, Kensi was finishing her morning run.
"Hey." I greeted my partner.
"Good morning, sleepyhead." Kensi said, stopping to pick up the paper. I could hear Kensi panting as she bent down to pick up the paper, and toss it at me.
"I thought you were going to wake me up." I said.
"I was going to. But then you I saw you doing that cute little twitchy thing with your nose." she said with a grin on her face.
"I have tendency of doing that when I'm happy." I said.
"Aw, you eat?" she asked.
"Mm-mm." I said, around a sip of coffee.
"Oh, I'm starving. Come make you wife some pancakes." Kensi said.
As she approached me, she gave me a quick kiss on my cheek, and I felt her left hand glide across my chest. Oh, girl. I thought, as I turned around and smack Kensi's butt with the newspaper.
"Ow." she shrieked, and then covered butt with both of her hands.
"You get in there." I said playfully.
Kensi continued being playful as we entered the house.
Outside the gated community, some random strange sitting in a car, that we did not see, was taking pictures of us. On the passenger seat next to him was a loaded gun.
