They rendezvous with the QRF away from the building and go over the plan. It's a large structure. It will take a lot of eyes and guns to clear it. Callen makes assignments for the breach. He reminds everyone that if Kensi is there they will only get one shot at it. The blueprints Nell sent give them a good idea of where Kensi is likely to be. Deeks is barely able to stand still, the possibility of her proximity filling him with determination and compelling him to move.
"Let's do this," Deeks tells the group. His patience for talking is done.
Callen puts a hand on Deeks' shoulder and nods his head. It's time.
As sunset comes a camera under the door tells them the entry area is clear. Plenty of blind spots, but no one to see their arrival. If they are quiet they have the element of surprise. They pick the lock and the three men enter together from the west door. They disburse slightly on the other side, each finding cover when they hear an internal door open and the sound of voices, at least two, leaving a side room. The voices are confident and satisfied.
"Don't think she enjoyed playtime tonight."
The other laughs.
Deeks, Callen and Sam exchange glances.
Then the voices make their way to a small area with a disgusting old couch and some folding tables and chairs. One of them picks up a rag and wipes his hand, a red stain transferring to an old white tee shirt. Deeks tells the others he's going. Callen whispers into his comm to stop.
"Give it one minute to make sure there's no one else in there with her or they'll have a chance to kill her before we get them."
Every muscle in Deeks is tense while he silently counts the seconds, but he's grateful for Callen's plan when a third man comes out of the room. He makes his way to the table and presses the button on something, and the room he's just left fills with blaring heavy metal music, the bass driving through the floor of the building. As Deeks, Callen and Sam exchange glances, they know now is the time.
Sam counts it down. Three. Two. One. "Execute. Execute. Execute."
Someone identifies themselves as a federal agent, but Deeks doesn't bother and there's no telling if anyone hears them over the sound of the QRF breaching from the north. When the strangers reach for guns, the bullets fly. When the gunfire stops, weapons are kicked away and corners are checked. When they call clear, Deeks heads to the side room.
He stops for just a second in the doorway when he sees her. He knows it's her. She's tied at the wrists and ankles, sitting on the ground with her knees to her chest. The tank top she's wearing shows arms with bruises and cuts, some still bleeding. There's a bag over her head secured at the neck so that she can't shake it off. And her head is slowly banging against the wall to the beat of the music.
Deeks shouts to Callen to kill the blaring noise, and crosses to her.
"We're here, baby. We got you. I'm going to get this thing off you."
There is no reaction to his voice. When he cuts the tape keeping the hood on and removes it, her eyes are locked closed and the expression on her face is a frozen mask.
"Kensi, I'm here, baby. I'm right here. You're safe."
He cuts a zip tie that is apparently holding her wrist bindings and ankle bindings together, and as soon as she can move her arms, she throws them with wrists still bound around Deeks' neck. The force pushes him backwards. He just pulls her onto his lap, finding his way to use the wall as support.
She is moving, breathing, holding him with some strength, which should all be good signs, bur he's desperate to see her eyes, to hear her voice. She buries her face in the crook of his neck and says nothing. Finally the blaring music stops, and it's like you can hear a pin drop.
Callen and Sam enter. Callen cuts the tie on her ankles, but can't get to her wrists locked behind Deeks' neck. They ask her if she's ok, but they get no response. Deeks whispers to her.
"It's just me, Callen and Sam," he assures her. "There's an ambulance outside. We're going to get you all taken care of."
No response, and as the adrenaline of the breach calms and the relief of having her actually in his arms hits him, his tone morphs from detective and rescuer to partner to lover.
"Princess. I love you so much. I'm sorry it took us so long to find you."
Nothing.
The EMTs wheel a gurney in, but attempts to separate Kensi from Deeks' arms are unsuccessful, and if they are being honest, no one is willing to try that hard. The bruises they can see make it clear that she's been handled by a much too heavy hand, and none of them are prepared to force her to do anything. He tries to convince her to stand up, but she's having none of it. Finally he gives up and looks to his NCIS family. They understand. Callen and Sam each take an arm that he braces and help him stand still holding this woman he loves so much.
He tries to set her on the gurney, but she shakes her head while still buried in his neck and grips him even tighter. Callen gives her warning and now that he can reach them, he cuts her wrists free. Her arms separate and wrap even more tightly around Deeks.
"So you want me to be your personal chariot? You got it. Sign me up. I'll just start carrying you everywhere. It'll be fun. No complaining when I carry you around the mission, though."
He's joking to comfort her. He's joking to comfort himself. He's joking because she won't look at him and it is making him crazy. The scene plays out again when they reach the ambulance. She won't let go. The EMT's secure the empty gurney in the back of the rig and wait.
"We have to get you looked at, Kensi. We need to get you to a doctor. You understand that, right?"
When he feels the slightest little nod of her head he is relieved beyond words.
"I'll ride with you. Try getting rid of me. Not letting you out of my sight, partner."
And she exhales like those were words she needed to hear.
Breaking a ton of protocols and policies, and maybe some physics, Sam and Callen help him step up into the back of the rig still carrying her in his arms. He sits on the gurney and holds her while Sam talks to the EMT.
"She's a federal agent. She's stable. Just take them to the hospital like this. We'll meet you there and figure out how to get her situated inside."
The EMT doesn't like it, but doesn't rock the boat. Maybe he saw that Deeks was what she needed. Maybe he was a little afraid of Sam. Either way, Deeks doesn't care because Kensi is safe in his arms and that's all he's wanted for nine days. He ignores the chatter in his comm and doesn't process that they can hear him as he spends the trip kissing Kensi on the top of her head, telling her stories about Monty missing her. He makes circles on her back with his fingers.
When they arrive at the hospital the process is reversed. Like a trust exercise he lifts her and seeing Sam and Callen there, he steps backwards to the ground knowing that the team won't let him fall. He carries her into the Emergency Room himself, and when a doctor meets them and leads them to a private room he knows that someone has made a phone call. He carries her inside and Callen holds everyone else outside the door.
"I'm gonna put you down now, ok? We're here at the hospital and the doctors are going to take a look at you."
He sets her softly on the examination table, standing right in front of her. She doesn't fight. He rolls his shoulders from the strain of getting her there. Her eyes are still closed.
"I'm going to go get the doctor now." He turns and is about to take a step when he feels her hand snap out and grab his wrist.
"Well I see the cat-like ninja reflexes are still intact. I…" but he is interrupted when he hears her speak.
"Are you really here?"
Her eyes are still closed and her voice is soft and timid – unsure in a way he doesn't think he's ever heard, but it's the first words he's gotten and they are coherent and directed at him and his heart leaps. He holds one finger up towards the door and freezes the staff that were about to enter.
Then he puts his forehead against hers.
"I'm right here, baby. Open your eyes. You just need to open them and you'll see I'm here and you're safe."
She lets go of his wrist bringing her hand up to the side of his face. She traces his contours like a blind person, letting touch be her sight. The feeling of her hands on him makes his eyes close, overwhelmed with how relieved he is to have her here with him, how her touch, even in the midst of this chaos, is healing and life-affirming. And when his eyes open she is looking back at him.
"You really are here."
It's hope, and disbelief and a prayer all rolled into one, and Deeks never heard a sound that was more amazing in all of his life.
"Oh my god, Kensi," is all he can get out before his hands are on the sides of her face, too, and he is thanking every force of nature that brought her back to him.
"Every other time I dreamed about you coming for me I opened my eyes and I was still in that room."
The revelation breaks his heart. He negotiates her position until he can kiss her forehead "This is real. I'm real. it's really over." His tears fall while she just takes him in, and finally he regroups.
"I'm going to bring the doctors in now, ok? I'm going to be right outside that door. You say the word and I'm back in here knocking heads."
It earns him a nod and he uses it as the right time to invite the staff with a gesture.
He doesn't break eye contact with her while he hears them speak to her.
"Agent Blye. I'm Dr. Tarusso. Let's get you checked out."
He steps out into the hallway. Sam closes the door to give Kensi some privacy, and Deeks steps to the side of the doorframe and sinks to the floor. She probably thought he was kidding, but if he hears her call his name he'll take the door down to get to her. He doesn't really know how long he's been there when he sees a hand reach down to help him up. Sam offers coffee in the other.
Deeks allows himself to be pulled to standing. He graciously accepts the coffee, maybe more because drinking it is at least something to do while he waits.
"Compliments of Nell," Sam tells him.
Seeing Nell out of the corner of his eye Deeks holds the coffee up as if he's toasting – his own form of thank you. Nell shakes her head with a smile and comes over.
"Want me to take your tac vest out to the car?"
Deeks didn't realize he was still wearing it.
Staff begin entering and exiting Kensi's room. He peeks in to see her, but she is obscured by people and machines. He crosses to the other side of the hall, leaning himself against the wall with one knee bent and one leg straight. There he can watch the door, drinks his coffee and wait. The coffee is gone when the door opens and the doctor comes to speak to him.
He pushes himself off the wall with his bent knee to meet her, and is keenly aware that as she begins speaking there are hands on his shoulders. Two different hands. Sam and Callen letting him know that they literally have his back and Kensi's back and everything that he needs.
The words hit his ears. Malnourished. Dehydrated. Sleep deprived. A few stitches for recent cuts. Past cuts that are too far past stitches. Burns on her back. No evidence or memory of sexual assault.
Deeks is sure he feels Sam squeeze his shoulder a little tighter.
A mostly healed concussion. A small skull fracture. More contusions than they could count. A hairline fracture of her cheekbone. Drugs in her system. Clear memories of events but an uncertainty in order or duration.
"She is in remarkably good shape, Detective. I know it's hard to imagine her current condition as lucky, but that might be the best way to describe it."
An orderly exists the exam room and props the door open and over the doctor's shoulder Deeks sees the room is now completely empty. He walks past the doctor to look inside only to see a double door open across the room that he hadn't noticed.
"We're moving her up to a private room. They're going to get her settled and then someone will be down to get you. One more thing – she's asleep and likely will be until morning."
"Was she sedated?"
"No – not specifically. There was a fair amount of pain from the beatings, and we administered a pain killer to help. Once the drugs she'd been given started to wear off and the new medication started taking effect she was out. I know that you all probably wanted to speak to her, but trust me – her resting right now is the most important thing."
"No, of course. Thank you, Doctor."
Sam and Callen added their thanks and handshakes, and spread the word in the waiting room that Kensi is in good shape. Deeks encourages everyone to head home. He will stand guard tonight, but after nine brutal days of worrying everyone has earned themselves some undisturbed sleep in their own beds.
Nell gives him a hug and hands him the keys to the Audi.
"It's parked in the lot out that door," she says, pointing. "I'm going to catch a ride back with Sam. We'll be back in the morning. Give our girl a hug for me."
Deeks takes a deep breath and a smile forms. It's been a while since that happened.
A nurse calls his name and he waves. He follows her up to Kensi's room and pulls a chair up beside her bed. He wants to joke and hold her hand, but he honestly doesn't want anything more than he wants to be ok. It's not like when she was in a coma, when he could hold her hand to comfort himself as much as her. He reminds himself she's just sleeping, and he fights the urge to do anything that might disturb her.
He drifts to a shallow sleep.