The team was in Ops going over new Cardenas intel they had received that morning from DEA.

Word was out that the Cardenas compound in the north had a special guest. No idea who, just that it was part of a plan to move the cartel in a different direction. So far there was no ID and no photos of Kensi, and the team in Ops counted that a win. Jacobs sent over the location of the compound and some satellite photos that showed a lot of activity. They asked Jacobs if it was always that busy there.

Jacobs explained that the Cardenas had taken sibling rivalry to the next level in the last few days. It turned out the three siblings weren't all happy to run the cartel together into the future. Tina, the youngest of the three heirs apparent decided to make a play.

Tina attacked the compound where Tony and Tejo were holding a meeting with suppliers and lieutenants. No idea on the subject of the meeting. There was a gun battle. Intel said there were a lot of bodies taken off the property the next day, and that Tina lost her gambit and paid the price. No one has seen or heard from Tio, and they weren't sure if Tina acted with his blessing or if he was even still alive.

Ops was looking for satellite photos or any asset reporting that might shed light on what was going on at the compound. Coverage wasn't constant, but in the windows of surveillance the images showed a clearly heightened security presence. Now they were sure they knew where she was but the compound had become a paranoid fortress.

Eric checked his screen when a phone rang. "It's the number for The Rising," he said, silencing the room.

"Operations," Eric answered

"I need Callen."

"Understood. Please hold."

They routed the phone to Callen's comm, and everyone gathered around the center island hoping for an update.

"Callen."

"We need to talk."

"Well I don't even know who this is," Callen pointed out.

"Antonio Cardenas."

Callen didn't' like that Kensi wasn't on the line. He tried to play the loyal lieutenant and tell Tony that The Phoenix prefers when people don't go around her; that she's been down there with them long enough that they should already know that. Callen told him to put her on the phone.

"There was an incident."

"What kind of incident?"

Antonio was a man on the verge of running a drug cartel, so he wasn't easy to spook, but Callen swore he sounded shaken. Tony told them that there was a family matter that had gotten out of hand, that escalated unexpectedly and more … violently … than he'd anticipated.

"Your business is your business, man. Why are you telling me?"

And there was the rub of it. Tony considered Callen 'Ally's' second in command. He said that having met Callen face to face he thought he owed him the call. He reiterated that he knew her protection was his responsibility. The tiptoeing around the point was making everyone's anxiety rise.

"What happened?" Callen demanded.

And then Antonio told them. He told them that Allison had taken a bullet in the attack, and suffered a head injury. That she was recovering. That she would make a full recovery. She was being treated on his estate and she would be fine. That it was pushing the timeline of the meet with their third party by a week or ten days, but that arrangements for the next phase were made and that it was all still coming together.

"I want to speak to her."

Tony deflected. Maybe in a few days, he told Callen. She was still out a lot of the time. Then he asked if there was a Max working for her, and Callen looked at Deeks and said yes.

"After surgery she asked me to tell Max that he didn't need to check on her apartment, 'because the fern was alive and well'. I'm not sure what that is code for exactly, but hopefully it conveys that she is alright."

Deeks looked up at the heavens as he shook his head in disbelief. She knew. She knew him. She knew them. She knew that if they found out about her being shot they would plan an exfil to bring her home and she passed a message to hold them in place and not blow her cover.

And all he wanted to do gear up and go get her.

"Best in the business," Sam whispered, reiterating something he and Callen had said many times about her.

Callen reiterated that he wanted to speak to her as soon as possible and the call ended, and it was Deeks that spoke first.

"We need to pull her out."

"And how do you propose we do that, Mr. Deeks?" Granger asked. "She's injured and the place is locked down like Fort Knox. She wants to stay. We have no good plan to get her. We hold."

"Exactly," Deeks countered. "She's injured. Shot. Head Injury. Maybe surgery in what? This guy's basement? Probably on pain pills, 'cause it's not like the Cardenas have trouble finding, you know, drugs. And you know what it's hard to do on pills with a head injury? Think clearly and keep secrets. We can't just hope she keeps her cover in those circumstances. It's too dangerous."

Callen agreed. "I'm with Deeks. We have the coordinates for the compound. We should tac up and go get her."

It was Sam that tried to reason with them. "That place just had a major incursion. They've reinforced every entry point. They probably doubled their manpower, upped their firepower. Suspicion will be off the chart, so it's not like a simple con is going to get us in. We need to play on Antonio's guilt - leverage that to get better access to Kensi until we have a better idea of what's going on."

"Who the hell is Allison?" Callen asked.

That one Nell explained. Two years earlier Kensi had asked for a back-up cover. She played a lot of roles they thought up in the car. She spent a lot of time as eye candy that never even had a name. She had Nell and Eric build her a cover just in case she ever wound up in a bad spot in one of those ops and suddenly needed to be a real person.

"This is Allison Montrose," Eric said, filling the screen with a driver's license, transcripts, leasing agreements, car insurance, library card – all the things that made someone look like a real someone. We sent her in with Callen for his infil without an actual identity. She must have eventually needed a name, and took this one."

"She's a good Agent," Granger reiterated. "We just have to let this play out."

"And pray," Nell said quietly.

"And pray," Hetty agreed.

"Agent Blye stays where she is," Granger announced, making his decision clear.

Deeks walked out of the room.

It was Sam that found him a few minutes later, not sitting at his own desk, but at Kensi's. His hands were engaged, fidgeting with some gadget on her desk. Sam leaned against Kensi's desk and waited for the detective to speak.

"If this goes sideways and she doesn't," his voice hitched and he exhaled before he continued, "and she doesn't make it home, I won't forgive myself or anyone else."

Sam just nodded, respecting the sentiment.

"You go down there and pull her out after the blood and sweat she's put in over the last six weeks and she'll kick your ass six ways from Sunday."

Deeks' blank expression didn't change and he didn't meet Sam's eyes.

"I'm losing it, man" Deeks finally offered. "When I do deep cover it isn't like this – there are protocols and check-ins. Camera's I walk by, signals I leave in windows. We are blind, Sam. Blind. And she's injured hundreds of miles away in a foreign country surrounded by cartel thugs and I'm sitting at home and surfing on weekends and I'm losing it."

"Yeah. And that's the job. Not this job," he says gesturing around the bullpen, "but the job of having what it takes to be strong enough to care about a woman like Kensi. Maybe it's good to see this side of it before you guys wade any deeper into the water of what you are to each other."

Deeks looks up to protest, not willing to admit what he feels for her to Sam before he admits it to Kensi, but Sam waves off the deflection and continues.

"It's ok, you know. To not want her to be in the situation even though you know she can handle it. To want to protect her even though you trust her abilities. The safest way to get her home now is to see it through."

"God I hope you're right."


There was a mission briefing getting started in Ops. Eric had called them to the Op Center with a Chilean piccolo that he had not yet mastered. It sounded like an out of breath fairy in pain. Either way they dutifully followed the sound to see what had shown up their radar screen. Nell was about to get started when Eric interrupted.

"There's a call coming in to The Rising number." It had been five days since the call from Antonio, and the room was equal parts excitement and dread.

Nell pointed to her headset and Eric routed the call to her line.

"Operations," Nell answered in her best professional voice while Eric put it on speaker.

"You keeping my business running like a finely tuned machine?"

It was Kensi. It stopped everyone in their tracks. They looked at each other, small smiles spreading and relief palpable in the room. She sounded so conversational. She sounded so herself.

"Yes, ma'am," Nell assured her with enthusiasm.

"Everyone good there?"

"Yes. Everyone here is fine. We were informed you were injured." Not a question. Nell wanted to let Kensi take it wherever she wanted to go.

"Well, yes. You can tell the boys there will be no more bragging because they've been shot and I haven't. I bought drinks for every one of them when they came back from medical leave, so I expect I won't be buying my own for a while."

"I'll pass it on so they can start saving up. I'm sure they'll consider it an honor to welcome you to the club."

Kensi continued the conversation. She asked about additional water damage from the plumbing problem and said she might have an idea how it started. She apologized that she was going to miss Nell's birthday. She told them to tell Max to go ahead and sign them up for the mini-triathlon later this fall and that she would be ready. She said she thought it would play out like the Encinas deal.

"Is there anything you need?" Nell asked tentatively.

"A few episodes of America's Top Model, noodles from Manhattan Beach, a Pacific sunset and my Sig. But mostly just to bring the deal home. That's all I'm thinking about."

"Roger that, ma'am. We're looking forward to your return. We'll be ready."

In the background there were a series of loud noises that made everyone in Ops look to each other in confusion trying to place the sound. A shriek, a cry, a yell, a laugh, they weren't sure what it was. "Then a small voice that excitedly yelled "Ally!" It was Sam who offered the best explanation.

"Children?" he whispered to the room.

"I have to go. Plans are moving forward. Hope to be back in the office soon."

And they heard the click of the call disconnecting.

Again it was Eric and Nell who used the protocols to give additional information. She asked about the leak to see if there had been any additional damage done with Callan's exposure. She told them she had a lead on where the leak started. She told them that she was alright and that with some training she would be ready for a triathlon. She told them that with Nell's birthday coming up in two weeks it was unlikely that she would be back by then. She told them she was focussed on the mission.

Mentioning the Encinas deal was telling. That was an Op from two years ago that involved a three way deal where everyone was suspicion of each other. It made the team aware that there was reason to be wary of the final transaction. As if any of them were going to let their guard down until Kensi was back safe and sound.

But then there were the children. That also told them something they didn't know. Kensi wasn't being kept in some cartel stronghold. She was being kept in the Cardenas family estate. That was good news in that it undoubtedly more comfortable, but it was bad news for her cover. Living as a guest in a family home put her cover on display 24/7 and exposed her more than usual. Also, everyone knew that Kensi had a way with kids, and it would be a little bit of a rocky road if she was navigating little ones right and left.

They just had to hope she could hold it together.