"I'm not eighteen yet, you know? You can't do this to me without my legal guardian!" Alex sneered at the two men as they gently pushed her into the boat shed.

"Well if you'd give us your name, it would be a lot easier to find a legal guardian," Callen told her.

"I'm not saying anything until I get my phone call," She protested as Sam hooked one of her cuffs to the table inside the interrogation room.

As the partners exited the room, Sam couldn't help but chuckle. "Teenager...goodness, they're difficult."

"She's smart...too smart for her own good," Callen agreed. "Deeks and Kensi on their way?"

"Yeah, Nell claims that Hetty wants us to wait until they get here before proceeding."

"Huh," Callen twisted his mouth as he stared at the fidgety girl inside the room. Hetty putting a stoplight on a case wasn't exactly common. There was something about this girl that he couldn't quite place... she just seemed so familiar and he couldn't figure out why.

The sound of the door clicking and footsteps inside the shed alerted the agents to Deeks and Kensi's arrival.

"What's going on?" Kensi questioned with Deeks trailing slowly behind her. "Nell said that Hetty wanted us here before the interrogation."

"Kid tried to run before we could talk to her at the school, Nell and Eric are running facial recognition," Sam explained while gesturing to the girl on the monitor.

"That won't be necessary," Deeks mumbled.

"You recognize her?" Callen whipped his head around to the detective, hoping that he could shed some light on where his familiarity with the girl came from.

Deeks looked at him warily, as if he were dreading the conversation that was sure to come within the next minute. His hesitation brought Sam and Kensi to shift their bodies towards him as well, waiting for his response.

"I um...I-I want to talk to her first...before anything else, I need to talk to her."

"Deeks," Kensi breathed out, worrying about her partner. He had been acting strange ever since the briefing this morning, but this was a new height of weird. He barely spoke to her on the ride back from the crime scene and she could swear she saw him hyperventilating when Nell called to inform them of Hetty's request. Whatever was going on, it was serious and Deeks was freaking out.

"I'm good," He glanced at her with a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. "In sorry for not telling you guys sooner, but I need to talk to her...please."

"What's going on, Deeks?" Sam said, walking around the table to place a hand on the younger man's shoulder.

"You'll find out once I speak to her, but please..." He said with labored breath, his eyes pleading with all the emotion he couldn't convey in his voice.

"We can't let you in there," Callen said, trying to get a read on Deeks. "We can't let anyone in there until her parents are contacted."

"Good luck with that," Deeks scoffed with a humorless laugh. "Her parents are dead to her. Dead. You won't find them, and even if you did, I'd never let you bring them back into her life."

"Deeks, what the living hell is going on?" Kensi questioned, frustration creeping its way into her voice. She was worried about her partner, her friend, her...something more. It angered her that whatever he was dealing with, he was under the impression that he had to go through it alone.

"You know, why don't you ask Hetty?" Deeks turned to her, letting a bit of annoyance sneak its way into his tone. "Apparently, she felt the need to bring Alex into this. The only person in my life that is separated from the horror and violence of my job. The only person that I have been able to protect from everything. She felt the need to bring her into this, because the almighty Henrietta Lange knows exactly what's best for everyone! Even when it's none of her damn business!"

By the time he was finished, he was shaking with rage. The three agents couldn't help but realize that this girl wasn't just someone he happened to recognize. Whoever she was, she was important. Important enough for him to risk the wrath of Hetty to protect her.

"I'll have you know, Mr. Deeks, that the lives of each and every one of my agents is my business." Hetty's voice sounded through the room from the monitor. The four turned to face the screen, noticing Hetty's small frame and the shocked and worried looks of Eric and Nell as they stood behind her.

"I'm not one of your agents, Hetty." Deeks' words dripped with anger as he stared straight at her through the screen.

"I advise you to choose your next words very carefully, Mr. Deeks."

The two stared each other down for several minutes, both of them managing to communicate with unspoken words. Callen glanced back and forth between the two, gauging the situation as the others exchanged awkward looks with one another.

"I don't know about the two of you, but there's a teenage girl in the next room who may or may not be a murderer," Callen finally said, breaking the silence.

Deeks whipped his head around to face the older man, "She didn't kill anyone, she's innocent."

"I don't know what your relation to her is, Deeks, but we still need to conduct an interrogation."

"Not without her legal guardian."

Hetty's voice once again came from the monitor. "Then I suggest you get your ass in there, Mr. Deeks, because there are two dead children and their killer has yet to be apprehended."

With once last glare at his boss, Deeks stomped his way into the interrogation room.

"Wait..." Kensi said after a few seconds. "Deeks is her legal guardian?"

"Hetty, who is this girl?" Sam asked, voicing the question they all had on their minds.

"I'm afraid it is not my place to answer that question, Mr. Hannah," Hetty sighed. "I advise that you all do not hold your punches in this interview for Mr. Deeks is a wonderful attorney and I can assure you he has gone into defensive mode."

"Hetty, no offense but...this is Deeks we're talking about," Kensi said.

"Miss Blye, as of now, our priority is finding the killer of Laurel Perkins and Jackson Hemridge." Hetty eyed each of her agents, assuring that they all understood.

-LINE BREAK-

Callen took a deep breath as he entered the interrogation room. He and Deeks had never been particularly close, but he enjoyed the lightheartedness that the detective brought to certain situations. It didn't seem that Deeks was going to be on their side with this one, but hopefully all they had to do was have Alex answer a few questions and this would be over. Hetty had assured them that Deeks would be cooperative or he would face very serious repercussions. As he entered the room, he noticed Alex slap Deeks on the thigh lightly, gesturing to their new visitor. Deeks glanced up at Callen, steeling his face.

"I don't have a file on you like we normally would because we were told it wouldn't be necessary," Callen began lightly as he took a seat. He opted to speak directly to Alex, ignoring Deeks for the time being.

He could practically feel Deeks' eyes boring into the side of his head. Sam and Kensi were both in the other room, watching intently. Neither Deeks nor Alex made a move to acknowledge his comment, so he continued.

"We could start with something easy," Callen suggested, sitting back in his seat. "What's your full name exactly? So far all I've got is 'Alex.'"

"My full name has nothing to do with this case," Alex pointed out. "I thought your job was to find Laurel and Jack's killer. Wouldn't my full name fall under the column 'irrelevant information?'"

Callen glanced at Deeks for a few seconds, but didn't receive any acknowledgement other than a small smirk that held a hint of pride. Deeks' influence on this girl's life certainly shone brightly through her smart, witty comments.

"It is irrelevant information, but it would be nice to know who I'm talking to."

"Unless it has to do with the case, she has nothing to say," Deeks spoke.

Callen barely recognized his voice. It was strong and authoritative, much different from the goofy, surfer drawl that they had all gotten used to. This was what Hetty had meant when she said Deeks had gone into lawyer-mode. It was damn good too...

"Well then, we'll stick to the case." Callen agreed with a smile, attempting to lessen the tension in the room. "How well did you know Laurel and Jackson?"

"We've known each other since elementary school—Laurel and I. We were never really close, though."

"From what I heard, that may be a bit of an understatement," Callen pushed. "She used to bully you."

Callen couldn't help but notice Deeks' twitch at his last statement, but his face remained stoic.

"She was a bitch," Alex admitted, receiving a disapproving glance from Deeks.

"Did the bullying ever stop?" Callen pressed on, not acknowledging her previous comment.

"Sort of...I guess," Alex responded quietly. "They still get mad at me for not wearing pink on Wednesdays though—if that's what you're asking...?" Alex smirked at him. Deeks nudged her in the side again.

"Do you hold a grudge against them for what they did?"

"Don't answer that," Deeks commanded before Alex could respond.

Eyeing Deeks suspiciously, Callen continued. "Any altercations between you and Laurel recently?"

"Don't answer that either," Deeks commanded again.

Callen sighed. This wasn't exactly what he would call cooperative, but for the sake of Deeks' job, he was hoping that Hetty wasn't tuning in to this little session.

"How about Jackson?" Callen asked, glancing at Deeks warily.

"What about him?" Alex questioned in return.

"How did the two of you get along?"

"He was nice, I guess. A lot nicer than Laurel ever was." Alex rolled her eyes, earning another glare from Deeks.

"Were the two of you together romantically? Did Jackson have feelings for you, or maybe the other way around?"

"Ew no...I never thought of him like that. He was just a nice person, I don't know." Alex responded defensively. This line of questioning seemed to make her uncomfortable for whatever reason, it may be the only way he'd be getting information out of her.

"Was there a chance that Laurel may have thought there was something going on between you two?" Callen asked, noticing Deeks tense again.

"I already told you that we weren't close, I wouldn't know," Alex responded with irritation. "That's a question you'd have to ask Yanira and Katie, they were her best friends."

"Interestingly, I spoke to Yanira and Katie." Callen clarified to her. "They implied that you may have had a bit of crush on Jackson, which would have translated to jealousy in Laurel's direction..."

"Don't respond to that," Deeks jumped in again. His advice was ignored by Alex however as she went right along to do exactly so.

"That is the dumbest inquiry I've ever heard-"

"Alex! I said don't respond!" Deeks turned to glare at her.

"Even if I was jealous of Laurel, which I wasn't; why would I kill them both?" Alex rolled her eyes at the agent. "And just a few weeks before graduation? If I wanted to be in a relationship with Jack, I would've killed Laurel a lot sooner so I would have more than fourteen days to get with Jackson before he left for boot camp. I'm not that stupid."

"You're incriminating yourself, Alex, take my advice for once and shut up." Deeks glared at the young girl.

As Alex turned to stare right back at Deeks, the realization finally hit Callen. The smart comments, the one liners, the nudges, the annoyed glances, the facial features, the stubbornness, the overprotection...

"You're siblings." Callen blurted out before he could stop himself.

Both individuals turned to acknowledge the outburst.

"Finally!" Alex yelled, "I thought it was gonna take you all forever!"

"Alex," Deeks warned.

Callen's mind was going a million miles a minute. He had known Deeks for eight years, and not once had he ever mentioned a cousin, a sibling, a little sister... It wasn't even in his file. As far as he knew, none of them had ever asked, but they were still his team. Deeks and Callen locked eyes; no wonder he hadn't said anything about who Alex was, how could he? After eight years, he couldn't very well drop such a bomb on his partners.

Partner. Oh no, Kensi... He had lied to Kensi. A part of Callen felt responsible. If he had remembered about Kensi, he would have kept his mouth shut until he had a chance to speak to Deeks himself. Kensi was watching, she heard everything, she knew everything. Her partner had been lying to her for their entire friendship—or whatever those two were. As he and Deeks locked eyes, the thought seemed to hit the both of them like a ton of bricks.

Callen understood secrets. He understood the need for secrets. He may not understand too much about family, but he sure had his fair share of keeping his loved ones in the dark about important information. He and Sam had built their partnership on experience; the knowledge that they would each share their secrets when they were ready. Kensi and Deeks had built theirs on raw trust; the knowledge that there were no secrets to share. They knew everything there was to know about each other. This-this revelation about Deeks would destroy her, it would ruin their partnership, their friendship, their...thing. In that very moment, as he and Deeks shared that look, he realized how similar they truly were. He poured his deepest condolences into that look, attempting to share how truly sorry he felt about the storm the younger man would face as soon as he left this room. He tried to convey his willingness to stand with him, even though they had never been as close as either of them would have liked. If the teenage girl sitting across from him was any indication, this clearly was a matter of family, and in that very moment, Callen and Deeks were family.

Without breaking their gaze, Deeks whispered in a barely audible voice, "No more questions."

-LINE BREAK-

There we go! After about three weeks of no updates, I feel kinda terrible so here's an early chapter. I'm also stuck in a house with no internet so I'm on 4G LTE and Hotspot for the remainder of this week. I have absolutely nothing to do except write. Thanks again, my awesome peeps.

Review, review, review!