"Alexandria Bella Brandel," Deeks said as he walked tentatively out of the interrogation room. "That's her full name...and yes, she's my sister."
Sam's eyes switched back and forth rapidly between the screen monitoring the girl inside the room and Deeks standing before them. How had they not known Deeks had a sister—a teenage sister? Teenagers aren't exactly easy to hide, so how in the world had Deeks managed to keep this one a secret for so long? One thing was for sure, it took effort. Deeks had purposely went out of his way to keep a massive portion of his life confidential. Sam would be lying if he didn't admit that it hurt...
Kensi's eyes were fixed on her boots, seemingly ignoring every word that was spoken around her. How could he keep this from me? Why did he keep this from me? Did he not trust me? Kensi couldn't help but allow the insecurities to flood her mind as her partner approached, placing a warm hand on her arm.
"Kens..." Deeks began.
"Were you ever going to tell me?" Kensi looked up at him with watery eyes.
Deeks could feel his chest tighten at the sight before him. His partner, his friend, his...something more, was broken because of him. She was doubting herself because of him. Water pooled beneath her brown, mismatched eyes. There was no anger there like he had expected, instead there was only hurt. He wanted to say yes, to say that he was going to tell her everything, to say that he never meant to keep this from her, to say that it wasn't his fault. The only problem seemed to be that it was his fault...he did mean to keep it from her...and if it weren't for today, she probably never would have found out about the other most important woman in his life. He couldn't lie to her, not again...
Deeks' silence seemed to tell Kensi all she needed to know. Shrugging his hand off of her arm, Kensi put her fingers up to her eyes to hide the tears that were soon to fall. As she pushed her way past the three men and out of the boat shed, she couldn't help but wonder if Deeks meant more to her than she ever did to him.
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"You owe her an explanation, Deeks," Sam said quietly after Kensi's emotional exit. "You owe us all and explanation." With that, Sam followed Kensi out.
"I know," Deeks muttered, fighting back his own emotions. Turning to Callen, he continued, "But right now, Alex is my priority, everything else has to wait."
"She isn't cleared yet, Deeks." Callen looked at the detective, speaking calmly. "We're all on your side here, but we have to do our jobs."
"She's innocent, Callen. I know my sister and she would never do this." Deeks said, staring at him with pleading eyes.
"I believe you, Deeks, I do. But she may have valuable information," Callen responded. "Give me a chance to talk to her—alone. If I go too far, you can step in and end it, I promise."
"Ten minutes," Deeks agreed. "You have ten minutes to get your information, then I'm taking her home."
Callen nodded, leaving to question the young girl in the room. Deeks stood rigid, staying back and honoring his agreement with Callen. As the agent entered the room, Deeks couldn't help but hold his breath, praying that Alex wouldn't say anything to get herself into anymore trouble.
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Callen closed the door gently, drawing Alex's attention to him as he strolled towards the table.
"Where's Marty?" Alex questioned, eyeing Callen suspiciously.
"On the other side of that wall," Callen gestured to the wall behind him.
"Why isn't he in here?" She asked anxiously.
Callen could tell that the girl was getting agitated and nervous at the absence of her older brother. She was scared and clearly didn't trust the agent sitting across from her. Regardless, he needed to get information so this entire situation could be over with.
"I'm just going to ask a few questions, you don't have to answer anything that makes you uncomfortable."
"Why isn't Marty in here?" She demanded again, ignoring his previous comment.
"He agreed to ten minutes of questioning. Again, you don't have to tell me anything you don't want to."
"Marty said it was okay?" She asked tentatively, narrowing her eyes.
"I will never lie to you, Alex," Callen said, attempting to win over the young girl's trust. "I promise."
"Fine," She agreed, taking a deep breath and sitting back in her chair.
"First question," Callen began. "Was Laurel acting strange leading up to last night?"
"I already told you, I barely spoke to Laurel. I have absolutely no idea."
"When was the last time you spoke to her?"
"I-I..." Alex stumbled over her response. "No one else is hearing this...right?"
"Only your brother and I," Callen said, glancing towards the camera in the corner.
Alex noticed his glance, turning to the camera as well. "I don't...I don't want him to hear either."
Within seconds, the door was swinging open on the hinges as Deeks came bounding in. "What the hell did you do, Alexandria?"
Alex jumped out of her chair, facing her older brother with determination. "I didn't do anything! Every time I try to do something on my own, you freak out! This is why I never tell you anything!"
"I freak out because you're always hiding things from me, Alex! I never know when you've gotten yourself into trouble, which it seems you've managed to do once again!"
"You think I'm a murderer!?" Alex screamed, throwing her hands up in the air dramatically.
Before Deeks could respond, Callen cut into the conversation. "Deeks, you said ten minutes. I still have seven...out, now."
Callen could practically see the anger radiating from Deeks' body as he turned on his heel and stomped out of the room. He slammed the door to the interrogation room closed and Alex retook her seat at the table. The two heard the very angry banging of the boatshed door, signaling that Deeks had left them to speak privately.
"It's just me now...what happened?" Callen asked, getting them back on track.
"The last time I saw Laurel was last night at the pizza place," Alex revealed. "And before you freak out like Marty did, both she and Jack were very much alive when I left."
"Was there anything different about either of them? Did something seem off about them? Were they acting weird at all?" Callen asked.
"Kind of, they were...fighting."
"What were they fighting about?"
"Me, I think...?" Alex scrunched up her face nervously. "Marty and I were having a movie night, so he ordered pizza. We stopped by the restaurant to pick up the food and I went in to pay while he stayed in the car. Laurel and Jackson just happened to be there."
"What happened?"
"Laurel thought I was there to see Jack and she got pissed. She started yelling at him and when he tried to calm her down, she pushed him away and threatened to break off their relationship."
"Did she approach you?"
Alex suddenly stood up from her chair, pulling up the left side of her shirt slightly, revealing a large purple bruise.
"She accused me of being a slut and sleeping aground with her boyfriend," Alex explained as she replaced her shirt and sat back down. "I'm not exactly one to take incorrect accusations if you haven't noticed. I called her a bitch and she pushed me into a table and gave me that bruise.
"The manager came out then, and since I had already gotten our order, I just left before he could say anything to me. Marty always freaks out about those things, as you saw a little while ago. I didn't want him to find out that I had gotten into a fight, he would be...disappointed. I hate disappointing him," Alex explained. Her last sentence was added quietly, as if she were saying it more to herself than to Callen.
"Do you know anything about what happened after you left?" Callen asked, filing away her insecurity for a later conversation.
"I think they got kicked out, but honestly I'm not sure."
"About what time did you run into the two?"
"When Marty and I got home is what about 9:30...so maybe 9:15 or so?"
"Was there anyone else that Laurel and Jackson may have had a problem with?"
"I may not have liked her too much, but she was pretty cool when she wanted to be. I don't know why anyone would've wanted her gone."
"Why was Laurel so convinced that you and Jackson had feelings for one other?"
"He was always nice to me," Alex answered. "We were never particularly close or anything, but we made each other laugh. I guess she just didn't like that."
"What about Jack?" Callen asked. "Anyone who may have wanted to hurt him?"
"He got into his fair share of fights, but I doubt anyone hated him enough to kill him." Alex shrugged, staring down at her open hands.
Callen could tell she was beginning to retreat into herself. His ten minutes were almost up and he still hadn't gotten any useful information that could lead them to the killer. Other than some high school drama that he was quite thankful he never had to deal with, Alex didn't seem to know anything about how Laurel and Jackson ended up in that alley.
"Did you see anyone else around the restaurant that looked suspicious or out of place?" Callen asked.
"Not that I can remember...maybe...? I-I don't know." Alex sounded exhausted by the day's turn of events.
As Callen was scooting back in his chair to end the interview, the door burst open and Deeks bounded in.
"Ten minutes are up," He said glaring at Callen. "Alex, we're leaving. Now."
Alex stood, shooting an apologetic look at Callen for her brother's abruptness. As she was walking towards her brother, the thought finally hit Callen.
"One last question," Callen called out before either of them could leave the room. Both siblings stopped in their tracks and turned to face him.
"When I cornered you at the school, you took me down pretty easily...how?"
"My overly-protective elder brother is an undercover detective that is also employed by NCIS," Alex switched her gaze between the two men. "What do you think?"
Callen chuckled at her sarcasm and leaned back in his chair. "Definitely Deeks' sister," He said with a smile, glancing at the detective in question.
Deeks smirked slightly at the agent's comment, but quickly steeled his face once more. "Let's go, Al."
With that the two left the room and seconds later, the boatshed. As Callen sat in the interrogation room thinking over the last few hours, he couldn't help but realize what an odd day it had been. Sam was right when he said that Deeks owed them all an explanation, especially Kensi. The look on her face when Deeks had told them all his sister's name was one he would never forget...
"Alexandria Bella Brandel," He had said with his eyes trained on the floor.
Hold on... Brandel?
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