A/N: Hopefully this chapter isn't too much of a mess, but I think it kind of might be. It's been a bear to deal with. I based it around a modified version of "Little Angels" from season 2.
Deeks was sitting on the edge of his desk, facing Sam and Callen while they chatted. He'd finished all of his paperwork and setting up his online accounts. He now had limited access to several federal databases (of course only after being threatened with life imprisonment if he discussed the contents with anyone). There wasn't much else he could do until someone gave him further instruction.
"So how'd the firearms training go?" Sam asked Deeks, smirking at him in a not entirely friendly way. Scratch that, there was nothing friendly about it. Deeks had known Agent Hanna would be a hard sell from the moment he met him, but he wasn't sure why the other man had so much animosity for him. Even his lack of experience didn't explain it.
"It went fine," Deeks answered, resisting the urge to look over his shoulder. Kensi was talking with Hetty in her "office". Likely talking about him. Somehow he didn't think Hetty would be overly impressed with his progress at the shooting range.
If she made it a point of contention, he would reference his freshly signed contract, which made no mention of firearms training. He'd double checked.
"Really?" Callen said condescendingly. "So you fired inside the lines?"
"Yes." Deeks wasn't sure why he felt the need to defend himself. He didn't even want firearms training. It would actually probably work in his favor if he played up on his lack of ability, but there was something infuriating about the two agents' superior attitude. They immediately assumed he would fail and that annoyed him.
"Where?" Sam asked, his voice leading.
"Right shoulder," Deeks said, not mentioning how close it had been to the very edge.
"Ha, knew it!"
"You do remember that this was my first lesson, right?" Deeks didn't expect them to have any sympathy, and he was right.
"Deeks, I had better aim than that when I was a kid," Sam said. And so had he, Deeks thought bitterly.
"Well to be fair, not all of us were overachievers," Callen said, his tone teasing. He muttered something that sounded like "mathlete" under his breath and Sam glared at him warningly. "In any case, Deeks, I hope you're seeing that this isn't a game. It's a hard job and it takes dedication."
"Never thought it was," Deeks said with a bitter smile. He saw Kensi coming back down and remembered their bet. While chatting, he'd been silently thinking of ways to distract her enough to make her touch him. Based on the past few weeks, it wouldn't be all that difficult.
A piercing whistle echoed through the room, distracting him from his nefarious plans, and they all turned towards the stairs where Eric and Hetty were waiting. Each day Eric had announced his presence in a different, and often bizarre, way. Personally, Deeks preferred the day Eric had yodeled his way down the stairs. The song was unrecognizable and sounded truly awful, but Deeks appreciated the variation. Not to mention, the irritation on Sam's face.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, make haste," Hetty said gravely. Deeks followed everyone up the stairs, moving to the back of the room as Eric pulled up a man's military ID on the big screen.
"Commander Jason Rehme designs and maintains the cryptographic logons used by the department of naval personnel with the highest security clearance," Eric began.
"Commander Jason Rehme is missing," Hetty added. "He had a department meeting at 0600. He never showed."
"He hasn't answered any calls, texts or emails."
"Does NCIS normally handle missing person cases?" Deeks asked, wondering why a case like this wouldn't be handed down to a lesser agency.
"The Commander isn't just any missing person," Eric answered. "Rehme has access to nearly all of the navy's confidential information. He'd be a prime target for domestic and international terrorists."
"Ok, that's definitely not good."
"Indeed, Mr. Deeks."
"He's been missing for an hour and a half," Callen said, glancing at Eric. "Send me his last known whereabouts. Let's move."
"What do you want me to do?" Deeks asked as he jogged down the stairs behind Kensi.
"You can hang out with Eric," Sam suggested. "Maybe he has some files that need to be burned or something." Deeks frowned at the back of his head, pursing his lips.
"He really does not like me," he muttered as he reached the bottom of the stairs. Kensi stopped beside him.
"He'll come around eventually," she said. She reached to knock his shoulder, but pulled her hand back at the last second before she made contact. "But until then, don't try to annoy him too much."
Deeks didn't comment on that, watching as Kensi grabbed her Sig and slipped it into her waistband.
"Be careful," he said, leaning towards her. Her eyes widened for a second as he dipped his head. "I wouldn't want anything to interfere with our date." Kensi's lips parted for a second, her body drifting closer to his for a second. Then she abruptly pulled back with a smirk.
"I think you mean you don't want anything to interfere with my tacos. Because I'm definitely not losing this bet." She walked backwards for a few steps, looking extremely pleased with herself.
"Touché," he shouted after her.
The three agents returned looking subdued, and on Sam's part, extremely angry. He headed to Hetty's office immediately without saying a word. He had a fierce, single-minded look about him that immediately put Deeks more on edge than he already was.
"We found the Commander, but his daughter-"
"Is missing," Deeks finished for Kensi. "Yeah, Eric told me." He'd also shown him the video the Commander received from Amanda's kidnapper. The sounds of her panicked screams and pleas would likely fuel Deeks' nightmares for some time to come.
"Do you have any idea who might have done it? Eric said that there was a guy who killed three other girls this way, but that he was still in prison." Kensi shook her head, biting at her bottom lip.
"No. It has to be a copycat. We're stalled right now because this is technically the FBI's case. Sam's asking Hetty to let us take over or at least assist the FBI," Callen explained with a deep sigh. "This is not going to be a pretty case. And the longer this takes, the less time Amanda has."
"We have co-lead on the case," Sam said, jogging down to the bullpen. "Let's see what Eric has."
"The Angeles National Forest is close to 650,000 acres," Eric said a few minutes later when they were all in the operations center. "If Amanda's in there, finding her is going to be next to impossible."
"What about using infrared?" Kensi asked.
"She's buried, her body temperature is dropping. It's not going to work." Deeks silently watched as they tossed around suggestions, moving with a single-mindedness he'd yet to witness. He felt useless amidst the urgency.
"Can you bring up the kidnapper's video again?" Callen requested. Deeks could have lived without ever seeing it again. Eric pulled it up along with the video of the other three girls.
"The camera angle's the same on every one, same size box," Deeks noticed, earning a surprised look from Sam who added,
"And those are the same blue surgical gloves."
"I'd say whoever killed the first three girls also has Amanda." No one contradicted him.
He took a step back again as Eric searched for the Chevy Malibu that had left the park in the wee hours. It was amazing how quickly they were able to narrow it down the owner once Kensi noticed the damage and link it to Lucas Maragos' brother, Andre.
"Kensi, go out to the US penitentiary at Victorville and see if you can make some sense of this," Callen instructed.
"And take Mr. Deeks with you," Hetty added, silently stepping into the room as she observed the various pieces of evidence on the screen.
Kensi looked just as surprised as Deeks felt, but she didn't question Hetty's instructions.
"Do you really think that's a good idea?" Callen asked. Personally, Deeks had wondered the same.
"This seems the perfect situation; I'm sure Deeks has interviewed many a criminal while in prison." She looked to him for confirmation and he nodded.
"I have." Just not ones who were serving life sentences for burying children alive. "I can handle it."
"Good," Hetty said, gesturing for them to go.
"So what do you want me to do?" Deeks asked, glancing around the cool jail cell. A guard had escorted them to the room a few minutes ago and directed them to sit at the table while he retrieved Lucas Maragos. It was oddly lit, the sunlight streaming through the window creating an almost sunset feel to the room. Somehow it only added to the overall creep factor.
Although he'd been a part of more serious criminal cases, particularly while he was finishing law school, he'd never defended a killer before. He wasn't really looking forward to meeting a man capable of torturing little girls and their families.
Kensi didn't respond, her gaze focused on her phone and he nudged her with his shoulder. She'd been mostly silent during the drive to the penitentiary. Although he'd felt the urge to break the tension with humor, he'd controlled himself. This wasn't the time for distraction.
"Callen and Sam found the Malibu in Andre Maragos' garage," she told him, brows furrowed.
"That's good, right?" Deeks asked. "I mean, it's horrible in that this guy is probably a serial killer too, but it means that we're closer to finding Amanda."
"Andre and his wife claim they don't know anything about the car. Supposedly their personal assistant is the only one who uses it. Callen and Sam are going to check out a camp in Angeles Forest that Andre and Lucas went to when they were kids."
"That's good, Kensi," he said encouragingly. "It means we're getting closer." She turned to face him, her eyebrows drawn forward with worry.
"Callen also said that Eric calculated how much air is left in the box Amanda is buried in. It's less than nine hours now Deeks. That's not enough time," she said, sounding distraught.
There was nothing else he could say that wouldn't be a pointless platitude so he simply took Kensi's hand and squeezed it. She smiled gratefully, squeezing back, her hand cool and firm in his.
"Wait a second," she said after a second, her expression turning suspicious. She dropped his hand abruptly. "You're trying to make me lose the bet, aren't you?"
"That honestly was the very last thing on my mind," he told her, amazed that she thought his mind was on anything other than Amanda at the moment. Kensi looked momentarily abashed before she gathered herself again.
"Oh, sorry. But keep your hands to yourself for now. We don't want to give this guy anything to work with."
"Which brings me back to my original question, what do you want me to do?"
"Just follow my lead."
"That's super helpful," he muttered under his breath. Despite what most people thought, he liked to plan before he acted, particularly when it came to interviews.
The outer door buzzed and two prison guards brought Maragos through. His hands and ankles where both bound with chains.
Beside him, Kensi sat with her back perfectly straight, appearing professional and detached. There wasn't a hint of the uncertain woman from a few minutes ago. It was amazing how easily she could flip that switch.
"Mr. Maragos, do you know why you're here?" she asked, once the guards left.
"Another girl was kidnapped," Maragos said. "Which means that I might not have to spend the rest of my life in here." His arrogance amazed Deeks and he couldn't help himself from saying,
"It's interesting that you know about her, given that you're in prison and haven't had any visitors in weeks." Maragos just shrugged. For a second, Deeks thought he'd gone too far.
"Was the MO the same?" Maragos asked after a moment.
"Exactly the same," Kensi confirmed.
"You got a partner on the outside?" Deeks followed up.
"Oh no. No, no, no," he answered, his tone almost mocking which just fueled Deeks' quiet rage. His resolution to follow Kensi's lead was completely forgotten. "Check my call records and my email."
"We did," Kensi said shortly. "The only phone calls you make are to your brother Andre."
Lucas Maragos shifted, showing the first sign of discomfort, if it could be called that, since he'd entered the room.
"Is that it? You and your brother like killing together?" Deeks wasn't sure where the question had come, but he saw the slightest flash in Maragos' eyes. It was enough to make him continue. "Yeah? Bury the girl and then sit there giggling with each other while they suffocate to death?" He heard Kensi inhale sharply, but didn't look away from Maragos.
Lucas shook his head, glancing away, like Deeks' words has somehow affected him.
"I didn't kill those girls," he insisted.
"Course not," Deeks whispered. Maragos moved his hands, for what purpose he wasn't sure, but Deeks felt a moment of sadistic pleasure when the chains prevented him from moving further. His jaw clenched, a hint of anger showing for the first time. Good, they were getting to him.
"Is there any evidence at all that points to my brother? He could have committed all these murders," he suggested.
"Your DNA is all over the victim's bodies," Kensi said, her tone short and pointed.
"We're related, the DNA's gotta be close. Nobody checked my brother's DNA." Sighing, Kensi ignored Maragos' attempt to distract them.
"You and your brother went to the same camp in Angeles National Forest. We think the latest girl could be buried there."
"I help you find her, you reopen my case," Maragos said. Deeks answered before Kensi could.
"You have nothing to do with it, sure." Maybe it wasn't his place to make promises, but he knew the importance of limitations. He'd seen enough guys get off because of loopholes. And he was 95% certain this guy was involved in the kidnapping and murders in some way.
"When we were kids, there were feral cats all over the place. Andre? Well, André used to spend hours catching them and strangling them." It sounded like he was telling a bedtime story and Deeks felt his stomach clench. There wasn't any sign that Maragos felt any remorse for his brother's supposed actions.
"Wow, the golden summers of a sociopath's youth," Deeks whispered. Kensi knocked his knee under the table. Maybe that had been going a bit far.
"I know where he buried them," he insisted.
"Ok, then show us," Kensi said.
"That was...impressive," Kensi said half an hour later as they waited for Maragos to be loaded into transport. Deeks had wanted to draw up a legal document for Lucas to sign, making his offer to help binding. Kensi insisted that they didn't need to, pressing time as a main concern.
"Yeah, sorry. I got a little carried away," Deeks responded, scratching at his beard. She didn't sound upset with him, but he had sort of hijacked the interview.
"You sounded a lot more like a cop than I expected."
"Yeah, well, I guess I've spent enough time watching interrogations. And that didn't seem that much different from when I have someone up in the witness stand," he explained, then smirked at Kensi who looked worried and distracted again. "Of course, usually the witness is suing someone for scratching their Porsche or reneging on a business deal."
"I'm glad you were there," Kensi admitted, surprising him. "He gives me the creeps. If I was on my own, I might have punched his lights out."
"Always happy to be of service. Any update from Sam and Callen?"
"They're questioning Andre now. He wasn't home last night."
"Mm, well that doesn't bode well for Andre. Hopefully Lucas actually knows where the body is and isn't just taking the opportunity to get his first day trip in two years," he said bitterly.
A/N: Obviously some event were changed or left out from the actual episode to suit my purpose. The next chapter will deal with the second part of the episode.