A/N: This chapter deals with the second part of Little Angels. I tried to trim it down to scenes where it could be from Deeks' POV.
"What did Callen say?" Kensi asked, glancing at Deeks briefly before she returned her eyes to the road.
"Andre Maragos has requested a lawyer," he said dryly. "Do you think he'd accept me?" Kensi snorted at that, glancing at him again. Her eyes were appraising.
"Well, you certainly can look the part of a lawyer a guy like Maragos would hire."
"Again, not sure if that's a compliment," he said with a frown. Instead of making another joke at his expense, she said,
"I really am glad you're here today. You're making this whole thing a lot less terrible."
"Anytime." He glanced behind them where the transport van was following. "So what do we do if Lucas doesn't actually know or show us where the bodies are?"
Kensi's eyes narrowed on the road, her expression deadly. Suddenly, Deeks was very glad that he wasn't on the receiving end of her rage.
"Then you might have to stop me from shooting him."
"I think this is one of the most horrific things I've ever seen," Deeks muttered to no one in particular. And he'd been party to some pretty awful stuff.
Lucas Maragos had lead them directly to the edge of a small hill, radiating smugness the entire time. It wasn't clear if he was enjoying bossing them around, or having the opportunity to finally show off his work.
Either way, Deeks was reconsidering his position on guns. He sighed as several forensic experts dug up the spots Maragos had pointed out.
"Mr. Deeks, Agent!" A woman dressed in protective gear said, motioning for them to come over. "We found something." If her expression was anything to go by, it wasn't pleasant. Then again, that's what they were hoping for.
Kensi, who'd been talking with Maragos, hurried over. They both glanced in the small grave, where the skeleton of cat lay.
"Well, now we know he wasn't lying about the cat part." Deeks said, holding back a shudder.
"You should call Sam," Kensi told him, a deep frown growing between her eyebrows. "I'm going to see if I can't get anything else out of Maragos."
"Sam, you need to get out here," he said when the agent picked up.
"So far they've found the remains of five cats," Kensi said once Callen and Sam had arrived. "Lucas isn't being particularly helpful at the moment. He keeps repeating that his brother is responsible."
Sam and Callen shared a dark look, something unspoken flowing between them. There was clearly something going on with Sam, but now was definitely not the time to ask about.
"Any other sites?" Sam demanded.
"You should ask my brother, these are his," Lucas responded, apparently trying to appear genuine.
"You seem to be enjoying the attention. Give me the keys." He directed the last part to Kensi, grabbing the keys to Lucas' cuffs from her.
"Is that a good idea?" Deeks asked as Sam unlocked the handcuffs. Lucas' legs were still bound, but Deeks didn't trust the man not to make a run for it. Or try something more violent.
Kensi caught his eye, shaking her head as Sam dragged Maragos several feet away, ignoring the man's protests. Sam seemed to just barely be holding himself back from inflicting physical damage. Callen watched it all with obvious concern, but didn't attempt to intervene.
"Does Sam have a personal history with this guy or something?"
"No," Callen answered shortly. Sam returned a few minutes with Lucas, who actually seemed a little frightened and was in a much more sharing mood
Deeks could only imagine what Sam had used to gain his cooperation and that worried him.
How strong could the team's case be if they resorted to threats and potential violence?
"What do we now?" Deeks asked, as they drove to the mission.
They'd found the remains of the third girl who was originally buried, but not Amanda. Both Lucas and Andre had proven uncooperative, blaming the other for the murders.
Then Andre had made an ill-planned attempt to leave the country with his family. It was certainly suspicious behavior, but they'd taken a swab from Andre and it didn't match any of the DNA on the remains.
They also had a signed statement from Andre's mistress and a home video the two had made. Deeks could have happily lived without ever seeing Andre Maragos naked. To say that Sam had not been pleased when they interrupted his interrogation with Andre to tell him would be an understatement.
"We look at the evidence again. We look for what we missed before," she said and then sighed deeply. "And we pray that we come up with something before Amanda runs out of time."
As they watched the video of Amanda for the countless time, it was not lost on Deeks that they were grasping at straws.
"Hey, take a look at this," Sam said suddenly, pointing to a bare finger that was just visible at the edge of the video. There was a note of something close to excitement in his voice. "When he picked up the camera, he took off his glove."
"Different MO," Callen said. "Makes sense, glove would have been shredded after all the digging." Sam wasn't about to be talked down from whatever idea he had. Kensi walked over as Deeks stood up, to get a better look at the screen.
"Hear me out on this, G. What does this guy do with his gloves afterwards?"
"Well, first thing you would, uh, burn 'em, shred 'em. It's full of DNA."
"What if he's going fast, got careless?" Sam continued, sounding like he was telling a story. "Left a glove behind, like in a box or in the dirt in the hole."
"The case is closed," Deeks said immediately. "I mean, we catch him the second we find that glove."
"But there is no glove," Kensi said, echoing Deeks' own thoughts.
"We don't know that," Sam said and Deeks heard warning bells going off in his head. "Maybe neither does the killer. He's going fast, he's scared, he tosses everything only to realize, he left a glove behind."
"Right, but he didn't," Deeks said, not liking where this was going at all. What Sam was suggesting was sketchy at best.
"We could make him believe that he did," Callen said, nodding in agreement with Sam.
"What if it doesn't stand up in court though?" Deeks asked, thinking of how he'd tear apart "evidence" like that.
"We'll do whatever it takes to make it stick," Kensi said as Sam instructed Eric to modify the video. He turned them out for a minute, distracted by his concerns.
"You'll need to sell it to Lucas Maragos, Deeks," Sam said, drawing him out of his thoughts. "Make him believe that the glove is real. We'll do the same with his brother."
"Me?" Deeks repeated, startled by the suggestion, especially coming from Sam.
"You've already got a connection with him. It'll be easier than if Callen or I do it. Kensi will back you up if you need it."
"I do not like this," Deeks muttered, his voice barely audible as they waited in the interview room again.
"You'll be fine," Kensi said. "And it's for Amanda." She flashed a warning look his way as the sound of guards drew closer and he pressed his lips together, holding back any further comments.
He pulled in a slow, shallow breath, trying to calm himself. This was no different that cross examining a difficult witness. He just had to play to his audience, frame the story they needed to hear, and pretend he believed every word he said.
Deeks snapped his eyes back open the second the guards were at the door, adopting a relaxed posture as they led Lucas in. Kensi said nothing as he opened the laptop on the table, started the DVD with Amanda's video, and sat next to Lucas Maragos.
"See that little sucker right there? It's a glove that got left in the dirt," he told the man. Lucas' eyes were laser focused to the screen, a change from his earlier careless attitude. "And it is filled with DNA."
He didn't glance at Kensi, putting all of his attention on Lucas. Deeks hoped he wasn't playing it up too much. Maragos cleared his throat after a moment, now looking anywhere but at the laptop.
"I don't know why you're showing me this," he said. Kensi leaned forward then.
"Because when we get a DNA match, we'll be able to find your partner. And believe me, we'll get him to turn on you," she said, her matter of fact tone chilling.
"You can take him back," Deeks called to the guards. "But let us know if he has decides to talk. Who knows, he might be able to escape a death sentence."
It was only after they were outside again that he allowed himself to let out a shaking breath.
"You ok?" Kensi asked, eyeing him with concern.
"Yeah." He was surprised to find it was true.
"Eric's calling," she said, putting her phone to her ear and had a rushed and confusing conversation. She shoved the phone in her pocket and started jogging towards the SUV. "Eric says we need to get to Angeles Forest now. Callen and Sam are following someone in one of Andre's vehicles."
"I can't believe it was Andre's kids," Deeks said, shaking his head as Kensi returned from putting the younger boy in the back of an LAPD cruiser. He knew they were hardly the first to commit a heinous crime, but it was still shocking.
"I guess they learned a lot from their Uncle," Kensi said darkly.
"What will happen to them?" Deeks had defended juvenile clients before, though never one charged with attempted murder. And in his own experience, the courts could be pretty brutal when it came to kids.
"Well, I'd guess their dad is going to higher them the best lawyers he can find," Kensi started. "And then it depends on how they're charged. I could see the FBI wanting to try them as adults, but I doubt it'll go through."
"I don't know if I'm relieved or disappointed," he said and Kensi rolled her eyes.
"C'mon, we've got lots of reports to file.
"Not me, I'm just a legal consultant." Kensi made a rude noise at this.
"Nice try. You never get out of paperwork. And if you don't do it, Hetty will hunt you down. And no one wants Hetty hunting them down.
"You know, you did really well today. I was surprised, but you did good," Kensi told him as they walked out of the mission, taking their time.
It had been eye opening to watch Deeks question Lucas. She had expected him to hold back and certainly hadn't considered that he would taunt Lucas. The images he'd produced had been horrifying, and affective during their first interview.
"I think you'll find I'm full of surprises, sugar bear," he said, grinning that annoying smirk of his. Kensi held up a hand, turning to face him so he was forced to stop in the middle of the hall.
"Woah, sugar bear? I don't think so."
"What, I think it's very appropriate. You're very sweet and-"
"And you are absolutely forbidden from calling me that anywhere another person might hear it," she finished for Deeks, shaking her head. Of course, now she'd left herself wide open to being called "sugar bear" in private.
"What about "Princess"?" he asked, undaunted by her implied wrath. She started walking again before he could see her slight smile. Their shoulders brushed as they walked, an unnecessary physical reminder of Deeks' presence. Technically, it violated the rules of their bet, but Deeks didn't mention it.
"Definitely not." Before he could suggest something even more ridiculous she said, "Be serious for a second. Ok? I know that defusing tension is a big thing for you, but I really need to know how you're doing."
He sighed and this time he was the one to stop. He tossed his head back for a second and it was amazing how suddenly his face transformed. She saw the weariness and a surprising amount of anger that he'd hidden for the majority of the case.
"I'm...good," he decided after a pause. "Which I know is weird to say. I didn't realize how much I needed to see someone like Lucas Maragos get what he deserves."
"So we didn't scare you off with our serial killers?" She was actually curious; he'd been obviously horrified, but not nearly as much as she'd expected. He'd dealt with the possibility of seeing girls buried alive better than many seasoned Agents would.
"I mean, the kids following in their uncle's footsteps is pretty awful, but again, I'm glad they're not out there hurting more people. I don't see nearly enough of that as a lawyer. And it's even worse if you're a public defender or district attorney."
"And here I thought you'd be running out of here after a couple days," she said.
They were in the parking garage now, which was mostly deserted and had stopped walking again. Kensi found she was reluctant to go to her own vehicle.
"You're not going to get rid of me that easily Kensi Marie Blye," he said, then made a face that she recognized meant he was holding something back.
"What?"
"Nothing...just um," He rubbed his chin before continuing, "How often do you threaten people or make up evidence to get results?" She nodded, knowing he was thinking of the way Sam had treated Maragos and the planted glove.
"Sometimes you do what you have to," she said simply. "The important thing is that we found Amanda in the end." He still looked serious, so she cleared her throat and added, "And now, I think you owe me some Mexican. I'm calling in my first special delivery. I expect it on my doorstep in an hour." She did a smug little dance to accompany her victory.
Deeks rolled his eyes, chuckling under his breath.
"Yes, technically you did win," he agreed. "Although I would point out that if this wasn't such a tense case, you would have been all over me."
"Those sound like the words of a loser," Kensi teased, ignoring the thought of being "all over him". Deeks scrunched his face at her.
"You are a very annoying winner." Kensi grinned at him. His hair was more disheveled than normal after tramping around in the heat all day and his light blue shirt was now untucked. He looked anything but a high price lawyer. He also looked completely delectable.
"But as I am a man of my word-" Kensi grasped the sides of his face, cutting him off mid-word as she kissed him roughly, pushing her tongue past his lips and letting out a sigh when his hands settled on her waist.
"Oops, I guess I lost," Kensi gasped out several moments later. She stepped back from him, her skin feeling flushed and a deep need running though her body. His answering grin was breathtaking as he pulled her back to his chest.