Well here we are the Sidorov Arc, one of the best stories written for the show. Obviously there will be some changes given Kensi and Deeks marital status in this story BUT the torture will happen, the tension between Sam and Deeks and the fallout from Deeks torture will happen. I hope you will enjoy this version. It will be a multi-chapter event.

Thanks to Stef and Donna for all the help and support - Best Fangirls Ever! Thanks to all you readers for following along. I hope you will continue to enjoy.

Sidorov - Part 1

One phone started ringing then two. Groans, covers shifting, limbs untangling. A hand snaked out to grab the offending noise-maker from the side table. Deeks looks with one eye open and see it's 3:30 am and the call is from OPS, which means it's the night crew led by Ty Hanlon.

"Mm 'lo"

"Deeks, it's Ty, got a case. I sent the address to both your phones."

"K. thanks." Deeks dropped the phone on the bed and rolled over to re-attach himself to his wife. Kensi started to wake and rolled over to face her husband. "Who was that?"

"Ty, got a case, address on phones. Five more minutes, please?" He pulled her closer to him and nuzzled her neck.

Kensi was finally awake enough to realise they needed to get moving. "C'mon baby, we got to move. I will start the coffee, you jump in the shower."

"Nooo." Deeks whined.

Kensi smiled at her petulant man-child. "Let's go." She poked him and finally got him moving. She gave Monty a morning scratch and went to the kitchen. She started the coffee maker and took advantage of the bigger kitchen space to stretch herself more awake. Kensi saw Monty come out of the bedroom which meant her husband was dressed and would take the dog out.

She received a proper good morning kiss as she passed Deeks on her way to the shower. "Just a minute Princess," Deeks grabbed her wrist and walked her back to the bedroom. He lifted her left hand, kissed it and removed her wedding band. She did the same to him and both placed their bands in the small box on top of Kensi's dresser. After their first day back in OSP they stopped wearing their rings to work. It was a security issue as well as a safety issue with the equipment. But the minute they were home until they left to go back to work, they wore their bands. And on the occasions when they would go out socially, Kensi would add her engagement ring.

Sam had shared that he and Michelle did something similar. A ring may be just a symbol, a very important one, but what mattered more was their hearts. Kensi would never let Deeks know that she found him very sexy with his ring on. That and it kept the bimbos away.

With Monty settled and their coffee mugs filled they left to meet the others at the address on their phones. Without any other information, they had no idea what that they would face but they would face it as a team.

Kensi and Deeks arrived at the industrial building and saw Sam, Callen and Eric's cars parked in front. Deeks leaned in and gave his wife a quick kiss and got out of the car. They donned gloves and made their way inside,. Deeks leading the way.

"This where the party is? Oh!" Seeing the dead body hanging from the ceiling was not what he was expecting. "This does not look like a party. Yikes! We know him?"

Sam responded, "Kind of." It was then that Deeks heard a dog barking. "He's got a dog? Poor little guy. His master is dead. He's stuck in a bathroom." Deeks approached the door, opened it, spotted a white standard poodle and then quickly shut it. "Oh. A poodle? No. Sorry, I don't do poodles. Huge attitude. Untrainable."

"Actually they are one of the three most intelligent breeds of dog." Wikipedia lives!

"Well you know very well that Monty is both brilliant and humble."

"Monty eats sponges."

"This is true. But it was one time and it was your fault for leaving them out." Kensi rolled her eyes at her partner. Yeah, she left them out but who knew Monty would eat them? And she didn't even want to remember the aftermath. Let's just say there is truth in the saying, "This too shall pass."

Sam gave the team background on their dead man, Frank Turner. Turner needed to hide in plain sight. So it was ironic having a dog like that which would make him standout. Callen told Deeks to find out where Turner got the poodle and why he had him. Deeks nodded, not thrilled, but put the dog on his leash and with Kensi, went to the boatshed.

Kensi came into the boatshed common room to see Deeks staring at the flatscreen with the dog's image from interrogation. "Nell's got the photos. Let's see if the dog has been listed as stolen or missing."

"Hmmm. I think I'm gonna to have to spend some time with him alone."

"Why? What's going on?"

"Nothing. I just got a way with animals."

"Okay when you say it like that, it sounds really creepy." Kensi looked at husband like he had three heads.

"What, you never heard of the dog whisperer?"

"Just because we have Monty doesn't make you the dog whisp - -" And then Deeks cut her off by making a shushing noise and using his index finger and thumb to imitate a closing sign.

"OH!"

"Shhh."

"Don't you dare do that to - - "

"Shh, shh, sit!"

"Deeks! Hey!"

"Listen." Deeks knew he was pushing Kensi's buttons. He waved his finger around her. "Canines are very sensitive to all this negative energy."

"Yeah! They can also smell fear."

"That's true. Poodles are the pitbull of France." With that, Deeks headed into interrogation.

Kensi rubbed the bridge of her nose. She loved that man, but sometimes . . . "God, my husband is Dr. Doolittle."

Deeks paused before opening the door. "No fear, no fear, no fear." He then confidently walked into the interrogation room and approached the dog. "How we doing boy?" So far, so good until the dog barked and shifted towards him. Deeks gave the dog a wide berth as his wife enjoyed his "bravado."

"That didn't sound like whispering. That sounds like growling." God she was like a pitbull with new toy.

"He's angry and confused, and YOU are not helping." Deeks stood in front of the dog and tried again. "You're a handsome devil. What's your name?" The dog tilted his head and whimpered. What Kensi heard next made her take her phone out start to call Nate for an emergency consult for her partner.

"What's that? She doesn't understand you? Yeah, well she's my wife. Welcome to my world." Deeks let out a chuckle. "Yeah, that's true. Yeah, she is very high maintenance." Deeks reached out a hand for the dog to sniff but was treated to bared teeth and snarling.

"You wanna play like that? That's fine. Fine, we'll go to plan B. Kensi, gonna need some bacon."

Kensi watched her husband. He never ceased to amuse her, but she won't tell him that. No need to feed that ego. "Oh really! That's your special skill with dogs? Bacon?"

Deeks ignored her. "We need it cooked. Very well done. Preferably organic."

"All right." Kensi headed out still questioning her husband's sanity.

"I know a shelter that's offering free neutering." The dog whimpered. "Oh what? Yeah, that's what I thought."

Kensi arrived back at the boatshed. She returned to interrogation and found her husband sitting cross legged on the floor face to face talking to the poodle.

"So that's what happened. Mrs Allen came in with her miniature chocolate poodle named Coco Chanel, who you probably would have thought was super hot. The point being I reached across to try to pet Coco Chanel and that's when she bit me, hence the two bite marks I had right there and why I'm afraid of poodles."

It took every ounce of self control not to laugh at Deeks. "Are you having a therapy session with a dog?"

Undaunted, Deeks stood up as his wife came in. She started to hand him the box but pulled it back with a wicked grin on her face. And because he knew his wife, Deeks leaned in, gave her a little sugar and took the box from her.

"It took a while but he finally broke down and spilled his guts. It's actually kind of sad story."

Kensi was sure her husband was losing his mind but she'd play along. "What did he say?"

"His says his name is Chaucer. Ain't that right Chaucer? Come here. Good boy." The poodle came to Deeks and sat, anxious for whatever is in that box.

"Ok, no one names their dog Chaucer. He's just smelling the bacon."

"The bacon was for me. His vet is Dr. Hall on Robertson Blvd. His previous owner was Jason Young from Tarzana."

Kensi watched Deeks as he shifted his weight to his right hip and then she saw it.

"Did Nell find out the dog was missing?" Kensi walked slowly towards Deeks.

"No. Why are you doubting me?"

She was now right in front of her husband. She reached out as if to grab the box but instead took hold of his back right hip pocket and pulled him towards her.

"Wow. You must really want the bacon." She simultaneously hated and loved his cheeky smirk. Kensi leaned him as if to kiss him at the same time she grabbed the small scanner from his pocket.

"He's micro chipped. You scanned him and got the information." And to be honest, any opportunity to grab his very fine butt was an opportunity not to be wasted.

"What? Don't hate. I'm the one who knew to look between his shoulder blades."

With that, Kensi gave Deeks back the scanner and took the box of bacon away. "And that is all of my bacon that you're getting. Send the information to Nell."

Deeks just looked at his partner. "Yeah! Well I don't need anymore of your bacon. I can get along just fine without your bacon, missy." Kensi just kept walking out of interrogation. Deeks looked at Chaucer, knowing he was beat. "Who am I kidding? Don't get married buddy. Your bacon will never be your own." Chaucer just stared at him, not sure of anything he just said.

In the meantime, Callen and Sam went to speak with Turner's friend Megan Hendley, who Hetty found out worked for the CIA. She told them that Frank was working on new information about the "Sinclair Project." It was started in the sixties. Basically, sleeper cells from Russian and U.S. were embedded in each other's country. All had nuclear warheads. Reagan and Gorbachev were working on a disclosure plan. Frank couldn't get anyone to listen. Megan knew Turner did not kill himself. All they need to do now is figure out why Turner contacted Sam and what he found that got him killed.

Nell was able to get Chaucer's history. He came from a long line of champion poodles. He was highly sought after for breeding. Kensi noticed that he was recently flown to Paris twice for breeding purposes.

"He was paid to have sex in Paris? I should have been born a dog." Kensi and Nell turned and looked at Deeks. "I walked into that one didn't I?" Kensi just scrunched up her nose and nodded. Her man was just too adorkable.

Nell continued. Turner bought the dog a couple of months ago and entered him in the Southland Kennel Club Dog Show. What made this all interesting was the Turner had the name Robert Pierce in his file and that same Mr. Pierce had a dog entered in the same dog show. After conferring with Sam and Callen, it was decided to go to the show and get a look at Pierce. Kensi and Deeks left OPS.

"I know for a fact that Chaucer is mortified by that haircut."

"Deeks, you do not have the ability to talk to dogs."

"Hey, trust me. There is no species in the entire universe where it is cool to have pom-poms shaved into your butt."

"Speaking of haircuts, you're gonna need a little sprucing up if you're going to be seen with Chaucer."

"Whoa! No. Wait a minute, okay? I may have developed a little bit of a special relationship with this dog, but there is no way I am prancing around the ring with that animal." And then Deeks knew he was doomed.

"Detective Deeks! I think there is much for your to learn from Mr. Chaucer. He's a very complex and spiritual animal," Hetty informed him.

"It's not Mr. Chaucer. It's just Chaucer, which actually makes me want to throw up a little bit every time I say it."

Kensi just watched as her husband dug a hole with their boss. Sometimes you just have to love them enough to let them dig alone. And she may be enjoying this just a tad too much.

"Chaucer is very loyal. He will have your back undercover." Kensi could not contain her glee at Hetty's words

"You were listening again?"

"Stand tall with your partner Detective Deeks." And with that Hetty handed the leash to him.

"Chaucer, let's go. And if you're gonna walk next to me, no prancing. I don't want the dobermans laughing at us. Kensi, let's go!"

Kensi and Hetty shared a bemused smile between them. "KENSI!" With that Kensi followed Deeks and Chaucer out the door.

Deeks and Kensi checked Chaucer in at the dog show. As they were at their grooming station, they saw Robert Peirce with his dog, Uma. Kensi made eye contact, Pierce acknowledged them and then headed to the show ring. Chaucer and Deeks were right behind them.

Deeks watched as Robert Pierce raced Uma through the obstacle course. This was going to be ugly.

Kensi, sensing her partner's stress, rubbed circles on his back. "You'll be fine. Let Chaucer loose. He'll know what to do."

Deeks just nodded wordlessly.

Out in the ring and after a few failed attempts, that felt like they took hours, to get the dog to perform Chaucer took off and worked the course with Deeks running alongside him. Kensi watched with pride as her husband did what he always does, threw himself into his assignment - method all the way. Chaucer did great and Kensi had a chance to stand with Robert Pierce as he watched Chaucer's run.

Kensi tried to strike up a conversation and it started well until she asked if he would be interested in breeding Uma with Chaucer. Pierce abruptly said no and left a confused Kensi staring after his retreating form. When Deeks joined her and asked if they had a "love connection" Kensi had to tell him that Pierce acted spooked and left. They two chased him to the parking lot.

Pierce tried to get a way but could not get past Kensi blocking his way with her gun pointed at him. As Kensi cuffed him, Pierce asked why he was being followed which was an odd comment since this was the first contact they had with him. Unless?

Deeks got the dogs settled in the common room of the boatshed while Kensi took Pierce to interrogation. Pierce thought Deeks and Kensi were following him in connection to an ex-boyfriend who was stalking him. Robert even a picture of Turner sitting outside his house. Then Eric interrupted saying he found a clue in the cypher - "both parents black?" Was it possible that Turner was looking for Pierce's parents? Sam and Callen went to see the parents.

The conversation with James Pierce was benign until right before they left. A black Hummer was parked out front and once the Challenger left, four men got out. Sam quickly threw the car into reverse and raced back to the house. Guns were drawn, shots fired, auto glass shattered. Callen was changing magazines when shots came from a different direction. It was James Pierce firing at the unfriendlies. Sam took Pierce's gun, made arrangements for James' wife, who suffered from Alzheimer's, and took him to the boathouse.

During the the questioning, Nell was able to identify the four who showed up uninvited. Several photos of various meetings appeared onscreen. Sam froze and then asked Nell to enlarge one of the pictures. Sam looked like he has seen a ghost.

Callen noticed. "Who is it?"

"Isaak Sidorov, an arms dealer. The task force was investigating him. Several members tried to get close, most didn't get close."

Deeks picked up on Sam's tone. "But one did?"

Sam nodded. Deeks sensed that there was more to this but Sam was never one to share any personal information to anyone but Callen. Kensi picks up Deeks' concern and makes a note to talk with him about later.

Hetty suddenly appears with Nell on the plasma.

"We have a major problem here. If Frank Turner was looking into old sleeper agents - -"

Callen knew where Hetty was going with this. "FSB found out and asked Sidorov to investigate Turner."

"That means the Sinclair Project - - "

"- - is real."

"Exactly."

Sam was stunned, "Soviet agents are here now, armed with nuclear weapons?"

Hetty continued, "The NSA and CIA are already tracking our investigation. That means their interests are most definitely real."

Kensi wondered, "All of this explains why the Russians killed Turner but why go after James?"

Callen's head snapped up. "FSB is never wrong." With that Callen, followed by Sam, went back into interrogation. James tried to stand his ground but in the end, worried for his wife, he admitted that he was who they thought he was. He would tell them everything in exchange for immunity for his wife. Callen said they would protect his wife and son but no immunity. Hetty told Callen to grant the immunity. They needed all the info they could get in order to find the nukes.

The garage was dark and had a musty spell. James walked carefully with his arms in the air feeling for a light string. Callen and Sam cautiously walked in. When James pulled the string, a low voltage bulb shined on a tarp covering a tall object. James removed the tarp and he could hear both Callen and Sam gasp.

Sitting in front of them was an honest-to-God nuclear weapon. James said it was capable of a 17 kiloton explosion. Sam felt like he was in a time warp back to the sixties. Callen realised that it was bigger than the bomb dropped on Hiroshima.

James then looked at Sam."Can you imagine the burden carrying this secret, Agent Hanna?"

Sam was taken aback. He knew all about keeping secrets. It was their job. Hell, Kensi and Deeks were together and then married for almost a year before anyone found out. But now with Sidorov back in the U.S. and the knowledge that there was this nuke and who knows how many others in hiding, Sam was terrified that a secret that had been tucked away for several years was going to have to be revealed. And if it did, a life would be put in danger and he could not let that happen.

Back at Turner's loft, Eric was frustrated. He still couldn't make sense of the cipher. Sam and Callen were equally frustrated. They did come to realise that Turner did kill himself to keep Sidorov from finding the names of the other sleeper agents. Sam remembered something Turner had said to him: "See through my eyes." Callen watched as his partner climbed the bookshelf and positioned himself near where the found Turner's body hanging.

The books! They were stacked in a circle. Twenty-six stacks, the top book with a bookmark and the first letter of each book underlined. Callen smiled. It was like an old fashioned decoder ring. It was a favorite toy - his first spy tool. They set about reading Eric the letters. Low and behold it revealed a list of names and their locations.

Back in the mission Nell had the faces of the sleeper agents on the main screen. They all over the country. In fact their placement was in relation to the six largest cities back in the 70's. Now all they had to do was beat Sidorov to the nukes. Deeks continued to study Sam. Something was bothering him,almost eating away at him, and it had to do with this Sidorov person.

What could be so bad to affect Sam this way?