Hi Friends - Thanks to all for the very positive response to last chapter. I felt Deeks needed to assert himself and I agree with Cape that it may have appeared that Deeks risked breaking cover but since we only have the words on the page to describe the actions, I felt they had to be foreceful. Trust me, I would have loved ECO say in a low threatening manner what Deeks said to Sam. I hope you enjoy Ascent. Thanks as always to Stef and Donna. And to all my fellow Americans - Happy Thanksgiving. I am thankful to all of my new friends here.

Chapter 10

Sidorov Part 6 - Ascent

Kensi's mind was racing as she frantically drove through the streets of LA to Michelle's last known location. She needed to get to her, protect her from Sidorov's assassins. When she arrived at the address Eric had given her it was a high rise work site not a parking garage or anything that could remotely hold two nukes. Kensi did not like what her gut was telling her. Something wasn't right and she was now terrified for Michelle's safety. "They're supposed to be going to a location where Vaziri and Sidorov can exchange trucks. This . . . Hetty, this doesn't feel right. I wanna go in." Kensi was starting to panic, worried about Michelle. Finally Granger gave her the go ahead but wanted one of the Russians taken alive.

Kensi ran the stairs to the thirtieth floor to find the two Russians looking over the ledge. Where was Michelle? Kensi fired two shots to get the women away from where she hoped Michelle was. The Russians took off and Kensi made her way over to the ledge. Michelle yelled for Kensi. Gunshots rang out as the Russian woman found their weapons and started firing back. Michelle had crawled her way back inside the building and was able to help Kensi subdue one of the Russians, but the other, Maya, got away. Michelle stayed with the one and Kensi gave chase on foot and then her bike. Dodging in and out of traffic they raced when suddenly a car cut off Maya's bike sending her airborne and onto a parked car. Kensi got on her comlink and told Hetty to send an ambulance.

When the ambulance arrived, Kensi was surprised to see Granger as part of the crew. "Why are you here?"

Granger pulled Kensi aside. "We lost contact with Sam and Deeks."

He saw the moment that news registered with Kensi. "What do you mean you lost contact?"

It was the excruciating pain that woke him up. Nonstop throbbing pain on both sides of his mouth. His hands were still tied. His head felt liked it weighed a hundred pounds. He wished the throbbing would stop. Deeks slowly remembered where he was. Where's Kensi? He needed his wife. Moments of them began to stream in his mind.

"I'm going to call you Fern, okay?"

"Oh! Don't you dare call me Fern!" Kensi warned.

"Fern, baby girl, it's been a long time."

Deeks tried to smile at the memory but his mouth just wouldn't cooperate. He tried to lift his head again to see about Sam. When he was finally able to get his head to move, he could feel liquid pouring out of his mouth. He was pretty sure it was blood and other fluids he didn't want to think about. Deeks succumbed to the pain and exhaustion wishing for Kensi to save him and afraid he might break the promise he made her.

"I emailed him some photos, private photos," Tracy answered as Deeks smirked.

"You mean like the two of you watching the sunset at the Santa Monica Pier or the kind where you're not wearing anything but a smile?"

"Promise me we'll always be this happy. That we will always start each day just this way."

She was beautiful walking down the aisle. He still wasn't sure how he got her to say yes – yes to starting a relationship to see what would happen, yes to taking it past 'partners with privileges,' "Yes, I will marry you, get up, get off your knee, everyone's looking." But she kept saying yes…. The chaplain spoke about faith, hope, love and how the greatest of these three was love. Looking at Kensi, he knew maybe for the first time in his life, someone truly loved him.*

Couple, Partners, Pair, Twosome, Husband and Wife.

Sunshine and Gunpowder.

"Don't worry Fern, I'll be back!"

With Granger's help Kensi was able to get the Russian agent to disclose the location of Sidorov's warehouse while they rode to the hospital in the back of the ambulance. Together the assistant director and special agent raced to find their teammates. Kensi picked the lock and carefully, they entered, guns drawn. And then she saw him. "No! No! NO! Deeks!" She raced to her husband. He was slumped in a beat up chair, he looked . . .(she would not allow herself to think what might be). His hands and feet were tied to the chair's arms and legs. His beautiful face was distorted with cuts and bruises. She was afraid to touch him but she had to know.

"Deeks! Deeks! Please!" She waited.

Kensi was about to try again when Deeks bolted awake. He started to moan and call out for her. "Kens."

He was disoriented and Kensi could see the terrified look in his eyes. She reached out for his hands. "Hey, hey, hey. Sweetheart, it's me. Kensi." She carefully placed a hand on his right cheek. Deeks was finally oriented to where he was.

"You gotta get me out here!" Deeks begged Kensi. The blood was running from his mouth. "You gotta cut me loose." Deeks was staring at Kensi. Why wasn't she getting him out of there?

He then looked into her eyes and saw guilt. "You need to stay here a little bit longer."

"What?" He couldn't have heard that right. She wouldn't leave him here. "I don't understand."

Kensi put her hands gently on his face. "I need you to pay attention, I don't have much time but we need to get Michelle out and if Sidorov comes back to find you and Sam gone, he may kill her. So she is going to come back and shoot both you and Sam and then I promise that I will be right back and get you out of that chair." Kensi looked into her husband's eyes to gauge his understanding. When she saw him nod, she leaned in and kissed him. "I love you so much and I am so sorry to do this but we will get through this, I promise you." And with that, she gathered up her kit, kissed him on the forehead and left.

Deeks mind was screaming,"How could she leave me? I would never do that to her." He felt the tears running down his face. The pain in his jaw was throbbing. He just wanted out of this goddamned chair. Exhaustion overcame his thoughts and he drifted off never feeling more alone in his life. Maybe Sam was right.

Kensi with Granger got back into the Mercedes and drove to a secluded area of the warehouse lot. Granger watched as tears streamed down the agent's face. "Blye, we will get them out. Sam and Deeks are doing their jobs."

"I just left my husband tied to a chair beaten to within an inch of his life. I just broke our wedding vows DOING OUR DAMN JOBS! We promised to protect each other. Don't you dare talk to me about doing our jobs." Kensi needed air. She got of the car, staggered around to the back bumper and threw up. She betrayed her best friend. She slid down next to the back tire and sobbed. He was never going to forgive her and to be honest, she probably didn't deserve to be.

Deeks heard a door slam and voices. He decided that playing possum was probably the best way to avoid more pain. Deeks raised his eyes when Sidorov and Michelle stopped in front of him. "Do you know this one?"

Michelle glared at Deeks. "I saw this guy outside of a hotel once where we were staying. I thought he was a cop. Who is he?"

Sidorov smiled. "Your boyfriend's handler. We don't know what agency. I had to make sure I could trust you."

Deeks glared at Michelle and Sidorov and then spit a mouthful of blood towards Sidorov. He chuckled at the irony. Another bad guy with an accent whose shoes got treated to a "spit" shine. He watched as the three went to to the room holding Sam. He couldn't make out what was said until Michelle yelled, "Are you a federal agent?"

Sam looked at Michelle. "FBI," he "admitted."

Deeks then called out, "All right listen. You let us walk out of here and you guys walk out of here. Nobody even knows we're here."

"You kill a federal agent, you're as good as dead," Sam had barely finished when Michelle turned towards him and shot him.

Deeks knew he was next and braced himself for impact. Michelle turned towards him and fired twice. Deeks did not have to pretend to feel the pain. His body already hurt from the beating he had received. Deeks held his breath and slumped over. Michelle, Sidorov and Andros left. He let the breath out he was holding but didn't move. He couldn't trust they might come back. All he wanted was to get out of this chair.

Deeks panicked when he heard the door open again but relaxed a little when he heard Kensi's voice calling for him. When she got to him, she started freeing his hands. When she finished she threw her arms around her partner but froze when she realized he was not hugging back. Kensi pulled back and looked into his eyes. The blue eyes that were always bright and full of love were now vacant and cold.

"Deeks? Baby? It's Kensi." Kensi felt her heart stop. Her worst fears might be coming true.

Sam yelled from the other room. "Deeks! Did you give up Michelle?" Sam could barely stand.

Deeks looked back at him, still no life in his eyes. "No." Deeks just glared.

Sam wasn't satisfied. "Was Sidorov playing her just now?"

Deeks was done. "I didn't give her up. I didn't give her up." With that he looked away. He was done talking to anyone.

Two gurneys were whipped through the emergency room entrance and raced to the trauma bays. Two teams of doctors and nurses began to work. While Sam was compliant, Deeks was anything but. He fought any attempts to examine his mouth. Kensi stood at the door helpless, wanting to calm her husband. The doctor was getting more frustrated and was getting ready to sedate the detective. Kensi had heard enough.

"STOP! Give him a minute, please. I'm his wife, let me try." The doctor stepped back and Kensi grabbed his hands. "Deeks, you've got to listen to the doctors. Baby, please look at me. Deeks, please." Kensi pulled at his hands to get him to look at her. When he finally looked at her, she saw the fear, anger, but love also. "I love you. Please let the doctors help you. Please." Deeks just stared at her, saw her tears and slowly nodded. Kensi backed away to the end of the gurney just far enough to keep a hand on his foot squeezing to let him know she was still there. The doctors then went about their business evaluating and treating her partner.

Kensi startled when Granger touched her shoulder. "Come on Agent Blye, we've got work to do."

Kensi shoved his hand off her shoulder and backed away from the room. "First of all, it's Agent Deeks. Second, that is my husband laying there and there is no way in hell I'm leaving him again." She was toe to toe with the assistant director.

Granger didn't back down. "We've got to save Michelle and get those nukes. Sam and Deeks are safe here. You have a job to do Agent Deeks." Kensi was about to tell him to shove the job but he was right. They had to get to Michelle.

Kensi went back in the room and asked for a moment. She went right beside Deeks' head and kissed his forehead. Choking back tears, she brushed his hair along his forehead. "Baby, I have to go save Michelle. I don't want to go but I have to. I promise I will be back as soon as I can. You are safe here. Let the doctors do what they need to do. I love you so much." With that she kissed him gently and left. Deeks felt the drug haze as it took over his thoughts and he drifted into the abyss.

Kensi and Granger rejoined Callen as they waited for the exchange to happen. Callen saw how upset Kensi was and couldn't contain his guilt at having put Sam and Deeks in that position. Granger tried to downplay it as "the cost of completing the mission." At that point Kensi wanted to deck the assistant director. Hopefully there would be time for that later.

The exchange did not provide the location of the nukes. They were already on their way to a ship. Callen was furious. Was this another double cross by Janvier? The team split up. Kensi was staying with Michelle and Sidorov, Callen with Janvier and Granger with Vaziri while Nell and Eric looked for the ship. They were running out of time.

Deeks heard a beeping as the fog began to clear in his head. He looked around his room. He was by himself. The last thing he remembered was Kensi telling him she had to leave. He looked for a phone. Deeks needed to speak to Kensi. Deeks looked towards the door as it opened. "Kensi?"

It was just his nurse. "I'm Kate, Mr. Deeks. It's good to see you awake. Your wife has been texting me every ten minutes asking about you. She wanted you to know that she can't talk to you right now, but will get here as soon as she can and that she loves you. Do you want me to send her a message? You didn't have a phone in your belongings."

Deeks looked down at his hands and quietly asked. "Umm, could you tell her to hurry and that I love her too, please." Kate smiled at him and went about checking his vitals. She patted his shoulder and left the room. Deeks could still feel Sidorov's hands on his head and the sound of the drill ringing in his ears. His mouth hurt from the injury and the surgery. Deeks hands shook as he adjusted the covers over his lap. He heard the door open again. Deeks looked up to see the last person he expected to see. Sam.

"What do you want Sam? Came to tell me how I screwed up on overwatch? How Callen would have gotten you both away from Sidorov? That Kensi never would have allowed you to be pushed into the pool?"

Sam could feel the venom in every word Deeks spoke. He stood there and let him get it out of his system. "Actually, I came to tell you that I will owe you for the rest of my life for what you did." Sam looked at Deeks to convey his sincerity.

Deeks was having none of it. "Bullshit. If we hadn't been rescued or if something had happened to Michelle you would have been blaming me for the rest of my days. Spare me your phoney gratitude. My wife is out there without me protecting your wife. If anything happens to her, that's on you! Get out of here Sam! You've got nothing I want to hear." Sam's shoulders slumped, he turned and left. Deeks let out a long breath and burrowed down in his covers. Tears flowed down his face.

It was sometime later that the door opened again. This time it was Ty from the OSP tech support staff. Deeks looked at him, surprised. "Ty? Did something happen to Kensi?" Deeks' voice was panicked.

"No! She's fine but Hetty needs all hands on deck. I brought your clothes and your backup weapon. I'm going to take you to Kensi." Deeks nodded, slowly got dressed and left with Ty to meet Kensi at the Camfort Hotel.

Hetty had given Kensi and Sam the command to retrieve Michelle. The agents raced into the hotel, got the room key and raced to the elevator. However the room was empty. Where could they have gotten to? Sam remembered that Sidorov never used the front entrance. At the same time, Eric started seeing flight reservations from various airports including LAX and San Diego. The only way they could get to San Diego in a hurry was by helicopter. Eric confirmed that the hotel had a heliport. Sam and Kensi raced back into the hotel while OPS cancelled the helicopter heading for the hotel.

As Kensi and Sam entered the roof area they were met by Andros and Sidorov who had a gun pointed at Michelle's head. "Federal agents, drop your weapons."

Sidorov watched as his helicopter turned away from the hotel. "Lower your weapons."

"Where you gonna go? It's over. Looks like you lost your ride."

"Lower your guns and get away from the door."

"Not happening."

"Yes it is. You know why? Because your love for her is your weakness."

"I could say the same about you."

Sidorov and Sam continued their stare down until Isaak put the gun barrel on Michelle's shoulder, finger on the trigger, ready to fire. Sam raised his hands and told Kensi to put down her weapon as he did the same. The two Russians made their way to the door dragging Michelle with them. Just as Andros turned towards the door, it flew open and Deeks put three bullets into Andros while Sam shot Sidorov. Deeks dropped to his knees. Michelle ran to Sam while Kensi ran to Deeks. Both couples hugged their spouses close. Kensi pulled back to look at Deeks. He still wasn't making full eye contact with her but the anger seemed to have lessened. She helped him up and he pulled her towards the door. He did not want any interaction with Sam right now. He just wanted to go home.

Deeks was moving through the bullpen gathering things and putting them in a box. Ironically the same box he used when he was "fired" a year before. Kensi who had been in the armory now stood in the shadows watching. How were they going to get through this? She stepped out into the light to stand by her desk. "Hey."

Deeks looked up. "Hey. They, uh, recover the bombs?"

"Yeah. NEST team found them hidden in a container headed for Iran via Africa. They're securing them now."

"Well I love happy endings." Deeks' voice was forlorn. He continued putting things in the carton on his desk.

"Baby, what are you doing?"

"Um… I don't know. I was just, uh … I was just cleaning some stuff out, but I don't … I don't know." Deeks ran a shaky hand through his hair as he looked around the bullpen.

Kensi had never seen her partner look so lost. He was cock sure, funny, brave. But this, this was scaring her. "Listen, I know what you're going through."

Deeks cut her right off, "I really hope you never do." He looked right into her eyes to make sure she understood that he would die before he would ever let that happen to her.

"But if you want to talk about it, or not talk at all, I'm here for you. Those vows we took, for better or worse. They mean something. They mean we will get through this - together."

"I just - - wanna walk away from it."

"Yeah, so take some time off. We can take some time off together. Go away, anywhere you want."

"I need to get away from everything, you know? I just, like - - I just … "

Kensi could feel him slipping away. "And everyone?" He just looked up at her. She saw the hurt and pain. She felt it too. She left him in that chair. She left him in the emergency room. She wasn't there when he woke up. She didn't know what to do. She looked down at her hands and started rubbing her ring finger that currently was bare but against which she could always feel the phantom weight of her wedding set.

"Kens." She looked up at him. He saw the tears filling her eyes and the pain she was feeling. "I just want you to know that the place I went to in my head to, uh, stop the pain, was you. I just kept thinking about your smile, your laugh, your kisses when we make love. Everything." By now both had tears running down their cheeks. "It's the only thing that got me through." Kensi sobbed and threw herself into her husband's arms. She kept saying over and over how sorry she was. Deeks just held her tight, grateful to be standing there. He leaned back and lifted her chin so he could see her eyes. "I love you Kensi Deeks." He then kissed her.

He wasn't sure what was going to happen but they would figure out. They always did.