Happy New Year one and all! Thanks to Honus47 for skills. Shoutout to my besties Stef and Donna. Thanks to all of you for hanging around!
Disclaimer: Nope still don't own them. I promised Tess that I would keep Ira, Migs and Werth safe.
Enjoy!
I do believe in Ghost - Part 8
She licked her bottom lip before replying; "We don't negotiate with kidnappers." Her voice cracked giving away the emotions she felt. He laughed coldly at her. Jack then set about rooting through her backpack looking for something. He smiled as he held up her SAT phone. He looked through her contacts and was all set to press the button when he saw another contact listed next. "I wonder" he thought. Jack then pressed that button and held the phone to her ear. It was already ringing. She knew before the call connected that her voice would quiver and tried to get herself calmed down. She held her breath as the call was connected wanting to sound strong when Migs answered. Her gasp when she recognized the voice on the other end made Jack smile, pleased with his decision. It took every ounce of strength she had not to overreact when she heard his voice.
"Hello?"
When Deeks saw her caller ID pop up, he knew he had to be VERY careful. He was not sure if it was Kensi or Simon or Miller. Deeks did not know what Simon knew. Did he know that Kensi was his wife? Miller was part of the video call with Migs but their status was never mentioned but he couldn't be sure that Migs didn't tell Miller offline. Deeks decided to go with the no one knows anything theory until someone says otherwise and play it safe. He took a deep breath and answered the phone.
"Hello?"
No response, he tried again.
"This is Lieutenant Deeks."
"It's me Deeks." Kensi muttered into the phone. It took every ounce of self control he had not to react. He needed to find out what Simon knew and he didn't want to overplay his hand.
"KENSI? Hi. This is a surprise. Where are you?"
There was a long pause as Kensi thought of the pain in her whole body from the drug and manhandling she had endured but before she could answer him, the phone was pulled away from her.
"Agent Blye is in a little pain right now I am afraid. The drug we gave her had some nasty side effects. But that's the least of your concerns. If you don't meet my demands she will simply be dead. He chuckled darkly to himself before turning on his heel to look at Kensi. "We'll start by snapping fingers..." Kensi couldn't tell what was going on with the hood over her head but based on what Jack just said, she knew something was about to happen so she tried to prepare herself. She heard someone approach her, grab her hand and grip the little finger on her left hand and with a twist the bone snapped. She tried to control the scream as she didn't want him to get the satisfaction of knowing he had hurt her. The whimpered yelp was enough to have him smiling with glee.
"Who is this?" Deeks needed to get as much info as possible.
"Don't play dumb with me Lieutenant. I know who you are and that you are partners with Agent Blye." Jack had no patience for games.
"How do you know that? and I still don't know who you are? And you'll need to tell me what it is you want if I'm to give it to you." Deeks replied as calm as he could manage, the rage that was boiling just beneath the surface wasn't detectable over the phone to the untrained ear, but Kensi knew him and could hear it, through the speaker phone, the edge in Deeks' voice, the venomous edge that was always there when she was threatened. She actually felt comforted knowing that Jack Simon was about to meet Max Gentry.
"I know about you participation in Cherokee's rescue. I know Kensi works for NCIS. I know you are with LAPD. I may not how you got to be Kensi's partner and I don't really care. All I care about is safe passage to a non-extradition country. You need to assure me that it can happen and so that you know that I mean what I say about Agent Blye, listen." Kensi felt her right hand being lifted and knew what would come next, the sickening crack as he snapped her little finger, she whimpered, the pain she was feeling all over was already so great that another broken finger hardly even registered. What she hadn't been expecting was the shout from the phone speaker in front of her. She heard Deeks shouting and cursing Simon and then she heard Deeks yell. "Kens, I will find you. I swear!"
"No Lieutenant Deeks, you will not find her. But you WILL find a way to meet my demands if you want to see your partner ever again."
"What makes you think I can arrange anything like that for you? I'm just a cop. I have no idea who to talk to about that sort of stuff."
Don't play the buffoon with me Lieutenant. I told you that I read the Cherokee file and know exactly what you can do and who you know. Your friend, Major Morales, is the CO at Camp Chapman, so I would suggest you start with him and start the wheels turning or else bye-bye Blye. Do we understand each other Lieutenant?"
"If you hurt her anymore, there will be nowhere on this planet that you will ever be safe. I will find you, and I will end you!"
Deeks' threat and the tone of his voice startled Werth. The person he was looking at was not the man he knew. A shiver ran down his spine. Deeks literally transformed before his eyes. Gone were the mirthful blue eyes, they were now dark and menacing. His mouth sported a sneer he would never associate with his friend. Even the timbre of his voice had changed. He was looking at a man who was going to hurt someone . . . badly.
As soon as the call ended, Werth noticed Deeks' demeanor change back almost into the man he knew. "I need to call Migs and let him know what's going on." Werth says. He picked up the phone and hit speed dial. As soon as the call was answered, he put it on speaker phone. "Migs, Werth here. We're on speaker phone. Simon just called Deeks and informed him that bad things were going to happen to Kensi if his demands weren't met. Apparently he read the Cherokee file. That was how he found out about Kensi and Deeks. I don't think he knows they're married. Did Miller know? He wants safe passage to a non-extradition country and once he's there, he will let Blye go. We know where she's at because of the Overwatch spray and GPS bugs. We're getting ready to go get her."
"YOU WILL DO NO SUCH THING!" Migs orders into the phone. "We need to catch these guys and having you two go half-cocked running after him is not smart. He probably has more than Capt. Miller in that cave. I am ordering you both to stand down and wait for back-up!"
Deeks hears what Migs is saying and can feel his blood start to boil. He's trying to stay calm. "MIGS! You are my friend, but I am NOT a marine, I don't work for you, so your orders mean nothing to me! If it was Vita in that cave, being hurt, tell me you would stand by and wait for help. No way in hell would that ever happen and you know it. I know where she is and I have the equipment to get her and I have help. I'm going!" And just like that, he ends the call. He turns to see a stunned Werth. "Are you coming with me?"
"Absolutely." Werth replies. "But we need to be smart about this. Let's look at the map and figure out the best way to get to where she is." As they reviewed the area Werth told Deeks, "I know where that range is. We can save an hour's travel time if we use horses and go cross country. It's rough going but it will save a great bit of time. If we time this right we will get there right before sunset and use the shadows to our advantage. And we're going to need some fire power. He gets up and walked to a metal cabinet. Inside were two M4's complete with silencers. "We may need some knock-down power once we enter. These will do the trick."
Deeks smiled as he looked at Werth's toys. "Tony also made sure we were well armed." Deeks went over to his duffel bag. He reached inside and pulled out everything Mathews had put in there.
Werth's eyes grew large as he saw everything that Deeks pulled out. Tony always did know how to throw a party. "This is going to be fun!" Werth turned to Deeks slapped him on the back. "Let's go get your wife!"
Camp Chapman
Migs knew the minute Deeks hung up that he and Werth were not going to wait for backup. He had a pretty good idea that Werth had ample supplies and given that Deeks was not on any flight manifests, he assumed that Tony Matthews probably did a solid for a friend and flew him over. And he could almost guarantee that Matthews did not let Deeks leave the plane empty handed. There was small comfort in knowing that the two were armed but it was Deeks' state of mind that had him concerned. He knew of the Lieutenant's temper. He had witnessed it first hand in Germany after the hotel bombing when Trent Kort showed up and tried to place the blame of the failed mission on Ira, Kensi and Deeks. But the man he was talking to sounded nothing like the "hippie lawyer" he came to admire. There was a darkness he never thought could exist in his friend. He needed to notify both Hetty and Ira. He was not looking forward to that video call.
Once he had both Ira Weiss and Hetty Lange online, he gave them the highlights of what he knew.
Yes Deeks was in country and was with Damon Werth of Matthews Consulting.
Apparently Deeks and Kensi planned for any emergency. Kensi was sprayed with Overwatch and various GPS bugs were planted on her and her gear.
Migs sadly had to admit to Hetty and Ira that Capt. Miller was working for Simon. He was angry for having been duped and promised that there will be a full audit of not only everyone in camp but of the chain of command to find out how Miller slipped under the radar.
Simon made contact with Deeks and had already caused Kensi harm. Which did not sit well with her husband. "Hetty, you've known Deeks longer than I have. He sounded different. I know he is fiercely protective of Kensi but his voice, was nothing like I've ever heard before. Am I crazy? He sounded like a totally different person."
Hetty sighed. "If I had to guess, you were speaking with Max Gentry. It is an alias of Mr. Deeks, a rather dark one. We haven't used it in quite some time. It is an extremely personal one based on his past. I'm guessing Jack Simon pushed the wrong button when he harmed Kensi. Be careful Major and I would suggest getting a discrete word to Mr. Werth. Max Gentry is not someone to trifle with."
Ira was silent listening to both. He knew Deeks had done deep, long undercovers but this seemed beyond a normal alias. "Henrietta, how personal is this alias?"
"Mr. Deeks suffered at the hands of a very abusive father. His mother did what she could but was not a strong person. He shot his father when he was eleven. He endured a lot. It probably saved him during his ordeal at the hands of Sidorov. But even with that darkness there is a light that still burns bright in him. He has a big heart and a need to protect, especially women and children, and for the most part has controlled the darkness. But he loves Kensi, deeply, and will do what is necessary to get her back." Hetty, pulled her phone out of her pocket.
"Miss Jones, join us in the boatshed please." She then turned back to the screen. "I have a feeling that our Mr. Deeks had some very special help. Nell arrived shortly.
"Yes Hetty?"
"Miss Jones, you know Agent Weiss and Major Morales? I need you to tell us everything you did to assist Mr. Deeks to get to Camp Chapman."
Nell hesitated.
"NOW Miss Jones."
"Short version - Deeks contacted Damon Werth who contacted Tony Matthews. Matthews flew him over on his private jet. When Deeks and Kensi were "away" with Ira he had me create a set of aliases for them both in case of an emergency. I activated his alias and after he dropped Kensi off he went to Matthews' hanger. I had his gear sent from his house. Werth met him at Kandahar and then we activated Kensi's tracking gear."
Nell had the decency to look a little guilty and she was not going to let Deeks go down alone. Kensi and Deeks were her friends and she disagreed with Hetty's plan to keep the junior partners separated.
Migs rubbed his hands over his face. "Deeks once told me, nothing good ever happens when he and Kensi were separated. Maybe we should have let him back her up."
Ira started to head out of the boatshed. "I better get over there. I have full faith that those two will get Simon and I want first crack at questioning him. I will be in touch Henrietta. Migs, I will see you soon."
"Miss Jones, head back to OPS and keep me posted on Mr. and Mrs. Deeks. Can I hope that Mr. Deeks also used the Overwatch spray on himself?"
"Yes Ma'am. I insisted." Nell beamed.
"Send the link to the Major and keep me posted. Also, please assist the Major with anything he needs to find out who else is working with Simon." With that Nell left. That left Migs and Hetty.
"I'm sorry Major. Mr. Deeks is usually compliant and mission focused. I thought keeping him away from Jack Simon would keep Kensi focused."
"Don't Hetty. We weren't planning on my attache being a turncoat."
"Migs, does Capt. Miller know that Kensi and Deeks are married?"
"I did not say that specifically to him. He knows they're partners. Not sure how observant he was of them during the video call. I know that Jack read the "Cherokee" file but there was no mention of the marriage and Ira had buried their marriage certificate so hopefully Simon doesn't know."
"Keep me posted Major. Let me know if you need reinforcements. And I meant it when I offered my assistance for the base audit."
"Will do Hetty and thank you. I just want to get everyone out safely." Migs ended the link at his end.
Hetty did the same but kept staring at the blank screen.
"Oh Bugger!"