"I…I… Um my name is Faith… Faith Brandel, and I'm your sister."

Deeks practically recoiled and stood, giving the girl a skeptical look. "No. I don't have a sister. I'm an only child." Deeks said.

Kensi was at a loss for what to do. She stood and offered a hand to Faith. Looking at her now, she could see the resemblance. The beautiful eyes she'd fallen in love with, the messy blonde hair. She could easily see this girl as his sister, but now she was in a delicate situation. She wanted to support her partner, who was possibly going to be going through a life changing moment or to stay with the girl who had already had what was probably the worst day in her life.

Kensi stood, glancing back and forth between the two of them. Eventually Faith realized she'd have to explain herself more clearly.

"Our… Our… Dad, he got out of jail a few years earlier for 'good behavior' and he made Mom let him back into her life. He tried to find you too, but you'd already changed your name and Mom refused to tell him where you were." She watched as the skepticism in his eyes changed to curiosity and surprise.

"About a year after he was released, Mom found out she was pregnant with me." Faith replied. She saw as something clicked for him.

"Wait, were you born in 1998?" He asked.

"Yes. On November 12th."

Deeks took a deep breath and ran his hand through his hair. Kensi tilted her head as if to ask what he was thinking.

"I had semi regular contact with my…well, I guess our, Mom up until 1997. She mentioned something about a man in her life and then seemed to disappear. I figured she'd found a new man and was trying to start over. I couldn't really hold anything against her, since I'd done almost the exact same thing." He paused and looked at Faith for a moment, as if he was seeing her for the first time. "You look a lot like her, I can see that now."

Finally Kensi had to ask something, because evidently her partner wasn't picking up on a very important detail. "Why did your Mom not want him to know about you?"

Faith gave the adults a sad smile. "He got out. Nobody in their right mind would want to drag their child back to that neighborhood if they'd actually managed to escape." She said. Deeks' face immediately softened and he looked almost guilty. "Mom knew the moment she told you about the fact that Dad came back or that she had me, then you'd be back. She didn't want you to feel obligated to return to Reseda."

"But she told you about me?" He asked.

At this Faith broke out into the first smile she'd shown since they'd met. At this Kensi could clearly see the sibling resemblance. They had the exact same smile.

"Yeah. She told me all about you. How you saved her life when Dad tried to kill you both, and how you'd been so successful and made it into Law school and passed the bar exam. I loved those stories when I was little. They gave me hope that I could get out too. She used to take out old photo albums and show me pictures of you. The most recent she had was the photo you sent her when you graduated law school. " She said, then looked at him again. "You haven't changed much, you're hair's just a little... less styled."

At that Kensi burst out laughing and Deeks joined in before growing serious again.
He couldn't even think of anything to say. He simply said "come here" and held out his arms. Faith went easily into them. Kensi met Deeks eyes over Faith's shoulder and saw a single tear make its way down his face.

She could relate to how he felt. She too had been on her own without family, and when her mother came back into her life, she was an emotional wreck. It was such a reassuring feeling to have people in your life that loved you no matter what you did.

After a few minutes the two broke apart and Deeks brought his hand up to her face. "I can't believe I never knew about you." He whispered, almost as if he was talking to himself.

"I'm sorry to ruin this moment, but Officer Brady is headed this way." Kensi said.

"What can we do for you?" Deeks asked as he stepped towards the officer.

"I was just wondering if you had found anything." Brady asked.

"We did find a witness, this is Faith Brandel, she was in the shop's restroom when the shooting happened." Deeks explained.

"Well, normally I'd ask her to come with me, but this is actually getting handed over to NCIS. The IDs came back on the victims and the one was a Navy Seal in training. Your team should be here soon." Officer Brady said as he handed over the evidence transferal paperwork so that Kensi could sign it.

"Good luck, I hope you get this basturd." Brady said, shaking his head.

"Faith, we're going to have to keep you with us for a while. Do you want to call Mom and let her know what's going on? Legally, you should wait for a lawyer, guardian or child representative since you are under age." Deeks said.

"Aren't you a lawyer?" She asked rhetorically.

"Ah, yes, but… don't you think she'd want to know what's going on?"

"She's at work and I don't want to worry her. I'll call her later." Faith decided. Deeks reluctantly agreed just as Sam and Callen pulled up.

They had some explaining to do.