Author's Note:

Please let me know what you guys think! Other than the AP exams in May, I'll be able to update more frequently.

-C

"Fire escape?" Deeks offered, shouldering their duffle bag of ammunition. Could this situation get any worse?

"Too predictable," Sam waved the idea away. "We need to get to the roof."

"Trapping ourselves three stories up is not my idea of an escape," the blond grumbled. If the older man heard him, he gave no indication. But years of working with the ex-Navy SEAL had taught Deeks to go with your first gut instinct. He would get them out of here.

Sam tossed Deeks a SIG for precaution and led the way out of the apartment. As soon as the door opened to the second floor, Deeks heard the shouting of angry men. He wasn't fluent in Spanish, but he didn't need to be a linguist to know that it wouldn't end well for him and Sam if they were caught.

Sam ushered Deeks down the hall and through a rusted over door. While the senior agent picked at the lock at the top of the stairs, Deeks barricaded the door with a metal pipe. It wouldn't hold for long.

"Let's move, Deeks," Sam called down to him from on top of the stairs. As the voices drew nearer, the detective launched himself up the steps faster than he would have thought possible in his condition. He didn't think the gash was that bad upon initial inspection; his dizziness and fatigue told him otherwise.

The daylight nearly blinded him as they walked to the middle of the roof. Deeks drew his weapon and watched the door while Sam searched for an escape route.

"Anything?" Deeks called out. A chorus of Spanish followed.

"I have an idea."

"Good," the detective began. A crash erupted from underneath their feet "Because we'll have company any second."

Waiting for Sam's response, Deeks followed the direction from where his voice came from. He was bent off the edge of the convenience store, and the detective's stomach dropped. He had a bad feeling he knew what Sam's plan was. Deeks trotted over to his coworker to find him analyzing a jump across an alley to the nearest building rooftop.

"That's easily fifteen feet."

"Nineteen," Sam corrected. He took the pack off and flung it over to the other roof. "I'll go first." The military man backed up ten yards, made a sprint, and leaped off the side of the building. Deeks caught his breath as he watched his friend soaring over the alleyway. It seemed to take eternity for Sam to finally fall into a roll on the other side.

"Come on Deeks!" Sam pressed, waving his arms in beckoning.

"'Join NCIS' they said," Deeks muttered. He unslung his own bag and flung it using his left arm. He backed up to where Sam had moments before and exhaled deeply. Maybe with a good night's rest and in full health he could. But with an injured arm and dizzy enough already? This was stretching it. Not even the adrenaline could save him this time.

"Deeks!" Sam shouted impatiently.

The blond murmured a prayer and took off running.

The door was slammed open behind him.

Deeks planted his dominant foot and sprung from the rooftop.

Angry curses.

He was soaring over the alley.

Gun shots.

He was falling.

"Forgive my prying, but were you related to Agent Christopher Sullivan?" Nell inquired, flinching away from the doctor's touch.

He nodded glumly. "I met Henrietta at his funeral. She still blames herself for his death, you know."

"I do."

"Unfortunately she hasn't listened to me in telling her that it wasn't. Chris knew what he was getting himself into."

"How did you know to find me?" Nell questioned skeptically. She knew that anybody could be trying to get close to them, especially after what had transpired.

"When Chris died, she asked me what she could do for my family and I. My father was very sick with cancer, so it didn't seem like I would be able to finish medical school. She agreed to pay for the rest of it. Over the years we've kept in touch."

Catching on, Nell finished. "So you had an agreement that if something were to happen to Ops, she knew that we would end up in the hospital and you would take care of us."

"It's more than that, I'm afraid. She also left strict instructions. Up until a few years ago, they were for a man by the name of Nathaniel Getz. That name changed to Nell Jones."

"What kind of instructions?" Nell raised an eyebrow.

Doctor Sullivan reached into his coat pocket and retrieved a small envelope. Giving it a sad look, as if he never believed it would come to this, he turned it over once and handed it to her.

"I haven't opened that. But I think you should. After all, there's still a federal agency to run."

Deeks thought he was going to die. With bullets hailing left and right and him hanging three stories above an alley way in downtown Los Angeles, things weren't exactly looking optimistic. He closed his eyes, ready for impact by pavement or bullet.

What he got instead was a wrenching feeling in his arm as his shoulder was wrenched from its socket.

The detective let out a cry of agony, nearly blinded from the pain. He was hastily pulled up and hauled over the side of the guardrail. Deeks remained on the ground, holding his completely useless right arm. Sam took cover behind the three foot wall that acted as a safety rail and fired shot after shot at the approaching hostiles.

It felt like somebody had poured acid in his ball and socket join, forcing Deeks to go rigid and emitting cries of pain through clenched teeth.

"I know you're hurt, but in five seconds we have to make a run for the AC unit," Sam urged.

Deeks glanced over his shoulder to see the metal box Sam was referring to. It would provide ample cover long enough for them to make a dash down the fire escape on the opposite side of the roof top.

"…three," Sam warned.

The blond forced himself into a squatting position.

"Two…one!"

In a spray of bullets, the two launched themselves forward. They ran for several yards before finally reaching their target relatively unscathed. Deeks panted, still in a vast amount of pain.

"Cover me," Sam said.

Deeks drew his gun, holding it tightly in his left hand. "Go!"

He fired semi-aimlessly, hoping to buy Sam enough time to reach the edge of the fire escape. A few stray bullets from the enemy ricocheted off of the pavement inches away from Sam's feet, but Deeks could tell that in combination of the angle and distance, it was getting harder for the shots to be accurate.

"Now!" Sam called.

Deeks tore off in the direction of his friend, exactly in the same manner. He swore he felt the heated metal of a bullet knick his ankle however he didn't wait around to check. The detective reached Sam's position at a blinding speed.

"Go, go, go!" He motioned for the blond to follow through on his path towards the fire escape. Deeks managed to work through the pain in his dislocated arm and climb down the metal stairs. It wasn't long before Sam joined him at the bottom.

"Let's go," Deeks panted breathlessly.

Sam nodded in agreement and they took off down the street.

Kensi hissed in pain as a new wave of iron-hot pain exploded in her ankle. It had to be broken, there was no doubt about that. Callen rushed them along towards the main building of the car demolition plant faster.

"I'm sorry Kensi, we have to keep moving."

"I know," she replied through thinly pressed lips.

They limped to the back door of the offices and Callen made quick work of breaking the lock. With a flash of lightning, Kensi saw that a coating of blood marred the left side of his face. She used the wall for support to maneuver herself into the single room. Not looking at the floor, she knocked her injured foot against a box. With a cry of agony, Kensi sank to the ground.

"If I help you there, can you hotwire a car?" Callen asked, taking a look outside the window.

Kensi nodded wordlessly, still fighting her way through the pain.

Callen lifted Kensi up by the arms and supported her weight as they made their way to several cars in the garage area. He set her down in the front seat of the car and returned to the window with the semi-automatic weapon they stole.

"Here they come," he muttered lowly.