Author's Note:

Huge, huge thank you to those who PMed me last chapter or left a comment in the reviews. They were all very lovely :) Special shout out to JaniceS.

-C

"That did not just happen," Deeks muttered.

Sam position himself behind the door and stretched to see into the peephole. Instantly his body relaxed and he returned his gun to his waistband. "It's not so quiet anymore."

He opened up the door revealing none other than Nell.

"Thank goodness you guys are okay," she exclaimed before giving Sam a massive hug for somebody of her stature. "I'm sorry if I scared you. I tripped on the stairs."

"Who's that?" Callen asked from the couch, craning his neck to see what was going on.

"Callen? What happened?" Nell raced from the front door and kneeled at his side.

"Salinas Cartel got us pretty good once the operation was blown," Kensi explained. "We're lucky we're here at all. Battered, but alive."

"You wouldn't believe what we went through to get here," Deeks added. Then came a flurry of questions. "How's Eric? And Hetty? Where are they? How bad is it, and why haven't we heard from anyone?"

Nell sank to the floor. "I haven't seen the office since the explosion, but from the wake I can gather that there's not much left." She swallowed a lump in her throat before continuing. "Seven agents, five analysts, and four training officers are dead. Several more, including Eric, are in critical condition. The reason nobody has contacted you is because Director Vance is trying to pick up the pieces. Our ongoing cases have been handed over to our San Diego office and other various agencies who have come forward to help. But those left in the field undercover were on their own until a coded message was sent out telling them to retreat to the nearest safe-house until further orders. I haven't heard from Hetty at all."

"We didn't know what was going on. Deeks and I assumed that the Salinas Cartel might be after our team specifically so we went dark in hopes they would leave the rest of the agency alone," Sam said.

"Vance knows as much as you four. He's moved the people in critical condition to different hospitals in and around Los Angeles with protective details."

Kensi asked, "Did anybody send you here?"

Nell shook her head. "Not directly anyway."

"And we know that must mean Hetty," Callen grumbled.

"Long story short, I think she wants us to continue the mission. She wouldn't have set me up the way she did if that wasn't true."

Callen raised his eyebrow, then understanding passed through his blue eyes. "Ocean View Ridge, am I right?"

The intelligence analyst nodded. "I think the computer system she has set up there is more complex than the one we use at ops."

"And what is this, exactly?" Deeks inquired.

"A spy's best friend," G answered. "Weapons, money, a security system that stretches all over Los Angeles and into surrounding counties."

"We can use this to go after the Salinas Cartel then," Kensi prompted.

He scoffed. "We'll need more than just the five of us. Thinking realistically here, Sam and Deeks are the only ones who could do leg work."

Kensi protested indignantly, "I don't need both ankles to be functioning for maintaining a sniper's nest."

"What if we sent out a coded message to the remaining agents?" Sam suggested.

Deeks broke in, "Meeting at Hetty's place is too risky. And if we're doing this we need to stay dark. Nobody's going to catch these guys with an undercover or a flashy manhunt."

"Hotel would be the best place. In my experience, they're going to be looking for us in places like this. Secluded. Or in cheap motels. The more expensive, the less likely they are to notice us."

"Do you think people are going to jump right into this, especially after everything that's happened? We aren't exactly going through the proper channels," Nell commented.

"We're federal agents and some bastards at there just killed sixteen of our own. Nobody is gonna let this go without a fight- by the books or not," Callen assured darkly.

Nell brushed off her skirt and stood. "As soon as I figure out how to code the message out to our agents, you'll get it. And then we'll figure this thing out together."

"One more thing," Sam stopped her from leaving right away. "Once we leave this safehouse, we can't come back to it."

"Agreed."

"Callen you should go with Nell," Deeks suddenly spoke up. When he got an angry glance, he was quick to explain. "You're the one who said it. Sam and I can move quickly in a tight spot, and Kensi with a little help. If the Salinas Cartel came knocking, I'm concerned not all of us would get out alright. I'm just saying maybe you would be more helpful feeding us information."

The team leader looked like he wanted to argue, but there was nothing to prove him staying to be beneficial.

"He's right, G," Sam said.

"Alright," he finally agreed. "Let's go, Nell."

Their two teammates left Kensi, Deeks, and Sam with nothing but a quiet a house and cold McDonald's that was played with before being thrown out. They were headed into a tough one this time.

Even though it was barely even noon yet, lack of sleep was enough to persuade the agents to kick back for a few hours. As Sam and Kensi snoozed in separate bedrooms, Deeks was on guard duty with a gun over his lap facing the front door intently. Despite their deception, the blond wasn't quite sure how long the safe house would remain a secret when the Salinas Cartel had the resources that they did.

For hours he stared at the door as if it might change color or something. His own eyelids were growing extremely heavy, but he forced himself to stay awake for the team.

"You could have just woken me up if you wanted to change shifts you know," said a voice behind him.

Deeks whipped around to see Kensi hobbling over using one crutch. "I'm fine."

"Isn't that my line?" the brunette asked, collapsing onto the couch next to him.

He smirked. "I guess you rubbed off on me."

Kensi opened her mouth to say something, but closed it almost immediately. She took another moment, and started again. "So listen. I know our communication sucks and is strained at best. I just want you to know that-"

A beep coming from Deeks's pocket interrupted her. He rolled his eyes, turned the sound off, and returned his attention to Kensi.

"As I was saying, I thought I'd let you-"

Again, the incessant noise rang again.

"Are you gonna get that?" Kensi questioned exasperatedly.

"One second," Deeks mumbled, flipping his burner phone open to see several missed text messages from an untraceable number. "It's Nell."

He scanned through the message

"We have a meet set for tonight at eight. Deluxe Studio at the Mondrian. Jeez, Nell really went all out."

"That's only in two hours." Kensi said. "Better go wake up Sam."

"First, tell me what you were going to say."

She shrugged. "It's no important."

"It is."

Kensi looked at him with sad eyes. "Now's not the right time for it. I'll take care of Sam. You should get some sleep before tonight."

Hours later, Sam knocked on the door to the deluxe studio on one of the top floors at the Mondrian. After several seconds, it opened to reveal Nell.

"Come in, guys."

They slipped into the room. Deeks spotted Callen lounging on the king sized bed and another agent, a young, Canadian-born man named Lucas Raymond, waiting in one of the arm chairs.

"Not a big turn out," Kensi mumbled.

"It's not even eight yet. More people will come," Nell tried to sound confident, but she wasn't doing such a great job.

"I ran into Xandra Walters while getting provisions at a CVS. She's coming tonight," Raymond confirmed.

Suddenly there was a crash outside followed by several muffled shouts. Deeks ran to the door, looked through the peephole, and found a very curious sight. Without a second's thought, he threw open the door and dragged the two men fighting each other into the room.

As Sam helped separate them, it was easier to see what was going on.

"This guy was following me. He didn't get the chance to make a radio call," the agent said, wiping blood from his mouth.

"Raymond help me secure him in the bathroom," Sam beckoned the other one over.

The man they were restraining couldn't have been more than seventeen, eighteen years old. His face was hidden by a hood, but the sleeveless shirt revealed the tattoo of somebody from the Salinas Cartel.

Meanwhile, the newcomer straightened his tie and dabbed at the vermillion substance dripping from his mouth.

"Jason Letway, it's good to see you," Deeks said, holding his hand out.

Jason took it enthusiastically and brought him into a tight embrace. "I didn't know if you made it out or not."

Deeks took a step back, looking at his friend up and down. He was formally an LAPD detective. After working an operation with them a few months back (and some prompting from Hetty) he signed on as an NCIS agent.

"Well you know me."

"I think we should cut this meeting short," Sam suggested, emerging from the bathroom. "Radio call or not, somebody's gonna be looking for this kid."

At that moment, one more agent came in: the aforementioned Alexandra "Xandra" Walters.

Nell rubbed her hands together. "Then let's get started."

For those of you who know my OC, Jason, from Of Badges and Sunshine, I decided to reuse his character because I liked him so much. However the ending (SPOILER) where Deeks also signed on, is omitted.