Author's Note:

Yay two chapters in one day! Might as well take advantage of my sickness!

-C

"Deeks. Deeks wake up. C'mon, wake up!"

The detective sputtered awake, blinking the harsh light of a bare bulb out of his eyes. He was incredibly disoriented, not sure where he was. At the moment the only thing clear was the sound of his partner's voice.

"Finally. I thought you were gonna nap through this whole thing."

There was the joke, but Deeks heard the relief in Kensi's voice. He waited a moment before replying. The pounding in his head weakened to a throb and then he began assessing the situation before them.

Both he and Kensi were zip-tied to metal chairs facing each other. Although they were at either sides of the room, it was nothing more than a bare storage closet with metal walls and pale illumination, so they weren't all that far away from one another. The only change in the scenery was a heavy gray door to his left.

Everything came back as a blur. Waking up in the car, an unpleasant ride to wherever this was, being manhandled out of the vehicle…he wasn't sure how long he had been out for.

"What's going on?" Deeks asked, pulled his wrists against the zip-ties.

"You've been unconscious for a while. And no, they haven't talked to me yet. You okay?"

"Oh you know. My head's used to being a punching bag so I'm good."

"Deeks," Kensi prompted in a stern tone.

"I'm good," he shot back seriously. "A headache's nothing. You?"

"My ankle hurts like a bitch," she gritted through clenched teeth. Deeks looked down to see that they had removed the cast he had constructed for her. Through the fabric of her jeans and boots he could tell it was swollen to the size of two softballs. "They weren't exactly concerned with it."

Deeks looked wildly around the room, examining every inch of it through still-fuzzy vision- looking for anything that might help them.

"I've already tried," Kensi read his mind. "The door locks from the outside and we're being watched. I found two cameras. One's right above you."

Deeks followed her gaze but couldn't quite tilt his head enough to see it. He looked on the opposite wall and sure enough found a small recording device that almost blended in with the metal behind it.

Suddenly the door was slammed open. A single man waltzed in, dragging a chair behind him. He seated himself backwards on it as the door shut, leaving Kensi and Deeks in silence.

Deeks may have been suffering a concussion…there was no mistaken who their visitor was. His dark hair was well groomed, boxy face clean cut. His skin was almost as pale as the glaring light, his paler gray eyes ignited with a fire.

Marcus Paley—the man who had killed three of Deeks's LAPD friends whom had attempted to infiltrate the Salinas Cartel.

"We haven't had the pleasure of meeting before, Special Agent Blye and Detective Deeks," Paley greeted and then turned his pointed gaze on the liaison officer. "However I get the impression that you already know of me."

Deeks's skin itched under his glare, but not out of fear for his own safety. He had seen some of the sick things Paley's done, and wanted nothing more than to put himself in between him and Kensi.

"You should have known by now that we can't be so easily taken down as you might think. It makes me wonder if you should have predicted the outcome of trying again," Paley continued. Although I did enjoy watching your friends die."

Kensi clenched her fists, visibly tensing up to lunge at him.

"Unfortunately, there is a slight problem. We don't have all the names of the people who escaped our initial attack. Our resources only go so far- I mean, you are supposed to be trained special agents after all."

Deeks made eye contact with his partner. That's why they were here. There could have been a number of reasons; this was the one Paley chose to reveal.

"And I'll be needing all of Henrietta Lang's known addresses. It would be foolish to assume she died with everyone else." Paley looked expectantly at the two of them. Neither said a word.

"Right. This is the game you're playing." Paley stood. "That's fine. I enjoy playing it."

He paced the length of the room, Deeks's heart rate increasing each time he neared Kensi.

"With compromising your building also came the compromise of your personnel files. I know more about you two than you think or would even care to admit. That being said torture won't work on either of you."

Paley stopped in front of Deeks.

"I'm sure you surprised your teammates with that one. Tell me, does your mouth still hurt? I personally would have used a razor. Much slower," he leered. Paley approached the brunette. "And Kensi, Kensi, Kensi…surviving an encounter with the Taliban over the course of several days?"

He ran a hand down her jaw. Deeks couldn't clearly see what happened next—Paley recoiled his hand and jumped several feet back. A satisfied smirk grew on Kensi's face when the murderer began wiping blood from his hand on the leg of his pants. A cold laugh erased some of that cockiness. It completely disappeared when he drove a hard punch to her jaw.

Kensi's head snapped to the side, rendering her a bit dazed. She spat out a glob of saliva and blood, the red liquid running heavily from the corner of her mouth.

"Don't touch her!" Deeks exclaimed involuntarily, thrusting himself against the zip-ties.

Paley smiled at him. "Thank you for making my point for me. You see, we're in an industrial freezer right now, which will turn on as soon as I leave. No doubt you'll freeze to death if you wait too long. Whoever gives me the names of the surviving agents- specifically those who were at the hotel with you will be kept here, the other let go."

He opened the door the room. "Oh, and before you think of it, we'll find out if you're lying. Better decide before you die of hypothermia." With that, it was shut tightly. Not a second passed by when the room temperature began to drop, small clouds escaping the vents.

"You have to promise me you won't say anything," Kensi said, her speech slightly slurred. "One of our lives is not worth the rest of our friends out in the field."

"Kens-"

"Promise me."

Deeks wanted so badly to argue. He knew he couldn't. "I promise."

"Good," Kensi mumbled and let her head fall against the back of the chair. All they could do is wait and pray like hell.