Chapter 4

Deeks glared at Eric as he hurriedly shut off the feed, Nell knelt down beside Jordan and put her cardigan under her head for a pillow as Hetty came upstairs with the first aid kit. Deeks moved away as they tended to the woman, and slipped out quietly.

Climbing onto the flat roof that looked out over Greater Los Angeles, Deeks shut the door behind him, braced it with a chair Callen kept on the roof when he needed alone time and walked to the edge. He looked over and let out a chuckle, wasn't even high enough to jump from, he sank back and within moments found himself in a ball howling, crying for the loss of a child he didn't even know, he had failed her and he hadn't even met her. He was without a doubt just like his father.

How could she do this to him? To suddenly come back into his life without a word and tell him he's the father to her child…his child, his baby girl… his dead baby girl…

Deeks' breath hitched with each sob that fought its way out of his body, at least here no one could know how he felt and use it against him.

Kensi moved the chair she had seen down the hall and put it the other side of the door, glaring at any of the agents who walked past and stopped at the heart-wrenching noise that was emanating from the other side.

She knew he was breaking, and desperately wanted to be there for him, but he wouldn't welcome her seeing him like this so she did the next best thing she could, she watched his back. Jordan had been taken to Hetty's office to sit and calm down, she called the team doctor in hoping that she could help the poor woman, although even she was at a loss, this was not the outcome they had envisaged. Hetty watched as Jordan sobbed, Nell sitting close by her trying to offer whatever comfort she could as there was a loud bang from upstairs.

Kensi's voice floated down, "Deeks? Deeks….Deeks! Wait!"

Deeks came running down the stairs and headed for the door, "Mr. Deeks." Hetty asked, Deeks stopped his face distraught, but he turned and out of respect waited for her.

"Might I ask where you are going?" she asked.

"I'm going to find my little girl." He said his voice breaking, "I couldn't help her while she was alive and I'm damn well not leaving her body out there."

"Marty, I understand, I do…but you don't even know where she is." Hetty tried to reason with the detective.

"Yeah but there is a son of a bitch in San Diego that knows where she is, I'm gonna find him, get him to tell me and then I'm gonna shoot the bastard." He growled.

"What are you going to do tear the San Diego offices apart?" she asked.

"With my bare hands if I have to." He snarled.

Hetty put her hand on his arm as she made a decision, "Marty, I have to take you off the case,"

"WHAT? NO!" Deeks moved back, "Hetty you can't take me off this case, I owe her, I owe them both, I have to do this!" he begged.

Callen walked up behind her as Deeks made his plea. "Hetty, I'll take responsibility for him,"

"Mr. Callen, we don't want the case to be compromised," Hetty started.

"Compromised, he hurt one of our own, Let Deeks investigate I need my whole team Hetty, I promise he'll sit out the take down."

Hetty relented, "Very well Mr. Callen, Mr. Deeks is your responsibility; do not let him impede this investigation." She ordered. She walked off to greet the doctor who had walked in the door as Callen pulled Deeks aside.

"You gonna be able to do this?" Callen asked concerned.

Deeks shook his head, "I failed her Callen, I hadn't even met her and I failed my little girl."

"Are you walking away from this case?" Callen asked, looking Deeks in the eye with his hands on his shoulders.

"NO!" Deeks snapped.

"Then you haven't failed her, when you walk away and let these guys get away with it, then, you'll have failed her." Callen told him.

Deeks let out a shuddering breath, "Thanks," he sighed.

"Just keep your head in the game." Callen turned and headed to Ops Deeks followed but stopped shy of the door.

"I…I can't…" Deeks looked in the room, the last time he looked at that screen he had seen a sight he never wanted too again, looking through the door all he could see was her body on the screen.

Ellie couldn't believe it, she had followed the road, staying out of sight every time a car went past, hiding in a ditch at one point and despite the various cuts and scrapes she had she was relatively unhurt. She had been walking for five hours and finally she saw the border.

Sitting near the train station that crossed through the border into the U.S. she watched as people came and went until she saw what she was looking for, a harassed American mother with four children she was lugging suitcases and trying to keep all her children together, grabbing her bag she followed along behind. As she was just about to step on the train a border patrol guard eyed her, The blonde American woman turned quickly to her children, "Come on hurry up,"

"Coming Mom!" Ellie called along with the other children, the guard dropped back and she climbed onto the train.

The woman looked at Ellie and smiled, "Thank you for helping with my bag dear," she said as the doors closed.

"That's ok Ma'am, I gotta find my mom." Ellie said and moved further up the train.

She walked up the train and found a bathroom, she went in and shut the door, pouring water in the sink she washed her face and tidied herself up as best as she could. She had desperately wanted to borrow the woman's phone and call her mom, but she didn't know if someone had her too. She knew her dad worked in LA somewhere; she had planned on looking him up, hopefully he wouldn't reject her and he'd help her find her mom.

She had hoped she'd look prettier for him, but she needed to find him first.

Hearing the train pull into the station she got out and followed the same lady through to US soil. The main Los Angeles rail terminal was teeming with people as she walked looking a bit lost.

A couple of police officers saw the girl, dirty and a bit shaken looking around as if she were lost, Vikki Taylor, looked at the girl and alerting her partner walked over to her, "Hey kid?" she said softly.

Ellie jumped and tried to run, but Officer Taylor caught her, "Hey, it's ok, I just wanna talk to you," Ellie looked at them both terrified, "I have to find my dad…please?" she pulled back as her head started to swim.

"Ok kid, what's your dad's name?" Vikki asked.

"Deeks, Marty Deeks…I think he's a lawyer….My mom….." Ellie fainted as Officer Taylor caught her,

"Holy crap Jay, She says she's Deeks' kid?"

Jay Moreno looked at his partner as she laid the kid down, "You know this lawyer then?" he asked.

"He's not a lawyer; he's one of us, a cop." Taylor said as she called for an ambulance on her radio.

"You think he did this to her?" Jay asked.

Taylor shot him a look, "I've know Marty Deeks for years, ok, so I didn't know he had a kid, but I do know he'd never hurt one,"

"Look at her though, she's all scuffed up, looks like she's been on the streets for a few days and is probably half starved."

"I'm gonna call the lieutenant, Bates'll know how to get hold of him." Taylor said picking up the phone.

Deeks sat in ops with Eric going over the files of all the San Diego personnel connected with the steroid case, Vance had allowed them access to all the files and they were looking for discrepancies when his cell phone rang.

"Deeks." He said, "Look Bates, whatever it is, I'm not available…not now…I…WHAT? Where?" he dropped the phone and ran out of Ops leaving Eric looking confused.

Deeks ran into Hetty's office ignoring the woman and pushing past her to get to Jordan.

"She's alive." He panted

Jordan wiped her eyes, "What?" she asked in shock.

"Jor, our baby girl she's alive, LAPD picked her up at the main rail terminal, and she'd just got off a train from Mexico. They've taken her to hospital, come on, we have to go." He held his hand out and helped her up as Kensi and Hetty watched from behind them.

"Ms Blye. I think it would be prudent if you drove Mr. Deeks and Dr. Hampton to the hospital to see their daughter, Mr. Callen and Mr. Hanna will be along shortly to take her statement, hopefully she'll be able to give us an insight into who took her."

Kensi nodded, "Come on Deeks, Dr. Hampton, let's go and see if it's her."

"It is her…it has to be." Jordan said with a small smile of hope, not thinking she grasped Deeks hand, he looked shocked for a second but realized she needed him to be strong, and he needed this too, truth be told. He held her hand as they walked behind Kensi out to the car.

"Mr. Callen!" Hetty's voice rang around the bullpen.

Callen came from around the corner, "You hollered Hetty?" he smirked.

"I did not 'Holler' Mr. Callen, I merely called with gusto," Hetty said letting him sit for a moment. "It appears we were wrong in our assumption that the body on the screen was indeed Miss Hampton," she waited as he absorbed what she had just said.

"Deeks' daughter's alive?" he asked.

Hetty nodded, "She was found by an LAPD patrol officer earlier on, Lieutenant Bates called Mr. Deeks and informed him, he is en-route with Dr. Hampton and Ms Blye."

"That's wonderful news," Callen grinned.

"Be that as it may, two things are still outstanding, who is behind the abduction in the first place, and like it or not, there was an apparently murdered young lady in that picture, we need to find out who she is and why she died."

Callen nodded, she was, as usual right, "OK, Sam and I will head to the hospital and see if Ellie remembers anything that will help and then we will head to the San Diego offices and if Eric finds anything while we are gone."

Callen walked out of Hetty's office with a grin, Deeks' daughter was alive, and he was going to get to meet her. Callen knew Deeks would be freaking out slightly, but knowing the pain that Jethro Gibbs went through when he had lost his wife and daughter after many hours spent during his own recovery from his shooting listening to Gibbs in his basement and talking about a great many things, he wouldn't wish that pain on anyone, the fact that Deeks had been spared that was, in his opinion, a miracle.