The moment Deeks saw the briefcase that held the classified files, he tensed. It was an involuntary action, brought on by the anticipation of completing his mission and finally being able to rescue his teammates. He was currently standing next to the black SUV that he arrived in, watching three men hand over the briefcase to his so called "superior" while exchanging quiet whispers. Deeks noted the guns strapped to all of their waists and quickly glanced up at the roof of the alley way in hopes that the backup Hetty had promised was already stationed there. When the briefcase finally changed hands, Deeks had to stop himself from making a move. However the man sitting next to him did notice the way Deeks' hand instinctually twitched closer to his gun, and there was a few seconds of heated silence before Deeks realized that he had been made.
"Hey," the man began, taking a threatening step toward Deeks while his hand went for his own gun. Deeks cursed under his breath, thinking quickly and taking a step toward the man to meet him halfway. The agent's elbow had connected with the man's jaw before he had the chance to draw his gun. He punched the man square across the face, eliciting a cry of pain as the man stumbled away from the vehicle.
"This would be the time for that backup, Hetty," Deeks yelped as he dropped to the ground when gunfire exploded around him. He rolled underneath the SUV, emerging on the other side with a grunt as he heard bullets ricochet off of the vehicle.
"Don't let them get away with that case Mr. Deeks." Deeks had to stop himself from rolling his eyes at the judging tone in her voice, but he peeked his head out from beside the car quickly to get a look at where the briefcase had gone. He quickly had to pull his head back when it was almost shot off.
"As much as I think I can James Bond myself out of this, I'd appreciate some help," he said loudly, clutching his gun to his chest and praying that the men weren't stupid enough to come around the side of the car. As he glanced to his right, he made out the form of one of the men fleeing, the briefcase clutched tightly in his grasp. "For crying out loud," he groaned, steadying his arm and aiming at the retreating figure. He fired three shots, two which missed and one which hit the man in the back of the calf, causing him to stumble and drop the briefcase. "Booyah, that just happened," Deeks whooped triumphantly, but he was immediately cut off when there were more gunshots aimed toward him.
There was a moment of panic when Deeks doubted that his backup would come, but he soon heard the familiar shout of "federal agents" and the gunfire was directed away from the SUV and toward his oncoming help instead. This allowed him to aim across the front of the car, taking out one of the men before the rest of the NCIS team took out the rest. After making sure the briefcase was secured, Deeks wasted no time in hurtling himself into the nearest car, demanding the address to where the rest of his team could be found.
By the time Mark regained consciousness, Kensi had grasped a hold of most of her emotions and had separated herself from Callen in order to get a grip of the situation again. The moment Mark began to stir, Callen was by his side, rolling the man over onto his back and placing a boot very firmly on his neck.
"Listen to me," Callen said quietly, keeping his voice low and threatening. "If you make any sort of sound, I will press this boot into your face until you stop breathing." Mark glared daggers up at the agent, his nose a bloody mess from Sam's uppercut.
"Cute," he mumbled, choking on his words when Callen applied pressure.
"Try me." The anger in Callen's eyes was one of the most genuine and intense emotions Kensi had seen on her leader in a very long time. She opted to stay away, wanting nothing more than to break all the fingers on Mark's hands, but knowing that she didn't have the physical or emotional capacity to do so. Instead, she slowly slid down the wall into a sitting position, staring gauntly at the man on the ground. Mark turned his head as much as Callen's boot would allow to stare at her, his mouth curling into a cruel smile. She met his eyes and didn't break eye-contact.
Another push by Callen's foot forced Mark to look back at him. G raised his eyebrow in a warning of 'don't you dare even look at her' which didn't need to be spoken to be understood. More than anything, Callen wanted something that he could tie Mark up with. He felt vulnerable in his current position, and his fears were realized when Mark suddenly grabbed his ankle, twisting and pulling to catch Callen off-balance. His fatigued muscles were no match for Mark's adrenaline-fueled moves and Callen found himself with a fist to his stomach, doubling over as pain sprang up everywhere. He managed to reach up and catch Mark's next punch, using the momentum to pull the man toward him and head-butt him in the face. He missed his target but landed a sharp elbow into Mark's side.
"You're no match for me Agent Callen," Mark hissed in his ear as he maneuvered him into a rear choke. Callen struggled feebly, his strength and energy already drained and his entire body complaining viciously. There was a sudden cry of pain and the pressure disappeared, causing Callen to stumble onto his knees as he took gasping breaths. He turned to see Kensi extracting her fingers from Mark's eye sockets, pushing him down onto the ground. Mark clawed at his face in anguish, curling up to avoid further injury.
"You stay the fuck down," Kensi spat, stumbling backwards until she found a wall to steady herself against. He could see the fear on her face, matched by relief at the notion that Mark was practically incapable of doing them any more harm. The fact that she had probably permanently damaged his eyes stunned Callen, and he was momentarily glad that she wasn't in any shape to do more damage.
"Bastard," he muttered as he pulled himself back onto shaky feet. His eyes locked with Kensi for a moment, making sure she wasn't going to collapse before he also made his way over to a wall. They both stood there, watching Mark whimper and moan on the ground, reduced to nothing because of Kensi's attack.
It was about fifteen minutes before the two agents started hearing noises from outside, and two more minutes before a much frazzled Deeks burst into the room, gun raised with Sam following behind him, looking more annoyed than anything. Both of the men's attention went to Mark who was still on the ground, his hands firmly clamped over his eyes but alert at the sound of other people.
"What happened to him?" Sam asked, breaking the silence in the room. Kensi didn't have the chance to answer before Deeks was by her side, holstering his gun and hovering his hands over her as though he didn't want to cause more harm.
"Kensi," he murmured, and she could hear the pity in his voice.
"I'm okay," she whispered, meeting his worried blue eyes and not really putting much conviction behind her statement. He obviously didn't believe her, and opened his mouth to say something but decided against it. She felt him grab her arm gently, the reassurance making her relieved. "I'm glad you're here," she found herself saying, dropping her chin to avoid seeing his guilty look.
"We're getting you out of here," Deeks said firmly, moving to lead her toward the door, but she resisted.
"I just need a moment," she breathed, feeling her body start to shake again.
"Hey I gotcha, you're safe," Deeks continued comforting, seeing the shift in her face when her body accepted the words and began to unwind. He carefully caught her when she started to fall and cradled her against him as they both sunk to the floor, Kensi's vision swimming dangerously into darkness. "Damn it Kensi, stay with me," Deeks cursed, trying to get her to remain conscious.
"Hey, careful," Callen bit out harshly, not intending for the words to come out so judgingly, but feeling worry flare up in his chest when he saw her nod out of consciousness for a moment. "Get her to a hospital," he said urgently to Sam. "Please." Sam nodded, making his way over to Kensi and Deeks and kneeling down next to them.
"I got her, you take care of this guy and Callen," Sam said softly, gingerly wrapping his arm around Kensi's back and hooking another under her knees. He lifted slowly, settling her carefully against his chest as Deeks rose with a beyond-worried expression on his face. Deeks' eyes didn't leave Kensi's unconscious form until she was out of the room. He then made his way over to Mark, yanking him up off the floor a little too roughly and dragging his arms behind his back to be handcuffed. Callen could see the full extent of Kensi's nail marks on Mark's face, and his eyes were bloody and shut tightly.
"Let's go," Deeks growled, looking to Callen and quietly making sure that the agent could walk out of there by himself. Callen gave a brisk nod, pushing off the wall and following Deeks on shaky feet, not glancing behind him as he walked out the door.
A/N: So many apologies for the lack of updates! We're almost done with the story folks, just a chapter or two more to go! Thank you so much for your kind reviews, they are so uplifting to read. Love you all.