"Federal agent, drop the knife!" Kensi shouted, she had her Glock aimed to place a bullet right between Sharpe's eyes.
Sharpe pulled Marty to his feet, "Back off or I'll slice his throat."
"He dies, you die." she shifted her aim; "Now drop the knife or I'll drop you."
"You partner up with some cocky little bitches, Zack."
"What can I say; I bring out the best in some people." he shuffled backward as Sharpe pulled on his hair. "Shoot him, Kensi. Kill him."
"I mean it, drop the knife or I'll shoot. At this distance I can't miss." she said stepping further onto the concrete circle.
Sharpe stepped back, dragging Marty with him. He held the knife out and dropped it.
"Now kick it over here." she demanded.
The knife spun across the concrete and Marty shouted as he felt Damon go for the gun tucked under his shirt. The detective clasped his hands together and drove his elbow backward into Sharpe's ribs. The older man staggered back and Marty turned, grabbing Sharpe by the neck and shoving him back toward the safety fence. The chain link held as they fell onto it but the support gave way with a thunderous crack. The two men fell as the chain link snapped free of the anchor, link by link.
Sharpe grabbed for Marty and got a grip on his ankle but the blood from his ribboned feet make his skin slick and the drug dealer's grip slipped and he fell, landing on the boulders far below with a sickening crunch.
"Deeks!" Kensi threw herself down and reached for him, "Come on, give me your hand!"
He laughed, "Kinda hard to, sorry."
Another link popped and he slid down further.
She slithered closer to the edge, managing to slip her fingers under the circle of one of the cuffs.
More links popped free and they both dropped several inches.
"Let go Kensi." he said solemnly.
"No, dammit! Help me help you!" she was angry now, her eyes wide and her hair blowing in the wind that swirled up from the canyon floor. He thought that this must be how the Valkyrie must look when they came to claim the fallen heroes.
But he wasn't a hero.
"Please, Kensi, let me go." He pleaded with her, with his voice and his eyes, "I don't want you to die because of me. Just let me go."
She screamed angrily as more of the fence gave way and he slipped out of her fingers and out of her reach.
All of a sudden Sam was there, pulling her back and into Callen's arms.
"Nobody else is dying here today." Sam insisted, "No one." He reached down and grabbed the chain of the cuffs and pulled Deeks up, they both fell to the concrete and rolled away from the edge.
"Now…" Sam panted as they lay on the warm concrete, "we're even,"
XxXxXx
Sam picked Marty up and carried him downstairs to the master bathroom, set him on the vanity and glared at the smaller man.
"That was not the smartest move in the playbook," he growled, "I don't wanna see nothing like that from you everagain, you hear me?"
Marty nodded, stunned by the anger in Sam's voice.
Sam returned the nod and left.
Callen let out his breath nosily, "Wow. You got 'The Playbook Speech', that means he likes you." He turned the water on in the sink, tested it for warmth and he and Kensi helped Marty to put his feet in the basin.
"I'm gonna go find some bandages and maybe a shirt or something for you to wear."
Said Callen, disappearing after Sam.
Kensi gently washed his feet and checked for glass splinters, surprisingly enough, there were none.
"That was a really brave and stupid thing you did today."
He leaned over and kissed her softly on the lips.
"Don't ever do something like that again." she said.
"Do what?" He couldn't read her expression, "Which something? The kissing thing or the stupid brave thing?"
She didn't answer but ducked out the door and returned with rolls of gauze and a UCLA tee that Callen had found.
Marty slipped out of the torn remainder of his shirt and pulled on the tee shirt while Kensi wrapped the gauze around his feet.
Sam and Callen had returned.
"LAPD has been informed and reminded that this is our case. They are content to let you handle all the paperwork that goes with your side of this case." Callen said.
"Coroner is on the way to pick up the garbage," said Sam, "we are free to go anytime."
Marty stood up gingerly, "Thanks Sam, G. I don't know how you and Kensi found me but I am grateful you showed up when you did."
Sam smiled, "You've got some friends that are looking forward to "greeting" you."
"You talked to Muhammad?" Marty grinned, "How did you know about the twins?"
"A cop by the name of R. Wright let it slip that they might know where we could find Sharpe."
"Rick Wright talked to you?"
"Not exactly, it was more like he was talking and we were supposed to hear him."
Deeks' smile faded, "Oh."
Not liking the sudden tension in the air, Kensi threw her arm around the detective's shoulder, "Come on, let's get out of here. Who wants pizza?"
"Seriously, this time I really do want to go home and sleep." said Marty, limping toward the door.
Callen and Kensi exchanged glances and Sam shrugged.
"Okay, we can drop you off," Sam offered.
"Thanks, but I'd rather ride with Kensi," Marty looked back with a smile, "She doesn't drive like Andretti."
"Ha!" Kensi laughed and pointed at Sam, "He's gotcha there!"
Sam shook his head and gave an embarrassed grin. "Whatever."
XxXxXx
Kensi pulled up in front of the sandwich shop.
"Curbside service."
"With a smile too." he got out, closed the door and leaned in the window.
"Thanks Kensi. For everything."
"You going to be okay?"
He looked out at the ocean where the gulls were calling, swooping over the waves.
"Yeah." he was silent for several minutes, "Yeah," he smiled sadly, "I think so."
"I'll pick you up in the morning, okay?"
His shoulders slumped, "Debriefing, right? Oh the joy."
"It could be worse."
"Really, how?"
"It will only be Nate and Hetty; you could be getting the evil eye from our director."
He stood up, "Bring coffee."
Kensi smiled, reached over and patted his hand, "I will. You get some sleep, no more running across freeways and climbing fences."
He pulled away reluctantly, "Yeah, see you in the morning."
She watched as he made his way upstairs to his apartment, she didn't drive away until he disappeared up the stairs.
XxXxXx
On the way to pick up Deeks' at his apartment the next morning, Kensi stopped and bought a box of mixed pastries and two tall cups of coffee. She balanced the cups on the box as she climbed the narrow stairs. His door was closed but not locked, not even latched really; she opened it with the toe of her boot.
His place looked the way she'd expected it to; spare, clean, yet strangely chaotic with color. The two room studio was divided into a bedroom area that was three steps up from the living room/dining area. French doors were open by the bed, the gentle breeze blowing in off the ocean moved the gauze curtains that matched the sapphire sheets on the king size bed.
Small colorful area rugs were scattered across the wooden floor like discarded gemstones.
She stood still, watching silently as the rising sun touched his bare back and she could see the faint scars that trailed from his shoulders down in precise lines to his waist.
"I'm an unpaid spokesman for the scar cream industry." Marty said, his voice muffled a little by one of the many colorful pillows tumbled on the bed.
Kensi shook herself, "I brought coffee and donuts."
Marty threw off the sheet and got up, keeping his back to her, limped across the room and pulled on the slacks he'd tossed over the back of the chair last night.
She felt her face burn with a blush as she looked quickly away from the sight of his naked ass.
"I hope there's a bagel in there somewhere." he grinned, sensing her discomfort. "I'm not fond of donuts anymore."
"Yeah, there's two." she set the box and cups on the small table. "You really should lock your door."
"Can't." He pulled the lid off one of the cups and sniffed, then sighed happily, "someone stole it."
That drew her eyes back to him and he cocked his head, enjoying the shocked look she sent his way.
"Seriously, I had a real nice Schlagel installed the first week I moved in, got back one night and it was gone."
She laughed and took a seat across from him. "Someone stole the lock." she shook her head and helped herself to a donut with thick frosting and sprinkles.
"Yep." he sat down and rummaged in the box until he found a bagel, glared at the frosting that had dripped on it and wiped it off with a finger. "Weird thing was, that was the only thing they took." He used the frosting covered finger to stir his coffee.
She laughed and he shrugged.
"Hey, it's still sugar."
Kensi took a drink of her coffee and sighed, "So, where do we go from here?"
"To ops to meet with Hetty and Nate?" he grinned.
"You know what I mean." she set her cup down and stared out the window.
"Yeah, I do. Nothing has changed, we're still gonna work together Ken."
"Don't call me Ken." she mock glared at him, "Partner."
Marty laughed, "You wanna come to a dance club with me tonight?"
"I don't date people I work with." she said seriously.
"Well that's okay," Marty took a bite out of his bagel, "because Sam already said he would."
Kensi laughed, "What?"
"Sam and Callen agreed to go down to The Edge with me tonight. I'm getting together with some old friends."
"The ones who told Sam where we could find you?"
Marty nodded, "The Chang twins. They've offered free drinks, how can you turn that down?"
"I can't. What time should I meet you there?"
"I could always pick you up." he tilted his head looking at her with a charming smile.
"And I can always drive." she countered, taking a bite of her donut.
"Okay," he signed, disappointed, "Seven then."
"That's pretty early for a dance club."
"Yeah, I know but the owner is meeting us there too."
"I thought the twins owned it."
"No, they just manage the club." He took a long drink from his cup, "I think you'll get a kick out of meeting the owner."
"Really, why?"
"You just will, trust me."
ZzZzZzzzz
Marty wrote that last paragraph in the last chapter, I don't know if it's the way Eric plays him or the way Marty is written but he is so wonderfully emotional it just makes his 'voice' so much easier to write in a tense scene.
I also have to give credit to Elenna – she hasn't read this yet but she always urged me to write more descriptive scenes in all my other fanfics and now thanks to her and Kellerman I have the guts to go for it!
I'm still using the public library computer for internet, so I only get an hour to update my fanfic, read my e-mail and check the job boards (and when there is something good, apply for it) so I don't have time to reply to everyone as they comment.
Stranded – Thanks for reading and taking the time to review, it makes updating easier!
Lynneanne – Thanks! I do have a more difficult time with Sam and Callen's 'voices'. Sam was my favorite 'til Deeks came, so I had to put some more Sam in there. Deeks just seems so much easier to hear. The scene dividers have always been a thorn in my side! I'm glad these finally worked! Thanks for all your encouragement!
Tonnig7 – There will be my Martywhump, I'm trying to cut back on it but hey, he's just so easy to kick around! ;)
LostForeverInHisEyes – Thanks for all your encouragement! I always look forward to hearing what you thought of it. ;)
ShadowWolfDagger – There is something about Hetty – she just seems to know everything, no matter how you try to hide it ;) Any time I find a Marty fic I SQUEE! I love them so much I even run the non-English ones through bablefish 'cause I just have to feed the addiction!
Skyler1510 – Thank you for taking to review, I'm glad you're enjoying it!
NcisLAFan – I love Marty, I always check to see if anyone else has posted something new with him. ;)
angelprincesslilac – It's going faster that I expect… most of the time. Your encouragement and helpful hints have been a real inspiration for me, Thanks So Much!
Anne – Thank you for your encouragement!
KP – I hope I can keep you entertained ;)
TP96 – Isn't Marty the most huggable?
cdewinter78 – I hope you'll enjoy the story, thanks for your encouragement!
Joez – Squee! I just love Deeks, he's so… soo… squeeable!
StimorolFusion – Ya gotta love the Deeks!
alamodie – I'm glad you are intrigued! I hope I can keep you interested ;)
BlueEyes444 – LOL, I hope you recover quickly and will enjoy the rest of the story as much ;) Thanks so much for your encouragement!
Belladonna L Black – I love Marty, and I tend to maul the one I love… *evil grin* I'm glad you see 'my Marty' when you watch 'their' Marty! Thank you for your encouragement!
And to everyone who has read it so far and enjoyed it, thanks for encouraging me to write more, you make it easier to sit down and get to it!