Author'sNotes: Thanks again to my reviewers and readers! I had hoped to get this up yesterday, being the awesome day of new NCIS + NCIS:LA episodes, but I was too exhausted to polish the chapter for the update in time due to its added length, until today. Enjoy!
Note that this chapter contains major spoilers for the Season 1 episode "Found".
~ Saviour ~
Kensi could hardly move.
She stared downwards, seeing the bright red blood smeared over the surface of her palm, and tried not let the events replay in her mind. The blood wasn't hers, yet Kensi felt the pain as though it was. Her entire form shuddered from shock, even as she used every ounce of her strength not to cry. She knew Deeks would be feeling worse than she was – much worse, and he will need her perseverance.
Kensi stood alone on the grass outside the cover house, slowly looking up and over to the pooling of blood on the road. She'd had her weapon taken from her, yet Kensi wasn't going to let anything hinder her from seeking out the one responsible for the mess and heartache of what had happened.
'I'm so sorry.' A shorter woman with curly brown hair approached her, pushing her glasses higher on her nose as she looked at Kensi with sympathy. The woman raised her hand to place it on Kensi's shoulder, trying to offer any comfort she could, but her touch was immediately shrugged off.
'Don't.' Kensi uttered furiously, her voice breaking slightly as she spoke. 'I can't. It's my fault.'
'No, it's not.' Her company tried to assure her.
'Is Cole okay?' Kensi re-directed, mostly as an afterthought.
'He's on the way to the hospital.' The woman told her with an exhale of relief. 'He'll be fine.'
The shock still overtaking her senses prevented Kensi from having something to answer with, so she remained quiet. She looked down at her hand again, wishing the blood no longer looked as fresh as it had when the events unfolded moments earlier. Redness was coloured on her formally blue blouse as well, and she intended to never wear that shirt again.
'It's my fault.' Kensi whispered. 'I couldn't stop it. Deeks will never forgive me.'
~ Approximately 26 hours earlier ~
'He was too quiet.' Kensi told Deeks, looking across the gym to where he stood a safe distance away.
Her hair was messily pulled back into a ponytail, whereas his hung around his face like it always did. They were both sweating, and breathing heavily, while maintaining the matched stubbornness in their determined gazes.
'It was a rough night.' Deeks commented with a shrug.
He flexed his neck and raised his fists in anticipation of another round against Kensi. It was still the earlier hours of Wednesday morning, and they both considered it too early to begin work; the two partners had to find an alternative use of their time.
'Right.' Kensi nodded, forcing herself not to needlessly worry. 'Right, he's probably still recovering.' She spoke loosely, yet secretly wondered if she was trying to convince Deeks or herself.
That morning had been unlike the one before it.
The pair had stood in the kitchen, just after sunrise, and looked over at the table where Daniel sat to eat his breakfast. Kensi had been the one to wake him, again, and the eight-year-old boy got out of bed without question or rejection. He'd dressed, and went downstairs for a bowl of cereal without uttering a single word. Deeks had tried to talk to Daniel, being as cheerful and friendly as possible, but the child merely offered Deeks a shy smile for his efforts then resumed his preparations for breakfast.
When he was finished eating, Daniel pushed away the barely-touched meal and asked if they could go – once again demonstrating a reversal of his previous attitude towards attending school. Kensi, unsure how to react, simply reached across the counter for the green lunch box she'd packed for him. Daniel willingly accepted it and moved to follow her outside to the awaiting SUV. Deeks trailed behind them, stopping only to lock the front door of their safe cover house along the way.
The child in their care was as silent during the drive to the school, never protesting or asking any questions. Daniel hadn't even looked at them when he got out of the car, and was accompanied part-way to the main building by Deeks.
The two partners thought it was odd, even though they were relieved to have performed their duties without a dramatic hassle. They didn't think much more of it, until one hour later inside the NCIS gym where they worked. Kensi and Deeks still had little to say or speculate on the occurrence, likely because they had more serious matters to consider - such as the ongoing case of the boy's missing parents. That didn't stop the event from crossing their minds, however, as they continued to spar with hand-to-hand combat despite their clear desire for a break.
'Ah!' Deeks yelled when Kensi flipped him onto the polished wooden floor of the gym.
He winced and groaned, as he felt the momentary pain shoot through him when he rolled onto his side. He was sore, and he knew Kensi was too because they were pushing their limitations. It wasn't excessively full-on, but the length of time they'd been competitively clashing was already taking its toll.
'Time out!' Deeks whined, lying sprawled out on his back with his arms and legs spread to mimic the shape of a star.
'There are no time outs.' Kensi gasped.
Regardless of her words, she moved to sit on the smooth floor beside him and released a long exhale of relief.
'Or you could just admit defeat, and it'll be over.' She added, pausing to sip from her water bottle.
'Never.' Deeks smirked through his grimace.
They had been relatively even for the most part, but his pride would not allow him to acknowledge that overall he had been thrown onto the floor more times than Kensi had. He was losing, and Deeks could feel it by the bruises and aches his body endured.
Feebly, in clear exaggeration of his supposed injuries, Deeks checked the time on his watch and huffed with annoyance. It felt like they'd been battling for hours, yet it was still considered a bit early to head to the bullpen. They'd felt guilty at first, for being in the gym when they could be working to find the missing parents of Daniel, but at the time they'd arrived there simply wasn't anything work-related to do. They had no major leads, and only a handful of people were in the building when they'd arrived.
As Deeks lay there, he thought of what he'd usually be doing at that time on a regular Wednesday morning. He was sure he'd either be going for a run or surfing the morning waves. Kensi had been for a run that morning before he'd gotten up, but Deeks missed his surfing even if they'd only been babysitting for a few days so far. Either way, he considered what he could be doing and compared it to his current alternative where he was instead lying defeated on the floor of the gym.
In a burst of exhaustion and amusement, Deeks started laughing at the incomprehensible contrasts between the two outcomes.
'Did you hit your head?' Kensi stared at him.
She was unnerved by Deeks' abrupt laughter from where he lay, wincing, on the floor a few feet from where she sat.
'Deeks, seriously, what is so funny?' She asked while trying to hide a smile; his wide grin was somewhat infectious.
'Nothing.' Deeks chuckled, then sat up. 'Okay, one more round.'
'Are you for real?' Kensi groaned, looking at him with disbelief.
She wasn't sure if she could survive another round, yet wasn't going to let Deeks know that. Kensi was eager to arise as the victor, and to never look weak in front of anyone. Her bullheadedness to stand by that was the only fuel she had left to raise from her space on the floor.
'Yeah.' Deeks grunted, slowly getting to his feet. 'Fair warning, I'm going to kick your ass.'
'That'll be the day.' Callen spoke from the doorway.
His unexpected voice carried through the gym and caught the attention of the two within, who each turned to see Callen and Sam standing there.
'And I thought we were early.' Callen added to his partner.
'We are early.' Sam frowned back. 'They just beat us here.'
'Well, they do look beaten.' Callen shrugged with amused agreement, though his gaze was mostly focused on Deeks.
Kensi lowered her fists when her phone emitted a ringing sound. Sighing, she got it out of her nearby bag and checked the caller ID. She didn't recognise it, though she cautiously answered it anyway.
'Damn.' Kensi said, referring to the interruption rather than the unknown identity of her caller. 'Hello?' She answered, lifting a finger to shush the others.
'NCIS, Special Agent Kensi Blye?' A sour-sounding woman spoke through the receiver.
'Uh, yeah.'
'I'm Jenna Mills, the Vice Principal. We were instructed to contact you in the case of any issues regarding Daniel Ellis.' The woman said. 'The boy is in the sick bay, requesting to be taken home.'
She then began to briefly explain the situation to Kensi, who listened with dread and reluctance.
When she hung up, Kensi faced Deeks again and raised her fists in preparation for another round. Deeks had an unfairly short amount of time to prepare himself for the onslaught of her punches, resulting in his preference to ducking rather than proper retaliation. The expression on her face was intimidating enough that even Callen and Sam took a step back.
It didn't take very long for her leg to swipe Deeks off his feet, and for him to find himself experiencing a familiar collision with the floor.
'We're benched again.' Kensi grumbled, bending to retrieve her water bottle and bag. 'We've got to go. Daniel's in the sick bay, and we've got to take him back to the house.'
Kensi wanted to help with the case, but knew they couldn't simply bring Daniel to their office of special projects or the boathouse. There wasn't any other option. She did want to protect Daniel and knew her task was important, yet Kensi was used to being amidst the action and putting in every skill or effort she had to take down the bad guys. She looked forward to dropping the boy at school because it meant she could head to work and help with the case of finding the child's parents, yet today that did not appear to be the plan.
'What happened?' Deeks wondered.
He gasped for air and grabbed Callen's offered hand, which pulled him to his feet. Deeks knew it was out of teasing pity that Callen had even helped him up, though he accepted the assistance nonetheless.
'I don't know.' Kensi answered with a shrug, heading for the door of the gym. 'I didn't ask.'
'You didn't ask?' Deeks repeated incredulously. 'The kid could be bleeding to death for all we know!'
'He's not bleeding to death.' Kensi rolled her eyes at his dramatic response, knowing the boy wasn't feeling too well and it wasn't bad enough to need a visit to the hospital.
Her words were the last Sam and Callen heard, as the two departing partners vanished from sight and hearing range. In the regained quiet of the otherwise empty gym, they stared at each other for a long moment without speaking – Sam's daring gaze matching Callen's. With a smirk, Callen shed his bag while Sam flexed his neck. They shared a "why not?" shrug, and raised their own fists in deliberation of having a sparring match of their own.
There was no way those two were going to be out-done by Kensi and Deeks, plus there was still plenty of time for a few more rounds of partner versus partner.
~ LB ~
Daniel's eyes were closed.
He lay on his back, with the uncomfortable mattress underneath him, and tried not to think about the discomfort he felt. His hands rested over his stomach, which was where it hurt, and the icky-smelling room around him was quiet. Daniel didn't know what he was going to do now. He felt miserable and nauseous, but the boy believed he had no option other than to lay there on the sick bay bed and wish away his unhappiness.
When things like this developed, Daniel knew who the school nurse told the vice principal to call. Just like last year, when he'd gotten into a fight with Billy Kruger. Except, they wouldn't be coming to pick him up this time. They were missing, and possibly gone forever. It had been days since it happened, yet during all that time of shock and abandonment...it was when he lay in the sick bay room that Daniel truly felt alone.
He couldn't remember any other moment in his life when he'd felt so forsaken and discarded, without someone to be there for him.
His blue eyes blinked open when the boy heard sounds outside the partially closed door of the sick bay. Not willing to move, in case he felt dizzy again, Daniel listened as hard as he could to work out what the nurse was saying. He couldn't understand her speech, likely because of her heavy European accent and his currently ill state, but Daniel knew it wasn't the vice principal she was talking to.
When the door opened, Daniel did turn his head towards it in a momentary hope that they'd come back for him. When he saw Kensi enter the room, his disappointment flooded him for a moment and his heart sank again. Sighing, the child turned to face the once-white ceiling above where he lay, his emotions swarming with the neglect he hated.
'You okay, buddy?'
Hearing Deeks' voice was not met with the usual interest or attentiveness when Daniel, for the first time, entirely ignored him as well.
The boy was furious at first - angry that he had been so hopeful, and yet the bitterness quickly faded when his foggy mind reminded him he hadn't been forgotten. The school had called them two, his protectors, and the boy could not deny it was nice to know Kensi and Deeks had come for him. They hadn't left him there to suffer, alone in the icky-smelling sick bay, and for that Daniel decided he was actually very glad to see them.
'You have a stomach-ache?' Kensi asked him.
'Uh-huh.' Daniel nodded, biting back another wave of nausea.
He turned his head to the side to see her unsure face staring back at him. Deeks stood a little behind Kensi, with his face also reflecting his apparent concern. He wondered if this was new, for them to actually seem worried about him or sad that he wasn't feeling very well, or if perhaps he'd simply overlooked it before. Daniel vaguely heard them telling the nurse they would take him home, then privately corrected themselves that they were going to the safe cover house.
The boy didn't care either way what the house was called - as long as it wasn't the sick bay.
Daniel kept his blue gaze trained on the pair, wondering if he could leave right now and if his tummy was going to agree with the motions required to do so. The boy doubted he could just walk out of there, as it had been hard enough to drag himself to the nurse's station hardly an hour after arriving at school.
Deeks was talking to the nurse, and in Daniel's moment of desire for an escape from the horrible room and his own pain, he didn't weigh his options. He always gravitated towards Deeks, for so many reasons and yet only half of which Daniel was aware of. As his tummy continued to hurt, and Deeks was busy talking to the nurse, the boy reached his arms towards Kensi with tears in his eyes. Desperately, his eyes pleaded with her to get him away from the room and take him somewhere more comfortable and familiar.
Kensi didn't consider herself to be very good with kids, though she acknowledged it was more from a lack of experience and a personal need to be cautious, so it was quite a surprise to her when it wasn't Deeks that Daniel kept his attention on. She was stunned for a moment by the child's silent requested, and wasn't sure what to do, as she glanced at Deeks in hope he could carry the boy.
When Kensi looked back at Daniel, the tears in his eyes won her over as she simply could not deny the boy his desire to be held and to leave the room.
'I gotcha.' Kensi said, bending to lift the boy into her arms.
She shifted his weight even if the eight-year-old wasn't quite as heavy as she had expected. Things had been rocky between the two for days, and this was the first moment when they'd really taken a chance to bond. Up until that point, Daniel had been rather rejecting of her company in general – even while considering their teamwork during their efforts to cook a proper meal the night before.
When the child's hands gently curled around her neck to hang on, and his forehead pressed against her cheek, Kensi experienced a timeless moment of disorientation. She'd never really held a child before, and she had almost no experience with children in general - yet that moment was certainly significant. She felt her insecurities shed and the warmth of the otherwise pale, unwell child was more noticeable as she held in securely in her arms. There was something natural about the way she placed a hand under him to support the boy's weight, and another on his back to soothe him, though Kensi had no idea how she knew exactly the right thing to do.
The emotional occasion lasted only until Kensi realised Deeks was watching her. Unwilling to look weak or out of sorts Kensi insisted they should leave, and proceeded to carry the boy into the hallway outside the sick bay room.
Classes were in session, so the corridor was otherwise vacant and oddly quiet, making the it seem longer and larger than it typically was.
Deeks had a smile on his face, though he didn't comment or intervene on Kensi and Daniel's overdue moment of bonding. He trailed behind them, and was able to see Daniel's sleeping face because her hair was still tied up in a ponytail from their sparring earlier. When Kensi headed towards the black SUV, Deeks rushed ahead of her to open the door for her. Deeks watched patiently while she carefully sat Daniel inside the car, and did up his seat belt, which woke the boy from his brief slumber.
'What?' Kensi asked Deeks quietly, yet sharply, when they arrived at the safe cover house s short time later. She'd finally noticed his smile when she'd parked the car and turned to glance at him.
Her eyes were narrowed in a frown of annoyance, which only increased when he didn't answer.
Daniel had been restless during the drive, unable to close his eyes again or evade the discomfort of his aching tummy. As he sat in the back seat, Daniel busied himself with picturing cartoons he'd seen where a character turned green when they were sick, because that's what he thought he was doing right then. His nausea increased and he leaned his head back in desire to lie down to sleep, unaware the car was parked and the others had already vacated the front seats.
When the door opened beside him, the boy jumped and groaned at the ache the jerked action had caused him.
It was Kensi, again.
He reached for her as easily as he had at the school - lacking any objective thought. Daniel felt too sick to care about anything else. He wasn't aware of much, such as where he was or what was going on, just that he was being carried by Kensi. Daniel sighed with minimal relief, knowing someone had come for him when he needed help, and hugged to Kensi with appeased gratitude. The rubbing on his back seemed to help, until he was placed on the sofa and the contact was broken. Like oxygen being sucked from an air vent, the security and maternal warmth the boy had experienced was gone the moment he was no longer wrapped in her arms.
Kensi gathered a blanket and some pillows from the upstairs linen closet, while Deeks tried to prevent Monty from running to jump up at Daniel in elated greeting. Daniel sleepily gave the dog a smile, and stretched his hand to pat him. His eyelids felt heavy and Daniel knew he would be able to sleep now, which he really wanted to. Dropping his hand from the dog's coat, Daniel leaned back against the pillows and contentedly closed his eyes.
'We'll let him rest.' Kensi exhaled.
'He needs it.' Deeks agreed, sounding considerably calmer than her.
He rested his elbows on the back of the sofa to watch over the sleeping child, and glanced sideways at Kensi. Deeks hid a chuckle, knowing she was very inexperienced in these sort of situations, and could easily guess Kensi had no idea what she was supposed to do with a sick little boy in their care.
'I can assure you, Director, that every possible effort is being made to locate and rescue Lieutenant Ellis and his wife.' Hetty said, speaking on the phone to Leon Vance. 'Yes. I understand. As soon as I know, you will know.' She nodded with confidence and authority, then hung up with a grunt of displeasure.
Hetty released a long exhale of dread and minor helplessness as she leaned back in her chair to contemplate the need for another cup of tea. She looked across the space of the open-plan room to a lone figure seated on the couch near the bullpen. Hetty remembered seeing him pacing there earlier, back and forth, with the same complexly serious expression on his face.
Curious, and concerned as usual for those she cared about, Hetty rose from her seat and walked towards Nate.
'I'll figure it out.'
Nate tried to keep his frustration from being detected through his tone, even in acknowledgement that Hetty so often knew more than one could hide. He was very aware of her presence without having to look up, and therefore he's spoken before she'd had the chance to ask him what was going on in his psychologically active mind.
'Is there any news from Mr Deeks and Ms Blye?' Hetty distracted Nate from his thoughts long enough to get an update on the current situation. The brief pause in his line of considerations might be an unwelcome break to Nate, but it was a crucial intervention on Hetty's behalf.
'Deeks called. He believes Daniel is feeling ill because he was overwhelmed last night by the stress and extreme emotions that caused the boy to lash out.' Nate said, finding it interesting that Deeks reached that immediate assumption with a level of familiarity and sureness.
'Is Mr Deeks estimation correct?'
'It's not uncommon for a child to feel at unease, even to the point of nausea, because of exhaustion and stress. He's already improving and Deeks thinks he'll be fine by tomorrow.' Nate reported while barely paying much attention to what he was saying. 'Daniel also finally reached out to Kensi. I think she feels obligated to return the gesture by taking care of him - she believes he is seeking her help, and has dutifully responded in a mothering fashion. Kensi was on her fourth attempt of cooking soup to help him feel better.'
Hetty nodded, lowering her gaze as she too was deep in thought, yet was very interested in what Nate had to say. She also vaguely wondered why Deeks had called Nate instead of herself, or Callen.
'Deeks also mentioned that Daniel talks in his sleep. He said "valley" multiple times, and it seemed important. Callen and Sam are tracking down any possible meaning for the word – such as possible locations in the valley that may be linked to the family or close associates.'
'And May Ellis?' Hetty added.
'Her flight was delayed. It will take at least another full day for her to get to Los Angeles.' Nate grumbled, his focus fixated elsewhere.
He felt there was nothing else he had to tell Hetty regarding the case or anything potentially useful that he should mention to her. He'd overcome the momentary pause in his ongoing considerations, and yet the amount of determination and thought he'd put into it had not wavered.
'This doesn't make sense.'
'Then perhaps you need some fresh perspective, Mr Getz?' Hetty offered, moving to sit beside him. 'What isn't making sense to our highly trained psychologist who has proven to be quite the master of unravelling everyday riddles and mystiques?'
'Daniel.' Nathan shared.
He relaxed his posture, though his gaze remained pinpointed upon the piece of paper in front of him. Whenever someone needed to talk or vent, Nate was there for them. He was glad to help during every incidence in which he could be helpful, but there were moments when it was nice for a person like Hetty to plainly see there were times when Nate required the lend of a listening ear as well.
'You believe the boy is pertinent to the case?' Hetty tried to encourage more details from Nate, who had already helped them thus far with levelling confusions and rationalising possibilities.
'More than that.' Nate confirmed. 'He's the key to it. They all left him behind – the parents, the kidnappers...there has to be a reason for it.'
'There's a reason for everything, isn't there, Mr Getz?'
'I thought so.' Nate sighed, leaning back against the couch. 'I've been re-reading Daniel's school assignment. It's the only time his teacher noticed something out of place in his work. Apart from this, there were no strange paintings or odd behaviour beyond minor child antics and reasonably unexplainable moodiness.' He continued.
While Nate spoke, Hetty remained quiet to listen carefully to what he had to say - she knew when her words were needed and when to remain silent.
'Daniel said he wished he knew how a lost dog knows how to find his way back home.' Nate phrased, submerged in his thoughts even while he spoke aloud to his sole listener. 'As far as I can tell, he's never had a pet who was lost or involved in a situation where the boy could develop an association with what he'd said. He told Deeks he'd barely even seen a dog before. It's possible it was something he'd read in a storybook...'
'But you don't believe it was?' Hetty assumed.
'No.' Nate firmly shook his head. 'I don't think it was from a book or story. He also makes a lot of references to the ocean. Understandable, given his parent's history with the Navy and people they know who work in the Military. Yet Daniel says the ocean should be freeing and open because it's so big. Then, of course, the more notable words he'd written about wishing someone would come home so he could ask the questions he's not allowed to.'
'And what do you make of that?'
'Again, it could be related to his father. Lieutenant Ellis used to spent a lot of time on duty and away from home, plus his work is highly classified. But a child doesn't typically think of it like that - except Daniel Ellis did.' Nate frowned again. 'I don't know who "he" is, but it's probably the most revealing thing about himself that Daniel has ever written in his work. This assignment has very little to do with who he is or who he wants to be. It's a message. Daniel has been careful, and he chose this particular school assignment to tell us something.'
'But you don't know what that something is?' Hetty prodded.
'No. ' Nate huffed. 'I don't. It's a mystery - another piece of the puzzle. I don't know if it's going help us find his parents or not, but this is important. I know Daniel is trying to tell us something, and I have to find out what it is.'
'In my experience, I've always found that when one is presented with a puzzle and no picture to demonstrate the end result, it's always wise to begin with the corner pieces to work around the edges of what you're trying to build.' Hetty said with a slight nod of her head. 'Once you know how big the puzzle is, and have framed a basic shape to work with, only then can you begin to fill in the blank spaces in the center. Only then will the picture become clear.'
Nate finally looked up from the paper to give her an awkward expression of realisation. He thought her words of veiled advice made perfect sense to him, and felt he should have thought of the evidentual metaphor sooner.
'Good luck, Mr Getz.' Hetty gave him a smile, preparing to return to her desk and leave him to his thoughts. 'If anyone can find those corner pieces, it will be you.'
'Yeah. Thanks.' Nate said, though he lacked his usual confidence and doubtlessness. Narrowing his eyes at the child's assignment once again, he tried to focus on the less obvious portions he'd already read over at least a dozen times.
~ LB ~
Shortly after lunch, the quiet arguing of Kensi and Deeks was the only sound in the safe cover house.
They stood together in the kitchen, whereas Daniel remained asleep on the sofa with only Monty for company. He wasn't allowed to sit with Daniel, no matter how much Monty wanted to stay close to the boy during what was clearly not a happy time for the small human. Monty whined and rested his chin on the edge of the sofa, keeping his gaze fixated on the face of the slumber child. He wanted to play with Daniel, or nudge him with his nose – anything to make the child laugh and be happy again.
The dog remained seated on the floor in front of Daniel, his head positioned on the sofa so he could continue staring longingly at the child, and took no notice of the hushed bickering come from the kitchen nearby.
'She came out of nowhere!' Deeks insisted, trying not to wake Daniel. 'I stepped outside for five minutes and the woman came swooping at me.'
'Swooping, Deeks?' Kensi rolled her eyes. 'This otherwise unremarkable, old lady who can barely see her own feet just "swooped" down on an apparently highly trained LAPD Detective?'
'I'm telling you, she's not normal. Or she's related to Hetty.' Deeks pouted. 'I didn't see her coming! The next thing I know, I'm accepting an invitation for us to join her for afternoon tea with some of the neighbours.'
'Did you forget Daniel is sick?' Kensi frowned. 'He can't go.'
'No, I didn't forget.' Deeks returned, offended by her words of implication. 'It was an accident! I don't even know what house she lives in. She just-'
'Swooped down on you.' Kensi rolled her eyes again. 'Yeah, I get it. How can we go when you don't even know what house it is?'
'Roses.' Deeks recalled, squinting as he tried to remember. 'She has a lot of roses.'
'They all have a lot of roses!' Kensi hissed.
'Nancy's going.' Deeks added. 'We can ask her where it is.'
'Oh, really? Nancy?' Kensi shook her head. 'You're unbelievable.'
'What?' Deeks asked with confusion when she turned to walk away. 'What? Kensi?' He complained and trailed after her.
'Daniel, how are you feeling?' Kensi questioned softly and crouched in front of the awakened child.
'Okay.' Daniel faintly, his voice sounding unused. 'Tired. Thirsty.'
'Deeks, get him a glass of water.' Kensi glared sharply at her partner, who huffed and went to the kitchen to do as he was told. 'Your temperature is fine.' She said with relief, refocusing on Daniel as she felt his forehead with her hand.
'My tummy isn't hurting anymore.' Daniel said, equally glad. He easily slid into sitting position to accept and drink the glass of water offered to him by Deeks.
Kensi was about to comment when the doorbell rang.
She and Deeks shared a look, and non-verbally she insisted to be the one to answer it while he stayed with Daniel. She hoped it wasn't Nancy stopping by, and was relieved to notice (through the blurred glass pane of the door) the person was considerably shorter than long-legged Nancy.
'Yes?' Kensi asked cautiously, though not entirely unfriendly, as she pulled the door ajar and peered through the gap to see who was visiting them.
'Hi, I'm Betsy. I live just over there.' The woman pointed towards the house one over from Nancy's.
She offered Kensi a somewhat shy smile, while brushing strands curly brown hair from her face.
'Oh.' Kensi said, unsure how to respond. She opened the door properly and straightened, losing some of her cautious edge, though she remained discreetly alert.
'I stopped by Leaha's, to drop off a dish, and I heard she'd invited the new neighbours to a little gathering this afternoon.' Betsy shared, adjusting the blue-rimmed glasses over her face. 'That could only be you, and your family. Leaha means well, I'm sure...'
Deeks watched Kensi talking with an unfamiliar neighbour, then looked down at the child comfortably seated on the sofa.
Daniel stared back at him, his blue eyes showing more depth and trust than they had earlier, and Deeks wasn't sure why. For a moment, he thought the boy was about to tell him something extremely important. The eight-year-old's scrutinised gaze was too intense and unwavering for there not to be a heavy meaning behind it, yet the contact was broken by Monty's abrupt bark.
Blinking, Deeks scolded his dog for barking simply because he wasn't getting all the attention for the moment. Daniel sighed and leaned against the back of the sofa, looking disappointed and sad.
'Daniel.' Deeks said delicately while leaning towards the child. 'You know you can tell me anything, right?'
Daniel deferred an answer.
He kept his face turned away from Deeks, and didn't even look up when Kensi rejoined them. Deeks was distracted by her huff of annoyance, but the previous moment between Daniel wouldn't be easily forgotten.
'Leaha.' Kensi told him. 'That's the old woman who "swooped" down on you.' She rolled her eyes, and crossed her arms over her pale shirt. 'Leaha and Nancy don't like each other, apparently. They're also always competing.'
Kensi felt the need to inform Deeks, as it was always useful in their situation to know every potential person they may come in contact with at some point during their stay in the neighbourhood, or who to watch out for. She wasn't sure what it had been about Betsy, but Kensi rather liked the woman. She refused to admit it was likely because Betsy make a point of denoting that she doesn't like Nancy either.
'According to Betsy-'
'Who?' Deeks interrupted, trying to sort through the mental lists of names and faces of their neighbours that Eric had shown them.
'She lives one house over from Nancy.' Kensi said. 'Brown hair. Glasses. Barely average height. She said Nancy would never attend an afternoon event, of any kind, at Leaha's. The invite you accepted on our behalf was probably a well-intended trick to get to know us through nosiness and guilt-trips because we're so new, accordingly to Betsy.'
'How would she know?' Deeks wondered.
'Betsy Rayne moved here only a couple of months ago.' Kensi shrugged, thinking the woman had experienced it herself and kindly sought them out to warn them of the old woman's over-eagerness to know all of the neighbours in the street. 'Betsy gave us an excuse to bail. Nancy is hosting a backyard party as an alternative. Leaha will have no hard feelings if we all showed up to that instead of her little afternoon tea. Either way, Leaha will just blame it all on Nancy's constant need to one-up her.'
'So...' Deeks absorbed the new information and sorted through a possible escape or option to supersede it.
Looking carefully at Kensi, he realised there was no getting out of attending some form of a social event with the neighbours that afternoon, if Daniel had recovered enough to attend alongside them.
'We're going to a party?'
'Yeah.' Kensi said, glaring at him in consistent belief that he was to blame for it. 'We're going to a party, together.' She stated firmly.
'Together.' Deeks repeated, knowing it meant they'd have to demonstrate their expected relationship to the neighbours.
He wasn't sure if he was supposed to be looking forward to that, or dreading it. And after seeing the look on Kensi's face, Deeks wished he'd been able to more effectively evade Leaha and her swooping powers of persuasion.
'6...6...2...4.' Callen checked the serial numbers on the large storage containers, reading off the little scrap of lightly crumpled paper to confirm it was the right one.
The tall corridor of steel and metal was dark, though the cemented floor was visible enough for one to make their way along it without much difficulty. Sam pursued behind him, looking up at the dim lights overhead and wondered if it was suspicious that the one above their designated container was faulty - enough for the light to provide no additional assistance to making out the printed number above the door.
'What are we hoping to find inside?' Sam asked, wanting to know if Callen had any expectations for the contents of the large storage shipping container Eric had located.
It was in the Valley, and had been fully paid for by the Lieutenant Ellis for the last year - and in advance for another six months. Even so, Sam was doubtful that whatever they were going to discover inside the container wasn't going to be of much help in locating the missing pair. Unless they found the Lieutenant himself dead inside – it was a worse case scenario, but with their jobs it wasn't exactly something that had never happened before.
'A jacuzzi.' Callen joked. 'Or maybe a really nice car.' He smirked, looking over his shoulder at Sam, while getting out his gun.
'Why would someone store a jacuzzi in a former shipping container?' Sam rolled his eyes. He also got out his gun, and watched alertly as Callen turned the key in the padlock to remove it.
'I would.' Callen shrugged, before seriousness set in his expression.
He aimed his gun at the parting of the container, and gripped the bar across the right door. Callen braced himself, then yanked it open and directed his gun around the large space of the interior. It was pitch black, but they had lights attached to their guns that enabled the pair to distinguish general shapes within: a table, a large board with papers pinned to it, and an overturned crate.
Callen went in first, making sure the place was clear before he lowered his gun. Sam followed suit, but flinched when something touched his head. Looking up, and pointing his gun at it, he exhaled at the sight of a dangling thin chain leading to an overhead light-bulb.
Sam gave it a tug, and the container was flooded with artificial light.
'Wow.' Callen commented, putting his gun away. 'This is not what I expected.'
Sam gave his partner a dead-panned expression, before he focused on the board hanging on the right wall. There were papers, though a lot of extra space and tacks indicated most of the papers had been pulled from the board by force. The few remaining pieces weren't very telling – mostly they were reminders about upcoming rent payments on the container itself, and various notes scribbled in a rushed form of handwriting that was too hard to make out the words of.
'No answers.' Callen grumbled. He kicked the empty crate, which appeared to have been searched and its contents hurriedly stolen. 'Just more questions.'
'And big ones.' Sam frowned, leaning closer to examine the desk.
There was a cylinder container completely filled with newly sharpened office pencils, yet a blue colouring pencil sat half-used on the table. Underneath it was a picture of Daniel as a toddler being held by his proudly smiling mother. There were also two pieces of paper Sam accurately guessed had never been pinned to the overhead board: a handwritten list of street addresses complied with minor details of a time and date, whereas the second piece of paper was smaller, older, and had a long number written on it that made no sense to the onlookers.
'He was tracking.' Callen realised, picking up the paper with the addresses. 'The first one is in Florida, and the last right here in Los Angeles. The first date is a month before they moved, and the last was three weeks ago.'
'If the tracker becomes the hunted, why leave this behind?' Sam thought it seemed a bit sloppy for someone to steal anything useful from the container, and yet leave those addresses behind.
'For us.' Callen nodded, staring morosely at the picture of toddler Daniel with his mother. 'Lieutenant Ellis could have been the one to clear this place out. According to the security footage, no one suspicious has been in here in the last six months. Only Ellis.'
'He knew they were coming.' Sam said in a grave tone, looking around the relatively vacant space around them. 'He knew they'd find him.'
~ LB ~
'You don't have to answer any question they might ask you.' Deeks coached Daniel, while standing in the boy's room to adjust the child's appearance in preparation of the back yard party across the street.
'What are godparents?' Daniel asked nervously.
'People who are there to look after you when your parents can't.' Deeks explained, but not thoroughly.
He had already warned Daniel about not letting anyone know his parents were missing, as it wouldn't end well otherwise if their cover was blown. The boy was feeling a lot better and wanted to play with some of the kids who would be at the party. Even so – Kensi, Deeks, and Daniel would have all have preferred to stay home and attempt to cook another hopeless meal.
'Can Monty come with us?' Daniel asked when Deeks stepped back.
'I think he'd rather stay here.' Deeks replied. 'Large crowds make him anxious when he's not working.'
'Me too.' Daniel sighed.
'You'll be fine.' Deeks ruffled the boy's hair to cheer him up. 'And we'll be right there with you.' He glanced into the hallway and rolled his eyes. 'If she ever finishes getting ready.' He muttered under his breath, walking to the main bedroom to peer inside.
Kensi stood in front of the full-length mirror where she alternated between holding up a dark purple blouse and an evenly toned blue one.
'Really?' Deeks asked, staring at her.
'I wasn't prepared.' Kensi glared at him, wishing she could just decide on a shirt and get the event over with, rather than feel nervous and have Deeks chuckling at her agitation.
Turning, she lifted the blouses again, which were on a hanger each, and raised an eyebrow at him.
'Really?' Deeks repeated, realising she wanted his opinion. 'You've never asked me before.'
'Well, I'm asking you now.' Kensi frowned.
Deeks was well aware of the fact that if he picked the "wrong" one then she could hold it against him - it would be considered as his bad choice instead hers. Either way, the fact she trusted him enough to choose something for her to wear wasn't lost on him.
'Blue.' Deeks answered casually, leaning against the frame of the open door.
'Why?' Kensi criticised, looking over the blue blouse very carefully.
'I have to have a reason?' Deeks scoffed.
'Yes.' Kensi nodded firmly.
'I'm ready.' Daniel said, appearing beside Deeks. 'Can we go now?'
'What do you think, Daniel?' Deeks re-directed. 'Think Kensi would look better in purple or blue?'
'I dunno.' Daniel shrugged, then examined the two shirts. 'Blue.' The boy answered because he'd heard Deeks say the colour a moment earlier, and was afraid of giving a bad answer.
'See?' Deeks smirked at Kensi, who only rolled her eyes and went to change in their private bathroom. Sighing, he turned and nudged Daniel downstairs so they could wait for Kensi to finish getting ready.
~ LB ~
'Safety Deposit Box?' Nell suggested, looking across at Eric.
'Too long.' He answered, staring intently at the piece of paper with the long number on it. It had been handed directly to him by Sam, and come from the Ellis storage container in San Diego.
And it was, non-surprisingly, up to them to decipher it.
'Well.' Nell sighed heavily. 'They're not co-ordinates, a phone number, part of an address, a shipping serial number, or any form of code I can find that makes sense for Lieutenant Ellis to have written on a piece of paper then attach to a board in a secret storage area. And there's nothing to match it to any of the files he had access to, from what we've been able to find.' She said with annoyance relating to the lack of accomplishment with their latest clue.
'Anything?' Callen asked, striding into the Ops room.
'We're still trying.' Eric grumbled. 'I'm not feeling the glow of success lately.' He added, since most of their tasks had reached a temporary dead end or was missing too much information to be useful with what they knew so far.
'I might have something.' Nate said, walking inside with Sam and Hetty following suit.
He went to Nell and instructed her to scan a copy of both sides of the assignment Daniel had written. She did so, and brought it up on the main screen.
'There.' Nate pointed to the bottom corner of the back.
He zoomed in on it, making the tiny mark larger until it became clear that the seemingly unnoticeable scribble was actually words. Stepping right in front of the screen, the others squinted in attempt to read it, until Nate was able to magnify the words to a clearer size.
'He is always watching.' Nate read aloud.
'Always?' Callen frowned, looking over to Eric and Nell.
'We've seen no indication of them being tailed.' Nell answered his unasked question.
'And no one has paid special attention to Daniel.' Eric added. 'Do you think he's still watching?' He worried, swerving his chair around to search through surveillance footage in attempt to find something they might have missed.
'Maybe.' Callen stared at the tiny words carefully written by Daniel Ellis. 'Either way, Daniel might have known they were coming too. He knows something he's not telling us.'
'He wants to.' Nate said sadly. 'More than anything. I strongly believe Daniel desperately wants to tell his story.'
~ LB ~
'How long have you two been together?' Asked a tall man with short, dark hair. He was Peter Jefferson, one of the neighbours Kensi and Deeks had met during the course of the supposed "back yard" party.
'Uh, ha.' Deeks chuckled, keeping his arm secured around Kensi's waist.
She offered him a smile of fondness, though her eyes said otherwise and he knew it was not a question they could easily avoid without some level of honesty.
'Excuse me.' Betsy said, passing between Peter and the apparent couple. She walked around the kitchen counter to sample some some of appetites spread out in bowls on a nearby table, doing her best not to eavesdrop.
'It feels like ten years.' Deeks joked to Peter. 'But it's more like two.'
'Barely.' Kensi added. 'A year and eight months.'
'That's impressive.' Peter nodded. 'And Daniel seems like a good kid.'
Peter looked to the side, where they could easily see Daniel sitting on a very large armchair with another boy. The second child was at least two years older than Daniel, and had light brown hair.
'Cole seems to like him.'
'Excuse me.' Kensi sighed, feeling her phone vibrate, to indicate an incoming message, and assumed it might involve an important update from Ops.
She walked a distance away from the men, and made sure not to be in close range to Betsy or else she'd be pulled into a conversation at an inconvenient time. Kensi saw she had a text from Callen, but didn't get the chance to read it when she saw Daniel hurriedly approaching her.
'What's wrong?' Kensi worried.
The boy had run to her and pressed his face against her side. Daniel wrapped his arms around her middle and didn't make a sound until she'd questioned him. Stepping back, the child looked up at her with an eager expression laced with cautious hesitancy.
'Cole asked me to come play outside with the other kids.' Daniel said. 'They do it all the time and Cole's dad will watch us.' He pointed to Peter. 'Can I go play with them, please?'
'Oh, I can watch him.' Betsy offered the moment she overheard.
Kensi considered the fact there were only six other neighbours at the party, and a few kids who had arrived to keep Cole and Daniel company. There were enough cameras outside for Eric and Nell to keep an eye on Daniel, and yet Kensi did not consider any outcome in which involved letting the boy out of her side.
'Maybe later.' Kensi allowed in the interest of preventing any possible arguments. 'We have a few more people to talk to first.' She said, narrowing her eyes when she saw Nancy making her way over to Deeks.
Peter had gone outside to supervise the kids play a game on the streets, leaving Deeks standing alone in the kitchen - once Betsy had returned to the living room where most of the noise originated. Nancy had a short too-tight skirt on, a rather formed blouse, too much make-up, and an overpriced hairstyle. She watched Deeks with a smile Kensi did not approve of, while he did his best to pretend he wasn't bothered by her advancing company.
Kensi halted, remembering the text message from Callen, and left Deeks to the mercy of Nancy for a moment longer.
They'd only been at the party for an hour, and only two of the nearby neighbours weren't in attendance. They'd all had a background check, yet Kensi was not confident that any of them could be completely trusted. Especially not Nancy, she thought, as she eyed the woman with distaste.
Betsy Rayne seemed nice, for a woman who lived alone with her cat and a large pile of novels. Peter Jefferson was a single dad working two jobs, while Nancy Westfield was a single mother with no need for any job. Leaha Porter was the old lady who often lost track of where she was walking or what day it was, and yet there were two people who lived close-by and had not shown up at the party. Mac Smith seemed to always be at work, and not many of the neighbours seem him around very often - whereas Albert Moore was purposefully avoided by all of the residences on the block.
'I can hear him from here.' Kensi heard someone say, as she passed the living room where the noise had significantly decreased. 'Damn old Al and his monster of a dog, always barking when Nancy has guests over.'
'I'm not interrupting, I hope?' Kensi said sweetly, though she wore a no-nonsense expression of intimidation. 'We have to go soon, honey.' She looped her arm around Deeks, and kept her steely gaze on Nancy - who quickly got the silent message and made an excuse to rejoin the party.
'Problem, Sugarbear?' Deeks teased, amused by the apparent dislike Kensi automatically expressed whenever Nancy gave him any suggestive attention.
'No.' Kensi was aware of being watched, so she leaned to kiss his cheek and kept close in order to whisper into his ear without looking suspicious. 'Callen thinks someone might still be watching Daniel, but they're not sure. He wrote something in one of his school projects, or whatever.'
Deeks smiled and kept an arm around her waist while listening, then turned her so he could look over her shoulder. Daniel was sitting unhappily on an armchair, whereas his previous company seemed to have gone outside with the other kids.
'Make an excuse to leave.' Kensi said, stepping back. 'Leaha keeps trying to talk to me, and she doesn't stop asking questions. And then there's this.' She gestured to the short amount of space between them.
'So? We're supposed to be together.' Deeks stated. 'We've played a married couple before. What's the big deal?'
'That's different.' Kensi said to him in low tones, glad they had a relative amount of privacy as she pulled him further into the kitchen. 'When we're married, we have to find ways to work through things. As a couple, it's less permanent. I could just walk away.'
'You'd give up on us, just like that?' Deeks frowned. 'Really?'
'Deeks, there is no us!' Kensi hissed to him. 'There is no thing, and we are not nor will ever be a couple for real.'
'Okay.' Deeks said and turned away. He focused on a silver platter on the counter next to them, trying to hide his expression of apparent hurt, which Kensi was surprised to notice.
'Deeks...' She instantly felt guilty, though Kensi had no idea why she should.
'Never?' Deeks asked, staring intently at her.
'Maybe not "never", but I really don't see it happening.' Kensi reasoned with a sigh and mild roll of her eyes. 'Can you even imagine us, together, for real?' She snorted.
'Actually, yes.' Deeks nodded, standing right in front of her again. 'Granted, it would probably shorten my life span and we'd be doomed from the start – but yeah, I can see it.'
'You can?' Kensi stared back at him, unsure if he was serious or not.
'I can.' Deeks confirmed, popping a grape into his mouth.
'You can see us coming home from work every day, together?' Kensi elaborated. 'Us going out on dates, sharing our everyday lives, and trusting each other completely – all of it?'
'It is really that hard to believe?' Deeks asked, partially amused and also disbelieving that Kensi hadn't seemed to have given it much thought until then.
'Answer the question.' She frowned, placing her hands on her hips.
'Yes.' Deeks told her quietly.
'Huh.' Kensi considered the new information and wasn't sure how to handle it. 'Okay.' She nodded, giving the appearance of no longer being interested in the conversation as she turned to head for the living room.
'Okay?' Deeks stared at her, stunned. 'What, that's it?' He accused with a pout of confusion, watching her walk away from him. 'That's all you have to say?'
Kensi didn't answer, as she left the kitchen and headed into the spacious crowd filling the living room.
'Kensi?' Deeks whined, following after her. 'Kensi!'
Daniel looked up when a shadow cast over him. He inched back in his seat, until he relaxed with the realisation that it was just Kensi. She told him they were leaving, but if he still wanted to play with the other kids than he could for a little while.
With a shy smile of anticipation, he followed after Kensi while wondering why Deeks kept watching her with a weird look.
It was later in the afternoon, so Daniel wasn't surprised to see the street bathed in more shadows than sunlight. A group of kids, mostly a few years older than he was, were playing a game in the middle of the road. At first it looked like risky area to play, but Daniel noted that no cars tended to drive on the road unless it was very early in the morning. There were several other adults outside watching the kids play, such as Betsy and Peter, so Daniel wasn't too worried about the danger of traffic as he hurried to join them.
'You came.' Cole, the boy with light brown hair and hazel eyes, smiled.
'Yeah.' Daniel nodded.
He glanced over to see his protectors standing outside their safe cover house, observing him intently.
Daniel got along with several of his classmates at school, but he didn't have any friends. It was nice to be invited to play with the other kids, even if he didn't understand what game they were playing.
He tried to catch the ball when it flew towards him, as Cole cheered for him to, but Daniel panicked under pressure and missed. Daniel and Cole were on the same team, so they both chased after the ball when it rolled further down the street. Neither of them heard Deeks calling Daniel's name, or saw any of the other kids wince when they noticed where the ball had gone.
'Uh oh.' Cole said, looking at the tall wooden fence towering over them.
Their ball had slipped through the matching open gate, which revealed patches of unkempt grass.
'That's old Al's place.'
'Who's old Al?' Daniel frowned, becoming worried when he saw how nervous Cole was.
'He's a grumpy old man with a really mean dog.' Cole gasped, taking a step back when they heard barking from inside the yard. 'RUN!' He yelled to Daniel, spinning around to flee the scene.
Daniel only had to hear the growls passing through the open gate, and see the emerged appearance of very large paws, before he'd turned and hurried away. He was frightened by the aggressive barking he heard, making it harder for him to run straight. He zigzagged away, almost tripping with each terrified step, and was soon out-running Cole – who was not an especially athletic boy.
'Ah!' Cole yelled when the dog caught up to him, knocking the boy down onto his stomach by biting at his arm.
Daniel froze and turned back, not sure what to do.
Immediately, chaos broke out all along the street. Peter was running towards them, panic-stricken, and shouting profanities at the dog standing on his son's back. Betsy shrieked with horror and concern, while the other kids had scattered and either ran to the safety of their own homes, or their parent's embrace. The dog, which wasn't any definitive breed recognisable - with its dark coat and hungry-looking eyes, soon lost interest in Cole and looked straight at Daniel.
In the space of several seconds prior to the dog's escape from its yard, Deeks had turned to head inside the safe cover house and Kensi moved to retrieve Daniel from where he had headed to the end of the street. At the yells and barks, Deeks paused in the open doorway of the house while Kensi stared in shock to seeing the two children fleeing from a monstrously-sized beast of a dog.
'NO!' Kensi screamed in stricken alarm and a cold fear struck her when the dog reached Daniel, who had tripped and spun around to face the beast.
She ran as fast as she could, but someone else was faster.
A streaking blur sped passed her and headed straight for Daniel. Kensi didn't need to hear Deeks' yell to know what had happened, because she saw it unfolding in front of her eyes. Time became seamless; Kensi moved as fast as she could, yet everything else appeared to be going much faster. It took her seconds to reach Daniel, but by then there was nothing she could do.
Monty had slipped through the space of Deeks' legs and the open door, running at full speed to the young child he knew was in terrible danger. Despite the extremely significant disadvantage he had compared to Old Al's giant dog, Monty bravely stood between child and beast, barking with all the protective aggression he could muster.
The two dogs growled at each other, until Monty lunged forward and chomped down on the beasts' paw. An echoing yelp followed, but it hadn't come from the dark attacker.
'Monty, no!' Daniel cried.
He knew Month had tried to save him, and he knew his saviour did not stand a statistical chance against another dog so powerful and aggressive. And yet, Monty had tried. He barked, growled, and bit, but in the end Monty was swung by the mighty jaws of the other dog as though he was nothing. The only thing that prevented a full-on fight to the death was the resounding explosion of a gunshot, which Deeks had carefully aimed to hit the road a few feet from the beast.
Startled, the dog turned and cowardly bounded back to its yard.
'Daniel, are you hurt?' Kensi reached the boy first and pulled him towards her.
'Monty!' Daniel sobbed, shoving Kensi away so he could crawl towards his fallen hero.
Monty lay on his side with a deep bite wound marking his stomach. Blood began to pool under him, and Kensi rushed to his side in effort to stop the bleeding. She pressed her hand to his fur, but pulled away as soon as Deeks took over seconds later.
'Daniel.' Kensi said again. She wrapped her arms around his middle to force the child to move aside, and pulled him to his feet.
'He saved me!' Daniel dove at her.
The boy buried his face to her, which transferred the blood from his hands to her blouse, and cried while Kensi wrapped her clean arm around him in effort to soothe the boy.
'I know.' Kensi nodded.
Whilst Daniel sobbed, Kensi could only watch with worry as Deeks focused solely on stopping the blood flow while trying to juggle his phone.
The rest was a blur.
Peter had called an ambulance for his son, Cole, and then assisted Deeks in gently getting Monty into his car. Daniel shoved away from Kensi and ran after them, ensuring he could go with them to the veterinary clinic. Kensi remained behind. She'd overheard that the dog belonged to one of the neighbours, and was intent on confronting him, which was the only other thing Deeks had noticed. Before leaving, he had taken her gun and knew if anything happened she could still defend herself without it.
Kensi could hardly move.
She stared downwards at her hand, seeing the bright red blood smeared over the surface of her palm, and put her efforts into not allowing the events to replay in her mind. It didn't matter that the blood wasn't hers, when she felt the pain as though it was. Her entire form shuddered from shock, even as she used every ounce of her strength not to cry. She knew Deeks would be feeling worse than she was – much worse, and he will need her perseverance.
Kensi stood alone on the grass outside the cover house, slowly looking up and over to the pooling of blood on the road. Without her weapon, Kensi was less eager to go after Albert for not ensuring his dog didn't escape – but she wasn't going to let that stop her from seeking him out.
'I'm so sorry.' Betsy said as she approached Kensi, pushing her glasses higher on her nose as she looked at her with sympathy. Betsy raised her hand to place it on Kensi's shoulder, trying to offer any comfort she could, but her touch was immediately shrugged off.
'Don't.' Kensi uttered furiously, her voice breaking slightly as she spoke. 'I can't. It's my fault.'
'No, it's not.' Betsy tried to assure her.
'Is Cole okay?' Kensi re-directed, mostly as an afterthought.
'He's on the way to the hospital.' Betsy confirmed with an exhale of relief. 'He'll be fine.'
The shock still overtaking her senses prevented Kensi from having something to answer with, so she remained quiet. She looked down at her hand again, wishing the blood no longer looked as fresh as it had when Monty had been hauled aside by the beast only moments earlier. The redness was smeared on her blue blouse as well, the one Deeks and Daniel had chosen for her earlier, and yet she never wanted to wear the blue shirt again.
'It's my fault.' Kensi whispered. 'I couldn't stop it. Deeks will never forgive me.'
In a sort period of time, so much had gone wrong.
If she hadn't let Daniel play with the other kids, maybe Monty wouldn't have rushed to the rescue. Maybe, if she'd moved faster - acted quicker, then the dog's brave act wouldn't have been necessary. Daniel was her responsibility, and she had failed him. Kensi, unable to stand in the street any longer, turned and headed into the house.
To say Monty was just a dog wouldn't be right.
The other dog had been so big, and so dangerous, yet Monty only had concern for the small human he was protecting without any regard for his own safety. And it was more than that. Kensi couldn't forget the way Daniel had cried at the sight of Monty being tossed aside by the jaws of the attacking dog, or the way Deeks looked when he leaned over Monty in desperation to save him.
It was the look on Deeks' face that bothered her more than anything.
And then, as Kensi leaned her back against the wall beside the door, more images and emotions swarmed her consciousness. The blood was the trigger. She saw Dom, lying bloody on the rooftop while Sam tried to revive him, then Monty resting motionless on his side as Deeks did everything he could to stop the blood from pooling.
It was all too similar.
'It's not your fault.'
Kensi inhaled a sharp breath, wiping stray tears from her eyes, and looked to her left at the open doorway. She saw Deeks standing there, staring at her with perhaps the most serious expression she had ever seen on his face. Beside him was Daniel, with Deeks' arm draped protectively around his shoulders.
'Deeks.' Kensi spoke, clearing her throat, as she tried to gather herself. 'I should have done something.'
'You did.' Deeks nodded. 'Monty's going to be okay. He's in surgery, but the bite isn't serious. We can bring him home tomorrow.'
'Good.' Kensi nodded, adverting her gaze.
'He got hurt because he was saving me.' Daniel sniffed.
'We talked about this.' Deeks said firmly. 'Don't blame yourself.' He said to the boy, though looked over at Kensi too.
Daniel wasn't listening. His eyes filled with tears, and it made Kensi's own turmoil seem less of a priority.
Deeks reached down and lifted the boy into his arms, carrying Daniel to the sofa to calm him down, while Kensi remained where she was. Waiting until they were busily distracted, Kensi turned to leave the house. She marched down the street until she located the tall wood fence where the rough dog had escaped from, which had been closed in the meantime.
Not taking the chance of facing the beast with less mercy than before, Kensi walked around the back and ensured there was enough actual fence between herself and the distant barking.
'Mr Moore?' Kensi called out loudly. 'Mr Moore, I need to speak with you!'
'Who is it?'
The irritated reply came from inside the house, before the screen door swung open to reveal a grumpy man with a cane. He was slightly hunched and rather round in the belly, though his face was set with a well-established frown.
'Kensi Blye.' She answered. 'Your dog is a menace!' Kensi accused furiously.
She was about to tell him just how much chaos and hurt the beast had caused in such a short period of time, but he'd interrupted her to say it wasn't his dog.
'Tank is my son's dog.' Albert grumbled. 'I've been telling him to take the beast home, but he's still renovating his new house. What's the mutt done now?'
'He almost seriously hurt two boys.' Kensi stated, knowing the barrier of the fence did more than just protect her from the dog itself. 'One of them was my godson. Our dog tried to protect him, and now he's in surgery!'
~ LB ~
While Kensi verbally battled with Albert, Deeks remained warily in their safe cover house with Daniel.
He made sure to only think about the boy, who was quietly seated against him in need to feel secure, and avoided any imagery of Monty being hurt in a pool of blood.
'I like you better.' Daniel spoke in a voice so quiet Deeks almost hadn't heard him. 'You saved Monty. You won't let anything bad happen to me, right?' He looked up at Deeks with a penetrating stare.
'I'll keep you safe, buddy.' Deeks promised. 'Kensi too. We'll keep you safe.'
'I know.' Daniel whispered.
A smile spread over the child's lips as he sleepily leaned against Deeks' side, feeling as warm and secure as he had when Kensi brought him home from the sick bay that morning.
'Just don't ever leave me.'
Author's Notes: Next chapter will contain May Ellis, and some highly significant developments. Thank you for reading, and please take a moment to send me any feedback you have to offer/share.