Kensi's rescue and subsequent nightmares sent Marty's routine into a tumbling tailspin. He had all but moved in with Kensi to help her heal (in more ways than one), and was still working diligently to find Nikolai. The man's disappearance spooked Marty. He was still a very active danger, and Marty knew that the Russian would be even more desperate for revenge since Kensi had escaped him.
Most of his days started out with him waking up at Kensi's townhouse, an early run with Monty, and then heading off to the Mission with promises to his partner to keep his phone on as often as possible so that Kensi could reach him if she needed to- although she steadfastly refused to do so. Then it was off to work, busting cases while exhausting every possible lead to find Nikolai and stop him. Permanently. He spent hours hunched over his tablet or combing through NCIS's and LAPD's archives and tracking down every crook that might possibly have a shred of information about Nikolai's whereabouts.
It was all for naught.
His searches led only to more unanswered questions and dead ends. For all intents and purposes, it was as if Kensi's kidnapper had dropped off the face of the Earth.
Marty knew the man was simply biding his time. Anyone skilled enough to track, overpower and kidnap a federal agent at the top of her league would not be so foolhardy as to expose himself with so many agencies looking for him and with his targets so highly protected.
The one thing that kept Marty's determination and spirits up was the very person he was trying to protect- Kensi. As odd (and unfair) as it seemed, he found that he was relying on her just as much as she relied on him for comfort, security and peace. As the days passed from her rescue, the two more-than-just-partners just started to spend more time together. Evening walks with Monty, Thai food with classic movies, Kensi's physical therapy- those were just some of the many things the two would do together. And while neither would say it, the comfort the companionship brought was what kept them both going. Only one thing was out of place.
Kensi had not returned to NCIS.
In the past, she would have been trying to get in well before her mandatory evaluation had been vetted, just about "chomping at the bit" to be back at her job. After her kidnapping, however, Kensi was far more reluctant to go back. While she had returned to visit the Mission twice, it ended up being nothing more than a social visit. She had chatted Callen and Sam, exchanged high-fives with Eric and even got a huge hug from Nell. However, when Hetty came around, Kensi found excuses to avoid her, drawing a sharp stare from the small woman. Marty wanted his partner back badly, but the empty chair across from him continued to be a stark reminder of her absence.
Yet Marty knew Kensi well enough by now that he wouldn't even dream about asking her when she was coming back.
…..
Near the end of the third week following Kensi's return, Marty was confined to his desk, reading over intel sent from the Navy Yard back in Washington D.C., trying desperately not to fall asleep from sheer boredom. He had benched after finding out that his hands had not properly healed after his "temper tantrum" (Sam's words, not his) and the subsequent abuse he had put them through going undercover and rescuing Kensi. As such, many of the bones in his knuckles and fingers had to be re-broken and re-set, and he was therefore confined to stiff braces that severely limited his movements. He could barely hold a pen, let alone draw and fire a weapon for field work.
He tried to make the best of the situation by using the extra time to work on his search for Nikolai, but he could only take so many hours of finding dead ends before he wanted to pull every strand of blonde hair completely out.
Marty threw the file down with a sigh. His mind couldn't focus on its contents any more, and he longed to be out doing something useful. He checked around the bullpen, trying to see if he could sneak away, but one look at Hetty's office showed that the short woman was staring dangerously at him, and he immediately knew that he wasn't going to get away with anything other than sitting. With a second sigh, he settled back into his chair. He flipped his laptop's lid open, signed in, and navigated to the NCIS online archives. With nothing better to do, he started once again researching Nikolai, scanning through the scant files and notes that were available on his foe. Most of the information available was either was from his early life with Mossad until he and his older brother broke off due to the death of their third brother. From there, all that was available was a brief history of his involvement with Enhancing Law Enforcement, capture by NCIS, his brother Nazar's kidnapping of the federal agents' triplets and Marty's own report on Kensi's kidnapping. It was nothing Marty hadn't seen before.
Suddenly, a thought came to Marty. In all of the investigating he had done on Nikolai, he hadn't looked much into the man's time before he was caught by NCIS. More specifically, he looked back on the time Nikolai had spent with the militant group Enhancing Law Enforcement. He and his older brother Nazar hadn't gotten very far up the ranks of the ELE; they stayed as nothing more than mere enforcers, nothing more than thugs to enforce the organization's whims, before it was brought down by NCIS. Still…
Deeks pulled up the files on the ELE, looking at their members, their connections, and most importantly, the property they owned. There wasn't much other than their main cabin where Callen and Sam had been held hostage, and a few "safe houses" the members owned and used. Marty was about to give up when something on the edge of the satellite map of the ELE's cabin caught his eye. He panned the screen until the building was in the center of his screen.
It was small, likely no more than a one-room building, and far enough away from the main building to be missed by the original search of ELE's headquarters. No roads led to the building, not even a meager dirt path. Marty guessed that it was only accessible by ATV or foot. A lot like that cabin we rescued Kensi from Marty thought. He rubbed the stubble on his chin (thanks to his stress, it kept getting longer), thinking about his options. He desperately wanted to go out to the building right away, but knowing how closely monitored he was, he knew he needed to use some tact in order to at least go along with the others to investigate the site.
He printed off the map, closed his laptop, took a deep breath to compose himself and strode up to Hetty's office, trying his best to look as if he had every right to do so and that absolutely nothing was the matter. As soon as he came into sight, her blue eyes bored into his frame, looking as if she could see straight through him, as always.
"Can I help you, Mr. Deeks?"
"I believe that I have find a possible location for Nikolai." Marty was proud of that his voice didn't shake in the slightest.
One of Hetty's eyebrow's slowly rose above her glasses. She indicated for him to sit and he did. "Do tell."
Marty slid the photograph across the richly lacquered desk, letting it come to rest inches in front of the tiny woman. He tapped the building and said "I found this while I was looking through the ELE files. It's a little over five miles from the main building we found them at. There's nothing around for at least ten miles. It would make sure that it couldn't be discovered. I would hazard a guess that ELE used it when they needed a more…private place to conduct 'business'. It's entirely possible the Arieh brothers would have known about it and Nikolai would go there now to lay low." Marty knew that he was reaching a little, but he needed this lead to work out. He didn't know if he'd be able to take another false lead, another dead end in his partner's kidnapping.
His desperation must have shown through, because rather than telling Marty exactly what he was thinking, Hetty peered closely at the map, her face showing absolutely no expression ever. Finally, she looked back up at the detective, the same blank look on her face. "You know we do not have the agents or resources for this at the moment, Mr. Deeks…"
"Then send me. I'm not on a case."
The glare given to him could have cut through steel, and Marty inadvertently pulled back in his chair.
"Mr. Deeks, even if you were not currently so incapacitated that you cannot even properly hold your service weapon, I refuse to even think of allowing you to go to this place without backup. Nikolai has already been established as an extremely dangerous and resourceful man who will stop at nothing to hurt those who stop his plans."
"Hetty, that's all the more reason to go after this lead! He won't stop at anything, and we all know that Kensi is on his list! He needs to be stopped! It doesn't matter if she's under protection-he'll get through it, you know he will!" Marty breathed heavily, no longer caring what happened. His desperation was overriding any common sense. Hetty peered even more intently at the detective, and then slowly, ever so slowly, removed her glasses and let out a sigh.
"I cannot allow you to go Mr. Deeks. Wait." Hetty held up her hand to stop the argument forming on Marty's lips. "However, given the circumstances, I can allow for Mr. Callen and Mr. Hana to go on a short investigation of the premises after they return from their interrogation of the current suspect. I will make arrangements for them to have video and audio feed running to Ops during their time there, but I cannot allow you to go on site. This is my offer. Take it or leave it."
Marty bit his tongue when he heard that he wouldn't be allowed to physically come along and investigate with the agents, but knowing that he had pushed his luck far enough already, and still knowing that he was able to at least see and hear what the guys found was enough for him to concede to Hetty's plan, thank her, and go back to his desk to see if he could find anything else before Callen and Sam returned from their interrogation.
…..
Two hours later, Deeks was standing in Ops, facing the large screen and watching the shaky video feed coming from Callen and Sam's investigation into the tiny building. As Marty had guessed, the building had only one room, and it clearly had not been originally built for anyone to live in it for any extended period of time. Most of the space was taken up by a large, sturdy table that had what looked to be old blood stains covering it. A ratty-looking mattress had been shoved into a corner of the room, covered with a threadbare blanket and a flat pillow at its head. Except for a propane stove, a few dirty dishes and a dented cooler, the rest of the place was bare. Sam's guttural voice came over the speakers.
"Looks like someone's been here recently." His beefy hand passed into view of the camera (both men were wearing button cams and lapel cams), resting just above the stove's burner. "It's still warm, someone was here not too long ago. I don't see anything else. Sorry Deeks." Marty sucked in a breath, doing everything he could to keep from shouting out in despair. Sam and Callen made one more circuit of the room, and just as they were about to leave, Callen said, "Wait."
Both men moved to an area in the back of the room, staring at what looked to be nothing more than a discolored section of log. The two men started tapping the wall. When they got to the strangely-colored area, rather than making a solid "thunk", there was a hollow, reverberating sound. Callen's fingers started to probe the area, and then yanked at the wood, taking out a segment of the wall to reveal a rather large cubby hole containing what looked to be several papers, photographs and a computer. Sam and Callen pulled gloves and pulled everything out, spreading the information on the stained table.
"Oh, shit!" Sam barked. Marty leaned in, and what he saw made his blood run cold. The papers were maps, maps of a very familiar area, but it wasn't those that sent a chill down the detective's spine. The photographs were much worse. The photographs were clearly quite recent, showing Kensi in her town home with Marty, Kensi walking Monty, Kensi and Marty driving to her physical therapy. The intent was clear- Nikolai was stalking her.
Marty didn't wait for Sam and Callen to look into the laptop. He didn't wait for Hetty or anyone else to say anything. He just dashed out of Ops, ignoring the shouts coming from the room behind him. He didn't stop running until he got into his car, and then took off, breaking almost every traffic law in the book in his mad rush to get to Kensi's.
He made it to her townhome in record time. What he saw made him freeze. A dark truck sat in Kensi's driveway, an ATV tied down in the back. A figure was making its way from her front door, carrying a large, lumpy load on its shoulder. A load with Kensi's hair. Marty didn't even bother turning the car off. He leapt out, fumbling at his waist with clumsy hands, trying to grasp his gun. Before he could manage to wrap his busted hand around the butt of his weapon, Nikolai, for it was him, spun and fired off two wide shots from behind the truck. Marty hit the pavement, roaring expletives and Kensi's name as he finally managed to draw his gun. However, he quickly realized that his casts prevented him from getting a finger in the trigger. As he struggled to remove the Velcro, he heard two more rounds fire off. They weren't for him, however, but rather hit the tires of his car, sinking the two front ones to the ground.
By this time, Marty managed to rip off his cast and squeeze his aching finger into the trigger guard, Nikolai had already made his way into the cab of the truck and was backing out of the driveway. Marty squeezed off two shots, wincing with each pull. His bullets hit the bumper, missing the tires he had intended to hit. The truck roared off, Marty giving chase before it sped up and left him behind.
Marty sank to the pavement, letting out a bloodcurdling scream.
Just when you thought you were getting a break from that bastard...
WHAM!
Ack, the finale's tonight!
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