Will Kensi and Marty make it back to OSP in one piece or are they going to be captured or killed? A better question might be will Marty survive Kensi's driving without spewing all over her car?

I only own my own characters which include Stefan Badžo and Mark Anderson in this story.

Anything in italics within single quotes is a quote from my one-shot "Can't Stay Away". Anything in italics and double quotes is thoughts.

Nope…no matter how hard I wish, NCIS LA nor any of the characters on the show are mine. And sadly, they never will be.

A big thanks to my loyal reviewers bjq, blue dogs rock, Acquamarin28626 as well as my new reviewer RhondaLara. Your reviews are what keep me writing.

Reviews are always welcome. My minions are very grumpy and are looking at my toes as something scrumptious to eat. I think they're hungry. Reviews feed the little hellions and if they get hungry, they take it out on me, so please leave a review if you are enjoying this story, especially this chapter, or even if you aren't. I don't want to get my toes chewed.

Please leave me a review on your way out.

Enjoy.

~,~,~

CHAPTER 16: Second Attempt

By the time they were on the freeway returning to the Mission, Deeks had confirmed they were being followed by the Caddy alone. Keeping it low key, he said "Kens, check out the black Caddy. It's now three cars behind us. They've been following us since we left the pub. I wasn't sure at first if they were following us but now I am. I don't see any other tail cars. Do you?"

Kensi took a couple of minutes to look around, but Deeks was right. The Caddy was the only car following them. "I don't see anyone else. You think it's Badžo?" she asked.

"Yeah I do. I can't get a good enough look to recognize anyone, but I can tell there's more than one person in the car, so if it's him, he has people helping him. Or it could be part of the team we think he has with him. We can't let them follow us back to the mission. Try to lose him while I call Callen."

"Will do Marty. Hold on tight." Kensi began slowly speeding up and looking for the best opportunity to get off the freeway without alerting the black Caddy that they were aware it was following them.

Marty called Callen. "Callen, we're currently on the 405, but we've got company. I can't tell if it's Stefan Badžo in the only car tailing us, but we're definitely being tailed. Kensi is getting ready to try to lose them right now. The car following us is a black Caddy. It looks like a 2012 model. I can only get the first part of the license plate. It's 7BCA4, that's 7, Baker, Charlie, Alpha, 4. The rest of the plate is obscured. Get Eric to try and find the car on Kaleidoscope, will you?"

"On it. We're in OPS now." Callen turned to Eric "Eric, see if you can find a black caddy with a partial license plate 7BCA4 on the 405. It's following Kensi and Deeks as we speak."

Callen let Deeks know Eric was getting a Kaleidoscope search running. "Eric's running a search now Is the car still following you?"

"Yes, but they're keeping a constant distance behind us and matching us for speed. I think Kensi is almost ready to try something to lose him. I'll get back to you in a couple of minutes...that is if I'm still alive." He quipped. "You know how she drives."

"Yes, I'm only too well aware of her driving habits. That's why I won't ride with her." Callen snarked.

Kensi gave Marty a dirty look, but had her hands full steering the car so he was spared a punch to the arm. Before he could end the call, Callen called out "Keep the phone on speaker so we can hear what's going on. Can you do that?"

"I'll try my hardest. I've got it in the cup holder right now because I'm hanging on for dear life here. Hopefully it will survive whatever Kensi has in mind to do next, though I'm having doubts that I will." he quipped once again. This time Kensi shot him a dirty look.

"Deeks…" Kensi growled.

"Sorry Sugarbear. Just trying to keep things light," he snarked as he tightened his seatbelt as far as he could and continued hanging on for the ride of his life.

~,~,~

A couple of minutes later, Kensi was ready to lose the Caddy.

"Deeks, here goes, hold on tight." Kensi abruptly swerved across four lanes of traffic, narrowly missing a semi and two cars while taking the offramp she had technically already passed, crossing over the gravel area to get to the actual off ramp, hoping the Caddy wouldn't be able to recover in time to follow them from the freeway.

"Oh my God! I can't believe she just did that! We were already past the off ramp for God's sake!" Marty had whipped his head around as she first started her maneuver and would swear later that it almost continued around in a complete circle. "She's an absolute maniac when she's behind the wheel. I bet that semi driver almost had a heart attack when he saw her swerve in front of him. I almost had a heart attack myself! Let's hope it worked, because much more of this and I'm going to lose my lunch." Marty was now looking out the back window watching the Caddy try to follow them and fail to do so while Kensi fought to maintain control of the car and not crash. He was glad he had his seatbelt buckled so tightly because he was still being tossed around as Kensi used all of her offensive and defensive driving skills to shake the Caddy. He not only was watching to see if Kensi lost their tail, but he was trying not to throw up all over her car. If he did, he knew he would never hear the end of it from her.

"I'll be detailing this car for the rest of my life if I throw up in it. It won't matter how much she loves me, she'll never let me live it down. Come on, Kiki; you've lost them. Slow down will you. My stomach's already in my throat and a couple more turns like that and the contents of my stomach are going to be all over your car."

A few harrowing minutes later, they were on Sepulveda and Kensi had successfully lost their tail. "Callen it looks like we lost them" Marty gasped out after trying unsuccessfully a couple of times to get the words to come out of his mouth. "We'll make sure we're not being followed before we head back to the Mission. If we have any more trouble, I'll call."

"We'll see you when you get here. Be careful," Callen replied.

Kensi drove into the neighborhood off of Sepulveda while making turn after random turn. While she did that Deeks kept watch and continued praying he wouldn't spew all over the front seat. Once they were sure no one was following them, they relaxed their vigilance and Kensi slowed down. Marty reached over and took her hand in his. He began stroking her palm with his thumb. "You did good baby girl. Even if I almost lost my lunch all over your car. Your driving was incredible, no one could have done it any better than you did. I'm so proud of you, but just wait. When we get back to OSP you know I'm going to have to tease you about your driving, right? It's what everyone will be expecting me to do."

"I know Marty," Kensi looked at him and gave him a gentle smile. "And I'll make sure I'm really pissed when you tease me about my driving. I may even have to punch you a couple of times. I'll also make sure to pout a little and maybe even whine. Make sure you groan dramatically and say 'Ow' and 'really?' at least once when I punch you. I don't want Hetty getting suspicious about our relationship. She can continue to think that we're only partners. She messed with us once and I'm not going to give her any excuse to mess with us again!"

"Me neither, sugarbear. If she ever tries something like that again she's going to have a fight on her hands!"

Kensi took back roads toward the Mission. Marty was glad she was driving somewhat sanely now. Maybe his stomach would forgive him by the time they reached the OSP. What should have taken them an hour at the most, took almost two and a half hours, but they arrived at the Mission absolutely sure that no one had followed them.

~,~,~

As they walked into the bullpen, both Callen and Sam were relieved to see that the junior partners were fine. Callen took a close look at Deeks, who still had a slightly greenish tint to his complexion, and then at Kensi. With a wide grin on his face he asked her "Did you make Deeks throw up with your driving Kens?"

"What…no…why would you ask that? I'm a good driver…" At the looks of disbelief she began receiving she continued "I am too a good driver, aren't I Deeks?" she looked to her partner for backup. "Deeks?"

"I plead the fifth Kens." Deeks smirked just before Kensi punched him in the arm. "Ow! Kens, really? That hurt, partner; seriously. What was that for?"

"That's for not backing me up," she said giving him a look.

"Aw, come on Kens, I can't help it if your driving sometimes makes me ill. At least I'll ride with you. Callen won't even get in the car if you're driving and you know it." Deeks quipped as he backed up from what looked like another punch coming his way.

"I'm a good…you know what…just...just shut up. You know what I mean. And I am too a good driver," she declared as she stood there with a slight pout on her face.

"Come on everyone," Callen laughed. "Let's get up to OPS."

~,~,~

"Did Eric find the car?" Deeks asked as soon as they reached OPS.

Eric answered "Not yet," and continued working on his computer. "I have Kaleidoscope running right now. But I do have some footage you might like to see. It's of Kensi's defensive driving a couple of hours ago." He pulled up the related footage and began running it. Gasps could be heard from Sam and Callen as they watched what Kensi had done to lose the Caddy.

Marty grumbled quietly to himself, making sure it was just loud enough for Sam to overhear "Defensive driving my ass…more like offensive driving if you ask me." He knew that if Sam could hear him, so could Hetty. He didn't want anyone to get any ideas of what really went on between him and Kensi in private.

Sam heard him and looked over at him once the footage stopped and shook his head. "Damn Deeks, I'm surprised you didn't spew all over the car. You really must have a cast-iron stomach. I'm impressed."

"What about my driving? I lost them didn't I? I think that should count for something." Kensi was actually whining slightly as she replied.

"Kens, you did good, partner." Marty jumped in to soothe what appeared to be her ruffled feathers. "After all I do have to work with her and we've all teased her enough. I know she knows I'm only doing it to keep Hetty off our back, but I don't want her mad at me…at least not anymore than she already is" he thought. Kensi gave him a look of gratitude which made him feel about 10 feet tall. "Oh man, I think I finally know what it's like to be the knight saving the damsel in distress. Not that I think of Kensi as a damsel…she's more wonder woman than damsel, any day. I…shit…why am I thinking about stupid stuff like this. Kens and I are good!"

Nell got everyone back on track "I'm checking all the traffic cameras along that stretch of the 405 around the time you noticed them following you. Maybe I can backtrack from there and see where they came from."

"Did you get a chance to do any canvasing before we called you to come back?" Callen asked.

"Yes, we did." Deeks and Kensi then began relating what they had found out. It wasn't much, but it was more than they had before. Deeks told them he had given his card to the pub owner who thought he recognized the man.

Callen instructed Nell "Check out the motels around the Duke of Mead pub near the Happy Hippo on Wilshire." Turning to Deeks he continued "The pub owner did say he thought the guy was staying at one of the motels near his shop right? Maybe we'll get lucky and see him on traffic cams."

~,~,~