Author's Note: Just wanted to quickly clarify that this is in fact a work of fiction, and as such it will contain some made-up locations and things of that nature. That said, Enjoy :)
In Darkness, Light
Chapter 5
Deeks pulls the sleek, blue sports car (his cover identity's vehicle) into a vacant parking spot in the lot just outside OSP. He puts the car in park, unbuckles the seatbelt, and then slides out of said car. The bright sun overhead beats down against his back as he heads towards the front door.
His mind is still on Kensi at this point, and no matter how hard he tries he just can't stop worrying about her. He knows that she can take care of herself, but this assignment is different than any they've faced before—that alone makes him particularly nervous.
Inside the Mission Callen and Sam are waiting near the bullpen, deeply engaged in some random, altogether meaningless conversation. The partners look up though upon hearing the shaggy-haired man enter the building. Little does the liaison officer realize his teammates are privy to a certain secret pertaining to himself and a particular sexy brunette.
"There he is." Callen says, motioning with his head towards the LAPD Detective. "You're late." He then calls to the liaison officer.
"I'll have you know, traffic on the freeway at this time of morning is murder." Deeks retorts. "Yeah, I nearly got run off the road by someone's grandmother."
Sam turns around, and a big smile crosses his face, as he looks the shaggy-haired man over with his eyes. "Get enough sleep last night, Shaggy?" the muscular man asks.
"I did actually. Thanks for asking Sam." Deeks replies, with a grin at the ex-Navy Seal.
"And Kensi?" Callen asks, trying his best to suppress a fit of laughter that is currently threatening to burst forth from within.
"Like a baby I 'm sure." Deeks replies, his expression now changing to one of slight suspicion. "Why do you ask?" he asks slowly.
"No reason." Sam replies for his partner, turning his head to one side so that Deeks won't see his immensely amused expression.
Deeks eyes the two elder men, and can't help but feel like he's the butt-end of some lame ass joke. It kind of feels like one of those 'inside' jokes that you have to be in on, in order to understand; and he, of course, is obviously not in on this particular joke.
"You guys sure are in a good mood today." Deeks muses aloud as he studies the two men. "Wait, I'm not dreaming am I—cause if I am, there should be waves and beautiful women…not you two." He says jokingly.
"Nah, we're just messing with you." Sam says, and at the same time throws a wink in his partner's direction.
"Okay, I guess." Deeks replies. He still can't help but feel as though the two elder agents know something that he doesn't, but he eventually shakes it off dismissively.
Eric appears suddenly at the top of the stairs, and gives a loud whistle. This sound immediately draws the attention of each of the three men down below. They all look up in anticipation of what the tech analyst has to say.
"Everything's up." He tells. "I'm ready whenever you guys are ready." He adds, before turning on his heel and heading back into Ops.
Callen looks at Sam and Deeks. "Guess that's our cue to get to work." He tells them.
Callen, Sam, and Deeks enter the Ops Centre one right after the other, and find Eric sitting at his terminal alone—no Nell anywhere. The others don't seem to notice, but Deeks does and to him it seems a bit odd for Nell to not be present here.
"Where's Nell?" Deeks asks, curiously, looking around to make sure he hasn't just missed her by mistake.
"She's out for the day." Eric replies.
Callen turns to Deeks. "Yeah, she's following Kensi."
"Oh, so she's the-" Deeks says, finally realizing what Hetty had meant by 'the surveillance has been taken care of' when they'd talked on the phone earlier in the morning. "I knew Hetty said something about surveillance when we spoke earlier, but she never actually mentioned who would be doing it."
"Anyway," Sam says, clearing his throat to get their attention back on what they were supposed to be doing. "So, this is everything you could find on the Espinoza's and NewTech?" he asks as he leans over the central terminal at the center of the room.
"Yep." Eric replies. "It wasn't easy either." He adds.
Callen approaches his partner, and together the two men begin pouring over all of the data that Eric collected for them.
"Hey, Eric, did you have time to do that thing I asked you to do?" Deeks asks, looking over the guys at the tech analyst.
"Sure did." Eric replies, punching a few keys on his keyboard. Suddenly the view on the plasma screen becomes a split view. One on side is all the data that Callen and Sam are looking over, and on the opposite side is a new file marked 'Deeks'.
"Can you open it for me?" Deeks asks, as he steps around for a closer look at the plasma screen. The sound of fingers against a keyboard is soon followed by the appearance several documents of various types displayed across his side of the screen.
"There you go."
"Thanks Eric."
Callen looks up then and notices what Deeks is looking at. It is not the same thing that he and Sam are looking at. He recognizes it as being Maria Chavez's case file. "Deeks, care to fill us in?"
"Oh, sorry. Just a hunch." He tells his teammates, and it's only partially a lie so he figures there should be no harm to it.
"Okay." Callen says, not quite sure he believes the shaggy-haired man. "Just make sure you keep us in the loop, alright?"
"Will do chief." Deeks quips, as he turns his attention back to the plasma screen.
Nell is sitting at a table just outside a little, rather upscale café called The Seven Palms Café.
Its lunchtime, and she's carefully nibbling on a salad, and at the same time using the same care to keep an eye on the laughing couple just three tables ahead of hers. They are all three dining outside the café on the terrace, which comes with a rather breathtaking view. The café itself holds the appearance of wealth, and this idea is reinforced by the very ornate pieces that decorate its walls—both inside and out.
She's been tailing the pair for the last 3 hours, and so far hasn't seen anything suspicious. Nevertheless, her job here is to be vigilant no matter what—and that's what she intends to do. She shifts her position on her seat to allow the button cam Eric installed in her blouse a better view of her targets.
Kensi laughs, apparently at some joke that Diego has just finished telling. No longer does she feel the creeping sensation of fear as she had the night before at the club. The only thing she really feels now as she looks upon the tan-skinned man is anger. Anger that burns through her veins white and hot, and threatening to completely overwhelm her as she stares at the smug smile painted across his face.
She was like family to Deeks, and You took her from him. You hurt him.
She reminds herself silently of the reason she is doing this. It's not just because the Secretary of the Navy thinks Diego Espinoza might be part of a bigger threat to National Security, but because she wants to see that justice is done for Maria—as well as hopefully giving Deeks some closer.
When you hurt the one I love—you answer to me.
"I do like a man with a healthy sense of humor." Kensi says, feigning amusement. What she really wants though is to strangle the guy, and get it over with. However, she also knows that they need him alive in order to be able to complete their overall mission.
"Would you like a refill for your drink?" Diego asks, eying her nearly empty glass.
Kensi nods. "That would be lovely." She replies with a smile.
Diego raises his hand in the air and snaps his fingers a couple of times. Finally a man in an apron approaches the table, and gives a slight bow of his head in apology for taking so long. "Yes sir? What can I do for you?"
"Yes, the lady would like a refill." He tells the man as he hands Kensi's glass over.
The man takes the glass from Diego. "Tea?"
Kensi nods. "Yes, please?"
The man nods once again, and then hurries off to refill the glass with some more iced tea.
"So, tell me," Kensi begins, folding her hands underneath her chin for support as she rests her elbows against the tabletop. "What's this big surprise you keep hinting at?" she asks, eying him suspiciously.
Diego gives a hearty laugh at the tanned beauty. "If I told you…it wouldn't be a surprise, now would it?" he counters with a smirk.
"No, I guess it wouldn't." she replies with a grin. She tilts her head to one side for a brief moment, and appears thoughtful. "Oh, I know, you haven't said anything about what line of work you're in." she says pointedly. "I mean, that is the purpose of a date—isn't it? I mean, to get to know a person better before moving on to other things?"
Diego shifts in his seat a little bit. "Point taken." Diego replies with a grin. He appears to think over his next words very carefully before speaking them. "Well, let's just say I have my hands in a lot of different cookie jars, so to speak." He tells her, with one of those 'if you only knew' kind of looks.
Kensi feigns a sigh at his words. "Sounds like Isaac—my brother. He's always traveling and looking into new, 'exciting' business ventures. Sometimes I wish he would just slow down, and take the time to really enjoy life…you know what I mean?"
"Indeed. People today get so caught up in the trivial and materialistic aspects of life—that they have no time to stop and smell the roses, as they say." Diego muses. "Those people don't realize, nor could they ever I imagine, just how much more there is too this life."
Kensi nods quietly.
"But, rest assured. I always make time for the important things in life." He says, with a gentle smile.
She's almost positive that his smile is as fake as the rest of him. But she is careful not to let on the fact that she is not buying his act for one solitary minute. As she sits here quietly, ultimately wishing she were anywhere else but here, she can't help but wonder what Deeks and the others are up to at this very moment.
Hetty finally enters the Ops Centre to check up on her agents who appear to be working very diligently on the task at hand. She stands just inside the doorway looking on at her team, which is currently missing two key members at the moment, and can't help but feel a sense of pride in her team. Her team.
"I trust you are all making some sort of headway in the case?" Hetty says, finally speaking up as she strolls towards the center of the room.
Everyone looks up at the sound of the operations manager's voice. "Hey Hetty." Callen says, with a nod in her direction. "Yeah, actually—Sam and I were just about to pay a visit to the Newtech offices." He reports in a very casual way.
"We're hoping to catch Sawyer off guard. If he is hiding something, it shouldn't be too hard to detect." Sam adds, elaborating more, for the tiny woman, on his partner's plan.
"I see." Hetty replies, with a nod. "And, will Mr. Deeks be joining you for this excursion?" she asks curiously.
"No ma'am." Deeks says, as he finally turns to face her. "I've got a lead of my own that I'd like to run down…if that's okay."
Hetty eyes her liaison officer warily as she silently considers his proposal. She knows just by the look in his eyes that there is something he's not telling her, but what she cannot as of yet ascertain. Still, she does trust him though, and so ultimately she decides to allow him the room to 'do his thing'—as it were.
"You will keep us informed of your progress, I assume."
Deeks nods at the tiny woman. "Of course. Every step of the way." He assures her. What Hetty and the others cannot see, however, is that he is holding one hand just out of view, behind his back, with his fingers crossed. He hates to do it this way, but he can't be sure what he'll find, or if he'll even find anything at all—either way, he feels it best to play this one safe and close to his chest for now.
"Very well," Hetty says, with a wave of her hand towards the three men. "Carry on, but please, do be careful." She adds sincerely.
…TBC…
Author's Note: So, I hope that you guys enjoyed this latest chapter. I know it's not much, but I find that if I try to write too much, too quickly, then it almost never ends well. That said, just as a heads up, I should have the next chapter update for Partners, and Memories, as well as the premiere of my latest project—Uncertain posted real soon. I encourage all of you to take the time to check out each of these, and also to be on the lookout for my upcoming Christmas one-shot featuring everyone's favorite L.A. couple, Densi (You gotta love those two nuts hahaha). Oh, and don't forget to drop me a line, and let me know what you guys think so far, and if you have any questions those are always welcome too.
Until next time, Enjoy!