Life, Lies and Video Surveillance
By Cortexikid
Chapter 23: Labascate AKA 'Deeks, M' Part II
A/N: Thanks again to everyone for your continuous reviews, alerts, favourites etc. it really is amazing and I can't describe how grateful I feel for it :D
Again, a big thanks to SuperDensi427 for all the wonderful help and advice :)
Phew! This was INCREDIBLY HARD to write, so many things going on lol. But I hope you guys enjoy it anyway ;)
Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS: LA. The names 'Andi' and 'Bizzaro-Kensi' came from SuperDensi427 :D
WOTD: LABASCATE; lab·as·cate verb. To begin to fall
The evening's setting sun shone down onto the tanned arm of one Kensi Marie Blye as she draped it out the car window. Heaving a sigh, she glanced to her watch and frowned. She'd been sitting here for over forty minutes now, radio silent, no coms. Not being particularly the most patient at the best of times, she now felt the itch of ticking time, achingly slow, crawling deep under her skin as she fidgeted, shifting in her seat and fiddling with the air conditioning. It was hot out today, the sun's rays relentless, beaming down onto the car and baking it from the inside out.
Tiny droplets of sweat collected on her forehead, dampening her chestnut hair. With a shake of her head, she drummed her fingernails on the dashboard, biting her lip as her dark eyes cast over to the closed front door across the street.
She couldn't tell if it'd been too long, not long enough, or an acceptable amount, but before she could dwell on whether or not she could be concerned, the red-painted front door opened, two figures stepping out and walking towards her. Kensi frowned as she drank in the distant stature of a woman with Deeks, gauging her height and build as similar to her own, brown hair sitting on her shoulders, fluttering in the breeze as she took long strides beside her partner.
Curiosity getting the better of her, the agent fumbled for the door handle and stepped out onto the sidewalk, straightening up and leaning back against the car, rubbing the back of her neck as they drew closer and closer to her.
Her gaze narrowed slightly as she squinted, her irises planted firmly on the subtle brushing of hands of her partner and his old friend as they halted a few feet from her. Her mouth dropped open as she got her first clear look at the woman that the liaison had been talking to for the last forty minutes. While it wasn't quite like looking in a mirror, the resemblance was unnerving.
The woman's eyebrows rose, her eyes darting from Kensi to Deeks and back again. The detective shifted his weight from foot to foot, gaze flittering between the two women before murmuring:
"Uh Kensi Blye, this is Andrea Benson, an old friend of mine. Andi, this is my partner, Kensi Blye..."
Kensi's eyes grew even wider and unblinking as the woman's orbs raked over her, they both silently staring at the other as Deeks stood in between them, looking a little amused and somewhat nervous. The two simultaneously reached out to shake the other's hand and gripped firmly for a moment before letting their hands drop.
"It's nice to meet you," the brown-haired beauty said to the agent, a glimmer in her hazel orbs as she again glanced from her to Deeks and back again, apparently just as dumbstruck as Kensi at the overwhelming similarity in their physical appearances.
"You too," she replied, before turning and arching an eyebrow at her partner.
Deeks shoved his hands in his pockets, looking a little sheepish as Andi's walked further towards the car.
"Whoa, Ray was right..." Kensi continued, murmuring under her breath, leaning into Deeks a little as Andi climbed into the back seat, but not before squeezing the detective's shoulder, a soft smile on her face.
"About what?" he mumbled bemusedly out of the side of his mouth, his eyes never leaving his old friend as he shut the door behind her.
"Uh nothing...so, that's the girl that looks like me huh?" Kensi asked evenly, levelling him with a stare from the corner of her eye as he began to walk around to the driver's side.
Deeks shook his head, a small grin spreading across his face, something she hadn't seen in a number of days.
"Oh no Kens...that's the girl that you look like."
9 Hours Earlier...
He couldn't contain a wince as his foot scuffed on the floor.
"I may not have eyes on the back of my head, but my hearing is impeccable," Nell called over her shoulder as she tapped on her tablet, her eyes focused on the large screen in front of her.
Attentively, the footsteps grew louder and closer to her.
"You know, for an undercover cop, you kinda suck at being sneaky," she quipped, still not turning around.
"Yeah well, I never took the 'Kensi Blye Advanced Ninja Sneaking Training Course,'" the voice of Detective Marty Deeks sounded from behind her.
"Shame, you might have learned a thing or two..." she turned to look at him, "what's up Deeks?" she asked quietly, her eyes drinking in his rumpled appearance. It's true that the detective was always a little on the scruffy-side but today was different, he didn't look...rested. There were dark circles under his slightly blood-shot eyes, an even heavier beard than usual marring his face and, if she wasn't mistaken, the same shirt he had worn yesterday – unheard of from the man who apparently won the hygiene award in high school.
"I need you to find someone," he responded cryptically, his voice oddly monotonous.
"Who?" she asked with a furrow of her brow.
"An old friend of mine. Her name's Andrea Danielle Benson," he murmured hurriedly, his eyes darting to the door of ops and back to Nell, not quite meeting her gaze.
This whole situation was getting weirder by the second. Deeks was acting incredibly strange, even more so than usual and was clearly trying to keep something from the rest of the team. Eric had literally just left ops and Deeks appeared not a minute later, as if to try and catch Nell by herself. What the hell was going on?
"Sure uh...is this for a case?" her voice portrayed a little of her suspicion.
"Uh, not really. Think of it as a favour."
Okay, now Nell knew something was up.
"A favour," she stated rather than questioned, trying and failing to catch Deeks' eyes.
"Yeah, you know, I'll owe you one," he shrugged, his gaze fixed on a spot somewhere above her head.
"You don't really have anything I want Deeks..." she tried to joke, anything to ease the foreign sense of tension that was engulfing the room.
"Please Nell?" his tone stopped her dead in her tracks. Never had she ever heard him sound so...desperate, so much was conveyed in those two words that the startled tech-analyst had to take a moment to find her voice.
"Uh yeah, sure Deeks..." she trailed off, bending her head a little to try and catch his eyes that were now lowered to the floor.
"I'll need her contact details ASAP so uh...can you call me when you get them?" he looked up suddenly, his usually bright eyes now dull and lifeless. Nell swallowed deeply, words dying in her throat as worry began to seep into her veins. This Marty Deeks, the one void of upbeat chatter and quirky quips was unnerving her.
Managing a nod, she threw him a twist of her lips that barely constituted a grimace never mind a smile as he walked out backwards, a short wave of his hand before he turned on his heel and stormed briskly out.
"Well, that was weird..." Nell murmured under her breath as Eric entered Ops, a confused frown on his face.
"What's with Deeks?" he asked, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose.
The tech analyst shrugged her shoulders and went to sit down on her chair. Now was not the time to hypothesize.
She had a woman to find.
Kensi looked up from her desk as she saw her partner approach. Her stomach lurched as she drank in his appearance. He didn't look like himself today, definitely didn't act like himself and sure as hell didn't sound like himself – he barely spoke a word in the last two hours in fact, certainly unheard of for motor-mouth-Marty. The agent was worried to say the least.
It had been just over seventeen hours since their discussion in his apartment, his confession that his father was implicated in an old case of a missing girl and really, Kensi couldn't stand the waiting, no, it was worse than that, she couldn't bear watching Deeks waiting. Especially considering she wasn't entirely sure what it was he was waiting for. As far as she could gather, he had yet to breathe a word of this to anyone (with the exception of herself and Hetty) and apparently it was going to stay that way. As for his involvement in the case, well, the LAPD had been less than forthcoming and due to various red-tape and jurisdiction qualms there really was nothing the NCIS could offer in any professional capacity – something the agent was less than pleased about.
Hell, it had been less than a day and it was already beginning to eat away at the usually unflappable Kensi. This...tenseness in her partner was not only harrowing but downright worrying. She could tell he hadn't eaten since she last saw him, hadn't kept up his end of the bargain by promising to look after himself and call her if he needed her. She regretted ever leaving his apartment now...it wasn't a mistake she was going to make again. He was there for her in her time of need, now it was time for her to be there for him.
It's what partners do.
With a furrowed brow, she watched intently as he plodded over to the coffee machine and began to potter around. After a moment, a loud thump sounded throughout the room. She absolutely did not jump.
"Dammit!" Deeks hissed, smacking the blasted coffee machine with one hand while sucking the now scalded thumb of his other hand.
"You know it can't argue back right?" came the voice of his partner from behind him.
"If only..." he murmured, glaring down at his coffee cup before abandoning it altogether and trudging back to his desk, plonking down into his chair heavily.
"Geez Deeks, and I thought you were a culinary genius! Letting coffee get the better of you? You're letting down your gender partner," Kensi quipped, trying to inject some humor into the situation (despite knowing that it wasn't exactly her area of expertise), to try and keep things as normal as possible. She even managed a roll of her eyes before sauntering over to the coffee station and flawlessly making herself a nice, big cuppa Joe on the brand new machine.
"Show off," the detective mumbled as she bowed at him, taking her prize back to her desk and sitting down gently, trying not to convey how on edge she felt.
"You're just jealous at my superior skills," she smirked jokingly, taking a sip and arching a brow at him, faux-daring him to question her.
Deeks merely stared at her, his gaze unfocused, as if she were transparent. That uncomfortable bout of unease rose in her stomach. She had to say something, anything...she couldn't imagine what was going through but one thing was for damn sure, she wasn't going to let him go through it alone.
"Deeks—"
A loud chirp of a text message interrupted her, her gaze gluing to him as his entire body stilled, frozen in time as he stared down at the words across the screen.
Kensi's heart hammered in her chest as she tried to guess what they said. None of the possibilities were good.
"Deeks what—"
Suddenly the detective was up and out of his chair, practically sprinting toward the door without a backwards glance, throwing a "give me a sec," over his shoulder, cell-phone stuck to his ear.
With a frown creasing between her eyebrows, she went to follow him, only to be blocked by Sam and Callen as they walked into OSP, their eyes following Deeks as he pushed roughly past them.
"What's with Speedy Gonzales?" Sam asked as he and Callen entered the bullpen.
"Uh...we gotta go, tell Hetty," Kensi muttered before racing after her partner.
When she said he wasn't going to go through this alone, she meant it.
Impatient fingers tapped on the steering wheel along to the beat of the song on the radio as guarded orbs stared out the window, impatiently flickering at each vehicle that passed by.
Dark eyes glanced sideways at the twitching hand, wishing for the incessant drumming to cease but vocal cords appeared to be uncooperative since the keyed up agent folded herself into the car thirty minutes ago.
"You're quiet," he observed lowly, his right hand now joining his left in his drum-beat.
"Didn't wanna ruin your jam," she deadpanned, again forcing herself not to crane her neck and stare out his window, eyes ever searching for whatever or whomever he was waiting for.
"Yeah, guess I'm flying solo," he murmured softly an unbearable weight to his words.
Kensi's heart practically ceased beating as those nine syllables rang in her ears. Never had she ever heard a sentence as laced with such strong emotion, such quiet conviction, the double-meaning plain for the world to see – despite her partner's best efforts.
With a determined nod of her head, the agent reached forward and started drumming her fingertips down the length of the dashboard, her rhythm melding perfectly with his. The detective turned his head and for a second, one miniscule moment, his gaze met hers, and a glimmer of her familiar partner shone through, the upbeat, cheeky, wondrous blond with a sharp intelligence and even more mischievous glint to his eye.
But as quick as it arrived, the flash of the real Deeks faded and was replaced by a shell, an imposter of her partner, a stranger to her, as his face grew clouded, guarded, closing off from the world outside his own tortuous thoughts, memories.
It didn't take long to catch what it was that caused this sudden wall to appear between her and the liaison as without craning her neck she could clearly see the arrival of a tall, grey-haired man with the physicality a younger man could only aspire to have and an essence of once being the person in the room that every eye was drawn to.
Deeks was out of the car and slamming the door behind him as Kensi scrambled to catch up, turning just in time to see the other man hold out his hand for her partner to shake.
"Martin Brandel?" he asked as his hand was left suspended in mid-air.
"Well there's a name I haven't heard in a long time..." Deeks inhaled sharply before swallowing and clasping the man's hand tightly.
Kensi watched the exchange back and forth silently, her eyes darting to and fro as if she were a particularly enthusiastic tennis viewer.
"So you are Martin?" the grey-haired man asked, his voice a little on edge.
"Who's asking? You were very cloak and dagger on the phone," Deeks replied, shoving his hands in his pockets as Kensi walked around the side of the car to stand behind him.
The man politely stepped forward and offered her his hand which she shook curtly before mimicking her partner's stance – upholding a united front.
The still-stranger nodded to her politely before turning to Deeks and replying quietly yet firmly:
"My name is Jimmy Woodruffe; I'm an ex-sergeant with the Los Angeles Police Department."
Kensi's eyebrows shot up to her hairline as she drank in those words. This was something she didn't expect. After all, it wasn't every day an ex-cop asked a current cop to meet him in an alley in a relatively secluded part of town to exchange pleasantries...she didn't regret bringing her extra ammo, better to be safe than sorry as they say.
Something seemed to stir within Deeks as the ex-cop introduced himself; it was subtle but almost certainly there. He recognized that name, Kensi was sure of it.
"And what do you want with Martin Brandel?" he asked, breaking the engulfing silence.
The name felt wrong to Kensi. All kinds of wrong.
Woodruffe shifted a little, his left foot scuffing on the loose gravel of the sidewalk, his hands clamped tightly at his sides as he fought to keep eye-contact with the detective.
"It's in relation to a cold-case from 22 years ago, a friend of mine in the department alerted me that a body was found a couple of days ago that they think may be related to it. May I ask who I'm talking to?"
Deeks appeared satisfied with his response and offered up his reply almost instantly:
"Well, seeing as you somehow got my number, I think you already know I'm Martin Brandel...or was once upon a time. I go by Detective Marty Deeks now."
Yep, Kensi decided. Marty Deeks just had a better ring to it.
"Well," Woodruffe began, glancing between the two partners in an expression of surrender, "in that case, Detective Deeks, I better get talkin.'"
The agent and liaison shared a look.
This oughta be good...
Or very, very bad...
The tech analyst heaved a soft sigh as again her search came up practically empty. It had been four hours now since Deeks asked her to find an old friend of his and she was still having no luck. Whoever this mysterious woman was, she could damn well hide her tracks...
"What'cha doin' Nell?" Eric asked his partner for what must have been the eleventh time in fifteen minutes.
Nell didn't bother suppressing the eye-roll that fought its way onto her face.
"Wow...I didn't realize we were in Elementary School Beale," she replied dryly, her fingers flying rapidly over the keyboard, her hazel gaze never straying from the screen.
Eric made a face at her before catching himself, realizing it was probably not the best response to prove his maturity. Figures.
"I'm just curious, you've been doing something over there for a while and unless I'm mistaken, we've no open cases right now..." he trailed off, hoping she would jump in any minute now and fill him in on whatever was going on.
Nell however just shrugged as her brain argued with her about the next plausible action for her to take to find this woman. She couldn't tell why, but she knew this was incredibly important to Deeks and she didn't want to let him down, something told her that he couldn't take it today. She knew there was a lot more to this than he let on and if the lingering of unease that had settled in her spine was any indication, something bad was going down.
Shutting off those thoughts before they could truly ensnared her, a light bulb went off in the analyst's head and she quickly typed Benson+Reseda+High+School to scour any of the old school papers for more information on Andrea who Nell already knew to be the paper's co-editor. Maybe they could give her any indication of her interests etc. which could lead to a career path which could—
Nell's entwining train of thought was pulled to a sudden stop as an article popped up on her screen, causing her mouth to drop open and her heart to hammer in her chest. With a quivering gaze, she read the bold, black letters:
FAY BENSON, BELOVED STUDENT OF RESEDA HIGH SCHOOL IS HONORED AT CEREMONY BY PAST AND PRESENT STUDENTS ON THE DAY OF THE FIVE YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF HER DISAPPEARENCE.
The analyst frantically scrolled down, her eyes glued to the screen as she read the article that was written in 1995 by the other editor of the school newspaper, Alicia Pearson.
Fay Benson, aged 17 at the time of her disappearance, is honored tonight by the lighting of candles from her family and friends inside Reseda High School grounds.
Fay was last seen on January 31st 1990 at the movie theatre by her then boyfriend Will Jenkins but never made it home. She was officially declared missing on February 2nd 1990. The case still remains unsolved and the police urge anyone with any information pertaining to her disappearance to come forward.
Our hearts, thoughts and prayers go out to the family, especially Fay's sister, our friend and classmate Andi. Each candle represents the shining light that Fay shone onto everyone's lives and each day that passes those lights shine brighter with the wonderful memories we have of her. So come together friends and light a candle to celebrate the life of Fay Benson, gone but never forgotten...
"Hey Nell, you okay?" Eric asked gently as he leaned a little into her, his eyes following hers to the screen.
Nell started, his voice startling her as she hurried to close the page but not quite fast enough. Eric leaned even further in and raked his gaze down the article, his eyes gluing to the picture of a beautiful, brunette girl, smiling brightly beside a younger child with the same flowing brown hair, no older than ten.
"What're you working on?" he asked, looking from the screen to Nell and back again.
"Uh...I'm not sure yet," she murmured as her fingers flew over the keyboard, spelling out the words Missing+Persons+Disappearance+1990+California before leaning back in her chair and blowing out a startled puff of air as the multitude of results popped up. It was one scanned article from a newspaper dated two days ago that caught her attention:
BODY OF A YOUNG GIRL FOUND IN DESERT BY LOCAL AUTHORITIES.
Early yesterday morning the remains of a young woman were discovered in the desert by police who were apparently led to the burial site by a man remanded in custody. While the identity of the girl has not been released, it has been noted that the circumstances around her death are being treated as suspicious. When questioned on said circumstances the police refused to issue a statement at this time but a source has said that the remains are suspected to be over 15 years old. Story continued on page 7—
Neurons fired through the synapses in Nell's brain as she read the short article, various hypothesizes, educated guesses and deductive reasoning colouring her final theory.
"Deeks asked me to find an old friend of his, Andrea Benson," she said suddenly, all the pieces slotting into place. Why would Deeks ask for her to find this girl whose sister went missing over twenty years ago? Well, there could have been a number of reasons (none of which relating to said missing sister) but with the sudden uncovering of a body that is suspected of being dead for over 15 years just seems like too much of a coincidence not to be connected.
"Huh," Eric replied thoughtfully scratching his chin.
"What?" Nell asked, wondering if there was something she missed.
"The missing girl...she went to the same High School as Deeks and grew up in the same neighbourhood," he commented, pointing out the details in the article and various others that she'd yet to check.
"You think Deeks knows about the body, thinks it's Andrea's sister and wants her number to tell her?" Nell asked, rubbing her furrowed brow with the back of her hand, barely imagining what Deeks could be going through, having to deliver such horrid news to an old friend.
"Sounds like it," Eric agreed, sitting forward and typing something.
"What're you doing?" Nell asked, throwing him a confused glance before watching the rapid letters materialize.
"Checking incident reports for the days leading up to Fay Benson's disappearance, see if anything jumps out," he murmured, his glasses illuminating the glare from the screen.
Nell nodded, setting to work to do the same, the only sound omitting from the room being the rapid tapping of keys before the two partners simultaneously let out surprised gasps.
"Oh my god..." Nell breathed as she read the words of a particular report dating back to the night before the young girl disappeared. It was filed by a Sergeant by the name of James Woodruffe and outlined an altercation between Fay Benson's father with a local man, a man whose name she immediately recognized.
"Is that...?" Eric's words stuck in his throat as he pulled up the mug shot of the other man, "he...he looks so much like—"
"I know," Nell cut him off abruptly, biting her lip nervously.
"Hey Eric, settle a bet for me and Sam would you—" Callen stopped abruptly in the Ops' doorway, his partner almost walking into his back as they were practically bowled over by the overpowering tension ensnaring the room.
"Who died?" Sam asked, only half-kidding as he edged over to the two techies, the picture on Nell's screen catching his attention.
"Is that..." he trailed off, turning his gaze to his partner as he stepped closer and stared at the screen also.
Callen's mouth dropped open as he read the name and saw the face in the accompanying mug-shot.
Eric gaped at Nell, then at the partners, an uncomfortable feeling rising in his chest.
"Nell? What is it?" he asked, not being able to shake the feeling that his friend was hiding something from him.
"We need to find Andrea, Eric," she ignored his question, already bolting out of her chair and tip-toeing around Sam and Callen, calling over her shoulder, "but first, we gotta tell Hetty."
Eric stared at her retreating back, the uncomfortable feeling rising ever higher, like acidic bile in his throat as the two partners raced out of the room after her.
This was not good.
Kensi clasped her hands together as Jimmy Woodruffe's words washed over her. Out of the corner of her eye, she surveyed her partner as he stiffened; clearly disturbed by what the ex-cop just told him.
"So you're saying that my father had a fist fight with Andi and Fay's dad the night before Fay disappeared but you still don't think he killed her?" he gritted, his jaw tightly wound, his fingers gripping the edge of the table until his knuckles turned white.
"Yeah Detective, that's exactly what I'm saying...look, I don't know if you remember me or not but...I knew your mom and dad a long time ago and—Brandel was a lot of things I know, but I don't think he was capable of this," he replied timidly, aware of how his words were affecting Deeks.
The detective huffed out a humourless laugh.
"Oh yeah, I guess he was just capable of attempted murderer, my mistake..." he snorted, "but you know what else he was capable of? Being a nasty drunk, a cheat, a thief, a con-artist always looking for his next big store, but most of all? He was a bastard, through and through. He was a lying, violent bastard who made my mom's life hell and tried to—" his breath hitched and he swallowed deeply.
Kensi ached to reach out and take his hand but stopped herself as he began to speak again, his voice a little more gravelly than before:
"Fay Benson was a beautiful, seventeen year old girl that was constantly trying to escape this town. She would have been the perfect victim for—"
"That's not what I meant, Marty. I'm very aware your father could have committed this type of horrendous crime, I'm very aware of what that man was capable of believe me. What I meant was, I don't think he was able to kill her because not an hour prior to her estimated disappearance he was still locked up in a jail cell with me holding the keys to his freedom..." he trailed off before clearing his throat and continuing, "and seen as that jail cell was more than two and a half hours away from where Fay was last seen, I don't think it was physically possible for Brandel to get to—"
"So if my father didn't kill Fay, who did?" Deeks interrupted, his tone as sharp as steel.
Woodruffe levelled his stare, intently looking into Deeks' orbs, his voice full of conviction and sincerity, "I couldn't prove it back then but...I would like to help you prove it now."
"That doesn't answer his question," Kensi replied, folding her arms and cocking her head to the side.
"I—" for what felt like the umpteenth time that day their conversation was interrupted by the shrill ring of a cell phone.
Deeks rolled his eyes and plunged his hand in his pocket, ready to cut off the call before realizing that it was coming from ops. Hope sprung in his chest.
"Nell?" he was already saying into the phone as he answered.
"Mr Deeks," the voice of Hetty replied, "would you and Ms. Blye please make your way back in please, we have much to discuss."
Kensi frowned as she watched her partner's face twist into a frown as he began to argue:
"But Het—"
"Now, Mr. Deeks."
And with that, she hung up.
Deeks slowly lowered the phone from his ear and averted his eyes from his partner and the ex-cop as he grumbled, "we uh...got somewhere to be. Do you have a number I can call or do we have to do the shrouded in shadows, trench-coat by a lamppost meet-up again?"
Woodruffe offered him a wry grin before sliding a slip of paper containing his phone number across the table, knocking back the last of his beer in the dimly lit bar.
"I look forward to hearing from you, Detective Deeks," he said as he stood up from the table, slamming down a few dollar bills.
Deeks nodded and waited until he disappeared out of sight before turning to his partner.
"Hetty wants us back in," he grumbled before standing up and shrugging on his jacket.
Kensi followed suit and they made their way out.
For some reason, the agent couldn't shake the feeling that they were being sent to the gallows...
"Now, Lieutenant Bates, you will think about everything I've said? That's good...and thank you again for calling me back. I'll inform Detective Deeks know immediately," Hetty hung up, allowing a moment of quiet contemplation before she made her way back up to Ops.
Before she even reached the stairs however, Kensi and Deeks walked through the door and towards her.
"Ah, Mr. Deeks, Ms. Blye, good of you to join us, we've convened upstairs," she announced before climbing the stairs without a backwards glance.
The partners shared a look before following her, shuffling up the stairs and towards Ops in complete silence. When they reached the door, Deeks allowed his partner to enter first and kept his eyes lowered as he was immediately hit with an overwhelming sense of tension radiating off all of his co-workers.
"When were you planning on telling us?" Callen asked curtly, folding his arms, and spreading his stance into one of defense.
"Excuse me?" Deeks asked levelly, his eyes narrowing into slits as six pairs of eyes stared at him.
"About the body of the missing girl, your link to her or the fact that your father was implicated in her disappearance, all of the above would have sufficed," Callen continued, clearly irate at being left out of the loop.
"Well, gee Callen, I didn't really think it was anything to do with you guys, seeing as you're NCIS and this is LAPD's case," he replied, unable to keep the anger from seeping into his tone.
"Nothing to do with us? We're your colleagues; your friends, we're a team, how could you—"
"Oh you mean how could I keep this from you? Please Callen, don't you think it's a little hypocritical for you to preach to me about—"
"That's enough," Hetty cut across firmly, holding up one of her hands to silence Deeks.
"Now we are all up to speed I've called you here to inform you that I've received word from Lieutenant Bates that they are in no need of our services as like Mr. Deeks said it is a matter for the LAPD not NCIS..." the entire team gaped and began to loudly protest but she merely held up her hand again.
"However," she began, a glint in her eye, "it just so happens that we have a member of the LAPD on our side and if my sources are correct, we also have the help of an ex-Sergeant by the name of James Woodruffe, the original head of this case when it first broke 22 years ago..."
It was official, the woman knew everything.
"So, I would suggest that you Mr. Deeks, go and plead with your Lieutenant to let you investigate this case despite your link to it, something tells me he'll be a little more receptive than you think..." she trailed off, an enigmatic expression on her face.
Everyone in the room stared at the petite brunette. They all knew well what that tone meant. Hetty and her puppeteering.
"But first, I believe you have someone you wish to contact," she stepped forward and slipped something into the detective's hand.
"Know Mr. Deeks, that you've the full force of OSP behind you, maybe not in a professional sense but..." she broke off, giving a little shake of her head before continuing, "please...keep us updated in any developments," Hetty finished with a light pat to his hand before walking briskly out the room.
Deeks stared down at the paper clutched in his grasp, a neat and familiar scrawl listing the address of a house not too far away. Ignoring the five sets of eyes boring into him, he turned on his heel and made his way out of the room, calling softly over his shoulder, "you comin' Kens?"
With one last glance to her colleagues, the agent followed her partner out of the room, silently grateful that he wasn't shutting her out this time.
Tensions were running high and they needed to stick together. She needed to stand by his side.
She was afraid what would happen if she didn't...
"Callen's pissed," he commented drily as they pulled up a little down the street from the address they obtained from Hetty.
Kensi turned off the ignition and angled her entire body in his direction.
"Yeah but he's just concerned Deeks...we all are. How—how are you doin' anyway?" she asked attentively, again overwhelmed by the urge to reach out and touch him.
He couldn't meet her gaze, instead focusing on the red-painted door across the street.
"I'm fine."
There was that word again. God did she hate that word.
"Okay...if you say so. You ready?" she asked, deciding to drop the conversation for now and focus on the task at hand, already reaching out for the door handle.
"Can you uh...can you stay in the car?" he murmured, his hand flying to halt her, his fingers lightly brushing the skin on her forearm, "this...this is something I need to do alone."
There was a beat of silence as finally his orbs met hers for a moment, seeming dimmer than she ever remembered them being. She ignored the pain of pain that rose in her chest.
"Okay, sure partner...I'll be here if you need me..."
He nodded silently, his mouth pulled into a thin line before climbing out of the car and walking briskly across the road, his mind racing as he realized that he was going to come face to face with an old friend he hadn't seen in over twelve years. An old friend that had meant the absolute world to him. This was not the way he ever envisioned them reuniting.
With a soft sigh, he raised his hand to the door and knocked twice before he lost his nerve. With shuffling feet and hands clamped to his sides, he waited with bated breath, shifting his weight back and forth and biting his lip as the door slowly began to open.
He swallowed deeply as the woman he'd thought of sporadically over the last decade was revealed to him. Silently, he drank in her widened, hazel gaze, her wavy chestnut hair that just sat on her shoulders and her tall stature that really, over time hadn't changed a bit. A soft, attentive smile spread across his face as for the first time in days he felt something akin to happiness (albeit tinged with sadness and dread) flowed through his veins.
"Marty?" she gaped, finishing her own inspection of him.
"Hey Andi," he grinned softly as she leapt forward and enveloped him in a huge hug, already murmuring into his shoulder.
"I'm barely back in town for two months and you already find me? You really are a super hero," she teased, before she caught on to his stillness, the smile dropping from his face as he psyched himself up to say what needed to be said.
"Marty? What's wrong?" she asked, concern flitting across her beautiful face, as in tune with his emotions as ever, like no time had passed.
Their eyes interlocked, their mixed pasts fluttering across their mind's eye. Finally, Deeks opened his mouth and half-whispered:
"We found Fay."
Present
"Oh no Kens...that's the girl that you look like," Deeks quipped, crossing over to the driver's side and opening the door.
Kensi gaped at him, unsure of what to say. She pushed down the irrational sense of diffidence that seeped into her veins at his words and climbed into the passenger seat. Before Deeks could settle into the car however, his cell phone began to ring for what felt like the millionth time today.
With an apologetic smile directed in the rear-view mirror at Andi, he stepped out of the car and onto the sidewalk, phone held at his ear.
Kensi shifted uncomfortably in her seat as the car was plunged into silence. It suddenly occurred to her that she never offered her condolences and silently berated herself.
"I'm sorry for your loss," she murmured, turning in her seat to look the woman in her eye.
"Thank you," she replied softly.
Another beat of silence passed before Kensi continued:
"Has the LAPD been in contact with you?"
"Aren't you guys the LAPD?" Andi asked, confusion colouring her tone.
"Deeks is yeah, but have you or your parents been alerted by any other members of the department?" she prodded gently, curious at how far the LAPD were along in the case.
"Uh yeah, my mom was contacted earlier this morning. She's still at the station as far as I know...I just got back into town two months ago so I don't know if they'd have my new address on record but...you guys found me. I—I'm glad it was Marty and not some stranger to tell me my sister was finally found. Marty...he was always a sweetheart...was the kindest guy in the world," she smiled; her dark eyes alight with wonder and shrouded too by an intense pain.
"He still is..." Kensi agreed, a small, soft smile on her face.
"So are you guys..." Andi asked suddenly, trailing off, her suggestion hanging for the entire universe to see.
Kensi's eyes bulged as she cleared her throat loudly, watching intently out the window to see if Deeks was overhearing any of their conversation, but when he failed to turn around she found it safe to reply.
"Me and Deeks? No, I—no...what gave you that idea?" Kensi gaped.
Andi shrugged, turning to observe her partner's back.
"Well, you know he said you were his partner and he always did have a thing for brunettes," she smiled grimly.
"Yeah, so I heard. But no, we're just work partners, friends..." she trailed off as she saw Deeks hang up and make his way back over to them.
"What's up?" she asked quietly as she saw his grim expression as he settled himself into the seat and shut the door.
He looked up suddenly, as if startled by her presence.
"That was Lieutenant Bates," he murmured quietly, jolted with shock, "he just called to tell me that uh..." he caught Andi's gaze in the rear view mirror, "a man has come forward claiming that he's responsible for Fay's death."
A/N: Wow. That was LONG! I realize A LOT happened in this chapter and it's a little overwhelming but I promise the next chapter will be more reigned in and focusing more so on Deeks and how all of this is affecting him mentally and emotionally and things case-wise will become a lot clearer. Here's something to whet your appetites...
NEXT CHAPTER TEASER:
"Look at me Deeks," she ordered quietly, tilting his face the last few inches until they were level. Slowly, her partner looked up, his eyes shining softly in the moonlight, the windows to his soul completely open to her for the first time – revealing everything he felt, anger, fear, pain...and something else, just a little something behind it all, something warm and comforting and just for her.
"Trust me partner," she continued, her voice still soft but with a trace of firmness as she reached up with her other hand to cup his other cheek, her two-toned eyes boring into his, "you are a lot of things, funny, smart, charismatic, and even a little bit of a show-off," she paused as they both shared a grin, "but most of all, you're gentle, sweet and the kindest man I have ever known. You are as far away from Gordon John Brandel as you can possibly get...and don't let anything or anyone convince you otherwise or you'll be answering to me, got it?"
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