Life, Lies and Video Surveillance
By Cortexikid
Chapter 30: Sanguinity (Part IV)
A/N: And here it is, the big 30. Wow. I still can't believe I've gotten this far. And as uber cheesy as it sounds, I would have given up long ago had it not been for all you amazing reviewers. So, this chapter, part IV/IV of the aftermath is dedicated to all of you. You guys rock harder than a Flea fan at a Chili's concert! XD
Disclaimer: Alas, I am neither Shane Brennan nor his evil twin, therefore I cannot be the owner of the wonderful NCIS: LA :(
SHOUT-OUT TO: ImpactedJudgement for all her awesomeness! You are amazing my fellow grammar-enthusiast :D
WARNING: A little weirdness ahead. But please, bear with me. I promise there's method in my madness! I hope you guys just roll with it. Everything will be back to normal and business as usual by the next chapter, don't worry. I won't make a habit of it lol XD Oh! And very small spoiler for 4x04!
WOTD: SANGUINITY; sang·ui·ni·ty noun. Hopefulness. Buoyancy. To have a hopeful disposition.
A loud chorus of footsteps, beeping machines and dozens of voices surrounded the gurney of one Kensi Blye as she was rushed into County General Hospital.
"Female. Late 20s. GSW to the chest. BP is 76 over 60…" a paramedic informed a doctor as they burst through the doors and into the ER.
"Is she—is she gonna be alright?" asked a slightly panicked man, hot on their heels, trying to keep following them.
"Please sir, stay here, let us do our jobs," the doctor held up his hand to keep him at bay before turning on his heel and racing after the medical team.
Zackary Monroe dragged a weary palm across his face and plonked down in an uncomfortable plastic chair. After what could have been days (time seemed at a complete stand-still since he found Kensi on the dirty warehouse floor, lying in a large pool of her own blood) he looked up to see Agents Callen and Hanna running towards him, having haphazardly abandoned their car in the parking lot.
"Where is she? Has she gone into surgery? What did the doctor say?" Callen bombarded him with questions as Sam whipped out his cell phone and began making the dreaded phone call to Hetty.
"I—" Monroe shook his head, the gravity of the situation striking him dumb.
Some first day this was turning out to be…
"Yes, thank you Mr Hanna, I was informed moments ago. You and Mr Callen question those found at the scene, I shall be at the hospital presently," Henrietta Lange finished, her tone grim as she hung up the phone and caught the frantic eyes of Eric Beale and Nell Jones.
"What did Sam say? Is Kensi o—"
"Ms Jones, Mr Beale, I need you to get all the security footage you can from the warehouse district, see if you can get an ID on Ms Blye's shooter," the petite brunette interrupted, standing up out of her chair and quickly gathering her things.
"Keep me updated on any and all developments," she called over her shoulder as she headed towards the door only to stop dead in her tracks, "Ms Blye has be taken into surgery, I will call with any news as soon as I can…" she finished, before taking out her cell-phone and continuing on her way, scrolling down until she saw a familiar name.
Mr Deeks.
This is one phone-call she hoped she would never have to make…
She was cold.
There was a draft, little gusts of wind wafting from somewhere but she couldn't see where. She couldn't see anything…
She was surrounded by darkness.
Where was she? She couldn't remember…how did she get wherever she was?
"Kensi? Kensi!" a voice called, sounding muffled and far away.
Quickly, she turned on the spot, her dark eyes surveying the blackness, the nothingness that engulfed her.
"Kensi! Kens…where are you?" the voice continued, echoing all around her, in her head, in her ears, in her soul…wait…she knew that voice.
"Deeks? Deeks! I'm here! I'm…I—I don't know where but just follow the sound of my voice," she yelled to her partner, her heart-beat hammering in her ears as she began to wildly turn on the spot, as suddenly, colour leaked from the darkness and she was surrounded morphing, whirling images, spinning around and around like some grotesque carousel, making her a little sick to her stomach.
"What—what's going on?" she asked no one in particular, shaking her head to rid it of its sudden fogginess as faces formed in front of her like a montage. Callen, Sam, Hetty, Nell, Eric, Monroe, her mom…and lastly, Deeks. He stayed the longest, his entire body appearing like a mirage, his face a little twisted, a little harsh, his eyes hardened and almost angry, so unlike the Deeks she knew.
"There you are," he said, his voice sharper than she ever heard it, "what the hell is the matter with you? I leave you alone for five minutes and—Jesus, Kensi…" he spat, venom dripping from each syllable as he began circling her, his shoulders tense, his jaw set.
Kensi frowned, not understanding what he was talking about.
"Deeks what—why are you so pissed? What happened?" she asked, her eyes catching his, something beginning to seep into her veins.
Discomfort? Worry? Fear?
No, that couldn't be it. She'd never be afraid of Deeks. But if it wasn't that then what—
Something caught her attention then. Something that Deeks was now leaning against, his arms folded across his chest as he stared down at the ground.
Her eyes raked the large machine that her partner was resting against. Where had she seen that before? Biting her lip, she took an attentive step towards him, noticing as he tensed up, his eyes still staring at something on the ground, something that was starting to take shape in front of her eyes. Browns, blues, whites and reds all mixed together, dancing in a swirl on the floor before settling, sticking together to form a figure, a woman, lying sprawled out at Deeks' feet, crimson liquid spilling from her body.
It was her.
Kensi gasped as she stared down at herself, her mind reeling a mile a minute, the shock striking her speechless, freezing her to the spot.
"I stop being your partner for less than a week and you go and get yourself shot," he muttered to her, his eyes never leaving the Kensi lying on the ground, "you know I'll never forgive myself if you don't make it Kens…I'll never recover…" he trailed off, his voice breaking.
Kensi gaped at him, unsure of what to say, aching to reach out and touch him, reassure him that she'll be fine, that this was all some sort of crazy dream that they were both having. Had they both been exposed to LSD this time? Was this some sort of crazy trip? If so, it wasn't nearly as much fun as people say…
"Come on," dream-Deeks (that was what he was, right?) said suddenly, "there's something you gotta see…"
"You really need to cut your hair, Marty," Angela Deeks murmured with a roll of her eyes as they sat in front of the TV, watching an incredibly bad late-night movie.
"Says the woman that wanted dreads Bob-Marley-style back in the 80s," he replied before taking another bite of his pie.
"Hey, it's better looking like a reggae legend than a cartoon stoner," she held up her hands before sinking back into the couch.
He merely shrugged in response, shoving more pie in his mouth, offering her a cheeky, food-filled smile to which she grimaced and shook her head at his grossness.
"So…have you thought more about what you're gonna do?" she asked gently, her voice adopting a more serious tone.
With a sigh, her son swallowed the last of his dessert, placing the plate on the coffee table before leaning back, resting his elbow on the back of his couch, angling his body to face his mother.
"I have…but that doesn't mean I know what to do, mom," he hesitated, running a hand through his hair.
"Well, that's easy, just tell her you love her," she replied simply, as if commenting on the weather.
"Oh yeah mom, I just walk up to the woman I've been partners with for nearly four years now and say, 'oh by the way Kens, I've fallen in love with you. Wanna give our thing a shot?' Good plan," he grumbled, not looking at her.
"That's the first time you've actually admitted it out loud, Mr Smart-Ass," Angela pointed out, "and don't say it was all sarcasm. You do love her…" she trailed off, watching intently as he dragged his eyes up to meet hers, sincerity and something else reflected in them, something that looked a lot like a mixture of fear and joy.
"I know," he whispered just as his cell-phone began to ring. Offering his mom an apologetic smile, he picked up his phone from the table and answered it, his voice quiet:
"Deeks."
"Mr Deeks? It's Hetty…" his ex-boss' voice came from the other end of the line.
A feeling engulfed the ex-liaison at the sound of her voice. Something ominous and downright terrifying. A chill shot up his spine.
"What—what's up, Hetty?" he asked, his tone a hell of a lot more confident than he felt.
"It's Ms Blye…" Hetty began, her tone grim.
Angela stiffened beside him, watching as a shadow passed over her son's face, a darkness settling in his eyes.
"What—what's wrong? Is she okay? Where—"
"She's been shot, Mr Deeks…"
Deeks' heart plummeted into his gut, his grip loosening on the phone, almost dropping it.
This couldn't be happening…
Suddenly, he bolted off the couch, his eyes wild, searching the apartment frantically for his keys as he rambled to his ex-boss:
"I'll be there in five minutes! What—what hospital is she at? How—how bad is it? Leg? Arm? Will she need surgery? Does she need anything? Can I talk to her ye—"
"She's in surgery as we speak…I'm afraid her injury is quite severe Mr Deeks," Hetty replied, her voice calm and yet Deeks was trained enough to hear a hint of worry in her tone.
That was not a good sign.
"I—I'll be there ASAP," he assured her firmly before hanging up (for fear he might hear even more bad news) and racing over to put on his shoes.
"Marty, Marty honey, what's going on?" Angela asked worriedly, standing up, her eyes following her son as he whizzed around his apartment like a wound-up spring just released.
"It—it's Kensi. She—" he broke off, not able to stand still as he searched frantically for his keys, "she uh…dammit! Where are my damn keys?!" he growled, kicking his trash can in frustration.
Angela plucked said keys off of the kitchen table and held them out. As he reached for them, she pulled her hand back, her eyebrows rising as she saw a hint of irritation cross his face.
"Mom just—give them to me, I gotta go, Kensi…she was shot…" he swallowed deeply, wiping a hand across his face, "she's in surgery, I'm going to the hospital to—"
"I'll drive you," Angela interrupted, already making her way to the door.
"Alright..." he agreed hurriedly, practically sprinting out the door, "just—step on it."
"You're not gonna get away with this," Nick Clarence growled as Greg Valley pulled him out of the van and shoved him towards a dilapidated looking house with its windows boarded up and its lawn wild and over grown.
"Oh I beg to differ Serge, my partner in crime just shot an NCIS agent so I think that'll prove to be a worthy distraction for anyone that wants to follow us," he smirked, pausing to unlock the door, one hand still clutching Nick's shoulder painfully.
"Who are you working with?" Clarence asked, casting his mind back to Scott Lovejoy, a man he once called his friend who for all intents and purposes seemed to be working with Valley but at the same time, showed great remorse for the situation and even went out of his way to reassure the Sergeant. Clarence just didn't know what to believe anymore…
"Oh, everything in due time Nicky boy," Valley grinned manically, an eyebrow quirked before he unceremoniously shoved the man through the door, towards an area that appeared to be set up for this very occasion.
"What is it you always said, Serge? Always have a Plan B?" Valley asked, shoving the barrel of his gun into Clarence's gut and forcing him to sit down heavily onto a chair that was nailed to the floor before taking out some rope and bounding his hands and legs.
"Well," he smirked as he finished the last knot, "welcome to Plan B."
Sam Hanna leaned his palms down onto the table, his dark eyes shining with a fresh anger, an irritation, as the man at the other side of the table merely smirked up at him, not breathing a word.
"I'll ask one more time…who shot Agent Blye?" he growled, as Callen came to stand behind him, his azure gaze just as steely as his partner's.
"And I told you, Agent Hanna," the strong-accented man replied matter of factly, "that I don't know who shot your colleague. If you recall, I was outside when you apprehended me. I have no knowledge who was inside the building or what said individuals were doing," he shrugged, his being the epitome of nonchalance.
"Well, let's see what your associate has to say about that," Callen murmured, turning to Sam before they nodded to the guard who came in and escorted the man they now knew to be Farid Agrajeeta known ally to a sector of Saudi Arabian terrorists.
Agrajeeta stood up, smirk on his face as the guard led him out, hands behind his back, barely batting an eyelid as Scott Lovejoy was pushed in the door, his eyes wide as they landed on the two agents. Callen and Sam barely had time to open their mouths before Scott spoke up, his voice clear and concise, not an ounce of worry in his tone:
"I'll tell you everything I know."
"Marty! Marty slow down!" Angela Deeks gasped as her son raced ahead of her, bolting into the hospital like a jack-rabbit on steroids, racing towards the nurse's station.
"Kensi Blye! Is she out of surgery? What room is she in? Is she o—"
"Sir, please calm down. Are you her emergency contact or immediate family?" a nurse asked calmly, tapping her computer keys, her eyes never leaving the screen.
"I'm her partner," he retorted, remembering that that seemed to work the last time Kensi was admitted to hospital.
"Okay sir, if you'd like to take a seat in the waiting room down the corridor to the left, you'll be updated on her status as soon as she's out of surgery," the nurse looked up, her smile a little grim as she eyed the almost-hysterical young man and what must have been his weary mother.
"Thank you," he nodded, taking off towards the waiting room without a backwards glance, Angela hot on his heels.
"Marty slow down, I'm sure she'll be—"
Deeks whirled around suddenly, his eyes a little wild as he stared down at his mother, an indistinguishable expression on his face.
"She will be okay. She has to be," he said, no room for argument in his tone as he turned back around and entered the waiting room.
There, sitting a few feet away with her hands clasped in her lap was Henrietta Lange, her face pensive, her eyes downcast.
"Mr Deeks," she nodded, dragging her gaze up from the floor before standing up and holding out her hand to his mom, "and you must be Angela," she offered her a wry smile, "I'm Hetty, so nice to meet you, I just wish it were under better circumstances…" she trailed off as Angela shook her hand.
"Nice to meet you too," she murmured in reply, glancing from Hetty to her son and back again.
"Have—have you heard anything?" Deeks asked hurriedly, running a hand through his hair and trying to stop himself from pacing back and forth in agitation.
"Nothing as of yet, no," Hetty replied grimly, gesturing to an empty chair for Angela to sit.
Deeks shook his head in frustration, unable to stop himself now, pacing up and down the narrow waiting room, arms folded, shoulders hunched. Suddenly, he halted, a thought coming to mind.
"Has anyone contacted Julia?"
The last syllable had barely left his lips before the woman in question appeared in the doorway, eyes wide, composure frazzled.
"What happened to my daughter?!"
A mist lay like a blanket in the darkness, a fog closing in, wrapping her in a sheath of translucent air, ghost-like and ominous as she followed her partner blindly.
"Where are we going?" she asked, her voice distant, as she stared at the back of his head.
He remained silent, his stance never faltering as he strode onward, never looking back, his shoulders tense, his posture far more straight than she ever seen in reality.
"Deeks…where are you taking me?" her voice was more demanding this time, her patience wearing thin.
"You're running this show Kens," he replied, still not looking at her, "I'm just along for the ride."
Those words almost had an echo to them, reverberating in her ears as suddenly the fog lifted, whirling colours seeping in from all around until she was standing in a place she had not seen for years.
"The gym," she defined unnecessarily to Deeks (who had now stopped) as she saw another Deeks, the one she first knew as 'Jason' approach another version of herself, the one he first knew as 'Tracy.'
"The day we met," she murmured, looking at him sideways before her gaze returned to 'Jason' and 'Tracy' as they interacted, each face lined with suspicion, their eyes interlocked for a moment.
"I can't believe you remembered what clothes I was wearing," her partner shook his head.
"I can't believe you remembered I was wearing an 'over the shoulder' bag," she snorted with a roll of her eyes.
"You know me Kens, I'm meticulous with details…especially when it comes to you," he finished, a hint of something in his tone as Jason Wyler stepped away and Corporal Craig Mangold began speaking to the 'grief-stricken' brunette.
Before Kensi could question him, the gym began to dissolve, the colours falling away, swirling into something else.
"I knew, the first time I laid eyes on you that you were important," Deeks said suddenly, his gaze focused on 'Tracy' as she edged towards 'Jason' in Danny Zuna's house, staring him down like no-one ever had before, murmurings of nude pictures and drug-deals passing between them.
"Could you feel it too?" he asked quietly, an enigmatical expression on his face.
"I—"
She was cut off as the swirl of colour began again, this time like raindrops falling from an invisible sky. But this was hardly noticed by Kensi as she couldn't help but stare at her partner, inspecting every inch of his face.
She frowned as he continued to avoid her gaze, before turning her attention back to the whirling which began to relax, each raindrop merging together into one large mass, the scene still a little unfocused, unclear.
What was all of this? Why were they on this trip down memory lane?
Her frown deepened as she pondered that, the urge for answers flooding her veins.
"What are you? The Deeks of Christmas past?"
"Hey, this is your messed up fantasy, you tell me Ebenezer," he smirked, a cheeky eyebrow arched in her direction, the first somewhat pleasant expression crossing his face.
The familiar fluttering low in her stomach at his smile was ignored with a shake of her head, her eyes focusing on the room before her. Her heart panged in her chest as she realized just what this was.
There, not ten feet from them, lay Marty Deeks, eyes closed, skin tinged pale as an anxious, nail-biting Kensi Blye stood at his bedside, her dark eyes raking in his form.
"The day you got shot," she breathed softly, the memory jarring her, the worry as fresh as it was that very moment when she heard her partner had been shot.
He nodded, his face turning grim. As if reading her mind, feeling her worry, he took a step closure to her, his eyes finally meeting hers.
"Looks like now we're even…"
As those words echoed in her ears, a sharp pain pierced Kensi's chest, causing her to double over, gasping for breath. Out of watering eyes she could see Deeks watching her, his face terribly dejected, as if he knew something she didn't.
Something was really wrong…
Gleaming, pristine walls stared back at wide, glistening eyes. A foot jittered up and down, the steady thump almost enough to lull him into a trance-like state if his brain were not alight with anxiety. It had been two hours now. Two hours since he heard that his partner had been shot. Two unbearable, worry-ridden, tortuous hours of a tapping foot, sniffling mother and unflappable boss, hawk-gaze steady in their observation of him, watching intently for any sign of cracks in his foundation.
Cautious ears perked up as footsteps drew near, frantic in their pace. Marty Deeks tore his eyes from the bare wall to find a tall, dark-haired man of Hispanic origin walk straight over to Hetty, wordlessly asking for a moment in private. The ex-detective's head turned as Hetty nodded, her orbs finally severed from him as she stood up and walked down the corridor with the unknown man.
Curiosity getting the better of him, Deeks followed, ignoring the stranger's eyes as they bore into him, the words he was feverishly muttering to Hetty dying in his throat as the ex-liaison halted behind the petite brunette, arms folded, eyebrows raising silently as if daring him to continue.
"Uh, hi," Monroe nodded to Deeks as Hetty turned on the spot, her own eyebrows rising but in a more knowing glance.
"Hi, I'm Marty Deeks. Who are you?" he asked, folding his arms and tilting his head.
"I'm Zackary Monroe."
"The golfer?"
Monroe frowned at him, before looking to Hetty.
"No, Kensi's partner."
Stone-cold silence followed that statement as Deeks' shifted his weight, a dark expression crossing his face.
"Oh, you mean the guy that's supposed to have her back? Well, awesome job so far buddy…" he trailed off, anger fuelling his veins as he stared the scandalized Monroe down.
"Hey man, how could I—"
"That's enough gentlemen," Hetty interrupted with a rising of her hand, her eyes trained mostly on Deeks as he began to speak again.
"You have an update? You get the guy that shot—"
Monroe took a step forward, cutting Deeks off.
"We can't discuss NCIS matters to a—"
"Hey, new guy, I'm her partner okay? So you can discuss whatever the hell has to do with her shooting with me. Now have you or have you not got something to share?" he asked, jaw clenched, almost daring he or Hetty to argue with him.
Monroe broke eye-contact to share a glance with his boss. Upon her small nod, he sighed, clearing his throat.
"I just spoke to Callen. They have Scott Lovejoy in custody. He isn't sure where Valley might have taken Clarence but he maintains that he and two of the Saudi Arabians were scouting the perimeter when Kensi was shot. As for Valley, well, he was in with Clarence so…there had to have been another shooter at the scene. One that got away…" he trailed off at the look of indignation on Deeks' face.
Suddenly, Julia Feldman rose from her seat, her eyes ablaze as she stormed over, tapping Deeks on the shoulder roughly.
"Can someone please tell me what happened to my daughter? I know what Kensi does for a living is secretive but—please…Marty, tell me, is—how bad is it?" she croaked, tears escaping and trailing down her cheeks.
Deeks frowned, laying his hand lightly on her shoulder, trying to comfort her as he said the words that caused acid to rise in his throat:
"Julia I—I don't know…" he trailed off, trying not to flinch as her expression transformed from one of worry to one of anger in two seconds flat.
"What do mean you don't know? You were there weren't you?!" she half-yelled, clearly aggravated at being kept in the dark (apparently that was a familial trait) as she took a step toward him.
Deeks eyes widened as he tried to explain.
"No I—"
"No? What do you mean no, Marty? You're her partner aren't you? You're supposed to be with her, be her back-up. Why the hell weren't you there?!" she spat, waving her hands in his face as frustrated tears rolled down her cheek, the news Kensi told her of Deeks' quitting hours before escaping her memory.
Deeks was stunned into silence, his heart hammering in his chest as his own mother walked back into the room having fed the meter. In silence, she caught her son's eyes, sensing the rising tension and wordlessly sat down in one of the seats. Swallowing deeply and trying to repress the stinging in his eyes, the ex-liaison held Julia's gaze.
"I—I'm so sorry Julia, you're right, I—I should have been there, I should have had her back—" he broke off, his throat tightening with emotion as he shook his head, unable to hold her gaze any longer.
Julia's anger seemed to fade upon seeing his face so…broken. With a sigh, she lay her palm on his shoulder, speaking softly to him.
"I know Marty, I'm sorry too I—it's not your fault…" she murmured before pulling him into a tight hug that he reciprocated gratefully.
He could feel three pairs of eyes on him as he embraced his partner's mother. Hetty, that guy Monroe and Angela, all watching on, each feeling as if they were intruding on a particularly private moment as two people shared their grief with one another.
Just as they broke apart, alarms began ringing and a voice wafted from the corridor.
"Code Blue! Code Blue!"
With wide, desperate eyes, Deeks took off like a bat outta hell, out of the waiting room and down the corridor towards the noise. He didn't know how, but something was telling him that the commotion had to do with Kensi.
He skidded to a halt at room 103, gaping silently, his heart skipping a beat as he caught a glimpse of familiar chestnut hair through the ajar door as frantic medical staff gathered around a bed. But it was the doctor with the defibrillator that held his attention. With bated breath, he watched helplessly as the paddles were lowered to her chest.
"Clear!"
His partner's body jerked up from the mattress violently, but it was the steady, ringing tone that Deeks was transfixed on, the straight line that was shooting across the screen.
Kensi was flat-lining.
Sam Hanna waited with folded arms as his partner hung up the phone, his face unreadable.
"Well?" Sam asked, itching to get back into the room with Scott Lovejoy, to try and squeeze a drop of useful information out of him pertinent to not only Clarence's abduction but his friend's shooting.
The still had no word on Kensi…
"That was Nell," Callen informed him, "she and Eric identified Emily Zaras' bedtime buddy from the photo…" he trailed off with a quirk of his eyebrow.
"I'm on the edge of my seat G," his partner replied sarcastically with a roll of his eyes.
"It was Declan O'Dowd, Clarence, Lovejoy and Valley's fellow marine," he finished, tilting his head before pushing the door of the interrogation room door open and storming in, not flinching as the door bounced off the wall with a loud smack.
Scott Lovejoy jumped, startled at the noise but quickly recovered as the two partners entered the room, halting on the opposite side of the table from where he sat.
Callen folded his arms across his chest, staring down unblinkingly at the uncomfortable marine.
"So let me get this straight Lovejoy, you're telling us that you wanted no part in this, that Valley strong-armed you into complying—"
"Yeah! He—he told me if I helped him kidnap Nick then he wouldn't kill him. He'd just use him for information and when they were done, they'd send him home. He said no faces would be seen so I—I had to believe that that was what he was going to do," the marine interjected, tapping the table with jittery fingers.
"Even though it was Clarence's testimony and your backing up of his story that got Valley discharged?" Callen asked with a tilt of his head.
"Yeah I mean, the whole time he—he was mad, sure, but not…homicidal, at least, not towards Nick…" he trailed off, his eyes staring at a spot on the wall.
"Who was he homicidal towards?" Sam asked, stepping over to stand beside his partner, his stance defensive, and his expression quietly fierce.
"His wife. It's her house he took over, he and his Saudi Arabian buddies. I—I was only in the place once to plant the DVD so I can't be sure but…I think he might have done something to her," he swallowed, shifting uneasily in the chair.
"Well, considering we found her body in the bathtub upstairs, I'd say that's a likely possibility," Callen murmured, sliding the crime-scene photos across the table for Lovejoy to look at.
His face turned ghostly pale as he stared down at the mutilated body of Emily Zaras, dozens of stab wounds marring her flesh as she lay sprawled in the bathtub, her emerald eyes wide and lifeless. He pushed the pictures away in disgust.
"You said something about planting a DVD?" Sam watched intently as Lovejoy's gaze rose to meet his.
"Yeah. I—it was the only thing I could think of to try and stop all this. I convinced one of the Saudis that it would be a good idea to give proof of life to the Feds and made the DVD myself. I then imbedded Valley's personnel file number and coordinates of the warehouse where Nick was being kept into the footage, hoping that some of the techies would find it. Considering you tracked us down, I'd say it worked…" he trailed off, sounding just a little bit pleased with his success.
"And you did all this to help us?" Callen's tone was incredulous to say the least.
"Yeah, and Nick. He's my best friend, man. His daughter is my god-daughter. I'd never want anything to happen to him…" his face was one of sincerity, as was his tone. The partners exchanged a glance.
"And what can you tell us about the information they wanted from Clarence?"
Lovejoy's expression turned pensive as he took a moment to respond.
"I wasn't always allowed in the room but—I heard talk about a mission called 'Operation Sinon.'"
"Operation Sinon," Sam stated, something clicking into place in the recesses of his mind.
"Yeah. I'm not privy to the details because I don't have high enough clearance, but there is something I do know about it," he paused, leaning forward in his chair.
The atmosphere in the room shifted with his words.
"And that is?" Callen prompted, not interested in any more stall tactics.
"My buddy Dec is on the team."
"Declan O'Dowd?"
"Yeah."
The partners exchanged another look, this one more ominous and knowing that any proceeding it.
"What?" Lovejoy breathed, visibly tense.
"Would it surprise you if we told you that O'Dowd and Valley's wife Emily were having an affair?" Callen asked, taking a seat opposite him.
A look of realization passed over the marine's face.
"That's what he's up to…"
"What?"
"Valley. I—I think he took Nick so he could track down O'Dowd…"
An explosion rattled her eardrums, causing the agent to duck for cover. Except, there was nothing to duck behind. The ever-enclosing darkness still surrounded her, encasing her, wrapping around her…
She gasped for breath. The pain had subsided somewhat, the sharp piercing in her chest, but the shortness of breath was still there, her heart hammering so fast she thought it might explode.
"Deeks? Deeks! What was that?" she called, wondering where her partner…ex-partner had disappeared to. He was beside her just a moment ago…
Or was it a moment? Was time passing quicker or slower here? Wherever here was…
Suddenly, a beam of red light shot out from the darkness, followed by another beam and another and another, until she was surrounded with lines of red-lights, dozens of them crisscrossing over the other, looking awfully like…
"Lasers," Deeks confirmed her silent observation.
"This remind you of anything, Kens?" he asked softly, as like before, colour began to emerge from the gloom and form a scene, one she knew all too well.
"I stood there for so long," she whispered, watching as her past-self stood stock-still in one small space in the room, shoulders sagged with fatigue, beads of sweat on her brow, "and…when I saw you, I was…never so glad to see anyone in my entire life," she paused, watching as past-Deeks entered the room, it happening just as she remembered, them talking about triggers and bomb squads and trying not to panic.
"It was when I knew, one-hundred per cent that I was right putting my trust in you," she admitted, her eyes raking over her past-self as she meandered through the lasers, halting at the very last one, her partner raising his hands to take hers.
"Do you still trust me?" he whispered, his breath bouncing off her cheek as she felt him come to stand behind her just as past-Deeks pulled past-Kensi out the door, another boom rocking her to her core.
After it was over, and she saw herself tangled on top of the liaison, bright, big smile on her face, did she turn to Deeks and look him straight in the eye, her voice holding as much conviction as she could muster…
"Always."
Marty Deeks' heart panged in his chest and fluttering waves crashed in his stomach, making him nauseous as bile rose in his throat. Taking a deep breath, he splashed his face with water and looked up, staring at his pale face in the mirror. He looked like death warmed up, except, a chill was ravaging his body, an ice-cold piercing in the base of his spine. It made him shiver, yet he knew it was nothing to do with being cold.
Kensi had died.
For twenty agonizing seconds, his partner had been clinically dead until the doctor jump-started her heart. And all he could do was stand there, wide-eyed, holding his breath, his gaze, glistening with tears gluing to the only part of her he could see through the door, her small, ghostly-pale hand.
The memory was enough to bring a fresh bout of emotion heaving from his chest, right up to his stinging orbs. Swallowing deeply, he pushed down the whirlwind feelings, wiping at his eyes and shaking his head, splashing more water on his face before taking a deep breath and exiting the restroom. With his head held high, he walked down the corridor towards room 103 and where the doctor was standing, talking quietly to Julia.
"Your daughter went into cardiac arrest when we moved her out of surgery but she's stable now, Mrs Feldman," she was assuring her with a soft tone, "she isn't out of the woods yet, however. She sustained a 22. Calibre bullet to the chest at point blank range, it narrowly missed hitting any major arteries but it by no means any less serious. She will take a while to come around from the anaesthesia but as her immediate family, I can grant you entry to her room in a few minutes," she offered her a small smile before nodding and taking her leave.
Deeks hung back, waiting for Julia to speak. The elder woman turned to look at him, an indistinguishable expression on her face before she wordlessly began sinking to the floor. Gaping, Deeks leapt forward and caught her; another pair of hands coming out of nowhere and helping him get her to a nearby chair.
"I can't…I can't lose her again…" she was whispering over and over to herself, her head hung low as she sank down into the chair, her weary body crumpling like paper.
"Hey Julia, it's okay, she's going to be fine, she's going to be fine," he whispered back as he kneeled down in front of her, catching the eye of his mother as she took a seat next to the weeping woman, a steady hand resting on her shoulder.
"You—you have to go and make sure she's okay Marty…I—I can't see her…not yet," she croaked between tears, her darks eyes shining brightly, "please you—go check on my baby…"
Fear gripped Deeks' chest, like an ice-cold fist clamping around his heart. Suddenly, he was grappled by dread, it engulfing him at the thought of having to see his usually strong and kickass partner so…unlike herself. But with one look at her distressed mother, sitting with her head bent, her hand squeezing his mother's hand, he knew he couldn't deny her.
"Okay…I'll go tell Kensi you'll see her soon," he promised, rising from the floor and glancing to Angela.
At her reassuring nod, he turned on his heel and slowly made his way towards room 103, opening the door gently, his breath catching in his throat as his eyes landed on his partner's form, laid under the pristine, white sheets.
Biting his lip, he tip-toed closer to the bed, his eyebrows furrowing as he stared down at her.
"Hey…" he sighed, his throat tightening as his gaze landed on the various tubes surrounding her body, "what—what did I say about getting shot, huh?" he croaked, his smile watery, his eyes welling up.
"God Kens…" he trailed off as a tear escaped his eye and trailed down his cheek, "you sure know how to scare me, you know that?"
Nell Jones and Eric Beale sat in tense silence, the only sound throughout the small room being the tap-tapping of computer keys as two pairs of eyes glued to their respective screens, each eagle-eye scanning hours of footage from an old camera placed by the warehouse district.
"There's Lovejoy," Nell pointed out to her companion, reaching across him, her arm brushing against his.
Eric stilled, his eyes flickering to her for a moment before focusing on where she was pointing.
"Okay, let's see…" he entered the correct keys to begin the process.
"Okay, height – 6'3", weight – 170 pounds," he murmured, thanking the computer gods for kickass soft-ware.
"Nope, not him," Nell shook her head, striking a line through his name before going back to review the rest of the footage.
"The techs said that the trajectory of the…blood spatter," she visibly grimaced, pausing as a slight shiver ravaged her body, "suggested that Kensi was shot by someone between 5'5" and 5'7" in height. Lovejoy is 6'3" and the two Saudi Arabians, Farid and Hakim Agrajeeta are 6'1"and 5'11", all too tall…" she trailed off, frustration seeping into her tone.
Eric offered her what he hoped was a small, comforting smile as he began to fast-forward the footage, his eyes darting back and forth as he concentrated on the grainy surveillance.
"So, we're looking for someone else, someone that managed to avoid the—"
"Eric, stop!" Nell covered his hand with hers, pushing his finger down to pause the tape.
"There," she pointed to a dark shadow at the corner of the screen, "you see that?"
The tech-analyst stared at her, then at the screen before silently shaking his head.
With a roll of her eyes, she smacked his hand away from the mouse and rewound it, her eyes widening as the saw the figure again, pausing it and pointing again.
"There, see now?"
Eric squinted, azure gaze focusing on the small shadow that his companion was pointing to. Frowning in concentration, he ran the analysis, watching impatiently for the results.
"Five foot six in height, one hundred and twenty-seven pounds…" he murmured, confusion in his tone.
Nell's eyebrows rose.
"That's either one small man or—"
"A woman."
"It's a stupid plan," Nick Clarence gasped as he watched Greg Valley begin to grab various items and throw them into a large duffel bag.
"Are you kidding me?" he threw back his head, grinning manically, "it's genius! Not only do I get my revenge on you for getting me discharged but I also get O'Dowd for bangin' my wife and a boat-load of money from the Saudi Arabians for helping them get information on Operation Sinon. That my friend, is killing three birds with one stone…" he trailed off, winking at him.
Nick glared, his dark eyes gleaming with hatred.
"And where does Scott fit into all this?"
Valley chuckled, taking the seat opposite him, tapping his chin pensively.
"Well, he was just an easy mark. The guy backed up your story and helped sell me out so what better way to get back at him than to force him help a fellow Marine commit treason. It's poetic justice…" he smirked, taking a large knife from the duffel bag and beginning to toss it in the air.
Nick eyes flew up and down, watching as the knife spun mid-air before Valley caught the handle with ease and precision every time, his stare never wavering from the Master Sergeant.
"And how are you getting him to cooperate?" Clarence asked, tasting blood on his lips.
"I told him I'd kill you if he didn't," Valley shrugged as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
There was silence then, a moment of quiet between the two old colleagues.
"But you're gonna kill me anyway?"
"And that's why Scott never was the sharpest knife in the drawer," he quirked an eyebrow, staring at the blade in his hand, "huh, no pun intended…"
Suddenly, he stood up, brandishing the weapon in his ex-boss' face, a maddening gleam in his eye, a twisted grin marring his lips.
"But I can't take all the credit…most of this was my partner-in-crime's idea…" he half-whispered, dragging the tip of the blade down Clarence's cheek, a fresh trail of crimson in its take.
"Partner-in-crime?" he asked, twisting his hands behind his back, loosening the knot slightly, doing and saying anything to keep Valley talking, to keep him distracted.
"Oh yeah," he nodded, running the blade down his right cheek now, "she's one of a kind."
That caught the Sergeant's attention.
"She?" he frowned.
"Hey honey," a familiar voice suddenly sounded from behind him.
His heart skipped a beat as he twisted his head and was met by a pair of bright, olive eyes.
"Jessica?"
"You know, you're a pretty crappy Ghost of Deeks past," Kensi murmured as they walked down a very familiar drive-way, halting outside a garage.
"Oh yeah, why's that?" Deeks asked, turning his head to look in at his other self as her other self lifted her shirt, exposing a bruised torso.
"You're not even bringing these memories back chronologically," she said matter-of-factly, frowning as she watched the partners interact.
"No, you're not bringing them back chronologically Fern, the mind is a mass of scrambled messages, it's not my fault if you're confused…" he rolled his eyes, sounding not unlike a whiny child.
"You were born confused," she smirked, trying to smother her discomfort as she was forced to re-live one of her least-favourite memories.
"Ooh, getting better with the come-backs I see. Not great, but better," he teased, seemingly finally becoming his true self, his initial anger fading as they journeyed together.
They both turned, silently they watched on…
"I'm your partner, what makes you think I'm going to let you do this by yourself?" Deeks was asking her as they stood barely a foot apart.
"Because you're my partner…and this is my mother…and you're the only person that I trust," Kensi replied, her eyes shining bright as she spoke with such conviction.
There was a slight pause in which the partners stared at one another.
"Okay…I'll keep her safe," he murmured finally, just as the Deeks standing beside her scuffed his shoe on the floor, hands in his pockets.
"I—I never really thanked you," she breathed, biting her lip as the ground began to dissolve from under their feet.
"You didn't have to," he responded, his voice holding the same conviction as hers did then.
She nodded, her eyes flickering through the droplets of colour, falling like thick paint around them. She recognized the bedroom immediately and the bodies in the bed as they slumbered peacefully, their limbs tangled together, one slightly more awake than the other.
"It was nice," she whispered, watching as her other self opened her eyes, lifting her head slightly and staring at Deeks as he slept beside her, his nose twitching incessantly, "being someone else for a while…"
"We wore Justin and Melissa well," Deeks agreed, smirking as the brunette in the bed smiled softly to herself and lay her head back down on the pillow, her dark eyes fluttering closed just as a pair of cerulean ones opened, beginning their own search of her, a small grin gracing a bearded face.
She nodded as the bed was replaced by a dining room, the slumbering partners becoming very awake ones, ones who were locked in an embrace, a kiss as two strangers looked on.
"I would say that kissing you was the only thing I could think of to try and hide what we were doing…" she trailed off, a smirk on her lips, "but I'd be lying…"
Deeks chuckled, shaking his head.
"Admit it, you liked it."
"I liked it," she whispered, as the partners broke apart.
"We could do this all day, you know," the ex-liaison commented as the colours began to disappear.
"Kiss?"
"Well, as nice as that sounds…" he laughed as she blushed, "no, I meant we could take a trip down memory lane. But, I guess this would be a good time to move on," he finished, nodding to his left.
"Move on? To where?" she asked, fear flooding her veins at the implication.
She wasn't ready to 'move on', go 'into the light', she wasn't ready to di—
"Relax Kens…not that kinda move on," he laid an attentive hand on her shoulder, "just onto the present. You look like you could use a rest," he gestured to a large bed that suddenly appeared, stepping over and pulling back the white sheets.
At those words, she felt an overwhelming tiredness engulf her, her shoulders sagging under the invisible weight, barely able to keep her eyes open a moment longer, her lids feeling as if anvils were attached to them.
"O-Okay," she yawned, not having the energy to even argue, sitting down on the bed and leaning back until her head hit the pillow.
Her partner stood over her, his eyes kind and caring as he pulled the sheet up to her waist, smiling down at her.
"I'm here if you need me Kens, I'm not going anywhere…I'm here for you," he whispered, clasping her hand in his and sitting down in a nearby chair.
"I know…" she whispered as her eyes slid closed, happy that the last thing she'd see for a while would be his face.
It was so much better than the barrel of Jessica Clarence's gun.
"Can you get that any clearer?" Nell asked, practically bouncing in her seat at the impending crack in the case they'd all been waiting for.
"She's definitely carrying," Eric replied as he fought to enhance the grainy image of the woman, his eyes trained on the weapon that was bulging under her jacket.
"Does it—does it look like she's walking weird, to you? Like she has a limp or—" Nell broke off suddenly, her eyes widening.
"Eric, hack into the hospital records!" she half-yelled, her brain reeling a mile a minute.
"Why?" he asked as he watched his partner already pick up the phone and dialling a number.
"Because," she hissed as she waited on Callen to answer his cell phone, "I know who shot Kensi!"
"Kens…Kensi…it's time to wake up," a voice called softly to her, squeezing her hand gently.
With a furrowed brow, she reluctantly opened her eyes and found herself still surrounded by darkness. Frowning, she looked to her left and saw her partner, or at least the dream-Deeks version of him, sitting there, looking at her expectantly.
"What's going on?" she asked, as she heard the voice again, his voice:
"Kens…please…wake up."
But it didn't come from the man sitting by her bed. Instead it came from all around her, soft and distant.
"He's talking to you," Deeks murmured, squeezing her hand again, "he wants you to wake up. He sounds like he has things to say," he finished, tilting his head at her.
Meanwhile, Marty Deeks, the real, broken, ex-liaison took a seat next to his partner's hospital bed, taking her hand in his, watching as her closed eyes flickered rapidly.
"Looks like you're too busy in dream-land…I wonder what the world's deadliest New Kid On The Block fan dreams of…" he mumbled almost to himself as his thumb ghosted over the back of her hand.
"Come on partner, aren't you gonna wake up and tell me to quit drawling so you can get some nice, interrupted sleep? Isn't my rambling bugging you?" he asked, smiling grimly at her lack of response.
In her dream, hallucination, crazy trip, whatever the hell it was, Kensi sat up in the bed, watching as dream-Deeks smirked, apparently amused by the words that were echoing throughout the room.
"I do have a drawl, don't I?" he asked with a quirk of his eyebrow before falling silent, listening intently as the resonating words continued.
"Your mom asked me to come and check on you…she's a mess Kens. She's already lost her daughter once, she can't lose you again. So please, come back to her, to the people that love you…to me," Deeks begged, staring desperately at her closed eyes, willing them to open any second now.
"You're afraid," dream-Deeks said suddenly, as Kensi mulled over what she'd just heard.
"Why—why would I be afraid?" she asked, already knowing the answer.
"Because despite how hard you try, you're in love with him, with me," he corrected, his brow furrowing, "you know what I mean. You love Marty Deeks, your partner, ex-partner, friend, whatever the hell he is to you now. And you'll continue to love him no matter how hard you try to ignore it. No matter how many meaningless dates you go on. No matter how many reasons you find not to love him, you find more to love him…"
Kensi's eyes narrowed.
"You would say that. You think you're irresistible," she tried to argue, wishing that the wonderful yet melancholy words that were echoing around her would stop just so she wouldn't have to look at his face, his all-knowing face.
"Hey, I'm a manifestation of your subconscious Blye; I'm just telling you what you already know. Out there though, he's the real Deeks and I think you should put him out of his misery and just wake up already," he shrugged, leaning back in his chair and tilting his head, listening to the words that continued to swirl around them.
"I—these last few days, weeks, hell, I don't know, probably even years, I've…come to care about you so much Kens…you're—you're so much more than just my partner, my friend and—and you gotta wake up because I don't know what I'd do if you—" Deeks broke off, his hand trembling as he took a deep breath, summoning the courage to admit what had been in his heart, in his soul, for a long time now.
"You're the first thing I think about when I wake up in the morning and the last thing I think about before I go to sleep at night. And I know that that sounds like some stupid pick up line but it—it's true. I…over time I…started to feel…more and…you're more than my partner Kensi Blye. You're my best friend, my confidante my—everything and I know that there are rules…but my heart won't listen to my head no matter how hard I try…" he trailed off, dragging a palm down his face, wiping the wetness from his eyes.
"You hold on pumpkin, it's going to be okay, you'll both find happiness," a familiar voice she hadn't heard in over fifteen years sounded from her left as Deeks' words washed over her.
A strong, comforting hand rested on her shoulder and she felt at peace in her father's presence, however imaginary it may be. It helped her find the courage in herself, she now ready to continue listening to the heart-felt confession of her partner, his words alighting her heart with wonder and joy and the good, exciting kind of fear.
Deeks' eyes glued to her sleeping form, murmuring the soft, important words, loud enough for only she to hear.
"Right now, I'm not your partner so I'm not breaking any rules. I'm just a very concerned friend with some very strong feelings and—just please don't kill me for this Kens…" he trailed off, his gaze lingering on her pale face and closed eyes, before leaning forward and capturing her lips with his.
Kensi gasped as she felt the pressure of his lips against hers. Soft and gentle and…right.
Her father's presence lingered to squeeze her shoulder one last time, the dream-Deeks at her bedside vanishing too, a small, knowing smile on his face as she lay back down against the pillows, the feather-light kiss warming her all over. She didn't feel tired anymore. She felt calm, rested and invigorated.
Deeks broke the one-sided kiss, stepping back, giving her hand one last squeeze.
"I just—I had to do that at least once. Not as Justin, not as Will, but as me. You mean more to me than I could ever tell you Kensi Blye, but I hope to try to one day…so don't you dare die, okay?"
With a nod of his head, he turned on the spot and walked out of the room to check on Julia, his footsteps barely making a sound. Just as the door closed with a snap, Kensi's eyes fluttered open…
Nick Clarence winced as his wife dug the barrel of her gun into the back of his neck, a deep indentation marring his skin.
"Why—why are you doing this, Jess?" he croaked as she let out a bitter laugh.
"Because Nick, all these years I've been married to you and you've been married to the job. I got sick of all your self-righteous bull shit, neglecting of your daughter, your search for the answers to your problems in the bottom of a bottle of Jack Daniels. You—you refused my help left and right, blamed me for everything that went wrong in our marriage and wanted to divorce me. Divorce, me! No, no frickin' way," she stormed around him, leaning down to glare right into his face.
"You really thought you could go to a divorce lawyer without me knowing? You really thought that you could gain custody of our daughter—"
"You haven't been well, Jessica," he spoke gently, knowing that if he raised his voice it would only irk her more.
"Oh I've been very well, Nicholas," she poked him in the nose, "thanks to your friend Greg here…" she trailed off, throwing a wink in Valley's direction.
"How—Scott said you'd been beaten up, how are you okay to—"
"Well, I had to make it look good, didn't I?" she smirked, pointed to her black eye and various abrasions, "managed to fool NCIS too. Those Saudis did a number on me sure but…it did keep me above suspicion so, it was worth it," she grinned wolfishly.
"Nobody ever suspects a victim, Nick," she continued, "nobody ever looks a little closer at the sobbing wife that just wants her husband back safe and sound…"
"You're sick," he spat, fury flowing through his veins, "you will never get Lily, you hear me? I—"
"I don't think you're in the position to make threats, Nick," she interjected as Valley gave a snort.
"What're you laughing at?" she asked, turning to glare at Valley.
"I—what?" he gaped, confused at her anger towards him.
"If it wasn't for me you'd still be snivelling into your beer. I'm the one that helped organize all of this, gave you contacts, helped you form a plan and you stand there and have the audacity to laugh at me?!" she snapped, gun shaking in her hand as she advanced on him.
Valley's eyes darted from Jessica to Nick, his face growing a little alarmed at her behaviour.
"No Jessica, I wasn't laughing at you, I was laughing at Nick o—" suddenly, the butt of the gun shot out and struck him in the face.
With a yelp, Valley stumbled back, clutching his now broken nose as it gushed blood into his cupped hands.
"Nobody laughs at my husband, you hear me?" she hissed, her eyes wild as she glared down at him.
Nick stared at the two of them, working frantically at the knots binding his hands. He had loosened them considerably and if he could just free his hands, he was confident he could wrestle the gun away from his wife and overpower them both.
"You're pathetic," Jessica was snarling down at Valley, "going through all of this just to get back on your cheating wife and her lover. If it wasn't for me, you wouldn't have that 'boat-load of money' from the Saudis, you wouldn't have the ammo to frame Scott and Nick with treason, all of this is down to me Valley, don't forget that," she finished, whirling back around to Nick.
"I don't know why I'm constantly surrounded by idiots," she heaved a deep sigh, raising her gun to aim it at his head, "oh well; at least now, I'll have one less to worry about. Goodbye, dear husband, I'll make sure Lily knows you died a traitor's death…" she squeezed the trigger just as Nick untied his hands, flinging himself at her, the momentum just enough to break the legs off the wooden chair as they tumbled to the floor.
With a wounded shoulder, he wrestled with his wife, wrenching the gun from her grasp, it going off with a loud bang.
Rapidly, the couple stilled, watching with wide-eyes as Greg Valley fell to the floor, a round, red hole in the middle of his forehead, a trail of blood leaking down between his eyebrows.
A tense moment passed before the couple began struggling once again, Nick letting out a cry of pain as Jessica pressed hard on his shoulder wound. Temporarily gaining the upper hand, Jessica used that split second to push him off her, jumping up from the floor. Snatching Valley's gun from his dead body, with shaking hands she shot Nick in the back.
With a groan, her husband stilled, a large pool of blood escaping and pooling around him. It wouldn't be long now…
Not wanting to wait around a second longer than necessary, Jessica left her dying husband and dead ex-partner-in-crime on the dusty floor of one of her unsold houses and bolted out the door at the speed of light.
She had unfinished business to attend to.
There was only one person left alive that knew what she had done.
Agent Kensi Blye.
"The wife?" Callen asked as Sam sped down the neighbourhood as fast as he could.
"Yeah, Jessica Clarence. It's her guys," Nell nodded frantically as she paced back and forth up in Ops, "we dug into her financials and found some irregularities. That led us to look into her job, she owns a Real Estate company up-town. It was failing, badly, up until two months ago when she went into business with a man named Amir Rendell, but when we pulled up his driver's licence photo—"
"It was Farid Agrajeeta," Eric finished, a sense of urgency in his tone.
"She was beaten when you and Kensi interviewed her, right Sam? You think someone could inflict those injuries on themselves?" Callen asked his partner as they pulled up at the coordinates Nell and Eric sent them; the last place pinged by the GPS in Jessica Clarence's phone.
"Well, most of them seemed superficial, bruising, cuts, that sorta thing, it wouldn't be too difficult for someone to do it to themselves, or get someone else to tactfully do it to them without causing any real damage," he said as climbed out of the car and made their way towards the derelict house.
Silently, they made their way up the yard, stepping on the over-grown lawn, towards the door that was ajar. Sharing a glance, Callen took lead, Sam following close behind.
"NCIS! Show yourselves!" Callen yelled as he pushed open the door, his eyes falling onto two bodies sprawled on the floor.
As Sam stepped around him, checking for any other people in the house, his partner inspected the two men, finding one dead – Valley and the other's pulse soft but certainly there.
"It's Clarence, he's two bullet wounds, one to the shoulder, one to the back, but he has a pulse. Eric, call an ambulance…"
"On its way, Callen," Eric confirmed as Sam stepped back into the room.
"Any sign of Mrs Clarence?" Callen asked him, already knowing the answer.
"Nope," Sam shook his head, "looks like Jessica split. Question is, where's she headed?"
Julia Feldman took the steaming coffee gratefully, a soft smile gracing her face.
"Thank you, Angela," she murmured, before blowing on the beverage.
"You're welcome," Angela Deeks smiled in return.
"No," Julia said suddenly, the cup half-way to her lips, "I mean it. Thank you, for everything. You—you really helped keep me together tonight. And after the way I spoke to Marty—"
Angela cut her off with a dismissive wave.
"You're worried out of your mind Julia, I can't imagine what these last few hours have been like for you…" she trailed off, her thoughts on Kensi.
"Marty has never been shot?" Julia asked, a frown creasing her eyebrows. She thought, given his profession that it would have happened at least once in all these years.
"Oh I'm sure he has been, I've seen the scars but…Marty doesn't like to worry me. I wouldn't be surprised if he asked his superiors to deliberately not call me unless he was on his death bed," she shook her head. She loved her son, she did, but sometimes he was infuriating.
It was at that moment that she saw the man in question off in the distance, talking with the woman she knew as Hetty and the other man she knew her son took an instant disliking to. She didn't know how, perhaps it was their body-language, but she knew something was going down.
"Hey Julia, you wanna go down to the cafeteria and get something to eat? It'll be a while yet before Kensi wakes up…" she murmured gently, silently hoping that the woman would say yes.
After taking a moment to mull it over, Julia nodded.
"Yeah, that sounds good. I'm sure Marty will come and get me when she wakes," she nodded again, standing up and walking with Angela toward the elevators. The latter had to stop herself from glancing back around at her son and instead keep walking, eyes forward. Usually one to hate missing the excitement, she had a feeling she'd be glad to miss whatever the hell was going to go down within the next few minutes…
Jessica Clarence walked towards the nurses' station, a determination in her veins.
"May I help you?" the young nurse of about twenty-four asked with an air of innocence, of someone that hadn't yet seen the horror most endured during their careers.
"Yes, my sister was admitted here a few hours ago…Kensi Blye. Can you tell me what room number she's in?"
"Uh, let me see," she typed her name into the computer system and nodded, "yes ma'am, she's in room 103 on the ground floor. Just down the corridor and on the second left," she smiled a smile that Jessica returned whole-heartedly.
"Thanks so much," she beamed before continuing on her way, the fuel in her veins urging her onwards.
As she walked calmly down the corridor, she passed two brunette women waiting by the elevators. Acting as normally as possible, she nodded to them politely before she smirked, her eyes growing large as she spotted room 103.
Giving a quick glance around her, left and right, she saw that the place was practically empty so quietly, she reached out and turned the handle, pushing the door open as gently as possible.
With soft footsteps, she made her way into the room, spotting the bed. Quickly, she drew back the curtains surrounding it, revealing a body draped in white sheets, a brunette head barely visible from the top.
With shaking fingers, she picked up a pillow from the end of the bed and held it out in front of her, edging closer to the brunette head, lowering it to within an inch, holding her breath as she prepared to take yet another life.
Suddenly, she felt a pressure at the back of her head as a soft but demanding voice said in her ear, "drop it, Mrs Clarence."
With a growl of outrage, she did as she was told and dropped the pillow down onto the bed, only for the body underneath to sit up, a petite, bespectacled woman smirking up at her.
"Good work, Mr Deeks," Hetty said, a triumphant gleam in her eye as Monroe and two uniformed officers, stepped into the room, guns at the ready.
"You can tell Ms Blye's doctor that she can be moved back into her room now," she informed him before nodding to Jessica and taking her leave without a backwards glance.
"Come on," Deeks muttered, handing her over to the uniformed officers, "these nice men will read you your rights," he finished before nodding to Monroe and following Hetty out of the room, smirking as he heard the words follow him:
"Jessica Clarence, you are under arrest for the attempted murder of a Federal Agent, the kidnapping and attempted murder of United States' Marine Sergeant Nicholas Clarence and the murder of Gregory Valley…you have the right to remain silent…"
"Well, look who decided to stop being lazy and wake up," Marty Deeks smirked as his eyes landed on Kensi Blye, laying in the bed, eyes open, staring tiredly up at him.
"I had the weirdest dream," she muttered softly, her throat hoarse.
Quietly, Deeks pulled a chair up to her bedside and sat down, his eyes drinking in her form, not being able to control the beam spreading across his face, the relief at having her alive, awake and speaking to him warming him to the core.
"Yeah, they have you on the good stuff Kens, you'll be loopy for a while. Just—let me know if you start seeing a Walrus or a Yellow Submarine," he smiled.
"Is that…another Beatles reference?" she asked, an adorable look of confusion passing across her face.
"Yes Kens, that was a Beatles reference," he shook his head, a chuckle on his lips as he laid his hand on the bed, inches from hers.
A comfortable silence engulfed them then, both satisfied in just basking in each other's presence. In her foggy, drug-addled state-of-mind, Kensi couldn't help but remember her dream, the dream where Deeks admitted his love for her. Even now, she couldn't quite convince herself that that was all it was. His words…they felt so…real.
"You know," Deeks said suddenly, interrupting her inner thoughts, "I think I'll keep this particular memoir out of 'Freaks, Geeks and Deeks.'"
She let out a tiny laugh at that, wincing at the discomfort in her chest. Morphine only went so far…
"Don't—don't make me laugh," she gave him a tight grin, knowing well that that was all she wanted right now, to laugh and smile and kiss Deeks…and suddenly, she couldn't think of any decent reason why all of the above wouldn't be the best thing for her.
"Hey," she said a little dopily, taking his hand in hers and lifting it up, trying to pull him closer.
"What? What's up Kens? You need any—"
"Come closer," she interrupted, her eyes growing heavy, tiredness beginning to ensnare her again. She had to be quick…
"Uh, okay," he murmured, leaning forward a little.
"Closer…"she prompted, squeezing his hand.
He inclined even further.
"Closer…" she whispered as she stared up at him, his beautiful baby-blues swimming just an inch from her.
"Kens I—"
"Shhh…" she whispered, lifting her head up off the pillow that final inch and pressing her lips gently to his, in a feather-light kiss.
Deeks' heart did the rumba in his chest as Kensi smiled against his mouth, waiting a beat before gently pulling away and resting her head back down on the pillow.
His expression was comical, his eyes wide, his mouth agape as he stared down at her, speechless. She took that as a compliment.
"Uh you're—you're fond of cover-kisses, huh?" he laughed nervously, leaning back in the chair, not attempting to take his hand away from hers as his heart continued to beat erratically.
"That wasn't a cover kiss," she whispered, her eyes fluttering closed, sleep finally claiming her.
"I know," he smiled, warmth pooling in his chest as he squeezed her hand.
Now this? This was definitely going in 'Freaks, Geeks and Deeks.'
Julia Feldman and Angela Deeks exchanged a glance, watching from ajar door as the blond man settled into the chair, apparently there for the night, an enigmatical grin on his face.
"Well," Angela said quietly as the two mothers shared a pleased smile at what they just witnessed, "looks like our kids finally decided to stop being idiots…"
Henrietta Lange nodded with satisfaction as she ended the call. Mr Hanna, Callen, Beale and Ms Jones were going to visit Ms Blye first thing in the morning and she still had a number of issues to deal with until then. It was time to let her agent get some rest while she retired for the night. She had sent Mr Monroe home over an hour ago, the extremely stressful first day weighing heavily on the green agent. She would de-brief him first thing tomorrow, but now, it was time to tie up some loose ends…
"You should have availed of the 'Kensi Blye Advanced Ninja Sneaking Training Course' Mr Deeks," she said suddenly, turning on the spot to see her ex-liaison grinning at her sheepishly.
"Yeah well, maybe I still can," he replied simply, hands behind his back.
"Was that Callen?" he asked, nodding to her phone.
Hetty looked to where he gestured, "yes, Mr Callen was just updating me on Mr and Mrs Clarence's status."
Deeks eyebrows rose expectantly.
"And…?" he prompted.
"And…" she smiled, "Mr Clarence is going to survive his injuries. As for Mrs Clarence, she admitted to hatching the plan with Farid Agrajeeta to use the disgruntled Greg Valley to gain information on an Operation Sinon for the Saudi Arabian terrorist sector in exchange for financial gain and the disposal of her husband…"
Deeks let out a breath.
"Cold," he murmured.
"Indeed," Hetty agreed, "she maintains that it was Valley who, in a temper, murdered his wife and brought Scott Lovejoy into the fold via blackmail. She said that he couldn't separate his emotions and that it was her intent to dispose of him too at the opportune moment as he was a liability."
Deeks nodded, mulling over the information.
"She give a clear motive?"
"Oh yes, Mr Deeks, two of the strongest, in fact. Greed…and love," she fixed him with an enigmatical expression, her eyes staring out at him over her glasses.
Deeks shifted his weight from foot to foot uncomfortably. It was like the woman was looking into his soul…
"She wanted the money and full custody of her daughter, which she feared she may not get due to her…anger issues if her husband were still alive to take care of Lily," she continued, still fixing him with a look, but it not as intense as before.
"Hakim Agrajeeta, the younger of the brothers, gave up some names in their organization that will be tracked down accordingly and we've informed the authorities of a potential breech in Operation Sinon and they're taking the proper precautions," she paused, "and with Ms Blye due to make a full recovery and already asleep for the night, I find that it is high time that we all go home and do the same…" she trailed off with a final nod.
Deeks stepped forward, his hands coming from behind his back, a manila folder in his grasp. Silently, he pushed it into her hands.
Hetty opened it, her eyes scanning it quickly before closing it with a soft snap. Slowly, her dark eyes rose to meet his light ones, a gentle smile on her face.
"Welcome back to NCIS...Agent Deeks."
A/N: And yes, if there are any 'New Girl' fans out there, I'm aware I called the fucked up married couple Nick and Jess. It took me (shameful as it is to admit) a little while to realize when the lovely SuperDensi427 suggested the name Jessica why it felt weird.
And when I did realize what I'd done, I just kept picturing Zooey Deschanel and Jake Johnson so yeah, weird, weird, weird! But meh, it's too late now. Nick and Jess is what they're called but try and picture different people lol!
Anyway, hope you guys enjoyed! :D From here on, the Densi relationship will continue to grow steadily :)
Please Review!
~Cortexikid x
NEXT CHAPTER TEASER:
"I'm going to take a shower," she said, untangling herself from him with a mischievous smile.
"Don't forget to think about me," he murmured, arching his eyebrow, a smug smirk on his lips.