Roger Bates looks at Sam and Callen as he sits down and remembers the day it all began.

Flashback

Roger Bates was an army interrogator in the army. There everything was easy, you knew who the good guys were and also who were the bad guys. It was an Us vs Them world, kill or be killed. Here in LA, things were not so simple. Roger is a rookie at the police department and it isn't going well. He stood before his boss Captain Maxwell, sure he is going to lose his job over his latest screw up.

"I have been talking to my wife about what I should do with you. I think you have potential to be a great cop, but first you can benefit from a lesson in humility. Not everything is black and white like it was when you were in the army. So if you want to keep your job, you have only one option ahead of you."


Marty is a fifteen year old teenager. His mom had died a couple of months after his father went to prison. Now he is in foster care and he hates it. He doesn't want a family, he prefers the streets. He runs away from every foster home is Social Worker Alyssa Maxwell puts him in. He knows that his biggest downfall and the reason he always gets caught is that he doesn't ditch school.

Marty is currently sitting in the police station. His best friend Ray is with him. They took Marty's current foster father's car out for a joyride and got caught. Marty cops to the whole thing to spare Ray from getting into trouble. He sees Alyssa walking his way and she does not look happy.

"Martin, I just spoke with the Dodges, they are not going to press charges, but they don't want you back."

Marty shrugs, he really doesn't care, he was going to run away in the morning anyway. He just wanted to have some fun first.

"I am done with you, you won't give any family a chance. I can't keep doing this with you. You have one option left, I have lined up a new home for you. If you run away from this home, your next stop will be juvenile hall." Alyssa explains.

Marty just sits there staring at his hands, trying to figure out what he is going to do. He can't go to juvenile hall but he has 2 and half years before he is 18. Captain Maxwell comes towards him with another man.

"Marty this is Roger Bates. He is going to look after you."

Neither one is thrilled at this idea.

"This is the only option for both of you. Make it work. I will keep a close eye on Marty since you are not a licensed foster parent. Roger you will apply to be a foster parent ASAP to make it all legal." Alyssa points out.

Flashback ends

"My job was on the line and he was facing juvenile hall." Bates finishes explaining to Sam and Callen.

"It must have been a rough beginning." Callen comments as someone who has spent so much time in foster care himself.

"The first month, Marty and I got into a battle of wits. We were like fire and ice, neither one wanting to give a little. I thought about my job and wondered if it is was worth all this hassle."

"What changed?" Sam asks.

"Marty almost died. He had an appendicitis and said nothing to no one. I didn't know he was sick. He ended up passing out at school with a fever of 105. The rushed him to the hospital and immediately into surgery to remove his appendix. While taking in out, they noticed that there was a tear in it. Toxic material had been seeping into him. The doctor said that the amount of pain he had to have been in and yet he said nothing. He was in the hospital for 2 weeks to treat the toxins that were inside. He was on antibiotics for almost a month."

Sam and Callen both remember Marty making the biggest deal about a paper cut. But something as big as an appendicitis and he says nothing. What the hell was going through his mind.

"Did he know that he was so sick?" Sam asks.

"I'm sure he did; although I'm not sure that he really cared. It was a real wake up call though. I am the adult here and I need to act like it."

Kensi, Monica and Angela joins the boys bringing food back for them.

"Any word?" Kensi asks.

The boys shake their head.

"It's Marty, he can survive anything. He is not going to something like a explosion tie him down. He will wake up and act like nothing happened just like when he." Monica began and then cut herself off as she thinks about his appendicitis.

"Like the time he could care less that he had an appendicitis that almost killed him." Roger snapped.

Kensi looks at them confused. Sam and Callen mouth later. Kensi nods.

The door opens, a doctor enters. "Family of Marty Deeks."