A/N – I promised myself I wouldn't watch any sneak peeks CBS posted for Internal Affairs. Then, there they were, sitting so innocently on WikiDeeks, mocking me. I tried, I really did! But like a lot of addicts, I finally gave into my addiction. Again and again and again. I incorporated the dialogue from the second one in bold. It was too good to pass up! Also, I may have gotten the order of booking, printing etc messed up but call it creative license!

A/N 2 - Thanks to honus47 for reviewing as always!

Don't own NCIS:LA, its characters or its dialogue, just borrowing them for a moment. I'll give them back…when I'm good and ready.

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Chapter 2

"Deeks."

He looked up when he heard his name called.

"Get up, time to head down to booking."

He got up from his place on the floor and moved to the door. The officer opened it and Deeks turned to present his hands to be cuffed once more. Once he was secured, the officer roughly pushed him towards the door leading to the booking area. So this was how it was going to go. They fingerprinted him, swabbed his cheek for a DNA sample and took his mug shot, every cop he was passed on to glaring at him. Once everything was done, the same officer brought him down to the jail, cat calls coming from the other men in the cells that they passed. When they arrived at his cell, the officer uncuffed him, shoved him in, clanging the door shut behind him with just a little more force than necessary. He got it, he really did. They thought he was a cop killer. Not just any cop killer, but a cop who'd killed a cop. He shivered. Now that he was finally alone, he spoke quietly.

"Eric?"

"We're here. How're you doing?"

"I've been better. Tell me you have something."

"Not yet but we aren't giving up. We're gonna get you out of this!"

"I hope so." Eric wasn't used to hearing that tone in Deeks's voice. Even when things were bad, he always seemed upbeat, ready with a smile or a joke. Now he just sounded defeated and sad.

"Deeks! Who are you talking to in there?" The guard came down the hallway and stared through the bars suspiciously.

"No one, just myself. Trying to work things out in my head. Things I need to remember to tell my lawyer."

The man laughed. "You're going to have to do better than that." The laughter died and he leaned forward towards Deeks. "You'll be lucky to be around long enough to see a lawyer."

"Are you threatening me?"

"Nope. Just thought you might be interested to know that Bruce Steadman saw you brought in. He knows you were finally arrested for killing his partner. How long do you think it will be before he gets to you?"

Deeks remembered seeing Steadman when he was brought in. Great, just what he needed on top of everything else that had gone to hell in his life.

"Mr. Deeks. Do not let him goad you into doing something stupid." Hetty's voice sounded in his ear. He smiled at the sound and the guard looked taken aback. This was not how the man behind the bars was supposed to react to what he had just said. He shook his head and walked away, his message delivered.

"You'll have to be more careful in communicating with us Mr. Deeks. Please don't talk directly to us unless it's something important to the case. We can't have them become suspicious and find your earwig." Tap.

"Very good. Now, I've contacted my lawyer and he's agreed to take on your case. He has some free time tomorrow afternoon and will be contacting you. Hopefully by then, they'll have assessed bail and we'll have paid it. You'll be able to meet with him at his office. If not, then he'll come to you there."

"Thanks." He breathed out.

"Mr. Deeks. What did I tell you?" Tap. He sat down on the hard bed and looked around the cell that just might become his home if NCIS couldn't prove he was innocent. He knew for sure LAPD wasn't looking to help him get out of this. He lost himself in thought, wondering what his life would have been like if he had taken a different path when he had been young and stupid, running with Ray, doing stupid things. Would he have ended up here sooner? Would this have been his life, in and out of jail? He had joined LAPD because he wanted to make a difference, something he hadn't seemed to be able to do as a Public Defender, and yet here he was. Maybe this was what fate had had in mind for him all along. It had just taken longer for him to get to this point.

The next hour passed slowly. He was bored. He had nothing to read, obviously no television. Eric tried to talk to him, to keep his spirits up but it was hard to hold a one-sided conversation and eventually the techie had given up. When the door at the end of the hall opened, Deeks looked up in anticipation and not a little trepidation. He took comfort from the fact that Eric, Nell and Hetty were on the comms and that everything was being listened to and recorded.

"Deeks. Let's go. Your presence is requested in Interview One." He recognized the voice.

"Well, well, Officer Northam. Long time no see."

"Yeah, Deeks, and I could have gone longer, believe me." Northam had the guard open the cell door. Deeks held out his hands, hoping the other cop would cuff him with his hands in front, not behind his back. The man said nothing, just placed the cuffs on him before punching him in the stomach. Deeks doubled over and tried to catch his breath.

"Crap!" Eric's shocked voice sounded in his ear. "Deeks, are you okay?"

Deeks straightened up and lifted his hands. Northam took a step back and placed his hand on the butt of the gun hanging at his side. Deeks grimaced at him and pretended to rub his head, using the movement to tap once on the earwig. He had survived worse.

"You hit like a girl, Northam."

The man's face went red and he stepped closer to Deeks. "You're a lousy cop killer. I hope you get what's coming to you!"

"Did it ever cross your mind that I might not have done it?"

"Not once."

Deeks just shook his head. He had known there would be repercussions to his reporting Francis Boyle's actions all those years ago. He just hadn't realized how far reaching the consequences would be. If he had it to do over again, knowing what he knew now, would he do it? He thought about it for just a second and then nodded his head. Yup, he would. It had been the right thing to do even though nothing had really come of it. Boyle had gotten a reprimand but that was about it. He just kept on doing what he'd always done and Deeks became persona non grata. No one would work with him after that and he had ended up doing undercover work. Still, that had led him to Hetty which had resulted in him working with NCIS for the last seven years. He'd thought he'd finally found his place but the last few hours had shaken that belief. He was torn. Hetty, Nell and Eric were standing by him. Callen and Kensi, HIS Kensi, had questioned him, had believed the lies. He still wasn't sure about Sam. By refusing to talk to him, he hadn't gotten his take on it. He'd been so sure that Sam would follow along with his partner like he always did. Now Deeks was regretting not letting him have his say. Maybe Sam would have surprised him.

"Let's go!" Northam grabbed him and started frog marching him down the hall. There were more cat calls as they passed. When they reached the interview room, Northam opened the door and basically threw Deeks into the chair.

Deeks huffed out a "Tah." He lifted his cuffed hands and let them drop back into his lap as he sighed heavily. He looked up at the unknown woman standing in the corner, her ankles crossed.

"Detective Ellen Whiting, Internal Affairs." She uncrossed her ankles and pushed away from the wall.

"Thought Rivera was leading this witch hunt?"

"Not anymore." She said as she moved closer to the table and him.

"Why? They decided to give her a real case? Listen, now that the show of parading me through here in cuffs is over, do you mind if we get rid of these?" He lifted his cuffed hands and wiggled his fingers while he said it. Whiting just cocked her head.

Before she could say anything, the door was flung open and Bruce Steadman burst through. "You son of a bitch!" he yelled as he backhanded Deeks across the face, knocking him out of the chair.

Whiting seemed less than concerned. "Detective?" She sounded almost bored.

Steadman reached down and lifted Deeks up, slamming him against the wall. Never one to avoid poking the bear, Deeks said "Did you miss me?"

Steadman's right hand went around Deeks's throat and squeezed tight. Deeks reached up and grabbed hold but couldn't break his grip. "If you killed my partner, you're a dead man."

Deeks's boss, Lt. Roger Bates, came through the door, Officer Northam on his heels. Bates had caught wind that Steadman was headed for Deeks but was still surprised to see the man holding him up against the wall, his hand wrapped around the other man's throat. He heard Steadman issue the threat.

"Hey! Knock it off Steadman!" he yelled as he pulled the man away from Deeks.

Whiting finally decided to take an interest in the goings on. "Get your man under control Lt."

He pushed Steadman towards Northam. "Get him out of here. Now!" Northam took Steadman by the arms from behind and pushed him out the door. Bates turned back to Deeks who was doubled over in pain. He expressed no sympathy. "Why is that you bring trouble wherever you go Deeks?" he asked instead.

Still gasping for air, Deeks answered "I don't know. I was born under a bad sign."

"Yeah. Out of order."

Deeks just looked up at his LAPD boss. His hands still on his knees, he quipped "That's a nice moustache Lt. You doing undercover work in gay porn again?" He finally started to straighten up but he only made it halfway, the pain hit and he doubled over again. While upright for that brief moment, he noticed that Whiting was fighting a smile at his question.

Bates shook his head and wagged his finger at Deeks. "Ha. I didn't have to pull him off you."

Whiting finally decided to intervene. "That will be all. Lieutenant."

Bates walked away while Deeks coughed behind him. He looked at Whiting and demanded "I expect to be kept in the loop." as he walked out the door.

Whiting shut the door and turned back to Deeks, smirking. "Well. Looks like you got enemies everywhere you go, Detective Deeks."

Deeks huffed out a sigh. "It's a God given talent. I don't like to talk about it." He heard a laugh in his ear and smiled at Whiting. He was finally able to straighten up and slowly walked back to the table, sitting in the chair gingerly.

"Mr. Deeks. We are going to look into why Detective Rivera was taken off this case. It seems strange that she put in all that work and was not allowed to follow through. We'll also be looking into Detective Whiting." said Hetty. Tap.

Whiting looked at him. "Let's talk about why you're here."

"Let's."

"First off, your alibi recanted her story. Said you weren't with her all night after all. That you called her at 3 AM and asked to come over. That you asked her to lie for you and say you were there all night and she did so." Whiting looked at him with a raised eyebrow. Deeks already knew this from what Eric had told him but didn't let on. He pasted a look of surprise on his face.

"I'm not sure why Stephanie recanted but it was the truth. I was there all night. I never called her at 3 AM. Check my phone records."

"Unfortunately, the phone company only keeps those records for seven years. We were unable to prove or disprove you called her."

"Isn't it convenient, then, that this has come up again eight years later? I bet a tech savvy person would be able to pull those records up even if the phone company says they're gone. I've had the same number all these years, bet it would be easy."

"On it!" Eric said quietly in his ear.

"No, Detective, not convenient at all. I don't want to believe you killed one of our own but all the evidence is pointing at you."

"So you have my alibi recanting. Is that all? Is that why I was pulled off the streets and paraded through here in cuffs, accused of murder?"

"Of course it's not all there is. Detective Rivera was most thorough. In going through some cold cases, Detective Boyle's murder caught her attention. She read through the case file and saw that you were a person of interest. She'd heard about you, how so many of the LAPD shields dislike you. She started to think all those people couldn't be wrong. There must be something about you." She paused.

"You know, you are almost a legend in Internal Affairs, having exposed John Quinn as a mole. A cop that doesn't seem to have an issue with turning other cops in IA. Anyway, she looked back through all the evidence, had all of it rechecked. She talked to your alibi and got her to tell the truth after so many years. She had Boyle's gun rechecked for fingerprints. Imagine her surprise when yours was found on one of the bullets. It had never been printed before."

Deeks looked at her in shock, Eric had not told him this. "I never touched Boyle's gun and certainly wouldn't have touched the bullets. I'm being framed for this."

He could hear frantic typing over the comms. Then Eric "It's not in the file Deeks. I don't know where she's getting this information or why it was kept out of the official case file!"

"Framed?" Whiting laughed. "You really don't expect me to buy that do you?"

"It's the truth." Deeks replied quietly.

The next hour was spent with Whiting saying the same things over and over, trying to get him to admit that he had murdered his ex-partner with him refusing to do so. He was surprised at her tactics. She seemed almost uninterested in the whole thing. She didn't try to connect with him on any level. Something he would've done in order to gain the suspects trust. He started to wonder what happened to Rivera and what the deal was with Whiting. When the woman in question realized she had lost Deeks's attention, she decided to end this interrogation. She would have him stuck back in his cell. Maybe make sure that the fact he was a cop was leaked to the others in his cell block. She had her orders.