2 Weeks Earlier- NCIS Office of Special Projects

"I'm resigning."

Hetty looked up quickly to see LAPD Detective/NCIS Liaison Marty Deeks standing in front of her desk. It was early on a Monday morning at the office; only Deeks, Hetty, and a few janitorial staff were in.

"Excuse me?" Hetty asked. She had put so much work into Deeks; she was shocked that he wanted to resign. He had fit in nicely with the team and had excelled beautifully in his position. Deeks had been handpicked by Hetty for a reason and quitting would ruin her plans for him: to become a future NCIS agent.

"I'm resigning from my position as Liaison officer…..and from the LAPD," Deeks stated. He handed Hetty a resignation letter and an NCIS application file. "Everything in the application file has been signed and dated."

It's about damn time, Hetty thought. "I gave you this file months ago, Mr. Deeks. Why now?" Deeks sat down on one of the seats and sighed. He looked in terrible condition to her, no doubt due to an operation that had gone wrong the day before.

The team of Special Agents G. Callen, Kensi Blye, Sam Hanna, and Deeks had crossed town to take down Serbian human traffickers in a warehouse at the edge of the city. It was supposed to be simple, four arms dealers, in the team's eyes, was supposed to be quick and easy. Unfortunately, everything that could have gone wrong, went wrong. Bad Intel had underestimated the number of men; when the team had arrived, they had found themselves against twenty one men. Due to what had been seen as "dumb luck", the team had made it out alive only with moderate injuries. The worst injury of the group was Kensi's wound from a gunshot that had nicked her arm. It had occurred when Deeks had his back turned, when he had believed that there was an enemy hiding in a spot behind him. An honest mistake to most was a bad move to Sam; in his eyes, Deeks' move could have killed Kensi. His partner had claimed that she wasn't angry, but the look in her eyes had told him otherwise.

"I had let the team down yesterday- it shouldn't have happened. I'm behind and this is the second time that someone else's life was put in danger because of it." Deeks paused when he remembered his shooting from the year before. Kensi could have died if he hadn't had stuck to a relaxed schedule. He cared deeply for his partner, feeling guilty for almost getting her killed twice due to his mistakes.

Hetty nodded, leaning back in her chair with her hands clasped. "And you think becoming an agent will help? I advise you only to do this if you really want to become an agent."

Deeks chuckled. "It's funny, Hetty. Ever since you gave me that file, I've been wondering about my position at LAPD and NCIS. It's time."

"And it took you-what, nine months to realize this?"

"I'm a unique thinker," a grin appeared on his face, "I like to ponder things for a while, then let them sizzle for a few days, and then come back again-"

"Mr. Deeks," Hetty laughed, "No need to explain anymore. I'm happy to have you fully on board. I'll call the Director as soon as possible and speak with him about your application. "

"What do I do now?" Deeks hesitantly asked. He hoped that he wouldn't have to spend the next seven months training without a job. Hetty picked up the phone and dialed the NCIS Washington office number. "You first need to officially resign from LAPD."

"What if the Director turns me down?"

"Nonsense- you will become an agent, if I have anything to do with it. Go turn in that resignation letter, quickly, Mr. Deeks. I believe we have a case today."

Two hours later, Kensi placed her bag on her desk next to Callen, who was munching on chips. Along with Sam, Callen gave Kensi an friendly smile. She smiled graciously and asked, "What's up?"

"We're ok. How about you?" Callen's eyes darted over to Sam, who was glaring at the bag of chips in Callen's hand. Kensi caught the interaction and sat down. "I'm fine- I was only skimmed. How about you guys? Worrying about Callen's eating pattern again, Sam?"

"That's the third bag he's had this morning. G, I can't have you having a heart attack while we're on a case," Sam said to his partner.

"That won't happen, Sam. We've been partners for five years and it hasn't killed me yet."

"Oh, yeah. Be cocky about it- watch you'll keel over tomorrow and then what?"

"I'll haunt you forever?"

Kensi looked over to Deek's desk area as Callen and Sam continued to playfully argue. She hadn't seen the detective since the night before. When she had checked out of the hospital, Deeks had offered to stay with her, but she turned him down. Kensi hadn't wanted to talk or listen to apologizes, she had only wanted to sleep.

"You heard from Deeks?" Callen asked, snapping Kensi out of her stare. "No, I-I haven't. He's supposed to be here today, right?"

"Last time I checked-" Callen was cut off by the sound of a loud whistle coming from the stairwell. The three agents looked up to see Eric standing with a whistle. "We have a case," he said.

"Here we go," Callen muttered, jumping up and tossing his chips away. Sam followed him, nodding his head in disbelief at his partner. Kensi stood to follow them, but stopped when she saw a hectic Deeks sprint into the OSP center. He dropped a box onto the ground near his desk before looking up and saying faintly, "Hey, Kens."

"We have a case," she responded before darting up the stairs towards the OSP main room. Deeks watched her go before thinking, Everyone is still mad. I guess I'll them about my decision another time.

Deeks walked into the operations room and found the team and Hetty standing next to a gentleman in a charcoal colored suit. Deeks instantly recognized the man's badge to be an Interpol ID.

"Mr. Deeks, this is George Lyons, an agent for Interpol. Assistant Director Granger invited him to be an observer on our newest case," Hetty said. She gave Lyons a suspicious eye before directing Eric to start the case.

"The Naval Air base in China Lake, California just reported three petty officers lying dead in a jeep by the base. All three men appeared to have gun shots to the back of the head," Eric said as he pulled up crime scene photos. "These were taken by two officers that found the bodies, according to them nothing was touched."

"That's strange," Sam said, "How do you get two dead Navy personal just lying in a car outside of a base? Someone had to have heard the gunshots go off, Eric."

"Actually, this naval base is sparsely populated. I think a missile could go off in the area and no one would notice." Kensi stepped forward and asked, "When did this happen?"

"Two days ago." The room instantly silenced, each team member staring at Eric in disbelief, The tech operator put his hands up in defense, "Don't shoot the messenger! They wouldn't say why they waited- they just wanted us to go up there."

"Alright, we can figure this out on our way there," Callen directed, "It's a three hour trip." He turned to Lyons and asked, "I assume that you'll be tagging along with us?"

Lyons didn't respond as his focus was on Deeks. The detective was glaring him down with crossed arms. Kensi gave him a nudge and asked, "Deeks?"

"I'm still not understanding why you'd want to observe or even why you are observing us in the first place," Deeks told Lyons. The Interpol agent shrugged, "Director Granger's request. I won't be a bother."

Deeks glared at the man suspiciously, his suspicions going into overdrive. In the eighteen months that he had worked at NCIS, he knew that things that didn't feel right, especially things coming from Granger, usually weren't right. Kensi stepped towards the door and tugged on his arm, "Ignore Detective Deeks, Lyons. Let's go."

"We can take two cars. Lyons, how about you ride with us?" Sam suggested. Lyons caught Deeks' annoyed look and said slyly, "I think I'll ride with Kensi and-what was it, Deeks?"

Bastard, Deeks thought as Kensi nodded in agreement to Lyons' statement. While the rest of the team and Lyons left the room, Deeks walked over to Hetty and said, "Something's not right about this, Hetty-"

"I agree with you, Mr. Deeks. Keep an eye on Mr. Lyons for me, will you?"

"Of course….Quick question, though. Because at LAPD I work with such friendly people who almost went skipping at the news that I was leaving LAPD, I don't have a job starting tomorrow night. Will I-"

Hetty patted his arm and said, "Don't worry, you'll have a place to go. Just focus on the case, alright?"

Deeks took a breath and said, "Ok."