"So how exactly are we going to do this?" the probationary agent asked. He tried to hardest not to show it, but deep down the man was panicking.
Kensi replied calmly, "I'll walk in undercover as a student, use a search- kill program that Eric created- you know, the one that deletes all traces of it when you're done with it- and then I'll get out. Sam will be my eyes."
"But you won't have any communication- Kensi, this is ridiculous!" Deeks protested. Callen looked between the two and stated, "Deeks, she can handle herself. You aren't acting out because you two are together, are you?"
Deeks glared at the lead agent, fuming. He looked to Kensi before sighing, "Fine. But remember- I don't like this at all."
"I know, but you have to keep it in check right now, ok?" Kensi said, "If this was any other case-"
"But this isn't a case! This is our lives!" Deeks exclaimed. He nodded his head in disbelief before turning on his heels and walking out of the room. Kensi swallowed hard before telling Callen and Sam, "Let's get this over and done with."
Beaulah College, Malapo, Tonga
An hour later, Sam crawled into a small ditch in front of a forest behind the college. He had his binoculars in one hand to keep an eye on Kensi, who was walking up the street with a crowd of female college students. He had a takedown rifle set up next to him, just in case things got hairy. He hoped like hell wouldn't have to use it.
Sam wiped his brow just as Kensi and the college students walked onto campus. The college girls broke off into groups, all eagerly chatting with their friends. Kensi kept to herself and walked straight across the courtyard, pretending to look at a book. No one seemed to give her a second glance. In the field, Sam watched the junior agent walk into the central building and out of sight.
"Come on, Kens. Make this fast," Sam whispered. He went into prone position and began scanning the field and courtyard while waiting. The heat was also trying Sam's patience by making it humid as time went on. When Kensi reemerged from the building fifteen minutes later, the ex-SEAL was drenched in sweat. He watched the agent walk behind the library with her head down and approach the dirt trail that passed his position.
"Don't get stopped, don't get stopped," Sam repeated under his breath. He watched Kensi start up the trail towards him before soon kneeling on the ground next to him.
"Anyone follow me?" she asked out of breath.
"No, you're good. Nice work. Did you get anything?" Sam commented.
Kensi held up to folded pieces of printer paper. "I got something good. Let's head back."
Safe House
"Touch Agent Hanna, Callen, or the two little runts back in LA? Too late," Granger snarled. As Deeks fidgeted while furious, Granger kneeled next to him and whispered, "And it's all because of you."
Deeks jolted awake when he heard the echo of Granger's voice from his nightmare. He had dozed off in what he had dubbed "The Think Tank Room". The room was filled with books floor to ceiling and had large brown armchairs in every corner of the room. It was a perfect spot for someone who needed five minutes alone.
"Deeks!" He heard from the living room downstairs. The blonde haired agent lifted his injured leg off of the arm of the chair and stood up. It was Kensi, which made him feel partially relieved. His partner's tone was still nerve wracking.
When he made it downstairs, Deeks found Kensi, Callen, and Sam sitting around an island table. Kensi ran up to Deeks at first sight and pulled him into a kiss. She then pulled Deeks over to the island and exclaimed, "We have to talk."
Kensi took a second to catch her breath before unfolding a printer paper. It was a printed article from the NCIS database.
"The government isn't looking for us for treason," Kensi began. Deeks looked over her shoulder to see four headshots of each team member. "Granger is feeding the DOD a crap full of lies. They think that codes that Deeks found are something much more important than a bunch of codes for an NCIS project. So to say that we're on everyone's hit list with Deeks being on the top of it is a bloody understatement."
"Did you find anything on Heim and Jamie?" Callen asked. The junior agent nodded and pulled out another printed paper. On the front of the sheet were Heim and Jamie's NATO photos.
"Yeah, it's curious," Kensi answered.
Callen took the sheet from Kensi, quickly read it out over and nodded. "That is curious."
"Can we all stop using the Hetty like response and share with the class about what's on the paper?" Deeks snapped, more irritable then he had intended. The older agents looked at him in disbelief at his tone. Deeks grumbled, "Please."
"Jamie and Heim are old friends of Hetty's by the looks of it," Callen said. He handed the sheet over to Sam, which made the probationary agent more annoyed. "They crossed paths in Kosovo and Romania around the time my mother was killed."
"Both men have excellent records until the War in Iraq," Kensi said, "The government thinks that both men took major bribes from Sadam. We don't know if that's true, but it explains why they already had a price on their heads before meeting us."
"So we're calling them allies?" Deeks asked.
"For now," Sam replied. "If we had more access to the Internet, I'd say we should run a full background on them, but since we can't, we have to trust them. At most we can make sure that the house is secure."
"So that's it?" Deeks asked, shocked. A consensus look among the older agents answered his question. That's it. For now.