"What?! What do you mean I can't come?" Deeks exclaimed in disbelief. I didn't do all of this to sit on the side lines at the end, the agent thought angrily.

"Deeks, to Lyons and Pendle, you are the equivalent of a gold mine," Callen stated. He pointed to Deeks' backpack where the probationary agent had carried a small USB drive carrying the proof that someone had infiltrated NCIS. "Under no circumstances can you come with us, especially since there's a chance that the OP could go bad."

"So you want me to sit here and twiddle my fingers?"

Kensi stepped in; she placed a hand on Deeks' shoulder and said, "Look at me. You can't come with us or this whole thing is over."

She quickly walked over to the laptop on the desk and pointed to the screen. "We know where Pendle is most likely to be and Callen and I will be more than enough people to go in survey the property and if need be, take him down tonight. Everything will be ok."

"Oh, you mean how things with Sam were supposed to be ok?" Deeks yelled, this time his anger directed at Callen. The lead agent only crossed his arms and allowed the probationary agent to vent out everything he needed. He knew that Deeks meant little harm by mentioning the failure of Sam's attempt to make it back into the States.

Kensi observed her partner closely as he turned away from her and put a hand on his forehead. The brunette agent chewed her lip nervously as she thought about how angry her next request would make her partner.

"Marty," Kensi said, deciding to use her partner's first name to keep him calm, "A few weeks ago, Callen and I started talking about what would happen if we ran out of all of our options. If something bad happens from this point on, I need you to….leave. I- we need you to go into hiding until things for sure cool over, which could take months or even years."

As expected, Deeks became furious. "You want me to go and leave you guys?! What- are we talking faking my own death or just letting this go for good?"

"You'd take everything we have and take it straight to the Director when everything's calm," Callen interjected, his comment making little difference in Deeks' anger.

"No! Hell no- we have gone through everything together! I'm not abandoning ship at the very end!"

Kensi stepped forward and kissed Deeks on the lips. "Just listen right now- no talking, ok?"

Deeks nodded nervously to let his partner continue. Kensi said in softer voice, " If we tell Granger that you're dead, someone needs to vouch that you're actually dead and Callen can't do that. I know that this is bad- like we may never see each other again bad, but it has to be done."

Deeks lifted his chin and kissed Kensi on the forehead. With a heavy sigh and a broken heart, he whispered, "I love you. Always have and always will."

"I know and I love you too. Promise that you'll do this?"

Deeks swallowed hard before reluctantly saying, " Yes."

"Deeks, run!" Kensi screams at the top of her lungs. Deeks turns around just to see Kensi collapse to the ground after being shot. Deeks doesn't have a chance to process what's going on before he sees Callen, Sam, Eric, Nell, and Hetty's dead bodies scattered in a field in front of him…..

"No- no!" Deeks yelled as he shot up in a sweat from his nightmare. In his frenzy, Deeks reached for his gun and called out, " Kensi?"

When the probationary agent realized that he was sitting in the hotel room alone, Deeks dropped the gun on the bed and ran his hands through his shaggy hair. His nightmare was very similar to the ones he had been having ever since he left for Algeria. This nightmare had been more graphic and felt so real that the probationary agent was shaken to his core. To make matters worse, Deeks couldn't see or touch his partner alive in front of him as Callen and Kensi had left hours prior to hunt for Pendle.

"They're ok," Deeks repeated under his breath, "They'll walk through the door any second. Come on…"

As if on cue, the doorknob slowly began to turn. Deeks jumped to his feet and placed his backpack onto the ground. He also placed two folders over the laptop on the desk. The door slowly creaked open and Kensi and Callen walked in. Deeks opened his mouth to ask about Pendle, but changed his mind when he saw the pissed expression on both agents faces.

"Pendle's dead," Kensi exclaimed angrily as she dropped her backpack onto the floor, " After all this…I thought we had him!"

"What happened?" Deeks asked. Callen began to slowly pace across the room before he replied, " We were made and Pendle took a goddamn cyanide pill. He was dead before we could ask any questions."

"So what now?" Deeks asked, well knowing what the next words that Callen and Kensi would say.

"Deeks," Callen said suddenly in a soft voice, "This is it. You have to go."

"What?" Deeks whipped his head towards Callen, "Just because he's dead-"

Callen dropped his bag on the bed and sat down. "We're out of options with him being dead. You need to go and Kensi and I will figure something out."

"But-"

"Deeks, go!" Callen repeated.

"No…no…Screw giving Granger proof of me being dead. Kensi, just come with me," Deeks begged. Kensi took two steps back away from Deeks and sadly nodded no.

"Callen?" Deeks called out. The lead agent gave him a hug and whispered, " I'm proud of you. Stay safe."

Deeks nodded before turning and facing the door. Like when he had walked out of the safe house in Los Angeles months earlier, he was about to walk out of his life.

And this time, it would be for good.