I don't own NCIS Los Angeles! My native language is Dutch and I'm dyslectic so sorry for any mistakes. Thank you for the reviews, alerts and favorites!

Chapter 17

'Last morning Navy Commander Lewis received this threat through his e-mail,' Nell started the next morning when the entire team was standing in the OPS center. '"Stop negotiations or you can negotiate with us about your son's life!" There were several pictures of his son Cooper attached to the e-mail. Lewis is taking the threat very seriously. He ordered protection for his entire family. Xandra Lewis, his wife, forty-nine years and a writer. And Cooper, their son, twenty years old and studying Economics at UCLA.'

'Lewis demanded the best of NCIS to protect his son and work on the case,' Eric told the team. 'And the case landed on our desks. He appears to be close friends with the SecNav.'

'So Sam and Callen get to babysit?' Deeks asked and immediately received an angry glare from Sam. 'What?! We were the last one to babysit...in fact we're still babysitting.'

'Then you two have the experience and are quite able to protect the son of a friend of the SecNav,' Sam replied and Deeks shook his head, ready to contradict again.

'We will split up and take turns babysitting,' Callen told his team. 'Kensi and Deeks will take the shifts of the day and we will take the night.' Kensi nodded in agreement.

'Since when do we get the better job?' Deeks asked and Kensi smiled at him.

'Since we have Narah,' she answered him. 'We need to be at home at night.'

'Ladies and gentlemen, could you focus on the importance of the case?' Hetty said with a warning tone in her voice. 'Otherwise all you will be doing is babysitting witnesses from now on.' All for members directly turned back to Eric and Nell.

'Commander Lewis leads a team with several Navy. There are about twenty cameras on the premises.'

'Okay, Deeks and Kensi, you two go to the university and find Cooper,' Callen ordered. 'Sam and I will talk to Lewis himself.' Deeks and Kensi nodded and they left the OPS Center.

'Cooper Lewis?' Kensi asked a tall blond boy, whom she recognized from the pictures and she held up her badge. The boy smirked when he saw the object.

'Put it away,' he told her. 'My father is simply a paranoid man and has friends in the right places. Simply go home. I don't need "protection".' He turned back to his friends and Deeks stepped towards him.

'Too bad for you, Cooper.' he said. 'My partner and I are here to protect you so you're stuck with us. Otherwise we will lose our jobs...and might get killed by our boss.'

'That is only if you let me die,' Cooper smirked. One of the girls put her hand on his arm.

'Cooper, just let them do their job,' the girl told him, and Cooper's smirk disappeared.

'Fine,' he sighed. 'I hope you two like economics because my lecture is starting in ten minutes.'

'Actually it starts in five,' Kensi told him and Cooper raised his eyebrows. With the entire group of Cooper's friends they walked towards the lecture hall.

'Is she your girlfriend?' Deeks asked Cooper, nodding at the girl who had spoken against him.

'Yes, she is,' he answered curtly and he nodded at Kensi. 'Is she yours?' Now Kensi raised her eyebrows at him and glanced at Deeks with a meaningful look.

'If I told you that, she would kill me,' Deeks answered the boy. 'She is my partner.'

'Whatever you say,' Cooper replied, smiling. 'She is hot.'

'Why do we have to protect the boy who studies economics?' Deeks whispered at Kensi. They were sitting in the back of the lecture hall, listening to the professor. Deeks had lost his concentration after fifteen minutes, not understanding any of what the professor was saying. Kensi gestured him to be silent and she returned listening to the man. Deeks sighed and leaned back. His phone started to ring and he touched Kensi's shoulder, before leaving the lecture hall where he answered the phone.

'Detective Marty Deeks?'

'Deeks, Commander Lewis told us that the other party is an aggressive organization to which it was hard to even get a change to negotiate. When acted wrongly, the organization will take revenge.'

'You are full of good news, aren't you, Sam?'

'Always. How is it going with the son, Cooper?'

'Tons of fun. The kid studies Economics. Kensi seems to enjoy it. Also Cooper does not believe the threat is real. In his opinion is the commander just paranoid. Cooper hangs out with about seven other students. Eric and Nell should run a background check on them.'

'How are you enjoying the lecture?'

'Oh just amazing. Next time I will take a file along and study it. Then I will be more useful.' He heard Sam laughing and even Callen in the background, which made it even better...

'Okay, Deeks, you do that. We will see you at the house to take over.'

'Thanks, Sam. See you in the evening.' They exchanged goodbyes and while he hung up, Deeks sighed. Now he had to go back to the lecture hall. Quietly opening the door and sitting down next to Kensi, leaning towards her to repeat what Sam had told him.

'Could the gentleman in the back be so kind to keep his mouth shut or leave my lecture hall?' the professor called out and everyone in the hall turned around to look at Deeks. He smiled slightly embarrassed and the professor continued his lecture. When Deeks looked at Kensi, he noticed she was having a hard time keeping her laugh in.

Julia was wearing the smile that had become so familiar to Deeks and Kensi when she opened the door for them. She quickly let them inside and they saw Narah sitting at the dinner table, next to a boy.

'We have a visitor,' Julia told them, seeing that they were looking at the boy. 'That is Ivan, Narah's friend...he kind of needed a place to stay for a night.' Deeks and Kensi nodded understanding when they saw the black eye of Ivan.

'How is Narah?' Kensi asked.

'She has been staring at her homework for a while now,' Julia answered. 'Seems like she is somewhere else with her thoughts, somewhere far away. She didn't even touch her dinner.' Deeks sighed and walked over to Narah.

'It went fine without the phone,' Julia continued. 'It seems she realized it was not a good idea to go to a drugs dealer...but tell me why was she going to a drugs dealer?'

'She is looking for her mother,' Kensi answered, with hurt in her voice and Julia looked surprised at her own daughter.

'Why is she suddenly looking for her mother?'

'We did not have the chance to ask her yet...yesterday she was so emotionally exhausted when she was allowed to go home...but it seems like she thinks she has to leave...and she is not really the one to talk about those feelings or about her background...not with me or Deeks anyway.' Julia placed her hand gently on Kensi's arm and Kensi looked her mother in the eye.

'Narah loves you two. I can see that she is happy living with you, but a girl like Narah will always fear that people will leave her behind.' Kensi glanced shortly at the dinner table where Deeks was trying to help Narah and Ivan with their homework and she sighed.

'I want to adopt Narah...but Deeks doesn't seem to want to.' Julia took a deep breath.

'It's a big decision to adopt a child...and maybe not always necessary. Surely not when Narah will stay and live with you, no matter what happens.' Kensi took a shaky breath, fighting the sadness that was building up in her. Was she so wrong wanting to adopt Narah? Julia gently smiled at Narah. 'But I can see why you would want to adopt her. You clearly love her very much...'

'Thanks again that I could stay here for the night,' Ivan said timidly. 'I don't want to be a bother to you...' Deeks put his hand on the boy's shoulder.

'Again, don't worry about it, Ivan,' he assured the boy. 'A friend of Narah is a friend of us...and we couldn't really let you go home. But you will be sleeping on the couch! And no midnight visiting, understood?' Ivan nodded and Deeks smiled. 'Good...I will get you some ice for your eye.' He walked into the kitchen where Kensi was putting Julia's leftovers in the microwave.

'Do we have a blanket and a pillow for Ivan?' he asked her.

'I will get it later,' Kensi answered him and Deeks walked back with the ice pack for Ivan. Narah was sitting next to her friend. She glanced at Deeks as he handed Ivan the ice pack.

'Did you and Kensi have an argument?' Narah asked carefully. 'About...you know...the drugs dealer situation?' Deeks sighed and he shook his head.

'We just had a long day,' he lied.

'A new case?' Narah asked, sounding curious and hurt at the same time. And Deeks understood why. Whenever they had an active case, there was simply no time to work on the youth center case. He simply touched Narah's shoulder and turned to Ivan.

'How often does that happen?' he asked the teenage boy, nodding at the eye and Ivan shrugged. He glanced passed Deeks at Narah and Deeks understood that the boy did not want to talk about so Deeks got up.

'Dinner is ready,' Kensi told him and both sat down at the table while the teenagers talked whispering with each other.

'Why did you never tell us that your foster parents are cops?' Ivan asked Narah when they were standing at the balcony outside, overlooking the road, park and beach. Just a quiet night while Deeks and Kensi were avoiding each other inside. Narah glanced at her friend and saw some hurt in his eyes.

'Best not to be known as 'the kid with cops as parents' at our school or in our neighborhood,' she told him. 'And they are not cops...they are a Special Agent and a detective. Big difference if I have to believe them.' Ivan shrugged.

'Cops are cops,' he noted. 'They all throw people in jail and if the price is right, they let the guilty walk.' Narah sighed and looked at her hands. That was why she did not tell people that Deeks and Kensi were cops. At least not the people from her neighborhood.

'They are good people,' Narah assured him.

'So good that you go to Ice Cool to find your mom?' Ivan asked skeptically. 'That makes no sense, Narah...and I wished you trusted me enough to tell me and know me I would not judge.' She looked up at her friend, right into the eyes she had known for so long.

'I trust you like no one else,' she told him. 'You are my unrelated brother.' Ivan smiled and he wrapped him arm around her shoulder.

'And that is how it is, little sis,' he told her. 'Now explain to me why you are looking for your mom, after she just ditched you. Whenever we spoke about family, it was clear you hated her ass. Why look for her now? What changed?' Narah shrugged. It was hard to explain why she wanted back. So instead of answering she stared at the sea.

'Shall we build a boat and sail away?' she mumbled at Ivan. 'Just the two of us and we discover a new island...live there forever. Just you and me?' With a heavy heart she looked at her friend, who had the same sad smile as her.

'Sounds like a great plan,' he answered and he rested his head on hers. Together they kept watched the calm waves, thinking about their imaginary adventure out there. The big adventure that could be waiting for them.

Later that night, when most of the people in the apartment were asleep, Deeks walked into the kitchen for a glass of water. While drinking the water he looked into the window and in the reflection he saw Ivan sitting on the couch, all in the dark. Deeks switched on a light and Ivan jumped up, ready to flee.

'Sorry,' Deeks told him. 'It's just me...' Ivan took a deep breath and he sat down on the couch again. Deeks looked at the boy and the defeated way he sat. 'You know, you don't have to stay at home...there are solutions.' Ivan laughed bitterly.

'You mean foster homes?' he asked. 'Yeah...not planning on doing that. I just have to survive two more years and then I can be on my own.' Deeks walked over to the couch and sat down next to the teenager.

'Survive?' he asked. 'No one should say survive when they talk about their life at home. Home should be a safe place...and not all foster homes are bad.'

'They are for sixteen-year-old boys. And it's not that bad. Just sometimes...sometimes it's all a little too hard for my dad...he tries and mostly fails. What am I supposed to do? Leave him and make him feel more like a failure? Then my stepmom would be screwed. Bit harsh, don't you think?' Deeks nodded.

'Maybe...then know you can always come here when you need to.'

'Thanks.'

'But now tell me: what are your intentions with Narah? Are you in love with her?' Ivan looked up at Deeks like a deer in headlights.

'Narah and I are just friends, sir...best friends. I love her like an unrelated sister. I would never think about her that way! My intentions are good.' Deeks smiled at Ivan calling him sir. He should tell Sam about that. But not intending to show that to Ivan, he nodded with a serious face.

'Just know that if you just lied to me and hurt her...I will come after you and hurt you. I am a detective with a gun and my partner happens to be Kensi 'Badass' Blye. Understood?' Ivan slowly nodded and Deeks stood up. 'Okay, good night Ivan.' And with a little smirk on his face Deeks walked back to the bedroom.

TBC.