"You want me to what?"
Sam sighs in frustration. "I want you to take out Deeks' wire and arch bar tonight."
Doctor Yentz and Sam are standing in the open, warm foyer on hospital's second level close to the stainless steel windows that overlook the Pacific Ocean. There's eleven hours still left on the clock Sam has set for them to leave and he's speaking with Yentz to make sure that they'll be able to leave on time, if not earlier.
"I haven't seen him since yesterday so I don't know the condition of his mouth!" Yentz exclaims. He shakes his head while taking a quick glance out the nearest window. Yentz has had patients in the past try to skip out early, but he's never had one come from a man who looks like he could break him in half in two seconds. "I don't recommend it."
"One of your nurses said it was possible," Sam states calmly. He holds out the family photo he took with him to the meeting to use in aid of a guilt trip. "My wife is in serious danger and I can't leave without my partner. I will not leave without my partner."
"Look, I don't know what you and your partner do as federal agents and I know it's not my place to say it, but even if I do get everything cleared and allow him to be released by the morning, I can't help but wonder if your partner is in the right place to handle whatever rescue mission you need to do!"
He's right, completely right, Sam thinks. "I know he's not in the right place right now, but he's stable and I'm not bringing him into full combat."
"Where are you going?" When Sam raises an eyebrow, Yentz continues, "I did Doctors without Borders in many, many countries which mean I have lots a friends who could monitor and help Detective Deeks."
I'm so going to regret this, " The UAE. We're going to fly into Abu Dhabi."
Yentz smiles slightly. "You're in luck. Look for a Dr. Kevin Damin at the Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi hospital- we did a stint in Sudan last year. I'll give him a call if you can assure me that Detective Deeks will stay there while you do everything you need to do."
"I can assure that."
"Does he know?"
"No." Sam's had ample time to tell Deeks about his plan, but hasn't had it in him to do so. The closer they got to Sam's deadline, the more anxious he gets out everything that can go wrong going wrong. "I'll go tell him right now."
He finds Deeks standing by the window in their room a few minutes later. Deeks is out of his hospital gown and into the light green tee-shirt and black sweat pants from his bag. When Sam enters the room, Deeks turns around to face him with a hand in one pocket and the other tightly gripping his communication board.
"You changed," Sam comments. He takes a step towards the detective and hears a low, "Mmmmnn," from Deeks. The detective holds out the board that says- I'm not going.
"Going?" Sam smirks at a realization, "You know what's happening? You know that we're leaving to go to Abu Dhabi?"
Deeks angrily wipes the board clean and scribbles-I'm not stupid. I'm not going.
"Sorry- I didn't mean to imply that you're stupid -I know that you aren't. With the medication and your state, I thought you hadn't noticed. Anyway, Deeks, you're coming with me. I thought I made it clear that I'm your partner and right now, your partner needs you with him to help save his wife."
Deeks writes in large letters I CAN'T before he walks over to his bed and holds out the board to Sam. The SEAL takes it in hand and sees Deeks' anxiousness in the shakiness of the shape of the letters. I wrote like that after the incident in Bosnia, Sam thinks.
"Is this about getting the wires and bars out? Because I'll be there and it'll be quick-" Sam pauses when he also sees the same fear in the detective's eyes when Sidarov held the spinning drill in front of his eyes at the warehouse.
"You're scared to go out," Sam states with realization. Deeks swallows hard and keeps his gaze away from Sam. "I promise you that you'll be in no danger. The doctor has a friend that you can stay at while I work. You'll still be close by where I can still keep an eye on you. It's the best I can do right now and even that feels like nothing."
Deeks leans against the side of the bed and starts to dig at his fingernails. Sam takes it as a sign to continue and he says, "I'm scared to get back out there like you, but we need to work together to save Michelle and essentially the world. I'm just as scared as you are. Please."
It's a brutally long thirty seconds before Deeks bends down, pulls out his duffel bag and begins sorting the items in his bag. Sam breathes heavily and nods- He's in.
Al Goa, UAE
Khalid Nahili runs a hand over his short, recently groomed beard as he clicks through a list of photos on his computer. He's bored as clicks through the hundreds of useless photos of Americans in Los Angeles walking dogs, laughing, and doing other mundane and useless things. It's the main reason for his hatred towards the United States- the lack of fear, the lack of pure fear of the unknown. The new owner of a nuclear weapon would rather be with the others in his small group planning a new type of attack on Western United States, but there's something he needs to find first.
"Never leave loose ends," Nahili says aloud, repeating the simple mantra his old friend and business partner, Issak Sidarov had told him years ago. This deal had been messy; he knew that Sidarov would never turn on him, but any other person with knowledge of the deal would have to be dealt with carefully.
"Ah-ha…the beautiful Quinn." A picture of Michelle appears on the screen and it's of her and Sidarov walking into a hotel in downtown Los Angeles. "No loose ends, my dear."
The next photo he pulls up is of Sam walking behind Sidarov and his right hand man in Long Beach. Nahili takes a mental note of the name typed on the bottom of the photo- David.
The last photo he's been looking for appears next on the screen. It's a sight that makes him scoff in disgust at Sidarov's choices for a team. The scruffy, blonde haired individual on the screen is the last person he'd want anywhere near him. "Police officer for LAPD- no name," he reads, " Associate of David….I see…if he is a friend of David, finding him, David, and this Quinn shouldn't be a problem."