Set anytime in the series after Deeks joins the fun. Deeks has a secret.

Disclaimer: I own nothing and no one. I'm just writing them as I want to see them.

Please remember all you MMA or UFC fighters or fans, I'm not a fighter or a fan. I don't really know how the game of promoter/manager is played but I am a history buff and back alley promoter/manager dealings during the Depression were fairly common. Does this sort of thing still happen? I don't know. But this is where these ideas are coming from. Please don't hate me.

Thank you to those of you that have read this story and an EXTRA BIG THANK YOU to those that reviewed, followed and favorited this story. I'm enjoying writing it. And I'm going to admit that some of the reviews I received have inspired the last couple of chapters. I LOVE THAT! Thank you!

So, please remember: reviews are a writer's coffee, they keep us going. In this case literally, so please, review.

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Deeks sat there, hotdog half in his month and nearly choking on it, wide eyed and unmoving. Finally his brain kicked into gear. He swallowed his hotdog without choking on it too much, took a drink of his soda to wash it all down and shook his head. "I think I must not've heard you correctly. Because agreeing to a fight is something a manager does in consultation with his fighter. Not the trainer. So I must have misunderstood you." Deeks glared at him.

"Dude, what's the problem? You are so ready for this fight. It's going to be televised and the purse is huge! Not only that but it's a step closer to getting a title match. What's the downside?!" Neil was so excited about it that he was practically bouncing in his seat.

Deeks looked down at his hands and shook his head suddenly realizing that Neil didn't understand why he fought. He raised his head and made sure he had Neil's full attention. "I don't do this for publicity or money or a title match. I have a day job that I love and won't interrupt to fight. I'm not trying to be a professional UFC fighter. I fight because I like the work out and the test of my skills." Deeks intensified his gaze while looking Neil straight in the eye, "You are a trainer not a manager. And you're NOT my manager. I don't have a manager for this very reason. You don't get to decide when or where or who I fight."

Neil sat across from him dumbfounded. He didn't understand Wyler's attitude. "Jason, this is a chance hundreds of fighters would kill to have. You've earned this fight; I don't understand why you're having an issue."

"YOU. ARE. NOT. MY. MANAGER. You don't get to make those decisions for me." Deeks answered him like he was talking to a 5 year old.

"I signed the contract since you don't have a manager. I was working on your behalf."

Deeks was furious. He wiped his mouth on a paper napkin and stood up to leave. Before leaving he looked down on Neil, "Fix this. I'm not doing the fight." He turned and left the diner.

Deeks walked down the street frustrated and angry at Neil. Televised?! Title match?! This was never supposed to go this far. His late trainer understood that. The thoughts in his head just kept going around and around never reaching any conclusions as he kept walking. He really wanted to find a beach and figure out what to do next so he walked toward Navy Pier. When he arrived he sat down on a bench and watched the lake roll in. Unfortunately it was late October and sitting on the beach around Lake Michigan was not his idea of relaxing because he was cold and shivering. He decided sitting here was stupid for him to do so he headed back to his hotel for the night. This time he grabbed a cab.

He arrived at his hotel in under 10 minutes. He entered his room to see the phone light blinking. He picked it up and found out there was a package waiting for him at the hotel's front desk. He called down and asked for the package to be delivered.

They arrived fairly quickly at his door with his package. It was a manila envelope that he opened to find it full of paper. He pulled it out and saw it was his copy of the contract for the fight. He flipped it to the last page and saw Neil's signature on the 'Manager' line. It also contained the signature of the promoter and a line for Jason Wyler's signature. "Shit." He dropped the papers on the nightstand and flopped back on the bed. He lay there for a while trying to figure out what exactly to do next. Neil wasn't authorized to sign any contracts on his behalf and being a lawyer he was sure he wasn't going to have to do the fight, but he really needed to tell Hetty. And he wasn't looking forward to that conversation.

He decided he really needed and wanted to talk to someone other than Hetty first. He needed an ally. He looked at the clock on the nightstand and realized it was still pretty early in California, only about 7:40 in the evening. He grabbed his phone and scrolled through his contacts until he reached the correct contact and pushed the send button. It rang only a couple of times before being picked up.

"Deeks! That was an awesome fight!" Nell yelled down the line.

Deeks chuckled at her enthusiasm, "Thanks Nell. I understand that you've had a hard time of it. Sorry about that, I didn't know they were going to broadcast it."

"Yea, that wasn't so good. It's been tough but I think I have most of it scrubbed."

"Thanks. I appreciate it. I have something else to talk to you about." He paused here, not really sure why he called her or what he expected her to do.

She waited for several beats before prompting him, "and that would be?"

He sighed, "I've been offered a fight against the third ranked MMA fighter in the country. My trainer signed the contact without talking to me first. It's going to be televised. I haven't signed the contact and he wasn't authorized to sign on my behalf. He signed on the manger's signature line and he's not my manager. I don't have a manager. Now I've got to tell Hetty and I'm not sure how and I'm not going to have to do the fight because Neil really wasn't and isn't my manager." He stopped here to take a breath.

Nell decided to cut in since he was pausing, "WOW! That's great and so not great at the same time. He actually signed for you without talking to you?"

"Yea. I'm just not sure what to do or how to tell Hetty. Got any ideas?"

"Well, your best bet is to first tell Hetty and let her help you figure out what to do next."

"Yep, that's what I was afraid of." Deeks raked his hand over his face and through his hair.

"What are you afraid of? It's not like you did this on purpose and Hetty isn't going to kill you so what's the problem with telling her?" Nell questioned him.

"If I didn't do anything wrong why do I feel like a teenager having to tell their parent they crashed the car?" Deeks chuckled in despair.

"Because you respect her and care about her opinion of you and you feel you've let her down?"

Deeks was slightly stunned to realize, "Damn, you are good. Yes, that is exactly how I feel. This fight being broadcast and now with this new problem; I really do feel like I let her down."

"Well, knock it the hell off because you didn't. So suck it up or grow a pair or something along those lines and talk to Hetty in the morning."

"Yes ma'am." Deeks still was scared to talk to Hetty but Nell made him laugh. "I'll see you Tuesday. No, Monday. I'm coming into OSP after I get in. The sooner I get it over with the better, right?"

"Right. Now get some sleep and I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yes Ma'am!" If he didn't already like Nell as much as he did, this conversation would have made him like her. He really liked her friendly, straight-to-the-heart-of-the-problem style.

"Oh and don't forget to bring me a present." Nell said just before she ended the call.

Deeks just laughed at his friend and thanks to said friend he decided that the world really didn't come to an end in the short couple of hours since dinner started and now. He followed Nell's order and went to bed agreeing that worrying wasn't going to do him any good.

The next morning he was getting ready to leave for the airport when his 'Jason' phone rang. He checked the caller ID to see 'Neil' displayed. He sighed and picked up the call. "Wyler."

"Jason, I've talked to the promoter, he's really pissed and let me know how pissed he was. Where are you?"

"Still at the hotel getting ready to leave for the airport. Does this mean you fixed your error?" Deeks coolly asked.

"Can you come down? I'm in your hotel's lobby's Men's Room."

"Why are you…never mind. Is it really important?"

"Yea. It really is."

"Ok, I'm on my way down." He disconnected the call and grabbed his bag. He headed down to the lobby to meet Neil in the Men's Room of all places.

He left his bag with the front desk and headed over to the restroom. When he opened the door he saw Neil's reflection in a mirror. He could see the man had a split and swollen lip and the beginnings of what would be a spectacular black eye.

"What the hell?" Deeks got Neil's attention as he stepped into the room and let the door close behind him. Following NCIS protocols, he did a quick sweep of the room to make sure they were alone.

Neil snorted, "I told you, he was pissed. He did this himself. He said it was just a taste if you didn't do the fight."

"You're ok though right? Your neck is ok?"

"I think so. It hurts but I think I got lucky."

Deeks nodded his head, "Good. When's your flight home?" Deeks questioned having already slipped into cop/agent mode.

"Later today. It gets into LA about 7pm local time. I'm sorry. I didn't know something like this would happen. What are we going to do?"

"Alright, get your stuff and come to the airport." Neil looked a question at him. "They can't touch you once you get past security." But Deeks had to add, "unless they're taking a flight as well."

"Great! That's real encouraging, thanks." He shook his head, "Ok, I've already checked out of my hotel. I left my stuff at the front desk before coming in here." Neil indicted with a jerk of his thumb that he meant the front desk at Deeks' hotel.

"Good, let's go." Deeks held the door open for Neil and they both left the restroom. "Let's not talk about where we just met, ok?"

Neil let out a laugh until he realized that his split lip hurt too much to laugh. "Agreed."

They collected their bags from the front desk, Deeks settled his bill and they grabbed a cab to the airport where they both sat and waited for their planes home.