Chapter 16

Down the hall, while Deeks was negotiating Meaghan's release, Sgt. Johnson got up, walked around his desk to look closer at the group standing with her mother and asked "And who might all of you be?"

Callen held up his badge. "Agent Callen, NCIS. These are Agents Hanna and Blye."

"Oh, the group Deeks is currently running around with, pretending to be a federal agent? I don't know how you stomach him. Watch your backs with that one, he loves to turn on his fellow cops."

Sam stalked up to the man. "Would you care to explain that statement?"

"Sure. It's well known that Deeks loves to turn fellow cops in to Internal Affairs. He turns his back on his brothers, he screws them over!"

"Really? Brothers like Frank Scarli? The cop who sold information to a drug cartel that ended up almost getting Deeks killed twice? Information that did get Detective Jess Traynor killed? The same Frank Scarli who pulled a gun on Deeks when confronted? Who incriminated himself in front of three federal agents? Or maybe you mean John Quinn. The cop who gave information to Carlton Fisk for years, letting him evade capture and jail. How many guns made it into criminal's hands because of that? How many of those guns were used to wound or kill your brother police officers? Quinn tried to kill both Lt. Bates and Deeks, planning on blaming the leaks on them. Is that the kind of thing he should be turning a blind eye to? Is that really where you want to go with this?" Sam said, getting into the man's face.

Johnson squared his shoulders. "I don't care what you think, Deeks is a coward and a snitch!"

Stepping even closer, Sam crowded right up against the Sergeant, furious now. "Coward? Did you just call him a coward? In the six years he's been on our team, I've been in more fire fights with him than you'll ever see in your career! And each time I knew he had all of our backs. I've seen him constantly put himself in danger to help others. I've watched him walk into a room wired with explosives to save his partner who was trapped, knowing that it could blow at any time and kill both of them. I've seen him take two bullets to the chest and, just hours after surgery, race down three flights of stairs to save his partner's life, pulling out every stitch along the way. I've seen him… I've seen him tied to a chair and beaten, his mouth held open with a brace while some bastard used a drill bit on his teeth, trying to get him to give up an undercover agent, which he never did. Later that day, after we were rescued? He left the hospital and helped us save that same agent whose cover had been blown by a necessary act of her own, with 16 stitches in his face, who knows how many more inside his mouth and a fractured mandible. He's a good man and a great cop. I'm proud to call him my teammate and prouder still, to call him my friend. So, if that's your definition of a coward, you can only hope someone thinks enough of you one day to call you that!" By this time Sam had crowded Johnson until the man was practically bent over his desk backwards.

Callen put his hand on Sam's arm and said "Sam."

"What G?" Sam replied, taking his eyes off Johnson for the first time. Callen nodded towards the hallway Deeks had disappeared down just a few minutes ago. Meaghan and Deeks were staring at him wide-eyed and open mouthed, but for different reasons. Sam moved away from the Sergeant and smiled at them and said "But don't tell him I said that. He's got a big enough head as it is!" Deeks laughed and Sam joined him, breaking the tension in the room. Johnson quickly moved as far away from Sam as he could, putting the desk back between him and the very large, very angry man. He looked at Deeks with narrowed eyes, trying to equate everything he had just been told with the stories he'd heard about the undercover detective.

Deeks felt a tug on his sleeve and looked down into Meaghan's worried eyes. "Did all those things really happen to you Marty?"

"Yeah kiddo." he sighed. "Yeah, they did. But I made it out the other side each time, stronger than before. I figure I've got some major good karma points banked at this point. I should be bullet proof for a least a couple decades!" he quipped trying to wipe the worry from her eyes. She smiled at him but didn't look all that convinced.

Moving them forward again, he passed Meaghan over to her mother who pulled the girl into her arms. Laura looked up and met his eyes, her own mirroring the concern he had seen in Meaghan's. He found himself worried that they would treat him differently now. Then Laura smiled at him and said "Thank you, thank you so much!"

Not returning her smile, he said "Mrs. S, we need to talk about the fact that LAPD will be pressing charges against this boy." She started to shake her head no, she didn't want Meaghan to have to go through that. "If they don't, then he might do the same to another girl, this time someone who doesn't have the benefit of the lessons we've taught Meaghan, someone who will end up a victim instead. In all likelihood, Meaghan probably won't even have to testify."

Meaghan raised her head from her mother's shoulder and looked her in the eyes. "I want to do this mom! I don't want anyone else to feel what I felt when I thought I wasn't going to be able to get away from him." She looked at Deeks and then at Kensi "What you taught me saved me from a worse beating and…and…" Deeks put his finger to her lips and stopped her from trying to get the words out, shushing her.

Laura searched her daughter's eyes carefully and then nodded her head. Turning to Deeks, she said "What do we need to do?" Deeks led her over to the Sergeant's desk and walked the two of them through filling out the paperwork that would back up the LAPD charges against Timmons. With the whole event on video, it was doubtful it would ever go to trial. Once done, he headed to room 5, planning on having a talk with young Mr. Timmons. On his way there, he contacted Eric asking if the warrant had come through. Hearing that it had, he asked for the video from the bank to be sent to his phone.

He walked through the door and sat in the chair opposite the younger man, tilting it back on its back legs. Deeks stared at him and didn't say anything. Eventually, Paul couldn't stand it and asked "Who the hell are you?"

Deeks put all four feet of his chair back on the ground and leaned forward. "I'm Meaghan Shelton's attorney."

Paul grinned "If you're looking to get me to drop the charges, you can forget it. She broke my nose and she's gonna pay!" pointing to his splinted nose and already blackening eyes.

Leaning closer to Paul, Deeks said quietly "Oh, the charges have already been dropped my friend. We have you on video assaulting Meaghan and LAPD is currently putting together a whole list of charges you are going to be up for." Saying this, he pulled out his phone and ran the video footage for him.

The boy paled a little but then sneered at Deeks "Do you know who my father is?"

Standing up, Deeks said "Yup, sure do. And if we find out that you've pulled something like this before and that your father had it swept under the rug? Then daddy is going down with you!" Walking out the door, he turned back. "By the way? Tell him Deeks says hi."