A/N – this is based on suggestions from several reviewers including ohBuddy66, Raderle and yellowcallalily. If you don't like this series of chapters, blame them! If you do, it was all me!

Just kidding, I really appreciate them taking the time to review and give me such wonderful plot bunnies.

Warning – Deeks whumpage ahead!

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Chapter 40

Deeks drummed his fingers on the table he sat at. How the hell had he ended up in an interview room at Victorville Federal Prison on his day off? He should be sitting on his board in the ocean, waiting for the perfect swell or snuggled up to Kensi in one of their beds, nothing to do but stay there for the rest of the weekend. He still wasn't sure why he had agreed to this meeting. His first instinct had been to emphatically say no, hell no! But Kensi had talked him into it, even making the hour and a half ride up here with him. Although, with the way she drove, it had actually been closer to just over an hour. She thought the man he was about to see might give away something more they could use against him. She was waiting out in the car for him, probably munching her way through her stash of Twinkies. He had to smile at the image this thought brought to mind.

The smile dimmed. When Mitchell Timmons's attorney had first contacted him to say that the ex-judge wanted a face to face meeting, he couldn't figure out what the man's angle was. There was nothing he and Timmons could possibly have to say to each other, yet here he was at Victorville, waiting for them to bring Timmons to him.

The door opened and the man on his mind shuffled in with his guards. He wasn't shackled as he wasn't a violent offender and he still looked so smug and sure of himself. Deeks looked up and grinned, trying to decide what to say that might deflate the bastard a little, settling on "You look good in orange, Timmons! Enjoying the communal showers? You appear to be squeaky clean. One might even say you're glowing! Have you found a special friend in the short time you've been here?"

Timmons scowled at him, not liking the fact that Deeks had immediately taken control of the conversation or the words tumbling out of his mouth. This is not the way he wanted it to start. He was the one who should be saying something witty and cutting to the shaggy haired excuse of a detective sitting so casually at the table, but he had to play nice. He had two plans and the detective's response would put one of them into motion. Not wanting Deeks to walk out, something he himself couldn't do, he got his anger under control and responded. "Detective Deeks. Thank you for taking the time to come see me."

Deeks looked at him in surprise, this was not the way he had pictured this meeting going in his head. "I'm here, what did you want?"

Timmons leaned forward. "My attorney tells me I have you to thank for my current predicament as well as that of my son. I was hoping we could come to an arrangement. I could give you information you don't have and you agree to help Paul."

Deeks laughed. "There's nothing you could offer me that would make me want to do that. We have more than enough on you to convict you for life. You need every penny you have to pay for your lawyer, so I know you can't be offering me a bribe. I know that your wife hasn't been to see you since you were jailed. That, in fact, she's filed for divorce and tied up most of your property holdings, the ones that weren't seized that is. As for your son, he's already signed a full confession in exchange for not being charged as an adult. He's locked away where he can't hurt anyone else and he's also getting help for his…issues. I think you should be grateful for that." He paused and then continued out of curiosity. "What information do you have that you think could possibly interest me?"

"I won't give you that information until you agree to get Paul's sentence reduced to time served."

"And I've already told you that we don't need whatever information you have. Your son is going to stay where he is and serve out his full sentence! Why would you think I'd work with you on this if you weren't planning on telling me who or what this vague information has to do with? Give me some idea of what you're talking about."

"Steve Parks."

Deeks demeanor changed immediately. Timmons had gotten Parks off on an arms dealing charge years ago and Parks had then retaliated against the people who arrested and prosecuted him, resulting in the death of two of Deeks's closest friends. He had forgotten Parks was incarcerated here as well. This was not good. "What about Parks?" he growled.

"That's all you get until you meet my demands."

Deeks smiled at the man sitting on the opposite side of the table but it didn't reach his eyes. "There is nothing that would make me get into bed with you, even if it meant avenging Katie and Michael's deaths. They're gone and nothing I do will bring them back. However, there are people, young girls, out there who your son could go on to hurt. The longer he stays locked up, the happier I'll be. Parks is locked up for life, adding another charge against him won't add any more time to his sentence. Not to mention Katie would come back to haunt me if I ever agreed to it." He stood up to leave.

Timmons lost his temper and also stood up. "It's your fault I'm in here! My attorney told me it was you that pushed NCIS to look into me! That NCIS then had SecNav push the Judiciary Committee to have me arrested and tried! It's your fault my son is locked away! I'll make sure you pay, you sorry son of a bitch!"

Deeks stood toe to toe with the angry man, fully aware of the alert guards watching through the glass, ready to step in at any time but allowing him to handle this his way, out of respect for the job. He shook his head and said "It amazes me how you all say the same thing! It's your fault, you're the reason I'm locked up! It's not! You're the reason you're here Timmons. You made the decision to accept bribes and influence the outcome of trials. You let dangerous people back out onto the streets so that they could go on hurting people, all for money, not me! Paul is the reason he's where he is. He decided assaulting and raping young girls was perfectly acceptable and, that if he got caught, expected that you'd just get him out of it! I'm just the sorry son of a bitch who managed to catch you both!" He paused and smiled, this time the smile lighting up his eyes. "And I sleep better every night knowing that!"

He quickly stepped back and dodged the right hook Timmons swung at him, Sam's training kicking in. He would have to thank the big guy later, although he was pretty sure Sam would ream him out for being here in the first place. He and Kensi hadn't told the rest of their team about this little visit as they were pretty sure the boys would argue against it and Hetty might well have ordered them to stay away.

The door burst open and the guards came in to subdue the inmate currently swinging at the detective who kept dancing away, just out of arms reach, frustrating the man even more. Deeks cheerily waved goodbye as they none too gently dragged Timmons away, the man screaming threats at Deeks until he was finally out of earshot. His smile faded. He would need to talk to the NCIS crew to see if they shared his misgivings that Timmons and Parks were locked up together now that Timmons was offering up some kind of info on Parks. He sighed and left the prison, heading back to the car and a talk with Kensi.

He opened the passenger door to the SRX to find his partner trying to hide all the empty Twinkie wrappers. He had to laugh, to this day he couldn't figure out how she ate all that she did and stayed so trim, so built, so hot. Ok, now was not the time to go there. He cleared his throat and said "Well, that went well."

"So? What did Timmons have to say?"

"He offered me information if I'd get Paul's sentence reduced to time served."

"What kind of information? On who or what?"

Deeks turned his head away and sighed. "Steve Parks."

"Parks? The guy who ordered the hit on your friends? What did you tell him?"

"That I had no interest in his information and that Paul would serve out his term. That I slept better at night knowing the both of them were locked away. That Katie wouldn't have wanted me to have anything do with it. "

Kensi nodded and reached out to pull his head back around to look him in the eyes. "You're right. I didn't know her, but from what you've told me about her, she would've kicked your ass if you had." She paused, searching his eyes. "There's something else bothering you, isn't there?"

He nodded, frowning. "I'm sure it's nothing to worry about but, when Timmons brought up Parks, I remembered he's locked up here too. It's a huge place and I'm sure they have no contact. There's just something about the two of them, in there together, that makes my spidey sense tingle."

"Spidey sense? Really Deeks?" Kensi laughed at his words but she had learned over the years of being his partner that it was best to listen to his gut feelings, they almost always turned out to be right. "Let's get the team to look into whether they've had any contact or not. It couldn't hurt. We'll fill them in on Monday."

He smiled at her "Always got my back, hey partner?"

She grinned and leaned into him for a kiss. "As your partner, I've got your back. As your girlfriend, I've got everything else!" When they finally came up for air, both were breathing heavy and agreed that outside a federal penitentiary was not the best place for this to conclude. Kensi started the car and pointed it towards home.

Deeks sat quietly, not thinking about Timmons as his partner assumed he was, but instead that he hadn't had the chance to start ring shopping yet. There had been back to back cases since the wedding and they'd barely had time to breath. He planned on asking for Nell and Laura's advice on what ring to pick. Nell, because she was the closest thing to a best friend Kensi had, Cat, Mindy, Mandy, Tiffany, and Tiffany aside. He included Laura because he found her taste to be impeccable and he felt as close to her as family. Once he had picked out a couple rings, he would get the rest of the girl gang involved so that no one would feel left out. How had his life come to this? He decided he wouldn't change a thing. When Kensi offered him a penny for his thoughts, he used Timmons and Parks as his excuse for introspection and they discussed the two the rest of the way home, which was his place this weekend.

Monday morning, they let the rest of their team in on the events of the weekend. Granger listened to what Deeks had to say and decided it was worth looking into. The detective had been right about Timmons in the first place and he had come to trust the younger man's instincts, weird though they sometimes seemed. Of course, this was not something he would ever admit to anyone on this team. He approved the wonder twins looking into any connection between the two men, other than the one they already knew about. He caught himself when he realized how he'd referred to the two analysts. He really needed to get out of L.A. Apparently this team was highly contagious.