Chapter 59

Kensi Marie Blye was furious. With Hetty. With Granger. With Sam and Callen. And, if truth be told, with herself.

"We left him here, alone! I didn't want to and you made us go. Now look what's happened to him!"

Callen put his hands on her shoulders and said "Kens, look at me."

She looked at him, anger clearly written on her face.

"Based on what happened, do you believe McGonagle was going to give up on getting to him?"

"No." She said in a low voice.

"The keycard he stole was only going to be good for a short time. Eventually the owner would've realized it was missing, reported it and the hospital would've deactivated it. Then it wouldn't have been any good to him anymore. Eventually, he would've had to come in whether we were here or not. You saw the footage Eric sent us; he went in the employee entrance and used the service elevator. Even if we'd been here, we wouldn't have seen him. And if we had been here? Do you think Craig would've gone right to his room or do you think he might have stopped in to see how we were doing?"

"He would probably have stopped in to see us, if only to see if Talia was here." She tried to make a joke but it fell flat, her heart just not in it.

"So if he'd come to see us instead of Deeks, what if he'd stayed until he was due for his shift? What if he'd run out of time and decided to check on Deeks when he got a break later in the day? What would have happened?"

"Deeks could have bled out. " She understood his logic and knew he was trying to do for her what she'd done for him when he was blaming himself for not listening to Deeks concerns about going into that warehouse. She felt a little better about the fact that they'd all left the hospital but then her thoughts turned in another direction and she started to get angry again.

"We should have put a guard on him!"

This time is was Hetty who spoke. "You're right, Kensi. We should have and that's on me. I had every intention of posting a guard once Marty was out of ICU. I even spoke to Dr. Shaughnessy about it. I truly thought, with so many eyes on him, with the highest ratio of medical personnel to patients than anywhere else in the hospital, that ICU would be safe for him. Even we weren't allowed in to visit him. I never expected McGonagle to get in and out so easily. That was my mistake and not one that I will ever repeat. I am truly sorry."

Kensi registered Hetty's use of their first names and realized their boss was shaken by the current turn of events. Softly she asked "If I, or any one of us, had asked, would you have put a guard on him?"

"Of course." Was the instant answer.

"Why?"

"I trust you and your team's instincts. If any of you had felt a need for a guard, I would have trusted you had a reason and ordered one immediately."

Kensi looked over Hetty's head to Granger who was silently nodding his agreement to Hetty's words. Kensi sighed. "Then I guess it's on all of us. I never thought to ask for one." She looked at Callen and Sam. Callen shook his head. He hadn't thought to post a guard either. Sam was staring at a spot on the wall. Kensi frowned at him and all eyes turned towards the man.

"Mr. Hanna? Is there something on your mind?" asked Hetty.

Sam sighed heavily and turned his eyes to the group. "I didn't want to believe it. I didn't want to believe we had yet another mole inside NCIS, but we all saw the security footage. McGonagle knew Deeks was here, at this hospital. Knew he was in ICU, knew exactly what room he was in. You saw him, he never hesitated. Never looked into any room other than the one that poor woman was in. He killed her as a means to an end without a second thought. We need to post a guard on him as soon as he's out of surgery. We don't even wait until he's back in ICU. He needs to be protected at all times from now until we get that bastard. " He paused and breathed deeply. "And, it needs to be one of us that guards him. I don't trust anyone else; the mole could be any other agent at NCIS. Right now, this group is the only one I'm willing to trust with his safety."

Hetty grimly nodded her agreement, knowing that all of them were blaming themselves for underestimating just how bold and determined McGonagle was. She remembered Sam's comment when their Liaison had been shot and the shooters had shown up at the hospital for a second try, even though they hadn't known at the time that Mr. Deeks hadn't been the target after all. He'd been angry that LAPD hadn't put a detail on one of their own and now they'd done exactly the same thing. She sighed, wondering if they were all too close to this to think clearly. It was usually a given that they would post a guard and, even though his team had been tired, there were plenty of other agents who would gladly have taken a turn protecting their Mr. Deeks. The actions of so many of them during the search for him had shown that. She had to wonder though; would the one who had been the most insistent about taking on that duty have been the mole? Would things have turned out differently, better or perhaps even worse? They would never know for sure. All they could do now was correct their mistake and protect him, find the two who had done this and get one of them to confirm that it was Park and Timmons who had orchestrated everything. It was time to end this.

Granger said "Lt. Bates and Officer Wolinsky are the only ones at LAPD who knew where Deeks was. Both of them voiced their concern that there was someone inside both their organization and NCIS, leaking information to McGonagle. They were the only ones here from LAPD and, unless I'm wrong about those two, they wouldn't have given Deeks's location out to anyone. They were both too suspicious. No one else from LAPD has even made an effort to come see him. It would seem fairly obvious that the leak came from NCIS. We have Beale and Jones looking into everyone who was at the scene, from all agencies. If anyone can find a connection, it's those two. If they find nothing on anyone who was there that night, we'll have them expand the search to all NCIS agents at OSP. We won't stop until we plug this leak and take the person responsible into custody. No one does this to one of mine and gets away with it!"

Kensi opened her mouth to comment on the fact that he'd just called Deeks one of his, when the door to the waiting room opened and Moira walked in, once again with Craig right on her heels. Both were smiling and a feeling of relief swept over everyone. She went up to Kensi and took her hands. "He's fine. We were able to repair the artery and he lost very little blood compared to what could've happened if Craig hadn't discovered the attack within minutes of it happening. His temperature hasn't spiked again, in fact it's gone done a little. He's in recovery now but I want to keep him in ICU another night and, if all goes as well as I hope, we'll move him to a regular room tomorrow afternoon. Just a day later than we'd planned."

Kensi pulled her into a hug and said "I'll never be able to thank you enough Moira! For all you've done for him."

"Don't thank me, thank Craig. If he hadn't been there, hadn't acted so quickly, things might have turned out quite differently." Moira answered, hugging her back. She stepped out of Kensi's embrace and graciously accepted the thanks of everyone else in the room.

Kensi turned to Craig and pulled him into a hug as well. "Thank you Craig! I don't know why you were there but I am so grateful you were."

Craig smiled down at her as he hugged her back. "I'm just glad things worked out the way they did. "

Callen tilted his head and looked at Craig. "Can I ask Craig, just why did you decide to stop in to see Deeks? You've never exchanged a word with him, haven't even technically met him. What made you do that?"

"Truthfully? I really have no idea. I only know he was on my mind all night. I woke up about 2 this morning and just felt this need to go see him. I even reset my alarm to an earlier time so that I could stop in and still get to work when I was supposed to."

"Well, we're all grateful that you did."

Craig nodded at all of them and said "I've got to get back to work. I just wanted to be here when you got the good news. I'll stop up to see him again before I leave for the day." He shook everyone's hand and headed back out.

Hetty turned to Moira. "We'll need to post a guard on him immediately. We should have done so earlier."

Moira nodded and said "I understand. I can only offer my apologies that he was attacked, here, in my hospital. That was unacceptable. He should have been safe here. There is no way that man should have been able to get in so easily and hurt not only one of our patients, but two. My director has already called a meeting to review our security protocols. He's also decided that the keycards all our employee's carry will need to be taken care of more carefully. We've talked to the man it belonged to and he admitted to leaving it in his locker each night when he headed home so that he wouldn't forget it the next day. The hospital also plans on making sure that all the employee entrances are more secure. I know that none of that changes what happened, but I wanted you to know that we aren't taking this lightly."

"We never thought you would. By the way, Miss. Blye will be taking the first watch. Would you be so kind as to take her to him?"

"Of course. Will the rest of you be staying?"

"No. We have work to do." The tone in Hetty's voice left no room for misunderstanding exactly what that work would entail.

Kensi turned to Hetty and said "Thank you for understanding that I would want to be the one to take first watch Hetty."

"You're welcome. However, that doesn't mean you are the only one allowed to protect him. We will all take shifts and you will go home to eat and rest when told to do so. Am I understood, Miss. Blye?"

Kensi smiled at the reversion to the more formal form of address that Hetty normally used, knowing that meant Hetty was trying to convey that she meant every word. She would find that Kensi could be very stubborn, but they didn't need to have that argument right now. Right now she was going to be allowed to actually see and touch the man she loved so much. As she left with Moira she wondered if Hetty realized that she hadn't actually agreed to her orders before she left the room. If she had looked back, she would have known by the look of resignation on the older woman's face, that Hetty had, indeed, realized that fact but hadn't called her on it. She would soon discover that Hetty Lange could be just as stubborn.

Hetty's face turned thoughtful as an idea formulated in her head. She turned to those remaining and said "Mr. Hanna, Mr. Callen, Owen and I will head back to the Mission to see what Mr. Beale and Miss. Jones have uncovered. You two should go home and get some rest. You'll be needed back here tomorrow night. I will also be asking for volunteers to guard Mr. Deeks starting tomorrow when he is moved out of ICU."

Sam interrupted her. "I thought we agreed that no one outside our team would be guarding him!"

"No one will, Mr. Hanna. Mr. Deeks will be moved to his room under another name. One of your team or Miss. Jones will be guarding him. "Detective Deeks" will be moved to a room with our volunteer guard. I'm sure the hospital will be more than cooperative after the events here today."

Sam looked at Callen and smirked. "And just who will be playing the part of Deeks?"

Callen looked from him to Hetty to Granger, all of whom were looking at him. "So I get to play Deeks in this little sting operation?"

"Indeed, Mr. Callen. I can't think of anyone else who would play the part as well." Hetty said as she and Owen left the room. Turning back she said "I meant what I said. You two need to go home. I need you both at your best tomorrow. If this works the way I hope it will, we might be able to end this soon."

Both men nodded and watched the two leave. Callen looked thoughtful and a million miles away. Sam asked "What are you thinking G?"

"Sam, did you ever wonder why some things work out the way they do? We've both in this game a long time. We've both seen someone turn a fraction of an inch for no reason and the bullet that would have killed them misses them entirely. Do you ever wonder if someone is looking out for them?"

"What? Like a guardian angel?" He laughed, not sure if his partner and best friend was messing with him.

"I'm serious. Why was Deeks on Craig's mind so strongly that he felt the need to come in early? If he hadn't, there's a good chance Deeks would be dead right now."

"Plain dumb luck? You can't really believe this stuff!"

"Think about this. We both saw the deep and instant connection that Deeks and Thapa made the first time they met. We'd known Deeks for years but never felt that kind of connection. We were with Thapa longer, hell, you fought him. Yet it was Deeks that he bonded with. That first time? When Deeks went undercover with Talita and we finally breached? The only thing on his mind was to get the injured Thapa out. The thumb drive never crossed his mind yet it was supposed to be our number one priority. When he died protecting you, Deeks was devastated. Yet, they'd only worked together twice and not for very long either time. Why does that happen with some people?"

"You think they knew each other in some other lifetime? That Thapa is watching over him? If he was, then he would never have been taken in the first place."

"Maybe he can only do so much. Maybe it was Thapa who gave him the feeling that we shouldn't go into that warehouse but he couldn't control us overriding Deeks. Maybe he was the one who made sure Craig was at the hospital early enough today to be sure that McGonagle' s attack didn't end his friend's life."

"You going all mystical on me G? I think your Romany slip is showing! Let's get out of here. I want to go to the Mission and see what the wonder twins have found."

"Hetty told us to go home."

Sam rolled his eyes at his partner. "When has that ever stopped you?" Callen smirked at his partner, acknowledging how right he was. Together the two men headed out to sneak back to the Mission.

~.~.~.~.

A/N – a couple people commented on the fact that they didn't leave a guard on Deeks, even though it was SOP. I did that on purpose. Call it a…plot device? Not sure if I used the words correctly. Also, I got some comments on hurting Deeks just for the sake of hurting him. I never meant for the injury to do any lasting harm, as this chapter bears out. Again, it was to further the story.

A/N 2 – Also, I got several comments on how long this story had gotten. I agree! I meant this to be six chapters but it took on a life of its own. If I had known then, what I know now, I would have broken each story arc up into a one of its own. That being said, this story arc will end Cotillion. It will not end stories in what I've come to call the Shelton Universe. I still have too many loose ends and prompts to address. After all, there's a proposal in the future! I plan to start on the sequel immediately. I have so many ideas! If you have any, send them my way either in a review or a PM!