Hello my lovelies. I want to apologise for my long absence, I was writing my corrections for my thesis and then had a ton of work to do. So really sorry for the long wait. I also had to read through the story so I could get the characters right, and that alone took over a week. It is really long.

Anyway I would like to thank Guest, IWantColoredRain, ssl71, Petunia3116 and french fan (Guest) for the wonderful reviews. I would also like to thank those of you who have followed and favoured since my last update.

As for the reviewer that wondered why I don't have Deeks going undercover in this fic, it is because I am following the storyline as written. I have fics which do involve Deeks undercover, feel free to read any of them that you wish.

This chapter is set in season 2, episode 22 'Plan B'. I hope you like it.

Disclaimer: I don't own NCIS: LA, nor any of the words I have used from the show.

Callen pulled up outside the market, but before Deeks could get out of the car he turned to him.

"Be careful." He said, it was all he could say. Oh there was so much more he wanted to say, but it wasn't Marty he was talking to right then, it was Deeks, it was Max. And neither of them needed G right then. No they needed Callen, team leader and the man that would be watching their back, no matter what.

"Will do." Deeks replied with a small smile before he climbed out of the car. He had a job to do, and he needed to find Ray, before those trying to kill him.

Callen sat, listening through the comms as the other man made his way through the market. Sat and listened as he talked to Jenna, the only lead hey had to find Ray. Or he did until he heard Deeks speak directly to him.

"Callen, I've got Ray in the market. He's running, I'm going after him."

At those words there was no hesitation in Callen's movements as he jumped out of the car, slamming the door behind him. His only thought was to get to Marty. To back him and protect him. Because that was his job, his life, his reason for being, and no one was going to stand his way.

Callen ran through the crowds, glad that Marty had left a trail for him to follow of knocked over people and his voice calling out to his friend, though he knew that would also alert their enemies if they were around. As such he made sure he had a hand on his gun as he moved. He wasn't going to let anyone surprise him. He wasn't going to let anyone hurt the man he loved, even if he had to kill to do it. He didn't care, Marty was the only important thing in his mind.

Finally he caught up with the other two men, though he was surprised to find a woman at his side as he did so. He could only assume this was the mysterious Jenna. But one look at Marty's face told him this was not a conversation he should try to interrupt, and as such he put out his arms to stop the girl from running to the other man. He knew Marty needed to talk to Ray, and he wasn't about to let any one stop that from happening.

"Hold on there." He said quietly as he grabbed her, not tightly, but enough to keep her in place as he watched and listened to the man he loved confront his best friend. The one he had heard so much about, but before now had never met, even if he had gunned the guy down in the fake assassination.

"Listen, I can't protect you if you don't tell me the truth." Deeks said to his friend. He needed him to stop running and start talking, because this was just stupid, and if Ray wasn't careful, soon he would be dead.

"Look I am telling the truth! all right. I never dealt with the Southland Kings, I never even met any of them." Ray shouted, not appreciating the way his friend was doubting him. Surely he knew he would never deal with the Southland Kings, right? Not after what had happened to their friend. He would never deal with them. Surely Marty knew that. But before he could say anything more a new voice cut through his conversation with Marty.

"Are you alright?" Jenna asked from her position behind the barrier of Callen's arms, wanting nothing more than to go to the man she loved. The father of her unborn baby.

At those words Ray turned to her, only to see her trapped by a man he didn't know. He didn't like that. "Yeah baby, it's gonna be okay. I promise. He with you?" He replied, though the last words were directed at is friend, and they clearly stated that if he wasn't he was gonna kill the man who dared to touch the one loved.

"Yeah, he's with me. G, let her go." Deeks responded reading the unspoken words in Ray's eyes. There was something more here than just Ray loving Jenna. Because he was never this protective over Nicole, so what was it?

Callen heard Marty's words and as such lowered his arms, letting the woman next to him run to Ray's side as he turned to face the other two men. But he didn't say anything. Marty was the one who knew Ray the best, it was up to him to find out what was going on here.

As soon as Jenna was at his side Ray wrapped his arms around her as he spoke to his friend, hoping he would understand why he had done what he had.

"I need her to come with me." He stated plainly. It was nothing more than the truth, and that was what was needed now.

"Why?" Deeks asked, because while he could see the emotions between the two, he knew there was something more. He needed to know what that more was so he could help Ray solve this. So he could keep his friend alive.

"She's pregnant." Ray responded simply knowing time for trying to do this on his own was passed. Marty was the only one he could trust to help him now, he just hoped he didn't turn him away. Hoped he was still his friend enough to keep his family safe.

At those words Deeks turned his head to look at the woman standing at Ray's side before addressing his friend once more. "Come on man why didn't you just tell me?" He asked in disbelief. All this hassle had been over the fact his friend had had got Jenna knocked up and didn't want to leave her? Oh man. That was crazy.

"I found out this morning. You told me I could only bring my immediate family when I went into relocation, no exceptions. I knew if you saw us together, we could tell you-" Ray responded trying to explain all he had done to the only person who had ever believed in him. The only person who had ever given him a chance to be someone other than the man he had become.

"And there would be no way I could say no." Deeks finished for him, understanding exactly what his friend was saying, even if he did not appreciate the way he had gone about it. He understood, he really did, but damn it, it had almost cost Ray his life. Of course Ray's next words told him just how much he was willing to pay that price for what he had a chance at having.

"I got a chance to be a dad. You know what this means to me." Ray said, in a voice so filled with feeling.

"Yeah, I do." Deeks replied. He understood. He really did. And with that thought he turned to G, to the one man he knew who had the power to make what was obvious in his mind become reality. The one man who could make it so Jenna went with Ray into witness protection. Made sure his friend got the family he deserved, the family he had always had denied him by his own father. "G?" He asked, not saying more because he knew the man he loved would understand what he was saying, what it was he was asking of him right then.

"Let's go. We'll get Jenna the protection she deserves, while we fix this." Callen replied understanding completely. Because while Jenna may not be Ray's wife, she was carrying his child. And in his mind at least, that made her immediate family. So really there was no question of her joining him in witness protection. All he had to work out now, was how to kill Ray Martindale for a second time, and make sure that this time it stuck.

At that Deeks broke into a sunny smile as he stared at the man he loved. Stated at the man he trusted with everything he had. If anyone could find a way to fix this, it would be G.

"Come on. We need to get out of here." he said, turning back to the couple in front of him.

And Ray, while not knowing who the man standing in front them was, found himself following without a thought. Though he was pretty sure that was more due to the smile he had caused to form on his friends face rather than the words he had spoken. And even though he knew his and Jenna's and their baby's lives were still in danger, he couldn't help but wonder just who this stranger was to his best friend.

Ray stood in the boatshed, watching his soon to be ex-wife pacing in the interrogation room. He had allowed a couple of agents to take Jenna somewhere safe, Marty had promised she would be fine, and he trusted his friend. So all he had to do now was watch the woman he had once loved pace. The woman who had betrayed him with his best friend. You'd think he would be bitter about that, but he really wasn't. Him and Nicole were never right for each other, he knew that now. But he did have to wonder if there was still anything between her and Marty. And that was why, when Marty walked up to stand beside him he asked the question he had never allowed himself to ask before.

"Nicole still in love with you?" Though when Marty's eyes flicked to the screen and back he could tell he wasn't sure how to answer that. "I'm not blind, man. It's always been obvious. Hey it could work." he suggested. He wanted his friend to be as happy as he was, and well, maybe he also wanted to see what information he could get out of about the man who had been with him. The man who was right now outside on his phone talking to the rest of the team, apparently.

"Maybe it could have, if things were different. But not now." Marty replied simply. No, now there was only one he loved, and only one he wanted to be with.

"So who is it now? Wikipedia?" Ray asked smirking as he remembered his friend's partner. He didn't think for a minute there was anything going on between them, but maybe if he suggested it it would help him get Marty to tell him exactly who it was that was in his life. Exactly who it was that now had his heart.

"No, she's just my partner, Ray. There is nothing there." Deeks responded with a sigh. Just because she was an attractive woman, I mean really? That was never gonna happen, even if he didn't have G in his life.

"But there is someone." Ray persisted, and Deeks knew he couldn't lie and as such he nodded slightly, but didn't say anything. So Ray decided to put words to his hunch, put words to the idea that had been forming at the back of his mind, even if he hadn't believed there was any possibility that they were true. I mean Marty was as straight as he was as far as he knew so…

"Is it G?" He asked tilting his head towards the door the other agent had left by. The other agent who hadn't given him his name. The only reason he had something to identify him by was the fact Marty had called him G earlier.

At his words he saw Marty's eyes widen and a startled look cross his face before he shut it down. That was enough to tell him his hunch had been right, even if the other man never confirmed it with words. But still he felt the need to say something. He knew the look on his friends face, it was the look both of them had gotten around their respective fathers when they were wary of what would happen next. He didn't want Marty to feel wary around him. Didn't want him to think he wouldn't respect him, wouldn't still be his friend, just because he was with a guy. Therefore he spoke once more, in a tone that was completely serious. "Never thought you swung that way, but if he makes you happy then do yourself a favour. Don't let him go."

At that Deeks took a deep breath. When he and Ray had been friends he had never told him about his liking for men as well as women, at first he had been too young, and then… well he never thought Ray would accept that side of him. To hear those words from his friend, to know that he wasn't going to judge, it was more than he had ever thought he would get from the other man if he was ever to tell him the truth. But it was everything he had hoped for. Therefore he gave the only response he could. "He does, and I don't plan to."

"Good. Listen, I know when I go into relocation, we're not really gonna be able to talk-" Ray started to say, only to have Deeks interrupt him.

"It's gonna be nice."

Ignoring that interruption Ray continued. "But you gotta make me a promise. You gotta invite me to the wedding." He finished, and couldn't help but smirk at how his words caused a faint blush to appear on his friends cheeks. Oh yeah, Marty had it bad. Good, as long as this G character felt the same way. And as if he words conjured the other man up, he entered the room, followed by another guy and Wikipedia. It looked like the Scooby gang was all here, ready to work out they were gonna keep him alive long enough to see his child. About time.

And Deeks, well he tried to calm his mind after the words Ray had spoken. I means just because he and G were living together, it wasn't like they were gonna get married, right? Not to mention it was still illegal. Yeah, not gonna happen. But even as he though those words he couldn't stop the dreams from appearing in his mind. Could not stop thinking how much he would love to stand in front of all their friends and commit himself to G for the rest of his life. But no, they were not thoughts for today, thoughts for the future maybe, but not today. No today he needed to make sure his friend survived. With that in mind he turned towards the rest of his team to hear what they had to say, and see how they planned to do just that.