A/N: No, I didn't forget about this story completely.
"I don't like this," Nell murmured, eyes glued on the screen in front of her, bottom lip tucked between her teeth.
Shortly after receiving proof that Julia had been abducted, a second message came through with instructions for Kensi and Deeks to arrive at a unpopulated portion of Venus beach unarmed and alone. They barely had time to grab comms and throw together a plan before leaving.
Eric and Nell had taken the taco truck and parked among the vendors, while Sam and Callen had chosen a spot in the parking lot that would hopefully keep them hidden but close enough at hand to step in if necessary.
"None of us do. But there's no way Kensi or Deeks would chance Julia's life," Eric replied, without looking up. He's spent every spare second since they heard from Julia's kidnappers trying to break through the encrypted email and review surveillance footage. "The best we can do is make sure that Kensi and Deeks are safe."
Nell hugged her arms against her chest, straightening as Kensi and Deeks walked towards a man dressed in jeans, a t-shirt, and baseball cap. He faced the water, posture casual, unbothered by Kensi and Deeks' approach, which Nell took as a very poor sign.
"C'mon, turn around," she urged him, anxious to get an image for facial recognition.
Kensi and Deeks were almost right behind him when he finally turned, face obscured by sunglasses and the bill of his hat pulled low.
"Damn it," she hissed.
Kensi demanded to know where Julia was, her voice tight with worry and barely suppressed anger. Deeks brushed her back, a quiet form of support and likely reminding her not to lose control.
The man said something, his lips barely moving, and after a brief hesitation and glance towards each other, Kensi and Deeks each reached towards their ears.
"Oh, this isn't good," Eric said as they removed their comms, and then dropped them into the sand, followed by their phones and watches a second later. "Sam, Callen, this guy just had them ditch their comms and phones. You need to get over there right now."
"No, let's continue with the plan at trail them," Sam said.
Deeks held his arms out from his sides when he was finished and Nell could almost hear his sarcastic response through the screen. It was oddly comforting. The man calmly patted them both down, stepping back up with a satisfied expression.
He spoke again and Nell squinted, trying to read his lips. She caught the words "alone" and "me" but everything else was indistinguishable. Kensk shook her head, and he pulled out a phone, turning the screen towards them. Whatever he showed them, had Kensi and Deeks sharing another glance as the man gestured for them to move ahead of him. They started up the beach, not putting up a fight, as planned.
It had to be killing Kensi.
"They're on the move," Nell narrated. "I'm switching to other cameras in the area.
Before they were just out of sight on the current feed, Deeks lifted his hand, fingers moving quickly.
"Hold on!" Eric said sharply, eyes narrowed behind his glasses. "Deeks just signed to stay back. They know we're watching."
This was a nightmare. They were bound and stuffed inside an unmarked van with no line of contact to the team. She could only hope they were actually headed towards her mother.
Their contact, who introduced himself only as Michael calmly informed them that if she and Deeks didn't do exactly as he said, Julia would be hurt. As proof, he'd shown them a small video of Julia inside a shadowy room. She appeared to be alive, but Michael assured them that could change at any moment depending on their actions.
It had taken all her self-control not to punch his smug grin off his face.
"She's going to be alright," Deeks murmured, leaning close to her ear. He sat against her right side with his bound wrists dangling loosely between his raised legs.
"You don't know that. We don't have comms, Eric and Nell can't track us, and Michael and whoever he's working with almost certainly knows exactly how we operate," Kensi shot back. She didn't mean to last out at Deeks, but she was worried, angry at herself for letting this happen, and terrified.
Deeks nudged her shoulder, no blame in his eyes.
"Hey, the Wonder Twins can track anything. Plus, you know that Sam and Callen will never turn down the chance to come to the rescue." He lifted his hands, movements just a little awkward, using his knuckles to brush her cheek. "And most importantly, my own personal Wonder Woman is on board."
Rolling her eyes, Kensi huffed out the closest thing she could manage to a laugh right now. No matter what, Deeks would always try to cheer her up.
"I love you," she murmured, leaning forward to kiss him. She closed her eyes, drawing on his strength and calm to settle her the panic that was so close to the surface.
When they parted, Deeks tapped her ankle with the toe of his boot, right where she kept her knife.
"When the time's right," he said with a significant nod. As he spoke, the van slowed, and came to a jerking stop. "Alright, let's bring your mama home."
A/N: For the purposes of this story, I've decided that Deeks has picked up some basic ASL from Eric. Here he would be fingerspelling.