Prompt: Inspired by an episode of CSI can you write a fanfic where after the end of case involving a heavy shoot out, the team finds out Deeks has been shot. He is in critical condition/life support and Kensi is worried sick, but is shocked to learn that a member of the team accidentally shot Deeks during the shootout. As to who did it... I will leave it up to you.

A/N: I'm not familiar with the episode you referenced by anon. One large serving of whump and angst coming up!

Kensi winced, crouching down behind a small Toyota, to avoid a volley of gunfire. She felt a moment of sympathy for the owner, who certainly hadn't expected their car to be riddled by bullets when they left it at their local car mechanic

What had started out as a plan to arrest the owner of the garage on wide scale fraud charges and collect evidence, had turned into a standoff with him and his entire crew. Fortunately, Sam and Callen had been there too, because she and Deeks never would have stood a chance against all 12 men.

Kensi popped up to return fire, gaining another car's worth of distance in the process before a spray of bullets came her way. She heard Deeks growl something and then exclaim unintelligibly.

"Deeks, are you ok?" she checked.

"Oh yeah, I am—fantastic," he grunted back. "Gah. Though I'm definitely going to bring this up in my Yelp review."

Kensi didn't have time to respond to his comment as one of the two men who had her cornered began shooting again, giving the second man a chance to move closer. She peered around the front of the car, taking him out before he could find cover behind a van. As she aimed for the second man, she heard three gunshots from her left in quick succession the fell, sliding out of sight.

Rising slowly, she saw Callen jump down from the roof of a rusted truck.

"Clear," she said, drawing in a deep breath. "And thanks.

"Anytime," Callen responded, kicking a dropped weapon to the side. "Clear."

"I've got two alive and secured," Sam added. There was a noticeable silence as they waited for Deeks to chime in.

"Deeks?" Kensi pressed her finger to her ear, and turned in a slow circle, scanning the parking lot. She'd seen him less than a minute ago. "Deeks, do you copy?"

Breaking into a jog, she headed towards the area she last saw him several minutes ago. Callen called a warning, but she ignored him, running now as her heartbeat skyrocketed.

He probably just lost his come. It happened sometimes, especially if he'd gotten into a physical fight.

"Babe, can you hear me?"

"Kens—" It was a pained gasp, nearly inaudible even through her comm. Fear spiked through her as she rounded another row of cars and saw the scattered bodies of the garage crew, Deeks slumped among them, his back barely supported by a dark SUV.

Kensi fell to her knees in front of him, frozen in shock by the pool of blood seeping around him. She forced herself into action, lifting the edge of his shirt, revealing a deep wound in the right side of his abdomen. And blood. So much.

Her stomach heaved at the sight; she breathed deeply, pushing acrid taste of acid down while she placed the shirt back in place and pressed firmly.

"Eric, Deeks needs an ambulance. Gunshot wound to the abdomen," she bit out even as she pressed her fingers to Deeks neck. There was a weak pulse.

"On it," Eric said, pausing briefly before he asked softly, "How bad?"

"It's deep. I'm applying pressure." It wasn't what Eric had asked, but she couldn't say the words out loud. It was bad.

"Deeks, baby," she repeated, voice trembling as much as her hands over his stomach. Her fingers had left behind red streaks on his cheeks, looking like perverse stripes.

Blood was still seeping between her fingers so she pressed harder and Deeks gasped loudly, eyes springing open, wild with confusion ad pain.

"Oh my god, baby. I'm sorry." She leaned forward, kissing his damp, bloody cheek and he grimaced, clamping his eyes shut. "No, don't close your eyes, sweetie. Stay with me.

"It was, ah-a-lot less. Mm. Painful when I-when I was unconscious," he managed, taking shallow gasping breaths. It was painful and terrifying to watch.

"A lot quieter too," she responded weakly.

"Rude. I'm inj—injured," his words slurred together and he blinked slowly.

"Deeks, keep talking to me. C'mon baby."

He gazed up at her, eyes glassy. "Love you." He muttered, the slightest of smiles lifting the corner of his mouth as his entire body went limp and his eyes slipped shut.

"Deeks! No, no, no, no. Baby, open your eyes! Baby, I need you to open your eyes," she shouted, tears pouring down her cheeks. She continued to plead with him as a pair of hands nudged hers out of the way, and someone dragged her away, the sound of sirens in the distance.

36 Hours Later

Kensi pulled at her bottom lip, hands tucked under her folded arms while two nurses moved around Deeks' bed, changing dressings, checking numbers.

Everyone kept saying he was doing well, though it was too soon to tell the long-term outcome. The wound had been relatively clean, but he'd lost a significant amount of blood before the ambulance arrived and during surgery.

Which meant possible brain injury or other organ damage and other long-term effects. Should he wake up.

"Agent Blye?" Kensi blinked, realizing one of the nurses, Donna, a kindly older woman with fluffy gray hair stood in front of her. "We're getting ready to change Marty's dressing, why don't you go get something to eat and we'll be finished when you come back," she suggested.

"No, I'm fine," Kensi insisted without pause. She'd barely left his side since he was brought out of the OR, and even then, that was only to answer a few questions at Sam's insistence. Thought of missing him waking up or…she forced her thoughts away from those darker thoughts and offered a stiff smile to the nurse. "Believe me, this isn't the first time I've been here."

"I'm sure. But you don't need to see this. I promise we'll take good care of your boyfriend and by the time you get back, he'll be all set." Donna gave her a sympathetic, yet firm look.

Kensi was ready to push back, but another nurse popped her head in and said, "Agent Blye, there's a Nell Jones here to see you."

Nell sat on the visitor's bench, hands folded in her lap, and looking even smaller than usual. She stood as soon as she saw Kensi, rushing forward to hug her.

"Oh my god, Kensi, I'm so glad to see you," she said. "I'm sorry I didn't make here sooner, but we want to make sure everything's by the book."

"I understand," Kensi assured her. Nell nodded, eyes troubled as she glanced in the direction of Deeks' room.

"How is he?"

Kensi shrugged, hugging her arms once again. "He's hanging in there. The doctor keeps saying the surgery went well and it's a good sign that he's made it this far, but, um, the longer he stayed in a coma, the less chance there is he'll recover fully."

"Oh," Nell whispered, brushing under her eyes as she breathed unevenly. "He's strong though. And it's Deeks. He never goes down without a fight."

"Yeah," Kensi agreed. She could only hope that Nell was right. Deeks was strong, and stubborn, but there were some things even he couldn't fight.

Pulling herself together again, Kensi gestured down the hall.

"The nurses are changing his dressing and everything, so you'll have to wait to see him."

"I actually came to give you an update," Nell told her, pulling a folder from her tote bag. She didn't open it though. "Like I said, we're making sure everything is to the letter. I just got the ballistics report back on the fragments removed from—" She stopped abruptly, swallowed, and tried again. "The shell fragments were identified."

"Please tell me it was one of the guys in custody," Kensi said, rage filling her as she pictured the two men Sam had shoved into a police car. Her attention had been focused on Deeks of course, but she had enough time to memorize their faces and she was determined to see them pay.

"Um, no. Not exactly." Nell shifted from one foot to the other, a look of concern deepening the wrinkle between her eyes. "The bullet was fired from one of our weapons."

"Oh my god," Kensi murmured, blindly grasping at the bench and sinking down. She distantly felt Nell sit next to her.

Deeks was lying in the hospital, barely hanging on because of one of them. Well, one of two. She was nearly certain she hadn't shot Deeks.

"Kensi, I am so sorry," Nell said again, regret in her voice. "I debated whether I should tell you, but I knew I couldn't keep it back. Not now." She touched Kensi's arm, making her jerk at the sudden added stimuli, and pull back sharply.

Kensi instantly regretted it when she saw the concern in Nell's eyes.

"No, you did the right thing," Kensi said. She inhaled slowly, forcing a calm she didn't feel. "Do you know who fired it?"

"No." Nell shook her head, looking slightly ill. "We're still waiting on the rest of the ballistics."

"Does anyone else know?"

"Just Eric," she said.

"Good. Don't tell them until you have to and I don't want to know either."

"Kensi, they have to know," Nell insisted. "Whoever was at fault will probably need to go on administrative leave until we finish the investigation and—"

"Ok, tell them if you need to, but not me. At least not until after Deeks is conscious," Kensi compromised.

"Why?"

"Nell, I don't need more anger right now. Not when it won't help or change anything. If I know, I'll blame Sam or Callen, even though it wasn't their fault. And right now I need my family."