Deeks closed yet another file and added it to the rapidly increasing pile of thin cardboard encased records in front of him. Callen glanced up and realising that Deeks was getting bored and restless, deliberately ignored him. Deeks sighed loudly, grabbing the next file with an exaggerated movement. He in turn looked at Callen and was disappointed to see that he was engrossed in the file he was reading.

'Why aren't these all electronic? I mean, who uses paper anymore?'

'I don't know...' came the measured response from Callen. 'But I seriously think they should all be shot.'

'I hear you, man. If these were all on computer, the Nellster would've found out what these guys all had in common and narrowed down a list of suspects for us to chase. They all be in custody by now having confessed in full. We should be relaxing in the sun with a nice cold beer with the case closed.'

'Yeah, well clearly homeless missions think it's better to spend money on food, clothing and beds than invest in technology.'

'Since you put it that way,' Deeks conceded the point. 'Maybe we should just go undercover and stakeout the place?'

Callen looked up and just stared at Deeks. He wondered if it was a lucky guess, if Deeks was more intuitive than he gave him credit for or if he was just thinking aloud. Carefully closing the file, he placed it neatly in front of him.

'If you think for one second I'd go undercover with you and your stinking coat...'

'You'd love it.' Deeks enthused. 'Me with Artie and you - I know you can look just as homeless as me, I mean you looked pretty rough last time you went rogue.'

'Yep, not gonna happen. Have you actually found anything?'

'Couple of possibilities, you?'

'Same. Let's head to ops and see what the wonder twins can make of them.'

With Sam and Kensi tailing Lyneham for the best part of the day, Hetty had suggested Callen and Deeks visit some of the shelters in the files Agent Beaufort from Homeland Security provided. They were the type of places some returning vets had naturally gravitated when civilian life became too much. There were thirteen shelters on the hit list and they agreed to split up to cover more ground. The visits themselves were uneventful and the missions shared many of the same principles. They provided shelter without any questions, implemented hard rules about no drink or drugs and offered counselling and health services to those who either wanted or needed them. Unfortunately that meant many records contained false names and reams of handwritten notes. The confidential medical and psychological files had not been handed over and both the shelters and the agents knew these would only be made available through a court order.

There was little for them to go on apart from gut instinct, however the volume of vets that expressed their dissatisfaction with their treatment from the US Government was high. The shelters had highlighted a few characters which rang alarm bells due to attitude and behaviour, giving them a starting point. Beaufort had also supplied them with suspects which Nell was running through the system, together with the rather flaky details of their rural community. All suspects were former military men and women and all had disappeared under the radar within the last four years. Their last known location had been the streets of Los Angeles.

'Take a look at these,' Callen said as the sliding door to the ops centre closed behind him and Deeks.

He placed a dozen files on the centre table.

'Ah,' Eric said. 'You've finally finished going through them.'

The cocky look on Eric's face did nothing to ease the pain both Callen and Deeks felt at spending hours poring over a second set of paper files.

'Yes we have Eric,' Deeks said. 'So you'd better give us some answers in the next two minutes to show us how good you really are or you can look through the records from the next shelters we visit.'

Eric held up his hands in defence and muttered something about being a technical operator, not an analyst or even a field agent. He swung his chair back to his workstation and began to frantically type.

'How are Sam and Kensi getting on?' Callen asked, keen to change the subject.

'Well,' Nell replied. 'Not too good. They had a fantastic afternoon tailing Lyneham and the boy around the airport museum. They ended up having to move ahead of them or they'd have been made, but we're pretty sure they noticed the Challenger as the boy pointed as it drove by. We lost all contact and visuals soon after they headed in to the National Forest. Kensi called in about ten minutes ago as they're on their way back. There was no way they could stop or backtrack without getting noticed further so they had to call it off. They did report they witnessed no suspicious activity from Lyenham at all.'

'So we have no confirmation that Lyneham's base camp is near Three Points or who the kid is?' Callen's frustration was becoming evident and he paced in front of the main screen. 'Do we have anything to show for today?'

Nell tapped her tablet and the image of a young boy appeared in front of them.

'Meet Tyler Jacobs. We ran the woman he boarded the bus with through facial rec and we got the name Lizzie Jacobs, aged twenty, born here in LA. She's grew up in an abusive family, mother a drug addict, father a musician who was frequently absent. When he was around he was drunk, sold drugs, beat his wife and daughter. She ran away from home aged ten, lived on the streets, was in and out of foster care and sent to juvie after being picked up by LAPD. She had Tyler four years ago, aged sixteen - father unknown. Tyler was taken in to care three years ago after Lizzie was arrested for prostitution. She finally proved to a judge that she could look after herself and her son and was awarded custody four months ago. Her current address is a small apartment above a hair salon in Little Armenia, Sunset Boulevard.'

'Good work Nell.' Callen tilted his head towards her slightly in thanks. 'What about this ranch where Lyneham and the rest live?'

'Not so much on that. We reviewed the data Beaufort gave us which includes satellite images of a make shift camp three miles south of Three Points. Eric checked satellite pictures from a week ago - the camp no longer exists so we expanded the search of the area and found what looks like a former ranch which backs up Beaufort's information. There are a number of outbuildings and barns with vehicles parked around. If you look closer,' Nell enlarged the image on screen. 'There seems to be maybe a fifty or so people dotted around the area.'

'Who owns the ranch?' Deeks asked.

'It was owned by a man called Buck Chapman who passed away fourteen years ago. No next of kin and the property was left abandoned. It's set way back off the main roads, it's basically a dirt track to get there.'

'Very private.' Callen commented.

'Bingo!' Eric called as pictures of three men and one woman flashed on to the screen. 'Meet our suspects. You already know Lyneham on the top right. Beneath him is Anton DuValle who Beaufort told you about, known associate of Joshua Lyneham. Also part of their posse on top right is Jeb Williams, AKA Raider due to his serving time for robbery. He's also former military - Delta Force - all his special ops records are redacted. He's also off the grid and occasionally surfaces at the shelters in LA. So far facial rec has drawn a blank on the woman. I did cross reference their faces with camera footage in the lead up to the bomb attacks, and the woman was at the realtors twenty minutes before the smoke grenade exploded.'

'So it seems like we're on the right track with the homeless shelters.' Deeks said.

Nell had been flicking through the documents Callen and Deeks had brought up, speed reading and skimming to visually confirm if there was more than the obvious common vector the two men had found.

'Ok, so most of these files are from the same shelter, the Sanctuary Outreach Centre downtown. They help homeless and low income families and veterans.' Nell leaned against the interactive table. She had carefully laid out the paperwork into neat piles and paused as she concentrated her attentions on the contents of the handwritten forms. 'Hmm.'

'What is it?' Deeks asked.

'Well all these records have been made by the same administrator.'

'That's not uncommon,' Callen interrupted. 'These shelters have the same core staff on duty and interacting with the visitors so they can build up trust. And most of them are run by volunteers.'

'True. But it does seem a big coincidence that the individuals in these all had their paperwork completed by the same person over a three year period. Eric, run the name Frederick Patten through the system.'

'Sure,' Eric tapped at his keyboard and within a few seconds the military files of one Frederick Patten flashed up on the big screen. 'So this shows he was in the same unit as Lyneham and DuValle.' Eric said.

'And that makes him a suspect. He was collecting names or identities of visitors to the shelter in case they could be recruited. Preying on the emotionally vulnerable to fight with Lyneham against the Government and its policies.' Callen shifted his weight from one foot to another as he ran scenarios through his mind. 'I think we leave him in play for the moment. He could be our way in to the group if we need to go in under. But first we need to have a chat with Lizzie Jacobs about her son and her involvement with this group.'

'I'll send the address to your cells.'

Callen nodded his thanks and glanced at Deeks, who stared at the picture of Lizzie and Tyler that now took up a small portion of the screen.

'Let's go.'

'Sure,' Deeks turned on his heel and following his team leader out of the operations centre.

It took Callen and Deeks almost forty five minutes to battle through the LA traffic and reach Little Armenia. Lizzie Jacobs's apartment on Sunset Boulevard was located on a small block of drab concrete buildings that housed a beauty salon, a DVD outlet and a liquor store. Only the salon was open, the other two stores had steel shutters across them. Signs on the doors stated they were due to open mid afternoon but the fact they were still closed swayed the partners to wonder if they were closed for good.

Lizzie lived above the salon and Deeks spent about five minutes flirting with the hairdressers before finding out there was a separate entrance for the apartment at the rear of the building. Callen had remained outside, not so much to be a look out but to develop a general feel for the area. He loitered around the liquor store and wandered to the edge of the DVD shop, disturbing two young teens smoking a joint next to the refuse bins. Callen realised the entrance to the apartments would be to the rear and he had no desire to ruin Deeks' moment or to make inane small talk with the hairdressers or their patrons.

'Round the back then?' Callen asked when Deeks finally emerged.

'How did you-'

'You're not the only one who can detect, Detective. And you looked to be having so much fun that I wondered if I should call Kens.'

Deeks ignored Callen and instead led the way to the back of the buildings, this time causing the two teenagers to beat a rapid retreat at the approach of two slightly menacing men. He rapped loudly on the door and stood back, waiting optimistically for their person of interest to answer.

'Who is it?' A female voice called.

Callen and Deeks glanced at each other.

'NCIS' Callen replied. 'We need to talk to you about your son Tyler, we think he may be in danger.' Callen decided to appeal to Lizzie as a mother, hoping she would open up immediately.

'NC - what? You like some new child protection agency? Coz I can tell you now that I've worked damned hard to get my son back and there is no way in hell he is in danger. I'd die before you took him again.'

Lizzie's voice became louder and higher as she began to panic.

'We're Federal Agents. We're nothing to do with social services but we think your son is with a man who is very dangerous.'

'We need to talk to you about him.' Deeks added.

The lock turned stiffly and the door opened a few inches, held in place by a security chain. An elfin face appeared in the crack.

'Show me your ID.' Lizzie's voice was strong but the fear was evident in her eyes which darted from Callen to Deeks and then back again.

Both men slowly held their IDs close so Lizzie could see. She scrutinised Callen's as though reconciling the American man with the Russian name on his badge. She reluctantly removed the chain and nimbly squeezed through the gap until she was outside.

'You know this man?' Deeks showed Lizzie the CCTV picture of Lyneham from earlier that morning.

'Yeah.'

'And his name is?' Callen asked.

'Josh.'

'Surname?'

'Lindell.'

'And how do you know him?' Deeks said.

'He's my boyfriend.'

'Do you often let your four year old son stay with boyfriends?' Callen asked somewhat harshly.

Deeks glanced at Callen, ready to act as mediator should Lizzie take offence at his partners words. He understood how protective and headstrong Callen became when vulnerable children were involved in cases.

Lizzie for a second looked as though she had been sucker punched. She quickly recovered herself and stared defiantly at Callen.

'Don't you dare judge what you don't understand. You pigs are all the same. We've been together six months. He's a good person and would never hurt Tyler - never.' Lizzie's voice cracked slightly as a small slither of doubt entered her mind. 'Shit, why are you asking this, what do you know?'

'It's OK, calm down Lizzie,' Deeks took over from Callen. 'We think Josh Lindell is really Joshua Lyneham and we need to confirm his whereabouts this morning.'

'Umm I met him on a bus with some friends. He was taking Tyler to Palmdale first to see the old planes...Tyler loves planes, cars, buses, trains...Is he OK?'

'What were Josh and Tyler planning to do next?'

'Um, Tyler's staying over with Josh at his ranch for a few days to give me a break. Have you seen him, is he OK?'

'Our agents followed them round the airport and to the edge of the national park. They reported that Tyler seemed very happy and excited. He didn't seem to be in any danger, so maybe it's a case of mistaken identity.' Deeks reassured.

Lizzie let out an audible sigh and closed her eyes briefly. 'Look, you need to take me there now.'

'Has Josh ever behaved in a threatening way to you or your son?' Callen asked. He recalled Lyneham's file and knew the man had been subject to a restraining order from his wife and own child when he returned from duty.

Lizzie shook her head and Deeks took a step forward, hoping she would trust him.

'I honestly don't think your son is in any danger from Josh. But we need to find Josh to rule him out of our investigations. Innocent until proven guilty. He is just one of a number of men of interest and we have to run down all the leads, one by one. We both know what you've been through Lizzie, and believe me neither one of us would leave Tyler with Josh if we thought there was a chance he would be in danger.'

'But he said...' Lizzie pointed at Callen.

'I needed you to open the door and talk to us.' Callen took the hit and silently prayed that Deeks' words would not come back to haunt them. 'Look we can send someone to get Tyler if you want, but that might scare him more. He's been in care, same as you. It took a lot for you to trust the people you've left him with and Tyler must've been happy to go with them. I don't want to undo that - it's a trust he might never get back if it's undone too many times.'

Callen's words struck Lizzie as being honest and heartfelt, even if his opening gambit wasn't.

'OK. If I tell you where this ranch is can you just like send someone to watch him? He's all I have and I can't lose him again.'

Callen nodded his agreement as an idea formulated in his mind.

'No, you can't just nod, you gotta promise me. You're the one that's got me scared now so you owe it to me to do this.' Lizzie's voice began to rise in anger and frustration.

'I promise that someone will watch Tyler tonight.'

Deeks narrowed his eyes, wondering how Callen could make such a promise to a mother about her child without any way of honouring it.

'It's an old ranch near Three Points in the Angeles National Forest. You get there by an old track that leads off Pine Canyon Road about three miles out. There's a sign above the entrance that says um, Ramblers Ranch. I don't think it's the original sign. Josh lives there with a load of others - like their own community away from all this shit. They're slowly rebuilding everything. Even have a few horses...' Lizzie tailed off. 'Are you sure Tyler's not in danger? I mean you still want to question Josh and that means you might wanna talk to some of the others?'

'I would never leave a child in danger, but yes we might want to talk to some of his friends.' Callen continued with his thread of honesty.

'Look Lizzie,' Deeks interjected. 'When Tyler comes home tomorrow, why don't both go away for a break somewhere? Distance yourselves in just case. You trust him with your son but he might be a little upset if he finds out you've talked to us.'

'Where am I'sposed to go and with what? I'm on handouts that barely keep me and Tyler alive. I can't turn tricks in case the cops and social find out. I have nothing. You people are all the same, pretending to understand, telling me what you think I wanna hear.'

'We have safe houses, there's one along the beach front, just down from Venice. It's small but perfect for you two.' Callen had instantly thought of Hetty's beach house. 'I can guarantee that it's free and safe.'

Lizzie looked unsure. She was struggling to understand that the man she knew as Josh Lindell could be a Josh Lyneham who was a person of interest to the Feds. She felt safe with Josh and trusted him as implicitly as Tyler did. The older agent was right though. Trust did not come easily to either of them. She also realised that despite her natural instinct to grab Tyler from the ranch right now, the fear and confusion she would create for her little boy would do more harm than good.

'I've been let down before, spun lies and shit, just to get me to grass on someone. How do I know that you won't just hang me out to dry like the others?'

'He has the authority to get you to a safe house,' Deeks pointed to Callen. 'And he can also guarantee that Tyler will be under observation all the time he's at the ranch. I know these are only words, but you can come with us and tell us everything you know about Josh and the community he has set up at the ranch. Then our operations manager Hetty can speak to you. You'll trust her. I guarantee it.'

'I do sorta believe you, but...' Lizzie bit her bottom lip.

'It's OK,' Callen said. 'I understand. But like Deeks said if you come with us you'll see we can protect you and Tyler. If you still doubt us, you can leave at any time.'

'Ok, give me five to grab some stuff.'

She quickly darted behind the door, leaving it ajar as proof she did believe the pair and disappeared inside. True to her word, she returned five minutes later with a small suitcase and a rucksack. Deeks took the bags from her and they walked back round to Callen's car and started the drive to the boatshed.

Thank you for all the follows, favourites and comments, I appreciate each and every one of them.

Wishing you a Merry Christmas & a happy New Year.