The next few days progressed in much the same way and soon Callen and Deeks had completed their first week undercover. Both men were up at the crack of dawn and spent the entire day working on repairing the barn with the rest of the team. The intense physical activities were making both leaner and fitter already, and the abundance of outdoor living allowed their minds to relax. Deeks' laid back attitude made many of the men trust him, although there were still a handful that just did not like him, period. The men who had no time for Deeks were the ones that were more accepting of Callen, seeing in him a fellow soldier who had fought long and hard for the USA and received very little thanks or support in return. It helped that they could churn out stories about their less than idyllic childhood and experiences of the system. Both men developed an easy going rapport with Raider, reminding them of their respective partnerships at NCIS. Callen continued to be drawn towards Josh Lyneham and the friendship was most definitely reciprocated. It was a strange kinship which neither man had voiced, but they had both instantly felt as though they had known each other for many years. It rang alarm bells in the back of Deeks' mind and no matter how much he tried to verbalise his concerns either the moment was never right or Callen shut him down before he could speak.

During the evenings the undercover partners walked to the edge of the property where away from prying eyes, they created detailed maps of the land, pinpointing locations that demanded further investigation, either by themselves in the near future or when NCIS eventually raided the place. The hand sketched maps were held in front of their button cams so Ops could take a screen grab and overlay the various versions until they had as complete a picture as possible. This gave the team a valuable insight the satellite images never could. Keen not to appear inseparable which would contradict Callen's earlier one sided fight with Deeks, after the first few evenings they began to drift away from each other. This allowed them to individually make contact with ops and as they settled in to a routine it was agreed they would check in every third day by ten pm at the latest, unless they had important information to relay.

Ranch life was surprisingly organised. The days were structured and everyone knew their roles. Even after a week patterns were easy to identify and Callen and Deeks closely observed the small pickup truck that made deliveries on a Monday and Thursday. One of them was received in the now weather-proofed underground storage area in the barn they were renovating and Ariel had been the driver. The other delivery comprised of food, horse feed and equipment to repair the barns. As far as Callen and Deeks could tell, the special delivery was made up of medium sized sealed crates. There had been no opportunities at all to speak to Ariel and the pair realised they would also have to start working DuValle. Deeks thought Lyneham might be the weak link in the chain due to him not having a close relationship with Ariel and it took very little to persuade Callen to agree it was a good angle to exploit.

They still had not formulated a plan to get close to either Ariel or DuValle and certainly the former was a case of whoever had the first opportunity. DuValle was in theory a more challenging prospect. His ex-military status logically dictated that Callen's alias would have the most in common which immediately caused a problem as Callen was bonding with Lyneham. The two had become almost best friends and Deeks had already overheard Callen giving advice over Lyneham's girlfriend Lizzie and her son. It seemed she had disappeared after a quick phone call saying she needed time to 'consider their future'. Callen was pleased Lizzie had listened their advice although it didn't help the immense feeling of guilt he now felt at disrupting her son's life just as it was becoming more stable. At the same time he was also consoling Lyneham and rationalising the situation which caused Deeks to rib Callen relentlessly. For once Callen let it wash over him. He needed to continue to work Lyneham, get close to him and exploit that relationship. The truth was neither wanted to spend time with DuValle so Callen agreed they'd give it another week to see if anything naturally developed before taking more decisive and direct action. Meanwhile Deeks would get close to Raider. They both shared a more relaxed attitude to life.

Over the next few days Callen began to withdraw from Raider's company to allow Deeks a better chance to cement his friendship. The two had already bonded over their shared love of surfing and Deeks soon realised that Raider had about as much luck with women and commitment as his undercover alias. Their conversations were frequently humorous and both complained that no one really understood the unique way their minds worked when it came to - well anything.

'Y'know, I was once with this surf chick that just swam away on my board. Never to be seen again.' Raider was shouting at Deeks in between hammering nails into the internal wooden divides that once provided stables for horses.

'Bet you were heartbroken.' Deeks was focused on holding the new wooden panels in place, trusting that Raider would not slip with the hammer and smash his fingers to smithereens. 'Bet you loved that board.'

'Certainly did. Chicks come and go but when you connect on a wave with your favourite board, man there's no feeling like it.'

'My...' Deeks paused as if to think hard about what he was to say next. 'Second wife took an electric saw to mine. Turned out she was psycho. Destroyed my skateboard and sabotaged my mountain bike. I don't think she respected my free spirit!'

'I hear you. My second wife didn't appreciate my efforts to keep our family together. Took off with my kid when I went down for robbery. Seemed to forget we were living in a trailer park after those bastard bankers took our house.'

'Got no kids man, but my last girlfriend left me when I lost my job and I couldn't afford the rent. Getting a job herself was beneath her so she was no help. Tried welfare - again - and was refused all help. Again.'

'Makes me mad. I served this country faithfully, put my life on the line every single day, saw things you could not imagine - Christ, did things you could never imagine. I had a perfect record, honourably discharged and then bam - a bit of bad luck and this stinking government turns its back.'

'At least you did something.' Deeks let the panel drop slightly in his hands and he turned to Raider. 'I did nothing and lost everything. One day I might learn not to make the same mistakes...Women are so beautiful, and so bewitching...Anyways, heard Rob was back in LA and thought he'd save me. He always does. I mean look - he got me in here.'

'You're lucky Billy, having a brother that supports you. Everyone just upped and left me, first sign of trouble.'

'It's just a good job we're not blood brothers.' Deeks smiled wryly, knowing that he already had Raider eating out of the palm of his hand.

'Why's that?' Raider had also stopped working and was now listening to Deeks intently. He was usually such a wise-cracking clown that it was intriguing to hear him speak seriously about himself and his mysterious brother.

Deeks took a deep breath and glanced in to the distance before meeting Raider's eyes. He could talk about his past dispassionately but using it as part of a cover was a little strange. He now began to understood why Callen reacted as he had done several weeks earlier and knew he wouldn't be impressed if he could hear the details he was about to reveal.

'I shot my father when I was nine. He was beating the crap out of my mom so I tried to stop him. He was about to lay in to me when I shot him with a gun my best friend gave me. If Rob had known me then or been my real brother, man, he would have killed my dad long before I ever reached that point.' Deeks paused, recalling the brief story Callen had relayed to him and Kensi, and one Kensi had sworn him to secrecy about a few years earlier. 'Rob was about the same age when he saw his foster dad beat his foster brother to death. About a year later he was sent to this family where the dad beat him with a broom handle. He said he was only there two weeks until he grabbed the broom and smashed it over his foster dad's head. They moved him because he was violent, not because he was abused or reacting to protect himself. He'd been in maybe ten different foster homes when we met and who knows how many children's homes. He just decided to look after me. Swore to protect me and he did. Before him, I used to go to school with bruises over my body. My teachers knew. I think a social worker even visited my mom once. They knew too. We're both proof the system doesn't work. If it wasn't for Rob I wouldn't be here now. Just wish I could have supported Rob in the same way.'

'There's a lot more to you than just a smart-ass surfer dude. I bet you were that sneaky kid that was the class clown and still got top marks in everything.'

Deeks smiled and looked in to the distance, brushing his long hair out of his eyes. Part of him wished he was having this conversation with Callen. They were getting on well and there had been no repeat of the attitude and awkwardness from their first day at the ranch. Deeks felt he had still not bonded with Callen on a deep, emotional level. He was still being kept at arm's length unlike Josh Lyneham. Strange, he thought. He almost felt jealous that his relationship with his new partner was so superficial. At least he had a deeper understanding of Callen through the odd story he'd heard. He was unsure if Callen was even aware of his own past he had buried it so deep. Deeks could relate to that and even though he could now open up to Kensi, he had a tendency to gloss over his childhood, to make light of it so he didn't have to go into details.

'If only you knew. Rob reckons I threw away my potential. I could've had a successful career in whatever I put my mind to. So I put my mind to being a bum who can't commit to relationships. Certainly am a success at that.'

Raider clapped him on the shoulder. 'Everyone here is a product of their environment. All messed up by the system in one way or another. Ex-military with no support, homeless because of the banks, starving young families who have to rely on food banks. There's even one man here who's wife died as they didn't have health insurance and couldn't afford any more treatment for her. I'm pretty sure he's here just waiting to join her in death. Heard a rumour one of the girls ran away to have an abortion after she was raped. Her home state refused to terminate the pregnancy. This country needs a wake-up call.'

'I agree, one hundred percent. I just have no idea how. We need to do something now.'

Raider lowered his voice to a conspiratorial whisper, even though there was no one else in earshot 'There are plans, Billy. There are plans for a campaign to show how unhappy America is. We need to Make America Decent.' Raider made quote signs around the last three words and witnessed a puzzled look cross Deeks' face.

'What? Is that like a group name? Make America Decent? You do know that abbreviates to M.A.D.?'

'Sure do. All my idea too and Josh absolutely loves it.'

'Yeah Lyneham strikes me as being a bit of a whack job. No wonder he and Rob are getting along so well. Weird sense of humour.'

'You sure there's not another long lost foster brother lurking around, coz it sure looks like Josh is the third one.'

'Ha,' Deeks was intrigued that others had picked up on the close bond that had formed between Callen and Lyneham and it was something he would have loved to talk about further. Now was not the time though. He had to get Raider back on the topic of M.A.D. 'So what's this campaign you're working on?'

'You might've heard about it. A few weeks ago we let off smoke grenades at the VA hospital, a realtors, navy recruitment offices. Just before you two arrived.'

Deeks' picked up on the last sentence and covertly studied Raider for any signs he thought it was a coincidence, that their arrival was literally days after the attacks in LA. Raider seemed oblivious and continued without an apparent second thought.

'No injuries and we never claimed responsibility. We're stockpiling for another assault. DuValle and Ariel are talking with Josh about the details. Rest of us just prepare and do what we're told.'

'You should throw in an assault a church. That institution's got a lot to answer for.'

'You still harping on about your failed marriages?'

'Well someone has to, either that or I need to dip my toes in the water again and if I do that, Rob is going to do more than just knock me to the ground. Says I sometimes need castrating, but only as women tend to find me irresistible.' Deeks quickly added, just in case Raider started to tar him with the same brush as DuValle.

'I can see that you've constantly had to fight off the women here since you arrived.'

'Got my eye on the finest woman here. Ariel's stunning.'

'Yeah, stunning and aloof. She's outta your league. Outa every man's here.'

'What's her story?'

'No idea really. She's pals with DuValle, who's pals with Josh. DuValle controls things here. He's like Josh's puppet master, pulling his strings and making him dance to his tune. Ariel's up there too although whether she's DuValle's boss? Can't really see that dipshit woman hater takes orders from Ariel.'

'Seems like a strange set up.'

'Certainly is,' Raider agreed. He scratched his head using the nail he was still grasping. 'She's been around a lot more than usual.'

'Maybe she's masterminding the campaign?'

'Maybe. The one person I do know is not masterminding this whole outfit is Josh. Whatever he thinks about himself and everything he's been through in life, he's easy to manipulate.'

'Really? No way. He's just like Rob and no one could ever manipulate him.'

'If you know which buttons to push, you can work people in whatever way you want.'

Deeks narrowed his eyes as he looked at Raider. He knew Raider's words were entirely true. He had witnessed it firsthand when he and Kensi went undercover in a cult. He was also well aware of the psychological techniques undercover operatives employed, and the Feds raised the bar far higher than he'd ever experienced with LAPD. He wondered about Raider's past. He knew he'd worked special ops as part of the elite Delta Force team and Deeks was curious as to whether he had worked jointly with the CIA. If he had, then he and Callen needed to be extra vigilant. Raider could be picking up on all different types of signals; body language, words, behaviour and timings. If he was suspicious then he could have alerted Lyneham and he and Callen might be the ones now being played. The one thing the partners did have going for them was the fact their aliases were based in truth and would stand up to scrutiny.

'Hm.' Deeks pretended to give it some thought. 'Maybe.'

Raider smiled and placed the nails and hammer on the floor. He looked at his already filthy hands and then ran them through his short cropped hair.

'What say we give this a rest. There's a couple of motorbikes in top barn. D'you fancy a road trip? We can make it to the ocean and be back in time for dinner.'

Deeks met Raider's smile with a broad grin of his own. 'I think we deserve a break. It's been pretty solid work this last few week. Y'sure Josh won't mind?'

'No - we're already ahead of schedule.'

'Cool.' Deeks decided against asking any further questions. The thought of a bike ride to the coast in the company of a man who may have questionable motives and morals was something he could genuinely tolerate, especially for the good of the case. 'I just wanna see the surf, bro.'

'I need to wash this crap off me. Meet you back here in ten.'

Deeks managed to catch Callen's attention on his way back to their rooms and just as Deeks was about to leave having freshened up, Callen arrived.

'What's up?' Callen questioned Deeks, wondering why he was no longer working and clearly ready for a trip out.

'I've hit the jackpot.' Deeks beamed, ready to rile Callen. 'Raider and I decided we've worked hard enough over the last few week. We're boosting the motorbikes from the barn and heading to the coast.'

Callen sighed and raised his eyebrows, and placing his hands on his hips he looked decidedly hacked off.

'Unbelievable. How did you manage that?'

'Must be my natural charm and good looks. I can hook the guys as well as the gals.'

Callen shook his head and grinned. 'Well have fun and remember to stay true to yourself.'

'Oh that reminds me.' Deeks turned serious and motioned for Callen to follow him out the rear of their rooms. It seemed that paranoia was indeed contagious or maybe he had just spent too much time in Callen's company. 'We know Raider was Special Ops but I'm wondering if he had ties to the CIA. We need to check that out.'

'What makes you think that?'

'He made a passing comment about how we turned up days after the attacks in LA and how easy it is to manipulate someone. He reckons Josh Lyneham is being manipulated by Ariel and DuValle. He reckons one or both of them are pulling his strings.'

'Check out the CIA link. Some former Delta Force end up in the CIA as part of Special Activities Division, so take extra care. Don't fall in to any traps.'

Both men turned serious as they considered the implications if Raider had been more than just a Delta Force Special Ops man. The afternoon could be make or break time for Deeks' alias and any fallout would land squarely on Callen, provided he lived that long to face the consequences. There was no backup plan, no task force and no partners to sweep in at a moment's notice and pull them out.

'Sure thing. You too G. Get closer to Lyneham.'

Callen looked up as Deeks used 'G' as a way to show he was also concerned without breaking cover.

'I can't get much closer without dating the guy!' Callen quipped to lighten the mood. 'DuValle and Ariel are due back later today so I'll work them.'

'And don't work too hard.' Deeks nodded and walked away from Callen. He could easily manage to stay in his alias, enjoy a bike ride and the ocean. It was Callen who had the hard task today, infiltrating the inner circle of DuValle - the misogynistic rapist - and Ariel, who was even more of a challenge to get to know than Callen.