A dim nightlight illuminated the lower part of the upstairs hallway and Callen could make out five doors on either side. The first one on the left was ajar and without hesitation he barged the door open with his shoulder and instantly read the scene . He tackled DuValle to the ground, knife still in hand and they landed on the floor by the window. Callen held the knife to DuValle's throat as the man squirmed beneath him.

'Get Josh in here now.' He could hear Ariel's panicked breathing but didn't want to risk turning his head to make sure she was okay. He didn't want to give DuValle any opportunity to fight back. He heard Ariel leave the room and focused fully on DuValle.

'You bastard,' Callen hissed between gritted teeth. In one swift movement he shifted his body weight and rolled DuValle over to his stomach, grabbing his right arm and twisting it so far up his back that DuValle cried out in pain.

'You're the bastard,' DuValle said trying desperately to sound calm. 'And a liar, cheat, thief, murderer. I know all your dirty little secrets.'

'You disgust me.' Callen ignored DuValle's taunts and fought back with his own.

'Do I...G.' DuValle twisted his head round to catch Callen's eye, whispering the words as he did. 'I'll tell everyone here your biggest secret.'

'Bullshit,' Callen said.

'Sure you wanna go there?'

Callen wiggled so he could pin DuValle's arm in place with his knees, freeing his left hand to take a handful of DuValle's hair. He pulled back hard, revealing a wide stretch of neck. Once again he held the blade tight against his throat.

'Try me,' he whispered, 'I have no secrets.'

'You're-' DuValle spluttered as Callen exerted enough pressure to draw a trickle blood.

'What? A murderer, a killer? You won't be the first man whose throat I've slit, all for the greater good of course, and you won't be the last.'

Callen's right hand gripped the knife tighter as he slowly started to draw the blade towards DuValle's windpipe.

'Stop!'

Ariel had fetched Josh Lyneham as instructed and Callen faltered, loosening the pressure ever so slightly. He looked round and saw her standing behind Lyneham and Raider. Her face was streaked with tears and already there was a swelling around her left eye. She looked angry and defiant. Callen switched his attention back to DuValle. He had ended plenty of lives during missions with various agencies but this delay meant he was thinking rather than reacting instinctively. He had no idea what secrets DuValle thought he knew but Callen realised his chance to kill him had now passed.

'Why?'

'Ariel has evidence of his last assaults and we've used that to keep every girl here safe. We needed his contacts to get us off the ground. After tomorrow we can leave him for the cops. He'll be in prison for the rest of his life or until the other cons find out he's a paedophile.'

Callen shook his head slightly and narrowed his eyes, staring at Ariel. He could barely believe the words he was hearing. There was nothing in DuValle's records that even hinted at sexual abuse against children; his victims had all been women in their twenties and thirties, and yet Ariel had evidence of this which she withheld for their...cause? Callen felt his blood boil and his temper flare. He could not believe what he was hearing.

'You knew he was abusing kids and you let him into a place like this, with vulnerable women and children so you could what? Use him? That's twisted and sick.' Callen could feel blood dripping over his hand as he subconsciously increased the pressure of the knife against DuValle's throat.

'I know,' Ariel said, staring down at the floor. She looked up and took a deep breathe, holding Callen's eyes in a steely gaze. 'Do what you have to.'

Callen faltered again. He now had witnesses and was being given free rein to kill DuValle. This would be cold-blooded murder. Premeditated. There would be no comeback. The temptation was there but he had a line he could not, would not cross. More footsteps raced up the stairs and halted just inside the room.

'Rob, no!' Deeks called out. Callen felt a firm hand on his shoulder and he flinched, resisting the urge to shake it off. 'Come on man, this isn't you. Let him up.'

Callen let go of DuValle's hair, letting gravity take over and took a little delight as his head fell heavily against the wooden floor. Standing up he glanced at his bloody knife now hanging from right hand, tiny droplets of blood tapping as they landed on the floor. He looked back to DuValle and finally stared at the others, his brief reverie broken with gasps and grunts from DuValle who struggled to his feet, pressing his fingers to his neck.

'You're a fucking psycho.' DuValle spat.

'If I was I'd have finished the job.' Callen retorted.

'You're gonna pay for this. But I should've remembered you're really a lying coward. Never could commit and finish anything, could you G.'

'It's either Gladstone or Rob. Billy's the only one who can call me that.'

'Oh, why are you so protective over a letter? Not like it's a real name.'

'Shut up,' Deeks snapped. He had quickly assessed the situation and could only assume Callen had followed DuValle into the ranch and prevented him from attacking Ariel. He didn't think he had ever seen Callen use a knife as a weapon and couldn't believe his eyes when he had burst in to the room. He also had to quickly move everyone's attention away from DuValle and his fixation with Callen and the letter G. 'What are we gonna do with him?'

'Tie him up, gag him and throw him in the cell,' Lyneham said. 'We'll deal with him after tomorrow's mission.'

Deeks and Raider grabbed DuValle and shoved him towards the door. He turned back towards Callen.

'I know who you are and what you are, don't you forget that.'

'I really don't care.' Callen turned away and walked to the curtained window. 'I'm no-one.'

'But you're not, are you?'

'Jeez,' Callen spun round and paced back to DuValle. 'What the hell are you on about?'

'Will you just stop this!' Lyneham shouted. 'Rob, what the hell is all this? Does Anton have anything on you?'

'No, he's just bullshitting to save his own life.' Callen sighed.

'Well Anton?'

'His real name is Grisha Aleksandrovich Nicholaev Reznikov and he's a cop.'

'Sounds more like a Russian spy.' Deeks shook his head and laughed. 'Rob is not a cop, a spy, a Russian, an Alaskan or even a fed. I think you banged your head too hard, Anton.'

Lyneham shared a look with Callen who gave a slight nod. He'd prepared for this moment weeks in advance. There was always a slight chance either his or Deeks' covers could be blown in an oblique way, that Thomason's hacking skills might break through in the depths of the aliases created by the wonder twins. It was also why Hetty had wanted their alias' childhoods to be as similar as possible to their real childhoods.

'I know,' Lyneham said, nodding towards DuValle. 'Take him away.'

DuValle stood wide-eyed in shock. He looked at everyone in the room, catching the puzzled looks on the faces of Ariel, Deeks and Raider.

Everyone suddenly spoke at once, and Lyneham had to shout to make himself heard and to return order.

'Take Anton, tie his hands behind his back, tie his ankles together. Chain him in the cell and gag him. Meet back in the kitchen and I'll explain everything.'

'Josh, no...you have no idea...' DuValle tried in vain to defend his position as he was jostled out the door by Raider and Deeks.

His voice could clearly be heard even after he was outside and Callen wished he'd been gagged before leaving the room. It was pretty much a dead cert that almost everyone in community would been woken by DuValle's shouting. He glanced down at his bloody switchblade and wiped it on his jeans, staining the dark denim with patches of crimson. Snapping it closed, Callen shoved it in his front pocket and joined the others in the kitchen.

When the team were gathered around the table with mugs of warm milk, hot chocolate and coffee in front of them, Lyneham nodded at Callen.

'When I was eight, social services took me to their offices and told me a man had filed a missed child report. The man was called Nikita Alexander Reznikov and the kid he was looking for was Grisha Aleksandrovich Nicholaev Reznikov. For some reason they thought that was me, based on my age, when I went into the system and some old photos. Apparently this dude abandoned his son and daughter in Europe and they were sent them to America.'

'His son and daughter? But you don't have a sister.' Deeks interrupted. This aspect of Callen's alias was new to him and he wondered whether something had deliberately been placed in Callen's file just to manage such a situation. He wouldn't put anything past Hetty. At least his own reaction was genuine. 'And why did you never tell me.'

'What's to tell? Social workers asked me loads of questions, decided I wasn't Russian or some illegal European child immigrant and told this Reznikov to stay away from orphaned kids or he'd be arrested. Guess there's still some record of this somewhere.'

'But you speak Russian?' Raider asked.

'I lived with a Russian foster family before Billy joined me. I spent time in Russia with the military and yes I sometimes drink vodka. I also speak a lot of other European languages. I'm fluent in German, was stationed there for six months and I love beer. My eyes are blue and when I was a kid my hair was so blonde it was almost white. Does that make me German?'

'Thomason came to me with the same information two days before Rob mentioned it in conversation. We were talking about names, identities...But it seems like Thomason has also been feeding intel to Anton.' Lyneham filled in the gaps.

'But what about him being a cop?' Raider persisted.

'Really? Do I look act or speak like a cop? I've planned most of tomorrow's attack and...' Callen paused, not really wanting to admit to himself how close he had come to crossing the line. 'And I almost killed DuValle

'I don't think seeing the inside of prison cells actually counts a being a cop.' Deeks said sarcastically. 'It's generally known as being a prisoner.'

Raider held his hands up in defeat, breaking a smile across his face as if to say, no harm no foul.

'I have no answer for that one. I am what you see.' Callen admitted, thinking that he was exactly who he wanted them to see and was thankful the veneer was still intact.

'Look, everyone knows how closely we scrutinise all newcomers and how many ways we have to access classified, redacted and sealed records. Rob and Billy stay. Anton goes.' Lyneham stated the facts and was met with the full support of everyone else, including Ariel.

'What we doing with DuValle?' Deeks broached the elephant in the room once again.

'Let's focus on making tomorrow successful. Then we can deal with him.' Ariel said. She had washed her face and now looked pale and drained, with a red patch around her left eye where she had gingerly been applying an ice pack. 'It's just turned three and we all need to be back here for half seven. Try and get some sleep. Goodnight.'

Deeks woke with the break of dawn, early sunlight slithered through the cracks in the curtains and he opened his eyes. No Callen. No surprise. He glanced at his watch and groaned, it was way too early, especially when there wasn't a beach nearby or his beautiful ladybird sleeping beside him. At least he hadn't opened his eyes to see a sleeping Callen, he thought with a rueful smile, that would have totally thrown him. He rubbed his eyes and memories of the night's adventures tumbled into his mind, causing him to scramble out of bed and wonder where the hell Callen actually was now.

'Rob?' He shouted, opening the bedroom door and expecting to see a steaming mug of coffee and his partner fully dressed with a smirk on his face. Instead the room was empty.

'Really?' Deeks muttered. 'No wake up call, no coffee...Great big brother you are. After last night I can't believe you've gone off again without me.'

He could hear movement outside and paused, studying the living room and kitchenette. There was no sign of Callen at all, not even a used cup on the side. Deeks glanced at his watch and scowled. This was not a good omen. His so-called partner was shutting him out. Again. He made a mental note to hold some serious conversations with Sam, Hetty and Callen. Maybe he would even drag in Nate. How the hell could he watch Callen's back if he had no idea where he actually was. Deeks grabbed a towel and headed for the shower, hoping a blast of cool water would refresh his mood.

At a quarter past seven the ranch and all outbuildings and lodgings were buzzing. There was an expected air of excitement and adrenaline was already running high. Too high for Deeks' liking. A healthy breakfast was laid out for those who wanted to help themselves and Deeks grabbed a cereal bar and a glass of juice.

'Where's Rob?' He asked Raider. He still hadn't seen his errant partner since events from the early hours and was starting to get concerned. If this was another one of his disappearing lone wolf tricks though, Deeks didn't think he would be able to control his temper.

'He's upstairs. Be down soon.'

'Upstairs? What's he doing there? And how long has he been there?'

'Some kind of powwow with Lyneham and Ariel.'

'Great,' Deeks muttered. At least he knew that Callen hadn't upped and left him.

True to his word, Callen turned up five minutes later, accompanied by both Lyneham and Ariel. All three were freshly showered and dressed, and they all looked tired.

'Where've you been?' Deeks asked Callen as the trio walked downstairs.

'Here, where d'ya'think?' came the short response.

'You sleep here or something?' Deeks felt his voice take an accusatory tone. He wasn't sure if it was lack of sleep, his unpredictable partner or the concern they would be left in play after the day's attack.

'I don't think any of us slept, although I could still hear you talking in your sleep.' Callen could sense Deeks' mood. He sometimes forgot that they did not have the same partnership as he did with Sam, although he would have to admit that the big guy might have been a bit pissed too, considering. He broke into a smile as he walked towards Deeks, clapping him on the shoulder as he passed, sitting down at the table.

Deeks returned the smile, recognising the covert apology from Callen and answered, 'I do not talk in my sleep.' He said indignantly.

The next twenty minutes were used sparingly, reiterating the day's plans and each person's area of responsibility. Ariel confirmed that Stone had set out early and intercepted one of the security officers to the welfare office. The shifts were eight to eight, standard twelve hour shifts and Callen was due to relieve another 'sick' guard mid-morning. Ariel had insisted a third guard be placed and a rookie learning the ropes had turned up just before eight. The rookie was young hacker Thomason, DuValle's man on the inside. They had all agreed DuValle forced him into betraying the community and the general consensus was he should be removed from the ranch. Everyone knew DuValle had tried to attack Ariel although the general populous were unaware of Thomason's involvement. It had seemed safer to place him under the watchful eye of the field team and the role of a rookie security guard in the presence of Stone and Callen, was an ideal solution. They just had to ensure he was successfully extracted with them as he would definitely crack if caught and interrogated.

During the previous week, a dozen new homeless children between the ages of eleven and fifteen had arrived in central LA. They had been instructed to congregate a few blocks away from a strip mall that housed a realtor's office, a local bank branch as well as the usual 'ma and pa' stores. The homeless population of the area was high and the gathering of a few youths would draw very little attention from anyone, provided they kept to themselves. Deeks was told to make himself look more hobo-like and to set his cleverly battered but fully functioning watch to sync with the others. He looked at Callen with a broad smile and a twinkle in his eyes. Callen closed his eyes momentarily and shook his head. Deeks knew how much his homeless Artie routine annoyed the other agents and he revelled in the moment as he silently wound up Callen. As much as Artie's success impressed them, it always saddened Deeks when he donned Artie's jacket. It was a sobering reminder of how easy it was to be forgotten by society and become invisible. It was obviously the very reason why Deeks and on occasion Callen had used Artie to get close to target buildings and sometimes people. The smile dropped from his face as he thought about the children being used. Sure they weren't innocents and some might argue they weren't even children. Old enough to know better and in days gone by - and not so long ago either - some of the teenagers would have been classed as adults. Deeks had no idea how he was going to protect them from the wrath of the law, or even if he could. He knew that if fate had twisted his life differently, he could have been one of those kids. He was sure Callen had spent time living rough. Someone with his background would have run away from home aplenty. And then there was Kensi. It broke his heart to think of how sad, lonely and desperate she must have felt after her father died. A year for a teenage girl on the streets. If nothing else, he thought, it helped shape Kensi into the tough and compassionate woman he loved, and suddenly missed dearly.

'Hey! Billy!' Deeks was jolted back to reality as a bread roll smacked the side of his head. He looked up sharply and saw everyone staring at him. Raider had a stupid grin on his face, clearly the one who was into throwing food.

'Yeah? What?'

'Last round up,' Lyneham asked seriously. 'Any last questions? Anyone unsure of timings, places, contingency plans?'

He stared at Deeks who shook his head and murmured no, and continued to take in the faces of everyone else.

'In that case, let's get started.'