Everything was going according to plan. Stone had been in position as the relief security officer from shortly before eight, with Ariel calling in sick on behalf of the now incapacitated guard. Thomason had turned up looking suitably nervous a few minutes later. No suspicions had been aroused and the usual guard had joked good naturedly and shown the pair the ropes, taking special care to take Thomason under his wing. Stone had easily slipped him the spiked water bottle and by mid morning Officer Lombard found himself frequenting the rest room, eventually unable to leave without threat of spewing everywhere. The elderly woman at the reception desk called his wife and he was collected before the clock had ticked round to eleven. She confided in Stone that she thought the chocolate cake Martha brought in to celebrate her sixty-fifth birthday had tasted a little off, and both Lombard and DuSuza had polished off the leftovers the previous evening. Stone voiced his agreement and promised he would not eat any homemade cake as he was fully expecting to have to return the following day. Food poisoning was a nasty business.

A quarter before twelve and Callen was in place as the second relief officer. They congregated briefly for a quick recon in the safety of the guards office, having purposely ordered Thomason to stand guard and greet staff and visitors to the building. The security officers communicated via radio handsets however both Stone and Callen wore tiny earwigs which were connected a communications hub located two blocks away in a dirty, dented van emblazoned with the name and logo of a local sewage company. Inside was the type of high-tech equipment that, although slightly inferior to the ops centre, would even make Eric envious. A coded message sent back to the van would be the flag for the building's camera feed to be hacked and replaced with one from the previous week, going back to before Stone arrived to protect all their identities. Everything on the IT front had been triple checked to ensure the replacement feed was suitable and would raise no alarms. Stone's face was already known to law enforcement, as was Rob Gladstone's. As a federal agent working for a covert branch of NCIS, Callen was already protected from face recognition software and Nell and Eric had to reverse engineer this to a certain extent, scrubbing Grisha Callen from all classified records and allowing Callen's face to return the result of one Robert Gladstone, a man who up to a point, shared a similar past.

Once an hour, Callen and Stone would swap places; one positioned just inside the building's entrance, the other scanning the monitors from the office. Thomason was on rota with Callen and mostly they stood in silence, broken when Callen instructed the young man how to do his job. There were short, friendly conversations with various members of staff, all small talk and nothing to arouse suspicion. The morning so far had been quiet and uneventful, which was expected. Thomason had regularly hacked in to the online diaries of welfare officers and social service managers over the last two weeks to ensure a minimum of interruptions. Home visits were scheduled and five of the social workers gradually disappeared as lunchtime approached and the team had agreed that on a quiet day, staff would take advantage and have an extended lunch. Callen watched a conservatively dressed woman in her early twenties walk out of the building. She exuded an air of self-confidence and superiority and he instantly took a dislike to her. She carried her briefcase and he knew from her ID badge and the appointments diary that her name was Ms Lucy Chivers and she had a home visit booked for one thirty. He checked his watch. She was leaving an hour and a half early for the twenty minute drive. Focusing on her lunch rather than the poor kids she was supposed to be looking after, he thought bitterly. The odds were there was maybe one diligent worker among them. He narrowed his eyes and an image of one Miss Marjorie Magnel suddenly filled his mind. She had looked a bit like Lucy Chivers, probably about the same age too. She was one of the short lived social workers assigned to him when he was fifteen, and one of the last. She was one hardnosed bitch. He had crossed her more than once and had lost his final battle when he was shipped off to another district for the final time. One last family and one last round of bruises. Callen released a breath he hadn't realised he was holding and berated himself. He was trained to see beyond the stereotype and not to reopen wounds that had long since faded. He checked in with Stone. All was quiet on the comms. It would be another forty five minutes before Deeks and Raider's teams of youths would start causing havoc in two separate locations.

Every four hours security patrolled the building, generally checking that staff were safe from errant visitors or 'cases'. Although security weren't technically law enforcement, it was clear that a uniformed presence sent out a specific message. Callen was on the midday shift with Thomason and they diligently floor walked, checking in on each office as well as the rest rooms, which contained closets for cleaning materials. Earlier that morning Stone had allowed access to one other person, an Hispanic woman named Maria who was also from the ranch. She had posed as a cleaner and taken boxes of cleaning supplies to each of the floors, depositing them safely and securely in the closets. The boxes contained smoke grenades and canisters of tear gas. All were hooked up to a digital timer preset to trigger at twelve forty-five. Callen ordered Thomason to stand guard just inside the door while he placed smoke grenades in the bins and pocketed one of the Mace sprays that had been included as a contingency for the team inside. He gave no hint he knew Thomason had betrayed him and instructed him to knock and enter the ladies whilst he stood guard. Within twenty minutes they had completed the positioning of bombs of tear and smoke gas and had patrolled the entire building, including the side entrance which lead to the rear parking lot and the refuse area. This was the evacuation and meeting area in the event of a fire. A further fire escape was located to the far right of the building and the team were under no illusions they may need to exit via the side, right or even the main entrance. Their exfil plan was loose and generally involved them escaping in the chaos they had created, when the tear gas temporarily blinded the remaining staff at the exits.

Callen turned to face the building, the sun warm on his back, the light glinting off the parked cars adding to the warmth. He inhaled and filled his lungs with fresh air. Building security was a boring job and he hoped he would never have the need to take up such a position when he finally quit NCIS. He still had a few years left in him, although he could not picture himself living a life that was not full of adrenaline. He watched Thomason nervously fiddle with his cuffs and then his belt. His actions made him look suspicious and Callen was torn between warning him and leaving him be. Security would be the first people the cops would want to interview and Thomason would then turn into a liability. He was about to approach him to offer advice when a police car turned into the lot and cruised to a stop in front of him. In the back seat was sullen looking teenage boy and sitting next to him was the social worker he had seen leaving earlier, Lucy Chivers. She'd been gone about half an hour. Callen could make out scratches and bruises on the boy's face and he brought his radio to his mouth and called Stone. It was fifteen minutes until it all kicked off and it was too late to abort. Their contingency plans did not factor in unexpected guests.

'Just checking in. LAPD have turned up out back. Two cops, one teenage boy about thirteen and that social worker Chivers.'

There was a pause as Stone digested the information. 'Copy that.' His voice cackled through the radio.

Seconds later the car's front doors slowly opened, the adults talking quietly whilst overtly looking at the boy. Callen heard the message loud and clear through his earwig from the nearby comms van, confirmed there was no change of plan and they were to proceed, no matter who was in the building.

Callen caught Thomason's eye and jerked his head towards the door, silently telling him to get inside, while he took a deep breath and walked over to the car.

Deeks had left the ranch around the same time as Callen. He looked and smelled homeless, right down to the veneer of bad teeth. When he became Artie he usually was able to disassociate himself from the loneliness and desperation that Artie represented. Today seemed to be different. He'd been poor as a kid and as a teen, supporting himself through college and before that, working part time to financially help his mother. He'd always had a roof over his head even if it meant he'd been on his own, particularly when LAPD froze him out for grassing on Boyle all those years ago. Undercover assignments could be lonely and dangerous and they frequently had been with LAPD. He thought again about the kids he would be actively encouraging to break the law, knowing they would have had a similar childhood to him and to Callen. Most of them had probably only recently escaped from their abusive family, escaped the system and mostly likely the police. He glanced at his battered watch. Everything came down to timings today. He had several hours to get in place, arm the kids with eggs and tear gas - that had been a last minute request he'd made. He could not think of how he and the kids could escape without being seen or caught. There'd been no interest in taking down nearby security cameras, so rather than risk being the fall guy, Deeks had carefully concealed smart black jeans and a blue t-shirt beneath Artie, and secreted away a baseball cap deep in one of the pockets. He was prepared to ditch Artie to escape, even though it pained him to abandon his disgusting outfit. He knew the kids could disappear into the homeless quarters of LA, blurring in with others like them and once again becoming invisible to the law. Deeks' hope was that by tossing a few tear gas containers, people would not be able to clearly identify any of them. It was not foolproof at all and Deeks was already starting to feel paranoid. He could not shake of an ominous feeling that started the moment he had woken to shouting in the early hours of the morning. As soon as he realised Callen was not sleeping in even the same building as him, his stomach had sunk and he knew it would be a bad day.

By the time he arrived at the rendezvous point he was sweating beneath his two layers of clothing. The battered rucksack he carried had not helped either. Raider had told him there was one leader among the teens, a female who went by the name of Toni. He doubted it was her real name and Deeks agreed. Toni had been given a loose description of Deeks, which was actually good enough for anyone to identify him. Over six foot with long, wavy, dirty blond hair, wearing a long, dirty, dark olive jacket and carrying a backpack that had seen better days. Deeks turned into a block of boarded up buildings to see small groups of youths hanging around. One lot sat on the floor, playing cards and drinking what looked like beer. Several others were standing around talking or kicking a flat soccer ball between them. An African-American girl looked up and gave him a nod which Deeks returned. Contact had been established and he hustled over, maintaining a distance of several yards as he stopped, gently dropped his bag on the floor. Making a show of how much his legs ached, he sat down and leaned back against the wall, waiting to Toni to bridge the final gap.

'Hey man, you got a light?'

Deeks raised his head and saw Toni standing next to him, alongside an Asian looking boy of about the same age.

'Sure,' he answered, pulling a box of matches from his pocket.

'Matches!' Toni pulled a face. 'That's so old school.'

'They don't trust me with a lighter,' he smiled, flashing yellowing and rotting teeth.

'Eww, you're disgusting,' the boy spoke.

'And that is why people stay away from me and how I become invisible. You could learn something from me, y'know.'

'We can be invisible when we want to.' Toni replied. 'You got the stuff?'

'Sure do.'

'Good. Then how about you tell us the plan so we are all invisible to the cops and feds when this goes to shit?'

'They never told you that bit then?' Deeks now had all the information he needed. He knew there was no contingency and it had really pissed him off. The ranch and community were meant to be all about making the voices of the unheard American's heard. Raising awareness of how the ever increasing capitalist society was looking after the rich. Banks were foreclosing when people lost their jobs, kids like these were falling through the cracks, vets were returning from active service and not getting the medical and psychological support they needed. And what had happened here? They were using and then discarding the very people that needed protection and support.

'No Sherlock, they didn't. Well? We ain't working if our reward is getting caught and being locked up.'

'Fair enough. We got just over an hour until this goes down. We need to scout out all the cameras in the area to find the blind spots.' Deeks paused to observe the boys and girls around him. They weren't overly bedraggled at all. They looked like normal, poor kids. He had some money on him, his rescue money to catch a bus out of town. It was only fair that he shared his escape plan with his new team, although first they would need to very quickly secure some changes of clothes so they could at least attempt to assume a different identity when trying to escape.

The ops centre had been particularly quiet ever since Callen had urgently warned Nell and Eric that he had to abandon and destroy his earwig and button camera, and that Deeks would be doing the same. Nell had become fraught with worry and it had taken Sam, Kensi and Hetty to remind her that Callen and Deeks maybe out of contact, but they were both experienced in the field of undercover work and would only ever have ditched their comms to maintain their aliases and for their own safety. It was anything but an ideal situation, particularly as they were aware where the next attacks would take place as Callen had managed to provide that information. The dates and times were unknown but presumably imminent. The target FBI and welfare offices were placed under surveillance using empty space in nearby office blocks. Unfortunately Callen had been unable to specify which strip mall would be attacked. Instead, camera feeds from all possible targets had been routed to NCIS and extra staff drafted in to the boat shed to monitor the feeds. Hetty had managed to secure the favours of a very senior intelligence analyst in Homeland Security and every day a military satellite passed over the ranch, snapping pictures and sending real-time footage back to ops. Nell and Eric scrutinised the valuable footage, the high resolution sometimes enabling them to make out individuals who they believed to be Callen and Deeks. This helped to allay the team's concerns for their safety and allowed them to develop a plan of action that could be executed within minutes once the attacks commenced.

'Nell, we've got an alert.' Eric remained focused on his screen, his heart starting to beating faster. 'It's Callen. Agent Johnston has a confirmed sighting of Callen dressed as a security officer entering the social welfare office.' He turned round to face Nell. 'It's going down today.'

Nell peered over Eric's shoulder at the image which had accompanied the call.

'Ooh his hair is long and he needs a shave.' She pushed her chair away from her work station and jumped up. 'I'll call up the guys, you get Hetty up here.'

'Roger that,' Eric replied and picked up the phone as Nell left the ops centre.

It had been quite a while since they had run a long term undercover operation and they'd been out of contact with Callen and Deeks for weeks now. Despite tiny snippets of imagery and intel, the case seemed to have dragged as they waited for a sign the attack was going down. That sign had now arrived and the tension in the air was palpable with the arrival of the rest of the team.

'What do we have?' 'Is that Callen?' 'Where's Deeks?' 'It's going down, right?'

The arrival of the Sam and Kensi brought a multitude of questions which were fired at Eric. He held up his hands to calm them down and advised Hetty was on her way up, at which point they would all be briefed together. Unfortunately there was not too much intelligence to be shared.

'Mr Hanna,' Hetty ordered. 'Don your LAPD attire and station yourself a few blocks away from Mr Callen's location. It is unlikely he will leave the building until the attacks are in progress, at which point you will need to make contact. Get close to him and get an update before allowing him to escape. Agent Johnston has been unable to confirm if any other occupants of the offices are part of the ranch's operation. You will have LAPD as back up but they are not read in to the mission. Miss Blye will wait here. I do believe it to only be a matter of time before Mr Deeks makes himself known to us, at which point you will need to back up your partner.'

Sam nodded his agreement and placed a reassuring hand on Kensi's shoulder before leaving.

'Why isn't Deeks with Callen?' Eric asked.

'They wouldn't want to place two newbies together,' Nell answered.

'There's less risk if they split them up.' Kensi continued. 'Besides which, if Callen looks like that then I'm pretty sure Deeks is now looking like some kind of wild, bearded Norse...'

'Hobo!' Eric interrupted.

'Well, that's a bit strong but sure, I guess-'

'No, I mean Deeks is dressed as a homeless man, I got traffic cam footage of him at a bus station on the outskirts of Skid Row.'

'Skid Row? Really?' Kensi questioned. 'That seems rather, erm, obvious?'

'Yes it does, Miss Blye. I can only think he is there to make contact.'

'Homeless kids,' Kensi closed her eyes momentarily. This case was affecting them all on a personal level. 'Nell, Eric, scan footage of the area for groups of kids hanging out. I think Deeks is going to hook up with them. Remember it was kids who egged the recruitment centre and realtors. And look for potential targets in the area, somewhere with maybe empty buildings nearby.'

'On it,' the pair responded.

'Miss Blye, I want you on the ground but it will be a difficult mission for you to protect your partner. Take your motorbike and a spare helmet in case you need to extract him. As with Mr Hanna, aim to make contact and allow his cover to remain intact.'

'I understand Hetty.'

'Then be off with you.'

Kensi smiled grimly and Hetty watched her practically run out of the room. The case had been hard on all parties, particularly for Sam and Kensi, knowing their respective partners were potentially in danger and they may not find out until bodies were recovered. They had all demonstrated an inordinate amount of faith in both their partners and in Hetty, as she continually resisted the requests to storm the compound and remove Callen and Deeks, along with the ringleaders of this new rise of domestic terrorism. It was of course a calculated plan, driven mainly by the satellite imagery and Callen's final coded message. She had called in support from LAPDs SWAT and Air Support Divisions. Both were on standby, with two choppers fully manned ready to swoop down and arrest those at the ranch if the op went sideways.

'Afternoon,' Callen greeted the LAPD officer and the social worker.

'Just,' was the disinterested response. The cop hauled the teenage boy from the rear seat of the car and pushed him towards Callen.

'Hold on to him, he's a slippery bastard. Will run the first chance he gets.'

Callen took the boy by the arm, witnessing a look of defiance and a slight flinch at his movements. The young teen was skinny with brown scruffy hair that touched his collar. The light, soft fluff of teenage facial hair peppered his upper lip and looking closer, Callen could see the scratches were probably a week old and the bruises around the cheekbone was faded. Quite unlike the deep purple mark on his jaw. He would have bet lot of money there were matching bruises on his arms and torso.

'Thank you. Officer...?' Callen said. He needed to get LAPD away from the building as quickly as possible. Then he would try to let the boy run and well, maybe he could get Lucy Chivers to give chase, although he doubted it. She might just have to suffer through the tear gas.

'Name's Officer Waters. Dylan's been up to no good. Again.'

'Well looks like someone's been giving him a good beating.' Callen stated as he turned back towards the entrance, pulling Dylan with him as firmly but gently as possible.

'Yeah, well that weren't me. Kid's just been released from custody and into the care of the social workers. Fat lot of good that will do him. Kid deserves to be locked away.'

'Thank you again officer.' Callen could not withhold the hint of sarcasm from his voice. 'We'll take it from here.' Without waiting for a response he turned away and guided Dylan towards the door.

'Hey, not so fast cowboy. Didn't catch your name.'

Callen rolled his eyes, stopped and turned to face Waters. 'Name is Hall, Jimmy Hall.'

'Ok, Hall.' Waters said. 'I'll be seeing you. Soon I'm sure.'

'Have a good day now,' Callen called back, breathing an inward sigh of relief as he heard the police officer close his door and start the engine.

'I'll need to book Dylan in. Take him to the Boardwalk room while I grab the paperwork.'

Callen stared after Lucy as she strode down the hallway. All the meeting rooms were named so as to have a calming effect on the children who attended; Boardwalk, Starfish, Meadow and Ocean. It may have helped the younger children but it made no difference to the older ones. Callen escorted Dylan to a comfortable room on the ground floor and sat the boy down in a chair by the door. Before closing it, he checked to see if Lucy was returning. It was all clear and Callen glanced at his watch. Ten minutes.

'You good?' He asked.

'What do y'think?'

'I think you're pissed off and the first chance you get, you're going to run. Am I right?'

'What do y'think?'

'I don't think. I know.' Callen held the boy's defiant stare. 'I want you out of here before that clock shows a quarter to one. You understand. You go and run as far and as fast as you can. No questions asked.'

Dylan narrowed his eyes and Callen swore to himself. He should have known better, those words would prompt any kid and some adults to ask questions.

'Why? And what's it worth for me not to tell old Chisel-face that you're a crooked cop?'

'Because first of all I'm not a cop and secondly, no-one will believe you over me.' Callen loathed to pull out such a line but he had no choice.

'What's it worth to you?' Dylan demanded.

Callen glanced again at the clock and then the door, pulling out a wad of notes from his wallet.

'Look here's fifty bucks. It's all I got and I will make sure you escape. Deal?'

Dylan snatch the money from Callen's hand and stuffed it into the inside pocket of his jacket. Seconds later Lucy Chivers entered with a handful of forms.

'Right, Dylan Murphy you know the drill. LAPD released you from custody after you were caught stealing from a shop. You're school reported you playing truant for the past week and your foster family confirmed you failed to return home for two nights out of the last seven. Do you have anything to say about such an eventful week?'

'Only that the week isn't over yet, Miss.' Dylan replied with a smirk.

'What about his bruises?' Callen asked Lucy. 'Do you know where he got them from?'

'Officer Hall, I do know how to do my job,' Lucy rebuked Callen. 'You may leave us now. Wait outside if you wish.'

Callen left the room without further comment and walked briskly round the corner to the security room where Stone was monitoring the cameras. Thomason was standing guard at the building's front entrance and he watched Callen enter the small office.

'Is everything set?' Stone asked warily, seeing a look of concern on Callen's face.

'Yes,' Callen replied grimly. 'The kid is a runaway and I'll let him escape so he doesn't get caught up in this. How many others are in the building?'

'Chivers, the woman covering the lunch period on reception and just some random workers and managers on the second and third floors. No more than ten.'

'The smoke grenades will go off on the third floor restroom first in four minutes time. Someone will check out the smoke and sound the alarm to evacuate the building. You lock the front so no one can get in, Thomason directs them to the rear exit at which point the tear gas canisters explode. That'll give me two minutes to hang the banner and set up and start the projector.'

'Check that, and the remaining grenades go off in the other restrooms at the end of those two minutes. You gotta be out by then and make sure you toss grenades into each floor as you clear them.'

'Will do. I've got a Mace in my pocket just in case. I'll get the kid out now.'

Callen left the office and nodded briskly again at Thomason, pointing to his watch. Timing was everything. He knocked rapidly on the closed door to the Boardwalk room.

'Miss Chivers, Officer Waters has just pulled up again. He said he found Dylan's bag in the rear of his car. Seems it contained a hidden bag of smokes that, well might not be smokes, if you get my drift?'

Lucy opened the door and Callen saw Dylan lean forward, aware his opportunity to run was almost here.

'He wanted to speak with you privately in more detail so he's waiting in the first floor office, erm, Starfish room.'

'Really, that man is incorrigible, a total jobsworth,' she murmured. 'Keep an eye on Dylan, I'll be a few minutes.'

Lucy walked out the door and nodded curtly at Dylan and waited until he heard the door to the stairwell close.

'Now,' he said. 'Out the same way you arrived and just run.'

'Ok, but man I wanna know what's going down.'

'Just go now and you'll be safe, trust me. Go.'

Dylan did not need telling again. He nimbly sidestepped Callen and ducked under his arm which held the door open. He ran swiftly to the rear exit and left the building. Callen softly closed the door and followed Lucy upstairs to the first floor. She was already leaving the room having failed to locate LAPD Officer Waters.

'Where the hell is he?' The blood started to rise in her face. Clearly Callen was about to face her wrath.

'I just came up to say that he got a 911 call and apparently went just after I left him. Did he leave the bag?'

'I don't know. And why have you left Dylan unattended? I told you to stay with him. If he's gone I'll have your badge for this. Blood rent-a-cops...'

Lucy stormed downstairs and Callen suppressed a smile. He glanced at the wall clock and stood still as he watched the second hand tick round to mark a quarter to one and the first smoke grenades were released.