Callen walked casually along quiet roads, ducking into alleys and recessed doorways when the sound of a siren seemed too close. He had long abandoned the security officer's shirt and was now clad in the white t-shirt he had worn underneath. Likewise the cumbersome and noticeable utility belt had been discarded. The look wasn't ideal but it was the best he could muster under the circumstances. He had earlier caught a glimpse of his reflection in an empty car window, causing him to pause and study his face. The image wasn't encouraging, although he at least acknowledged the cuts and bruises on his face would look and feel worse the following day and provide more credibility to his escape from police custody. There was a fail-safe rendezvous where anyone who had not managed to escape through pre-prepared routes could gather. Should the surveillance in place prove that person had not been followed, they would be picked up and transported safely back to the ranch. He was one block away from the long abandoned warehouse, where an empty and unlocked van would be waiting inside. The eyes on the building would only allow the 'exfil' team to enter after an hour and he approached the warehouse's side entrance with caution. He entered and paused, allowing his eyes to adjust to the gloom. No one else was present and an old white transit van sat in the middle of the space, a faded phone number and emblem for a long out of date plumbing company painted on the side. Callen opened the driver's door and was not surprised to see the keys were missing. The thought crossed his mind that he could hot wire the van and drive himself to the ranch, but that was not the plan. There was nothing else he could do so he climbed into the front seat and waited.

Sam had earlier updated him that Kensi had made contact with Deeks, who was fine. Their own events had then taken over and Callen was sure - although not one hundred percent certain - that Deeks had not been pulled from the op. He was grateful his new partner was safe, for the time being at least but he was ambivalent as to whether he should have been sent back in to the ranch. If Callen's cover was been blown, it stood to reason Deeks' had been too and his life could be in danger. Callen was not there to ensure his partner remained safe. Sometimes it sucked having a partner, Callen thought grimly. Undercover life was so much easier when you only had yourself to worry about. Escape and evade, living in the shadows and disappearing from the grid, were all skills Callen had learnt in his teens to evade social workers, certain foster families and the law. He always found it ironic that as he worked his way through various alphabet agencies, he perfected and was lauded for these very skills, utilising them to trick and capture the lawbreakers, all whilst in the guise of a criminal. Of course he still used these techniques in his personal life, particularly when he needed to protect those closest to him. He drummed his fingers on the van's dash, bored already. The glove compartment was empty, as was the rear of the van. There was nothing for him to tinker and Callen tried to focus on who tried to kill him and why. His thoughts quickly became jumbled and his head started to throb lightly. Callen sighed switched to the driver's seat, ripping out the wires and touching them until the engine ignited with a roar. Satisfied he could make a quick getaway if needed, Callen leaned back and closed his eyes.

Deeks arrived safely at the ranch an hour after he left Kensi. She quickly filled him in from her brief conversation with Sam, which had left him wondering if Thomason was more than just the recipient of DuValle's blackmail. He had ample opportunity to switch out tear and smoke grenades for actual bombs, planting them on whichever floor he damn well liked. If so, there was every chance that he and Callen's covers were still intact and the ranch was about to implode from within. Whichever way, he felt an tingle of anticipation. The mission was quickly coming to a head and the fallout could be costly. His contingency plan for the waifs and strays had worked; as far as he knew they had all escaped arrest. He knew Callen would have to wait for safe passage back to the ranch, once whoever the driver was, could be satisfied there were no tails, meaning his return would not be until late afternoon. Everyone else had made it back without incident and Deeks restlessly hung around outside the front of his and Callen's rooms. Deeks had missed the return of Stone and Thomason, and had been warned by Ariel against approaching them. In fact they were all holed up together, no doubt unravelling the earlier events at the welfare office. Raider claimed to have no knowledge about anything and Deeks' efforts to quiz the man were in vain and he had given up. Instead he retreated inside and turned on the small TV, concentrating on the news reports.

The focus was on the bombing and how all three security guards were new to the building that morning and conveniently, were now all missing. The reporter, a tall, slim man, intent with emphasising the seriousness of the act, laboured on the point that one security officer was still inside at the time of the blast and surmised the team was not a professionally trained outfit. Witnesses, through clouds of smoke and weeping eyes (the reporter again directing his viewers to empathise with the innocent injuries of the kind-hearted social workers, in contrast with the cruel acts by the perpetrators), recounted how an LAPD officer had dragged the security man out of the building in handcuffs. Full scorn was poured on the ineptitude of the police after his charge later escaped LAPD custody. The reporter revealed a half burned banner was found hanging on the wall of the second floor however there was no mention of the film Callen was supposed to have left playing. Deeks wondered if this had strategically been withheld from the media to limit any spread of fear the words 'domestic terrorism' may have on the local population. The bombing had easily been connected to the blasts at the VA hospital, which to Deeks, now seemed an eternity ago. The use of older children egging buildings and cemented the link and he was pleased that only one of his teenage gang were reportedly caught, although that was one too many in his mind. He liked to think it would allow them to start over but in reality he knew the kids would be sent to juvie and from there continue a downwards spiral into a life of crime. Even if they were lucky enough to escape with a probation order, reunited with blood relatives or placed with a foster family or in a group home, it would not be long before they were on the streets again. Deeks considered himself lucky that he never ended up in that position after shooting his father all those years ago. He remained seated for a minute, thinking about his next move, or rather about Billy's next move before he made a decision.

Deeks barged into the ranch's building and marched through to the kitchen, a stony look on his face.

'Where's my brother? I know you came back without him so why the hell haven't you told me what happened?'

There was a conspicuous exchange of looks between Lyneham, Ariel and Stone which immediately heightened Deeks' senses and made him feel genuinely angry. Raider and Thomason wore sheepish expressions and guiltily stared down at the table in front of them, cradling their bottles of beer. Did they really think so little of him and Callen? Lyneham stood and moved to Deeks, patting his shoulder in a friendly gesture which the detective interpreted as patronising.

'He's on his way, be here in about an hour.' Lyneham said.

'You haven't answered my question.' Deeks persisted. He was curious to know what story they would actually tell. His earlier conversation with Kensi and ops only revealed the very basics and the news report he watched was full of supposition; a mixture of leaked and official information and a small dose of imagination. Pointing at Stone, he continued. 'Why are you here and he isn't?'

'One of the smoke bombs turned out to be a real bomb, like explosives.' Stone answered, holding Deeks' stare. 'Rob was still working his way through the floors when it went boom.' Stone paused, maybe for dramatic effect, Deeks was unsure. 'Thomason and me were already at the exit. If we'd gone back we'd have been caught too.'

'So you left him. He could have been lying there injured or worse...'

'He knew the risks and the rules.' Ariel spoke calmly. 'He's not injured, he made it to the rendezvous point and he's on his way back as we speak. Considering how he broke the rules last night...'

'...yeah and by breaking them he saved your life.' Deeks interrupted. He couldn't believe what a cold hearted bitch Ariel was proving to be.

'And I accepted the risks posed by Anton.'

Ariel was not to be beaten on the point and Deeks had no interest in pursuing such a battle. He decided to ignore her.

'Who planted the explosives and how did they get them?' Deeks asked.

'That's what we're trying to find out?' Stone answered.

'So you can get your stories straight before...' Deeks almost said Callen then, his emotions real as he was suddenly struck by how close to the line today had been. '...before my brother walks back in here, half blown up and guaranteed to be as pissed as hell?'

'No Billy,' Lyneham spoke softly, again placing his hand on Deeks' shoulder. 'I'm trying to get to the bottom of this so I can apologise to your brother and root out the psycho that tried to sabotage our mission, murder Rob and undermine everything we all believe in.'

Deeks had no answer to those words. The physical touch and the genuine emotion from Lyneham melted away Deeks' anger and for a moment he forgot the man was suspected of leading this terrorist group and ordering the theft of military weapons, stockpiling bombs, fire arms, drones and probably much more. He wondered if this was why Callen was so - almost smitten by him. A shared past and a magnetic personality could have a devastating effect on anyone who came into Lyneham's sights. Deeks murmured an acknowledgement and filed away that thought for safe keeping.

Sam was not in a good mood. In fact the rest of the team had never seen him so pissed off. His eyes were still red and stinging from the pepper spray and he had slammed his bag on to his desk in the bullpen. Hetty realised it was mostly his pride which was dented and called him into her office for a long chat, during which Sam fully relayed all the details of his encounter with Callen, and recalled their conversations word for word. Hetty questioned Sam about Callen's head injury, permitting Sam to vent before she pointed out that a seeming innocuous head injury could, on occasion, be extremely serious. Hetty visibly flinched when Sam described how Callen, once cuffed, asked Sam to hit him several times, hard enough to leave cuts and bruises. Callen took the first hit to his face, leaving him with a cut lip and the second knock would later develop into a black eye. The punch to the ribs had caused him to double over and Sam had originally thought his partner had been exaggerating. Sam's anger and pride quickly took a back seat as guilt overtook him. He appreciated the journey Hetty had shown him, particularly when he remembered Callen could barely walk straight when Sam marched him to the police car. He honestly admitted to Hetty that it hadn't even crossed his mind that his partner might not have been faking his reactions and injuries.

Hetty allowed Sam a few minutes alone with his emotions before heading up to ops where the rest of the team were waiting, relieved to see that Sam had now calmed down. Eric in particular stared at the state of Sam's eyes and there was a general air of disbelief that his partner had taken such drastic action. Hetty moved in front of the team and began her address.

'The DOD has this afternoon received a series of video clips from an anonymous source. The clips appear to be from a ranch on the outskirts of Los Angeles and based on the information and events from earlier today, they saw fit to liaise with Director Vance who quite rightly assigned it to our office. Miss Jones, if you would be so kind?'

Nell took her cue from Hetty and clicked play on the iPad, casting a static image on to the large screen. Sam and Kensi waited patiently for the show to start. The sound began a few seconds before the images appeared and they instantly recognised the voice of their team leader.

'What about the cameras? What about other appointments or clinics they hold? Emergency situations with vulnerable kids?...

...

'What's your idea, genius?'

'Take at least one of the guards out of play. Intercept one on the way to work and replace him with one of us. Then we spike the other guard's drink to make him sick and intercept the call for a replacement. Now you have two fake guards on site. Hack the camera feed and take it down. Replace with one from the previous day or week...

...

We can make our voices heard and get rid of abuse in the welfare system, make sure vets have the medical and psychological support we need to adjust to civilian life. This is the perfect platform to make people listen and make change happen and I want to be a part of it.'

'Sounds like Mr Callen has cemented his alias very well.' Hetty said. 'Too well it seems, as the DOD is reconsidering the phone call they received about Anton DuValle.'

'What phone call?' Kensi asked. She leaned back against the interactive table and considered Hetty's words and the scene which had played out before them. There had been multiple camera angles and she witnessed Deeks sitting quietly with the rest of the team. The timestamp on the tape confirmed the events had taken place the day after they met up on the beach. She shared a look with Sam and saw a similar look on his face. They both dreaded the answer they expected to hear from Hetty.

'Please, prepare yourselves for the next clip. Nell?'

The screen went dark before flickering to black and white, revealing Ariel asleep in a double bed. Seconds later the door opened and a man - Anton DuValle - entered. He paused slightly then moved quickly to the bed, pouncing on top of her and smashing his fist into her face. The team could see her struggling, the whites of her eyes visible. The door opened again and Callen flew in, a glint of light flashing from the blade of his knife. He knocked DuValle to the floor and held a knife to his throat.

'You bastard.'

You're the bastard and a liar, cheat, thief, murderer. I know all your dirty little secrets

'I know what you were going to do and I know what you've done. Those poor girls in the ports, their disappearances. All of it. You're a rapist, a murderer and a coward. Maybe I should just kick your balls so far up inside you you'll never see them again.'

'Yeah, you just do that...G. And I'll tell everyone here your biggest secret.'

'Bullshit.'

'Sure you wanna go there?'

The clip went silent as Callen grabbed DuValle by the hair, forcing his neck back and pressing the blade tighter against his throat. Callen leaned towards DuValle, clearly whispering.

The words were inaudible to the team watching in the ops centre and subconsciously they leaned forward in a vain attempt to hear.

'You're a -'

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

Callen's arm started to move and the knife was seen to slowly draw across DuValle's throat.

'Stop!'

Josh Lyneham entered the frame from the left and remained just in shot.

'Why?'

The screen suddenly went black. The speakers were filled with the sound of a female screaming and men yelling amidst the noise of a quick scuffle.

'There's one last audio only clip,' Hetty advised the team and signalled to Nell.

'Thank God. I've been waiting for you to get me outta here.' DuValle's voice came through the speakers.

'Think again.' The team instantly recognised Callen was now speaking. 'I'm here to finish what I started.'

'What? Where's...'

'He's being looked after. No one else cares.'

'You can't...No...'

No more words were spoken. The sounds of a struggle lasted several minutes and the team pictured the punches and grunts as dictated by the noises. A low sudden click came through the speakers, the sound of a switchblade swiftly opening, followed by a loud gurgling noise, coupled with large, harsh coughs and gasps for breath that never seemed to end. Eventually the clip concluded with the sound of a door closing.

The team exchanged looks of disbelief. They were all aware of the risks which undercover operations entailed. The most dangerous work required them to dive deeply into their legend, allowing themselves to connect with some vestige of darkness usually buried so deep most do not even know of its existence. Long repressed primitive instincts resurface, causing conflict with the highly ingrained moral conscience of the undercover agent. There were lines they did not cross and the team did not doubt for one second that Callen had stepped over.

'That's bull and you know it.' Sam said.

'Of course it is Mr Hanna,' Hetty replied calmly.

'He must have known he was being filmed. It's clearly staged. And the last one...no visuals and we all know how easily audio can be spliced together.'

'But which elements are staged? That is the question.' Hetty continued. 'And did Mr Callen realise he was being filmed? Eric I want you to analyse every nano-second of that recording. And most importantly Nell, I want you to work with Nate to analyse the potential consequences for both Mr Callen and Mr Deeks.'

'The consequences are not good, Hetty.' Sam stated. 'Anyone can see that. Callen's cover is blown. That explains why they tried to blow him up today.'

'And by extension so is Deeks'' Kensi added. 'This was a strategic move. The op has gotten way out of control Hetty. We need to breach the ranch and pull them out now.'

'I agree! I knew I shouldn't have gone along with his hair-brained plan.' Sam twisted away from the screen to face the rest of the team. 'He never mentioned any of this earlier, not a word. Why not? Does he even know how much danger they're in?'

'You said he had no idea about the explosions in the welfare building, so of course he realises something's wrong.' Kensi said. 'You know Callen would never have let you pull him out, not with Deeks still under and not when the mission isn't complete. And the end of that clip doesn't show Callen killing DuValle, it's just words. If he had been forced to do anything like that, he would have told you Sam, and if he hadn't you'd have seen it in his face.'

Sam looked at Kensi. They were well versed in the dangers of any undercover operation, particularly long term ops. Protocol had to be followed and the team had already taken several risks with Callen and Deeks; the first one when they were forced to ditch their comms.

'This was sent to DOD to implicate Callen.' Nell pointed out, keen to get back to her specialist role of intelligence analyst. 'The clips show he's the one making decisions, not following them. He's leading them into criminal acts. Callen is presented as unstable and dangerous. If they know he's an undercover agent then they're looking to place the blame on him and shift the focus away from themselves. Even if they don't know, the outcome is the same, just with less impact. We all know there's nothing the media loves more than an undercover federal agent gone bad.'

'You are quite right Miss Jones. The DOD has given us twenty four hours to bring this operation to a conclusion. If we don't, they want us to issue a warrant for the arrest of Agent Callen on charges of domestic terrorism, murder, treason and probably a whole lot more they are making up as we speak. Now do what you do best. Breach the ranch, arrest everyone and keep me apprised.'

Hetty walked slowly out of the operations centre and back down the stairs to her office. She knew the mission was going to be tough for both Callen and Deeks and she would defend her agents to the end. From what she could see, the pair had been doing a damned fine job. Hetty had no qualms about DuValle; she knew Callen would only do what was absolutely necessary. She was concerned that everything had apparently been caught on tape and selected extracts forwarded to a federal agency focused on domestic terrorism. The selected extracts meant there was more to the story than they were permitted to see and that worried her. Her job now was twofold; pull out her agents whilst arresting the rest of the crew and proving Callen's innocence.