"Oh, look who graced us with his presence," Jerry called out as he walked into the office where Deeks was completing the monthly duty schedule. "You've been spending so much time with your Fed friends, I thought you might have jumped ship."

"Yeah, because there's an ongoing case where they need my expertise," Deeks said with a smirk that had gotten him out of any number of minor scuffles in his younger days.

"Doesn't hurt that there's your lady agent friend there. What's her name again?"

"Nice try."

"It was worth a shot. So, is it safe to say you're smitten?" Jerry continued, not all dissuaded from his purpose. Deeks paused, debating if he should say anything. As much time as he and Deeks had spent together recently, they hadn't exactly discussed any parameters for their fledgling relationship.

Glancing over his shoulder to make sure there weren't any listening ears around, and lowered his voice.

"I've never met anyone like her before. She's fearless, says what's on her mind, has this insane laugh. It's actually more of a cackle than a laugh. The day she got trapped in that building, I swear she was ready to punch me out when I picked her up and carried her out of there."

"But then she got a good feel of those muscles, and she was a goner," Jerry teased. "She actually sounds a little like Monica."

"Hey, we do not go there," Deeks reminded Jerry with a jab of his finger. "She's nothing like Monica."

Jerry shook his head, looking fondly irritated. "Only you would stumble upon a hot federal agent, and actually start dating her."

"Speaking of said "hot" agent," Deeks said, picking up his phone as it started ringing. Jerry craned his neck to look over Deeks' shoulder, but he'd entered Kensi's contact information under KB. "Looks like they're in need of my expertise again." With a grin, Deeks put his phone to his ear.

"You know, you're really annoying when you're in love," Jerry said under his breath.

Kensi had given Deeks the address they thought Jason McHenry might be holed up in, but apparently needed his advice on some device they'd found.

She met him as soon as he pulled across the street from a small industrial building. She wore a vest and hand a rifle strapped to her right thigh.

"Kensi, what's going on?"

"We tracked McHenry here from his mother. You were right, she dropped a payment at a P.O. box yesterday. We took her in, and she eventually gave us this address," she explained. "We have people watching both exits."

"That sounds promising," Deeks said.

"It is. Except for the device rigged to the front door." Kensi led him to a small barricade set up nearby where he could see Agents Hanna and Callen standing. "Given his tendency to burn evidence, we used a camera to check and found this."

They'd reached the barricade by now, and Sam wordlessly handed him a small tablet. He and Callen both wore protective vests and were armed as well.

Tilting the screen away from the sun, Deeks peered at the captured image. There were a multitude of wires and other electrical pieces that made defining the device's purpose difficult.

"There's components similar to the last incendiary device you found, but this one does look like it's rigged to trigger when the door is opened," Deeks said slowly, enlarging the picture and working his way from one side to the other. "Yeah, there's a trigger of sorts connected to this wire."

"Can we disarm it?" Callen asked.

"Possibly. Though I'd need better imaging and possibly a live camera to be safe." Deeks looked up briefly to find all three agents watching him closely.

"You tell me where to cut and I'll do it," Sam told him confidently.

"Sam's our resident unofficial bomb defuser," Kensi explained.

"Mm, should I be worried that you have the need for a designated bomb defuser on the team?" he asked, focused on the picture once again.

"Ok, enough chitchat," Sam interrupted. "Let's get some more pictures and—"

"Wait!" Deeks pressed a hand to Sam's chest, physically holding him back. "There's a secondary fuse on a time control," he said, gesturing to the picture. "It's already been triggered. Everybody needs to move now."

"How long we got?" Sam asked.

"I have no idea," Deeks said, nodding towards the building. "It could be any second, especially with how long ago he must have triggered it."

"Alright, everybody evacuate," Callen ordered, gesturing for Kensi and Deeks to move ahead of him. Deeks heard Sam contacting someone over his radio and giving similar directions as they ran across the street.

They'd just crossed onto the opposite side when a massive explosion rocked the earth around them. Deeks heard Kensi shout his name as he was knocked to the ground, someone crashing into him as he fell.

A/N: Bet you weren't expecting that!

Once again, yes I know that this is not how things work. Just accept the modicum of procedurally stuff and pretend that it all makes sense.