"How could you lose him so quickly?" Kensi asked, walking the length of the alleyway for some clue. It occurred to her that she might be falling into a trap, but her need to fine Deeks override any self-preservation. He'd gone missing on her watch.

"I don't know," Eric answered, sounding both confused and tense. "Something must have happened to his phone. Damn it, I knew I should have given him a watch instead."

"Eric, there's no time for that now," Callen interceded. "Can you find video coverage around the club."

"I'm looking now."

"I'm checking traffic and surveillance cameras," Nell added.

Kensi said nothing, phone still pressed to her ear as she scanned the ground. The pair of dumpsters outside the kitchen exit door caught her and her stomach swooped with a sickening feeling. She approached them slowly, with an almost certain dread. Just as she reached to open the closest one, Eric announced,

"I found him. Well, video from one of the security cameras. A woman and a man were carrying Deeks and put him in the trunk of a car. It looked like Deeks was unconscious."

"He's alive," Kensi breathed out, almost weak with relief. "Where did they take him."

"We're still tracking the car," Nell answered.

"But Kensi, at least one of them is armed," Eric warned.

"Marie, if you kill me, you're going to have two murders linked with the club," Deeks stalled. Maria dropped the gun ever so slightly, her expression still unmoved, but he could tell she was at least listening. "A random customer is one thing, an employee is another. And I leave a lasting impression. There's going to be cops crawling all over the second they find my body."

"Not if they don't find your body," she replied calmly.

"That's relying on a lot of ifs. And let's face it, Marie, you're not the type to get your hands dirty. Otherwise, I'd have figured out you were the one behind everything a long time ago."

"Tell that to Mark Jackson," she hissed. Deeks had suspected as much; though it would do little good without a recording. Lifting the gun back to its original position, Marie smirked. "I think I'll take my chances."

Not a second later, the boom of doors being battered down split the air. Deeks instinctively rolled to the side as Marie took off in the opposite direction. Zeke made a grab for him, but Deeks kicked out, catching him at the knees and the other man went down hard.

Deeks nearly went down too as the room blurred around him unexpectedly. He clumsily fell to his knees, and the doors finally opened, revealing the NCIS team. With Deeks' growing haziness, it felt like something out of a movie, especially when Kensi race in still in her lacy dress and high heels.

"NCIS," Deeks heard Callen shout as they moved further into the room. Zeke tried to sit up again, but Kensi flipped onto his stomach with an impressive kick, then pressed the narrow heel of her stiletto into his back.

"I will happily shoot you if you move," she informed Zeke calmly. Personally, Deeks wouldn't have minded if he struggled a little. She cuffed him without issue, moving on to examine the ropes around Deeks' wrist.

Reaching under her skirt, she revealed a garter belt equipped with several pocket, and removed a reasonably sized knife.

"Wow, that's kind of hot," he murmured, shifting around so Kensi could cut the ropes and hopefully not him.

"You like that, huh?"

"It's almost worth getting bashed in the head," he agreed. Finally, his hands were loose and he shook them out, wincing at the tingling sensation.

"I bet you didn't expect me to save the day," she said, moving in front of him now.

"Did Callen and Hanna go after Marie?" he asked. "Apparently she's the mastermind behind all of this."

Kensi nodded. "Yeah, they're in their pursuit. I don't think she'll get very far." As she spoke, she gingerly touched the back and side of his head, where he'd been hit. Up until now, he'd mostly ignored the pain. With her touch and the reminder of hid injury, the throbbing came back in full force. "Wow, you're still bleeding quite a bit," she commented worriedly.

"That explains the dizziness. I didn't think there were three of you, though that wouldn't be terrible," he rambled. A wave of nausea had come over him, adding to the general feeling of awfulness.

"Ok, you're going to the ER," Kensi decided.

"Whatever you say, Nurse Kensi," Deeks mumbled, then promptly fell forward into her arms.