It happened more quickly than Deeks could react to; an arm hooked around his neck from behind while someone else grabbed both his arms. He reacted instinctively, ripping one arm free to blindly elbow whoever was in reach, electing an angered growl of pain.

He heard Kensi calling out to him, but he didn't have the breath to respond. Jerking his arm back three times, he felt the second person release him. Just as he reached up to pry the arm off his neck, the familiar press of a gun in his back had him freezing completely. A cold sweat broke out on his neck, and he silently willed Kensi not to come looking for him.

"Don't even think of moving, you little traitor," a voice hissed in his ear. Then, something heavy slammed into the side of his head. Pain exploded through his skull in the seconds before his knees gave out and he lost consciousness.

"I can't believe you did this."

"You said to keep an eye on him."

"Yeah, and that didn't mean knock him out. What the hell are we going to do now?"

Deeks kept his eyes closed, focusing on the two people whispering. One female and one male, thought. He'd woken up a couple minutes ago disoriented, his head aching. It took slightly longer than he liked to remember why he was there and register the rope binding his hands behind his back. He was sprawled across a cold, concrete floor, the faint chemical odor in the air.

"I told you we should have just killed him."

The woman made a disgusted sound. "God, you're such an idiot. Go check if he's awake yet."

As Deeks heard the man come closer, he was tempted to take the opportunity to fight back, but reminded himself someone in the room was armed. A pair of hands roughly turned Deeks over, and he jerked away, eyes springing open, the response not entirely put on. He stared up into the face of one of the dancers from the club.

"Don't try anything or I'll shoot you," he warned, bent over Deeks so he blocked whoever stood behind him.

"Zeke, what the hell man?" Deeks demanded, glancing around what he could see of the room. It looked like some kind of storage warehouse. It was too small to be a warehouse. "If this is about the hundred dollar bill that lady in the front row gave me, it's all yours."

"You can stop the innocent act, Jason," the female voice said, and Deeks felt a jolt of legitimate shock and dismay as he recognized it.

"Marie," he murmured. She stepped into view, looking down at him with a resigned smirk.

"Such a shame," she lamented.

"You wanna fill me in? Or maybe, I don't know, untie me?" He didn't have high hopes that playing dumb would work for long, but maybe long enough to figure out an escape plan.

Marie just rolled her eyes at his suggestion. "Please don't make this harder than it had to be. We've always been real with each other. I know all about your girlfriend."

"Tracey? You knew she was a client from the beginning. I'd say this reaction is a little overboard." He twisted enough to lift his wrists slightly. "You coulda just told me to break it off."

"That's not what I'm talking about and you know it," Marie said, dropping to her knees, her eyes flashing with real anger. The change was striking, and despite his current position, Deeks felt oddly impressed with how well she'd tricked him.

"I knew something was up when she started coming in every night, asking questions, casing the place like a cop. Then Zeke saw her sneaking around backstage and that clinched it for me. Especially when we found the office door unlocked." She reached out brushed Deeks' hair from his eyes. "And you were always right there, coming to the rescue."

"Sounds like you're jealous," Deeks joked. Her eyes tightened slight before her fingers tightened in his hair, jerking his head back hard enough he gasped.

"Don't lie to me," she hissed. Then with a deep breath, she released him, smacking her hands on her thighs. "Let's not make this harder than it needs to be."

"If you think that would persuade me, you don't know me very well after all." He smiled at her, forgoing any pretense. "I'm not saying anything."

"Then it's about to get really painful for you."

Deeks had approximately three seconds to turn away before Zeke kicked him in the stomach. The assault continued until Deeks was curled in on himself, wheezing for breath.

"Ok, I'll tell you," he gasped out.

"I knew you were smart." Marie got back down on her knees; Deeks gestured her closer, painfully uncurling.

"My name's not Jason. And your martinis suck," he said, laughing even as he anticipated the next round of pain.

For a second, he thought Marie might punch him in the face. Instead, she stood once more, calmly pulling a gun from the back of her waistband.

"It's a real shame. I liked you a lot," she lamented, removing the safety and aiming it directly at Deeks' face.

A/N: Was anyone expecting that? Apparently I can't let Deeks go without a little whumping.