Story: Sebastian (part 4 of ?)
TITLE: "Sebastian"
AUTHOR: tess_dicorsi
RATING: R
GENRE: Mystery
CHARACTERS: Ensemble
DISCLAIMER: Recognizable characters are not mine. Just playing with them and promise not to break them. There are a few original characters, they're mine. I'm also trying not to break them.
SUMMARY: An old collar from the LAPD and an angry colleague from the FBI are back and looking for Marty Deeks. Established Deeks-Kensi. Multi-chapter story.
4. "A little damage makes people more interesting, right?" - Catherine Hapka, "Something Borrowed"
x-x-x
Four days after the phone woke Deeks in his own apartment and after a long day at NCIS, Nell dropped Deeks and Kensi off at "their" new home with Monty in tow. The two-bedroom, two-bath cottage on the Pacific Coast Highway was tiny compared to the Malibu estates that shared the beachfront but it was the appropriate size for a lawyer/detective/liaison and his live-in girlfriend Chloe Farr, a supervising producer/military expert for a television production company. What the property also had was one bedroom, one bathroom guest house just off the highway where LAPD had an undercover officer stationed.
Looking at the ocean views and beach, Deeks turned to Kensi, "I really need to start playing the Power Ball."
"You do know the odds of winning are like one in one hundred seventy-five million."
He smiled at her. "So you're telling me there's a chance."
Kensi shook her head. "Would you really be happy here?"
"Lately, I've been happy to be anywhere, Kens. But if you're asking would I like to live on the beach, the answer is yes. Lived not too far from here for a year in law school, lived about two miles from here for a summer as Sully. Trust me, there are far worse LAPD cover houses."
"Are we going to have to drag you out of here kicking and screaming when Boothe's back in jail?" she looked up the stairs to where the bedroom and home office were. The home office was set up by Nell and was a mini-Ops center.
"If I can get Boothe back in prison, I'll be happy to go back to my apartment and live there for the rest of my life."
Monty barked and sat by the front door.
"Someone needs a walk," Deeks noted, looking for the dog's beach leash. As he searched for it in a box with "Monty" written on it, Kensi walked up to the master bedroom and returned in a racer's tank top, a pair of running shorts and sneakers.
"Since we need to establish ourselves as locals, I'll take Monty for a run. You can start dinner."
"You will have to run at Monty's pace and not Kensi's pace," he said as he finally found the leash. "The wonderdog has had a lazy fall."
"Come on, Monty. You and I are going to see the neighborhood," Kensi said as Deeks put on the leash. "And I think you can keep up, unlike others." Kensi gave Deeks a faux-withering look.
"Kens, Boothe's house is two miles southwest from here. I don't want you to get in trouble before we've even begun."
"I'm just a nice, local girl out for a run with her dog. What possibly could go wrong?"
For the last year, Deeks wondered what exactly had gone right. Then again, the one thing that actually did go well was standing in front of him about to run with his dog. "Be careful," he half-warned, half-asked as she walked to the sliding door off the living room that was just steps away from the beach.
"Check the place for bugs. I know LAPD told you there weren't any in the bedroom or bathrooms, just panic buttons, but I don't need an audience when I change."
"If I find anything, you realize you may have already given the boys downtown a show."
"Had the top on already and they'll see more of me in a bathing suit in the next few weeks than in what's under the shorts."
"Why must you tease me like this?" he asked as she walked to the sliding back door, leading to the beach. "Watch yourself."
"You do the same. Come on, Monty," Kensi pulled the leash and the two started their way down the beach.
Deeks did a thorough search of the master bedroom, finding two cameras and mikes, and was just finishing the main bathroom, again with two cameras and mikes, when he heard the sliding door open. Figuring it was too early for Kensi to return, he took his weapon and walked down to the living area. Deeks found his LAPD minder for the case admiring the food in the fridge and holding a beer.
"Matthew, please don't tell me you have the munchies. I watched you personally eat your weight in Cheetos every week for 282-days in 2008."
Matt Bernhart turned around and smiled. "Since you were being a choir boy and not partaking in the fine herb the Peterson brothers were moving, someone had to show the locals we were world-class weed dealers and not undercover cops."
"You were baked for months."
"These are the sacrifices I make to keep our fine city safe." Matt closed the refrigerator door and walked over to Deeks. Pulling Deeks into a bro-hug while never letting go of his beer, Matt said, "Martin, the last time I saw you, you had tubes in your mouth, tubes in your arm and your jaw was black and swollen. It is so good to see you up and tubeless."
"I don't remember you being there." Deeks pulled away. "Weren't you on a job?"
"I was but I sat for a night. The lovely nurse April gave me a full rundown on your med load so it's no surprise you remember nothing," Matt's tone turned serious. "I was there a day or two after they found you. You were in bad shape." Matt walked into the living room and plopped down on the couch. "How are you doing?"
"You kidding? I'm back and better than ever."
"Bullshit," Matt said without any malice. "You're barely back on your feet and effin' Sebastian Boothe is up next. Martin, if you didn't have bad luck, you'd have no luck at all."
"What do you know about Sebastian Boothe?" Deeks asked.
"Until Bates gave me a three hour debrief this morning, nothing. While you were busy running a bar, I was working for World's Best Courier as a driver in with a black-market pharmaceuticals ring. Heard from Ruben you got stabbed but you were fine and a few months later, you and I were Patrick and Paul Peterson, the princes of pot of the Pacific Palisades."
"That was a nice house," Deeks told him as he sat on one of the living room chairs. "If a little too far from the beach for my liking."
"We were six blocks away from the water. I'm sure you think this place isn't close enough."
"This place is heaven," Deeks almost sighed. "I really need to start playing the Power Ball."
"Isn't this where I walked in?" Kensi asked as she returned with Monty. "Matt?"
"If it isn't my favorite bank robbery victim," Matt smiled as he stood.
"You two know each other? Of course you do, what am I saying? Matthew knows everyone." Deeks shook his head.
"Before we had a liaison officer, we had Matt," Kensi gave Matt a hug. "Matt shot me in a bank robbery," Kensi told Deeks, smiling.
"They've never let me do fun things like shoot her," Deeks told Matt.
"That's because she's too busy kicking your ass," Matt said as he looked at Monty, "Hello, Monty."
"What are you doing here, Matt?" Kensi asked.
"Guess who lives in the guest house?" Matt beamed, kneeling next to Monty and rubbing the dog's neck.
"That's Matthew?" Kensi turned to Deeks.
"That's Matthew," Deeks confirmed.
"It's an old joke. When you're in trouble with LAPD, everything is Matthew Campbell Bernhart, Martin...," Matt snapped his fingers a couple of times, trying to remember.
"Andrew."
"Martin Andrew, thank you, Deeks. Matt and Marty sound like a pair of troublemaking, loser cops. Matthew and Martin, however, are a pair of upstanding and outstanding detectives," Matt smiled at Kensi. "The full names stuck."
"Should I be worried that the Matthew and Martin duo are back together?" Kensi asked, half-joking.
"No," Matt sighed as he stood, turning serious. "It's been made clear to me that if anything happens to Detective Martin Andrew Deeks, I'm going to be cleaning up after the dogs in the K-9 Division until retirement."
"What did you do now?" Deeks asked, concerned.
Matt did a small tilt of his head in Kensi's direction.
"Kensi's cool. We're all in this together, everyone needs to be honest," Deeks told Matt.
"My cover here for the last nine months was part-time stuntman, personal trainer, occasional security. Got involved with a director and his wife. He makes schlocko movies that make "Sharknado" look like "Life of Pi." They needed someone to do a few side jobs for them outside of weight training. There was a little HGH, a little steroid use just to get close to the dealer."
"Man, you're insides are going to fall out if you keep messing with the product," Deeks said. "What were you doing?"
"A little of this, a little of that," Matt smiled and shrugged his shoulders, "I told you, these are the sacrifices I make to keep our city safe. I've been clean for about a month."
"How pissed is Bates?"
Matt shrugged. "He pulled me out of here after the supplier was arrested. I was a little hyper."
"Steroid psychosis?" Kensi asked.
"Just some anger issues and I wasn't sleeping much. Once I got off the stuff, things were better. I'm on double secret probation or something with Bates."
"Talk to Frank Torres?" Deeks asked. Seeing Kensi's confusion he added, "Our union rep."
"I help you get Sebastian Boothe, all's forgiven. Torres isn't involved. Outside of you two, nobody but Bates knows. The director was flipped for the dealer; the dealer was flipped for his supplier. I'm long out of the case when it comes to any court appearances."
There was a long silence. "Anything about the house I should know?" Deeks asked.
"Entrance areas, inside and out, living room, kitchen, home office, patio area and pathway to the beach are wired for video and sound. They'll go live tomorrow when I'm coordinating at the guest house with someone named Eric Beale from your office," Matt pointed to Kensi before continuing. "The different feeds go to LAPD and NCIS. Bedroom and bathrooms don't send the video or audio feed unless you hit a panic button. You hit the button, all video and audio goes live, audio goes two-way. You hit the button, emergency calls are sent to NCIS, the Malibu Sheriff's office, LAPD, Bates's cellphone and me in the guest house."
Deeks nodded. That was a lot more security than he ever had on a case. "Lt. Bates told me he was taking care of our cars. Do you know anything about that?"
Matt nodded. "You're been provided cars from LAPD. They're dropping them off tonight. Kensi, you'll be driving a 2011 Land Rover Range Rover. Deeks, you'll have a beat up old Jeep and a motorcycle. "
"Why do you get two vehicles?" Kensi fake whined.
"Well, one's a bike and I think that will make me a bit harder to follow," Deeks explained.
"Which is the only reason Bates agreed to it," Matt told them.
"And I'm guessing the Jeep is some piece of crap the motor pool guys put back together."
Matt smiled, "It doesn't even have doors. Seems to be appropriate for a cop-surfer-kept man."
Deeks chuckled at "kept man" but Kensi wasn't amused. "That Jeep is going to be very easy to follow."
"Really easy. Bright yellow, according to Bates," Matt started imitating their boss, "Kid, they'd be able to see him from the space shuttle in that."
"GPS in the cars?" Deeks asked.
"Yep. There's also a watch in your bedroom. Movado Men's Bold, Titanium with some sort of "Happy Birthday" engraving. It also has a GPS. Bates told me if you don't have it on when you leave the house every day, he'll track you down, put you back in Legal with an ankle monitor to keep you away from Boothe. There's also a Nike Fuel bracelet that you're to wear working out, swimming, running on the beach, surfing. That has a GPS too. Bates said if he finds you're outside without one of those on your wrist, you're driving a desk while I'll be cleaning dog cages."
"Bates is worried about you," Kensi said.
"He's been on a bit of a tear when it comes to you since you got hurt last spring. He's still well and truly pissed. Your agency," Matt pointed to Kensi again, "didn't tell LAPD Martin was missing for hours and didn't tell Bates he was hurt until after he was in the hospital for a day. Bates nearly ended all federal agency liaison programs in mid-June."
"I talked him out of that," Deeks told Matt.
"You and the Commissioner. Though the Commissioner saw the photos of you in the hospital bed and was closer to Bates's opinion."
"There are photos of me in the hospital bed? When the hell did that happen?"
"Bates took 'em as soon as he got in to see you. He sent them to the Commissioner and Kensi's boss. He wanted to know if that was the face of interdepartmental cooperation."
Kensi added, "Nell told me Hetty spent one whole day on the phone. She was worried something happened to you that day health-wise. Winds up it was career-wise."
"I was blissfully asleep for all of this."
"Yeah, well, I was working with the DEA and FDA on the HGH case so I got to hear a lot of it. Bates is going to make damn sure nothing happens to you on his watch after reading anyone who'd listen the riot act when you were hurt."
"This is getting more complicated by the minute," Deeks ran his hand through his hair. "I worked alone in that bar for nine months. Now everyone is micromanaging things."
"Not micromanaging," Kensi said, "making sure the killer gets caught and you walk away from this case the way you walked in - healthy and alive."
Matt stayed for dinner. Deeks found some tuna steaks in the fridge and grilled them up for the three of them. A little salsa, some grilled veggies and nice 2009 California Pinot Noir completed the meal. Hetty made sure the place was properly stocked.
During the meal, Matt told entertaining tales of Matthew and Martin, LAPD's most misunderstood but best undercover detectives. There was a small disagreement between Matt and Deeks about who was actually the better of the two. Harrowing stories of near misses and questionable behavior were passed off as jokes as only two survivors could do. Matt also mentioned that he missed Renko's funeral because he was part of a joint LAPD-SDPD-CBI-DEA taskforce. He was working in San Diego and regretted not returning even if it was just for a day. Then again, he told them, he was babysitting a CI/meth cook at the time. If he disappeared, Chuck the cook and Matt's career would likely be in the wind too.
Matt left just before ten, making his way to the guest house. His cover remained largely the same one he had for months: Mac Hunter, stuntman, trainer, occasional security. Now he was also a college buddy of Deeks who takes care of Monty and the house when Deeks and Chloe were away.
Deeks made his way to the patio after replacing his wine glass with a bottle of water. He lit an accent lamp on a small table, giving the area a nice, homey feel. Kensi joined him a minute later, still nursing her only glass of wine.
"I thought everyone at LAPD hated you," Kensi said.
"Matthew's my brother from another mother. We lived together for 282-days on one job. It was insane but fun," Deeks smiled at her. "Matthew's insane but fun. One thing, he's living proof that growing up with money doesn't guarantee you a happy childhood. Don't talk family to Matthew. He's the sanest one of all of them and he's about five cans short of a six-pack."
"Is he the right guy to have working this case? I've worked with him. He does violent criminal really well. How's he on running point for security on something like this?"
"Knowing him, we got a cleaned up version of the trouble he's in at LAPD. Matthew does this all the time. If you think I'm "method" when I go undercover, he is a shape shifter. Guarantee you tomorrow around 6AM personal trainer Mac will want you and me to go for a run on the beach or do boot camp-style exercises by the front gate."
"Making sure nothing happens to you means nothing happens to him."
"Probably, but he'd have volunteered for babysitting duty anyway. We've unofficially bailed each other out when things have gone sideways for years."
"You've been bailing each other out or you've bailed him out."
"Two way street. Before NCIS came along, I was working all these solo cases. Needed to get a bar emptied out because something bad was about to happen, one call to Matthew and we'd have that place closed down in ten minutes with the fight of the century. I'm sleeping in a bad spot in my homeless gear, Matthew's around in different looks every day leaving food, cigarettes, whatever. Matthew's in a bad place and needs and extra set of eyes, I can spend a night in an alley or sit in some awful club and make sure he's fine."
"Where was Ruben in all this?"
"Kensi, LAPD isn't NCIS. Ruben would have half-a-dozen investigations going on. He'd have guys working as valets as part of a car theft ring, me running a bar, Matthew working for a courier service. There's no Eric and Nell in Ops watching every step we take. No earwig keeping us connected to other team members. There are no other team members."
"You were on your own."
"Exactly. Made the transition to team NCIS a bit odd. Weapons room, gym, Eric and Nell with the logistics, Hetty and her professional development classes. God, LAPD gave me a gun, someone else's driver's license and pointed me at the bad guy."
"And Bates is complaining about your safety with NCIS?" Kensi wondered.
"Three days in the hospital with Bates, shot in a Chechnyan kidnapping plot and tortured by a Russian arms dealer with NCIS. He's got a point."
Kensi nodded. "Nothing's happening to you this time."
"How could it? I've got my awesome Hollywood type girlfriend Chloe, best buddy Mac, Monty the wonder dog. Only the Hope Diamond has more protection than me."
"Can I ask you something?"
"I doubt I could stop you," he teased.
"You told Matt that we all had to be honest with each other."
"We do."
"Does he know about us?"
"Did he hit on you at dinner?" Deeks asked. When Kensi shook her head no, Deeks smiled. "He knows."
"So you told him."
"No, but he knows."
"How?"
"Brother from another mother. He watched you and me be, well, you and me. He knows me, he knows."
"He didn't hit on me when we worked together a couple of years ago."
"Yeah, somehow I missed that story." Deeks teased her, lifting an eyebrow. "Spill."
"A couple months before you showed up in the boxing ring, we were shorthanded. Dom was missing, Renko started helping out when he could. We needed to set up a fake bank robbery; Matt was one of the robbers."
"And he was probably awesome."
"Renko told me that Sam complimented Matt."
"Wow."
"Renko and I went out for a beer with Matt. He didn't hit on me there, either. Maybe I'm not his type."
"Kensi, Matthew has a pulse, you're his type."
"Then why didn't he hit on me back then?"
"A case where he was working with you, Renko, Sam and Callen? Gee, I wonder how protective the three alpha males would be of a beautiful woman on their team?"
Kensi made a face but it quickly turned to a smile. "You decided to ignore the alpha males."
"That's Martin for you."
x-x-x
Deeks's new office was on a recently reconfigured floor in the Police Administrative Building. Gone was payroll, purchasing and the civilian personnel department. In their places were media relations, the management of the cybercrimes unit, the art theft unit and a corridor with three suites of unidentified offices. Deeks was in one of them. His office suite had an outside area for an assistant and his main office. There was an optical scanner, compliments of NCIS, outside the office suite and again outside of Deeks's office. Deeks's desktop computer could also buzz in visitors.
The office, which was generically decorated save a picture of Kensi sitting next to his computer, was wired for video and sound. From his office, Deeks could see who was walking down the hall, who was entering the suite and who was in the assistant's area. Deeks himself was being watched by cameras shared by the LAPD and NCIS.
Eric and Nell backstopped his presence in different LAPD division offices. According to records they thought would be accessed by Andrea Miller, he would occasionally be called by NCIS for cases but mostly drove a desk in six different locations over three plus years.
Around 4PM on Friday, Deeks got his first guests - Sam and Callen. Wearing visitor's stickers, Deeks buzzed them in.
"Welcome to the new home of the NCIS-LAPD liaison," Deeks stood with his arms out. "At last, a work space befitting a man of my education and achievement," he joked.
"And yet, you looked so comfortable sleeping by the trash can as a homeless man in the Waaldt case," Callen said.
"How'd you get a place with a secretary?" Sam asked, looking at Deeks's office bookcase.
"I got a promotion last summer after the Sidirov case. When Bates put in for a place to put me, I actually grade out with this office space as a Detective III." Deeks pointed to the guest chairs by his desk as he sat down.
"You got a promotion last summer?" Sam asked
"I was up for one for a few cases over the last year. I was told I was promoted in my first meeting with Bates after I was back on duty."
"You didn't tell us," Callen noted.
"Told Hetty."
"Probably told Kensi, too." Sam grumbled.
"Yeah, probably mentioned it to her." Deeks thought it was best not to mention that he and Kensi spent a spa weekend at The Shade Hotel, blowing the two months of back pay he picked up when the promotion was retroactive to July 1st.
"She mentioned to us who your LAPD handler for this case is," Callen brought things back to the case.
"Bates is the handler, Matthew is another detective assigned to the case."
"We didn't know you knew him," Sam said.
"Worked together a few times."
"Kensi mentioned that as well." Callen added.
"My first case wasn't Daniel Zuna. It wasn't Sebastian Boothe. I had a semi-successful career before I met you guys. This may be news but as a detective with the LAPD, I actually know a number of other LAPD detectives."
Callen nodded. "And he's the one who likes you."
"You knew there had to be one," Deeks joked. "You two met Matthew, he's an independent thinker."
"Among other things," Sam noted. "Do you know a former cop named Steve Johnson?"
"Not personally but he was injured in saving two teenagers pinned down in a gang shootout. He's working corporate security if I remember right."
"Works for Dalton, Andrews and Reese," Sam told him.
Deeks nodded. "The big downtown law firm."
"Big downtown law firm that has Boothe Financial and Sebastian Boothe as clients," Callen added.
"Okay," Deeks wasn't sure where this was going.
"He's been sniffing around for the last month or so," Callen continued. "He's looking for one Edward Michael Martin, former bar owner and stabbing victim."
"Dammit. What has he found?" Deeks asked.
"Nothing, LAPD did a good job separating you from Martin. Nell sent him on a wild goose chase this week," Callen chuckled. "Former Officer Johnson flew out to North Platte, Nebraska this morning."
"Probably not going to make much of a dent in his expense account hotel-wise there," Sam joked.
"Probably not," Callen agreed. "Nell plans on having him in Maine when you visit Boothe."
"Don't do that," Deeks told them.
"Excuse me?" Sam said.
"Don't do that that Johnson. Please."
"Why?" Callen asked.
"He's just making a living. Don't screw him over for working an investigation for his law firm. I don't want to do that to another cop."
The room got awfully quiet. Sam finally broke the silence, "We got some news on your girl Andrea Miller."
"She is many things, Sam. My girl isn't any of them," Deeks said sharply.
"Assistant Director Miller is returning to Los Angeles on Tuesday night," Sam told Deeks.
"Awesome."
"Hetty has a few friends in the Bureau," Callen said. "Miller is on notice. She needs to update the Office of Professional Responsibilities about any interaction with you, LAPD or NCIS."
"So she's going to sneak around behind all of our backs."
"Probably. Deeks, we've all got your back," Callen assured him.
"And Lt. Moran's killer is going to be brought to justice," Sam added.
"Kensi check in?" Callen asked.
"Called about an hour ago, she's on her way to Malibu. Arthur Winston is awesome, nobody in the costume department knows what medals go where and the lead actress in one of Winston's hot crime dramas thinks her character looks more bad ass if she holds her gun in sideways. Kensi is taking Amber Hill to a shooting range Monday to show her what bad ass really looks like."
"That's Kensi," Sam smiled.
"So what are you doing here besides fake-liaising?" Callen asked.
"Bates decided he wants a manual on how to be a liaison officer for NCIS in case I ever decide to do something else or LAPD decides I should do something else."
"Hetty would have to approve any replacement," Callen frowned.
"I think Bates wants a fuller review of what my duties are at NCIS," Deeks told them. "LAPD has similar set-ups with the FBI, DEA, ATF and ICE. Nino Lopez with ICE is the only detective, besides me, who isn't working in an LAPD office and visiting their assigned agency as needed."
"You could make all this crap go away by applying to be an NCIS agent," Sam told him.
"I'm just a cop, Sam."
Callen stood. "And we'll leave you to that. Don't have too tough a time this weekend in Malibu."
Smiling again, Deeks told them, "I'll struggle through somehow."
"Hetty's going to want to have a meeting to prepare for your visit with Boothe next Friday. She said free up Tuesday."
"I'll be there."
-30-
AUTHOR: tess_dicorsi
RATING: R
GENRE: Mystery
CHARACTERS: Ensemble
DISCLAIMER: Recognizable characters are not mine. Just playing with them and promise not to break them. There are a few original characters, they're mine. I'm also trying not to break them.
SUMMARY: An old collar from the LAPD and an angry colleague from the FBI are back and looking for Marty Deeks. Established Deeks-Kensi. Multi-chapter story.
4. "A little damage makes people more interesting, right?" - Catherine Hapka, "Something Borrowed"
x-x-x
Four days after the phone woke Deeks in his own apartment and after a long day at NCIS, Nell dropped Deeks and Kensi off at "their" new home with Monty in tow. The two-bedroom, two-bath cottage on the Pacific Coast Highway was tiny compared to the Malibu estates that shared the beachfront but it was the appropriate size for a lawyer/detective/liaison and his live-in girlfriend Chloe Farr, a supervising producer/military expert for a television production company. What the property also had was one bedroom, one bathroom guest house just off the highway where LAPD had an undercover officer stationed.
Looking at the ocean views and beach, Deeks turned to Kensi, "I really need to start playing the Power Ball."
"You do know the odds of winning are like one in one hundred seventy-five million."
He smiled at her. "So you're telling me there's a chance."
Kensi shook her head. "Would you really be happy here?"
"Lately, I've been happy to be anywhere, Kens. But if you're asking would I like to live on the beach, the answer is yes. Lived not too far from here for a year in law school, lived about two miles from here for a summer as Sully. Trust me, there are far worse LAPD cover houses."
"Are we going to have to drag you out of here kicking and screaming when Boothe's back in jail?" she looked up the stairs to where the bedroom and home office were. The home office was set up by Nell and was a mini-Ops center.
"If I can get Boothe back in prison, I'll be happy to go back to my apartment and live there for the rest of my life."
Monty barked and sat by the front door.
"Someone needs a walk," Deeks noted, looking for the dog's beach leash. As he searched for it in a box with "Monty" written on it, Kensi walked up to the master bedroom and returned in a racer's tank top, a pair of running shorts and sneakers.
"Since we need to establish ourselves as locals, I'll take Monty for a run. You can start dinner."
"You will have to run at Monty's pace and not Kensi's pace," he said as he finally found the leash. "The wonderdog has had a lazy fall."
"Come on, Monty. You and I are going to see the neighborhood," Kensi said as Deeks put on the leash. "And I think you can keep up, unlike others." Kensi gave Deeks a faux-withering look.
"Kens, Boothe's house is two miles southwest from here. I don't want you to get in trouble before we've even begun."
"I'm just a nice, local girl out for a run with her dog. What possibly could go wrong?"
For the last year, Deeks wondered what exactly had gone right. Then again, the one thing that actually did go well was standing in front of him about to run with his dog. "Be careful," he half-warned, half-asked as she walked to the sliding door off the living room that was just steps away from the beach.
"Check the place for bugs. I know LAPD told you there weren't any in the bedroom or bathrooms, just panic buttons, but I don't need an audience when I change."
"If I find anything, you realize you may have already given the boys downtown a show."
"Had the top on already and they'll see more of me in a bathing suit in the next few weeks than in what's under the shorts."
"Why must you tease me like this?" he asked as she walked to the sliding back door, leading to the beach. "Watch yourself."
"You do the same. Come on, Monty," Kensi pulled the leash and the two started their way down the beach.
Deeks did a thorough search of the master bedroom, finding two cameras and mikes, and was just finishing the main bathroom, again with two cameras and mikes, when he heard the sliding door open. Figuring it was too early for Kensi to return, he took his weapon and walked down to the living area. Deeks found his LAPD minder for the case admiring the food in the fridge and holding a beer.
"Matthew, please don't tell me you have the munchies. I watched you personally eat your weight in Cheetos every week for 282-days in 2008."
Matt Bernhart turned around and smiled. "Since you were being a choir boy and not partaking in the fine herb the Peterson brothers were moving, someone had to show the locals we were world-class weed dealers and not undercover cops."
"You were baked for months."
"These are the sacrifices I make to keep our fine city safe." Matt closed the refrigerator door and walked over to Deeks. Pulling Deeks into a bro-hug while never letting go of his beer, Matt said, "Martin, the last time I saw you, you had tubes in your mouth, tubes in your arm and your jaw was black and swollen. It is so good to see you up and tubeless."
"I don't remember you being there." Deeks pulled away. "Weren't you on a job?"
"I was but I sat for a night. The lovely nurse April gave me a full rundown on your med load so it's no surprise you remember nothing," Matt's tone turned serious. "I was there a day or two after they found you. You were in bad shape." Matt walked into the living room and plopped down on the couch. "How are you doing?"
"You kidding? I'm back and better than ever."
"Bullshit," Matt said without any malice. "You're barely back on your feet and effin' Sebastian Boothe is up next. Martin, if you didn't have bad luck, you'd have no luck at all."
"What do you know about Sebastian Boothe?" Deeks asked.
"Until Bates gave me a three hour debrief this morning, nothing. While you were busy running a bar, I was working for World's Best Courier as a driver in with a black-market pharmaceuticals ring. Heard from Ruben you got stabbed but you were fine and a few months later, you and I were Patrick and Paul Peterson, the princes of pot of the Pacific Palisades."
"That was a nice house," Deeks told him as he sat on one of the living room chairs. "If a little too far from the beach for my liking."
"We were six blocks away from the water. I'm sure you think this place isn't close enough."
"This place is heaven," Deeks almost sighed. "I really need to start playing the Power Ball."
"Isn't this where I walked in?" Kensi asked as she returned with Monty. "Matt?"
"If it isn't my favorite bank robbery victim," Matt smiled as he stood.
"You two know each other? Of course you do, what am I saying? Matthew knows everyone." Deeks shook his head.
"Before we had a liaison officer, we had Matt," Kensi gave Matt a hug. "Matt shot me in a bank robbery," Kensi told Deeks, smiling.
"They've never let me do fun things like shoot her," Deeks told Matt.
"That's because she's too busy kicking your ass," Matt said as he looked at Monty, "Hello, Monty."
"What are you doing here, Matt?" Kensi asked.
"Guess who lives in the guest house?" Matt beamed, kneeling next to Monty and rubbing the dog's neck.
"That's Matthew?" Kensi turned to Deeks.
"That's Matthew," Deeks confirmed.
"It's an old joke. When you're in trouble with LAPD, everything is Matthew Campbell Bernhart, Martin...," Matt snapped his fingers a couple of times, trying to remember.
"Andrew."
"Martin Andrew, thank you, Deeks. Matt and Marty sound like a pair of troublemaking, loser cops. Matthew and Martin, however, are a pair of upstanding and outstanding detectives," Matt smiled at Kensi. "The full names stuck."
"Should I be worried that the Matthew and Martin duo are back together?" Kensi asked, half-joking.
"No," Matt sighed as he stood, turning serious. "It's been made clear to me that if anything happens to Detective Martin Andrew Deeks, I'm going to be cleaning up after the dogs in the K-9 Division until retirement."
"What did you do now?" Deeks asked, concerned.
Matt did a small tilt of his head in Kensi's direction.
"Kensi's cool. We're all in this together, everyone needs to be honest," Deeks told Matt.
"My cover here for the last nine months was part-time stuntman, personal trainer, occasional security. Got involved with a director and his wife. He makes schlocko movies that make "Sharknado" look like "Life of Pi." They needed someone to do a few side jobs for them outside of weight training. There was a little HGH, a little steroid use just to get close to the dealer."
"Man, you're insides are going to fall out if you keep messing with the product," Deeks said. "What were you doing?"
"A little of this, a little of that," Matt smiled and shrugged his shoulders, "I told you, these are the sacrifices I make to keep our city safe. I've been clean for about a month."
"How pissed is Bates?"
Matt shrugged. "He pulled me out of here after the supplier was arrested. I was a little hyper."
"Steroid psychosis?" Kensi asked.
"Just some anger issues and I wasn't sleeping much. Once I got off the stuff, things were better. I'm on double secret probation or something with Bates."
"Talk to Frank Torres?" Deeks asked. Seeing Kensi's confusion he added, "Our union rep."
"I help you get Sebastian Boothe, all's forgiven. Torres isn't involved. Outside of you two, nobody but Bates knows. The director was flipped for the dealer; the dealer was flipped for his supplier. I'm long out of the case when it comes to any court appearances."
There was a long silence. "Anything about the house I should know?" Deeks asked.
"Entrance areas, inside and out, living room, kitchen, home office, patio area and pathway to the beach are wired for video and sound. They'll go live tomorrow when I'm coordinating at the guest house with someone named Eric Beale from your office," Matt pointed to Kensi before continuing. "The different feeds go to LAPD and NCIS. Bedroom and bathrooms don't send the video or audio feed unless you hit a panic button. You hit the button, all video and audio goes live, audio goes two-way. You hit the button, emergency calls are sent to NCIS, the Malibu Sheriff's office, LAPD, Bates's cellphone and me in the guest house."
Deeks nodded. That was a lot more security than he ever had on a case. "Lt. Bates told me he was taking care of our cars. Do you know anything about that?"
Matt nodded. "You're been provided cars from LAPD. They're dropping them off tonight. Kensi, you'll be driving a 2011 Land Rover Range Rover. Deeks, you'll have a beat up old Jeep and a motorcycle. "
"Why do you get two vehicles?" Kensi fake whined.
"Well, one's a bike and I think that will make me a bit harder to follow," Deeks explained.
"Which is the only reason Bates agreed to it," Matt told them.
"And I'm guessing the Jeep is some piece of crap the motor pool guys put back together."
Matt smiled, "It doesn't even have doors. Seems to be appropriate for a cop-surfer-kept man."
Deeks chuckled at "kept man" but Kensi wasn't amused. "That Jeep is going to be very easy to follow."
"Really easy. Bright yellow, according to Bates," Matt started imitating their boss, "Kid, they'd be able to see him from the space shuttle in that."
"GPS in the cars?" Deeks asked.
"Yep. There's also a watch in your bedroom. Movado Men's Bold, Titanium with some sort of "Happy Birthday" engraving. It also has a GPS. Bates told me if you don't have it on when you leave the house every day, he'll track you down, put you back in Legal with an ankle monitor to keep you away from Boothe. There's also a Nike Fuel bracelet that you're to wear working out, swimming, running on the beach, surfing. That has a GPS too. Bates said if he finds you're outside without one of those on your wrist, you're driving a desk while I'll be cleaning dog cages."
"Bates is worried about you," Kensi said.
"He's been on a bit of a tear when it comes to you since you got hurt last spring. He's still well and truly pissed. Your agency," Matt pointed to Kensi again, "didn't tell LAPD Martin was missing for hours and didn't tell Bates he was hurt until after he was in the hospital for a day. Bates nearly ended all federal agency liaison programs in mid-June."
"I talked him out of that," Deeks told Matt.
"You and the Commissioner. Though the Commissioner saw the photos of you in the hospital bed and was closer to Bates's opinion."
"There are photos of me in the hospital bed? When the hell did that happen?"
"Bates took 'em as soon as he got in to see you. He sent them to the Commissioner and Kensi's boss. He wanted to know if that was the face of interdepartmental cooperation."
Kensi added, "Nell told me Hetty spent one whole day on the phone. She was worried something happened to you that day health-wise. Winds up it was career-wise."
"I was blissfully asleep for all of this."
"Yeah, well, I was working with the DEA and FDA on the HGH case so I got to hear a lot of it. Bates is going to make damn sure nothing happens to you on his watch after reading anyone who'd listen the riot act when you were hurt."
"This is getting more complicated by the minute," Deeks ran his hand through his hair. "I worked alone in that bar for nine months. Now everyone is micromanaging things."
"Not micromanaging," Kensi said, "making sure the killer gets caught and you walk away from this case the way you walked in - healthy and alive."
Matt stayed for dinner. Deeks found some tuna steaks in the fridge and grilled them up for the three of them. A little salsa, some grilled veggies and nice 2009 California Pinot Noir completed the meal. Hetty made sure the place was properly stocked.
During the meal, Matt told entertaining tales of Matthew and Martin, LAPD's most misunderstood but best undercover detectives. There was a small disagreement between Matt and Deeks about who was actually the better of the two. Harrowing stories of near misses and questionable behavior were passed off as jokes as only two survivors could do. Matt also mentioned that he missed Renko's funeral because he was part of a joint LAPD-SDPD-CBI-DEA taskforce. He was working in San Diego and regretted not returning even if it was just for a day. Then again, he told them, he was babysitting a CI/meth cook at the time. If he disappeared, Chuck the cook and Matt's career would likely be in the wind too.
Matt left just before ten, making his way to the guest house. His cover remained largely the same one he had for months: Mac Hunter, stuntman, trainer, occasional security. Now he was also a college buddy of Deeks who takes care of Monty and the house when Deeks and Chloe were away.
Deeks made his way to the patio after replacing his wine glass with a bottle of water. He lit an accent lamp on a small table, giving the area a nice, homey feel. Kensi joined him a minute later, still nursing her only glass of wine.
"I thought everyone at LAPD hated you," Kensi said.
"Matthew's my brother from another mother. We lived together for 282-days on one job. It was insane but fun," Deeks smiled at her. "Matthew's insane but fun. One thing, he's living proof that growing up with money doesn't guarantee you a happy childhood. Don't talk family to Matthew. He's the sanest one of all of them and he's about five cans short of a six-pack."
"Is he the right guy to have working this case? I've worked with him. He does violent criminal really well. How's he on running point for security on something like this?"
"Knowing him, we got a cleaned up version of the trouble he's in at LAPD. Matthew does this all the time. If you think I'm "method" when I go undercover, he is a shape shifter. Guarantee you tomorrow around 6AM personal trainer Mac will want you and me to go for a run on the beach or do boot camp-style exercises by the front gate."
"Making sure nothing happens to you means nothing happens to him."
"Probably, but he'd have volunteered for babysitting duty anyway. We've unofficially bailed each other out when things have gone sideways for years."
"You've been bailing each other out or you've bailed him out."
"Two way street. Before NCIS came along, I was working all these solo cases. Needed to get a bar emptied out because something bad was about to happen, one call to Matthew and we'd have that place closed down in ten minutes with the fight of the century. I'm sleeping in a bad spot in my homeless gear, Matthew's around in different looks every day leaving food, cigarettes, whatever. Matthew's in a bad place and needs and extra set of eyes, I can spend a night in an alley or sit in some awful club and make sure he's fine."
"Where was Ruben in all this?"
"Kensi, LAPD isn't NCIS. Ruben would have half-a-dozen investigations going on. He'd have guys working as valets as part of a car theft ring, me running a bar, Matthew working for a courier service. There's no Eric and Nell in Ops watching every step we take. No earwig keeping us connected to other team members. There are no other team members."
"You were on your own."
"Exactly. Made the transition to team NCIS a bit odd. Weapons room, gym, Eric and Nell with the logistics, Hetty and her professional development classes. God, LAPD gave me a gun, someone else's driver's license and pointed me at the bad guy."
"And Bates is complaining about your safety with NCIS?" Kensi wondered.
"Three days in the hospital with Bates, shot in a Chechnyan kidnapping plot and tortured by a Russian arms dealer with NCIS. He's got a point."
Kensi nodded. "Nothing's happening to you this time."
"How could it? I've got my awesome Hollywood type girlfriend Chloe, best buddy Mac, Monty the wonder dog. Only the Hope Diamond has more protection than me."
"Can I ask you something?"
"I doubt I could stop you," he teased.
"You told Matt that we all had to be honest with each other."
"We do."
"Does he know about us?"
"Did he hit on you at dinner?" Deeks asked. When Kensi shook her head no, Deeks smiled. "He knows."
"So you told him."
"No, but he knows."
"How?"
"Brother from another mother. He watched you and me be, well, you and me. He knows me, he knows."
"He didn't hit on me when we worked together a couple of years ago."
"Yeah, somehow I missed that story." Deeks teased her, lifting an eyebrow. "Spill."
"A couple months before you showed up in the boxing ring, we were shorthanded. Dom was missing, Renko started helping out when he could. We needed to set up a fake bank robbery; Matt was one of the robbers."
"And he was probably awesome."
"Renko told me that Sam complimented Matt."
"Wow."
"Renko and I went out for a beer with Matt. He didn't hit on me there, either. Maybe I'm not his type."
"Kensi, Matthew has a pulse, you're his type."
"Then why didn't he hit on me back then?"
"A case where he was working with you, Renko, Sam and Callen? Gee, I wonder how protective the three alpha males would be of a beautiful woman on their team?"
Kensi made a face but it quickly turned to a smile. "You decided to ignore the alpha males."
"That's Martin for you."
x-x-x
Deeks's new office was on a recently reconfigured floor in the Police Administrative Building. Gone was payroll, purchasing and the civilian personnel department. In their places were media relations, the management of the cybercrimes unit, the art theft unit and a corridor with three suites of unidentified offices. Deeks was in one of them. His office suite had an outside area for an assistant and his main office. There was an optical scanner, compliments of NCIS, outside the office suite and again outside of Deeks's office. Deeks's desktop computer could also buzz in visitors.
The office, which was generically decorated save a picture of Kensi sitting next to his computer, was wired for video and sound. From his office, Deeks could see who was walking down the hall, who was entering the suite and who was in the assistant's area. Deeks himself was being watched by cameras shared by the LAPD and NCIS.
Eric and Nell backstopped his presence in different LAPD division offices. According to records they thought would be accessed by Andrea Miller, he would occasionally be called by NCIS for cases but mostly drove a desk in six different locations over three plus years.
Around 4PM on Friday, Deeks got his first guests - Sam and Callen. Wearing visitor's stickers, Deeks buzzed them in.
"Welcome to the new home of the NCIS-LAPD liaison," Deeks stood with his arms out. "At last, a work space befitting a man of my education and achievement," he joked.
"And yet, you looked so comfortable sleeping by the trash can as a homeless man in the Waaldt case," Callen said.
"How'd you get a place with a secretary?" Sam asked, looking at Deeks's office bookcase.
"I got a promotion last summer after the Sidirov case. When Bates put in for a place to put me, I actually grade out with this office space as a Detective III." Deeks pointed to the guest chairs by his desk as he sat down.
"You got a promotion last summer?" Sam asked
"I was up for one for a few cases over the last year. I was told I was promoted in my first meeting with Bates after I was back on duty."
"You didn't tell us," Callen noted.
"Told Hetty."
"Probably told Kensi, too." Sam grumbled.
"Yeah, probably mentioned it to her." Deeks thought it was best not to mention that he and Kensi spent a spa weekend at The Shade Hotel, blowing the two months of back pay he picked up when the promotion was retroactive to July 1st.
"She mentioned to us who your LAPD handler for this case is," Callen brought things back to the case.
"Bates is the handler, Matthew is another detective assigned to the case."
"We didn't know you knew him," Sam said.
"Worked together a few times."
"Kensi mentioned that as well." Callen added.
"My first case wasn't Daniel Zuna. It wasn't Sebastian Boothe. I had a semi-successful career before I met you guys. This may be news but as a detective with the LAPD, I actually know a number of other LAPD detectives."
Callen nodded. "And he's the one who likes you."
"You knew there had to be one," Deeks joked. "You two met Matthew, he's an independent thinker."
"Among other things," Sam noted. "Do you know a former cop named Steve Johnson?"
"Not personally but he was injured in saving two teenagers pinned down in a gang shootout. He's working corporate security if I remember right."
"Works for Dalton, Andrews and Reese," Sam told him.
Deeks nodded. "The big downtown law firm."
"Big downtown law firm that has Boothe Financial and Sebastian Boothe as clients," Callen added.
"Okay," Deeks wasn't sure where this was going.
"He's been sniffing around for the last month or so," Callen continued. "He's looking for one Edward Michael Martin, former bar owner and stabbing victim."
"Dammit. What has he found?" Deeks asked.
"Nothing, LAPD did a good job separating you from Martin. Nell sent him on a wild goose chase this week," Callen chuckled. "Former Officer Johnson flew out to North Platte, Nebraska this morning."
"Probably not going to make much of a dent in his expense account hotel-wise there," Sam joked.
"Probably not," Callen agreed. "Nell plans on having him in Maine when you visit Boothe."
"Don't do that," Deeks told them.
"Excuse me?" Sam said.
"Don't do that that Johnson. Please."
"Why?" Callen asked.
"He's just making a living. Don't screw him over for working an investigation for his law firm. I don't want to do that to another cop."
The room got awfully quiet. Sam finally broke the silence, "We got some news on your girl Andrea Miller."
"She is many things, Sam. My girl isn't any of them," Deeks said sharply.
"Assistant Director Miller is returning to Los Angeles on Tuesday night," Sam told Deeks.
"Awesome."
"Hetty has a few friends in the Bureau," Callen said. "Miller is on notice. She needs to update the Office of Professional Responsibilities about any interaction with you, LAPD or NCIS."
"So she's going to sneak around behind all of our backs."
"Probably. Deeks, we've all got your back," Callen assured him.
"And Lt. Moran's killer is going to be brought to justice," Sam added.
"Kensi check in?" Callen asked.
"Called about an hour ago, she's on her way to Malibu. Arthur Winston is awesome, nobody in the costume department knows what medals go where and the lead actress in one of Winston's hot crime dramas thinks her character looks more bad ass if she holds her gun in sideways. Kensi is taking Amber Hill to a shooting range Monday to show her what bad ass really looks like."
"That's Kensi," Sam smiled.
"So what are you doing here besides fake-liaising?" Callen asked.
"Bates decided he wants a manual on how to be a liaison officer for NCIS in case I ever decide to do something else or LAPD decides I should do something else."
"Hetty would have to approve any replacement," Callen frowned.
"I think Bates wants a fuller review of what my duties are at NCIS," Deeks told them. "LAPD has similar set-ups with the FBI, DEA, ATF and ICE. Nino Lopez with ICE is the only detective, besides me, who isn't working in an LAPD office and visiting their assigned agency as needed."
"You could make all this crap go away by applying to be an NCIS agent," Sam told him.
"I'm just a cop, Sam."
Callen stood. "And we'll leave you to that. Don't have too tough a time this weekend in Malibu."
Smiling again, Deeks told them, "I'll struggle through somehow."
"Hetty's going to want to have a meeting to prepare for your visit with Boothe next Friday. She said free up Tuesday."
"I'll be there."
-30-