So, this was an idea coastalreader had and felt that I could take the idea and make something of it. I just hope it lives up to her expectations. :)

AU story. Deeks is a paramedic and meets Kensi and the team in a less than ideal way. justareader07 was awesome (as always) and looked this over for me. Hope you all enjoy it.

Kensi was breathing heavy as she ran up the stairs of the building, frantic to get to the top. She had already helped clear the other floors, seeing the place where Dom had been held for so long. She tried to force her mind blank, to keep her head in the game and on the objective, but it was hard to do when it was your partner that had been taken and tortured for months. Not that she and Dom had been partners long before that; he was still pretty green and had relied on the team for guidance. But he had been eager to learn and an urge to prove himself.

Stop it Kensi. Stop thinking about him as if he's already dead.

She shook her head as she opened the door to the rooftop. She could hear Sam and Callen in her ear telling her to wait but she couldn't. There was no way she could leave him up there without backup when backup was here.

Gun pointed, she took out the two men on the steps. As she carefully looked around, she saw a shoe barely sticking out from behind an air conditioning unit. Stupid mistake.

There was no way Dom's captors hadn't heard the gunfire just now, so she crouched low, making her way stealthily across the roof until she could get a good vantage point. Sam and Callen were taking fire on one of the lower levels of the building, leaving her alone to take care of the guys above. She changed out her clip and took a deep breath.

"NCIS. Drop your weapons." Her voice held authority, not showing the nerves and adrenaline she was currently running on. As soon as her sentence stopped, gunfire erupted, but there was a lot more of it than she had been anticipating. 'Why do they never listen?' She kept her head down behind a pillar and waited until it stopped for a second, giving her a chance to pop up and start her own barrage of bullets. She knew she had hit at least one guy, but she wasn't sure how many were left.

"Dom? Just hold on, okay?" She didn't get a reply, but then again she hadn't been expecting one. She just wanted to assure both him and herself that they were going to make it out of this.

As the gunfire from the bad guys started again, she changed her clip. At this rate, she was going to run out of ammo. Alright Kensi. You can do this. When silence filled the air for a second, Kensi took action, moving locations while firing, trying to get into a better position. She was about ten feet from where she thought Dom was and had the bad guy in her sights. She took aim and pulled the trigger, her accuracy hitting with deadly precision. Taking a breath, another man made the fatal mistake of checking on his friend and Kensi took him out as well. She waited for a few seconds, not seeing anyone else wanting to join that particular party, and inched out slowly, waiting to see where the bullets might come from. When all was quiet, she kept her head down and made her way behind the AC unit, seeing Dom laying on his side, blood seeping its way away from him.

She rushed over, wanting to help him. Looking around quickly, not seeing any other suspects, she took her button down shirt off - grateful for the tank top underneath - and tried to stop the blood flowing out of Dom's abdomen. As she was relaying the status to Sam and Callen, who were just making their way up the stairs, she heard the unmistakable click of safety button.

"Stand up." The man with the cold eyes watched as she turned slowly, making sure her body was in front of Dom's, her hands up in surrender. Neither of them said anything else, and Kensi was counting the seconds until Sam or Callen burst through the door. That was either going to kill her or be her saving grace, she wasn't sure. But based on the cold, calculating look in his eyes and the man's fairly calm demeanor, she was leaning closer to not making it out of this.

She closed her eyes for a moment, unable to do anything else. When she opened them again, she stared at the man, waiting for someone to make a move. And she didn't have to wait long. He pulled the trigger, hitting her chest just below her shoulder. She crumbled to the ground, making sure to shield Dom as she did. As she fell, she heard another gunshot and watched as the man fell, the lack of movement showing he was dead. Thinking it was Callen and Sam coming to the rescue, she tried calling out to them, letting them know where she and Dom were at.

"Hey. Over here." Her voice was a lot weaker than she thought it would be and she closed her eyes again, the pain overwhelming. She could feel the blood pooling around her. When she heard footsteps - were they running? - she opened her eyes. Only instead of Callen or Sam, it was a stranger with shaggy blonde hair. Because of the sun shining behind him, it gave him a halo around his head. My angel. And with that last thought, she closed her eyes once again, letting the darkness wash over her.

Deeks sat at the table in the break room, crossword puzzle in front of him and bouncing his leg. He was bored. Plain and simple. It had been a relatively slow day for calls, and while that was always a good thing, it made his life hell. He thrived on the urgency of situations, life and death, helping in the most natural and effective way he knew how. He had done a lot of things before this gig, but this was the one that gave him the most satisfaction so far.

He smiled as he thought back to all the different career paths he had tried, giving each one of them his all but never finding the fulfillment he had with this one. Law school had led him to a job with the Los Angeles DA. The DA's office had led him to LAPD, deciding that he wanted to arrest the criminals rather than doing endless paperwork trying to put them in jail. Trying being the operative word (although to this day, he had one of the highest conviction rates for the amount of time he was there).

After joining the LAPD, he had moved up the ranks fast as well as studied to be an EMT. When he had made it to Detective, he had done what he had to do to keep his certification valid, but that hadn't proved easy when doing undercover work. And while he was extremely good at going undercover, some of the things he had had to do to stay alive turned his stomach. He was able to stop the bad guys, but the lines between ethical and illegal were blurred, and hurting and using people to get the job done was something he loathed. It made him feel like his deadbeat father.

And that had led him here. Sitting at a table at the LA Fire and EMS station, waiting on a call. He had become a paramedic 3 months ago, and he couldn't be happier with his lot in life right now. It had taken three years of non-stop studying and classes, but he had made it. He felt a sense of accomplishment every time there was a call and he was able to help that person. Sometimes it was a minor injury, sometimes it was life and death. And that's what he loved about it. The rush he got when the tones dropped, calling them into action, it wasn't something he could describe. And while he still missed doing undercover, right now this was where he was meant to be.

"You're doing the nervous tick thing again." Deeks looked up and smiled, seeing his partner Laura Goodwin.

"Nah, not nervous. Just bored. Slow day at the office." Laura opened her mouth to reply, but the shrill whistle of the horn cut her off, alerting them a call was coming in. They both quickly sprinted for the door, Laura jumping in the driver seat. "You just had to open your big mouth, didn't you Deeks?"

He could only smile while putting his seatbelt on. "You wouldn't want me any other way." Deeks picked up the radio, letting dispatch know they were in route and trying to get more information about the call.

"Unknown casualties at this time. Shots fired. Law enforcement is currently en route for back-up. Stage only at this time until cleared."

Deeks looked over at Laura, confusion on both of their faces.

"If LAPD isn't there already, who is?"

"I bet it's Feds. Especially if dispatch isn't giving up more information." Deeks nodded his head at her, knowing she was right.

With lights and sirens going, they made it to the building in three minutes. Parking far enough away to stage the area, Deeks got out and made sure everything in the back was ready to go. He was always meticulous on the layout and supplies; he knew he was ready. Grabbing a bag with the basic first aid he figured he would probably need, he waited until he heard dispatch again. They had moved over to the more secure channel, knowing there would be more information available there.

A man's voice cut in. "Agent down. Rooftop. Injuries unknown at this time."

As soon as he heard Agent down, Deeks sprang into action. He used to be a cop, and law enforcement - no matter what kind of relationship they had - always took care of one another when in trouble. And there was someone in trouble. He looked at Laura, seeing her shaking her head at him.

"Deeks, don't do it! You have no idea what you're walking into. And you don't want to get mistaken for a bad guy. I'm not saving your ass, too."

"Gotta go, Laura. Let dispatch know I'm headed in, and make sure they relay that to the guys inside. Stay here until you hear otherwise." And with those words, he took off.

Laura relayed the info and watched as Deeks disappeared around the corner. There were going to be serious repercussions later for this, and she hated to be him when he got his ass chewed for this stunt. But she also knew where he was coming from. Her husband was part of LAPD, and she would do what she had to to get to him if he was in trouble. He may not know anyone outright in the building right now, but they were brothers in law enforcement.

Deeks scanned the area as he ran, his eyes knowing what to look for. He saw a silver Cadillac and a black Charger sitting next to the curb of an abandoned looking three story building. He could hear gunfire from inside and his instincts and training kicked in. He crouched low as he neared the side door, hoping the stairs would be close to it. As he slowly opened it, he glanced in, letting out a breath as he did it. Not seeing anyone, good guys or bad, he snuck in.

His original hope for the stairs was answered at the end of the hallway he was in. Quickly and quietly making his way over, he kept his eyes and ears open. The gunfire he was hearing sounded like it was on the other side of the building, and he was really hoping that this side had already been cleared.

He breathed evenly as he raced up the stairs, careful to make it as silent as possible. He saw the door to the top, and carefully opened it. As he peaked out, he saw two bodies - bad guys he presumed - and their guns discarded. As he opened the door a little more and looked around, he saw a brunette with her eyes closed and hands up while a man was standing in front of her, gun pointed at her. He could see the silver badge hanging on her pocket, letting him know they were on the same side.

The gunfire ceased below him, but he wasn't sure how much time he had before the man took the shot. He leaned down, silently picking up a discarded gun and checking it. He stayed crouched down and aimed it, but it was too late. The man pulled the trigger, hitting the brunette in the lower shoulder area. He pulled the trigger on his borrowed gun, his bullet finding it's target and the man fell. Deeks grabbed the bag, gun still in hand in case someone else was there hiding. As soon as he made it over, he checked for a pulse on the man, already knowing he was dead. That's when he noticed the other man laying beneath the brunette. A quick check told him that he, too, hadn't made it.

Opening the bag, he started putting pressure on the woman's wound. He saw as she opened her eyes for a minute. Before he could get a word out, she whispered something he had never been called in his life.

"My angel." And then her eyes closed again, unresponsive. Deeks would have laughed at her words if the situation hadn't been dire. Instead, he yelled 'Paramedic' when he heard the door open, seeing two additional men coming out. They immediately pulled their aimed guns away from him and scanned the area, clearing it.

"You know, it's a good thing Eric already told us you were up here or this would not have ended well for you." Callen was holstering his gun and kneeled down next to the younger man, watching as he worked on Kensi.

"She going to be okay?" Deeks was working frantically trying to stabilize her.

"Erratic pulse. She's going into shock. We need to get her out of here." He didn't know why, but he knew that this one - this woman - had to make it. Even covered in blood she was beautiful, there was no denying that. But it was the way he had seen her standing over the other man, using her body to shield his even though the man was already gone, that had his admiration.

A minute later, Laura was there, back board in hand. She helped Deeks get Kensi situated on it and then allowed the bigger black man to help him down the stairs, careful to keep the patient as stable as possible. Laura could have done it, helped carry her down the stairs, but the look on the man's face when he said he would do it was too much. Instead, she took her partner's place putting pressure on the wound as they left the building.

As soon as they placed Kensi on the awaiting stretcher and got her loaded in the ambulance, Deeks quickly closed the doors as Laura started the ambulance and left.

Deeks radioed in to the hospital, letting them know he had one white female, GSW to the upper chest area, going into shock. Her blood pressure was all over the place and he worked tirelessly to put the IV in and get her stable.

Eight minutes later, Laura was pulling into Pacific Medical Center and stopped. The doors immediately opened and the doctors were waiting. They immediately wheeled her inside, and Deeks followed as far as he could. He knew she was going to need surgery, but there was an empty feeling in his chest when the doors swung closed, leaving him there alone while she was wheeled back.

He stood there a minute, unable to stop staring at the doors, wanting to rush back and find out how she was doing. This unnerving sense of protection was something he wasn't used to. Every other patient he had taken care of he was able to leave at the door, letting the professionals do their jobs. But there was something about her he couldn't put his finger on.

"Hey Deeks, you okay?" Laura walked up, seeing the lost look in his eyes.

"Um, yeah. Good. I'm good. Fine. What's up?" He finally tore his eyes away, looking at Laura. She just narrowed her eyes a little, but ignored it.

"We have reports to fill out. And you have an ass-reaming party to attend." He just nodded at her, looking at the doors one more time before turning and walking out, the pull of the hospital - her - almost too much. In that moment, he knew as soon as his shift ended tonight, he would be back here, sitting in a chair until he heard how she was doing.

"Kensi." Laura's voice cut through to him and he looked over at her.

"Her name is Kensi. One of the guys - Sam, I think? - said that was her name." He just nodded, missing the small smile come across her face. Laura knew he would never admit it to anyone, but it was about time he found someone. He was going to need some pushing, but hey, what were partners for?

AN - I would absolutely love to hear your thoughts on this. Leaving a review (good or bad) on the way out would be greatly appreciated. :)