Who is Marty Deeks?

This story is AU because we really don't know that much about Marty Deeks' background. The show has given us some hints and facts along the way, but not much so I've come up with what I think Marty's childhood was like and how he became the compassionate, empathetic, funny man he is with a zest for life and an uncanny ability to connect with children. I've written what I think his life was like until he became the liaison officer for NCIS. I couldn't find out if Marty's mother's name has ever been mentioned on the show so I gave her the name Mary. This story ends with him accepting the offer from Hetty to become the liaison between NCIS and LAPD. I actually had this story partly complete with Marty going undercover as a gay man when the episode where Marty uses the alias Sven aired so I made some changes to this story so that I could write the story Sven combining that alias with the one I had already constructed for this story.

There is angst and hurt and comfort in this story (it seems to be what I am best at). I only own my original characters which include Mrs. Richardson, Samuel Deeks, David Herrera, Henry Cole, William Watkins, Brian Groves and Michael McDonald.

All characters from the show are the property of NCIS Los Angeles. Sadly, I will never own the show or the characters.

Anything in italics are thoughts. Anything in bold type is a quote from one of the episodes of the show.

Enjoy.

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CHAPTER 1:

Marty came into the world at 9:04 pm on a Friday night. He weighed in at 8 pounds 9 ounces and had a head full of fluffy blond hair. His mother was alone in the hospital when he made his entrance. His father was out with his buddies. Mary and Gordon John Brandel had married after Mary became pregnant. Her family disowned her when they found out about the pregnancy and she had no one else she could turn to other than Gordon. Even then, he was an indifferent husband, but he didn't start drinking until he lost his first job after the birth of his son.

Mary looked at her son when the nurse handed him to her and prayed that she would be able to take care of him. She did what all new mothers do; checked for ten toes and ten fingers, gave him soft kisses and snuggled him against her breast. Gordon didn't care what she named him so he became Martin Andrew Brandel. Martin for her grandfather who had died way too soon and Andrew because it meant "warrior" in Greek and she somehow knew her son would grow up to be a warrior.

Gordon showed up at the hospital on the day Mary was released from the hospital to take Marty home. She had called him and begged him for a ride. He took one look at his son and said "Well, at least he's not a puny wrinkled thing. He looks like he's going to be a big one."

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Gordon Brandel was a mean human being who never took responsibility for anything that went wrong. It was always someone else's fault. If he lost a job it was because his boss was a bigot or someone had lied about him. If he had a fight with someone, he always blamed them for starting it first. He had gotten Mary pregnant and been forced to marry her by his family but didn't love her and let her know every day that it was her fault for getting pregnant.

Once he was married, he held and lost several low level jobs and began drinking with his buddies any chance he got. He quickly descended into alcoholism. The bottle became his best friend. Any problems he had because of his drinking he blamed Mary for. He felt she was responsible for everything that went wrong in his life. When he wasn't working, he was either drinking with his buddies or terrorizing his wife. He used any excuse to beat her. It made him feel powerful to beat her. He might beat her because she had made roast for dinner and he felt like fish, or that dinner wasn't ready the minute he came in the door even though she never knew when he would be home. Mary endured the beatings because she didn't know any better and didn't have anyone she could turn to for help. She thought she deserved the life she lived. As long as Gordon left Marty alone, she was able to make excuses for his actions and deny she was being abused whenever anyone noticed the bruises and broken bones and asked.

The first time Gordon beat Marty was because he had been running through the house pretending to be superman and giggling. When he heard the front door open, he ran toward it to say hello to his father. Gordon came in the door after spending the evening drinking with his buddies and backhanded Marty across the living room without warning causing the young child to crash into the couch. "Shut up you little brat! Can't a man have peace and quiet in his own home!" he roared. "You're worthless! I should just get rid of you, no one would want a pansy like you for a son."

Marty lay against the couch stunned. He could only remember being touched by his mother before that and her touch had always been loving, kind and gentle. He had never been hit in anger until that night. His father had always been somewhat distant with Marty, but he would at least say hi to him when he came home. This was the first time his father had ever yelled at him, let alone hit him.

His lip was split and bleeding. His head hurt where he had hit it against the arm of the couch but he knew he better not make a sound or move because his father would get madder and continue beating him if he did. He had learned that lesson well by watching his father beat his mother. He laid there very still and quiet until Gordon staggered into his bedroom and fell across his bed in a drunken stupor.

When Mary was sure her husband was asleep, she cleaned Marty up and took him into his bedroom and tucked him into bed. "I'm so sorry baby" she told her son as she tucked him in. Tears were rolling down Marty's face but he wasn't making a sound and it broke Mary's heart. "Marty, you have to stay away from your dad and be very quiet around him so he doesn't do this again. Can you do that for me, baby?" she asked.

"Yes momma" Marty whispered. "Why does daddy hate me?"

"I don't know baby. We need to find a good hiding place so if he gets mad again, you can run and hide from him. I know you've hidden in the closet before when he hit me, but he could find you there if he looked for you. Can you hide in the crawl space behind the wall at the head of your bed?"

"Yes momma" Marty replied. "It's gots lots of room."

"Okay. If your dad gets mad at you again, hide in there. He shouldn't be able to find you there, but you will have to be very quiet so that he never finds you or your hiding space, okay baby?"

"Okay."

Mary stayed with him reading to him and giving him kisses until he went to sleep and then crept into the bedroom and into bed beside her husband. She knew if she wasn't there when he woke up he would beat her again. He had told her enough times that she should be available to "service" him whenever he wanted it because it was her duty as his wife.

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The abuse Marty continued to endure at his father's hands after the first incident had a profound effect on him. Marty's trust in the world and the grownups around him was damaged in the instant his father first hit him. It made it very difficult for him to trust adults as a child and until Sam came into his life, he had never had an adult other than his mother take an interest in him and treat him as a valuable human being.

Once trust is lost, it is very hard to regain. Angry words thrown at Marty and fists beating on him caused irreparable damage to his heart and his soul. Each word was like a knife being stabbed into his soul. Each punch of his father's fists caused damage to his spirit and trust in the world around him. The wounds might heal, but they leave scars. After hearing he was worthless for so many years, it was very easy for Marty to believe what he father told him about his character. He had no other points of reference to a kinder, gentler world. It was easy to believe it was his fault whenever anything went wrong. Each beating he received caused him to feel more guilty for not being the child his father could love. No matter how hard he tried, nothing worked and it tore at his soul and self-confidence from a very young age on.

He learned to guard his heart fiercely and not let anyone see the real Marty Brandel. He felt it was safer that way. If no one knew him, they couldn't hurt him. He began showing the world a Marty Brandel he thought they wanted to see. In different situations, different versions of himself were shown. It was the beginning of what would be his uncanny ability to slip in and out of aliases at the drop of a hat and make them totally believable.

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As time went on, Marty's father became more vicious around both his son and wife. Whenever he lost another job, he would come home and take it out on his family. Most of Marty's memories of home were hiding in his closet or later behind his bed in the crawl space and cowering in fear as the sounds of yells, fists hitting flesh, glass breaking and soft cries coming from the kitchen filled the small house. Each time those sounds filled his ears, his father was in a towering rage and beating on his mother. Marty wished every time it happened that he was bigger so he could protect his mother, but he was just too little and he knew if he tried to help her, his father would just start beating him. So he hid and whimpered as softly as possible hoping that his father, the big bad monster that haunted his dreams, didn't find his hiding place. As soon as his father would stagger to his bed and fall into a drunken stupor, Marty would sneak out of his hiding place and go to his mother. She was usually laying on the floor in the kitchen with blood on her face and cuts and bruises on her arms. He would lay down with his head in her lap "Are you okay mama? I hides like you say." he would tell her.

Mary Brandel ran her fingers through her son's hair as she tried to re-assure him "I'm fine baby. It's nothing that won't heal. You did a good job hiding. Don't ever let him find your hiding place, promise mama."

"I promise."

As soon as Mary was able to, she got up and cleaned the kitchen. She removed all traces of the blood that had spattered when Gordon was hitting her. She knew if he saw it, he would start in all over again. She got Marty ready for bed and read him his favorite bedtime story. She sat and watched her son sleep for the longest time before she went to bed beside her husband.

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