A/N – one last time (for this story), I don't own anything NCIS related other than the DVDs and OC's. Thanks to honus47 for reading and reviewing so many chapters of this story!

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Chapter 75

Deeks moaned as Kensi worked her way down his back. He was laying on his stomach, clad only in his boxers, his arms out by his sides with her straddling his hips. He really needed to send Moira some flowers. Kensi moved further down his back, peppering it with kisses before applying the scar cream the doctor had given them when he'd gone to have the last of the stitches taken out. He moaned again when she hit a particularly sensitive spot and thought, maybe jewelry instead of flowers. Kensi laughed and asked him "Are you looking forward to going back to work tomorrow?"

"Hell yes! I'm done with being cooped up inside this apartment!" He replied. Moira had released him for desk duty with a little light field work and he was really anxious to get back to work. He just had to get through the rest of the weekend and then he'd be back. He missed the guys, he missed Nell and Eric. He'd gone into the Mission with Kensi a couple times but Hetty had deemed he was a distraction as it seemed people wanted to spend more time with him than on the tasks they were supposed to be attending to.

He was pulled from his thoughts when Kensi started on the backs of his legs, once again kissing her way down them. She'd started doing that after he'd caught her staring at the scars one morning when he'd come out of the shower at Santa Barbara. A random thought had crossed his mind and he'd almost dismissed it out of hand. He knew Kensi was not that shallow. Unfortunately though, it wouldn't go away. Was she repulsed by him now? Were the new scars more than she wanted to deal with? He'd blurted out the questions and she'd been furious with him, replying with "What the hell? Of course not! I didn't fall in love with your skin; I fell in love with you! Why would a few scars turn me off? We both have more than our fair share."

After that, she'd made it a point to kiss at least one of them when she had the chance. Now that she was applying the cream every night, he was treated to both the kisses and the feeling of her hands smoothing said cream over a good portion of his body. Both sensations had the predictable impact on his body. When she finished his legs, she slapped him on the butt and told him to roll over. He did so and his body's response to her was now very visible. She smiled in delight and a little devilment as she straddled him again, starting the kisses and applying the cream to his chest. He growled and tried to reach for her but she slapped his hands away. "Nah uh! Doctor's orders! This is supposed to be applied every day. Would you prefer to do it?"

She offered him the jar and he shook his head no. She continued to work her way down his abdomen, ending just above the waistband of his boxers, driving him crazy. He watched as she finally capped the jar and wiped her hands on a small towel she had ready for just this purpose. She had just finished when he grabbed her and flipped them both over, claiming his turn to apply kisses to her body. The rest of the evening ritual played out as it had since it started and they were both swept away.

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Deeks sat on the couch behind the bullpen and stared up at the ceiling. He groaned and shook his head. Two days! He'd been back two days and he was already in trouble. He and Kensi had gone out to interview a possible witness to a marine's murder. Unfortunately, the witness turned out to be the murderer and had turned on both of them. Assuming Deeks was the stronger of the two, he'd gone after him first by punching him several times, hard to the stomach, causing the freshly healed ribs to protest loudly. Kensi had taken the guy out in two seconds flat while Deeks had lain on the ground, trying to suppress the pain and not make any sound that would key Kensi in to the fact that he was hurting. He knew what would happen. Light field duty would be off the table and he would be stuck at his desk for the foreseeable future.

What he should've remembered was that Kensi knew him as well as he knew her. She'd made him go see Moira after they took the guy into custody and handed him off to Sam and Callen at the boatshed. Moira had checked him over thoroughly and confirmed that nothing was broken or cracked but that he was going to have some spectacular bruises. Kensi had gone into overprotective mode and declared he was not going back out into the field and they'd argued about it all the way back to OSP. Hetty was not at her desk and, as the final decision would rest in her hands, he and Kensi were still at odds over this. She'd gone up to ops, looking for their Operations Manager and hadn't yet returned. He looked over at Hetty's desk, wondering again where she was.

He got his answer several minutes later when he heard her voice and that of Director Vance's. He sat up quickly, wincing at the pain that stabbed at him from the sudden movement. He levered himself off the couch to go see what was up. The director rarely put in an appearance here and, when he did, it usually didn't bode well. He made his way slowly to his desk and sat down just in time for the two of them to make their way down the stairs from ops and into the bullpen, followed closely by Kensi and Granger. Kensi was pale and obviously upset. Granger had his hand on her shoulder. Deeks looked from one to the other, wondering what was going on. The only thing he knew for sure was that it had something to do with him.

Hetty cleared her throat and spoke first. "Mr. Deeks, Director Vance is in Los Angeles to attend a conference and stopped in see how things were going here. He would like a word with you in private please."

Deeks's stomach dropped. This didn't sound good, not at all. He swallowed and nodded as he stood up, not able to control the slight wince that crossed his face. The director noticed immediately and frowned. He said "Let's sit in the lounge area, shall we Detective?" He indicated the back area Deeks had just come from and walked away, fully expecting Deeks to follow. Deeks looked from Granger to Hetty to Kensi and back, trying to see if any of them would give away what was going on and how much trouble he was in. He wracked his brains and could think of nothing he'd done that would warrant a dressing down from Vance. None of the faces looking back gave him anything. Kensi tried to smile encouragingly but failed miserably. He squared his shoulders and turned to follow his boss's boss's boss into the lounge.

Already seated in one of the armchairs, Vance pointed at the couch and said "Sit, Detective."

Deeks remained standing and asked "How much trouble am I in, Director Vance?"

Vance blinked a couple times and then smiled. "You aren't in any trouble Deeks." The smile and the use of the less formal mode of address caused some of the worry to recede and Deeks sat down on the couch as requested. He tried his best to hide the pain it caused him.

"If I'm not in trouble, what did you want to talk to me about in private, sir?"

Vance took a deep breath and the smile left his face. "I wanted to see for myself how you were doing after your ordeal and to tell you how glad I am that you're back with us." This time he swallowed hard and continued "What I saw on that video was horrendous, Deeks and I need to be sure you are well enough to be back. I wanted…"

Deeks had started to frown when the director mentioned a video and interrupted him asking "What video sir?"

Vance looked at him in surprise, only then realizing that no one had told the detective about the video or thought to tell him that Deeks didn't know of its existence. He didn't answer right away and Deeks asked again, louder and less respectfully. "What video?"

Out in the bullpen, trying hard not to get caught eavesdropping, three mouths dropped open as they realized what was going on. Kensi made a move to intervene but Granger put a hand on her arm, shaking his head in a silent no. They would have to deal with the fallout later.

Back in the lounge, Vance made a decision and said "The men who had you, videotaped everything that happened, Deeks. I'm not sure why you weren't informed of that fact. I can only assume they were trying to protect you. I'm sorry that I was the one who told you. That being said, I have to tell you that I have never seen such bravery and I'm honored to have you working here at NCIS."

Deeks heart had just about stopped when he heard Vance's explanation. He wanted to be angry with his team, with his bosses, but a part of him understood why they'd kept it from him. If it had been one of the others, Callen, Sam or God forbid, Kensi, he would have been in total agreement to not tell them about it. It didn't stop him from feeling sick. Had everyone seen it? Had Kensi? He realized that Vance was probably expecting some kind of response to his compliment and answered absently "It was more stubbornness than bravery, Director Vance."

"That's not true and you know it Detective! You saved Agent Hanna's live during the raid, at great harm to yourself. That's not stubbornness!"

"Maybe, maybe not. But Sam wouldn't have been there if it hadn't been for me. I should have been more careful in that warehouse. I should never have been taken." There, it was out in the open, the last thing he'd been worrying at in his mind.

"I would respectfully disagree. I was fully briefed on the situation from the moment you went missing. There was no way you could have foreseen what was going to happen."

"I knew something was wrong and I went in any way!"

"You expressed your misgivings and then followed your team leader's orders when they were overruled. That's what a good agent does Deeks. You need to know that Agent Callen also blames himself for the entire thing, as do Agents Hanna and Blye. All of them have indicated that they should have listened to you and not breached that warehouse. Do you blame them?"

"No, of course not, we had a job to do and we did it."

"Then why do you blame yourself?"

Deeks opened and closed his mouth a few times, not sure how to answer. As he thought about it, he realized the director was right and there was plenty of blame to go around or no one to blame other than the ones who'd actually taken him. Either way, he felt a little of the weight he hadn't even known he was carrying around, lift and he smiled at the man sitting next to him. "Thank you Director." He said softly.

"You're very welcome Detective." Vance tilted his head and decided to ask something that had been on his mind for a while now. "Can I ask you a question?"

"Of course. However, I can't guarantee that I'll answer." Deeks smiled as he said it.

"Why haven't you signed the papers to become an agent? I know Hetty offered them to you before she went to Prague."

"I'll tell you what I told her. I'm a cop. It's more than just what I do."

"You're as much a federal agent as anyone in this building Deeks. Do you think you could ever go back to LAPD and be just a cop now?"

Deeks frowned, not sure if he knew the answer to the question. He decided not to answer and simply shrugged. Vance sighed and moved onto the next topic he'd wanted to talk about. "You and Agent Blye will be going to Victorville at the end of the week to brief Timmons and his lawyer about the new charges being added to those already filed against him, correct?"

"Yes sir." Deeks grinned, already picturing the meeting in his head.

"You and Agent Blye deserve the opportunity to be the ones to tell him. I don't need to tell you that you need to be careful about how much information to release to Timmons's lawyer? There are still ongoing investigations based on some of the information Robinson gave us."

"No sir, I am well aware of what his lawyer needs to know and what he doesn't." Deeks quirked an eyebrow at him.

"Sorry, I forget that you're also a lawyer." Vance stood up and Deeks went to stand as well. The director put his hand on his shoulder, stopping him. "I know you had an altercation with a suspect today and I saw the pain on your face earlier. Take your time and rest. We want you back but not at the expense of your health."

Deeks settled back into the couch. "Thank you, sir." He had some things he needed to think about and was glad he would have some time to himself before facing his team.

Vance walked towards the bullpen but stopped and turned one last time. "When you finally make the decision to become an agent, I want you to know that I'll approve it immediately. You'll make a damn good agent." He turned and walked away, leaving a surprised Deeks behind him. A Deeks who heard an echo of Sam's voice in his head.

He shook his head and leaned back, staring at the ceiling once more, trying to put his thoughts in order. His solitude didn't last long. He knew she was there before the tentative "Deeks?" she offered. He closed his eyes, feeling the nausea form again as he pictured her watching what they had done to him.

"Did you watch it?" he asked softly.

"No! At least, not more than a few seconds here and there. I only found out about it that first day I brought you into work with me. I walked in on them watching it. I wanted to watch it, felt like I needed to."

"Why didn't you?"

"Sam talked me out of it. He said there was no need and that you probably wouldn't want me to see it."

"Sam's a very smart man."

"I know."

He sat up and opened his eyes. He saw concern but nothing else on her face. He took a deep breath and asked "Who else has seen it?"

"Eric, Nell, Hetty, Granger, Sam, Callen and now Director Vance. None of them wanted to watch it baby, but they needed to for the information on it. Hetty told me that Director Vance asked to see it and Eric and Nell put it up on the screen and then walked out. They refused to stay and see it again. When I went to talk to Hetty about your duty status, it was up. That's the second time I've walked in on it. Both times it was taken down immediately. That's all I've seen and all I'll ever see."

He held his hand out to her and she took it. He pulled her down on the couch next to him and she snuggled in with her head on his shoulder, not worrying for the moment about their rule of not showing affection during work hours. He was quiet for a few minutes and then asked "Do you think they'll treat me differently now?"

"Why would they? From what I've been told, there's nothing on those tapes to make anyone think less of you. In fact, the only comments made were that you were strong….and stubborn…and a smart ass. But we knew all that already."

He laughed and it felt good. He'd talk with the guys later but for now, he settled himself deeper in the couch and pulled her even closer to him. He had a lot to think about after his conversation with Vance and some decisions to make.

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Friday morning Deeks and Kensi drove up to Victorville. Both were practically giddy with excitement as they each pictured telling Timmons how he was going to be buried in additional charges. Sam and Callen had wanted to come with them but a new case had cropped up last night and they were both working on it today. When done with Timmons, they would be returning to L.A. and joining their team mates on it.

Deeks had talked to each one of his team members about the video. Nell had just started to cry and he'd ended up holding her until she worked it out of her system. Eric had refused to talk about it at all. Callen had once again stated that he felt everything that had happened to him was his fault and assured Deeks he would be paying attention to his gut feelings from now on. For the first time Deeks heard that Callen still blamed himself for his and Sam's torture at the hands of Sidorov. Deeks had told him that he felt that he was the one at fault this time. They'd had one of their longest conversations and, in the end, had both agreed to blame Robinson, McGonagle, Parks and Timmons. Sam had simply pulled him into a hug and told him again that he owed him his life. Hetty had just looked at him and offered him tea. Granger had been the most honest. He'd said that it was one of the worst things he'd ever had to sit through and hoped he would never experience anything like it again. None of them appeared to treat him differently and he had finally decided to let it go.

Kensi pulled into the parking lot at the prison and turned to look at him. "Are you ready for this?"

"Oh hell yeah! I've been dying to do this."

"Then let's go partner!" They both got out of the car and headed towards the entrance. They'd barely gotten 20 feet from the car when they were hailed by a familiar voice.

"Wait up!" Both turned to see Talia hurrying their way. When she reached them she hugged both of them. She stood back and looked Deeks up and down. Satisfied that he looked back to normal, she grinned at both of them.

"Talia? What are you doing here?" asked Kensi. There was no animosity in her voice. The two of them had become more friendly and she knew for a fact that the DEA agent and Craig had been seeing a lot of each other over the last few weeks.

"As I told you before, Robinson's information led to the DEA breaking up some major drug rings. Several of the guys have rolled on Parks but, more importantly, some of the guys higher up have rolled on Timmons. We have sworn statements that Parks had some influence over their judges that got them out of jail time. The judges named have all given up Timmons as the one who orchestrated things. We're filing charges of drug trafficking to the ones already pending. I contacted his lawyer for a meeting and was told he was already meeting NCIS here today and I invited myself along." She grinned widely at the pleased looks on both their faces. In their opinions, they couldn't come up with enough charges against the man.

Kensi turned back towards the prison, saying over her shoulder "The more the merrier! Let's get this rolling!" As she walked towards the entrance, a blonde woman who was leaning against the wall pushed herself up and straightened at their approach.

"Cheryl? What the hell? Is every agency here today?" Deeks asked as he hugged her.

She smiled and turned to hug Kensi and then held her hand out to Talia. "Agent Del Campo, it's nice to see you again."

"It's Talia and the feeling is mutual. So what does bring you here today?" asked Talia as she shook the FBI agent's hand.

"The same as you three. While the charges for the murder of my partner are already part of those NCIS is presenting today, I wanted to be here. I wanted to look him in the face when he hears about this." She replied. The four of them shared a knowing look, they'd all been there. They'd all lost a partner and understood her need to see justice served, however late. As a unit, they turned and walked inside.

The four of them were shown to a room where they would wait for Timmons and his lawyer to arrive. The women insisted Deeks sit as he was still recovering and they took up positions behind him. Kensi was to his right, Talia to his left and Cheryl behind him. When Timmons walked through the door, his expression was priceless. He'd known that NCIS was meeting with him but not who. The fact that Deeks was still alive and present was obviously not something he'd expected. He quickly schooled his expression into one of indifference. His lawyer sat next to him at the table and folded his arms across his chest.

"To what do we owe the appearance of Charlie's Angels today?" the lawyer asked, his tone of voice deliberately insulting.

Deeks frowned and looked at the women flanking him. Two kick ass brunettes and an equally kick ass blonde. He smiled in delight and turned back to the lawyer and Timmons. "Well, who knew? Am I Bosley or Charlie? You know what? Doesn't matter. Mr. Timmons, I'm going to assume you're surprised to see me here, alive."

The lawyer put his hand on Timmons's arm and replied "Why would my client be surprised to see you alive Mr….?"

"Deeks. LAPD Detective Marty Deeks and this is NCIS Agent Kensi Blye, DEA Agent Talia Del Campo and FBI Agent Cheryl Leary. Your client should be surprised to see me alive because he and his lover, Steve Parks, conspired to have me abducted, tortured and killed in an aborted attempt to get Mr. Timmons here released from prison and out of the states to a non-extradition country. Obviously, their plan failed. Miserably I might add."

"My client has no idea what you are talking about, Detective…Deeks is it?"

"Sorry to burst your bubble Mr…?"

"Klein. Abraham Klein. I represent Judge Timmons and you will address all your comments to me."

"Very well, Mr. Klein, in addition to the charges already pending against your client, additional charges of conspiracy to commit murder in the deaths of Katie Willis, federal prosecutor, her husband Michael, their unborn child, FBI Agents Rick Higgins and Simon Heath, will be filed. Also, as I previously stated, he is being charged with conspiracy to abduct, torture and murder a federal agent." Deeks paused and then pointed to himself. "That would be me."

Kensi took over. "Due to his…association with Steven Parks, an arms dealer who dealt weapons to known terrorist groups, charges of conspiracy to commit treason will also be levied against him. I believe that the DEA has some charges of their own that they will also be filing. Agent Del Campo?"

Talia joined in the fun, watching as the ex-judge's face went from bright red to stark white as each charge was read off. "The DEA will be filing charges of conspiracy to distribute controlled narcotics. His interference with the trials of several major drug dealers in California will be cited as the reason for these charges."

Klein was staring at them in confusion. These charges were much greater than anything he would have expected when his firm had agreed to take on the judge as a client after he'd been turned down by several other prominent L.A. criminal defense lawyers. He'd thought that this would be the case that would make him. His version of the O.J. Simpson case, something every defense lawyer aspired to. Now he was starting to think that this case would be the one to ruin him. He turned to his client, his questions written all over his face. Timmons looked at him and snarled. "It's all false. This is a vendetta against me because I refused to allow shoddy police work to be used against defendants in my court room. Detective Deeks has a personal grudge against me due to the unfortunate murders of his friends the Willises, something I had nothing to do with! In addition, the daughter of a close friend of his made ridiculous charges against my son who he then railroaded into juvenile detention!"

Klein looked back to Deeks who responded "We have hard evidence against his son, as well as the boy's confession in exchange for a lighter sentence and his agreement to get help with his issues. Each of the other charges against your client are backed up by…" he paused and lost focus. Kensi's hand on his shoulder centered him. "…backed up by video evidence of two people in the employ of Steven Parks where they incriminated themselves, Parks and Timmons. Sworn statements by others who have been arrested due to this video evidence have compounded the charges. You don't have a snowball's chance in hell of getting your client acquitted of a single one of them." With this, Deeks stood up and handed Klein his card. "If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at this number."

Talia also handed Klein her card. The four of them turned to leave when Timmons hissed at Deeks "I wish to God they'd succeeded. You should be dead by now and no one would have shed a tear!"

Kensi, Talia and Cheryl all whirled around but it was Kensi who spoke first. "You are a boil on the ass of the human race! I hope they seek the death penalty for you. And if they do, I will be there, front and center at your execution, a smile on my face as I watch you gasp out your last breath!" The other two women added their vows to be present and Timmons sneered at them. Klein put his hand on the ex-judge's arm, only to be swatted away. He was already plotting on how to get his firm to drop Timmons as a client and get out from under this.

Deeks looked at Timmons and said "You know, I almost feel sorry for you. Almost. Well, actually, no, not at all. You're either going to get a lethal injection or spend the rest of your life behind bars in a maximum security prison. I plan on making sure that the prosecution goes for no chance of parole. You will never see the light of day again if I have anything to do with it. You remember that while you sit behind bars, knowing that I'm out there, enjoying the sunshine and my freedom. Somewhere I hear Katie and Michael cheering. Enjoy the rest of your life, however long it is." He turned and gestured for the women to exit before him. He followed them out without looking back. He could hear Timmons and Klein already arguing. He smiled and felt lighter than he had in a long, long time.

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A/N2 - thanks to OhBuddy66 for the suggestions on Vance seeing the video and his talk with Deeks. I hope I did justice to it?

A/N3– okay, that's it for this story. I will be writing sequels and I hope you will read and review those as well. To all my guest reviewers who I can't reply to directly or those who I can't PM: Thank you! Merci! Grazie! Gracias! To anyone who reviewed but I didn't reply to, I'm sorry and I do appreciate your time and effort to leave a review on this. It's been a fun, stressful, wonderful ride!