Inferno

7. Chapter 7

A/N: This chapter and the next draw heavily from season 2 Episode 1 'Human Traffic'. We need to get Deeks through the mission so he can deal with his emotions and the rest of the team.

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Tiki-Ti Bar, Los Angeles || Afternoon, September 22, 2010

Marty had no place else to turn. He called Hetty and arranged to meet her where she first offered him a job at NCIS. He entered the bar and saw her at one of the tables, playing her scrabble game with the Russian tiles and walked up to her.

She looked up at him and said, "Mr. Deeks, you look like hell. We thought you were dead."

Deeks ran his hand through his hair, "No... Not today," he said in a weak voice.

Hetty stared at him. His face was scratched up and burned. The clothes he wore looked like he hadn't changed in a week and there was blood visible on his shirt. His usual smile was gone from his face. The best thing that could be said about him was that he looked worn out.

"...Maybe tomorrow," after the short delay he continued his thought. But his face told her it was more of an afterthought, that he had weighed all of his options and this was the best solution that he had come up with.

The detective sat down in front of Hetty and slowly started to sip the tea that had been placed in front of him.

Hetty immediately began to worry about the mental stability of her detective. He began to engage her in some light banter about the Russian scrabble game, but his heart was not really in it.

Hetty went back to finding out what she could about his condition. "Are you hurt very badly?" she asked.

"I'm hurting all over." he responded.

Hetty just stared at him and said "Hmm," drawing it out so that he would continue to tell her what she wanted to know. Was it just physical pain from the explosion he lived through or had he heard about his partner's death under similar circumstances?

Deeks knew what she was doing, so he went on explaining what happened. "I was with Fellano and Emilio as Emilio drove up to his compound. The security gate remote either failed or the batteries died. I jumped out to punch in the code for them..."

A small sarcastic smile crossed his face as he let out a deep sigh, mentally reliving the scene all over again before he continued, "...a couple of seconds sooner...well, you know what would have happened.

Hetty closed her eyes and shook her head just a little bit as she, too, contemplated the outcome he didn't mention.

"As it was, I was shoved up against the gate. I'm gonna be wearing those bruises for at least a week. I must have been knocked out for a couple of minutes, because the next thing I knew, Emilio's bodyguards picked me up and tossed me into the back of their car. They took me to a ...doctor, which I swear was a vet, now that I think about it again..."

Again Hetty closed her eyes and drew in a sharp breath, as she speculated on all this man had gone through.

"...He fixed me up... gave me a full shot of horse tranquilizer...that put me out for fifteen hours. When I came to, I...I tried to call her, but she,...uh...uh..."

Hetty realized he couldn't even say her name, so she filled it in for him, "Detective Traynor."

Deeks finished his explanation, "...Too late."

He sipped his tea with an other-worldly look on his face. Hetty now knew that her detective had heard about the death of his partner. What she couldn't know was he heard his father laughing at him in his mind, accusing him of sleeping on the job when he should have been protecting Jess.