#fletc

[ejzah]

A/N: After Deeks receives his Investigator badge. Nell sets a few things right.

***

Deeks, wincing as he stands: Well, this has been great, but it’s been a long day, my ribs are reknitting themselves, and, uh, Kensi and I have some lost time to make up.

Kensi, loosely hugging him: Amen to that.

Nell, raising an eyebrow: Ooh, I expect full details.

Callen: Please keep me out of that group text.

Sam, raising his beer in Deeks’ direction: Congrats again, Deeks.

Callen: Definitely well-earned.

Deeks: Thanks guys.

Kensi: We’ll see you on Monday.

Nell: Why would you see us on Monday? You have a vacation to get to.

Deeks: Well, that kind of went out the window since I came back early from FLETC.

Nell, firmly: You two have vacation time approved, and you are gping to use it. Besides, you’re on medical leave for your ribs, Deeks.

Kensi, patiently: We appreciate it, but our plane tickets were for the airport near the academy, not that they’re any good at this point.

Nell: I believe you’ll find tickets in the paperwork I gave you today. Good for a round trip anywhere in the US. Oh, and there may or may not be a small striped in there as well.

Deeks, shaking his head: God bless you, Nell Jones.

Sam: You might be even scarier than Hetty.

[densi-mber]

A/N: Here we have one of my least favorite storylines for now it was handled, but one of my favorite to write about for this very reason.

***

The Wrong Kind of Help

“C’mon, Deeks! Give me one more! Dig deep.”

Deeks glared up at the instructor, sweat dripping off his nose, his breath rushing in and out in short, loud bursts.

“You said that twenty minutes ago, sir,” he pointed out, snarkier than he would normally risk.

“Yeah, and you’re still standing,” Instructor Hardy said, remaining Deeks vaguely of Sam when he got in SEAL mode. He pointed to Deeks and then to the ground. “So, get to it.”

The physical training instructors rode everyone hard, but often it seemed they singled him out for extra reps or to spar against the largest and most fit opponent. At first, he’d thought it was intended to showcase his shortcomings and age. Now, he didn’t know what to think.

The torture continued for another ten minutes when Hardy blew his whistle and waved his hand at Deeks midway through a push-up. “Alright, that’s enough. I don’t want you to actually die on me.”

“That’s—comforting, sir,” Deeks gasped out.

“You’re hilarious, kid. Have some water and hit the showers.”

Getting to his feet, Deeks accepted the bottle of water Hardy offered him and grabbed his bag. Thank god he’d gotten in the best shape of his life before all this, but he’d still be aching tomorrow.

“That wasn’t too bad,” Hardy said, patting Deeks on the shoulder, and walking off, likely to inflict his brand of training on some other poor, unsuspecting soul.

Fortunately, the dorm was pretty empty when he got back. Jack and Charlie were in the common room though, and as soon as he walked in, they descended.

“Dude, what did you do to piss Hardy off?” Charlie wondered. “You look like you’re going to fall over.”

“Stop interrogating the man and get him some water,” Jake interceded, sighing in apparent disappointment at Charlie’s lack of regard. Normally, Deeks would find their antics amusing, but he didn’t have the energy, or breath for that.

Sitting down, Deeks put his head back, completely exhausted. He had another class in about an hour, but all he wanted to do was sleep.

“Here you go.”

Something cold nudged Deeks’ hand and he slowly opened his eyes to Jake standing over him with bottles of water and Gatorade. Deeks took the Gatorade, gratefully drinking a few sips.

“So, what happened?”

“I wish I could tell you,” Deeks sighed. “Maybe he’s hoping if he works me hard enough, I’ll quit.”

“If that’s what he’s going for, you definitely proved him wrong. I don’t think anyone else could have held up that long,” Charlie said encouragingly.

“It has been pointed out before that I can be stubborn.” Deeks smiled wryly.

“Marty Deeks stubborn? No way,” Jake drawled.

Chuckling, Deeks patted his shoulder as he stood up again. “Thanks, guys. I’m going to go shower and feel less like death.”

***

The shower did go a long way to reviving Deeks. In a fresh set of academy approved clothes, Deeks ran downstairs, intending to grab something from the cafeteria before his next class. On his way to back through the common room, he saw Hardy standing by the exit doors, arms crossed over his chest.

Deeks sighed internally, continuing towards him even though he wanted nothing more than to run in the opposite direction.

“Deeks, I was looking for you.”

“I’d love to chat, sir, but I have to get to ethics,” Deeks told him.

“This will only take a moment,” Hardy said. He scrutinized Deeks with narrowed eyes. “I bet you’re wondering why I had you run all those drills today. Why I keep using you for examples during group training.”

“The thought has occurred.”

Hardy nodded, his expression unreadable. “You’re a smart guy, Deeks. You’ve got more experience than anyone here who isn’t on staff and despite your age, you’re flying through every course with top marks so far.”

“I’m sure it’s a great disappointment for anyone thinking I’d fail,” Deeks said lightly.

“It’s damn impressive,” Hardy countered to Deeks’ surprise. “Oh don’t look like that. At this point, I think everyone wants to see you earn your agents badge. I’m trying to help you get there.”

“By running me to death?”

“No, by showing you and everyone else just what you’re capable of.” Hardy actually poked Deeks in the chest. “You gotta be better than good for NCIS to believe you’re a better candidate than one of these barely out of college 24 year olds. You need to stand out.”

Deeks could honestly say he’d never expected that. He was oddly touched Hardy seemed to care about him in his own way, even if he went about it completely the wrong way. He could see where he was coming from too. To an extent.

“With all due respect, I don’t think running me into the ground is the best way to achieve that result,” Deeks said, and Hardy smiled now

“I think I know what’s best for my students, and this is going to help get you the results you want.” Apparently satisfied with having said his piece, Hardy clapped Deeks on the back. “I’ll see your bright and early tomorrow morning.”

As he left, Deeks sighed, wishing he didn’t have such an infamous past hanging over his head.

[sleepinnsuitesbrunswickga]

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[anonkp]

Poor Deeks. So sad. And it stirs up all sorts of Deeks at FLETC feelings. Well played @orionares

BTHB: Depression

BTHB: Depression 

NCIS: Los Angeles 

@badthingshappenbingo

—---

A/N: Trigger Warning for descriptions of depression.

A/N2: Takes place during 12x08 "Love Kills" and 12x09 "A Fait Accompli"

—-----

Glynco, Georgia

It's pouring out.

It's storming actually, dumping up to two inches of rain on Glynco and the rest of the Georgia coast. With the outside night classes canceled, Marty Deeks lies on his dorm bed and watches his ceiling fan spin. 

He could go to the dining hall and attempt to socialize with the other cadets or walk over to use the dorm building's gym.

But instead, he lies on his back with bruised ribs and shoulder pain, and just….lays there. 

Hey, Cadet! How was your day?

He could answer Kensi's text, received two hours ago. He really could. Hell, Deeks could picture himself rolling onto his stomach, taking his phone in hand and texting- I'm fine. The usual. Miss you and the team. 

It'd be easy. Simple. It'd also be a lie.

He isn't fine. 

—--

"I'm so sorry, Deeks."

His eyes fly open at the memory of the four words he's heard dozens of times since being cut from NCIS and LAPD. He can picture Sam and Callen's solemn expressions, the pat on the backs from other agents and even the glances from officers on the day he had turned in his badge.

God, the looks he'd gotten walking into LAPD-

Deeks lets out a slow long breath before glancing over to the clock on the dresser. 

8:15

I've only been here for twenty- five minutes. Great, he thinks before gingerly pushing himself into sitting up. Deeks rubs his bruised ribs- earned from an overeager ex- Marine during sparring- and winces. 

In the silence of his room, he can feel his chest tighten at the sudden surge of intrusive thoughts.

I hurt and I'm exhausted. I can’t sleep and I’m running on empty.

Unexpectedly,  he lets out a sob.

I can’t fail-

I can't-

His cellphone rings from behind him, causing him to flinch. Deeks grabs the phone and looks at the screen to see a video request from Kensi. He takes in another slow breath and musters the closest he can to a smile.

"Hey, Kensalina," he greets and sees Kensi laying back on her pillow on their bed. The sight of her makes his heart skip a beat and he takes a long moment to take in the sight of her. 

"Hi," Kensi answers softly. "It's what- 8 or so over there? I just wanted to check on you. How was your day?"

"I'm hanging in there, Kens. There's a storm that canceled a few classes," Deeks replies. He swallows and glances off to his left. "How's…how's it going over there?"

Kensi frowns and sits up on the bed. "It's fine….Baby, are you okay?"

He stiffens at her question and looks away from his phone. The tears forming in his eyes sting as he looks away and feels his wife's eyes on him even from a thousand miles away. "I'm getting it done, Kens-"

"You didn't answer my question."

 "I didn't.." He chuckles sadly before looking back at the phone. "Kens, I…I'm drowning and I don't know how to get out of this. I know I have two weeks left but I just….I don't know."

Kensi tucks a loose hair behind her ear. "I'm so sorry. I can come up for a weekend if that'd help?"

 "No, no, no- don't waste a couple of days on me," He mutters. "I just need to finish and maybe us driving back and taking some time for ourselves will help."

Kensi nods in understanding before a small warm smile appears on her face. "I have an idea that may help. Tell me three things that you are looking forward to when you come home."

"What?"

"Tell me three things that you are looking forward to when you come back home," Kensi repeats. She holds up the familiar desk pad and holds it up in front of the camera. "We can both list three things that we'll do when you come home, whether it's sleep in all day, surfing or whatever. Just three things."

 Deeks drops his head and sighs. "Kensi…I…. fine, I guess I could go see my surf students over in Malibu. They know I went to a work thing and might get a promotion." 

Kensi nods and scribbles 'surfing lessons' on her pad. "That's one. By the way, that taco truck that you've been fangirling over finally opened yesterday."

It's not fangirling, it's- He smirks at the thought and mumbles,"That's two. Look, Kens-"

Kensi sits up suddenly, cocks her head slightly and smiles with chin resting on her hand. "And I think…I'm pretty sure that there's another activity that we can catch up on when you come home."

"Kens-"

"The attic had been in need of cleaning for forever!" Kensi jokes. 

Corny as it is, Deeks lets out a chuckle, the first one in weeks. He settles in the warmth it brings.  "I miss you."

"Deeks,"Kensi smiles. " I'm going to ask you the same question every day until I drive up to you. You've been through so much and you are so loved and so amazing. You are almost done. Hold on to the things we talked about. Promise me."

God, he loves her. "I promise."

"Ok." Kensi sits up. "New topic- I've got a new story about Tiffany, Mindy and a six year old Facebook post. Up for it?"

Deeks lays back on the bed and replies, "Of course."

—-----

2,500 miles away, Kensi Blye listens to the soft snoring on Deeks via video chat. He'd only made it four minutes into the story before he'd gone quiet on his end. 

I knew telling him a story would work, Kensi thinks proudly. She places the pad back on her dresser , recalling the idea from a phone call from Nate.

"I'm really worried about him, Nate, and I don't know how to help him across the country."

He'd told her to start with something simple- "Just be there for him. Give him something to hold onto."

"I love you," Kensi repeats again as she relaxes into the pillow. "Good Night, Deeks."

[bullet-prooflove]

"I know our stars were meant to align"

Tagging: @kmc1989 @fallmoreinloveeveryday @elenavampire21 @floralfloyd @lamaudite

Companion piece to:

Lucky - Tim's assignment doesn't go to plan.

Stars - Tim's not like the other guys.

The Good Book - Tim makes you a promise you don't think he can keep.

Bad Timing - You and Tim have always had a case of bad timing.

Straight From The Heart - Tim speaks from the heart during a late night phone call.

Missed Call - Tim's world crumbles when he listens to your voicemail.

Tim can still taste the blood, that copper tang coats his tongue as he sits in a hospital waiting room with his head in his hands.

It’s been three hours since he found you in that shitty flophouse, life spilling out through the bullet wound in your chest, your phone still clasped in your hand. He thought you were dead at first, your skin completely leached of colour, your breath barely existent. It wasn’t until he pressed his fingertips to your jugular that he detected the faint flutter of a pulse and that relief…

It snapped his training back into action.

His shirt was off in seconds, shoved urgently against the wound to stifle the surge of blood that erupted from your chest. In the background he could hear Raylan talking but his focus was on you, on that phone call the two of you had had last week about your transfer.

“I got the go ahead to move to Kentucky.” You’d told him over a crackling phone line because the shithole your residing in gets poor signal. “Once this assignments over we’ll finally be in the same place again.”

You’ve been in Louisiana ever since you left the service, an FBI field agent working out of New Orleans. Tim had hoped he’d be assigned there when he’d completed FLETC but they’d diverted him to Kentucky instead. The distance is nothing new but you’re both at a point where you want to put down roots and that’s almost impossible to do that when there’s 800 miles between the two of you.

“It looks like our stars are finally aligning Lucky.” He had said as he had surveyed his apartment with a critical eye.

He’d started looking at house listings the next day, trying to gauge a decent area for a good price. His plan had been to approach you about it once the assignment was over but then he’d got that voicemail and his whole world had come crashing down.

“Family of Ilana Jones?” A voice calls out.

He’s on his feet in an instant, tucking his hands into his pocket to hide the trembling. Sometimes he forgets you have a real name, not the one they gave you back in Afghanistan.

“Me.” He says his voice rough. “I’m her family.”

You’re like him in that way, parents dead, no siblings, alone in the world. Kindred spirits is what he’d thought the night you met.

“Is she…” He can’t bring himself to say the words because Tim, he can’t imagine a life without you, a world where you don’t exist.

“She made it through the surgery.” The doctor tells him, clutching a tablet to her chest. “We managed to remove the bullet and fix the damage. She’s a very lucky young woman, half an inch to the left and we would be having a very different conversation.”

There’s that word again, lucky.  

Tim doesn’t think luck had anything to do with it. He thinks you’re just that fucking good.

Love Tim? Don’t miss any of his stories by joining the taglist here.

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Like My Work? - Why Not Buy Me A Coffee

[papitopascal]

Look at these two goofballs, as someone who has spent time in FLETC (federal law enforcement training center) they look like every chooch ball guy to walk in the gate thinking they’re verraco 😂 but damn look at that bod and those arms my lordt in heaven!

[ncisfranchise-source]

NCIS: Origins with its first Christmas episode unwrapped the story of why Leroy Jethro Gibbs (played by Austin Stowell) entered law enforcement — before teasing a looming new threat for the back half of Season 1.

In short: After killing Pedro Hernandez, Gibbs flipped out, earning him an eviction. But when apartment manager Ruth (returning guest star London Garcia) found him using his pickup bed for a bed bed, she had a change of heart. The two got to bonding over a routine of beers and jigsaw puzzles, and one afternoon, when Ruth was robbed, Gibbs gave pursuit in his truck, with Ruth riding shotgun/jotting down the thieves’ plate. It was for naught, so they pulled over and plowed through a six-pack whilst sitting on the tailgate. There, Ruth copped to being a “crap mom” to her son in New Orleans, and Gibbs… well, he confessed to murder. Ruth said that between hunting down Pedro Hernandez, caring to chase her robbers and his overall powers of observation, he’d make a good cop. So he left for FLETC, in Georgia.

Upon returning two months later, Gibbs learned from Ruth that she is dying, from a blood cancer. He was processing that news when he sat for his NIS psych eval, hence the “failing” grade we learned of in the series premiere. Gibbs that night got into a row with some officers at a bar, and Ruth beat Franks to bailing him out of jail. Ruth used that run-in to inform Franks of why Gibbs flunked his psych eval, and to call him on the carpet for dodging the boy’s calls/visits. Franks in turn brought Gibbs onto his NIS team, after saving gunny from another bar fight.

In short: After killing Pedro Hernandez, Gibbs flipped out, earning him an eviction. But when apartment manager Ruth (returning guest star London Garcia) found him using his pickup bed for a bed bed, she had a change of heart. The two got to bonding over a routine of beers and jigsaw puzzles, and one afternoon, when Ruth was robbed, Gibbs gave pursuit in his truck, with Ruth riding shotgun/jotting down the thieves’ plate. It was for naught, so they pulled over and plowed through a six-pack whilst sitting on the tailgate. There, Ruth copped to being a “crap mom” to her son in New Orleans, and Gibbs… well, he confessed to murder. Ruth said that between hunting down Pedro Hernandez, caring to chase her robbers and his overall powers of observation, he’d make a good cop. So he left for FLETC, in Georgia.

“This whole episode means so much to us here. It’s really why Gina and I got into this,” David J. North, who co-showruns Origins with Gina Lucita Monreal, tells TVLine. “[Ruth] first appeared in [Episode] 7 when Gibbs is on crutches and she’s showing the apartment. And it was shortly after that that Gina and I were like, ‘What happened after Pedro?’

“I talked to [NCIS vet/ Origins executive producer] Mark Harmon a lot about it. ‘In [NCIS] canon, you just jump from killing Pedro to suddenly you’re an agent. It never really added up,'” North shares. “So I was driving home and Gina on the phone said, ‘What if it’s some story with Ruth, the apartment manager?’ The next day we got spitballing, and it turned into this episode.”

North, who cowrote “Blue Bayou” with Monreal and Brendan Fehily, says, “I’m more proud of it than anything I’ve been a part of. And I’m so proud of [London Garcia’s] performance [as Ruth]. That scene in the back of the pickup truck? That night, the Dodgers were playing in [Game 1 of] the World Series [where Freddie Freeman hit a grand slam to win the game], and despite that the crew got lost in this scene they were doing. It was really cool.”

Below, find more of TVLine’s latest conversation with North, about navigating NCIS canon (or a lack of it), dealing with “stressful” music clearance issues, and handing the flashback baton to Mike Franks when Season 1 resumes on Monday, Jan. 27, 2025.

TVLINE | Was there any crumb of NCIS canon you had to keep in mind when establishing on NCIS: Origins why he became a cop? There really wasn’t. The assumption always was that Franks brought him on after he showed him that [Pedro Hernandez] file, but that’s not in canon. I knew there was a five-month “missing piece,” and keeping it grounded in reality, Franks is the type of character who would show that file and then say, “S–t! What did I just do?” and want to detach himself from it, which is the way we decided to play it.

I went to Mark [Harmon] to tell him what we came up with — “Remember that actor that played the lady showing him the apartment…?” — and he was excited about it. He sat in my office and said, “This is why we got into this, to not do a typical NCIS [episode] but take a big swing. So let’s take a big swing.” We feel like it worked out, and we hope everybody else does, too.

TVLINE | Please tell me you cleared “Blue Bayou” before you started writing the episode. The script actually went out titled “Blue Bayou,” and we did not have it cleared, so…. It was stressful. So stressful! Mark knows Linda Ronstadt, so we were even thinking about going down that road, but we got it [without his involvement]. And our music team is writing right now [on Dec. 9] a beautiful instrumental for the end.

TVLINE | Is there a shortcut to doing a jigsaw puzzle on a TV show? Like, can you order it pre-assembled and film backwards? [Laughs] Props and everyone was being driven nuts by this. And then we were running long in our days, so they were trying to get me to take out a puzzle or two, and I said no. But [props] actually got the puzzles, put them together, glued them in different parts… so as far as I know, there were no shortcuts.

TVLINE | Coming out of this fall finale, will Operation Sundown — the shredded report Gibbs clocked — be the narrative engine for the next eight episodes? Yes, Operation Sundown is going to be big deal. I don’t want to give away too much with that, but obviously with Bugs…. I know some people missed it, but at the end of “The Sandman Part 2” (the series premiere), Mark’s voiceover says “the worst monsters lie in wait” and then come back, so this was always the plan. Snipers in reality do work in pairs, and we’re going to learn that Bugs had a partner and it’s the bigger bad that was more responsible for all this.

TVLINE | Will the question be, “Who suffers the biggest blowback for not catching this?” The reality is that even with Franks, there was something eating at him that maybe [catching the sniper] was a little too easy. But Franks needed a win because he wanted to get his own folder from Wheeler, on who assaulted Tish, so he might have had some blinders on there. So yeah, when we come back from the [holiday] break, everybody’s going to hit the ground running, because there’s another guy out there.

TVLINE | Will the show ever be set 100% in “the present,” or will there always be opportunities for flashbacks? Certainly in the near future, there are opportunities for flashbacks. “Blue Bayou” kind of wraps up the Gibbs flashback origin story about joining NIS, then we’re doing a handoff when we come back and seeing a lot of Mike Franks. Let’s just say he has a lot of cowboy hippie in him! We’re staying really true to the character, and it’s a lot of fun stuff.

TVLINE | What are you hearing, what numbers are you seeing, that give you hope for a Season 2 renewal? We’re really proud of what we’re making, and the goal is always, obviously, to get as many eyes on it as possible. I know that we’re doing well on Paramount+; after we air, the following day we’re always in the Top 10. I do know that CBS and Paramount are in it for the long haul, so we just try to keep our heads down and write as good of material as possible. And this cast, they’re fantastic, they really are. I think we have something special here, and I hope everybody comes on board.

[typingtess]

 NCIS: Los Angeles Season 14 Rewatch:    NCIS episode:  “Too Many Cooks”

The basics:  The teams from Washington, Los Angeles and Hawai’i investigate the death of a respected and beloved FLETC instructor.

Written by:   Christopher J. Waild, who wrote over 50-episodes of NCIS.

Directed by:  Michael Zinberg, who directed 20+ episodes on NCIS, 13-episodes of NCIS: New Orleans.

Guest stars of note:  Some of the Hawai’i (Jane Tennant and Jesse Boone) and Los Angeles (G. Callen and Sam Hanna) stopped by. 

Our heroes:   Finally get to be part of a big crossover!

What important things did we learn about: Callen:  First at the crime scene. Sam:   Grateful McGee escorted him to interrogation. Kensi:  In Los Angeles. Deeks:  In Los Angeles. Fatima:  In Los Angeles. Rountree:  In Los Angeles. Kilbride:  In Los Angeles.

What not so important things did we learn about: Callen:  Knew Gibbs from way back and knows the rules. Sam:    “300-pounds of muscle” according to Parker. Kensi:  In Los Angeles. Deeks:  In Los Angeles. Fatima:  In Los Angeles. Rountree:  In Los Angeles. Kilbride:  In Los Angeles.

Where in the world is Henrietta Lange?  I’m guessing she knew Dale Harding/The Professor/The Cockroach and his secrets.

Who's down with OTP:  Jess and Jimmy seem to be doing well and encouraging and Jane-Nick love connection.

Who's down with BrOTP:  Thought the Nick and Parker scene near the end of the episode was interesting.  Don’t see Nick as much of a big sharer of his feelings and Parker being the guy he shares with to be honest.

Fashion review:   Callen wore blue, Sam wore black.  Everyone else was better dressed, maybe except Jesse Boone.

Music:  Barry Manilow got a mention.

Any notable cut scene:  Nope, unless it is on the NCIS DVD (which I don’t have).

Quote:  McGee:  “I can't believe this. You guys are accusing me of treason?  In my own house?” Callen:  “It is nothing personal.” McGee:  “Really? Then why aren't we doing this in the conference room?” Sam:  “We didn't know where that was.” McGee:  “You didn't know where this room was.  I had to show you.” Sam:  “And we appreciate your cooperation.”

Anything else:  In Washington DC, an older gentleman, Mr. Harding, is explaining his houseplants to his young house-sitter Libby.  Libby is working cheap monetarily but is also going to pick ten albums from his record collection.  Harding wants to preserve the Barry Manilow albums.  Libby notices a Hawaiian shirt and some other warm weather gear.  She now wants 12-albums as part of an envy tax.

Harding’s phone rings so Libby departs.  The person on the phone is a surprise to Harding who is unhappy the caller has his number.  He doesn’t want this person calling again.  As he is trying to wrap up the call, there is a hard knock on the door.  He asks if it is Libby at the door but two very hard knocks change that thought.

Harding runs to his computer and types something on his keyboard.  The person at the door is picking the lock.  Before the person at the door can enter, Harding takes a gun out of his desk drawer and kills himself.

In the NCIS elevator, Nick and Jessica picked up some party essentials – cups, streamers, champagne – for Kasie.  Kasie runs a very tight ship when throwing a party.  This party is for “The Professor”, a legendary instructor at FLETC, who is retiring.  Nick doesn’t like The Professor, Jessica loves him.  She see him as a mix between Robin Williams in “Dead Poets Society” and the Professor on Gilligan’s Island.  Nick is thinking more of the instructor in “Whiplash”. 

Walking into the bullpen, Nick and Jessica see people lurking about at their desks.  It is Jane Tennant and Jesse Boone from the Hawai’i office.  Everyone is happy to see everyone else.  Hugs are shared.  Both are in a day early because they didn’t want to miss the party.  Jane talks about how much she learned from The Professor about threat assessments, Jesse was a D.C. Metro Police Officer who was recruited by The Professor.  Parker and McGee arrive with stats of all the feds The Professor trained – both are big fans.  Parker was a fan from the FBI where The Professor was known as The Cockroach. 

McGee says he had lunch with The Professor a few days earlier.  The Professor was looking forward retirement.  With the mention of retirement, Gibbs’s name comes up.  Would he show up for the big party?  McGee doesn’t think Gibbs is coming though Gibbs and The Professor went fishing a few times.  There is a “so you say there is a chance” joke but an arriving Leon Vance ends all the joking.  Professor Dale Harding was found dead in his apartment that morning.  The teams are shocked.  When Vance says it is likely a suicide, Parker and the DC team start to work.  As they leave, Jane and Jesse join them.

There is some ‘who is in charge’ scuffling between the DC and Hawai’i teams arrive at Harding’s apartment when Jimmy rolls Harding’s body out on a gurney.  Both teams want to know who cleared Jimmy to take the body from the crime scene.  Callen and Sam did.  Jane recognizes “Agents Callen and Hanna”.  McGee gets a shout out from Callen – how it has been a long time - but wants to know what they are doing there.  Sam realizes maybe it hasn’t been a long enough time.

McGee is taking photos at the crime scene.  Callen comments on using an old fashion DSLR.  McGee comments on the type of gloves Callen is using – black gloves where the dye could contaminate the evidence.  Callen says he and Sam were in DC for Harding’s retirement party.  They heard about his death getting of the plane and went straight to the crime scene.  Nick implies that it may not be Harding but Sam assures him it was and things were “not pretty”.  Single gunshot under the chin, gunshot residue – it was a suicide.

McGee brings up the lunch with Harding again, how he had big retirement plans.  Jessica finds a plane ticket to Cabo.  Sam comments about Harding, calling him The Cockroach as well, but offering it as a sign of respect.  Jessica thinks Parker and Sam have too much respect for “primitive insects”.  Parker disagrees – cockroaches are survivors.  Dale Harding was a survivor – he taught all his students to adapt and survive.  Nick disagrees but Callen and the rest of the teams think they are missing something.  Harding may have committed suicide but he had to be pushed. 

Jane and Jesse join the others in living room.  She jokes about the most number of senior NCIS agents in a single place but has more serious news.  Harding’s cellphone is missing.  She also spoke with Libby, who heard the gunshot at 7:40AM and had the building manager open the door at 7:50AM.  Libby told Jane and Jesse that she was with The Professor when he got a call on his cell – the now missing cell.  McGee does McGee things on Harding’s computer.  It was last accessed at 7:45AM, after the gunshot and before the body was found.  Someone was in the apartment.

As Nick and Callen break down the party room, Nick brings up Rule Number Three – always double check.  Callen knows what Rule Number Three is.  He and Gibbs “go way back.”  Nick isn’t sure it is a suicide, Callen is.  There is talk of a friendly wager over the difference since “there are no rules against that” according to Nick.  Jane arrives explaining that there are actually rules against it.  “Number 15.”  Nick is sure that he and Callen aren’t dating but Callen says Rule Number 15 is about lawyers.  Jane isn’t going to run through the rules but if Harding killed himself, maybe he was coerced. 

An arriving Jessica has news of a blocked call at 7:38AM.  The call went through all sorts of VPNs and without Harding’s cellphone, no back-trace.  They are going to adapt and solve the case for The Professor.  Well, most of them are – Nick brings up that The Professor tried to have him thrown out of FLETC but he deserves justice.

In Autopsy, Jimmy is a bit sad that McGee dropped by.  He’s happy to see McGee but was hoping one of the visiting NCIS agents would drop by.  Jimmy wouldn’t mind an invitation to the Los Angeles or Hawai’i offices.  McGee hasn’t been to the Hawai’i office and hasn’t seen the Los Angeles office since “OSP moved into that Mexican restaurant.”  Jimmy thought it was a Spanish Mission. 

Back to The Professor, Jimmy has a towel over the dead man’s face.  The way he shot himself, the bullet bounced around Harding’s head, shattering bones in his face.  “It’s not a good look.”  Jimmy has question about Harding’s body.  There are signs of bullet wounds, burns, deep scars from cuts.  With the tissue buildup, some of the scars are decades old.   McGee brings up Harding’s time with the Marines as a gunnery sergeant.  Maybe he was wounded in battle.  Jimmy thought of that but Harding was never wounded in action.  Whatever happened to him was kept a secret.

Kasie is working in her lab, debating with Jessica about eating the cupcakes ordered for the party.  They all have a little topper with a smiling photo of The Professor.  Jessica could eat them without the topper – makes it less creepy.  Kasie thinks eating it without the topper is creepy.  Kasie believes that The Professor was a noble man who was forced to do what he did.  She also says whoever worked on Harding’s computer knew how to cover their tracks.  Going through some of the data, Kasie sees that the computer was used less than a minute before Harding ended his life.  He typed “extra homework” into a text program. 

Digging a little deeper, Kasie finds some old DOD files – TSSCI – Top Secret Sensitive Compartmented Information.  That is not something a civilian employee would have either on his computer or really at all.  Harding deleted the files.  Not the actions of a noble man according to Jessica.

Vance is on the phone with the head of cybersecurity of DOD.  Harding did not have clearance to have the TSSCI files on his computer.  In fact, the DOD didn’t even know the files were missing until NCIS contacted them.  Parker asks what was in the files.  The DOD calls it need to know and Parker says he needs to know.  DOD needs to know how a FLETC instructor got the files.  Vance thinks Harding knew he was caught and killed himself.  Parker thinks there is more and Leon agrees – more resources on this case than any other NCIS is investigating.  Parker has all the different teams are looking into Harding’s life.  Maybe he was going to sell what was on the computer files.  The investigation is starting at FLETC’s Maryland campus.

On a crowded subway car, toxic gas has been released.  The passengers are trying to get out.  There is a loud bell and an instructor pops up.  He asks a group of probationary officers/agents how would they stop public panic like what is happening on the train.  “You can’t,” Nick says as he walks into the class with Callen and Sam.  The instructor tells Nick he’s right before asking the class what is the next course of action.  Callen says to identify the threat and Sam adds to neutralize the threat.  Again, the instructor agrees.  Sam dismisses class, which is news to the instructor.  Badges are flashed and class is dismissed.

As Nick, Callen and Sam look through Harding’s office, the instructor and his class are learning how to search an office through the office’s window.  Nick, Callen and Sam are doing an excellent job with resource management and evidence preservation.  Callen and Sam shut the blinds to the office, ending the lesson.

Nick finds a scrapbook of former students – promotions, commendations, etc.  Callen asks if he is in the book – he’s not.  Nick is, however.  And Nick is surprised since Harding hated him, calling saying Nick had a “lone wolf mentality and not a team player.”  Sam disagrees – Harding never hated any of his students.  Nick says just before he was going to graduate from FLETC, Harding asked him to quit.  Sam says his father always told him if the coach is yelling, it’s a good thing.  It means he cares.  If the coach isn’t “riding” you, then you have a problem.

Sam finds a case of old floppy discs – how could a man still using floppy discs hack the Pentagon?  Callen has a more disturbing discovery.  Harding never missed a class but he had a substitute teacher planned for his final class. 

The final class was a driving class, watching a controlled car chase.  Jessica was chasing Jane.  Jane was complimented on her evasive driving, Jessica complete a perfect pit move.  Instructor Greta Ford was impressed.  Jessica and Jane were favorites of Ford.  Ford was surprised when Harding asked her to fill in for his last class.  Ford almost said no – their teaching styles couldn’t be more different – but Harding said he was moving up his retirement a few days.  He couldn’t wait to go on vacation.  Cabo is mentioned but Ford says Harding was going to Hawai’i.  That caught Jane’s attention.  Harding was going to meet an old friend.

Sam arrives in Kasie’s lab with everything from Harding’s office.  She is on the phone but once off, she wants to know “who are you?”  Sam introduces himself, “Sam Hanna.  Los Angeles.  OSP.”  Kasie is not happy – Los Angeles didn’t RSVP – but gets back into the case.  She was on the phone with the airline.  Harding have a ticket to Cabo but changed it to Hawai’i a few days ago.  The ticket to Hawai’i was for early that day.  He would have missed his retirement party.

Kasie is confused.  There is nothing from Harding’s apartment that would indicate a friend or family member in Hawai’i.  Sam thinks it was an excuse to skip town with the stolen files, sell them and pad his retirement account.  Kasie tells him they don’t have proof Harding stole the files.  Sam admires Kasie is a positive thinker.  Kasie’s computer beeps – there is a security alert from DOD.  Harding wasn’t the hacker.  They have a new suspect, however. 

McGee can’t get into a locked MTAC.  Callen and Sam approach him – he’s under arrest for treason.

A very unhappy McGee is on the wrong side of the interrogation table “in my own house.”  He’d rather the questioning go on in a conference room.  Sam says they didn’t know where the conference was.  McGee says they didn’t know where interrogation was either – he had to show Callen and Sam the location.  Sam is grateful for McGee’s cooperation.  Callen wants some answers and hands a file to McGee.

Vance is in the interrogation observation room when Parker walks in.  Parker isn’t pleased that an outside team is interrogating McGee.  Leon tells Parker it was either an outside team interrogating McGee or it is DOD interrogating McGee.  The server hack at the DOD goes back to McGee’s credentials.  So Leon was given a choice of turning McGee over to the DOD or having an outside, neutral party talk to him. 

McGee is able to figure out what happened – his credentials were used to create a backdoor into the DOD server.  That would be the way he’d break in.  Callen thinks maybe McGee did break in.  McGee asks if Callen and Sam really think he broke into the DOD server.  Sam doesn’t, neither does Callen but DOD does.   McGee thinks someone took his credentials and did this.  Sam can’t believe that “the computer guy” lost his password.  McGee brings up that Sam, a car guy, lost Charlene once.  And Callen had his identity stolen.  So let’s not get “judgey” about someone taking McGee’s log-in info. 

Going through how someone would get his log-in info, McGee uses two-factor security for his laptop and a six-digit alpha-numeric code on his phone.  McGee stops for a second.  For the third time, McGee brings up the lunch with Harding.  He unlocked his phone when Harding asked about McGee’s kids – wanted to see photos.  McGee used the restroom shortly after that and Harding likely accessed McGee’s phone.

Kasie is on her iPad with Jesse.  She cannot believe that Harding not only broke into the DOD’s server but that he used a former student’s credentials to get in.  Jesse has more bad news and to Kasie’s great relief, it is not that Harding was a Cylon the whole time.  He can’t find the cellphone and he’s been all over Harding’s apartment.  The two share their love of Battlestar Galactica when Kasie complains about Sam arresting McGee.  Sam is barred from Kasie’s lab, which is going to be a problem since Sam just walked in.

Kasie wants an apology for arresting McGee.  Sam isn’t apologizing and he didn’t arrest McGee.  He never believed that McGee was a criminal.  Kasie is in a better place.  She has some news.  After going through all the old floppy discs – and the files on them were decades old – she did find one file created last week.  It also said “extra homework” just like the file on his home computer.  That means the disc is important, except there is nothing else on the disc. 

Sam thinks there was something in the disc.  A girl named Heather Richardson use to send Sam notes inside floppy discs.  Kasie takes apart the disc and finds a note that reads “The answer is in the files.”  Kasie is disappointed – Harding deleted the files.  But there is a photo with the note of the fireplace in Gibbs’s old cabin.  It looks familiar to Kasie.  Sam, not so much.

Nick and Jessica arrive at Gibbs’s cabin.  Nobody has been around for a while and almost nobody knows about the place.  Someone knows about it, however, when they open fire on Nick and Jessica.  She wonders if it is Gibbs shooting at them but Nick tells her if Gibbs was shooting, they’d both be dead.  Nick and Jessica return fire.  The find a grey jacket near the cabin covered in blood.  Inside the jacket is a cellphone that took a bullet for the shooter.  They hear a motorcycle take off.  He may be wounded but the shooter is in the wind.

McGee is getting roadblocks set up all over near the cabin.  Jane is running the search, Jesse is working with the county police.  The mystery shooter found the files.  Callen is on his way back to Los Angeles.  Kasie found wire transfers coming from Malibu to Harding.  He and Sam are going to check things out.  Callen and McGee exchange a manly handshake as Callen exits.

Kasie runs into the bullpen.  The phone the shooter had wasn’t a personal phone, it was Harding’s.  The mystery shooter was the person at Harding’s apartment.  Going through the phone, Kasie found a program that recorded all of Harding’s calls.  The damage to the phone, however, left the audio file a mess.  The caller says he’s “Simon Williams”.  Kasie hasn’t run the name yet but she doesn’t have to, McGee points to Williams on the NCIS Ten-Most Wanted wall.

In Vance’s office, Vance, Parker and Nick listen to the whole call.  Harding stole the files from the DOD because he knew Williams was trying to get them.  Parker again asks what was on the files and again, the DOD won’t share.  Harding’s plan failed since Williams now has the files.  Parker brings up that Simon Williams is a Ten-Most Wanted suspect on most law enforcement walls.  A rogue operative who has committed about every crime in about ever country over the last 30-years.  No law enforcement agency has come close to catching Williams.  Nick and Jessica wounding Williams is the closest anyone has come to catching him.

Vance wants to know how Harding got involved in this in the first place.  Why would a wanted career criminal be involved with a FLETC instructor and vice versa?  Parker found out the two men knew each other.  Williams was a FLETC trainee who Harding failed for a “lone wolf mentality and not a team player” – the same thing he said about Nick.  Nick looks stricken but wants to look through some files.

Jessica is negotiating with some local county police when McGee calls.  The locals do things a certain way and that includes not help Jessica.  Kasie is monitoring the local officers radios – just chatter.  Kasie hears one squad car is missing – 117.  Kasie is tracking the GPS for the squad car.  It is nearly 40-miles away near a farm.

McGee, Nick and Parker move in on a barn on the farm.  They find blood in the car and blood all over a first aid kit in the car’s trunk.  In the barn, Simon Williams is burning all his ID’s.  The man is much younger than the photo of Simon Williams on the NCIS Most Wanted wall.  He claims “we’re all Simon Williams” before he passes away.

In autopsy, Jimmy tells Jessica and Jane that their Simon Williams is 30-years younger than the Simon Williams on the wall.  Jane thinks “We’re all Simon Williams” is a bad omen.  As Jessica and Jane are about to leave, Jimmy wonders if they all shouldn’t get something to eat.  It has been a long day.  Jane wouldn’t mind some blueberry pancakes.   Jimmy is going to text Torres to join them, make it a double date.  Jane shoots Jimmy a look, Jessica gives him the cut sign and it becomes a share professional meal among colleagues. 

In his nice home, Parker wants some info from his friends at the FBI, all the files they have on Simon Williams.  Nick is at his front door.  Parker lets him in as Nick hears from Jimmy – dinner at 10PM.  When Parker ends his call, Nick updates Parker on the files.  They were in the things Simon Williams burned in the barn.  Parker doesn’t think this is the only reason Nick is by. Nick brings up the “lone wolf mentality and not a team player” comparison with Simon Williams.  Parker offers a good pep talk – he’s nothing like Williams.  When his phone chimes, Parker has the Williams FBI file.  An associate of Williams was going to meet with Harding in Hawai’i. 

Nick shows up at the diner (Gibbs’s diner maybe) where Jimmy and Jane aren’t there.  They left together before Jessica left the NCIS office.  Nick sees Jimmy’s “Dadmoblie” parked near the diner.  When Jessica calls Jimmy, his phone rings in a nearby trash pail.  She tries calling Jane.  Jane's phone is in a dumpster.  Jimmy and Jane are tied up in a van with a gunman watching  over them.

What head canon can be formed from here:  I have a lot of thoughts about this three-show crossover but I’ll save them for the problematic episodes.  This was a good set-up episode with one huge flaw.  “The Professor” was such an important part of the NCIS world (and FBI for Parker) that Jane and Jesse flew 5,000 miles, Callen and Sam flew 3,000 miles for this huge retirement party and 20-seasons in NCIS, 14-seasons into NCIS: Los Angeles and two seasons into NCIS: Hawai’i, this dude was never mentioned once.  NCIS foreshadowed Gibbs’s family tragedy for three seasons, the first half of season three of NCIS: Los Angeles was setting up Sam’s trips to Africa and Kensi’s investigation into her father’s death.  These programs have done that work in the past.  Didn’t do any of it here. 

Also, Robert Picardo is a big TV character actor.  He worked on two television series on ABC at the same time (The Wonder Years and China Beach).  He didn’t make it past the teaser.  What a waste.  There was also Stephanie Hodge as FLETC Instructor Greta Ford who had a delightful season one NCIS appearance as Sheriff Dupray and was Tangerine in “The Sounds of Silence” season 10 episode of NCIS: Los Angeles.  Another quality character performer woefully underused.

Episode number:   This is episode 10 of season 20 of NCIS, the series 445th episode (wow!).  This is the first part of a three-series, three-episode NCISverse crossover.

[wolfliving]

The Electronic Wolf Is In the Living Room

via 404 Media.

Hey there,

Law enforcement conferences are one of the best places to get reporting from, because police often share new capabilities or talk about the new tech they're using. Our story today comes from a FOIA of a DHS official's speech at the 2024 Border Security Expo in Texas. Hopefully more to come from this conference, which is kind of like the World Series of surveillance tech.

-Jason

The Department of Homeland Security bought a dog-like robot that it has modified with an “antenna array” that gives law enforcement the ability to overload people’s home networks in an attempt to disable any internet of things devices they have, according to the transcript of a speech given by a DHS official at a border security conference for cops obtained by 404 Media. The DHS has also built an “Internet of Things” house to train officers on how to raid homes that suspects may have “booby trapped” using smart home devices, the official said.

The robot, called “NEO,” is a modified version of the “Quadruped Unmanned Ground Vehicle (Q-UGV) sold to law enforcement by a company called Ghost Robotics. Benjamine Huffman, the director of DHS’s Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers (FLETC), told police at the 2024 Border Security Expo in Texas that DHS is increasingly worried about criminals setting “booby traps” with internet of things and smart home devices, and that NEO allows DHS to remotely disable the home networks of a home or building law enforcement is raiding. The Border Security Expo is open only to law enforcement and defense contractors. A transcript of Huffman’s speech was obtained by the Electronic Frontier Foundation’s Dave Maass using a Freedom of Information Act request and was shared with 404 Media.

[innocent-diamond-2090110]

NCIS 22x09 & NCIS Origins 01x10

DISCLAIMER: Both episodes will make you CRY. Happy holidays!

Highlight of 22x09 ("Humbug") — There was no Christmas episode last year due to the strike, but this week's episode was simple enough & didn't require vigorous investigation (aside from NCIS trying to stop a fight at the main perpetrator's apartment). It was a straightforward case of finding the truth beneath the slander, but the ending left some open mysteries. 1) Were there more faulty radios deployed to other units in the past? 2) Does McGee really have a new book coming out? 3) WHO WAS TORRES TEXTING?! DID HE REKINDLE WITH ELLIE?!

Highlight of NCIS Origins 01x10 ("Blue Bayou") — This is flashback episode that unraveled how young Gibbs joined NIS (ghost of Christmas past?). Why he applied to NIS (FLETC training), why he failed the psych eval, why he got into the bar fight that Lala witnessed, & so on... Ruth the landlady was the closest friend young Gibbs had made since returning to civilian life. Speaking of Lala, she ended up not reporting Gibbs or Franks to Wheeler about Pedro Hernandez being dead (for six months). The episode ended with a cliffhanger featuring some shredded paper that said Bugs (perpetrator from episodes 1-2) wasn't working alone. O_O

[ejzah]

A/N: While Deeks is at FLETC, Kensi struggles without him.

***

Missing You

It’s week four sans Deeks and Kensi’s starting to feel the strain. It starts when she wakes up in the morning to an empty bed, continues on the drive to work where she either relies on a too-short video call with or the radio to fill the silence. At first, work had been a welcome distraction and she’d even enjoyed the chance to work with agents from other agencies.

The novelty is wearing thin now, and she’s keenly aware of Deeks absence as she stands in their usual spot in OPS. She misses his insights, and jokes,

“You want to come question the witness with me, Kens?” Callen asks.

Of course, because she doesn’t have a permanent partner, she’s either stuck going solo or takes turns pairing up with someone else for a few days. It reminds her a little too much of her first year or so with NCIS, when she was always the third wheel to Sam and Callen’s veteran partnership. Even though they don’t complain, she’s starting to feel like a burden.

“Sure. Though this time, I’m driving,” she insists.

“Ok, but only if you clean it first,” Callen agrees as they walk out the door. She groans, playing into it because that’s what’s expected of her.

Once she’s driving, her thoughts drift. This is hardly the first time she’s been without a partner, but it’s been the longest in recent years, and it makes her realize how much she relies on Deeks knowing her and anticipating her quirks and needs the way no one else can.

Sam’s extremely particular about certain aspects of the job. He doesn’t keep an extra candy bar in the glove compartment, or think of stopping for a donut when she starts getting cranky on long shifts. She also knows he’s not going to take her up on an offer to stop for tacos on the way back to the mission. He would if she asks, but it’s not the same.

When they’re stopped at a backed up red light, she checks her phone and finds a missed call from Deeks. Damn it. If she doesn’t call him back in the next twenty minutes, she probably won’t get another opportunity until tonight.

“Was that Deeks?”

Shoving her phone back in her pocket, she covers her disappointment with a shrug. “Yeah, we usually talk before work, but Deeks has an off-campus training today, so his schedule is a little different.”

“Is he doing ok?” Callen asks politely. Or at least that’s how she reads it. Maybe he’s just trying to tiptoe around what’s been a tenuous situation.

“He’s good. It’s FLETC, you know, so it’s not exactly fun,” she answers, recalling Deeks’ descriptions of the long runs cadets had every morning and afternoon. She’d mostly blocked that detail out of her memory since her own FLETC days. “Especially since he’s stuck with a bunch of 23 year olds. Not that that’s a problem. You know Deeks is a people person and is in amazing shape. It’s just not what you want to be doing in your forties.” She presses her lips together to hold back further rambling.

Callen didn’t need to know about the mild hazing Deeks received at the hands of the less kind instructors the first couple of weeks. Or the expectations that came with Deeks’ years of experience, as well as the unexpected notoriety that came with their more infamous cases. Finding out that FLETC instructors not only used Deeks and Sam’s abduction by Sidorov as case study had come as an extremely unpleasant and jarring surprise.

“Yeah, that’s to be expected,” Callen comments neutrally. Something about it irritates her. At least Sam would offer some sage advice. He’d remind her that Deeks was strong and intelligent and they both would make it through the next couple months.

Callen’s more matter-of-fact for any of that, which is pretty damn infuriating when it feel as if her life might implode at any second. An awkward silence rises and goes on until they reach their destination and Callen tentatively breaches the tension.

“Are you ok?”

This time he sounds more uncertain, even concerned, and for some reason, it instantly makes her eyes burn with the beginnings of tears. She also feels bad for her uncharitable thoughts.

“Yeah, I just miss him,” she admits. She doesn’t add that there’s a lot riding on Deeks successfully completing FLETC. That she might be looking for a new partner even if he does.

“Why don’t you call Deeks back? I’ll give you a few minutes to catch up.

“Thanks, Callen.”

He acknowledges that with a nod, gets out of the SUV, and paces a few yards away. She quickly calls Deeks back, and he picks up after the second ring.

“Kensi,” he answers, his voice instantly soothing her.

“Hi baby,” she murmurs back, briefly closing her eyes. She wants to tell him how hard this is. That she misses him. That she needs him here. Instead, she forces a smile into her voice. “How was your run?”

Leaning back in her seat, she closes her eyes as he talks, and for a few minutes, pretends he’s right beside her.

***

A/N: This story involves a number of my personal head canons and references several stories and the backstory I’ve written in my FLETC series (all posted to my ff.net page). So, most of this is not actually canon.

[densi-mber]

Purpose

A/N: Oh yes, we’re back with my favorite storyline to hate.

***

Most days, Deeks was pretty good at keeping himself distracted from his current situation as a FLETC cadet. For the most part, it involved filling every spare moment he could do he didn’t have time to consider anything else. If he was busy, if he was exhausted, then he didn’t have the time to consider the true suckiness of it all.

Then there were days like today. He’d barely slept last night after an insanely frustrating day, and today he knew he’d face more of the same. Now that their automatic biases had worn off, most of his instructors had come to like him, or at the very least, appreciate that he knew what he was doing. There were a couple though, that seemed insistent on trying to knock him down a peg whenever possible.

That usually meant setting him overly complicated tasks or calling on him with particularly difficult questions. All the while, Deeks simmered with the knowledge that he’d done this for a living for years. He didn’t need to simulate getting stuck in a car with a bomb, because he’d lived variations of that scenario a dozen times over.

When Deeks lost the positivity that most people knew him for, he did so spectacularly. His discontent turned to anger and melancholy, which quickly spiraled into a depression of sorts. Right now, he was still in the angry and unsettled state and after spending a sleepless night cooped up in his room, he needed to get out.

The campus kept a pretty strict curfew that lasted until six in the morning. As soon as it ended, Deeks hit one of the many trails surrounding the grounds. He’d become well acquainted with the dirt paths over the last several weeks between the daily mandatory runs and his own solo circuits.

The run didn’t help nearly as much as he’d hoped. Though it had depleted some of his anger, he’d also had ample time to mull over everything from the last several weeks, which didn’t improve his mood. By the time he made it back to his room, he was sore, sweaty, and still frustrated.

“Damn it,” he swore when he checked his phone just a little after 7, and found a missed call from Kensi. He called her back, but of course she didn’t answer. Spitting out a heartfelt and considerably less benign epithet, dropped onto the bed with a sigh.

Being away from Kensi might be the worst part. Aside from missing her desperately, every day he was gone, the chance that something terrible would happen increased. Kessler, some other vindictive criminal, or the usual dangers that came with their jobs.

His alarm letting him know there was 45 minutes before his first class came far too soon. He dragged himself back off the bed, and headed downstairs to the cafeteria. He through the stations on autopilot, collecting a random bowl of fruit, toast, and eggs, even though he wasn’t hungry, and chose a table as far back as possible.

“Hey Deeks,” Jake said, swinging in beside Deeks with his tray. Apparently the subtle request for space hadn’t worked. Deeks didn’t need to look to know Charlie and Omar weren’t far behind.

“Hey man.”

“We were thinking of getting in some practice at the range after ethics. You wanna join us? Give us some more tips.”

“Thanks, but I’m, uh, not really in the mood today,” Deeks told him. He fully intended to go back to his room and fall into bed the moment he finished with the day’s classes.

“Since when?” Charlie asked, digging into a pile of eggs. “Not to be rude, but you do kind of love to show off your marksmanship.”

“To be fair, he’s better than almost any other cadet. Even a couple teachers,” Omar added with a chuckle. “Don’t tell Ritcher I said that.”

“Guys, I appreciate the offer. I’m really not up to the banter right now,” Deeks snapped. There was a moment of silence, which was almost worse than the chatter.

Jake was the first to recover. “Woah. Did we do something to upset you?”

“Jake, give him some space,” Omar said softly.

“No, it’s ok.” Deeks sighed. “I’m sorry. You guys didn’t do anything. I am just…having a couple of rough days. I didn’t mean to take it out on any of you.”

“Hey, it happens, man.” Omar’s easy forgiveness almost drew a smile from Deeks. “Do you want to talk about it?”

“Not sure if you wanna hear me whine,” Deeks said.

“Eh, you’ve put up with trying to teach us law, we handle it,” Charlie decided, nudging Deeks shoulder. “You’ll feel better. And if you don’t, we’ll sneak in some beer.”

“Oh lord, just what I need. Contraband.” This time, Deeks actually did smile.

“So, what’s going on?” Charlie prompted again.

Sighing, Deeks tried to gather his tumultuous feelings into a cohesive thought. “Sometimes…it feels like me being here is pointless,” he started. “I mean, what am I really gaining from being here? Is a couple months of classes I don’t really need going to make a difference to either of the organizations that decided my skills are no longer or use them? I’m not helping my team. I’m certainly not supporting my team. And when this is over, I have no real guarantee that any of it will be worth it.”

He’d said more than he intended, and while it was certainly therapeutic to give a voice to his frustration, it felt like he’d provided potential ammunition.

“I disagree. You’ve made a huge difference and you do have a purpose,” Charlie argued unexpectedly. He almost looked angry, which was odd given the topic.

“How so?” Deeks asked.

Charlie gestured between himself, Omar, and Jake. “You’re looking at the evidence right here. You’ve taught us so much we never would have gotten on our own.”

“You would have been fine.”

“Maybe,” Omar said. “It would have been a lot harder. Even without the tutoring, you’ve been a mentor like no one else. You don’t judge or try to make things harder to prove a point.” He paused and looked directly at Deeks. “I know you’d rather be back with your team, and your family, but you do have a purpose here. Even if it’s not the one you expected.”

“What he said,” Jake said.

“That’s pretty smart,” Deeks murmured.

“Well, we learned from the best.”

“Thanks for the pep talk.”

“It’s only fair, you’ve given us enough of them,” Charlie reasoned. “You feel better.”

“Minutely,” Deeks said honestly.

“Well, there’s still the option for some liquid cheer.”

Shaking his head, Deeks held his hands up. “As your lawyer and a cadet, I’m removing myself from this conversation before I’m implicated in any of this.”

“Sweet, we’ve got a lawyer,” Jake said enthusiastically.

As the banter continued, Deeks sat back. He wasn’t anywhere near happy, but he supposed it did help to know his time here wasn’t completely wasted.

***

A/N: If you’re unfamiliar with Charlie, Jake, and Omar, I have a whole AU FLETC storyline for Deeks that goes much differently that the canon events.

I’ve always figured that going to FLETC with Deeks’ level of experience and skill would be quite frustrating in many ways. He’d undoubtedly taken many of the courses as continuing ed as we saw in early on in the show and learned through hands-on experience.

[forthewinn]

@stillwcndering

They had called him in to run a diagnostic, knowing that Winn was the best one for the job. They needed to figure out what was in that box, and they needed to know now. Tablet in hand, Winn was making his way to the room. Nodding at the two agents that were guarding the door, he froze as he heard a loud 'thump'. Which was interesting considering that the room was supposed to be empty. Motioning for the two to move, Winn slowly opened the door.

He remembered what Alex had taught him in these situations, to clear the room before anything else. Handing off his tablet, Winn reached for the service weapon that normally just sat in its holster. They made him go to FLETC when he joined Alex's team, never knowing when he was going to end up in the field. So he was treated as a field agent, even if he was better behind the computer. Entering the room, he announced himself. "FBI." His voice was a little shaky, unsure of if he was the best one for the job, but he was the only one qualified to handle the box.

The source of the noise was pretty clear when he saw a taller man stand up from the floor. Okay, so they came in through the ceiling, they were obviously well-trained. Next to him was someone that Winn certainly didn't wanna mess with, and then his heart stopped beating as he recognized her. He hadn't seen her since that night when he asked if she would spend the rest of her life with him, and she said no.

"Sarah?" He asked, knowing that he shouldn't. They were breaking into his scene, probably trying to steal the very thing Winn was sent here to work on. Still, it had been years since he last saw her. Years since he was on his knee, frozen as he tried to comprehend that she didn't want him. Like everyone else in his life, she walked away.

[veneredirose]

HEY EVERYONE

i’m finally doing the review of NCIS: Los Angeles

this is one of the comfort series that I watch and that feels like i’m a part of the family. the first time i watched it I was a little girl, recently I wanted to watch it again because I wanted to understand better the events and connect the dots. so here’s the review!

possible spoilers of NCIS: Los Angeles

the plot is one of my favorite, all the investigations are solved by a two persons-team formed by Special Agent G. Callen and Special Agent Sam Hanna, an ex navy-seal. The other team is formed, for the first season, by Special Agent Kensi Blye and Dominic Vail, a young operative agent who is killed in action during the first season, leaving Kensi Blye without a teammate and full of feelings of guilt. the spot is taken, in season 2, by Detective Marty Deeks, who make a liaison between LAPD and NCIS. He holds this position until departmental reforms in season 12 end up terminating it, after which he completes FLETC training and officially joins NCIS as an Investigator. Henrietta Lange is the leader of this office. In OSP, the team is completed by Operational Psychologist Nate Getz, and Technical Operator Eric Beale. Nate is assigned, after season 1, to different operations by Hetty, and returns only for occasional guest appearances. During the second season, Intelligent Analyst Nelly Jones joins the team, and forms an amazing team with Eric, until eventually the two of them become closer. during the remaining seasons a lot of people appears in the series, like Assistant Director Owen Granger, assigned to the team as oversight whit Hetty, who dies in season 8 after discovering he was ill with cancer (it coincide with real-life battle of the actor, Miguel Ferrer, who was ill with cancer and died). In season 9 Hetty goes to Vietnam on a personal mission, and her place is taken by Executive Assistant Director Pacific Shay Mosley, who is basically in search for revenge and almost get the entire team killed during a non-authorized operation. Later she sends the team and her trusted assistant, Special Agent Harley Hidoko, to Mexico, to rescue her son from her criminal ex-husband. the operation ends well, but her assistant remains killed during the op. The OSP is put under investigation and, at the beginning of the tenth season, Shay Mosley resigns. During season 11/12 Nell and Eric depart for the private sector, so the OSP recruited two rookies: Agents Fatima Namazi and Agent Devin Roundtree. Hetty leaves again so Admiral Hollace Killbride is assigned as Director of Special Operations in season 13. The series ends with Callen married to Anna, Kensi married to Deeks and finally pregnant, and Callen and Sam taking a side project mission to find and rescue Hetty, supported by a new team, including old teammates Nelly and Nate.

During the series:

Callen wants to figure out who his family was, because he grew up in foster homes. At some point he finds his father and his half sister, but their relationship is difficult.

Sam has to deal with the death of his wife, killed during a joined operation with CIA, leaving him with two children and a sense of guilt that never goes away.

Kensi and Deeks decide to adopt a girl from Mexico, and later they find out that Kensi is pregnant.

Hetty faces the difficulties of a life spent undercover.

In my opinion this series is one of the most tricky and challenging series i’ve ever watched. you want to watch episode after episode to discover what is going on. i literally devoured it, i liked it a lot. it’s worth the time you spend to watch it.

thank you so much for reading this review, i hope you like it and i hope you liked this series as i did!

SEE YA :)

[bullet-prooflove]

Tim Gutterson - 3 things - Rest, Promises and Rambling??

Tagging: @kmc1989 @fallmoreinloveeveryday @elenavampire21 @floralfloyd @lamaudite

Companion piece to:

Lucky - Tim's assignment doesn't go to plan.

Stars - Tim's not like the other guys.

The Good Book - Tim makes you a promise you don't think he can keep.

Bad Timing - You and Tim have always had a case of bad timing.

Straight From The Heart - Tim speaks from the heart during a late night phone call.

Missed Call - Tim's world crumbles when he listens to your voicemail.

Stars Align - Things go wrong for you and Tim as your stars start to align.

It’s three hours after surgery and you’re resting. There’s ET tube down your throat attached to a ventilator that’s helping you breathe. Tim watches the raise and full of your chest with a numbness he’s felt only once before, when you told him you were leaving the service. He thought you were slipping away from him back then but really you were leading the way, showing him that there was life outside of military, that he didn’t have to be in the business of death.

“I should have just joined the NOPD.” He rambles as he sits in that chair alongside your bed, rubbing his palms over his weary features. “I should have settled down in New Orleans with you, we’d probably be married by now, living in a little house off the quarter.”

It’s a future you had presented him when he’d decided to resign his commission but Tim wanted the thrill of the chase, to be the best of the best so he’d thrown his hat into the ring for the US Marshals. He was so sure he’d be assigned to NOLA when he graduated FLETC but then he’d opened that letter, saw his posting was actually Lexington, Kentucky and his heart had sank.

“I really fucked things up for us didn’t I Lucky?” He’d said when he showed it to you, his hands running through his hair. He recalls the purse of your lips as you read it, the resolution as you set it down. He could tell you’re disappointed and he knew that was entirely on him.

“I guess it’s just not in the cards for us to have that proximity.” You’d said as you sat down on the couch alongside him. He thought you were going to end it then, that you were giving up on him but instead you’d taken his hand in yours, your fingers entwining. “It’s a good thing distance has never been a problem for us isn’t it?”

And just like that Tim had fallen in love with you all over again.

“I’m not giving up on our dream.” He promises you in the present, his hand slipping into yours, squeezing tightly. “We’ll get married, have the house you wanted, the dog you love. I’ll give you all of that, you just need to come back to me ok? You just need to come back.”

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