A/N: Welcome back to those who know me, hi to the rest :)

Okay, this is something I had in my head for a really long time and finally wrote it down, first in German, now in English. If you guys are interested in it, I'll try to update every weekend, but I can't promise anything because I need to finish the German version as well as translate it somewhere between school and homework :D

Disclaimers as usual, I own nothing, just play with it.

Huge thanks to my wonderful beta Kensi54382!

The team of NCIS: Office of Special Projects had finally, after what seemed like never-ending undercover operations, gotten a lead concerning arms trafficking which cost a Marine his life. They finally had a foot in the door. Just a few hours ago the location of where the cartel was hiding the weapons that they wanted to sell got known so that the team had to take their chance in haste. If they waited too long, the weapons would be gone and with that every chance to block the selling. Even if Hetty didn't like it, she had to accept the plan of G Callen to go onto the wrecking yard without a SWAT team. The men of the cartel were way too attentive to overlook a big truck with the label SWAT on it without making a run for it. Four agents in two inconspicuous cars were the better choice.

Deeks, Kensi, Sam and Callen got out of their cars, each with a Kevlar vest, machine gun and their small arm. According to Eric and Nell there were only five men on the wrecking yard but the exact positions were unknown due to insufficient overview, despite several cameras. There were just too many blind angles.

"Sam and I take the storage unit from the left, you two from the right. First priority is the securing of the weapons, lethal actions are authorized," Callen said and, after a short nod from Kensi and Deeks, he and Sam raised their guns and sneaked away.

"Well then, let's go," Deeks said and pushed his blond hair from his face before he raised his gun as well and propped it against his shoulder.

Kensi suppressed a small grin; that gesture together with the wrinkling of his nose was a typical tell for Deeks when it got serious. It seemed like he pushed all sorrows and unimportant thoughts away and concentrated solely on the task he had to fulfil. He and Kensi slowly made their way along the stacked car wrecks waiting for any kind of danger after every curve and because of that, they were feeling extremely tense. The gravel beneath their feet made noise, no matter how carefully they moved.

After what seemed like the umpteenth bend of the stacked wrecks, they stood on a gravel area on which a warehouse rose into the sky. The simple building, looking like it was made out of nothing but corrugated iron and some rivets, seemed - as well as the gravel area - empty. It seemed like they or something else spooked the men from the cartel, but only recently since there was a laptop next to left stack of cars.

Deeks signalled his partner with his fingers that he wanted to take a look at it and took off, weapon still at the ready. While walking, he whispered into the microphone on his Kevlar vest, "Eric, we have a laptop, could you check it? IP-address is…"

He wasn't able to end the sentence. A blinding pain shot through his body and his legs gave in. He noticed that he fell towards the car wrecks and as his temple crashed against a former fender, the world went black.

Kensi noticed the reflection of a rifle, belonging to a sniper who was on the rooftop of the warehouse, just milliseconds before the shot rang out. Even before she was able to take a breath to call out for Deeks, she watched as his right knee was hit by the bullet and the leg gave in, as the blood had already sprinkled the ground. Kensi was able to catch a glimpse of her partner's face, grimacing in pain, before he hit his head on a car and sank to the ground. Her eyes widened before she tried to get rid of the shock settling in her body, her hands gripping her machine gun which was hanging on her shoulder. Kensi knew that it was far too dangerous to get Deeks herself since she was sure the sniper wouldn't hesitate to shoot at her as well.

"Sam, Callen, Deeks has been hit; I need help here, now! Eric, call an ambulance!" she shouted into her microphone and could only hope that Sam and Callen would come to her soon.

What could she do? She was caught at her momentary position and could neither eliminate the shooter, nor help Deeks. If they wasted too much time, he could possibly bleed to death. Kensi glanced again at her partner who was laying unconscious on the dirty ground while the pool of blood around his knee got bigger and bigger. Once more, she noticed the reflection on the roof and fired at it, but despite her fast reflexes, she couldn't avoid the laptop as well as the area around Deeks' body being hit several times. She would not allow the sniper to kill her partner. Not here, not now, not ever.

He had always tried to protect her and even with his sometimes more than annoying one-liners he meant too much to her – their "thing" meant too much to her. Kensi remembered being asked by Astrid if she loved her partner and the way she avoided to answer. What feelings were normal towards somebody you worked with every day and whom you trusted with your life? The moment she reloaded her gun, Kensi heard the steps of two men behind her, recognizing them as Sam and Callen's.

"The shot came from the roof," she called out to them and shot again in the direction she suspected the attacker.

"Kensi, you go back a bit until you're behind the cars so that you can take care of Deeks. G, you'll cover me," Sam decided and started running in the same moment with Callen taking care of the shooter.

Once Sam had reached Deeks, he took him by the Kevlar vest and pulled him over the ground back to Kensi who had gone back enough to be out of the sniper's reach. Sam had seen a lot as a former SEAL and had experienced probably just as much, but he still felt adrenalin pounding through his veins. One never got used to seeing injured men, especially not when you worked with them.

While running backwards Sam tried to pull Deeks in way that wouldn't leave his injured head dragging over the gravel. Both the head wound and the knee left a small trail of blood in the dirt. When Sam finally reached Kensi, he carefully let go of Deeks and raised his gun again.

"We take care of the rest of the men, you of Deeks!" was the clear order of Callen to Kensi, already running away.

Kensi closed her eyes for a second and took a deep breath. She had to act with a clear head and had to try to provide as much first aid as she could offer to Deeks. He had a cut at his temple from when he had come in contact with the wreck, blood trickling down into his gold locks. What was much more worrying was his knee. The beige pants were soaked with dark red blood and she couldn't see an exit wound. The bullet had to be somewhere in his knee and that meant there was probably a lot of damage. It seemed like Deeks had a concussion as well, because he hadn't regained consciousness yet.

"Deeks?" Kensi asked and ran her thumb over his cheek.

"Deeks, come on. Open your eyes!"

When his eyelids finally fluttered, it took a load off her mind – but the relief only lasted for a few seconds. Deeks took a breath with a start and then clenched his teeth. His whole body got rigid because of the pain.

"Kensi…what?" he stammered.

Immediately Kensi wished he would lose consciousness again so that he wouldn't feel the pain.

"Deep breath, it's going to be okay," she tried to calm him and grabbed his hand which lay next to him, clenched in a fist, slipped her fingers between his and gave him a reassuring squeeze.

"Try to breathe slowly, okay? We'll get you fixed."

Deeks moaned again and pressed his free hand onto his eyes.

"I can't feel my right leg, Kens. God…"

Kensi smiled at him and then glanced at the knee which she tried to shield from his view. If Deeks saw why he couldn't feel his leg, she guessed it wouldn't do him good.

"Eric? Where is that ambulance?"

Both sitting in ops, Eric and Nell couldn't do anything but to stare at what was happening on their screens.

"On its way. ETA just over a minute," Eric answered and looked over to Nell.

Even this minute could stretch into eternity.

"You hear that, partner? Help will be here in a minute," Kensi murmured and stroked once more his cheek.

She saw that he was trying not to make any sound and her heart ached at the sight of it. Deeks always had something to say, even in the most critical and inappropriate times there were some kind of comment on his lips. He grew paler by each passing second and Kensi felt confirmed that he had a concussion although she was surprised by how fast the effects started to show. The impact must have been really hard.

"If you're going to be sick, tell me, okay?" Kensi asked and knew all too well how a concussion with all its side effects felt like.

She had lost count of how often she had been knocked out, had woken up with one hell of a headache and then had thrown up into anything she'd been able to reach. Her partner gave a short nod before he concentrated on controlling his breathing once again. Kensi could hear the sirens by now and just as she wanted to tell Deeks, she heard another shot before Sam's voice in her ear. "We got everyone and secured the guns, Kensi. We're coming back down to you."

Just as the Agents were running to Kensi and Deeks, they saw the ambulance turning onto the wrecking yard.

"Follow me!" Callen shouted and ran ahead of them.

When he saw Kensi's dark hair, he also saw Deeks laying on the ground who held on to her hand for dear life. The ambulance came with a jerk to a stop and two EMTs exited it, rolling a gurney next to them.

"What happened, agents?" one of them asked while the other one was undressing Deeks from his Kevlar vest and his shirt to hook him to the ECG.

"Detective Deeks has been shot in his knee, as he fell he hit his head and was unconscious for some time. He says he can't feel his leg," Kensi summarized as shortly as possible.

As she said the last few words, one paramedic cut open the pants and took a look at the knee.

"If we have bad luck, the artery supplying the leg with blood has been nicked. The cruciate ligament and patella have been damaged, femur and meniscus probably too," he guessed and for Kensi it seemed like everything that could possibly break was broken.

"Detective? Do you have any allergies?"

Deeks shook his head and hoped for drugs, some pain medication, which he got immediately. Not even a minute later, he was loaded into the ambulance, his hand still in Kensi's.

"Agent Blye, we'd like to anesthetize your colleague. From what we can tell from his injury, he must be in extreme pain," the paramedic told her and injected Deeks after she nodded with a clear liquid.

Just a short time later, the face of her partner relaxed and also his hand she still held in hers grew limb. She held on to him nevertheless.

A/N: So, what do you think? Shall I continue the translating? Interesting enough?

I know the start was quite sudden, because it started as a one-shot, and I had to build a plot in a paragraph :) I assure you, the storyline keeps getting better and more thorough!