"Are you sure you don't want to come in?" Kensi goaded as Deeks put the truck in pack and turned to face her.
"As delightful as watching you turn into a drunk, girly, giggling mess is, I think I'm going to sit this one out Babe. There's a beer and a new episode of Game of Thrones calling my name in our living room."
Kensi's lips pouted teasingly for just a second before she broke into a smile. "Just one beer though, right? I need you to pick me up later."
"Of course."
"Eleven-ish? I'll call."
"Eleven-ish," Deeks confirmed. "Have a good night, Tell Tiff I said congratulations."
"I will. Enjoy having the couch to yourself." Kensi flashed him her toothy grin and climbed out of the car, slamming the door.
"Hey! Get back here!" Deeks's voice carried out the open car window and she came over to the driver's side to meet him. "Where's my goodbye kiss?"
Kensi rolled her eyes but the corners of her mouth were twitching up into a smile she had no control over. She leaned in a pressed a kiss to his lips.
"Love you," she whispered as she pulled away, resting her forehead against his for just a moment.
"You too." Deeks darted forward to place a final peck against her lips before tossing her a bright smile and putting the car in drive.
Kensi was halfway across the parking lot when he called out again.
"See you at eleven!"
"-Ish!" she called back loudly, winking at him and sauntering into the bar to meet her friends.
-X-
When his phone rang at 9:38 and her smiling picture overtook the screen he was surprised. Swiping the circle at the bottom of the screen he chuckled.
"Drunk already Kens? Or has one of the girls stolen your phone?"
"Deeks…" Her tone had him standing from the couch immediately. It was slurred but not in the drunk, giggly way he kind of loved.
"Kensi? What's wrong?" He grabbed his keys, his shoes, and was half way to the front door before she'd had time to answer.
"I'm not feeling well. I think… I think I've been drugged. I've only had two drinks but everything is spinning and-"
"I'm on my way, Baby. Where are you?"
"Out the front. Fresh air." She choked out.
"Kens, Babe, go back inside and find the girls. Stay on the phone, okay?" He was in the car, engine running, gunning it out of the drive way.
"Deeks," Kensi whimpered in a way that was so vulnerable that it made his heart clench.
"Kensi? I need you to stay on the phone okay? Stay awake. I'm almost there." The way he was driving was going to turn the 20 minute trip into 10.
"Mar-"
"Kens? Kensi?" There was a rustle through the phone line before the call cut out. "Shit!" Deeks hit the steering shelling in frustration and terror, the car swerving slightly from the impact. The same hand came up to pass through his shaggy hair before he hit the next recent call on his phone.
By the time Callen answered, Deeks was two minutes away from the place he'd last seen his girlfriend.
"Deeks? What-"
"Something's happened to Kensi," Deeks interrupted Callen's quip.
"Where are you?"
Deeks relayed the address as he pulled into the parking lot. Callen promised to call the rest of the team, to get Eric and Nell onto the surveillance asap, before handing up. Deeks tore the keys from the ignition of the car, not wasting time to lock it when he climbed out.
There was no trace of Kensi as he entered the bar but he quickly spotted her friends around one of the tables, fruity cocktails in front of each of them. Kat saw him first.
"Marty-Mar!" She giggled, approaching him with open arms and hugging him before he could really stop her. "What have you done with our girl Kay-Kay? We were just about to do some karaoke and we need our Baby Spice."
Any other day he would've taken a moment to probe that drunk statement for more, possibly requesting some kind of video evidence. Tonight though, he barely heard it.
"Have you seen Kensi?" The words rushed from his mouth, near unintelligible in the busy bar. Kat's eyes drifted from his face and Deeks reached out to put his hands on her shoulders to keep her focused, repeated the question.
"I thought she was going outside to call you?"
"Did any of you see Kensi come back inside?"
Kat, Mindy, Mandy, Tiffany, and Tiffani all shook their heads.
"Deeks!"
His head snapped up as Sam's voice bellowed across the room. Deeks mumbled a quick thanks to the girls.
"Where is she?"
"Deeks, take a is leading Callen to her phone's last GPS ping."
"Sam," Deeks's eyes were frantic, he looked ready to pass out.
"I need you to take a breath Deeks."
"No, Sam, you don't… She's…" His breaths were short and rapid, he was well on his way to hyperventilating.
"Deeks. Sit." Sam push him onto a bar stool, forcing him down with hands on his shoulders. "You're no good to us, no good to Kensi, if you have a panic attack right now. Take three, slow, deep breaths with me."
Sam counted his breaths in and then out, interrupting Deeks's protests, forcing him to calm down.
"Now tell me what happened."
-X-
The drum in her head beat in time to the water dripping in the fuzzy distance. She was barely awake but she knew she hurt. Her head, her body, ever her fingernails. It all hurt. She didn't know where she was but it was warm and damp and it smelled unpleasantly familiar, like mildew and dirt and…
A strangled cry escaped her throat and her eyes shot open, heart pounding as she struggled to stand on weak, shaky legs. The walls of the cave were closing in, the campfire burning too hot, blood polling across the ground, Jack. Jack? Where was Jack? Was he here?
"Jack?" She barely recognised her own voice as her yells echoed off the stone and dirt walls. "Jack!?"
And suddenly there he was, lying prone in the corner, curled into himself. His eyes were shut, blood covering the ground around him. Dead. Was he dead? No. No, he couldn't be.
"Jack!" Her legs refused to hold her weight and she collapsed to the ground again. She stretched her arms forward, pulling herself to him by her fingertips, face down in the dirt, just close enough to stretch out her arm and press her fingers to his cheek. But her fingers grasped at nothing. There was nothing. Her gaze refocused. The floor was concrete no dirt and the walls were covered in white tiles. There was no fire but there was a heater, a tap drip drip dripping into a sink in the far corner.
She pushed herself up from her sprawled position on the floor to sit, head protesting with every movement. She wasn't in a cave in Afghanistan but this didn't look much better. A sink, a mattress, a heater, her hands shackled together. She could feel her mind starting to fade again. She looked towards the mattress but couldn't summon the strength to move. She lay back down on the dank floor, eyes drooping closed.
-X-
"I found her phone in the bushes a mile down the road. They had the sense to toss it but didn't bother to turn it off," said Callen as he approached Deeks who was standing outside the bar. Sam was still inside questioning people but had told Deeks to take a moment and collect himself after he'd almost hit a man who had been a bit too descriptive about noticing Kensi's physique
"And who is 'they' exactly?"
"We're dusting her phone for prints. Eric wasn't able to get the bar footage without a warrant but he's tapping into the street cams and Nell's already started going back through our recent cases. We'll find her."
"We have to."
"We will." Callen's phone rang and he put it on speaker, "What've you got Eric?"
"I ran the plates in the area against our cases from the past 12 months. Three hits."
"Give 'em to me Eric."
"Ah, there's a Hyundai hatch-back belonging to the brother of one of the drug dealers that went down as collateral in a case six months ago."
"Did we make that arrest?" Sam queried, joining the conversation as he stepped out of the bar.
"No, we handed it over the the LAPD," Nell chimed in.
"What else?" asked Callen.
"A Ford sedan registered to Rize Corp, which is owned by the family of one of the hostage victims from the end of last year."
"Eric, not to rush you but my partner and girlfriend has been kidnapped, could you at least try not to waste time?" Deeks yelled, getting more frustrated and restless with every passing minute. Callen shot him a look and he bristled. He needed to find Kensi and looking at the family of a victim that had no motive to hurt them was not the way to go. Deeks challenged Callen's look with a look of his own before backing down.
"Sorry, I…"
"Just tell us the final match," Sam interrupted.
"Actually this might be it guys. Ford Escalade that once belonged to the Church of the Unlocked Mind. When we arrested Lee Ashman, the church was shut down and a lot of their assets were sold to pay for their tax evasion debt."
"If it was sold, it's probably not our car Eric." Sam's comment was punctuated by the sound of Deeks's fist slamming into a wall in frustration. Both Callen and Sam looked at him, assessing.
"I'm good, I'm good." Deeks promised, shaking his hand out.
"Anything else Eric?"
"Actually yes. What I was trying to tell you was that this car was sold to a woman named Teresa Hannigan who's the younger sister of Meghan Hannigan, who's alias —"
"Eric, get to the point." Callen interrupted as he saw Deeks getting agitated again.
"It's Gaia's sister. You remember Gaia, Ashman's right had woman, the one that we arrested for…"
"Drugging Kensi and conspiracy to commit…rape." Deeks chocked on the word, memories better left forgotten trudging to the forefront of his mind, making him shiver with disgust.
"We were able to use Kaleidoscope to follow the car into a warehouse district down town before we lost it," interrupted Nell, "Hetty's still working on getting the warrant for the bar security cameras."
"But it's a safe bet she's the one who has Kensi," Callen finished. "Nell, can you send us the address of where you last saw the car. Eric, home address for Hannigan?"
"On your phones now."
"Thanks. And keep on that bar footage. Let us know if you find out anything more."
"You got it." Eric hung up.
"I'm going to head to the warehouses, see what's around. Sam, you and Deeks go to Hannigan's house, see if she's there or if there's anything that might tell us where Kensi is."
"We'll take the Challenger, get in," said Sam just as Deeks moved to object.
"Keep me in the loop." Deeks pleaded. "If you think you've found her…"
"You'll be the first to know."
-X-
The next time Kensi woke, things were a little more clear. Her head was still pounding but it was more like a bad hangover than a sledge hammer to the skull. Her hands were still shackled but it was colder, the heater apparently turned off. Her mouth was dry, her tongue like a sock in her mouth.
She pushed herself onto shaky legs, using the wall like a toddler learning to walk, hands still joined. The chain the shackles were connected too was just long enough to reach the basin with the dripping faucet and Kensi turned it on, cupping her hands under the flow and lapping up the water eagerly. Thirst sated for the moment, Kensi assessed her predicament. Now that her head was slightly clearer her training was starting to kick in, over-riding her panic and PTSD.
She tallied her opportunities for escape. She could over power her attacker, take him down as he entered or perhaps play dead until he got close enough to her. But she didn't know how many people were involved in her abduction, what weapons they had. Even if she did over power them all and disarm them there was still the matter of the shackles.
She trusted Deeks was looking for her with the full force of NCIS and quite probably LAPD behind him but how was he supposed to find her when she herself didn't know where she was or even how long it had been since she'd ben taken.
She brought her hands up to push back her hair and the tug of the cuffs on her wrists changed her surroundings. Blood. Blood everywhere. No Jack. Where was Jack? Had he escaped? Had he escaped and left her here? Did they kill him? And the blood. Whose blood… Her eyes followed the trail to a body slumped over in a chair, thick, red liquid dripping from his open mouth.
"Deeks!" She wailed and ran to him. "No. No, not again. No! Deeks? Marty? Marty, it's okay. I won't make you stay this time. We're getting you out of here." Her fingers scraped at his bindings but they wouldn't relent.
"Come on…" She muttered. It hit her like a freight train. Deeks wasn't moving, hadn't moved or groaned or even gasped for breath. A new wave of panic washed over her as she ducked her head and looked into his glassy, vacant eyes. An anguished scream rattled through her ears, making her head hurt that much more. She only realised it was her own voice screaming out her boyfriend's name a second before she blacked out.
When she opened her eyes again her finger tips and wrists were bloody and cut from where she'd tried to pull off her metal cuffs with her bare hands.
-X-
"Anything?" Deeks asked, voice bordering on desperate as Sam answered Eric's call, immediately putting it on speaker phone.
"We got the warrant for the bar footage. Nell's sending it through to your tablets now."
"What about Callen and the warehouse?" Sam asked even as Deeks was already pulling up the promised surveillance feed.
"Nothing. I sent him the footage as well. He's heading back to the bar to ask a few more questions now that we've seen the video. You could meet him there."
"Thanks Eric." Sam hung up the phone just as Deeks turned the tablet's screen towards him.
"Look at this."
Sam and Deeks watched as a woman, about two inches shorter than Kensi, sprinkled something into a drink on a tray which she then proceeded to carry over to the table where Kensi was laughing with her friends. Deeks' heart clenched at the sight of her. She looked just a beautiful as she had when he'd dropped her off only an hour prior. Video-Kensi broke into a wide, open-mouthed smile and though the video had no sound, Deeks heard her snorting laughter rattling around his head like she was sitting right next to him, making jokes about Monty picking up his bad habits.
"Nell's email says that woman with the drinks tray is Hannigan," Sam stated, pausing the video and looking between the email on his phone and the footage on Deeks's tablet. "And no, she doesn't work at the bar. Looks like she just grabbed the tray when no one was looking and played waitress."
"But how did she know Kensi was going to be there?"
"Did you notice anyone following you when you dropped her off?"
"No. Kensi and I don't get complacent Sam. No one was following us, no one's been hanging around our home."
"Maybe she tapped a phone, one of Kensi's friends'?"
"Facebook," Deeks dropped his head in dejection.
"I thought Hetty made both of you delete your accounts?"
Deeks nodded. "She did but Kensi's friends post about where they're going and what they're doing all the time. Hell, the probably checked into the bar. They post photos, mention her by name. It's not like she can really tell them not to without an explanation. It was bad enough when she had to explain why she'd deleted her own account," he explained.
"I'll get Nell to look into all of their accounts." Sam pressed play on video feed and the screen changed to a view of the club's entrance. Kensi stumbled out, hand on the door frame to steady herself. To any witnesses she probably just looked like a party girl who'd had a bit too much to drink. They watched as she pulled out her phone, presumably calling Deeks.
A man approached Video-Kensi before she dialled and Sam and Deeks watched the exchange in silence as the guy made a move towards Kensi, only for her to shove him away with a hand on his chest.
"He's lucky that's all he got." Sam said as Kensi finally made the call to Deeks.
Deeks watched in horror as his girlfriend slid down the side of the building while talking to him and his stomach lurched unpleasantly as she finally lost the battle with consciousness, her head lolling to the side.
It was barely a minute later when the Escalade pulled up and the same woman who they had watched spike Kensi's drink all but dragged the agent into the passenger seat. Both Sam and Deeks winced as the door closed, Kensi's limp head slamming into the window. The car drove away. The video ended.
"Sam…"
"Let's go meet up with Callen."
-X-
Something was touching her face. Hands, softer than her boyfriend's familiarly calloused fingers. Soothing, in stark contrast to the hard surface under her sore ribs.
As she slowly came to, she tried to remain silent, tried to take in her surroundings before her captor realised she was awake. The caressing hand moved from Kensi's cheek to her temple and she let out an involuntary gasp of pain.
"Good morning. I'm glad you're awake. I was just starting to get worried that I'd overestimated your dosage."
Kensi tried to open her eyes but could only squint under the too-bright florescent lights. She could just make out the shape and size of a woman, around her size, leaning over her. The woman was still talking in hushed and soothing tones, possibly asking Kensi a question. She wasn't sure. Instinct and training were starting to take over.
Her bound hands came up quickly, connecting with her assailant's face. The adrenalin was pumping through her body as she used the chain on her wrists, wrapping it around the other woman's neck, flipping them until Kensi was atop her and pulling the chain tight. The woman's eyes closed and her head fell to the dirty floor.
Kensi's brain sang the same mantra over and over. Get out. Get home. She barely noticed the pain in her left thumb as it dislocated, slipping her hands through the cuffs, her own blood helping her slide them off. That blood was her only indication that she's broken skin, the adrenaline so potent in her system. All on instinct she ran out the door, up the dark staircase, out of the cabin and into the desert. The sun hit her skin and her mind staggered between present and past. Disorientated, lost, injured, confused. She just kept on running.
-X-
Her head pounded still, a steady beat to walk in time to, and her hands felt like fire. Everything was wrong and nothing made sense. Her vision was blurry and her disorientated brain was fuzzy. Her mind flashed between Afghanistan an California so vividly that she couldn't tell which was real. The only thing keeping her going as the sun continued to rise over the mountain was the threat of recapture and the need to rescue… someone. Jack maybe? Or Deeks. Both? He, they, were in trouble. They needed her. She would not fail them.
As the sun crawled into the sky, the temperature began to rise. By that time she finally saw something in the distance of the barren desert her adrenaline had long worn off and fatigue was setting in. Her footfalls were heavy, her head light as she trudged her way to the outline of the building easily a mile away. She forced herself to focus on putting one foot in front of the other. Left, right. Left, right. Pick up your feet. Don't stumble. Don't trip, don't fall. If you fall there is no guarantee you can pick yourself up again. Left, right. Left, right. Don't focus on the distance, only focus on one foot in front of the other. Left, right. Left, right. The sand turned to pavement and she allowed herself to look up at the back of an abandoned gas station, a road just a few yards further.
Kensi found a faucet at the side of the building and she collapsed to her knees in front of it, brining her hands up to turn the tap. Her muscles weary from exhaustion and dehydration, the tap tight from lack of use, it was a struggle but she managed to turn it a quarter inch until a few drops of water trickled out. She lapped them up desperately before rinsing her hands, wetting her face and laying down for a moment in the shade of the building, gathering the energy to stand once again.
-X-
"Deeks." Callen's voice didn't even break Deeks's stride as he paced back and forth in the bullpen, hair messy from his own frantic fingers.
"Deeks." It was Sam's voice that finally broke his panicked haze.
He looked at the ex-SEAL, eyes wide with worry and desperation.
"Why don't you go watch the bar footage again," Sam suggested, trying to give him something to do other than wear a hole in the bullpen floor.
"She's been gone for ten hours Sam. It's been four hours since we last had any sign of a lead."
"We'll find her. The wonder twins are scouring every camera in the city for that car and Hetty is calling in favours all over the country." Sam had stood from his desk and was now in front of the liaison officer. He reached out to Deeks, resting both hands on his shoulders.
"I need her back Sam." Deeks's tired eyes were red and glassy, looking off beyond Sam's shoulder.
"I know."
Finally, Deeks brought his eyes to meet Sam's.
"I've bought a ring." The admission was said in such a quiet tone that Sam almost missed it. Suddenly he was pulling Deeks towards him in a quick but tight hug. Sam didn't say anything else as they stepped apart but he gave Deeks a quick nod of understanding.
"We've got her!" Eric's voice from the top of the stairs had Deeks sprinting to ops before his brain had fully processed what had been said.
"Where is she?"
Nell looked briefly at Hetty who nodded her consent and Nell put the phone on speaker.
"Kensi, Deeks is here" Nell informed.
"Deeks?"
Her voice, small and uncertain, gave him flashbacks of the plane ride back from Afghanistan. She'd gripped his hand and whispered his name as though she wasn't 100% sure he was real.
"Hey Baby, hey." He used the pet name, not caring that he was surrounded by his boss and colleagues. "Where are you Kens? We're gonna come get you."
"Desert."
Deeks, Sam, and Callen all looked at Eric and Nell in urgent askance.
"She's right. Call's coming from an abandoned gas station in North Edwards. It's a 2 hour drive."
"Deeks?"
"I'm still here Baby. We've found you. We're on our way." He turned to Hetty. "She doesn't have two hours."
"We're in contact with Edwards Airforce Base. They can get to her in twenty minutes and we have a chopper on standby that will get you to her in 45. It's waiting for you."
"Eric, can you patch the call through to our comms?" Callen was already half way out the door as he asked.
"Done."
-X-
She could hear the team but couldn't process the words they were saying. This phone box was hot as hell and she could feel herself loosing the battle with consciousness as she sat on the floor, propped up by the booth's plexiglass sides.
"Kensi. Kens. Kens! Answer me baby! You still with me? Someone coming to get you soon. And I'm almost there." Deeks's panicked voice broke through the jumble of her mind.
"Mmm. Still here." She choked out.
"Good. You gotta stay with me sweetheart. Just a little while longer. Our friends from the Air Force will be there soon to help you, okay?"
"Okay."
"Are you hurt anywhere?"
"Everything."
She heard Deeks chuckle down the line. It made her heart skip and cleared her foggy mind enough to help her focus.
"Hand. My right hand."
"You shoot almost as well with your left Princess. Anything else?"
"Thirsty. Head hurts. Was drugged." She tried to lean back against the plexiglass but her lack of control over her own body sent her head careening faster than expected and until it hit the side of the booth with a loud thud.
"Kens?"
"Mmm tired."
"You've got to stay awake. Only a few more minutes. Stay with me, okay?"
"Don't think… head hurts…everything hurts. Tired."
"Kens, baby, please." She could hear the desperation in his voice, the pain and she wanted nothing more than to reassure him but her eyes were already closed, lids too heavy to lift back up.
"Love you Marty."
"I love you Kens. God, I love you so much. You have no idea. That's why you gotta stay awake though alright? Gotta stay with me cause I'm coming to get you. The whole team. Me, Sam, Callen. We're on our way and there are people closer who are going to come and help you. We're going to get you all fixed up and we're going to go home, sit on the couch and eat ice cream and watch Titanic okay. You've gotta stay awake though, okay? Baby? Kensi? Kens!"
"The team is three minutes out. They'll get her Deeks." Sam assured through the headsets.
"I know." Deeks said solemnly, trying to keep the defeat from his voice. There was rustling through the phone line, voices, a team of them but they were too far from the mouth piece for Deeks to make out any words.
"Sounds like the Air Force team has her. We're only twenty minutes out. You'll see her soon." Callen told Deeks as he strained his ears to hear what was happening with his partner, still so far away.
The rustling noises through the phone got louder until a man's voice came in loud and clear.
"Hello?"
"Have you got her? How is she?" Deeks didn't even bother to announce who he was, his only focus was Kensi and her well-being.
"She's pretty beat up but she's breathing. We've got her in an ambulance heading back to base now. We'll meet you there soon." And the phone call dropped out.
The chopper had barely touched down twenty minutes later but Deeks was out the door, running towards the two men waiting to meet them.
"Take me to her!" He demanded.
"They just got her back, she's gone into surgery. We'll show you through to the waiting room."
Deeks nodded and he, along with Sam and Callen, followed the men into the base hospital.
Deeks's eyes were red-rimmed, filled with tears he refused to shed as he stood by Callen and Sam. Sam placed a comforting hand on his shoulder and squeezed once.
"Hetty's organised for a team to take us out to the gas station where she was found with some bikes. We can hopefully back track Kensi's movements from there, find out where she was held and hopefully Hannigan. Sam and I are going to head out soon. You stay here with Kensi. Let us know if anything changes.
Deeks nodded once. They all knew he had no intention of being anywhere she wasn't right now.
"Call as soon as you have any news, okay?" Callen patted Deeks's back as he moved to leave the waiting room.
"Hey Deeks?" Sam called and Deeks turned back to look at him. "She's stubborn, she's going to be fine. And at the end of all this, she's going to say yes."
Deeks's mouth formed a knowing but still cautious smile.
"I know."
-X-
It'd been three hours since Deeks had arrived at Edwards. He'd been told Kensi was stable, though severely dehydrated with a possible concussion when they brought her in. She'd been taken into surgery shortly after she'd gotten there for her hand but Deeks still wasn't sure on the full details of what she'd done to it.
It was almost midday and he was exhausted. The stress, the investigation, being awake for the past 36 hours, all starting to catch up with him. He was on his forth coffee since arriving and it was doing little to help his weary state. Plus it rivalled LAPD for sourest coffee he'd ever had. Finally a doctor appeared.
"Here for Kensi Blye?"
Deeks jumped to his feet. "Detective Marty Deeks. I'm her boyfriend." He had almost said partner but he wanted there to be no mistaking exactly what she meant to him.
"She's in recovery. She dislocated and fractured her right thumb. These kinds of injuries are usually the result of forcing hands out of bindings, such as cuffs. She's most definitely a fighter."
"What else?"
"She was acutely dehydrated when she arrived though the IV has helped. She has a moderate concussion and several bruises and lacerations. She's not awake just yet. We had to put her under to reset her thumb. She should be waking up soon though. She's in the recovery ward on level 4, bed 26."
"Thank you." Deeks shook the doctor's hand and sped towards the elevator.
People always said that hospital beds made the occupants look small and weak but Deeks didn't think that was true of Kensi. He'd only ever seen her vulnerable on their bed on a lazy Saturday morning when she would whisper her secret dreams about white picket fences into his skin.
No, hospital beds made Kensi Blye look formidable. Her stark olive skin and dark hair on the white sheets, everything he loved about her screaming 'this didn't take me down, what makes you think you can?'
He moved further into the room and grasped her left hand, brushed her hair off her forehead and kissed her temple, before sitting in the chair by her bed. He sent a text to the team, updating them on her condition, and laid his head by her hip, his fingers against the pulse point on her wrist. He fell asleep to the sound knowledge that she was alive and in his reach again.
-X-
Callen and Sam tracked Kensi's path for several hours on the bikes. It was slow going, both of them wanting to make sure they didn't miss anything.
They'd made it close to eight miles when they saw a cabin a few yards ahead. They shut off the bikes and approached on foot. Callen spied blood on the door handle and motioned to Sam who nodded. The men took the cabin in a well-practiced choreography, clearing the narrow rooms until they came upon the kitchen.
"Teresa Hannigan, you're under arrest for abducting a federal agent."
The woman at the table looked barely coherent as she held an ice pack to the chain-shaped bruises on her neck.
-X-
Deeks woke to slender fingers scratching his scalp in a familiar fashion.
"Mmmphs. Kens." His eyes still closed, he basically purred as she continued her ministrations.
"Wake up sleeping beauty. I was the one who got kidnapped," She tried to joke. Her rasping voice and the tightening of her fingers in his hair, tugging, brought him back into wakefulness. He bolted upright and took her in.
Kensi's hand reached out and gripped his, twining their fingers.
"You okay?" She asked carefully. His face was weary, eyes shiny and bloodshot, shoulders held too tight.
Deeks huffed out a laugh. "Are you?"
"I asked first." She challenged.
"I'm okay if you're okay."
"I'm okay. Except for this cast. Who gave them the go ahead for pink?" She held up her right hand, her thumb incased in a very bright brace.
"Kens." Deeks sighed, getting to his feet in an effort to be closer to her. He was too tired to dance around the subject and play their usual game of 'this is fine'. He loved her too much to try and downplay what had happened in the past 24 hours.
"Sorry." Kensi's facade fell and she let the stress of the day wash over her, seeking comfort from her partner by tugging on his hand and pulling him towards her as best she could.
"Come here." She murmured, untangling their fingers to reach for his face until he brought his lips down against heres.
"I love you Kens, so much." He whispered into the space between them as they parted.
"I love you too Marty. It's okay. I'm going to be okay. We're okay."
The tears he'd held back before returned and leaked from his eyes before he could stop them.
"Shhh…, come on, I've got you. I'm okay." Kensi soothed, his head resting on her chest. She could feel his tears through the hospital gown and hugged him as best she could from the awkward angle of the bed. She continued to whisper to him, stroking his back until he'd composed himself again.
"I'm sorry. I…"
"It was a hard day for you too. Don't be sorry. It's what I'm here for."
Deeks smiled and leaned in to peck her lips once more.
"Do you want to talk about what happened?" Deeks offered, his fingers coming up to brush her hair behind her ear.
"No but I probably should…" It was the same thing she said on the nights her nightmares work them both up.
"It doesn't have to be now Kens."
"I'm tired," She said by way of answer.
"Then sleep."
"Hop up here with me?" She was already shuffling over, making room.
Deeks didn't protest, didn't argue, simply climbed in beside her, helping her rearrange herself until she was snuggled into his side, lying more on him than the bed itself.
He kissed the top of her head and squeezed the arm around her waist.
"Love you." She murmured into his skin, eyes already closed, asleep seconds later.
-X-
The next time Kensi woke it was to Deeks gently stroking her arm to rouse her. They weren't alone in the room anymore. Callen and Sam were in the doorway. Deeks made no effort to move away from being Kensi's personal body pillow though.
"I'm pretty sure this arrangement is against hospital policy," Callen quipped. Neither of them moved.
"Hey guys." Kensi greeted, doing her best to smile.
"How you feeling Kens?" Sam asked.
"I'm okay. Tired, a little sore."
"We spoke to Deeks. He said the doctors are going to let you go later tonight as long as nothing comes up.
Kensi looked up at Deeks to confirm Callen's words. He nodded.
"Good. Did he happen to mention how long I'll be out of the field?"
The three men laughed, expecting nothing less from their tough as nails junior agent.
"Kens, I know it's been a long day but we're going to need an official statement," Callen said, turning serious again.
"Does it have to be now?" Deeks asked.
"We've already arrested Hannigan. We need a confirmation of ID and Hetty wants to know exactly how many things we can charge her with."
"It's okay," Kensi laid her good hand on Deeks's arm to quell his objection on her behalf. "Just… stay here, alright?"
"Wasn't planning on leaving Kens." Deeks placed another comforting kiss to the side of her head.
Kensi shuffled around on the bed so she was sitting upright, facing her team, rather than curled into her boyfriend's side.
"I was out at a bar to celebrate Tiff's new job when I started to feel weird. I was only halfway through my third drink so I called Deeks. I went outside so I could hear him and to get some fresh air and then the next thing I remember is being…" Kensi started to trail off. Deeks placed his palm on her thigh and squeezed in both encouragement and reassurance.
"And then it's fuzzy," She continued, "It's all blurred together. I saw… I saw Jack in the cave in Afghanistan and I saw Deeks…" She turned to face him, brow knitted, "I saw you back in that chair with Sidorov. I remember being cold and my hands being tied."
Sam and Callen looked at each other with concern.
"Do you remember how you escaped?" Sam asked, moving to stand on Kensi's other side, a hand coming to rest on her shoulder.
"Kind of? I remember hands touching me and using something… a chain? To knock her out. And then I was walking."
"Hands touching you? Like…" Deeks didn't need to finish the though. Kensi was already allaying his fears.
"No, not like that. Nothing like that. Just, just touching my face."
"Can you identify your kidnapper form a line up Kens?" Callen asked.
"I think so."
Callen thumbed at his phone before handing it over to Kensi. Kensi swiped through the pictures until the forth one crossed the screen.
"That's her." She handed the phone back. Callen glanced at the screen, locked the phone and pocketed it.
"You guys rest up, okay?" He said by way of parting, squeezing Kensi's calf under the blanket.
Same leaned in and placed a hand on the back of her head, kissing her crown before giving Deeks a knowing look and a nod. "Hetty's arranging transport back to LA for when they release you."
"Thanks." Deeks smiled at the two men as they left but Kensi was already curling back into him, half way to sleep again.
-X-
"Go find him Deeks."
"He'll be here soon, I'm sure. He said he was going to discharge you by four. He's still got 10 minutes."
"I want to go home."
Kensi had been restless for the past hour, ever since the nurse came through announcing the doctor was going to discharger her. Hetty had sent Nell up with their go bags and Kensi's Audi. Kensi had jumped at the chance to get out of the gown and was now dressed in jeans and one of Deeks's gym shirts, his hoodie over the topped, unzipped, sleeves rolled up to her elbows.
Kensi looked just about ready to go find the doctor herself when he walked through the door.
"Be gentle with yourself. Your bruises are going to take time to heal. Eat well, drink plenty of water, and make sure you book in for physical therapy for that thumb in four weeks."
The papers were signed and Kensi was practically dragging Deeks from the hospital to the awaiting car Hetty had organised. Deeks opened the passenger door for Kensi to climb in. He leaned across her and put the seatbelt in the clip to save her bruised from and broken hand the effort. He was rewarded with a kiss as he retreated.
Kensi was quiet for most of the two hour drive back to Los Angeles and there were several times Deeks had assumed she'd fallen asleep only to have her lean forward and change the radio station. They were just getting back into their neighbourhood when Deeks took a wrong turn. Kensi shot him a look.
"I know you probably want to get home but we just have one stop to make first."
"Food?" Kensi asked with childlike hope that made Deeks chuckle.
"Okay, two stops."
Deeks pulled the car into a parking spot along the beach and came around to her side.
"Walk with me?" Deeks's eyes were so pleading that she didn't have the heart to argue.
"Okay."
They'd made it a few yards down the stretch of sand when Deeks stopped them, dropping their shoes and pulling Kensi close.
"You know, I kind of imagined this differently." Kensi pulled back to look at him, confused. But Deeks continued to speak. "I imagined Giorgio Baldi and you in a sexy dress and me in a suit. But now I think this is better because you never look more beautiful than when you're in my clothes and I'm so thankful for your strength and power and perseverance. You never give up and that's what makes me so sure this is the right thing because, if you say yes to this, I know you will never give up on me, on us."
As Deeks took half a step back and lowered himself to one knee he could see the tears in Kensi's eyes even if she would probably deny them later.
"Kensi Marie Blye, I've got the beach, the sunset, and the ring," he pulled out a little blue box from his jeans pocket, "so I'm hoping I've got a shot here. Will you marry me?"
Kensi's smile was wide and bright and unable to be tamed as she nodded.
"Yes."
Grabbing her left hand, he slid the ring on and kissed the back of her palm before standing and taking her face in his hands to press his lips to hers. She came willingly into his embrace and they stayed tangled together on the sand as the sun finished its descent on the horizon.
"Marty?" She whispered into his chest, breaking the bubble.
"Mmmm, yes fiancé?"
"If you want to keep your future wife happy, you're going to have to feed her soon."
Deeks chuckled even as his heart skipped over the word wife. "Well, we better do that then, lest she changes her mind."
Deeks went over and picked up their shoes, wrapping his free arm around his new fiancé's waist.
"Never changing my mind." Kensi reassured him with a kiss to his cheek as they made their way back to the car, food, and their home.