Not So Easily Partners AU OOC

Summary: Deeks has left LA and is in Miami working for the Miami-Dade Police Department. Kensi discovers that she doesn't like it and is determined to do something about it.

Disclaimer: Don't own any of them and too old to wish I did.

A/N 1: Last fall, I read a great story named Barely Partners by roswellwbfan. I PM'd him/her to see if there would be a second chapter coming or sequel and gave him/her a few ideas I had running through my head. Sadly, there would be none but he/she said I should write my idea for the Densi fix I wanted to see. So, this story starts where Barely Partners left off. I would recommend reading that story first and then read this one.

A/N 2: Again, this is a work of complete fiction. It is also AU and OOC.

A/N 3: I received directional guidance from two friends named nherbie and OhBuddy66. They're both extremely busy and yet they found time to lend me a hand.

Chapter 1

Mondays suck! As Kensi slowly goes up the stairway to ops, chaotic thoughts start running through her head. First, her father died, then Jack left her, then Dom left her, and now Deeks left her, albeit that was on her. Her and her stupid statement, Just barely partners? Why would I ever say that? Just to have drinks with Sabatino? Damn, I really screwed up this time she thinks and walks into ops. As she takes her normal spot by the table she misses the person normally standing alongside of her. She's starting to realize that Deeks was maybe more than just barely her partner. She needs to find a way to get him back here. Then Nell starts telling the team of the upcoming op. It seems there was a dead body found beneath the Santa Monica Pier. LAPD, after finding out the body was a navy sailor, gave the case to NCIS.

Before the team leaves ops, Hetty says she had some bad news. "From this point on, NCIS LA OSP will no longer carry the position of an LAPD Liaison Officer. I'm sure you all know by now that I created that position, with the Directors blessing, in order to get Mr. Deeks here. After following his exploits, we were of the same mind that he would make an excellent agent and we were right. He brought some skills to the table, meshing well with the team causing it to rise above all the others. I was hoping to convert him to an agent but he was stubborn. That man has the skills to help make this team elite and after three years, he was starting to come around to my way of thinking. He had the papers in his hand when he heard some disturbing news that turned him inside out. Now he's working in Miami Florida for the Miami - Dade Police Department and that's a damn shame! So, until I can get a probie from the next graduating class out of FLETC, Miss Jones is going to be your fourth field agent." After giving her little speech, Hetty hangs her head and slowly leaves ops.

As Kensi slowly leaves the room with Nell on her heels, she reminisces about the past three years of her partnership with Deeks. He was always there for her. With a kind word, a special doughnut, her favorite candy, or even Twinkies. How could I ever think that he was just barely my partner? Then something rises up in her thoughts and smacks her across the face. People that care do the things he did for me! I should have realized that before now. I can't believe I didn't. Deeks is not to blame for any of this, and, no matter how long it might be before either of them are ready to move forward with their feelings, she knows she holds all the cards in this absurd situation. She also knows she doesn't want to look back someday and realize she had maybe left something good lay along the side of the road. Some way, she needs to talk to him and not on the phone or in a text or an email. No siree, she needs to look him in those deep blue eyes of his and let him know there are feelings brewing in her heart towards him and to get him back somehow. As they reach the bottom of the stairs, both happen to notice Hetty sipping on a cup of tea with a pensive look on her face playing with her letter opener. Kensi would dare to lay money on her already formulating a plan to get 'her boy' back in the fold where he belongs.

The day with Nell, checking out leads, was really something different. No banter, no trying to change stations on her radio, no incessant chatter, and no Deeks. She's so used to seeing a mop of blonde hair sitting in that seat that looking at Nell's ginger colored hair gave her a start at first. I miss Deeks more than I thought I would. I'll try to call him she thinks and dials his number. The message she receives sets her back on her heels, 'The number you have dialed, has been de-activated and is no longer in service.' it said. Well, she thinks, that's a big reason the texts were coming back unsent. "Nell, do you mind if I swing by Deeks's place to see if he might be there yet?"

"Sure," Nell says, "I'd also like to hear why he decided to leave NCIS. It must have been something really bad for him to give up everything and move thousands of miles away from everything and everybody he cares about. Don't you think?"

Kensi replies, with a catch in her voice, "Yeah, it must have been something bad." Nell notices Kensi's eyes growing somewhat glassy and wonders to herself if there's more to the story than she's letting on.

As Kensi pulls into Deeks's parking spot, she remembers all the times she had spent here with take out and beer, watching cheesy movies and her eyes grow glassy again and for the umpteenth time thinks of the mistake she made with those three stupid words. As she walks up to his door, his neighbor comes out of her door and starts talking to Nell and her. "You must be Kensi." she says. "Marty said there was a slim chance you may stop by. It's a shame he left for Florida, I'm really going to miss him, especially his lasagna. He used to make some fabulous dinners on Friday nights in the hope of having someone stop by but apparently his 'someone' never did as he shared a lot of them with me." As she's telling Kensi this, a bundle of fur runs out of the apartment and attacks Kensi with doggy kisses.

"Monty! Get down and leave Kensi alone!" His neighbor says.

Kensi asks her then, "You have Monty? How come?"

"Well," she starts, "He didn't have a place lined up yet down there, so he's going to keep Monty here until he finds one that's pet friendly. Then he's either going to come back here to pick him up or have him flown down there. I wish you could have seen him say good-bye to Monty this morning. The man had tears in his eyes and Monty didn't do much better. He whined all day for Marty. This is the first happiness he has shown all day, seeing you seems to have livened him right up."

"So, he's gone then? Marty?" Kensi asks.

"Oh yeah, he was on the road this morning around 6 a.m. He gave me his keys to let the movers in and then to give to his landlord. He gave everything except his clothes and the few pictures he had, to the shelter he always volunteered at. He kept two coffee mugs though. One of them had a fern on it and the other had a cartoon picture of Shaggy from Scooby Doo on it. He told me those were special and all the rest was to go."

Kensi's eyes water at hearing that and then asks, "Is it alright if I stop over now and then to check up on Monty? Maybe take him for a walk or play with him for a bit?"

"By the looks of things, I would say most certainly you can. Monty really enjoys seeing you."

"Thanks. We have to get going now. I'll see you again."

"Ok. See you later." And his neighbor takes Monty back into the apartment.

As Kensi and Nell head to their last lead of the day, Nell asks, "What do you think could have happened to drive Deeks away? Did he maybe mention anything he was having problems with to you at all?"

"He may have mentioned something," Kensi mutters, "But I don't really remember because he's always talking. You know?"

"Yeah, I remember." And she goes back to wondering what could have happened. Hetty should know, I'll ask her when we get back and her thoughts return to the case they're on.

After a fruitless day of chasing down leads to no avail, Kensi and Nell pull into the parking lot of OSP and enter the building talking about what they were going to look at tomorrow involving the case. While Nell went upstairs to ops, Kensi put her things down on her desk and started packing her bag up to head for home. As she slung the bag over her shoulder, she happens to notice Assistant Director Granger talking to Hetty, very animatedly. She was able to hear a few words though. "I'm telling you Henrietta, we need to get him to apply to become an agent in order to get him back on this team. There is no other way now. The Director is standing steadfast on this one."

"So am I Owen. I was so tired of him having two employers and being pulled from us at the whim of LAPD. I'm going to need to make a few calls and pull a few strings."

"So will I Henrietta, so will I." And then Granger gets up and pulls out his phone dialing it as he walks away.

Kensi is beside herself with wonder at the way Hetty and Granger are treating this. Did I miss something she thinks? And then leaves for home.

Meanwhile, up in ops, Nell is sitting in her chair stunned beyond belief. Eric showed her the boatshed video of what happened to get Deeks to leave. A little more than two weeks ago the video showed her telling Agent Sabatino that she and Deeks were just barely partners. Then it had dawned on her, he found out about it! Something like that would have far reaching results on a partner's psyche. No wonder he left. He needed to get away from Kensi! Oh crap! What can we do now?

That night Kensi picked up Monty to take to the beach for a little play time. As he frolicked at the edge of the water her thoughts turned to Deeks and how his humor and optimism helped the team stay loose. She can't lose who he is, her best friend and partner. And then she thinks no matter how bad the situation is or was, my wellbeing was always his first and only thought. How could everything that he did make me say he was just barely my partner? How am I ever going to be able to tell him how very sorry I truly am? That he is the one I trust above everyone. Sitting on the beach was helping her see things clearly again. Having taken the time to go and get Monty was helping even more. He was done playing and now, was simply laying in the sand beside her, not wanting to play, knowing she needed the comfort of him close. A dog is man's best friend for a reason. "What am I going to do, Monty?" She scratched his furry head. She wanted her best friend back. She wanted her partner back. She wanted their lives back to where they were. And she knew that wasn't going to happen. She still felt sick every time, as she thinks of what Sabatino did. And what's worse is she gave him the words to do it with.

Friday morning seems to have crept up on Kensi faster than she thought. Yesterday afternoon they had found the guy that killed the sailor. It was found out the fight was over a girl and they were both inebriated. Now one of them is dead and the other one is going to jail for a very long time. What a way to ruin your life. Kensi swings by the local donut shop for some treats and a coffee and heads to work, thinking of how to get her partner back. After last night on the beach with Monty, she knows she needs to try. Poor Monty just laid there and whined, looking all around for his daddy. She also needs to find out what's wrong with Nell. All week long she has been fairly cold to Kensi. Only one word answers, no talk in the car, and no going to lunch with her. It was so unlike Nell that Kensi wonders if something happened that she doesn't know about. She figures she'll try to find out today.

As Kensi is finishing her report for the case the team just concluded, a shadow falls across her desk causing her to look up and there stands Nick Sabatino.

"Good day Kensi. Got any plans for later? If not, I'd like to take you out for lunch."

Kensi knows she should say no, but maybe this will be a good chance for her to find out why he did what he did, so she says, "Sure, Nick. Let me finish this up and go clean up a bit and we can go." All the time she's talking, she's twirling her hair with her finger.

Unbeknownst to her, Hetty and Nell are watching everything unfold from the balcony. Hetty just shakes her head and comments to Nell, "She just doesn't see it Nell. That man is only interested in one thing and it isn't her head."

"Yep," Nell replies, "That man is a player and is only after another notch in his bed post." And then heads into ops.

Back in the bull pen, Kensi tells Sabatino, "Give me 30 minutes to clean up and we can go, alright?"

"Not a problem." Sabatino tells her.

As Kensi heads off to the locker room to get cleaned up, Callen asks him, "What are your plans?"

Sabatino tells him, "I was going to take her to lunch and then ask her out to dinner."

"We were all going out tonight for a little team bonding at a club. I don't think she'll want to go out for dinner." Sam interjects.

Sabatino comes back with, "The only 'bonding' I want to do with Kensi involves my bed with her in it naked. I've wanted to get into her panties for quite some time now but could never get it done with that scruffy cop as her partner. He watched out for her too well but now that he's gone, I figure the way is clear sailing. In fact, by Monday morning, she'll be lucky to be able to walk."

Unknown to Sabatino, Kensi was standing not 5 feet behind him and heard every word he had said. His words tore her up. She thought he really just wanted to develop a friendship with her, but all he wanted to do was get her in bed. Now she has her answer about why Sabatino did what he did. He was getting Deeks out of the way. She walks up to him and taps him on the shoulder and as he turns around she smiles at him and then head butts him, breaking his nose. Then she makes a fist and hits him so hard in the throat that it became hard for him to breathe. As his mouth opened to cry out, she kicked him so hard in the 'nom de plumes' that his eyes crossed and he went down. As he fell to the floor she was drawing her leg back to deliver a kick but Sam came over his desk in the blink of an eye and ties her up in his arms.

"That's enough Kensi. You've made your point. The dirt bag won't be bothering you anymore. Let's get you away from here to cool off a bit."

Hetty saw all of it from her vantage point on the balcony and as soon as it was over she opened her phone and called Granger. "Owen? 'Operation Get Deeks Back' is a go." And then she disconnects with a very big smile on her face.

Everything that happened also showed up on the cameras in ops and Nell is gratified that Kensi finally found out the truth about Sabatino. Things may just turn out well she thinks and heads downstairs to comfort her friend.

Sam puts her in a chair telling her, "You stay here for a bit Kensi. Callen and I will get Sabatino out of OSP and into his car." And then he leaves.

Nell ventures over to Kensi and rubs small circles on her back trying to get her to settle down but all it did was bring back memories to Kensi.

"Deeks used to do that all the time. Whenever I had a bad day, he would rub my back or the back of my hand. I always felt better after he did that." She looks at Nell and utters mournfully, "What have I done Nell?"

"Give it some time Kensi. I have a feeling there's something in the works and the wheels started turning a little bit ago. Also, just for your information, there was something starting between you and Deeks. You two just didn't realize it. We all could see it. The looks, the small touches, the way he always treated you, and most importantly, the way he always knew when you needed a special little treat. Maybe a donut, or a candy bar or even just one of those special coffees you like so well. The man always went the extra mile for you. Just barely partners don't do things like that." Saying that, Nell gets up and goes back up to ops.

A/N: This was supposed to be a one-shot but I couldn't get it done with one chapter. It's going to be a two-parter.