This was written for the NFA Secret Santa exchange, for Briwd. Thanks for the awesome prompt!

Also, enormous thank you to Sansone, who listened to me blathering on about this story for weeks and weeks and weeks, (she deserves a medal) and helped make it a much better story.

DEEKS

"Operation Rosefern. That mean anything to you?"

Deeks looked over at his partner and shrugged expressively. "Not unless it's some super secret special code thing you guys won't tell me about 'cause I'm still not really an agent..."

She scowled, and he grinned back at her. Tweaking her pigtails was always fun.

"Why d'you ask?"

She flipped through the pages of the file she was holding, her brow creasing. "Hetty's being cagey about why Sam and Callen had to fly out to Europe. She said something about 'Operation Rosefern', and I get the impression it's important, but I can't find details anywhere on the system. There's almost nothing here."

"Have Eric and Nell look."

She shot him a glance that could strip paint. "Silly me, why didn't I already think of that an hour ago. Wait a minute, I did, that's where I got this." She slapped the bundle of papers down on her desk for emphasis.

"Well, then ask Hetty."

She scrunched up her face. "Yeah, I don't think so. I'm not even sure if she meant me to hear it."

"So why are you looking?"

"Because... because I want to know why she sent Sam and Callen to Europe. I want to be prepared if we have to help them, I want..."

"Basically, you're nosy."

"Oh, shut up."

"Let me help." He hopped up out of his chair and stood behind her, leaning over to type on her computer. She grumbled something about him invading her space, but he didn't get an elbow in the stomach so she obviously wasn't too bothered.

"What makes you think you'll have more luck than me, anyway?"

"Me? I was just gonna check my email."

"Deeks!"

"OK, OK, I'm kidding. I just thought I'd check if there was anything on the LAPD server."

"And you couldn't do that from your own desk?"

"It wouldn't be as much fun."

She sighed heavily, but leaned her head back against his shoulder all the same. He was kind of bummed when the search results came back unusually fast.

"Nope." He stood up, then leaned his butt against the corner of her desk, looking down at her.

"Well, it was a long shot." She gave him a grudging smile. "Thanks for trying, anyway."

He grinned back. "Anytime, partner."

"Really?"

"Sure. That's what partners are for."

A mischievous look appeared on her face, and he instantly wished he hadn't said that with such enthusiasm. "So you'll go ask Hetty for me?"

"Uh, I... When I said anytime, I meant, uh... Actually, I need to go walk Monty..."

"Coward!" she yelled after him as he made his escape.

"Don't listen to her, Monty," he told the dog. "Walking you is fun, it's not that I'm scared of Hetty.

Even Monty didn't look convinced.