January 8th, 2013- 11:16pm
They had forgotten his birthday.
Detective Mary Deeks' teammates, his closest friends- hell, his family- had completely forgotten his birthday. Even with the hints that he dropped to Kensi Blye all day, Kensi still went out with Jamie, a thug from their case. Her excuse was that she had thought his birthday was the 18th and Sam, Callen, Nell, and Eric's excuses were…..well, they didn't have one. After a day where Kensi was in danger, an old defendant almost died- the least people could have done is remember his birthday. The worst thing of it all was that the others' birthdays in the past had been celebrated; for example, Callen, who wasn't really a big birthday person, got a surprise trip to Vegas with the team. Add that to the once more- Well, it's Deeks' thing. Why can't LAPD handle it? bit from Sam and it made his 34th birthday just lovely.
The detective now stood outside of OPS with a black case in hand. After the team had toasted to him and chatted for about twenty minutes, Kensi had taken off for her dinner, Sam had taken off to go cook dinner for his wife, and Callen went home to have what Deeks assumed to be another catnap. Deeks had gone home and watched a crappy movie with some leftover cold pizza before returning with the case.
There was something that he needed to do; a thing one would call a sad tradition.
Deeks walked into the bullpen, not the least bit cautious of anyone being there. The placed was always cleared out by 11 at the latest unless an emergency came up or someone stayed behind to do paperwork.
"Mr. Deeks?"
The detective was startled by Hetty, who was sitting at her desk. A laptop was placed in front of her next to a blue Japanese tea set. For the long day that the two had had, she didn't look the least bit tired.
"Hetty, I didn't think anyone would be here," Deeks stammered.
The OPS manager smirked, her expression illuminated by the scarce light coming from lamp. "Late night paperwork. Is there a particular reason you're here?"
The detective hesitated, unsure of how to explain what he wanted to do. Finally, Deeks stated, "I just wanted to use one of the conference rooms to do a quick thing."
Hetty stood up from her desk and walked up to Deeks with a curious eye on the case in his hand. She glanced up to Deeks before asking, "I didn't know you still played."
"How did you know that I even played….never mind. No one else knows besides you…and Kensi, if she even remembers."
"I know all the important things about my agents, no matter how trivial they may seem. What type of violin is it?"
Deeks hesitated before sitting down on the steps and opening the case in front of her. The violin had a bit of dust on the base of it as the detective hadn't used it in about a month. "It's a Stradivarius full size violin with a carbon fiber bow. The violin's expensive as hell, especially back in the 80s when my mom somehow bought me this. It was actually on the day that I shot Gordon Brandell- it was my birthday."
Hetty sat down next to Deeks, who was tense now. No one had known that he had shot his father on his birthday. He only got two things that day- his mother gave him the violin to use when he got older and his father gave him one of the most traumatic days of his life.
"Mom had engraved it For my prince," Deeks continued, rubbing a finger against the gold engraving at the neck of the violin, "I was so in love with it until Gordon came home, pissed about the costs and the many other things that set him off into a rampage. And then…well, you know the rest."
Hetty nodded and placed an empathetic hand on the detective's shoulder. Deciding to change the subject, she asked, "So do you regularly play?"
"I freestyle more than I play an actual song. I only play it when I'm having a bad day."
"Like today?"
Deeks sighed and repeated, "Like today. That's why I came- I wanted to play somewhere where I don't annoy the neighbors."
Hetty suddenly stood up and cusped her hands. "Then I'll leave you to your music, but I have to ask- do you mind an audience?"
"No, not really-"
Hetty walked back to her desk and plopped down in her seat. The operations manager poured herself a cup of tea while the detective set himself to play.
"Ready?" she asked a few minutes later.
Deeks blinked before mumbling, "I don't know what to play."
"You've had a hell of a day, Mr. Deeks. I imagine that the shock of no one remembering your birthday can be an inspiration for a song."
Deeks thought back to watching the sunrise and the gift from Hetty- a small bronze pendent, or man- pendent as he had called it, earlier that morning. The detective had then spent the day, thinking that someone would make the same effort like the operations manager.
"Well, if we're talking about this lovely day, I can also add that partner ended up going out with Jamie, who in no offence, is an idiot. There wasn't much talk of me coming to Kensi's aid, even though I knew I was going to get caught. And if I hear Sam say Why doesn't LAPD handle it in reference to anything involving me, I'm going to explode. I mean, what if I go missing? Are the first words out of everyone's mouth going to be Oh well, LAPD can handle it! Seriously-"
Hetty put up a hand. "Mr. Deeks! Calm down!"
"Sorry, I ramble when I'm upset-"
Hetty beckoned towards his violin. "Play, Mr. Deeks. Sometimes it's best not to get things out with words."
Tell me about it, Deeks thought before placing his chin on the chin rest and beginning to play a melodic tone that rendered Hetty speechless. Deeks' were closed; all that detective did was pull out all the emotions that followed him around- abandonment, loneliness, anger- and let his fingers do the rest.
A/N: If you read this story before late March 5, you know that the story had stopped here. But because of the encouraging reviews, I will continue the story.