First Impressions: Blye, K.
Chapter 1: Prologue
She stood in a casual at ease stance, falling back on the crash course NCIS training she'd completed barely a week earlier in the unfamiliar surroundings of their L.A. offices. They were surprisingly spacious for the inside of an abandoned warehouse, but this organized bureaucratic scramble was something utterly foreign to her military mindset. She'd been raised on an army base, or at least she had until her father's death. She'd always been a tom boy, but two years spent on the streets after that had shown her just how tough she could actually be when push came to shove. She'd never seen herself as an agent instead of a marine but those two years in back alleys and shelters had taught her that she could be more than a soldier with a gun.
She was also a prime candidate for the position she was up for. No immediate family, or at least none she was close to, and no significant other to tie her down, she was a loner not essentially by choice but necessity. Those were the kind of people this place attracted though; the ones who didn't need, or just didn't have anyone, the ones who could put the job first. She looked down suddenly the unshed tears glistening in her mismatched brown-black eyes showing the first cracks in her casual façade. Jack Darby was one of the few people who could get to her, the one weakness she still struggled to hide.
It had been six months since the PTSD had gotten the better of him, six months since the day she'd realized he was so inexplicably gone, six months since she'd lost the second man she'd loved, and she was still no closer to accepting the fact that she wasn't going to wake up and find it nothing more than an unreal dream, a cruel prank of which she was the unwilling sucker. She knew deep down that that wasn't going to happen. Her luck wasn't that good, it never had been, but that didn't stop the hope or the denial. That was part of why she was here.
She'd never thought she'd end up living a life that wasn't centered on an army base but the opportunity had come along and with Jack's encouragement she'd joined NCIS' training program. A week after she'd been accepted, the news of Jack's deployment had come, and when he'd come back, well he hadn't really came back at all.
A new start was what her training agent had said, a chance to put the twin tragedies of her past where they belonged, in the past. She'd been secretly furious with him for putting her up for this position without the slightest bit of warning until the acceptance letter appeared in her mail. The last thing she needed was another man trying to direct her life, but he'd brought her around, slowly but surely convinced her that this was the way to go. This was her chance at moving forward and she'd agreed, finishing the NCIS training course in record time. Now it seemed like a fantasy, standing in the hallway desperately trying to hold back the tears.
She refused to break down here though, she wouldn't cry in front of these strangers. She'd worked hard to achieve her reputation of being just as tough as any of her male peers and she'd be damned if she let herself look weak in the eyes of her potential colleges. She could fight just as well as any of them and she was a hell of a better sniper than the majority. There was no way she was going to let a few tears ruin that.
She tugged at the sleeves of her close fit leather jacket, curled her hands into tight fists until she could feel her nails digging into her palms, and willed the tears to stop. Later, she told herself, she'd deal with her loss later when she didn't have to be strong, when she didn't have to put on an act for these people.
The door opened across the hall from her and her head snapped up, the pain on her face gone behind a mask of polite professionalism as the clip of heels on tile floors drew her eyes to the woman now standing in front of her. She had strict, sharp features and straight blonde hair pulled back in a tight pony tail and Kensi abruptly felt underdressed with her blue jeans and loose hair.
"Special Agent Lara Macy," the woman explained as Kensi shook her offered hand, "You must be Kensi Blye."
Kensi nodded, "Yes, ma'am. I just wanted to say thank you for giving me a chance to…"
Macy didn't even let her finish though and there was something of a challenge in the agent's blue eyes, "Let's get one thing straight, Ms. Blye. You haven't been given anything. If you're going to stay here, you'll earn it. Understood?"
Kensi smiled, she'd expected nothing less, "Of course, and it's just Kensi."
Approval flickered in the older woman's eyes, before she turned heading back to the office she'd just left, "Good. Let's get started."
