I own nothing. Slash. Enjoy.
"Mr. Deeks," Hetty said as Callen, Kensi, Sam, and I walked into the bullpen.
"Hey Hetty," I said sitting at my desk, "What's up?"
"Justin and Katie Singer were in a hit and run accident a few hours ago. Neither of them made it. Their three year old daughter did."
I stared at Hetty in shock for a few moments before I felt anger consume me. Without thinking I grabbed a bottle I had placed on my desk and threw it against the wall causing it to bust and splatter water everywhere.
"Where's Alice?" I asked glaring slightly.
"She's in my office," Hetty said calmly, "But I ask that you calm down. Alice is still very shaken up and she doesn't need you being angry right now."
Nodding my head quickly I started to walk towards Hetty office while taking a few deep breaths. Hetty was right when she said that Alice needed me to be calm when she saw me.
When I got into the doorway of Hetty's office I saw Alice sitting behind the desk with a cup of tea shaking in her hands. Tears were streaming down her face and her left arm was wrapped in gauze.
"Alice," I said quietly hoping not to startle her.
Alice looked at me with wide eyes before putting her tea down and running at me. Smiling slightly I picked her up and held her against me as she started to sob. Muttering soft words to Alice I started to bounce her slightly hoping to calm her down.
"Mommy and Daddy," Alice started to say through the sobs.
"Shh," I said kissing her forehead, "I know."
Her arms wrapped tighter around my neck before letting out a whimper. Calmly going over to the desk I placed Alice on the chair and waited patiently for her to let go of my neck.
Once her arms were by her sides I placed her tea back in her hands. Alice gave me a sad half smile before taking a small drink of her tea. Smiling back I kissed her forehead but stayed kneeling next to her.
"Do you want to meet some of my friends?" I asked hoping to get Alice's mind off of her parents for awhile.
Alice nodded softly a few times before finishing off her tea and looking at me hopefully. This time a full smile bloomed on my face as I lifted her up and walked into the bullpen.
"Alice," I said bouncing her slightly, "These are my friends. This is Sam Hanna, Kensi Blye, and G Callen. Guys, this is Alice Singer. Of course you already know Hetty."
"Hi," Alice said shyly.
"Mr. Deeks," Hetty said looking at me, "I believe there is one other person that you should introduce Miss Singer to."
Smiling slightly I looked at the stairs and saw Eric standing there. I felt him staring at me in confusion causing me to take a deep breath and wonder how I was going to explain everything to him.
"Miss Singer," Hetty said cutting off my thoughts, "How about you come with me and change into something else? I know wearing that scrub top must not be very comfortable."
Alice looked at me as if to ask if it was safe. Kissing her forehead I placed her down and nodded my head for her to go with Hetty. I needed to talk to Eric before anything else happened.
Rushing up the stairs I pulled Eric into the tech room and glared until everyone else left. Once we were alone I pressed my lips to his desperately. I needed to get some sort of emotion besides anger into me.
"Hey," Eric said breaking the kiss, "Are you okay?"
"No," I said shaking my head, "I'm not even close to being okay, but I have to tell you something."
"About the girl you were holding?"
"Yes. Her name is Alice Singer and I'm her father. I got a girl pregnant a few years back. She didn't want to keep her so I took her and put her in a safe home. She doesn't know that I'm her father, but now that her parents are dead I have to take care of her, Eric. I can't give her away again. I was lucky with the Singers. They understood the situation and let me stay in her life."
"You're going to take care of her."
"I am. I have to, Eric. Please tell me you understand that."
Eric smiled softly and pulled me into a hug. Wrapping my arms around him contently I felt happy by his reaction. The two of us had only been dating a few months and everything was still new to me.
Long term relationships weren't something that I was used to, but it was different with Eric. He made me feel like I had a place to go no matter what happened. We could be in a fight and I still knew that I had somewhere to call home.
Hearing footsteps coming up the stairs quickly I kissed Eric softly with a small smile on my face before turning around and seeing Alice walking into the room on her own.
Looking over Alice I saw that Hetty had brushed her curly blond hair and put it up in a pony tail. Instead of the pink scrub top she was wearing before Alice had on a cute dark purple dress that I'm sure Hetty spent a lot of money on.
I kneeled in front of Alice and opened my arms to invite her into a hug. Alice's ocean blue eyes were filled with sadness, but I could also see the happiness when I wrapped my arms around her.
"Alice," I said lifting her up, "This is Eric Beale. Eric, this is Alice Singer. Alice, Eric and I have been dating for a few months."
Alice looked between Eric and I for a moment before opening her arms toward Eric. Eric looked at me in confusion but moved closer so Alice could pull him into a gentle hug.
I could see the amazement in Eric's eyes as I moved so he was the one holding Alice. He knew that I wasn't someone that trusted people easily, but I could tell that Alice knew that Eric was a good person.
"Hi," Alice said resting her head on Eric's shoulder.
"Hi," Eric said back softly.
Smiling I could see Eric slowly become comfortable with Alice in his arms. When I saw Alice's eyes starting to slip shut I took Alice back in my arms and started to gently sway.
I felt Alice snuggle more into my chest and listened closely as her breathing evened out. Once I was sure that she was sleeping I stopped moving and pressed a kiss to Eric's lips.
"Thank you," I whispered against his lips.
"She's beautiful," Eric said smiling at me.
"That she is. I'm going to go see if Hetty has someplace for Alice to lay down and a blanket."
"Okay, I'll be up here if you need me."
"Eric, I always need you."
Eric rolled his eyes at me and softly pushed me towards the stairs. Laughing quietly to myself I walked back down to the bullpen and saw everyone watching me closely.
"Hetty," I said softly, "Do you have a blanket or something?"
"I do," Hetty said nodding, "Why don't you place Alice down on the couch while I get it?"
Nodding my head I went to the couch and placed her on it gently. I stayed kneeled next to her until I felt something touch my shoulder. Looking up I took the blanket from Hetty and placed it over Alice before kissing her forehead and standing up.
Hetty motioned for not only me, but Callen, Sam, and Kensi to follow her into her office. It didn't take long for all of us to be in the office. Everyone had situated themselves in the room while I stayed standing up in a place I could see Alice.
"Mr. Deeks," Hetty said drawing my attention to her for a moment, "Why do I have a feeling we don't know the whole situation with Alice?"
"Alice is my daughter," I said calmly, "An old girlfriend gave birth to her three years ago, but she didn't want to keep her. Hell, she didn't want to have her at all. Don't ask how I was able to convince her to do that. Anyway, I was in a deep undercover operation when Alice was born and I knew I wasn't going to get out anytime soon.
I found the Singer family and explained what was going on. I guess they could tell that I didn't want to give Alice up. They basically made me Alice's uncle. I spent a lot of time with Alice, but we decided that we weren't going to tell Alice the truth. I don't know if that's going to change now."
I felt everyone's eyes on me and ran a hand through my hair. Everything was a little chaotic in my head, but the only thing that I really wanted to do was take care of Alice in any way.
A list started to run through my mind of all the things that Alice needed. I didn't have a lot of room in my house, but it would have to do for now. Right now I had to get a place for Alice to sleep and a few toys.
"Miss Jones," Hetty said when Nell walked past, "Can you get Mr. Beale for me, please?"
"Of course," Nell said nodding and rushing up the stairs.
"The four of you and Mr. Beale will be taking the rest of the day off. Go get everything packed from your place, Mr. Deeks. Everyone will help you and I will send you your new address in a few hours."
"Hetty," I started to say.
"Don't even try, Mr. Deeks. I'm going to do this whether you like it or not. Now go get Alice and take her with you. It will be fully furnished so don't bother bringing anything like that and yes, they will have a room for a kid Alice's age. There are no sheets though. You'll see the house and figure out what you need from there. Go."
Everyone got up and started to walk out of the office calmly talking to each other. I watched them for a few more minutes before looking at Hetty. She stared at me for a moment before smiling.
"Thank you," I said before going over to Alice.
"Hey," Eric said walking up to me, "Nell said we had the day off. What's going on?"
"We're going to pack up my place. Hetty is getting me a new place to stay so I have enough room for Alice. She's giving us the day to get everything packed up and into the new house."
Eric nodded his head and waited as I went over to Alice. I looked at the peacefulness of her face and I hated that I would have to wake her up. She looked so content in her dreams.
"Alice," I said brushing her hair out of her face, "Wake up, Sweetheart."
"Daddy?" Alice said her eyes fluttering open.
"No, it's Uncle Marty."
Alice looked at me as sadness filled her eyes. Sighing I scooped Alice up, making sure to keep the blanket around her. She curled closer to me and rested her head against my shoulder.
I made my way outside to see Eric leaning against the car waiting for me. Smiling I looked in the car and saw a seat for Alice. Quickly buckling her in I climbed in the drivers' seat and made my way to my house.