A/N: Story is set up a bit strange with flashbacks in Kensi Blye's point of view and the actual plot written in Marty Deeks'. Hope you enjoy.
She woke up to two eyes staring back at her, this was nothing unusual. There were some mornings that Marty Deeks could get in full mornings of surfing before she would even begin the dreaded process of removing herself from the comfort of the bed. What was unusual was the startlingly solemn expression on her partner's face when pried her eyes open at the sound of the alarm clock. Deeks lay stretched out beside her under the covers, his head resting on his hand as his elbow supported the weight. He had been patiently waiting for her to wake up because he knew better than to try and do so before she herself was ready.
"Hi." Kensi stretched, offering him a rare morning smile.
"Hi." He responded as he gently brushed the bangs from her eyes and lowered his head to give her a soft kiss, letting it deepen for a mere second before pulling away. She could not help but release a small groan at his tease as she longed for more.
"Marry me." She was not sure she understood the words at first.
"What?" She asked.
"Marry me." He repeated, this time slower. His eyes did not leave Kensi's as she analyzed what those words meant. She felt like a fish out of water as her mouth moved but no words came out. "You are everything to me. You are the first thing I think of when I wake in the morning and the last thing I think of when I fall asleep at night. You are the only person I will ever want or need. You make me feel anxious, safe, hopeless, courageous and all together freaked out every minute of every day. There is no question in my mind whether or not I want to spend the rest of my life with you. And I would like it very much if you, Kensi Marie Blye, would marry me."
He pulled out a ring from the pocket of his pajama pants and showed it to her. It was a simple ring by many people's standards but it was everything she wanted. A thin silver band adorned with a single cushion cut diamond set on it. It was beautiful, elegant and effortless. All Kensi could do was stare at it while her body continued to work through its shock. "Now would be a great time for you to say something." All confidence had left her partner's voice as he carefully waited for a reaction.
"I…" She began then had to stop and try again. "Yes." She finally breathed. She could not help but laugh at Deeks obvious relief at her answer or the tears that suddenly sprung up in the corner of her eye. "Yes Marty Deeks, I want nothing more than to marry you."
It had been Granger that had sent him to the warehouse. He was the one that had found the intel and he was the one that had overstepped his authority by sending Deeks in to follow his lead. If only Granger had kept his business to himself and let Hetty do her job, he would not be in this situation. Or at least that is what Deeks tried to tell himself as he was violently thrown against the concrete floor. His latest undercover assignment had quickly gone sideways. Somebody had to be blamed for the situation he was in and there was no one better than Granger for the position.
"Get on your knees." A finely dressed man demanded as his henchmen pulled Deeks into a sitting position. They had used one of his own zip ties to bind his hands behind his back and so his range of motion was very limited. "Who do you work for?"
"Papa Kelsey's Pizza," Deeks said cheekily, an answer that earned him a fist to the gut.
"I asked who do you work for." Collgen was his interrogator's name, Trey Collgen. He was an ex-marine arms dealer that just recently earned his spot on many different federal agencies' radar when he began to supply a steady stream of artillery to Mexican drug cartels.
"We promise quick delivery or your money back." Deeks continued his method of avoidance. And the two men holding him still continued their own, but this time his jaw bone caught the punch.
Weeks had passed since they had kissed, when they were on the ridge keeping an eye on Michelle and Sam. It had been weeks and neither one of them had ventured enough to mention it to the other. It was like the partners were testing one another, waiting for the other to give into the pressure caused by the really big elephant in the room. Kensi had gone on pretending that she barely remembered the whole event, but in reality it is all she thought about when she saw him. She thought about Deeks rough hands held her head so she had no choice but to look up at him but how gentle his lips were on hers. She thought about how sure of himself he looked, even afterward when she made her frazzled escape, like it was he had been planning it all along. And that was why she would not be the one to bring it up, he was the one who kissed her, he should clear the air. But as in Deeks fashion, he waited to do just that until she was least expecting it.
They had just finished a two-day long stake out surveying a murder suspect that had ended in a unexpected fire fight. Both were exhausted, worn and in need of showers. Deeks offered to walk his partner to her car as they both left the Mission and they filled the obvious void with useless conversation until they reached their designated vehicles. Kensi offered Deeks a hurried farewell before walking to the driver's side of her car.
"Hey Fern," Deeks called out before she could get in.
"Yeah?" She barely had enough time for the response before she found herself blocked between him and the car, his hands on either side of her head as he leaned toward her. He tilted his head so that his lips almost met hers, pausing as if taunting her and in that moment she was so tired of waiting. She filled the distance between them and crushed her lips to his. This time the kiss was not gentle or soft, it was desperate and hungry. Four years of tension and unanswered question ended right there in that moment as Deeks weaved his fingers through her tousled hair and Kensi's hands gripped his t-shirt in a act of desperation that surprised even her. Then as quickly as he had appeared, Deeks pulled away.
"I just wanted to finish what I had started." He muttered.
"Your place or mine?"
It took Deeks several moments to regain his bearings, the punch his captor had delivered had nearly knocked him unconscious. When his vision cleared he saw the cool and calm face of Collgen, waiting patiently for his hostage to recover.
"Just so you know, I've done this a time or two and your methods of extraction are rather weak." Deeks jibbed. "But you do whatever you are comfortable with, take your time."
"I know you are a federal agent." Collgen ignored him. "I would just like to know what agency has decided I would be worth investigating."
"I don't work for any federal agency." Deeks spat.
"Let's not continue the pizza charade, not many delivery men I know carry a Smith and Wesson. So who are you?"
"No one you need to worry about." Deeks continued to try and stall.
"That is exactly what I was thinking," Collgen sighed. "But I like to cover all my bases before being sure. For starters how is your partner, I know you agents are not a creature of solidarity." Deeks' mind wandered back to OSP at the man's words, to where his partner probably was now. Where ever she was, he hoped she was safe.
She was struggling. Pain radiated from every part of her, a constant reminder of just how miserable this day had become. A shot to the torso and one to the leg left several gaping holes in her thin frame. But no matter how bad it got she refused to push the button to the morphine that would inevitably knock her out. She did not feel safe enough to be drugged. Even with an agent on guard outside of her door and at least one member of her team wandering nearby the hospital at any given time, she did not feel secure. She had not had such a luxury in weeks, since her partner had been pulled undercover once again by the LAPD and after today she was not sure she would ever feel protected again. Deeks had been gone for nearly two months and the team had yet to receive a single word about the liaison. That is until today when Hetty got news that the LAPD had lost all contact with Deeks-10 days ago. Kensi had tried not to show anything more than the concern a partner would have for their coworker but she had failed miserably, whatever relationship she and Deeks shared outside of the office had been kept between them. In reality she had been falling apart on the inside since the day Deeks left. She had never trusted the LAPD and their treatment toward the undercover detective, he was seen as an asset that would be useful until he was not. He was disposable to them.
"Kens, are you awake?" Callen had quietly slipped into the room, something he had done every 30 minutes since she had been taken out of surgery. It was dark outside and the only light in the room was a small lamp on a table near her bed.
"Yes." She mumbled, not looking away from the cup of jell-o she had fixated her gaze on, trying to distract herself from the pain.
"There is someone here to visit you. Are you up for it?" Callen asked, his concern for her obvious. Visiting hours had long since ended and Kensi knew the only people who could have gotten past the notoriously strict head nurse at the desk outside would be someone with authority.
"Tell Granger I will give him my report tomorrow." Kensi said.
"Alright, and what should I tell Marty?" Callen asked. It took her a few moments to process his words and when she did she finally tore her eyes away from the green goo to see Marty Deeks enter the room.
"Deeks?" Tears immediately sprang to her eyes when she saw her partner and her vision blurred. She could see enough to notice the dark circles under his eyes and his lengthy, unkempt hair. She watched him age ten years as he rubbed his hands over his face when he saw her, overwhelmed at how she looked.
"Oh Kens." He groaned, quickly reaching her side. "I should have never left, Kensi. I am so sorry." He brushed the hair away from her eyes and leaned forward to place a kiss on her forehead.
"Are you okay?" She asked, finding the strength and coordination to lift a hand to his whiskered face, needing physical touch to ensure that he was in fact in front of her. Deeks gave a small snort at her question. They did not notice their team leader slip back out of the room.
"I am fine, much better than you seem to be." He said. She patted the spot beside her on the bed when he began looking for a chair to sit in. "Are you sure?" He asked, eyeing the number of wires and tubes that came from her. She nodded and he carefully lowered himself next to her. She tried to bite off the small whimper that came with the pain as her body jostled with the adjusting mattress.
"Have you taken the pain killers?" Deeks asked concerned.
"Not since the surgery." She said, laying her head against his shoulder.
"Take the morphine, Kens. It will help you sleep." He said.
"Will you be here when I wake up?" There was a long, painful pause before he responded.
"Probably not," He finally murmured, tracing his fingers along the length of her arm.
"Then I don't want it." She said stubbornly.
"Whatever you say Princess," He whispered as he reached across her and pushed the button for her.
"You are just a fountain of information." Collgen was beginning to lose his cool.
"My coworkers would describe me more of a nuisance." Deeks grunted as he received another sharp punch to the abdomen.
"You have nothing to offer me, therefore you are worthless to me." Collgen slowly pulled out a semi-automatic hand gun from the holster he carried on his hip and turned it around in his hands, as if to examine it very carefully. "And there is only one thing I do with things that are of no use." He straightened his arm to aim the weapon directly at Deeks' forehead. In a moment of stark clarity, Deeks knew that this had been his plan all along. From the very beginning Collgen had every intention of killing his hostage, someone who had seen and knew too much could not be allowed to leave alive.
"What are you going to do with that?" Deeks fought to keep his voice even, impassive.
"I think you can image what I will use this for." Collgen said as he carefully monitored the detective's reaction to this new threat. "But I am not so cold hearted as to just kill you, I like to allow the men that meet this fate one last opportunity to say goodbye to those they are about to leave behind."
"You're sick." Deeks spat, beginning to see the true malice that was in the man.
"I am merciful." He countered. "Bring me our guest's phone, let's see who the last person he ever wants to speak to is." The phone that was confiscated after Deeks was frisked upon capture lay on the floor beside him and a henchman handed it over to Collgen. He took his time locating whatever it was he was looking for in the phone, seemingly unhurried with whatever he had planned.
"Who is Fern?" He finally asked. "You have a number of calls going to and from that one person. An associate perhaps, she sounds like someone I would pay to make acquaintance with." Collgen jibbed. Deeks could not resist the impulse to fight against his restraints to lung toward the man, something that did not go unnoticed. "Hit a nerve did I. Let's call and find out just who this Fern is."
"Leave her out of this." Deeks growled as his carefully built reserve crumbled in an instant. Collgen ignored the demand and pulled a satellite phone from his back pocket, punching in the digits he found on the cell phone. He then turned it on to speaker and let the ring echo through the still warehouse. For the first time Deeks began to feel utter desperation at the situation. He had been almost okay with what was going to happen to him, however it might end, but now Kensi was being pulled into this. He silently prayed that the ring would end with a voicemail, the call going unanswered. But as was his obvious luck of the day, the ringing was interrupted with a female voice.
"Agent Blye." Kensi answered the same way she did all her calls. Deeks' heart jolted at the sound of her voice but he stood fast in remaining silent. "Hello?" A swift backhand across his cheek motivated him to change his mind.
"Kens." He rasped.
"Deeks? Deeks is that you?"
"Hey partner." Deeks kept a careful eye on the gun pointed straight at him while trying to focus on the voice coming from the phone.
"Where are you Deeks? Are you alright?"
"I've had better days." He said.
"What's wrong? Where are you? I swear, if you got yourself tangled up with another bimbo informant and need to be bailed out again…" Kensi was ranting while Deeks tried to intervene.
"I don't have much time Kenz…" He began but his words went unheard.
"…six more weeks without a single word from you-again- and now you call out of the blue…" She continued.
"Kensi listen to me." Deeks tried again, still with no success.
"…and here I am, trying to plan a wedding without the actual groom. Do you know what that makes me?"
"Kensi!" Deeks' voice rose, something that rarely ever happened especially toward his partner.
"What?"
"I don't have much time." He started, unsure where he was going to take it from there.
"Why are you awake?" Kensi demanded as she buried her head under the covers.
"Because it's morning and society, along with Hetty, insists that we must wake up in the morning." Deeks chided. He climbed over to her side of the bed, easily maneuvering his legs to either side of her so that he was straddling her hips.
"Screw society." Her voice was muffled by the duvet.
"Anarchy, there is no better way to start the morning." He said. "Get up."
"No." She said stubbornly, then threw the covers back from her face. "Do I smell bacon?" She questioned him.
"I don't know. Do you?"
"Why do I smell bacon?"
"Because I cooked bacon and a few things to go along with it."
"Strawberry waffles?" She said excitedly, suddenly seeing a viable reason to get out of bed.
"Maybe," Deeks taunted, steeling another kiss.
"How long have you been awake?" Kensi asked dubiously.
"Longer than you."
"Obviously," She snuck a kiss for herself then pushed the duvet off of her and clambered out of bed. "I'll brush my teeth really fast and meet you out there."
"Hurry before I feed it all to Monty." He chided.
"You wouldn't dare." She hollered through a closed bathroom door.
"That's what you think."
"Tell me what is wrong Deeks. Whatever it is, we can fix it." She said.
"Not this time Fern." Deeks could not keep the sorrow out of his voice. Looking up at Collgen and the emotionless gaze he wore, he knew that this was very likely the last thing he would do on this earth. "I don't think I am going to come back from this one." Deeks had to shut his eyes against the words as he said them.
"What does that mean?" Kensi asked, alarmed. "This isn't funny Marty." He could hear Callen's voice in the background, asking Kensi what was happening.
"Listen to me." Deeks said. "I need you to not do anything rash or stupid and especially do not do anything on your own. Do not go ninja assassin on me Blye. Tell me you'll do that for me."
"What-"
"Promise."
"But-"
"Please promise me." Deeks hated that it came out as a plea. "Just promise."
"I've got moves you have never seen." Deeks boasted as they argued the best way to go undercover on their latest case. Somehow the cover as professional dancers had come up as a suggestion.
"I highly doubt that." Kensi scoffed and just as she turned to place a file on her desk, she was spun back around by her partner as he pulled her close against him. One hand held up hers while the other sat low at on her waist, he guided her in small circles between the desks, spinning them around and around in surprisingly poised steps. Just as she recovered from the shock, Deeks abruptly stopped and forced her into a graceful spin. He quickly pulled her back against him only to lean forward deeply, causing her to arch her back. Kensi felt her heart thump against her chest as she fought to maintain an even breath. Deeks cautiously looked from one side to the next before pressing his lips to hers in a gentle kiss.
"Sneaky." She murmured against his lips.
"I prefer stealthy."
"I promise." Kensi finally surrendered. Deeks knew he had no right to demand that of her but it was the only way he was going to be able to continue saying what he needed to say.
"I want you to know how much I care for you Kensi Blye and that you mean everything to me. I am sorry I spent so much time without you. I don't know what I was waiting for; you were right in front of me the entire time." He took a deep breath before continuing, straining to keep his voice even.
"Time is running out." Collgen growled.
They were standing next to the lockers in the Mission, holding off the moment when he would have to leave. Sam and Callen were at their desks trying to look busy but failing miserably. And the detectives and captain from the LAPD were standing nearby, impatiently waiting for the liaison to join them so that they could leave.
"Come back as soon as you can." Kensi whispered and she longed to grasp his hand, just in any way touch him. "No cowboy heroics."
"Yes ma'am." Deeks kept at straight face.
"I'm serious Marty Deeks."
"I know." He said. "One last case and then it is just you and me and the NCIS." He reminded her of his impending initiation as an official agent.
"'Can't wait." She offered him a small smile at the reminder.
"I'll see you soon." He surprised her by quickly leaning forward and planting a soft kiss on her cheek. "But not soon enough."
"What is going on Deeks?" Kensi's voice broke.
"I got into a bit of trouble and I'm not going to be able to get out of it."
"Where are you? Just tell me where you are." She pleaded. "Sam and Callen are leaving right now. They will come and get you right now if you just tell me where you are."
"Tell them thank you for all they have done, seriously. I would not have made it so far without them having my back." Deeks said, ignoring the majority of her appeal. "And tell Hetty she did everything right, and this was in no way her fault."
"Deeks-"
The storm clouds had finally cleared just in time to reveal the final remaining rays of sun before it dipped beneath the horizon for the night, offering a spectacular sunset. They sat in the wet sand while Deeks threw a worn tennis ball toward the ocean so that Monty could chase after it. Kensi sat next to him, hugging his free arm and burying her cold face into his shoulder for warmth against the coastal chill. While he waited for the dog to return with the ball, he turned his full attention to her, his intense gaze making her a bit uneasy.
"What is it?" She asked, suddenly self-conscious. There was a moment of silence while he continued to stare at her.
"Nothing," He finally said, a smile playing on his lips. "I've just never felt happier than I am right now." And he placed a quick kiss on the tip of her red nose.
"I love you so much." He said, no longer able to keep a tear from falling down his cheek.
"I love you too." Kensi sobbed.
"I'll see you soon." He said.
"But not soon enough." She was able to answer. A gun shot went off and Deeks fell to the ground.