Hey guys! This is the first part of the Deeks fan fiction I told you about. Hope you like what I have so far. It's actually a prequel to a story my friend is writing...a certain character from another investigative show will appear in the next chapter. Any guesses? :) Please comment and tell me what you think, suggestions. And favorite! :)

People come and go in our lives every single day; some we see again, others we never come into contact with all our lives. However, there are people who make an entrance and turn out to be some of the most important in our lives.

"Li! Can you help me with this thing?"

I rolled my eyes; a twenty-six year old man and he still did not know how to use a cash register. Sighing, I stood and made my way to the front desk, coming up behind the tall, shaggy-haired blonde. He was frantically pressing buttons, his face set into a frustrated look. "Marty…first you need to stop pushing buttons." He did as I said, lowering his arms to his sides and stepping away from the register. "Thank you," I said, taking a look at the damage he'd done.

"I was practicing just like you told me and then it froze up on me. This thing is a piece of junk." His voice was high, something it normally did when he was in denial or accusing me; over the past month Marty had been working with me, I'd come to find it annoying. Sure, he was extremely attractive with his shaggy, surfer-style blonde hair and blue eyes. But, he was too stuck on himself for me to be interested in a romantic way.

I shook my head. "I think it may be the user."

From the corner of my eye, I saw him smirk, seemingly enjoying the fact that I was annoyed with him. "Maybe you should fix both of them, then." He chuckled when I glared at him. "How do I fix it?"

I dug into my pocket, taking out a ring of keys. "First, you take this key labeled 'R-E-G'." I found the key and waved it in his face. "Then, you put the key into the register, turn it once to the left, then back to the right." I quickly demonstrated, looking up at him and raising an eyebrow.

"Oh…well, I don't have that nifty key ring, thank you," Marty said defiantly, crossing his arms over his muscular chest, which showed through the gray v-neck he wore.

I furrowed my brows. "But I saw Mr. Logan give you a set on your second day." At his guilty expression, I scoffed. "How did you get them taken away?" I asked, sitting on the stool beside him.

He smiled, looking down and rubbing the back of his neck. "I didn't get them taken away. I, uh…sorta lost them…in my car."

It was my turn to cross my arms. "You have got to be kidding me. When?" I should've know that he would lose exactly what he was not supposed to lose.

The blonde shrugged. "I dunno, I had them one second and then they were gone." He pursed his full lips, his eyes meeting mine. "You could help me, you know…since you're such an awesome co-worker."

Of course he would use flattery to persuade me to help him. Fortunately for him, I was too nice of a person to ignore someone who needed help…even him. Rolling my eyes once again, I got off of the stool. "Let me put this guitar away and I'll see what I can do."

The two of us continued to work together at the music store for an entire year. That relationship ended when he obtained a job with the LAPD and quit. Formal goodbyes were said, and I was glad to be rid of the annoying surfer who had a crush on himself. Though, on my first day of work without him, a pang of sadness hit my heart; I actually missed the nuisance! Chuckling a bit to myself, I smiled. I would never see that guy again; Los Angeles was huge. Once I convinced myself of that, I went back to focusing on the most important thing in my life at that moment: music.

[Three years later…]

My day was going incredibly well; I'd scored three gigs in three different states and had aced a test in my music history class. I felt like I was on top of the world…until I walked into my apartment.

Blood…blood stains all over the linoleum floor. Suppressing the urge to scream with my first, I dropped my bag to the floor with a THUD! and carefully dodged the huge trail of blood as I followed it into the living room. The scream escaped from my lips when I saw my roommate lying in a pool of red. Ashley's golden locks fanned out perfectly around her head, but there was a pained expression on her face. She was wearing a red sports bra, so several bloody slash marks were visible across her abdomen. But most of the blood trickled from the deep gash in her throat.

Suddenly, I got the eerie feeling that someone was watching me. Turning around a complete 360 degrees, I ran for my bag and grabbed my phone, fumbling to type in 9-1-1 to the keypad. Tears of fear and sadness flooded down my face as the line rang.

"9-1-1, please state your emergency," a woman's voice stated calmly.

I took a deep breath. "I just walked into my apartment and found my roommate dead in the living room. There's blood everywhere…I-" I rambled, hysterical.

"Ma'am, please tell me your location and the police will be there as soon as possible."

I instinctively spouted off the address, looking around me suspiciously. After hanging up, a creepy feeling came over me again. Someone had obviously murdered Ashley…what if they were still there? Grabbing a nearby umbrella, I stuck the pointed end out, terrified. Thankfully, there was no movement of any kind, and the authorities arrived soon after. Once I explained everything to them, I asked where I was supposed to stay while they finished getting evidence and cleaning.

"Looks like you're stuck with me, Li," a voice said behind me. No…it couldn't be. When I spun around, I came face-to-face with blonde hair, blue eyes, and a familiar smirk on pouty, full lips.

I exhaled sharply, placing a hand on my forehead. "You have GOT to be kidding me."

"Surprise," Marty said, spreading out his arms. He still looked the same; in truth, he'd gotten better-looking with age. Especially since he had a bit of a beard. When I looked back up at him, he winked. "Long time no see."

I shook my head. "What are you doing here, Marty?" I asked, looking down at my feet.

"I work with the LAPD…remember? About a year ago, I became a liaison between them and NCIS." He paused, making me glance up at him. His eyes met mine, and my stomach did a little flip…what?

"So why are you here?" I questioned, raising an eyebrow.

Marty smirked. "Well…I've been assigned as your bodyguard."

I felt my eyes nearly pop out of my head. "What? Why?!" I exclaimed, surprised and a bit offended.

He sat down on the ledge of the steps, laughing softly. "Your roommate was just murdered, and the killer is still out there." Marty cast his eyes down, suddenly serious. "I don't wanna see you get hurt, Liora." He looked up, his stare intense. "You're coming with me, no question."

I was baffled by his seriousness; I'd never seen him that way before. "Um, okay." I walked inside and went up to my room to start packing. As I folded pairs of clothes and placed them in a cute bag I had recently purchased, my mind focused on Marty and how he'd acted. He'd never shown any type of real feelings for me in the year we'd worked together…I remember some of the women that he'd dated; they were all pretty gorgeous, and blonde. So there was no possibility that he would be interested in me in the slightest.

"Hey, you need any help?" Speaking of the devil…

I turned around, giving him a shy smile. "Sure, thanks." I handed him the bag and shouldered my purse. Grabbing my pillow, blanket, and toiletries pouch, I followed Marty out to my car; I stopped when he kept on walking to his car. "Marty?"

He turned around. "I think you should just ride with me…save your gas."

I sighed, stomping behind him. "I hope you like driving to my college." I placed my stuff in the backseat, then opened the passenger side and sat down. I watched as Marty did the same, his muscles flexing with every move he made. When we started the drive to wherever it was he lived, it was silent; I had no idea what to say.

"So, what have you been up to the past three years?" Marty asked, glancing over at me and then focusing on the road. We were headed into downtown LA, so the traffic was crazy.

I sighed, thinking back on those past years. "Well, I stopped working at the music store about two and a half years ago; then I started performing around LA as a job. That plus college keeps me pretty busy."

He made a noise of surprise. "You're still in school? I figured you'd be done with that already, smarty-pants." His tone was teasing; when we worked together, I always stressed over tests. He made fun of me and my desire for straight A's all the time.

I snorted. "Oh, please. Getting a masters in music takes time. Even an intelligent person like me has a challenge."

"Hey now. Don't get the big head, missy," Marty scolded, raising an eyebrow.

I chuckled and shook my head. "This coming from the king of big heads."

Marty laughed, his blue eyes happy. "Ah, I've missed this."

"Really?" I asked, furrowing my brows.

The blonde nodded. "Honestly yeah."

Before I could respond, he put the car in park. I looked out my window to see that we were in front of a really nice apartment, way nicer than mine. As I stepped out, I nodded. "This is nice, Marty."

"Thanks."

I turned to look at him only to see that he was balancing all of my bags in his arms, my pillow and blanket draped over his shoulder. "Oh, I'm so sorry; let me help you." I made a motion to take some of the load from him, but he shook his head.

"Nah, I got this. Just open doors for me and I'll be good." He headed for the entrance to the apartment complex, and I hurried to open the door. A few minutes and an elevator later, we stood in front of Marty's apartment.

I folded my arms over my chest, my eyebrow raising automatically. "Where are your keys?" I asked.

Marty sighed. "My back pocket."

"How will we get inside, then?" I stared at him in question.

He half-smiled, a mischievous glint in his eyes. "You can get them."

I shook my head, my face automatically turning red. "Oh no; my hand is not touching your butt."

Marty laughed. "Well I can't get them, Li." He winked. "Come on."

Narrowing my eyes, I looked down where his back pockets were, spotting the one that had the outline of keys in it. Reaching my hand into the pocket, I quickly took out the ring of numerous keys. "Which one is it?" I questioned, trying not to blush further.

"The one with the blue stripe across the top."

I quickly found the correct one and shoved it into the keyhole, turning it to the left and then twisting the knob to open the door. I walked in first, taking in how vast the space was. There was one big wall, but the rest of the room was made up of windows. Stairs led up to a loft type thing, presumably where he lived. The whole apartment was clean, spotless, to my immense surprise. "Wow."

Marty put my things on the couch, then came to stand by me. "It doesn't look like this normally. I just recently had it cleaned."

I nodded. "So where's my room?"

He motioned for me to follow him, grabbing a few of my things. I brought the remaining items, walking behind Marty down a narrow hallway and into a room on the left side. He placed my bags on the queen size bed. "Is this all right?" he asked.

I smiled, looking around the bedroom. "Yeah, this is nice. Thank you, Marty." The room was larger than my bedroom back at my apartment. The walls were painted a light gray, the doors a darker version of the same color. "What time is it?" I inquired.

He pulled his phone out of his pocket. "Two. Have you eaten lunch yet?"

I shook my head. "Nope. I kinda got sidetracked by my dead roommate."

Marty frowned slightly. "I'm sorry, Li. You can choose where we go, my treat."

I smiled. "Thank you."