A few lines of dialogue popped into my head, begging to be written, and it turned into this. Absolute, 100% pure Densi fluff. Enjoy!

'You do know that if we go west on Upper East Side, the route's much shorter?' Deeks asked his partner as she directed the car in the opposite direction to where he was suggesting.

'Yeah, but there are traffic lights all along there. No, we're going this way.'

'We're going the wrong way,' Deeks pointed out.

'No we're not. Deeks, I've lived in this city for twelve years now. I think I know my way around.'

'I've lived in this city thirty-one years. I think I know it better than you.'

'Is this going to turn into one of those guy/girl things where Deeks insists we stop and ask for directions?' Callen questioned, leaning forwards from his perch in the back seat and sticking his head between the two.

Deeks frowned at him. 'Isn't it usually the girl who does that?'

'Well, I figure that Kensi is the one that wears the pants in this relationship.'

'Partnership,' both Kensi and Deeks corrected him immediately.

'I'm not sure that you can count skin-tight jeans that look like they're painted on,' Callen continued, leering obviously at Kensi's legs.

'We're both wearing pants,' Deeks pointed out, turning Callen's attention away from Kensi's legs, glaring at him slightly.

'Why are you glaring at me?' Callen asked.

'I'm just doing what Kensi would if she wasn't driving.'

'Well, Deeks, I'd be worried if you weren't wearing pants,' Callen said.

Kensi snorted softly.

Callen looked at the pair. One had gone suspiciously pink all over his neck and face, while the other was studiously making sure her eyes stayed on the road.

'Okay, I feel like I'm missing something,' Callen said, a perplexed look crossing his face.

Deeks grinned. 'Not for the first time, either.'

Both he and Kensi laughed, though whether at his statement or their own inside joke, it was hard for Callen to tell.

'We really should take him to Venice Hospital,' Deeks pointed out, returning to the matter at hand. 'It's closer, and when you've been knocked out you need all the help you can get as quick as you can get it.'

'Yeah, but you also want the best help you can get,' Kensi pointed out. 'Pacific Medical has a reputation for being the best when treating head injuries.'

'I don't care where we go, we just need to get Sam some help,' Callen said sternly, propping his unconscious partner back up in his seat.

'Pacific Medical it is,' Kensi said, and slammed her foot down on the accelerator.

Callen cursed loudly, bracing himself again the back of Deeks' seat. 'Could we get there in one piece, please?'

'We'll get there,' Kensi said, swerving around a corner at dangerous speeds, throwing the occupants of the car (except herself and Deeks, who was used to her driving and had braced himself against the dashboard long ago) to the side.

'Slow down, Kens,' Deeks said, glancing in the rear-view mirror and seeing how Sam had been thrown against Callen, who was now squished up against the window. 'We don't want them to have two head injuries to treat.'

'If you don't shut up, it'll be three,' Kensi threatened, swerving quickly the other way so that Sam and Callen slid back into their previous positions.

'Maybe you should buckle him in,' Deeks suggested helpfully to Callen.

'At the speed she's going, there's not point,' Callen replied. 'By the time I finished, we'd already be there and I'd need to unbuckle him.'

Kensi got the message they'd been trying to subtly express through their somewhat veiled comments and slowed down so that she was only just over the speed limit.

'What the hell happened, anyway?' Kensi asked, checking the men's reflections in her rear-view mirror. 'You guys look like hell. And you're bleeding all over my upholstery, Callen.'

Callen reached up with one hand and wiped away some of the blood that was trickling down his head from a nasty cut near his hairline.

'Damn it,' he muttered. 'Someone rigged the Mercedes to blow.'

'Oh, God,' Kensi murmured. 'No wonder you're bleeding and Sam's unconscious.'

'Thank God for keyless locking,' Callen grinned at them. 'I unlocked the car from halfway across the street and the next thing I knew, I'd been blown head over ass, and Sam was lying on his back as if he was asleep.'

'He is asleep,' Deeks pointed out. 'It just wasn't of his choosing.'

'Why didn't you call an ambulance?' Kensi asked.

'Because I knew that you were close by and that you'd be able to get us here faster than an ambulance, even if you do get some speeding tickets.'

'Yeah, but Hetty won't send me to traffic school because I'm actually trying to save a life here,' Kensi pointed out, sending a pointed glance towards Callen in the rear-view mirror.

'What am I missing here?' Deeks asked with a light laugh.

'Oh, nothing,' Callen said breezily.

'It was not nothing,' Kensi said, her voice shaking with laughter. 'Callen had a little trouble with speeding, so Hetty ended up enrolling him in traffic school.'

'Just tell me that you didn't get stuck with the guy that makes you roll play and raps,' Deeks said, turning around and looking at Callen.

'Uh…'

Deeks laughed. 'Oh my God, you did?'

'But it wasn't all bad, was it, Callen?' Kensi asked.

'Uh…'

'What?' Deeks asked. 'Come on, Kens. Tell me.'

Kensi chuckled. 'He ended up meeting a model in the class, and she asked him out.'

'Dude. I have new found respect for you.'

'Yeah, well, you're about to lose it,' Kensi said. 'Callen couldn't go out with her because he had to come and help with the case.'

'Oh!' Deeks groaned. 'Are you kidding me?'

'That was my reaction too,' Callen assured him. 'And she was a bikini model. And she invited me on a shoot.'

'Ouch, dude. I… I feel for you. I went undercover as a photographer once, you know?' He stared off into the distance, caught up in what must be very pleasant memories.

'Yeah, well, pull yourself back to the present, Deeks, 'cause we're here.' Kensi pulled the car up into the ambulance bay. 'You wanna help Callen with Sam? The guy's all muscle.'

'You could help too,' Deeks pointed out, getting out of the car.

'Or I could go get some help.'

'Or you could go get some help. Yeah, I like your idea.'

'Yeah.' Kensi ran off into the hospital.

'Geez,' Deeks grunted. 'She wasn't kidding. The guy really is all muscle.'

'It'd be good if he developed some around his head,' Callen groaned, lifting his partner's shoulders out of the car. 'Then, maybe he wouldn't get knocked out.'

'This is why you shouldn't cut your hair so short, Callen,' Deeks admonished the older man. He patted his head with one hand. 'Padding.'

'Guys.' Kensi ran back out, accompanied by two men and three women, two of which were pushing a gurney.

'What happened?' One of the men detangled his stethoscope from his neck and waited as the other man, Callen and Deeks hauled Sam onto the bed before checking Sam's heartbeat and breathing.

'My car exploded,' Callen explained quickly as they rushed Sam into the hospital. 'We were both hit, but he was closer, and the explosion must have knocked him down. He hit his head, and he's been unconscious ever since.'

'How long ago was this?' the doctor asked, peeling back Sam's eyelids and shining a light into his pupils.

'Um…' Callen checked his watch. 'Fifteen minutes ago.'

'You say your car exploded?' the male nurse asked. 'Have you notified the authorities?'

'We are the authorities, bud,' Deeks said, lifting his shirt to display his badge and, to Kensi's delight/dismay, a large portion of his toned stomach.

'He didn't wake up at all?' the doctor asked Callen.

Callen shook his head. 'Not at all.'

The doctor sighed and turned to one of the female nurses, who eventually forced her attention away from Deeks. 'He needs a CT scan.'

'Right away, doctor.' She hurried off after a final longing look at Deeks.

'Were you in the explosion?' one nurse asked Deeks. Her tone was sickly sweet and overly honeyed.

'Oh, no,' Deeks assured her. 'My partner and I were close by, and my friend over there thought that she would be able to get us here faster than an ambulance.'

'And I was right, wasn't I?' Callen asked. 'Fifteen minutes in this traffic. Well done, Kens.'

Kensi shrugged and tried to appear unbothered as a nurse gave Deeks her number before hurrying off to join the other nurse in prepping the CT scan.

'Mr… uh…' The final female nurse looked at Callen.

'Oh, Callen.'

'Mr Callen, could you please come with me? You need to be checked out as well, and you've got a nasty cut above your eye that I'd like to treat.'

'Oh. I'd forgotten about that.'

'You must have been very worried about your… friend?'

'He's my partner.'

'Oh.' The nurse's "oh" was very… understanding.

Deeks almost wet himself trying not to laugh out loud as Callen hurriedly tried to convince the nurse that he and Sam were not lovers and only work partners, and that he was indeed, extremely straight.

He turned to see that Kensi wasn't as amused by Callen's predicament as he had been – in fact; she was yet to crack a smile.

'What?' he asked, noticing that she was staring at him in a peculiar way.

'You and your nurses, huh.'

Deeks looked down and realised that he was still holding the nurse's phone number.

'Oh. That.' He balled the piece of paper up and threw it into the bin with a lob that would've made Callen jealous, had he been there to witness it. 'It's nothing, Kens.'

'Uh huh. And what about all the other nurses' numbers?' Kensi questioned curiously.

'Kensi, I think you'd be interested to know that I've never actually dated a nurse. I've dated a doctor, a paramedic, a traffic cop, a detective, a mud wrestler, a burlesque dancer-'

'Wasn't she a mud wrestler and a burlesque dancer?'

Deeks studiously ignored her interruption. 'A milliner, a baker, this girl who worked at the surf shop for a little while-'

'Are you going to go through the entire list of women you've dated in your entire lifetime?' Kensi asked.

He sighed and ran a hand through his unruly blonde hair. 'I'm just trying to prove to you that I've never dated a nurse. In fact, the closest I've ever come was playing "Doctors and Nurses" when I was nine.'

'So what is it with you and them, then?'

'Well, you never know when one of them might end up looking after you. It pays to be nice to these sorts of people in case you run into them again and need them to help you.'

'You don't flirt with other cops.'

'You just haven't seen me interact with female cops.'

'You don't flirt with doctors.'

'That's because all the doctors I've had or have seen with you have been male, for some strange reason, and all they want to do is leer at you which, I might want to add, I take quite nicely.'

'Nicely? Why wouldn't you?'

'The exact same reason you don't like it when I flirt with nurses.'

'And why is that?'

'Why don't you tell me, seeing as you brought the topic up?'

'You know, I'm starting to regret it, actually.'

'Oh, you "regret" it, do you?'

'Yeah, I regret it.'

'Oh.'

'Oh?'

'Oh.'

'Oh.'

There was a moment of awkward silence before Kensi muttered, 'I think I'm gonna go check on Sam.'

'Uh, yeah… Callen might need a hand.'

'Yeah.'

'Yup.'

Without another word, they strode off in opposite directions.

…

'Hi, Deeks.' Callen looked surprised to see Deeks patiently standing in the doorway of his little curtained-off cubicle.

Deeks tugged uncomfortably on the sleeve of his jacket. 'How are you?'

'Mr Callen here will be a bit stiff for the next few days, but there won't be any lasting damage.' The female nurse turned to see who Callen's visitor was, and her jaw dropped. 'Hi.'

'Hey.' Deeks ignored her and perched himself on the edge of Callen's cot. 'So, how many stitches did that bad boy take?' He motioned to the cut on Callen's forehead. 'The most I've ever had was eight.'

'Ouch.' Callen winced at the thought. 'Only three, thank God.'

'Hey.' The nurse tried again, sending a beguiling smile Deeks' way.

Callen smiled after realising that the nurse was trying really hard to get Deeks' attention, and Deeks was utterly and completely ignoring her. 'Where's Kens?'

'Checking on Sam.'

'Why isn't she with you? I'd expected a visit with the two of you bickering over some senseless point and asking me to adjudicate.'

'Oh, no, we had the fight before I got here. That's why she's not here.'

'Oh, well, if it's true love, you'll make it through,' Callen said lightly.

The nurse got the message that Callen was trying, ever so subtly (not) to send, and hurried off to check whether the CT suite was free yet so that they could check that Callen hadn't a concussion or some other brain issue.

Deeks' eyes widened and looked utterly horrified at the statement that Callen had just uttered, and Callen thought that it was just as well that he was in a hospital, because he might just bust a gut through trying not to laugh at the poor man.

'What? Who said anything about love?' Deeks looked completely nonplussed as he jumped to his feet.

Callen chuckled. 'Well, I thought you may as well be in love with her, seeing as you didn't see that totally hot nurse just checking you out.'

'Oh, I knew that she was checking me out.'

'Sure you did, Deeks.'

'No, really. I ignored her because I'm trying to prove a point to Kensi.'

'And what's that?'

'She thinks that I have a thing for nurses.'

'I think that you have a thing for her.'

Callen watched in amusement as Deeks seemed to choke on air. 'What?' he finally managed to gasp out.

'I think you have a thing for Kensi.'

'There is no thing,' Deeks protested. 'Why doesn't anyone believe me?'

'Because there is a thing. You just don't want to admit it.'

'Fine, I'll admit it; there's a thing. But it's not what you think.'

'What do I think, Deeks?'

'You think that it's a romantic "thing", that I'm in "love" with her.'

Callen shrugged. 'You said it, not me.'

'Callen-'

'Deeks; just shut up and listen to me for a minute, yeah?'

Deeks pouted slightly and sat back on Callen's bed.

'You're in love with Kensi. A blind man could see it. Hell, Sam could see it and he's unconscious. In fact, about half of OSP has a bet on when you two are finally going to get your act together and admit it.'

'You're not just doing this now to win the bet, are you?' Deeks asked, narrowing his eyes at the devious older agent.

'Hell, no. I lost the bet last year. I'm hopeless at this whole "soul-searching" crap. I just want you two to get together for two reasons.'

Deeks dipped his head. 'Okay… Proceed…'

'One. I'm pretty sure that the entire goddamn world is sick of watching you two dance around each other like some sort of sadistic ballet.'

'Surely not the whole world,' Deeks denied.

'A good percentage of it, then.'

Deeks scowled. 'And two?'

'Deeks, you know that the, uh, life-expectancy for our career path isn't exactly, uh, old age?'

Deeks raised an eyebrow, clearly unimpressed. 'What do you think, genius?'

'Well, what I'm saying is that life is short.'

'Are you about to tell me to eat dessert first?' Deeks squinted at him.

'What?'

'You know; the saying? Life is uncertain, eat dessert first? No? Obviously not.'

'Deeks, what I'm saying is that life is short and especially for us. If you find happiness, you should grab it and hold onto it for all you're worth.'

There was a familiar laugh outside the curtains, and they were tugged aside to reveal a smirking Kensi. 'You sound like Hetty. That's almost exactly what she said to me before she left to try and save you from the Comescus. Hi, Callen.'

'Hey, Kens.' Callen wriggled in the bed, clearly uncomfortable. 'How long have you been there?'

'Not long at all,' Kensi assured him, perching herself perilously on the cot next to Deeks and Callen's feet. 'Why?' she asked, looking at the men suspiciously. 'What have you two been talking about?'

'Nothing,' Callen said quickly, sending a glance towards Deeks that clearly said, "Shut up and if you say anything I will kill you."

'Just chatting about stitches,' Deeks added.

Callen glared at him.

Deeks shrugged at him in a way that clearly said, "Well, that was what we were talking about."

'And how did you end up on the topic of the meaning of life?' Kensi asked dryly.

'You know, I'm wondering the same damn thing,' Deeks said quickly. 'How's Sam?'

The brief smile that had lit up Kensi's face dropped away. 'He's still unconscious. There's brain activity and he woke up briefly, but there's swelling, and the doctors induced a coma.'

Callen put a hand to his mouth. 'Shit,' he murmured quietly.

'They say that there's a good chance that he'll be alright,' Kensi said, trying to be hopeful.

'A coma? When will he wake up?' Deeks asked.

'They, uh… they said that when the swelling goes down, they'll start the gradually bring him back.'

'Brain damage?' Callen asked, his eyes hollow.

'There's a chance.'

Callen uttered another curse.

The nurse stalked back into the room holding a bunch of papers, and shoved them and a pen unceremoniously into Callen's hands before stalking back out, sending Kensi a look of pure poison before exiting the room.

'What the hell was that about?' Kensi asked, clearly confused.

'Loooong story,' Deeks assured her before exchanging a meaningful look with Callen. 'Hey, maybe I'll tell it to you.' He loosely grasped her upper arm. 'Walk with me, will you?'

Kensi glanced, confused, at Callen, who merely stared blankly back, as if he had absolutely no idea what was going through Marty Deeks' head. 'Uh, sure…'

'Be back soon. These are my discharge papers,' Callen called as Deeks marched Kensi out of the room.

'What's up?' Kensi asked, laughing lightly.

'Uh, just something that Callen said to me,' Deeks replied, his hand still around her arm.

'Where are we going?' Kensi queried after a few silent moments.

'No idea,' Deeks said before stopped abruptly in an empty corridor.

'What is going on with you, Deeks?' Kensi asked, looking at him, confused.

'I…' Deeks looked around and was greeted by the familiar sight of the room where he'd stayed after he'd been shot. He ran his hand down her arm and into her palm and tugged her into the thankfully empty room before firmly shutting the door. 'I don't want to die alone.'

'You're not likely to, Deeks, what's going on?' Kensi questioned, thoroughly perplexed by now.

'I don't want to leave this earth knowing that I could've had something special and meaningful but didn't grab it with both hands and run for it.'

'Deeks, I don't know what you're talking about.'

Deeks groaned softly and looked down, slightly surprised to see that he was still holding her hand. 'I, uh…' He brought her hand up and softly brushed his lips against it. 'I'm not good at this.'

'Well, tell me what "this" is and I might be able to help.'

'Our thing.'

Kensi gaped at him, astonished. 'You want to discuss our thing now?'

'Yeah, I do.'

'It's not really the best time, Deeks.'

'It's never the best time, Kensi, and it never will be. Okay? So let's just sit down and we'll bloody well make it the best time to discuss it.'

'Deeks, what the hell is going on with you?'

'Oh, Kensi, Kensi, Kensi… Don't you know?' he asked softly, looking at their entwined hands once again.

'Know what?'

'That our thing… well… it's a thing.' And with that, he leaned close and brushed his lips lightly against hers.

She pulled away first, and when he opened his eyes, he was incredulous to find that her cheeks were pink, and she was indeed blushing.

She was the first to speak. 'So, we have a thing now?'

'Yes.'

'Why now?'

'Sam's unconscious and could have brain damage. We almost lost Hetty a few months ago. Callen could've been hurt a lot worse than what he was.'

'I don't… I don't see your point.'

'I'm not about to let you slip away without a fight.' And with that, he kissed her again.

Kensi gazed at him, amazed. 'You're serious.'

'I'm serious,' he agreed. He looked down at their joined hands and interlocked fingers and murmured, almost shyly, 'Did you know that if you interweave the pages of two books together like this, you can't get them apart?'

'You've tried?' Kensi asked with a knowing smile.

'You know I have.'

She smiled at him and said, 'Well, then, there's a pretty good chance that you and I won't separate without putting up a fight.'

'We don't do anything without a fight.'

'That's because we both wear the pants in this relationship,' she reminded him. She laughed softly. 'I still can't forget the time I walked in on you in the showers and you were only wearing a towel.'

'Well, if I do recall, the towel didn't really do much to, uh, disguise my basic male urges.'

'It almost had me jumping you, though.'

Deeks laughed softly. 'I might as well try that look again tonight… what do you say?'

She gave him a bewitching smile. 'It's a date.'

The End

…

Okay, I don't know how it turned into this; purple plot hippo Barry must have slipped something into my tea. I knew that it tasted funny. Oh, well, you know the deal; you review and I'll be inspired to write more. Also, I'm currently on holidays here in Australia and I've got five weeks in which I can spend the entire time writing. So, if you've got any ideas at all, especially Densi ones, please leave them in a review or PM me.

Happy New Year

XD PurpleHipposRock