Content Warnings: drug/poison mentions and useage
Notes: Emergency Fic written for sociallyawkwardfangirl on Tumblr, for the 2k16 NCIS:LA fic exchange.
"Explain to me, one more time, why exactly you are so desperate to buy this much Ricin?"
Kensi Blye grit her teeth and clenched her fist. She'd dealt with annoying people at the checkout before, but this was a whole new level. This was the fifth time the extremely handsome and annoying young man at the checkout had asked her that.
"I told you," she growled. "I'm not buying Ricin. I'm buying castor beans. To make castor oil. To use on my cars and motorbikes."
"Sure you are." The young man smiled at her, tilting his head so that his blond curls fell perfectly over his face, covering his gorgeous blue eyes.
Kensi scolded herself for becoming distracted.
The mission was simple: go in, buy the castor beans, get out, extract the Ricin, kill the target. Simple.
Except it wasn't so simple when a stunning young man was grilling you about your reasons for purchase. Kensi wished she could extract the Ricin right then and there and kill this man so he'd stop bothering her. Although, that probably wouldn't look good on all the CCTV cameras.
The man leaned in closer. Kensi instinctively stepped back.
"So, who you tryna kill?" His tone was low; a dangerous sort of playful, and his eyes shone with laughter. He found this funny, Kensi realised.
"You, if you're not careful." The warning was out of her mouth before she could stop it, and she cursed herself for not instantly denying her plans for murder. Although, when she thought about it, a lot of annoyed young women might say that to an annoying man at the checkout, so she let it slide.
"Wouldn't that be fun?" He grinned at her, his tone still low. He teasingly fiddled with the label on the side of the plant pot. Kensi whacked his hand. He withdrew immediately, pouting.
"Will you just let me pay?" she snapped and he straightened up, instantly slipping back into his role as professional, but he had a small smile on his face.
"Yes, ma'am!" He winked at her as he gave her a dramatic excuse. Kensi rolled her eyes and tried not to groan loudly. The transaction was made in less than two minutes.
She snatched her bags off the counter and stormed out of the shop, glad that she'd never have to see him again.
It only took her fifteen minutes to get back to her place. She immediately set to work, extracting the Ricin, and tried not to think about the man at the counter.
It wasn't his annoyingness that had infuriated her the most. It wasn't his shaggy hair, or his beautiful blue eyes, or the way he shamelessly flirted with her. No, it was the fact that she had actually enjoyed it, had found it endearing. The two words caused her to shudder.
Kensi Blye did not do flings with checkout dudes. Especially not in the middle of a mission.
She shook her head, as if to clear her mind of that man behind the checkout. She didn't even know his name! She should at least know his name before she slept with him. Not that she was going to.
Just as she finished extracting the last of the Ricin when her burner phone rang.
"Blye."
"Target LAPD officer Martin A Deeks. Cicada Restaurant on Olive Street. Reservation: 7:30 pm. Cover: waitress. O'Riley will be waiting with further instructions."
The phone clicked and Kensi hung up and smiled to herself. Hearing that series of information always brought her a certain amount of comfort; helped her feel calm. But, this time it felt a bit different. There was a small feeling in her gut that something about this mission just wasn't right.
Kensi shrugged it off as the shrimp she ate for lunch.
Kensi Blye arrived at the restaurant at 7:25pm. She was always early to missions; it gave her time to scout the place, see the best course to take to deliver the poison. She peered out and over at the empty table that this "Deeks" fellow was supposed to be sitting at. It was right in the centre of the room, so if she walked past it on her way back to the kitchen, it'd give her at least a little bit of a head start.
She pulled her head back in and pretended to be busy. It was preferable if no one thought she was actually available to do something that would put her behind schedule. 7:30 ticked around and she made eye contact with her partner O'Riley. He was supposed to take the order, she was supposed to deliver. That's how this thing worked.
So, she waited. O'Riley came back in a minute later and offered her a small smile, while the chef prepared the food. She watched her partner head out the back to sit in the car and wait for her so they could take off the moment Deeks' food was delivered.
The food was ready a short time later and Kensi stepped in before any other waitress could claim it. She picked it up and stealthily tipped the Ricin onto the food. She turned around to deliver the food to Deeks, but stopped in her tracks when she saw who was sitting at Deeks' table, looking directly at her.
He was young. He had blond hair. He had blue eyes. He had a smug smirk on his face. He was the man at the checkout from earlier that day.
Kensi tensed once again, and her pupils dilated as the world around her seemed to come to a standstill. Only one thought ran through her mind.
Oh fuck.