A/N: Hello, "Retreat" readers! Remember me? First off, I know I promised you all a full sequel, but I'm taking lots of honors classes plus show choir, so I don't have time to write out the entire thing. I'm really sorry. HOWEVER, I do have this little follow-up piece that I hope you enjoy. Love you guys!
Kensi Blye won't be a Blye for much longer.
She'll be Mrs. Kensi Deeks.
Hard to believe it.
Over the past several months of planning and working cases with her soon to be husband, she's thought about pretty much every single insignificant detail possible. She's discussed the legal side of it with Hetty, let Deeks decide whether to name Sam or Callen best man (he went with Eric, which made the technician beyond happy), and even found a way to include Monty in the ceremony.
She realizes that she hasn't yet considered whether she will go by Agent Deeks or not.
"I'm Agent Deeks and this is my partner, Detective Deeks."
Wrapping her head around the fact that she's actually getting married hasn't been the smoothest process for her, emotionally and physically. Wedding planning turned out to be far more stressful than she thought, and Deeks hadn't exactly been much help. When he wasn't grinning like a lovesick idiot, he was only concerned about the cake or their honeymoon in Hawaii or something she wasn't in the mood to deal with . . .
But he could still have his moments. She did agree to marry him for a reason after all, and his perfectionism had proven to be helpful whenever dealing with the florist or the baker or even their eccentric wedding planner, Pierre. He was such a perfectionist that he managed to find the people she truly wanted at the wedding.
"You look stunning," comes a voice from behind her. Kensi turns and sees Nell, her Maid of Honor, standing at the doorway in a short pale blue strapless gown. "Can I come in?"
"Sure," Kensi says, fingers tapping nervously on her dress. "Almost time?"
"Yes. Everyone's seated." Nell gives her a probing look. "You ready?"
"No, she's not." Kensi smiles and holds her arms out as her mother enters the small tent with a proud smile. Her mother pulls her into a tight hug, her eyes suspiciously moist. Kensi pulls away first, at risk of tearing up herself.
"Don't mess up your makeup," she says shakily, blinking rapidly to keep any of her own tears at bay.
"Waterproof," Julia says with a wink. "They had a feeling . . ."
"And they were right, it appears," Kensi teases, attempting to clear the air. Nell shifts awkwardly behind them.
"I'll get in my place," she says quietly, retreating out of the tent. Julia moves Kensi back, examining her.
"You look beautiful," she murmurs. Kensi smiles.
"Thank you, Mom."
"Your father would be proud," Julia adds, "Of the woman you've become, of the wife you will be . . ."
"I wish he was here," Kensi admits softly, a tear finally escaping her eyes.
"He is," Julia says, her hand coming up to wipe away Kensi's tear. "And he'll be with you when you pass all of your other milestones as well."
"I know," Kensi whispers, "I just . . ."
"I know." Julia pulls her back for a tight hug. "I love you, baby girl. I'm so happy to be here with you."
"Me too, Mom," Kensi whispers, hugging her mother tightly. She pulls away rather reluctantly with a sheepish smile. "We're going to be late."
"Oh, shush," Julia laughs, "They can't start without you."
"Good point," Kensi says with a chuckle, checking her reflection in the mirror one more time. She loves her dress- a simple strapless gown with light beading. Her veil, flowing from a pearl tiara given to her by Hetty, floats down to her shoulders. "Well, can't keep him waiting, can we?"
"Hey, Ray."
Kensi Blye chuckles at the loud and exuberant sounds that accompany the greeting through her fiance's cell phone.
Fiancé. Wow. Never thought she'd ever refer to anyone as that ever again. And she certainly never thought that "anyone" would be her scruffy surfer of a partner who is currently using her phone for some unknown reason. She arches an eyebrow at Deeks, an expression that tells him she'll get her phone back by any means necessary if he makes this difficult.
"Yeah, I'm using her phone. Mine's dead."
Oh? She arches an eyebrow at him and he winks in response. She still doesn't know if he's lying or telling the truth. She can check when they go back to his place. Or her place. Whichever, it doesn't change what they'll do once they get there . . .
"Yeah, well, you wanted me to update you on my, uh, thing with Wikipedia." That brings a grin to Kensi's face, and a quick kiss to his cheek. She doesn't hear what Ray says in response, but it sounds as exuberant as before.
They're sitting at Deeks' desk- Deeks in his chair and Kensi on the edge of his desk, watching him with an amused expression. It's around a quarter past nine in the morning. Sam and Callen haven't arrived yet, but Kensi wanted to break the good news to them with some privacy, so she'd woken Deeks up early just in case.
"Yeah, man, I'm sorry," Deeks says, his tone remorseful, "Things have been going crazy and frankly, far too slowly to be worthy of an update." Kensi shoves him gently, and he just smirks at her, knowing he has the advantage when it comes to the pace of their relationship. "But I thought you'd like to know that we're, uh, engaged."
The phone bursts with excited exclamations and that draws a laugh from Kensi. She seeks a glance at Deeks, who looks back up at her with a large grin and eyes shining with pure and simple happiness.
"Yeah, I can give you details, but um, I have to go." Deeks points over at the doors, and Kensi sees Callen and Sam entering together, chatting casually. Excitement flares in her chest, and she berates herself for feeling so girly. "You too, man. Tell the kid we say hi. Bye." Deeks tosses her phone back to her.
"Couldn't use your own, huh?" Kensi asks, eyebrows raised. Deeks grins.
"Do you have your charger on you?" he asks, and Kensi rolls her eyes.
"It's in my bag," she admits.
"Excellent!" He gets up and presses a swift kiss to her cheek before walking over to her bag, digging through it shortly before victoriously pulling out the charger and plugging his phone into the nearest outlet.
"And you call yourselves discreet," Callen teases, sitting down at his desk and smirking at Kensi, who moves from her perch on Deeks' desk and goes back to her own as Deeks returns to his.
"We still have five minutes until work starts," Kensi says, "So I think we're good." Deeks snorts.
"We're better than good, honey badger." That earns him a snicker and Kensi holds up her left hand, revealing the simple yet beautiful diamond ring on her finger.
"Touche," she says with a smile. Callen and Sams' eyes go wide. "You know Deeks, they were wrong."
He plays along. "About what?"
"Diamonds aren't a girl's best friend- they're her best weapon." She smirks. "I think I've got them hypnotized."
"Make them do a dance," Deeks suggests with a grin, snapping Sam and Callen out of their brief shock. Callen walks over, smiling at Deeks and shaking his hand.
"Congrats, man," Callen says to Deeks before giving Kensi a quick hug. "I knew you two were endgame." Kensi snorts as Sam punches Deeks in the arm, but can't help but smile.
"Oh? Since when?"
"Since I saw the look in your eye when you investigated Jason Wyler." Deeks arches an eyebrow, intrigued. Kensi's frozen in a mix of shock and horror.
"I never heard about this!" he says gleefully, "Tell me more!" Kensi shoots Sam and Callen a heated warning glare, but they're in too deep to back out now.
But then again, so is she.
Hetty is waiting for her when she exits the small tent that has doubled as her dressing room and steps onto the sand.
A beach wedding had actually been her idea. She had been walking with Deeks on the beach after one of their now routine picnics when she had suggested getting married on that very beach. She hadn't expected it to actually happen, but Hetty performed some kind of miracle and got them the beach to themselves for the wedding and reception.
"You clean up nice, Miss Blye," Hetty says, "Although it appears I won't be calling you by that name for much longer." Kensi bites her bottom lip.
"I'm getting married, Hetty," she whispers.
Hetty nods. "When I partnered you two together, I knew you would work well as partners. You needed a partner, and he needed a home."
"Did you ever think we would end up . . . here?" Kensi asks. "Getting married?"
"I will admit it, I did not have an inkling of this 'something more' until the op in which-"
"You had to fire Deeks," Kensi finishes. "I was kind of obvious, wasn't I?"
Hetty nods. "I was worried for a while, especially those two times I had to send you undercover as a couple. But I had faith in you, and I can see that you both have faith in each other. I'm happy for the both of you."
"Thank you," Kensi whispers, bending down and uncharacteristically hugging Hetty, who returns the hug.
"Now," the woman says as she leaves Kensi by her three bridesmaids, "Go get married!"
"We need to talk," Deeks says suddenly, breaking away from their kiss. This irks Kens- the was enjoying that kiss very much.
"Now?" she hisses, "Really?" The fact that he's hovering over her, his lips mere inches away from hers doesn't help her situation much. She grabs his neck and goes for a kiss, hoping that he'll just go with it for once.
He doesn't, of course.
He shifts off of her, plopping down beside her and sitting up. She mirrors his actions, unable to suppress the pouty expression that graces her face. She can't really make out the look on his face. The blinds to his windows are shut and the moon is shrouded by clouds.
"Jack," he says seriously. Kensi's mouth falls open.
She'll admit it- she knows him inside and out. He can keep her on her toes most of the time, and he can say things that catch her off guard, but at this point, he usually never really surprises her.
"You do realize you've just completely killed the mood, right?" she mutters.
"And you do realize that you're deflecting, right?" Deeks counters, wearing that stupid knowing expression of his.
Kensi narrows her eyes at him, but he's long past the point of being intimidated by her glares. "I'm not deflecting."
"Then answer the question."
"You didn't ask a question yet!" Deeks blinks at her, sort of sheepish. She rolls her eyes, scooting closer to him and resting her head on his shoulder. "Why are you bringing him up?" she asks softly.
"We're going to get married," he states.
"I'm aware," she interjects with a tiny smile. His mouth quirks into a slight smirk, but it fades as he continues.
"All I know about you and him is what I heard during your interrogation of Talbot," he says slowly, "-and if we're going to be married for the rest of our lives . . . I'd like to know about what happened with the two of you."
Kensi hesitates, opting to keep her head nestled in the comfort of his shoulder. She's always avoided the topic of Jack with Deeks. It's hard thinking of the two men, so different in every way, and not being confused. Her past, present, and future selves don't exactly coexist well.
"What do you want to know?" she asks finally. "And don't say everything."
Deeks moves an arm to take her hand in his, tracing circles on the skin between her thumbs and the rest of her fingers.
"How did you meet him?" he asks. She sighs, knowing there's no point in evading the subject any longer.
"Starbucks," she replies with a slight blush, "He ordered me a vanilla latte under the name 'Beautiful', and when the worker put it on the counter, he came up behind me and said, 'That would be you.' We, uh, we talked for hours after that, exchanged numbers, and the rest is history, I guess." She wraps an arm around Deeks' torso, the nostalgia making her feel very distant from him.
"A bit more romantic than us," he observes. She smiles.
"Maybe," she says, "But in our case, the ends justify the means." She nustles farther into his shoulder. "Anything else?"
"Do you still love him?" Deeks asks next, his voice a whisper so soft that she can barely hear it. She startles at that, removing her head from its comfortable position on his shoulder to stare at him, struggling to clearly make out his expression in the darkness.
"What do you mean?" she asks finally.
"If he came back and asked for you back . . ." Deeks, begins.
"That's not going to happen," Kensi interrupts.
"-but if it does," Deeks goes on, "What would you do?" He hesitates, then adds, "Kens, I need to know."
"I know," Kensi whispers, taking a steadying breath. "I just don't know how to . . . phrase this." She sees his fall, and quickly amends, "No! Not like that, Deeks, that's not what I- you see, I said I didn't know how to say it and it's coming out wrong, and-"
"Kens."
"Sorry," she moans, "I just- I've never thought about it, you know? It's- for the last few- it's only been you, really." She thinks he smiles a little, she wishes he would turn on the damn light- the lamp is on his side.
"I am an intoxicating human specimen, I'll give you that," Deeks jokes, putting Kensi slightly at ease, "But Kens, I do want to know." Kensi nods, biting her bottom lip in thought and aggravation.
"I think . . . I think a part of me will always love him, in a way," she begins, "I mean, I was ready to marry him then." Deeks nods, taking her hand reassuringly. "But I'm not the same person I was then. And who I am today, well, she'd be far happier with a shaggy surfer than with him." Deeks grins at her, his white teeth illuminating even in the darkness.
"I honestly can't wait to marry you," he says. Kensi smiles widely.
"Ditto."
She wishes her father was there to walk her down the aisle. Sam, Callen, and even Hetty were considered for the honor but Kensi eventually decided to carry her father's journal with her bouquet and walk alone. There's a slight breeze coming from the nearby sea, Kensi knows that it will calm Deeks but hey, he doesn't have to walk down a sandy aisle in heels.
"Thank you," comes a voice from behind her. Kensi turns around and smiles at her next bridesmaid, whose bright red hair falls down her slender shoulder in elegant waves. Her dark green eyes sparkle and go nicely with the pale yellow dress she has on.
"For what?" she asks as the woman begins her trek down the aisle. She gets no answer, just a small smile.
Kensi walks into the small coffee shop and glances around, quickly locating the woman she needs to meet up with. She makes her way over to the small round table slowly, sitting down across from the fiery redhead without a word, until the woman pushes forward a cup of coffee labeled "Carmen".
She watches the woman carefully for several moments, but she seems distracted. She's staring at a man sitting in a nearby booth, who Kensi can tell is watching them. His body is subtly angled towards their table and he's wearing sunglasses indoors. It's not even halfway normal- the sun is hidden by several dreary gray clouds.
She's getting married in five months- which may seem like a long way off, but she's immersed in everything involved in wedding planning. She never knew so much went into one single night. She's lucky Hetty has connections when it comes to venues and wedding cakes (how the baker came to owe Hetty, Kensi may never know). It's all so daunting- aside from her cases, paperwork, and more cases, she's had no free time.
Deeks spent an hour picking out a font.
The woman seems to meet the gaze of the man sitting nearby and quickly averts her eyes, staring hard at the table.
"You know him," Kensi states bluntly, her lips barely moving, "Don't you, Lucy?" Lucy finally meets her gaze, her emerald green eyes cool. She nods silently. "Family?"
"Friend of the family," Lucy replies quietly, "My brother's in charge now." Kensi nods slowly.
"And how do you feel about that?" she asks.
"He wants to turn the 'family business' legit," Lucy replies softly, sipping her coffee, "That's one of his lugs. He's worried the other families will go all Godfather II on us."
"Haven't seen it," Kensi says.
"They'll kill us off, even if we pull out of the game," Lucy says. "I'm safe for now, as long as I stay away from the family, but-"
"I can get some US Marshals on you," Kensi offers.
"I don't want a new identity," Lucy says, "But I don't know enough to kill. The families have gotten very stingy with who they kill- they're playing it smart. As long as I stay away, I'll be fine."
"Still," Kensi says, "Marshals might be better than . . . family friends." Lucy narrows her eyes at the man, who stands up and walks out. Kensi discreetly keeps her eyes on him as he gets into a car and drives off.
"I thought we could have been friends," Lucy says, "I liked you."
"I did what I had to do," Kensi says, "And if it makes you feel any better I would still like to be friends." Lucy watches her, eyes guarded.
"We'll see."
She manages to sneak a peek at Eric's face as Nell walks down the aisle, all grace and poise as her petite figure makes its way down the aisle. Eric's actually kind of adorable in that moment, his mouth slightly agape and his cheeks red.
The wedding march begins, and Kensi knows it's her cue to begin walking down the aisle. Her heart begins to race, but she's on her own in this march. She doesn't look at Deeks' face yet, but she feels slightly comforted upon spying Sam and Callen standing at the front, watching her proudly.
She can't take it anymore- she raises her head completely, hiding her nerves beneath her veil.
She always thought it was a cliche- what people say about blushing brides and all of their fears dissipating the moment their eyes meet those of the groom.
But now, now she understands.
The smile lights up his entire face, crinkling his eyes and showing all of his teeth. He can't even bring himself to smirk at her.
Her hair has been pulled up in a simple pearl clip, loose curls falling "strategically", as the hairdresser said. Her bangs have been pulled loosely back, so when she meets his gaze, she can't hide from the warmth. The breeze picks up slightly, lifting her veil slightly and sending her curls into her face. She brushes them away, and grins at Deeks, who chuckles at her predicament.
When she finally reaches the end of the aisle, she turns and hands her mother her father's journal before giving her a quick hug.
"Love you," Julia whispers.
"I love you too, Mom," Kensi replies, squeezing before pulling back and handing the bouquet to Nell, who can't hide her bright smile.
She steps over to where the justice of the peace and her soon-to-be husband are standing, beneath a small white canopy (Lucy had earlier asked if she was Jewish- Kensi had replied that she just wanted the shade).
"Hey," Deeks mouths to her when she turns to face him. She hopes he can see her eye roll underneath her veil. His smirk tells her he can.
The Justice glances between the two of them, bemused, and begins, "We are gathered here today, on this happy and joyous occasion, to join this man and this woman in holy matrimony."
Deeks feigns a yawn, drawing a laugh from the crowd and a contained chuckle from the Justice. "Marriage is a solemn institution to be held in honor by all, it is the cornerstone of the family and of the community. It requires of those who undertake it a complete and unreserved giving of one's self." Kensi and Deeks exchange a meaningful look. Partners- through and through.
" It is not to be entered into lightly, as marriage is a sincere and mutual commitment to love one another. This commitment symbolizes the intimate sharing of two lives and still enhances the individuality of each of you," he continues. Kensi arches an eyebrow at Deeks, who wags his at her playfully. "The couple has elected to recite their own vows." Kensi takes a deep breath in anticipation as Deeks pulls a small sheet of paper out of his jacket pocket. "Mr. Deeks, go ahead." Deeks nods, looking up to meet her gaze.
"Um, well I know you probably think that I'd rather be surfing right now, Kens, with the beach right here and all, but uh," he recollects himself and takes a deep breath as the guests chuckle, "-there's really nowhere else I'd rather be than right here at your side. Forever, apparently." This draws another chuckle from the gathered people, and a smile from Kensi. "I love you, all of you. I love how you're the honey badger, I love how you smile, the way your eyes can just take everything in . . . and I can't wait to see all of it for the rest of my life."
"Miss Blye," the Justice says, nodding towards her. Kensi turns around and Lucy quickly steps forward, handing her vows to her.
"Deeks, I think you ad-libbed most of your vows," Kensi begins, earning a wink from her husband-to-be. "But I only wrote cliffnotes, so I guess I'll have to do that too." She takes a deep breath, peering at him from under the veil. "When I first met you . . . I thought you were just a joke, a pain in my ass. And maybe you were." She glances over at Sam and Callen, who wink at her. "But then I saw it. Your compassion. Your heart. Your bravery. The way you always do things for me, even when I don't deserve it. You're a good man, plain and simple, Deeks, and no matter what, I'm so happy to be able to spend the rest of my life with you. Till death do us part, right?" She finishes with a smile, halfway losing herself in Deeks' eyes as he smiles hugely at her.
The Justice clears his throat, taking Kensi back to earth. "Then by the powers invested in me, I now pronounce you husband and wife. Mr. Deeks, you may kiss your bride."
"Finally," Deeks mutters, gingerly lifting her veil and pulling her in for their first kiss as Mr. And Mrs. Deeks.