'You'll have to fake your own death.'
'Really?' she asked sarcastically.
'You'll need to skip the country too. You can't stay here. It's not safe. Maybe you can flee to a tropical island?' Deeks paused to think. 'Do the Cook Islands have an extradition treaty with the US?'
Kensi sat down on the living room couch. She put her head in her hands and sighed with frustration. Where could it be? How could she fix this? Where should she start? 'I know!' She exclaimed pointing her fingers towards him. He leant against the doorframe and looked at her with scepticism. 'I'll buy him a new one.' She jumped up and clicked her fingers with satisfaction.
'Kensi, it was a one of kind. You can't buy this. Chris Hemsworth signed the DVD cover.' He explained patiently.
'You're not helping.' She sat back down and turned her body away from him.
'I still can't believe he let you borrow his DVD. It seems out of character for Eric. I mean, not that he wouldn't lend you anything, but that he would give you his autographed "Thor" DVD? Strange.' He shook his head with confusion.
It had all started this morning when they had been walking through the front door at work. She'd been telling him how much she'd enjoyed the Avengers film. Loved it. The action scenes were incredible. It was funny. Oh, and Chris Hemsworth was so handsome. Amazingly handsome. Kensi told Deeks she was pretty sure she was in love. Eric had overheard Kensi proclaiming her love for Chris Hemsworth and asked her if she had seen the Thor films. She hadn't. Eric offered her his Thor DVD so she could catch up. She remembered taking the DVD from Eric and then…nothing. She couldn't remember where she'd set the DVD down after taking it from Eric. Her memory was blank.
'Could it be on your desk at work? In your bag? In your locker? In the car?' He suggested.
'I don't know. I don't know. He's going to kill me.' Kensi wailed. 'What am I going to do?'
Deeks took pity on her. 'Ok, let's think of this like Detectives.'
She waved his suggestion away with her hand and said courageously. 'No, forget it. Forget it. I'll have to tell him. I'll tell him I've lost it.' Kensi shook her head slowly as she faced the truth. Eric will kill her.
Deeks gritted his teeth. He went to the bedroom, brought Kensi's work bag with her case files into the living room and dropped it on the couch. He pointed his finger at her. 'Dump it out and let's see what's in there.'
She opened up her bag to pull her case files out. Deeks opened up each file and rifled through the pages to see if the DVD or the disc had slipped in. Nothing.
She took her laptop out of her bag. 'Open the disk drive. You might've put the disc into the laptop.' Deeks said. Kensi opened the disk drive but the DVD was not there.
'Are there any other pockets in the bag? Let's try them all.' He suggested.
Kensi tried each pocket on her bag. 'Nothing.' She silently cursed herself. How could she be so stupid?
'The car?' he asked.
'Not the car. We had suspects in the back today. I wouldn't've taken the chance that they could steal it.'
He looked down at the floor in concentration as he thought for other any possible locations that she may have left the DVD. 'We'll check the office tomorrow when we go in. C'mon, let's have dinner and then go to bed. You might have some new ideas in the morning.' Deeks stood up and patted Kensi on her shoulder. 'C'mon.' He said as he walked into the kitchen.
Kensi closed her eyes briefly in despair. She repacked her bag and followed him. 'Deeks, the Cook Islands are under the protection of New Zealand. And they have an extradition treaty with the US.'
'Ahhh, Wikipedia. You can tell me all about Pacific Island nations but you can't tell me where you last saw a DVD.'
Kensi and Deeks took their bags out the back of their car when they arrived at work the next day. 'What's the plan?' he asked as he lifted his bag across his body.
'I'm going to search my desk discreetly. Hopefully Callen and Sam won't ask me about it.' She was optimistic about finding the DVD.
'Yeah. Good luck with that.' He muttered sarcastically.
Callen and Sam were already at work. Kensi pulled her laptop out of her bag and connected it to the cables poking out from underneath her desk. She poked around at the toys placed at the front of her desk, just in case the DVD case may be sitting underneath a toy horse or a small teddy bear. Nope. No DVD. Kensi sorted through the magazines, newspapers, and unclassified material sitting on her desk. No DVD. She huffed out a big breath which ruffled the hair lying next to her face. Oh boy, she was in trouble. Perhaps she'd locked the DVD in her security cabinet in the lounge area next to the bullpen? Kensi poured a fresh cup of coffee before walking to her security cabinet. She unlocked her security cabinet where she kept her classified documents and began to sort through her files.
Out of Kensi's sight, Callen and Sam exchanged a smirk. Deeks saw and wondered. 'What are you guys doing?' He murmured to Sam.
'Hmmm? Nothing.' Sam nodded his head in Kensi's direction. 'Kensi doesn't seem like herself today. Did she lose something?' Sam asked in a quiet voice.
'You're kidding me?' Deeks was incredulous. 'Really?' Sam smiled in reply. Deeks looked at Callen. Callen smiled an wicked grin at him.
'Oh, man!' Deeks whispered. Sam and Callen had pulled a prank on Kensi of epic proportions. She might kill them all when she found out. 'Do you realise what you've done? When she wasn't pulling the house apart last night looking for the DVD, she was preparing her final words to Eric. Do you have it?' He asked. Callen pulled the DVD out of his bag to show him. Deeks shook his head in fear as Callen put the DVD back in to his bag. 'Are you going to give her the DVD?' He asked.
'Maybe not.' Callen teased. 'We might let her worry about it a little longer.'
'She'll kill us all. Even me. And I didn't have anything to do with it.' Deeks pointed towards his chest.
Callen smirked. 'That's what you get for playing the game.'
'Playing the game!? I'm not part of this g -'. Deeks' spluttering was interrupted when Eric walked into the bullpen.
'Good morning, gentlemen. How is everyone today?' Eric asked chirpily.
Kensi heard Eric announce himself to the team. Eric! Rats! Where was the DVD?! Kensi shoved her files back in to her security cabinet, locked it, and hurried back into the bullpen. 'Good morning.' She greeted Eric as she settled back down at her desk.
'How did you enjoy the movie?' Eric asked.
Kensi shook her head and lied through her teeth to Eric. 'I didn't have a chance to watch it last night. I went out to the gym. I got home too late to the watch a movie.'
'Oh, of course.' Eric was disappointed. 'Maybe you'll have a chance tonight? You'll have to tell me what you think of it. There is an amazing scene where a bad guy storming into Thor. Thor raises his hammer –'. Eric had raised his tablet computer above his head as if it were Thor's hammer to demonstrate when Callen interrupted him.
'Uh oh, Eric. Spoilers. Save something for Kensi.' Callen admonished him.
'Oh, of course.' Eric smiled knowingly, tapped the side of his nose, and pointed his finger at Callen. Eric said to Kensi. 'You're going to love it.'
'Love it.' She said with fake enthusiasm.
Eric turned towards to the large computer monitor in the bullpen and tapped his tablet computer. 'Ok. I've got an update on the Jackson investigation that Nell and I found last night…'
'Anything?' Deeks asked as he and Kensi walked out of Ops after they'd been given their assignment. The team was chasing up the lead that Eric and Nell had found last night.
'Nothing. It's frustrating.' Kensi shook her head and again faced the conclusion she reached last night. 'I'm going tell Eric this evening when we finish for the day. He'll never trust me again.' Kensi was sad that she was going to lose Eric's trust. Deeks remembered the glee on Sam's and Callen's faces when they revealed their prank to him. There was going to be tears all around this evening.
Deeks and Kensi met Sam and Callen at the suspect's house. The team had split up to search the property. Deeks and Sam were paired up. Deeks brought up the issue of the "missing" DVD with Sam. 'Sam, you've gotta do something, man. You've gotta put that DVD back or let Kensi in on the joke.' Deeks pleaded.
'And why should we do that? We're trying to teach Kensi a lesson. Her desk is a mess. The trunk of her car is not much better. And I bet her house is a mess too.' Sam turned around to look at Deeks for confirmation about the state of Kensi's house. 'Hmm, I thought so. She lives like an eight year old.'
'C'mon Sam. Don't be a hardass about this. Kensi is going to tell Eric that she's lost the DVD. It's going to break his heart twice because he's lost the DVD and he can't trust Kensi anymore. Are you going to put Eric through that pain just to teach Kensi a lesson?' Deeks argued.
Sam thought about Deeks' argument and began to doubt his actions. Deeks continued on. 'Look, why don't you tell Kensi now before she gets back to Ops? Give her the DVD when we get back.'
'I'll talk to Callen.' Sam said. Deeks nodded his head to thank Sam for listening to him.
'Good job today, everyone. We pulled together and got our man.' Sam congratulated the team as he packed up his computer and desk. The team had arrived back at Ops 45 minutes beforehand to lock their weapons away and complete the paperwork required immediately at the end of the shift. Callen had told them just to get the urgent paperwork completed and go home. It had been a long day.
'Thanks Sam.' Deeks said as he slung his bag over his shoulder.
'You alright, Kensi?' Sam asked. Kensi hadn't made a move to pack up her belongings. She'd been staring into space for the last 5 minutes.
'Hmmm? I'm fine.' She said.
'Are you going home?' Sam asked.
'Probably not just yet. I've got to talk to Eric about something. You guys go ahead without me. I'll see you tomorrow.'
'G.' Sam prompted Callen. Sam and Callen had discussed their prank on the drive back to Ops that evening. Sam mentioned that Eric was the unintended victim of the lesson here. The lesson they were teaching Kensi wasn't worth the pain it would inflict on Eric.
Callen looked at Sam and sighed quietly to himself. It was time to pull the plug on the prank. 'I think Eric went home an hour ago.'
Kensi's face fell. Her confession would have to wait until tomorrow. The knot in her stomach grew heavier. She wondered if she might feel ill because of it.
'Kensi.' Callen began. 'I noticed you were searching your desk. Were you looking for this?' He held the DVD in his hands.
Kensi's eyes widened and she smiled widely. 'Oh my, gosh! Yes! I was looking for this. Where did you find it?' Kensi grabbed the DVD out of Callen's hands. She flicked a triumphant glance towards Deeks. She knew she would find the DVD.
'I found it on your desk. I took it to teach you a lesson.' Callen said.
'What?' She asked.
'Kensi, your desk is a mess. It's a wonder you can find space on your desk for your laptop, let alone any other documents. It's full of crap like little toys, old magazines, and newspapers. Old coffee cups, and cartons and bags of food. You know NCIS has a Clear Desk Policy, right?' Callen asked.
The Clear Desk Policy had been adopted by NCIS to minimise security breaches. It required employees to lock their classified documents away in secure cabinet at the end of their working day. Many law enforcement, security agencies, and private companies throughout the world have adopted a Clear Desk Policy.
'Of course I know about the Clear Desk Policy. I've completed my security training. I don't have any unclassified documents on my desk. I lock those away at the end of the day.' Kensi defended her compliance with the policy.
'How could anyone know that, Kensi? That desk is a mess. Some of those newspapers are six months old. Are you really gonna read a story about an event that happened six months ago? The situation on the ground has already moved on.' Sam said.
'I like to keep articles around to read. I don't always get a chance to keep up with the news. We're pretty busy here writing reports and following up on leads. And the story might still be relevant. Sometimes events on the ground don't move that fast.' She said.
'Kensi, I want you to clean up that desk tomorrow.' Callen instructed. 'You can write your report after you clean your desk. I've got to share this space with you too. I don't want your junk overflowing on to my desk.'
Kensi was hurt. Her stuff wasn't "junk". Although, she conceded, there was a lot of it. She tried to clean her desk every couple of weeks when time allowed. But time did not always allow. And sometimes she just couldn't be bothered. 'Ok. Ok. I'll clean my desk tomorrow.' She said.
'And just to be on the safe side…' Callen plucked the DVD from Kensi's hands and gave it to Deeks. 'We'll make sure the DVD is in a safe spot overnight.' Callen smiled.
Kensi rolled her eyes at Callen. She couldn't argue with that.
Callen picked up his bag. 'Enjoy the movie, Kensi.' Callen wished as he and Sam left the bullpen together.
THE END